Kara and Nate

Guacamole123 · Jan 27, 2020

Does anyone else watch these guys on YouTube?

I’ve been watching their videos for years and really really really enjoyed their content, always saw them as some of the very few ‘good guys’ on YouTube. Their whole YouTube has focussed on them travelling the world, with their aim to travel to 100 countries by the end of 2019 (which they did). Their final vlog was ready to be uploaded, but instead they’ve decided to put it behind a paywall and turned their ‘last vlog’ in to a documentary?!?!?

GlacierExpress · Jan 27, 2020

I've followed their journey. To be fair I think they've realised they made a huge error of judgement with this decision and have posted on Instagram to say that they will try and make amends. Such a shame it ended this way.

Sooverthat · Jan 27, 2020

Oh no.... I love watching Kara and Nate! I've been binge watching and really enjoyed what I've seen so far! I really hope this isn't the case

MummyPJ · Jan 27, 2020

Nooooo! Are you telling me they’ve stopped vlogging? I haven’t watched the new video yet.

futurekicks · Jan 27, 2020

Personally don't mind either of them but think at the same time they never expected everyone to be so interested in them travelling around the world exploring what they have done. Just looking at new ways of making the money I guess.

Pooella · Jan 27, 2020

I love Kara and Nate! Sometimes they make me cringe a bit but they try to be respectful of different cultures most of the time which I appreciate.

However, this 100 country situation has left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. People are already annoyed that they left it so long to bring out a vlog but to charge people to come to a party (this is an assumption as I can’t remember if they did or not) and then put your highly anticipated vlog behind a paywall is just a bit too far for me. I understand that they need to make money but Nate posts their expenses and they aren’t exactly struggling...also, they were only able to get to this point because of their viewers and to alienate a group of your fans and call them “meanies” alongside a picture of yourself crying because they are upset is wrong.

I really wish they used the money and donated it to some of the underprivileged countries they have visited or used it to get a group of volunteers out to a country to help - that way they can also use their platform to raise a lot of awareness. Flying the Nest used to do lots of volunteering a few years ago and it was very refreshing!

Guacamole123 · Jan 27, 2020

Pooella said:
I love Kara and Nate! Sometimes they make me cringe a bit but they try to be respectful of different cultures most of the time which I appreciate.

However, this 100 country situation has left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. People are already annoyed that they left it so long to bring out a vlog but to charge people to come to a party (this is an assumption as I can’t remember if they did or not) and then put your highly anticipated vlog behind a paywall is just a bit too far for me. I understand that they need to make money but Nate posts their expenses and they aren’t exactly struggling...also, they were only able to get to this point because of their viewers and to alienate a group of your fans and call them “meanies” alongside a picture of yourself crying because they are upset is wrong.

I really wish they used the money and donated it to some of the underprivileged countries they have visited or used it to get a group of volunteers out to a country to help - that way they can also use their platform to raise a lot of awareness. Flying the Nest used to do lots of volunteering a few years ago and it was very refreshing!

Agree with everything you wrote!! I wouldn’t have minded if they told us a while ago they were creating a documentary and that it was being put behind a paywall, but for the documentary to also include their 100th country vlog just feels so icky to me. Their whole channel has been leading up to this moment. YouTube is their job, in the last quarter for 2019 they earnt 130k, there is no need to charge people to watch their final vlog! They didn’t even send it to their patreons for free either.

I’ve questioned some of their morals for the last few months, I think their goal to reach 100 countries by the end of 2019 was getting a bit unrealistic and I think some countries were rushed over a bit and I also didn’t like the sponsorship they did with Canada Goose either. They make me cringe a bit at times but they always came across as quite down to earth, I’m so disappointed. I’m also saddened by how they reacted to the backlash of their latest vlog by deleting comments and calling us ‘meanies’. Whilst the comments were up on their vlog I didn’t see one positive one!

Horatio · Jan 28, 2020

Ah wow a thread on Kara and Nate ! I’ve been following them and a fan for a good few years now, agree they can be a bit cringey at times and as they’ve grown I’ve not loved all the branded content etc but genuinely still find them refreshing and compelling travel vloggers.

