Well, it's not technically a travel show since it's not available on terrestrial TV, but a YouTube series aptly named ‘Shut Up and Go’ on the channel DamonAndJo. It was made by two best friends who met in college and decided to make a travel show for the social media generation. Tired of “cheesy travel shows and cookie-cutter travel hosts”, their vlogs depict a realistic view of travelling, especially for those on a budget. The channel is full of videos that share tips (see “12 tips to survive group travel”) as well as “24 hours in…” vlogs and travel-inspired challenge videos, such as “20€ in ROME vs 20€ in PARIS”, which is one of my favourite videos of theirs. With Damon in Paris and Jo in Rome, the video compares what you can do in each city for 20€, which really demonstrated the pros and cons of each city.
Another great thing about Damon, Jo and their YouTube travel show is their focus on language learning. Both Damon and Jo studied languages in school and college, with Damon being fluent in French and Jo - in Portuguese. Indeed, they post videos in English, French and Portuguese consistently, and occasionally in Spanish, German and Italian. As lifelong language-learners, Damon and Jo also provide tips on how to learn languages, what resources to use before you travel and how to pick up languages whilst travelling, which makes learning way more interesting than it was at school, and their advice is actually practical and useful.
As well as this, their channel is just all out fun. Damon and Jo are really vibrant and kind people who you just can’t help but want to join along for their travels. Their videos are fun, very aesthetically pleasing and full of information. The friendship is so wholesome and after a watching for a while, you almost feel as though you are a part of their duo too. Through their channel, Damon and Jo have created a community of people who have travelled or want to travel and can exchange travel tips.
It is important to note, however, that their original channel, DamonAndJo, is somewhat redundant, with their last video being posted two years ago. I would still highly recommend watching their back catalogue anyway, as their advice and tips are still relevant. Also, the show still lives on, just independently in their individual channels - Damon Dominique and Jo Franco, both on YouTube and Instagram.
Thus, whilst I started watching their videos years ago, when the idea of travelling solo or with a friend was quite out of reach, given that I was about 14 and not financially independent, they inspired me to travel the world, which I hopefully will do eventually. Give Damon and Jo a watch for tips, tricks, advice for language learning and life, and all out wholesomeness!