An Update for Those Wondering…

Why hello there,

It’s been nearly two years since I’ve done my last Aimlessly Wandering video, and yet, so much has happened since my last video. While I realize I owe nobody an explanation, I feel obliged to speak up and share where we’ve been.

The last episode many of you would have watched was Episode 19 - The Bailiwick of Jersey, where I promised you more content from my trip to Europe. Episode 20 should have been Saint Malo, France, followed by episodes from Liverpool and London. 

Sadly, this is where things went off the rails, but in the best possible way!

Immediately after my European adventure, I started a new full-time Marketing & Communications Manager role. This was a massive milestone for me and my career, and with it came a bunch of responsibilities and dedication to my work. The passion I put into Aimlessly Wandering was diverted to this new and exciting role.

While you would hope that I would have been able to practice “work/life balance,” I failed miserably. Instead of spending my free time chasing my passions and perfecting my videos, I put everything into my work while Aimlessly Wandering sat on the shelf collecting dust (or should I say, sat on a hard drive?) 

Fast forward to the present day.

While I am still with my same employer, and very much loving my role, I have passed off some of the responsibilities that kept me connected to the office 24/7 and have been getting back into a proper work/life balance. It’s an adjustment but a welcomed one. 

While I may have been working, this did not mean we weren’t travelling. In fact, since my European summer, Adrienne and I have done a fair amount of travelling, and of course, the cameras came with us. 

In the last year and a half, we spent a week in Iceland, exploring glaciers and riding Icelandic Horses; we finally made it to the Grand Canyon and spent time exploring its wonders. I made a trip out to Atlanta, with a detour to Baltimore, and more recently, I was just back in Las Vegas, where I shot a bunch of footage. 

This is all to say that even though the website hasn’t been updated in a while, magic is still happening behind the scenes. 

What I hope many people realize and appreciate is just how much work I put into each episode. While they may only be between 10 and 30 minutes each, the longer the video, the more editing goes into it. It’s also worth pointing out that with each new episode, I try to improve over the last one and try new things or learn new shortcuts to enhance the quality of each video. 

While I have attended various classes and volunteered with television studios, creating and editing was never something I did full-time (unless you count radio broadcasting). Yes, I’ve always had “an eye,” and some dramatic flair for capturing video, but editing is something I’ve only really learned hands-on. That said, I know I’m in a place in my life where the art I put out (be it personal or professional) is always going to be high quality. 

In any event, I am excited to share that with the gift of time comes the hope and intention to eventually get back into creating and sharing new videos. I am very excited to eventually finish the European summer series and our adventure to Iceland, and maybe even try to put something more “proper” together with my trips to Atlanta and Baltimore (I featured some of it in my 2024 wrapped video).

Until then, I am delighted to announce that there will be a BRAND NEW episode of Aimlessly Wandering hitting our channel THIS WEEK! 

A friend recently challenged/inspired me to record a new video while I was in Las Vegas. During my time there, I put together an exciting video sharing some fascinating history about Las Vegas in the 90s and some of the things I’ve learned in my countless years of travel to Las Vegas. 

What’s more exciting is that this is also THE LONGEST Aimlessly Wandering video I’ve ever put together, coming in at an air time of just under 59 minutes. YIKES! But I assure you, it’s a fast hour, and, from what I can tell, it’s very engaging and filled with history, tips, and my classic dry/sarcastic humour. 

…..I don’t even want to tell you how long it took me to edit it, let alone the nearly 8 hours and 24 kilometers it took me to film it…But it was all worth it!

The “Directors Cut” will air on our website on Friday morning (EST). In the weeks (or maybe months) to follow, it will also be spliced up into mini-episodes, likely broken down by each of the hotels I visited throughout the episode, for those who may not want to watch the episode in its entirety (but I’m hoping you will!)

So with that, dear reader, I’m hopeful that this is just the beginning of new content, but I also ask for your continued support and patience as I try to balance work, life, and family. At the end of the day, I produce these videos for my family, myself, and my friends first so that we can look back and remember some of the fun adventures we get into. Still, you, the viewers, my fans, and supporters are always in my head and heart as I film new content wherever we go. As the view counts increase, I am more and more honoured and humbled.

In closing, thank you for your continued support and interest! While Aimlessly Wandering may not be as active as we’d like it to be, as far as I’m concerned, it’s always a brand and project that I will always (eventually) come back to! 

Keep wandering,

Andru Valpy 
Founder, Host, and Executive Co-Producer
Aimlessly Wandering