Indian moto vlogger, Anurag Dobhal aka The UK07 Rider gets candid about his life and his decision to stop teaching to become a YouTuber.
The best thing about getting to know creators is that we get to witness their amazing journey while we appreciate all that they have achieved so far. Every creator has a moment when they took a chance to be active on social media.Their life is prove that quitting your day job for your passion may seem like a scary career choice but with proper determined and hard work things will fall in place. Leaving a stable job in order to follow a dream can sound scary, but Indian moto vlogger Anurag Dobhal aka The UK07 Rider decided to call the shots and is now travelling across borders living his passion.
Anurag who is now a successful YouTuber had to make a tough choice before taking up this career. He decided to give up his job as a teacher at a school and a part-time Economics and Accounts lecturer at a college to live a life that supported his love for bikes and travel. While he always made sure to take all the time he gets to ride around his bike making small vlogs, it was during the lockdown that he decided to give YouTubing a shot and invested all his time in travelling and creating vlogs. With the support of his father, he quit his 'stable' job and started his YouTube channel. The channel The UK07 Rider became a huge success and now has over 1 million subscribers. Capturing his expeditions and experiences while riding his favourite KTM bike, Anurag shares vlogs on his channel to keep his audience engaged. His videos – ‘LOC on KTM’ and ‘Travelling to Pakistan’ made him a household name. His efforts and a moment's decision to venture into the world of YouTube is inspiring for every aspiring creator out there. We had the opportunity to talk to the creator and understand more about his journey so far.
Here's what he had to share:
You were a teacher first and now you make travel vlogs on YouTube. How did your YouTube journey begin?
"I was a teacher at a school and a part-time lecturer at a college at Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Economics and Accounts were the subjects I used to teach. Working 5 days a week and preparing for my classes took most of my time. I was only left with the weekends, and I used that for my inner passion – biking and exploring new places. Every Saturday and Sunday I used to hit the road on my KTM bike and shoot a travel vlog, edited the raw files whenever I got time during the week and I used to upload one vlog per week on my YouTube channel – The UK07 Rider. I made it a routine every week to upload one video to another, and one day my video ‘Went to India-Pakistan LOC on KTM Bike’ got viral and got more than 8 million views. This is when I instantly realised what people wanted to watch and how I could create engaging travel content for them."
What was the most memorable reaction that you received when you decided to take YouTube seriously over being a teacher?
"Due to the lockdown, schools, colleges, and tutorial classes were shut down. This stressed me out and like most people, I too was offered only 50% of my salary. While I could manage my expenses, it was a very difficult decision for me to move my complete focus to YouTube. My channel wasn’t monetised then, and I wasn’t able to earn via YouTube ads either. I then discussed this with my father. Told him about my passion for travel vlogs/YouTube, and requested him if he could support me financially for a year. And he instantly supported me with no counter questions. It is his reaction that is most memorable to me. He accepted and stood with my aspirations."
In your journey so far, how many places have you travelled to and which places do you wish to explore?
"My visit to the Kartarpur Corridor, Pakistan and interacting with people from the other side of the border has been one of the most engaging travel content series on my YouTube channel. Travelling to Kartapur via bike to interacting with countrymen from across the border is something that I never dreamt of. Alongside, I have almost explored the whole of Uttarakhand and Himachal. Mountains are love. I have also travelled on my bike to Tamil Nadu, Leh-Ladakh, Rajasthan, UP, Nepal (Kathmandu, Pokhara). Exploring Northeastern India (Assam, Meghalaya) by bike is on my immediate wishlist, I’ll be starting my expedition by the end of his month."
What was the first bike that you owned and was your love for bikes the reason behind you taking up vlogging?
"I had a craze for KTM bikes since my childhood. And luckily I could afford it as it's moderately priced. More than general love for bikes, I had a special liking towards KTM only and wanted to only own a KTM bike. KTM RC 200 was the first bike that I owned. The main idea behind vlogging was to show people that you don’t need expensive bikes to travel and explore places. I aspire to explore the world via KTM."
What are the BTS struggles of a travel vlogger that the audience isn't aware of?
"The biggest challenge is that audience thinks that we create a short vlog of 20-30 mins. Whereas in reality many hours and sometimes days go behind making one vlog. We need to capture every moment, and then find the best one from the footage of 10-20 hours. It gets tiring to wake up at 6, leave for the expedition at 9 am, travel till 10 pm, edit the video till late in the night, and then upload a vlog the next day. Minor accidents, bike breakdown, body pain, are a few more challenges travel vloggers regularly face, all of this happens along the way. I have to take extra precautions when I am travelling with my fiancé, Savya, who is also a fellow moto vlogger."
Which creators/vloggers do you follow and would love to collaborate with?
"The only creators I follow and look up to are Flying Beast and Mumbaikar Nikhil. A collaboration with Flying Beast was a dream come true. Nikhil Mumbaikar is yet to occur. Beyond creators, I would love to collaborate with Nawazuddin Siddiqui."
Do you have any strange memory from any of your travels?
"On one of my early motor vlogging trips, I had a strange and spooky memory. As I was going to attend a wedding late evening, I saw a person wearing a white cloth crossing the street without anyone else around. I was scared to death by that experience."
Any message/tips for upcoming bloggers and influencers?
"I just want to remind them to be themselves and not try to be someone else's version of themselves. The first thing I did when I started my journey was taking inspiration from many different creators, and incorporating the best qualities of each into my own work. Always watch and learn, but do not repeat what you see. Set your own trend rather than following the current one. Be creative and be unique."
If you love travel vlogs too then don't miss out on Anurag's YouTube channel The UK07 Rider.
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