About T1D Wanderer

Hi, I’m Jeremy. I travel and explore unusual places and publish weekly videos on my YouTube channel T1D Wanderer, about my wanders.

The “T1D” part of the channel name means Type 1 Diabetes. I was diagnosed at age 8 in 1982. These days I use multiple daily injections (MDIs) of Humalog and Tresiba insulin. In 2024 I finally moved from a blood glucose meter to a continuous glucose monitor (CGM).

My videos and newsletter usually focus on my travel experiences, whereas this website t1dwanderer.com goes into more detail about blood glucose readings and diabetes issues during those travels.

I’m from the United States (Georgia), and have been living in Japan for several years. My videos feature Japan quite a bit, and when I have the opportunity, I venture to other countries.

Travel

I travel because I’m curious. I generally don’t enjoy luxury and expensive foods; I’d rather eat from a street vendor and stay in a cheap hotel and ride on a public bus like locals.

Many of my travels initiate by looking at maps and letting my mind wander. Everything about a map is inviting – odd land forms, jagged coastlines, unusual-looking border areas, exotic place names… all of it. Many times I’ve visited a place just because I liked the name and did little research otherwise.

The basic flow – getting curious about something I saw on a map, finding out how to get there, actually going there to see it for myself – is pretty much what it’s all about.

I also enjoy transportation itself. I’m not a trainspotter per se, but I am trainspotter-adjacent, and many of my videos are exploring train lines and limited express services. I’m equally thrilled to be on a ferry or bus. Not a huge fan of flying, but it can’t be avoided and can even be exotic itself at times.

 

Videos

I’ve always enjoyed editing videos together, and have done so for years before I had a YouTube channel, to commemorate trips I took. Even if the video was only for me and the person I traveled with.

My main goal is to make the viewer feel like they are traveling with me. To show my personal impressions and experiences, good or bad, and to find curious and interesting scenes and objects to illustrate a place. Michael Palin’s various BBC travel documentaries are the primary inspiration. I’ve seen them all and never get tired of them.

Nowadays I use a vlogging camera (at the moment a DJI Pocket 3) and do my editing in Davinci Resolve. I try to always improve my editing skills so each video accurately and entertainingly tells the story.

I publish videos weekly to YouTube. Many videos have a longer extended version, without ads, for paid supporters on my Patreon page. I also publish exclusive videos on Patreon for which there is no public version.

In addition, there are occasional short video diaries, blooper reels, and clips of raw footage on Patreon.

AI pledge

I don’t use artificial intelligence tools to generate anything in my videos, neither footage nor audio. I don’t have AI write anything for me either – my newsletter, video description boxes, replies to comments, and posts on this site are all 100% my own human work.

I have attempted in the past to use AI to come up with video titles, chapter breaks, and things like that. But I never liked the results and never used them. So, know that when you’re reading or watching something of mine, for better or worse, it’s really me. (Yes, I use em-dashes and always have!)

I do use AI, however, in some ways. It can be useful for research and for getting information about places. (Though it needs to be verified.) I use it to help me write code for behind-the-scenes stuff related to the channel. (Also frustrating at times, but sometimes quite helpful.)

How I pay for this

Running a weekly travel YouTube channel is expensive – not like many YouTubers who are able to do what they do without leaving their house. So I do need funds to keep it going. But this is all I do; I stopped teaching English in Japan a few years ago to concentrate on making travel videos.

This website contains no ads. My videos do not contain paid sponsorships.

I do have my YouTube channel set to show video ads, and I leave it up to YouTube as to the placement and frequency and type of ad(s) shown. When an ad runs there, YouTube gets paid by the advertiser, and they give me roughly half.

My other support comes directly from viewers on my Patreon page. There are various monthly tiers to choose from, each with various perks. The perks are usually Patreon-only exclusive full videos, and none of the videos there contain any ads.

Choosing a monthly tier is the best way to support my work. Another way to support me on Patreon without actually joining a monthly support plan is to pay a one-time fee (usually $3) to watch an exclusive or extended video. There are dozens to choose from.

Support for free

If Patreon isn’t for you, the best way to support my channel is to just watch the videos. There’s a new one each week, and I have a big backlog you can explore. I know ads can be annoying, but letting them run really does help the channel continue.

You can also get my free weekly newsletter. The newsletter comes out usually one day before each new video, has behind the scenes info from my travels, and even contains an early link to the next video, before it’s published.

Each issue of the newsletter is posted to my Patreon page; follow t1dwanderer there for free to get it each week. (And check your notifications to make sure you’re getting it.)

Other than that, the usual things apply: like, subscribe, write a comment, and link to a video on social media. All of those things do help. (I don’t use social media myself, but I can usually tell when someone shares one of my videos on Facebook because the views go up!)

Thanks for watching, however and wherever you do it. Everywhere is worth exploring!