11 travel videos that rocked in 2011

photo by hwinther

THIS IS NOT a catalog of this year’s viral videos that everyone and their mom watched.

This list is compiled from the travel video blogging community. The people that are traveling the world on their own dime, and making videos for the love of sharing their experiences.

In no particular order, here are 11 travel videos that rocked my world in 2011.

1. Created by Eduardo from www.hombrelobo.com, this video captures his experience seeing the Coliseum in Rome for the first time. The video is in Spanish, but if you click on the CC (closed caption) button you can see subtitles in English.

2. Alex from Virtual Wayfarer spent 21 days in Argentina, where he shot this serene HD video. The shot of the penguins might be my favorite.

3. One of the icons of Canada, aside from beavers, would have to be our red coated police officers – the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Follow Lonely Planet’s Robert Reid to Sasketchewan as he becomes the 5th civilian to ever “be a mountie for a day.”

4. Fellow Canadian backpacker Brock takes us to Ewaso Nyiro, Kenya where he is the only foreigner invited to a house warming party by members of a Masai tribe. He dresses in their ceremonial clothing, enjoys an authentic meal, and experiences a ceremony that takes place only once every ten years.

5. Number five is a photo montage extravaganza from Ben at Adventure Sauce. In less than 3 minutes he hitchhikes over 5,000 miles, meets 930 people, and takes 3,000 photos to create the “Hitchhiking Stop Motion” montage.

6. 2011 was a great year for travel video bloggers, and was particularly awesomely fantastic for Mike Corey of Kick the Grind. Mike was the winner of Cathay Pacific’s Around the World in 80 Days Competition where, for 80 days, he had unlimited flights. Mike wraps up his 80 Days in this quick video that, honestly, makes me drool a little.

7. Have you ever played with your food? Mehdy from The Hostel Life has. Join him as he visits a fish market in Aveiro, Portugal, and gets his hands a little dirty with some eel.

8. You may have played with your food before eating it, but what about having to sing for your dinner? Kate McKenna of Vacationer Wanted takes a bet from her viewers, and attempts to sing for her meal in Istanbul, Turkey.

9. Fans of Nat Geo and the Planet Earth films will likely enjoy this Galapagos sea lion video produced by Green Global Travel.

10. Chris and Tawny of Captain and Clark show us around Seattle and offer tips on how to blend in like a local, including how to order a coffee at the original Starbucks.

11. Last but not least, follow along with Greg Raposa as he goes back country hiking and camping through Utah’s Canyonlands National Park.

For even more of 2011′s rock ‘em sock ‘em travel videos, head over to Cailin’s website www.TravelYourself.ca