Damon Dominique is a YouTuber known for his elaborate, well-researched and engaging travel videos. With a useful yet straightforward approach, he challenged a little lesser known town on the beaten path and emphasized the importance of engaging with the people who live there. At the start of his internet career in 2013, his constant refrain was to “go quiet.”
Since moving to Paris in 2019, Dominique has used her YouTube channel to model for people interested in living abroad. His videos share the reality of big steps, such as renewing visas and finding an apartment. They share the everyday undanity of opening a bank account or getting a repairman to repair a home door.
Now, Dominique works with his audience in real life. He has started a new workshop series, Global Citizen IRL, And then travelling the US and Canada to teach fans how to make a pie in the ski travel goal.
I sat with Daymon Dominique in Park Lane New York near Central Park just before my first workshop in town this April, learning more about how he could revitalize his audience and realize his dream of moving abroad.
The workshop is an extension of what he does online and what he starts with his book. You are a global citizen: a culturally curious journal (Mobius, 2023). This is filled with questions designed to encourage readers to think about how their experiences in their home country and abroad have shaped their worldview. “I always thought it was just one-dimensional to accept my first version,” Dominic says. “You’ll be told This canvas is youand it is already basically portrayed in your ideals and qualities. And I’m saying Destroy the canvas. Go and make yourself.”
The new course says, “Look, I don’t lack the motivation to travel the world. I just lack literal steps and logistics. How do I actually do this? How do I use it to get all these points?”
each Global Citizen IRL The workshop is a six-hour event, with participants going through three phases. First we explore the self: What do you enjoy? If there were no restrictions, where would you like to be?
In the second phase, participants encourage them to begin thinking about what life abroad actually looks like, the challenges associated with creating everyday life, and the reality of dealing with responsibility in a brand new place. Dominique asks: So you know you want to move to Mexico. . . What do you want to do there?
The final stage focuses on obstacles that prevent people from achieving the aviation industry’s goals and grasping real-world solutions to those problems. Whether the goal is to move to the Philippines as a digital nomad or simply make your first solo road trip, Dominic’s approach slowly but surely helps his followers break down the hypothetical and literal limits of seeing the world for themselves.
How do people do that? “Number one, I think most people need to pack and leave (before they actually move), they need to spend three months in a place,” Dominic says.
Why 3 months? “A month is too short, because you can make excuses if you pass every day. Well, I leave in two weeks so I don’t really need to make friendsHe says. “Three months will force you to think Wow, I really have to create life, everyday life and routines here. And it really is, if you actually like the country when you see if you can. “Dominic also points out that most countries can spend up to three months abroad without a visa (some give potential foreigners enough time to build a new home community and collect all the legal documents needed to apply for a visa.
Dominic also encourages participants to acquire something introspective and deal with the internalized fear of moving abroad. “This comes out with family (participants who are worried about them) in workshops,” he explains. “And I say, But why are you approaching this from that angle?? What people don’t realize is that moving abroad can be a growth and bonding experience for you and your family. Because you probably only know your family in the context of your hometown. You can actually get you closer when you see them outside that lens and come back to visit you or visit them while you have a new perspective. ”
Ultimately, Dominic sees the biggest hurdles for moving abroad as a matter of thinking and motivation. “I think the only way to bring more people back is that they just have someone to make a loud noise. I think you can do itDominique says. “That’s all we’re trying to do in these workshops.”