Completely agree the 100th country video was a total debacle. Those arguing their case in the comments come across very “Stan” like - “they work their butt off for you and have given you years of free content ! You only need to pay a dollar !” Completely misses the point. Asking for money for anything always changes the tone of a transaction, whatver the amount. And this has been built up for literal years as one big community journey - getting us to vote on the country and everything. So it was a very clumsy decision.
BUT I do think they handled the backlash pretty well, which is just as telling as the mistake itself. I’m not talking about the “meanie” comments or deleting anything - I didn’t see that. And he put the comments back on so fair play to them. The apology video was genuine. I hoped it would be and it was. Nate is a good guy and he took responsibility in a way most youtubers never do. He never once said “we’ve given you lots of free content and it was only a dollar” It’s a shame Kara wasn’t in it though. I feel like she’s had big shock at the backlash, posting crying pictures is a bit emotionally manipulative, tho I did feel bad (so it worked!) ... hope she isn’t going down the self pity “people are haters I did nothing wrong” route favoured by so many...

Guacamole123 · Jan 28, 2020

I’ve watched the documentary and it’s sooo good! I can ignore this little slip up somewhat because I do genuinely love their vlogs. I hope they still continue travelling and vlogging, and I hope these past few days has made them think about swerving some future branded content, as they’re amazing when they’re authentic.
What do we think they’ll do next? Surely they’re earning more through YouTube than they could if they went back to ‘normal’ jobs. I’d love to see them try and visit every country in the world and explore more areas of the countries they vaguely touched on

ellielovesfl · Jan 30, 2020

I can't deny they work hard but I've always found them a tad snobby. The obsession with airport lounges and to be honest from the start they never did the real backpacker thing staying in dorm like situations. When they first started travelling it was basic but still had luxuries compared to most backpackers.
Honestly I think the last couple of days showed that maybe they saw themselves as invisible, as they haven't really recieved much negativity in their whole time on YouTube. I'm a bit conflicted about their apology due to referring to the individuals that disagreed with them as "meanies" and posting a picture or Kara crying. It could be interpreted as still not really thinking they've done anything wrong.
They don't actually give back to communities and they have seen some really deprived areas. For example, in the UK a lot of people do the Everest Base Trek to raise money for charity, I could be be wrong but didn't they just to do it for their own leisure. To an extent there has been a lot of missed opportunity to use their platforms to help the deprived countries they have visited. If they had said all the money from the documentary was going to charities I would have been all for it. They didn't so the plan for it to go into their pockets shows their greed, especially as we know they are making more than enough money to sustain themselves.

Horatio · Jan 31, 2020

^ agree with basically all of what you say. I am quite conflicted overall. I posted the above about how well they handled the apology after nates video, which I respected but before I saw the thing about “meanies” and their implication that everyone who gave them backlash was wrong and a hater but at least they had the rest of their amazing community who question nothing and accept everything.
That wasn’t the message I got from Nate’s video at ALL.... I wonder if that’s more Kara and he appeases her but he’s more diplomatic and objective and knows they messed up but doesn’t want to hurt her feelings.

While we’re on it, my personall small gripe is that thing they do where they look at the other while they are talking and kind of ... beam with adoration. Anyone who has watched them knows what I am talking about, they do it constantly. And don’t get me wrong when I first discovered them I thought it was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen. It just feels very contrived now because they do it so much. I do love their relationship tho, and both of their personalities separately. I would love to have a husband like Nate.

SparkleMinnie · Feb 9, 2020

Love these two and enjoy watching their videos. I felt bad that they got so much hate for the documentary and 100th country vlog but being new to the channel I didn’t mind paying. I can see why others that have been loyal to the channel we’re upset but they made it right.

ellielovesfl · Feb 16, 2020

I am sorry to say this but their latest video was very cringe worthy. I definitely feel the last couple of months have inflated their egos massively.

Horatio · Feb 17, 2020

Oh no. Is that their first ‘next stage’ one ? I’ve not watched it yet and something was putting me off...like I kind of have a similar feeling you allude to.. I really don’t want that to be the case though...

