I've got an extraordinary resource to share with you today! Tour Videos has a plethora of travel videos that explore the world. The videos are such fun - Creator Dennis Callan (who has quite an extensive travel background) wields his video camera deftly, sharing great things to see and cogent comments about the areas he's recording.  We were lucky enough to sit down with Dennis and talk about his site, videos, preparing for a trip abroad, and more. Here's what he had to say...

WE: Please tell us more about your site, http://www.tourvideos.com...

DC: My new web site has nearly 500 videos about Europe and the Americas, which are scenic travelogues and practical guides that help you select the best destinations and show you how to get around.  You can easily browse through it and take a quick video vacation to escape the daily grind.  There is no other travel site like tourvideos.com. Already my videos have had 2 million views on YouTube, and my new website is getting over 100 hits daily.

These free travel videos provide detailed information about the world’s most fascinating places to help you prepare for trips and also re-live journeys you have already taken. The videos are educational and entertaining, filling you in on the history and modern life while suggesting how to best see these amazing places.  The selection of sights and informative descriptions place a special emphasis on history, art, architecture, design, culture and modern life, with walking tours that explain where to go.

Tourvideos.com is easy to navigate: you just click your way through Europe, North and South America and elsewhere with the push of a button. The video quality is excellent, thanks to YouTube’s high-definition and high-quality playback modes.

European cities are perfect for strolling, with compact urban centers that have developed over the centuries into rewarding neighborhoods filled with fascinating history and vibrant, modern life.  These historic centers are excellent places to find authentic travel experiences, rubbing elbows with the past and present.  Each city included in the web site has immensely rich neighborhoods one can best enjoy on foot, if you know where to go.

WE: What was the genesis of your site?

DC: I have been shooting video of Europe since 1987 and have been presenting these shows on public access TV in Honolulu for the past 20 years.  I do all the production myself, shooting, editing, writing, narrating, mixing audio, etc, working with Final Cut Pro on my three macs.  I’ve been uploading short versions of these shows to YouTube for several years, then last year I decided to build a web site in order to organize the listing of the videos in a clear, comprehensive way. YouTube  is a great service,  especially now with their High Quality and High Definition formats, but when you have several hundred videos parked there they become hard to find.

I built this web site to create a clear menu of how to find the vids, organized by country and city, so everything is now very easy to navigate.  My first stab at building a web site four years ago was an attempt to sell my DVDs of these places, and a friend built the site for me with my input.  But it was a bust – very few sales, low traffic, and no streaming videos, so I did a complete overhaul myself by learning how to use Dreamweaver, and changing the entire concept of the site: instead of trying to sell DVDs I am giving away hundreds of short movies for free.  My next step, in the near future, is to create a series of long, comprehensive tour videos about each place that I can sell via download, but I haven’t quite gotten there yet.  It is going to be a ton of work to create those vids, some of which are finished already, and then figure out the best way to market them.  Any suggestions?
It has been extremely satisfying to mesh my various experiences and talents in creating this vast series of videos about the world’s greatest places.

WE: What is your background in travel?

DC: I have been leading tours to Europe and elsewhere since 1987 and shoot the video while on the go, capturing the familiar highlights people love to see along with the unusual, obscure out-of-the-way subjects. As a travel agent I design the tours, make the arrangements with hotels and suppliers, recruit the customers, and then conduct the tours.  During my 60 trips to Europe I have learned these cities very well, so am able to lead my groups on detailed walking tours that show the real face of a city.

All this time spent traveling with groups has provided valuable insights into what people actually enjoy doing and what they could skip in their visits, which I have incorporated into my videos and travel writings.  For the past 20 years I have been president of the Hawaii Geographic Society.

WE: How can readers best prepare for a trip abroad?

DC: Just go!  Be open-minded, curious, energetic and flexible while you travel.  Basic preparations help, but most of your experience will be created each moment as you take each new step and look around each new corner.

One major preparation that will help is: get in shape!  During your travels you should be walking at least five hours daily, which is something you don’t do at home, so practice for a month before you go by walking an hour daily.  Walking is the best way to see any place, and you don’t want to get exhausted and waste time, so you need to be in good condition.

The other obvious preparation is to look at my web site!  It will help you pick places of interest and then explain how to get around.  As you browse through other websites, like Wikipedia, download relevant pages to your laptop so you can refer to them while on the road, even when lacking any wifi.

As you read through the various guidebooks, like Eyewitness, Micheiln, Rick Steves, Frommer, Fodor, rip out and pack the best chapters rather than bringing a stack of books with you.

Get in shape.

WE: How do you decide what to include in your videos?

DC: I include whatever looks good as I’m walking along, so I am constantly scanning my surroundings, as any alert traveler should be doing, finger on the button.  Therefore I shoot any time of the day or night, but I make a special effort to be out prowling in late afternoon/early evening for that special light, and to catch the flood of locals who are out for a stroll.  While most tourists are having dinner I’m still building my appetite on the hunt.

Plus I do go out of my way to bring back the trophies, the must-see sights, the icons of the top-ten lists, Trevi Fountain, Eiffel Tower, Oxford Street, Place des Voges, etc. and try to get them in their best lighting.

WE: What sort of research is involved in creating your videos?

DC: Some research happens before a trip, writing up a list of shots to get, making note of what I already have and can ignore, but the main research comes during editing when I am preparing my narrations.  That is very time-consuming.  Sometimes it takes as long to narrate a one-hour show as it took to edit it, so two weeks are usually required to put such a show together.

WE: What are your favorite places?

DC: Italy is my favorite country, but usually my favorite place is wherever I am at the moment, such as my home here in Honolulu where I am most of the time.  I generally avoid undesirable places and since I am my own boss I don’t have to go anywhere I don’t want to be.  I do have special favorites but there are so many of them it would take too long to say, but the best of my best are: London, Paris and Rome of course, the top 3 places in Europe for very good reasons.  All the 55 cities I have written about are among my favorites. 

WE: Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

DC: Most travelers miss out on seeing the real thing because they are in a rush or have not made that mental determination to get away from the crowds.  Tourists are too often sheep following the herd.  Break out and find the little back lanes and local neighborhoods where the actual residents can be found.

Don’t be so obsessed with shopping.  Sure, it’s fun to bring back souvenirs and tokens of the visit, but keep it simple and get it done quickly so you can spend your precious time on higher pursuits. Take in the famous cultural attractions also and absorb the major intellectual opportunities – the museums, performances, hip cafes, artsy neighborhoods, fine architecture and the local cuisine.  Strike up some conversations, ask directions, introduce yourself, ask questions, break out of your shell, say hello, be alert for friendlies and respond--meeting the locals will be one of your greatest joys.

WE: Thanks so much, Dennis! Your site is an incredible resource.

For more information, please see:

http://www.tourvideos.com