I just got back from my first International event since the Pandemic, and boy was it an adventure! Collected here are some of the bazillion photos we took!
VidCon Abu Dhabi was held over four days in the United Arab Emirates and I had the pleasure of being a speaker for the panel "The sustainable creator" - an amazing Google For Creators project I was invited to join. Over the course of a month, Paul Bakaus and I wrote the presentation and presented it at VidCon, and we hope to share a video version of the Talk with everyone soon.
The best part of this trip was spending it with the Google For Creators team - Paul, Matt and Crystal, as well as fellow creator Kaya and her husband Darren! We had so many great conversations and experienced so much together within a few short days! I miss them so much already!
The conference itself was held at a HUGE convention center and it offered up some amazing photo opportunities, as to ben expected of a creator event! I certainly indulged lol!
There were even video stations! Like this ultra slo-mo robot camera:
Or this party cam gif maker!
Of course, there were also concerts and after parties. Friday night gave us Nick Jonas, who was fantastic live. I have no clue how they managed to get him for this event but we certainly were treated! Afterward we went to a pool side party!
Saturday night kicked off with a Kehlani concert, who was so freaking cool, I am still reeling. Then we were shutttled to a beach club for the YouTube party, where we took a ton of polaroids, smoked sheesha and I got not only a flower crown but also face jewels. As I said, this event is all about offering creators photo opportunities lol
If you think this was the best VidCon has to offer, you would be wrong. Because on Sunday night, they rented out the entire Ferrari World theme park and we got to run wild inside until midnight! While there was plenty to do, some of the rides were closed or out of order, including the fastest roller coaster in the world. BUT we got to ride the 2nd fastest and... well, it was more than enough for me lol. The go-kart track was awesome and we were surprised at how much the park was decorated for Christmas. Who knew the first time I'd get into Christmas cheer would be in the desert at t-shirt weather?
Anyway, here is some photo evidence of our shenanigans!
And lastly, we had so much good food during the trip but I kept forgetting to take photos LOL. So here is the last meal we had in Abu Dhabi, at an Arabian restaurant right before we went to Ferarri World. It was... delicious!
All in all, it was an adventurous and very eventful first trip abroad in 2 years! I hope to have more chances to travel safely in 2022!