Mangoeater · Mar 21, 2020

She nauseates me... seems to be very attention seeking and almost the tears were forced with dramatic blinking. Seems like she always has this weird almost little kid like smile too

ellielovesfl · Mar 21, 2020

Does anyone know if Kara and Nate came from wealthy backgrounds? I was watching one of their old q and as and the question "will you go back to normal jobs after your goal?" was asked. His response was no because we've never had normal jobs. I wasn't sure what really he meant by that because they must of worked at some point to afford to travel in the first place.

Also what is your opinion on them not returning to the states and self isolating abroad? Just comes across a bit irresponsible and not really caring about their families back at home

Mangoeater said:
She nauseates me... seems to be very attention seeking and almost the tears were forced with dramatic blinking. Seems like she always has this weird almost little kid like smile too

Completely agree and also think she's quite self indulgent and snobbish at times. Early on in their travels they definitely had the we're too good for this attitude the odd time they had to stay in hostels.

Horatio · Mar 30, 2020

I don’t think they are exceptionally wealthy, we’ve seen glimpses of their parents homes and such, I think they may be from comfortable middle class backgrounds, but fairly ordinary. I’m not sure what Nate meant about not having had regular jobs, I know he ran a graphic design business before and she was a primary school teacher I think or something like that.

I was very disillusioned with their 100 countries documentary duck up at the start of the year. I started to find them very phoney after that and lost interest in their videos. When the corona crisis started they seemed to be carrying on as if nothing was going on, which annoyed me more. All that said, I’m coming around to them again. Whatever else, they make great vlogs. I haven’t watched the Antarctica ones and probably won’t because I’m just not that interested in that. But I watched their newest Philippines video and it’s great. I can’t wait for the next one - something I commonly feel watching them but rarely do with YouTube in general. Talking of that video specifically i like how honest they are about how their naïveté and ignorance shaped their experience of the Philippines the first time. The fact they didn’t write it off entirely as ‘somewhere we don’t like’ but had the self awareness to see outside their perspective and visit the country again is indicative of why they are such good travellers. They really do try to keep as open a mind as possible, try things - but also not be scared to say if they don’t like them. They do their research, are always respectful and have a charm that is nice to watch.

I was worried all those good traits were disappearing at the start of the year but watching them on an Instagram live with another travel vlogger (drew something?) this evening reminded me why I liked them as people. That led to me watching the new Philippines video and for sure they are back to their best.

idk2 · Apr 9, 2020

I used to watch these two for some travel inspo and I'm very conflicted about how I feel about them. I don't like Nate's attitude sometimes, feels like he's speaking down to viewers when explaining things and they're both quite cringe but I do enjoy what videos I do watch of them. However, I recently found their blog and they have a very, very detailed post about their youtube income and expenditure and WOW. Its so crazy. Ive always wanted to know just how much youtubers make and from where and this post really breaks it down well. I commend them for doing these. Its made me open up to them a bit more so will check out their channel more.
Link if anyone is interested: https://karaandnate.com/category/income-reports/

ellielovesfl · Apr 19, 2020

I hope they give the UK another chance like the Philippines, as their attitude stunk when they visited London. Pretty much acted like typical ignorant tourists who think once they've done London they've done the whole UK.

Firstly, they complained how cold it was but visited in November (what did they expect!). Also was laughable when they wanted traditional fish and chips but went to weatherspoons, which is basically the equivalent of going to a Denny's in the US. They kept saying over and over again we've only come here to go world travel market. The comments on the London vlogs also call them up on these things, and how they have little interest in European culture in comparison to Asian cultures.

Most of other travel vloggers have really done the UK justice. Not just getting outside of England (visiting wales for example), but going to places that foreigners probably haven't heard of such as Cornwall and Dorset. Also Endless Adventure particularly focused on the food that the UK has to offer, as we are such a multicultural country there's more food to enjoy other than fish and chips.

bedtimereader · Apr 20, 2020

I've only recently discovered these two and enjoy their content but Kara's childlike style is too annoying - big wide forced smiles, skipping, leaning all over Nate gazing/staring adoringly at him just doesn't feel real and she irritates me. I thought I'd look up their UK blogs and they're rubbish which has made me wonder how deep their others go really. I've watched about six but can stomach any more of watching Kara. Sorry, not for me. I'm heading back over to Flying The Nest who seem so much more genuine.