What is Backpacking Bananas?
And how did it become what it is today?
Backpacking Bananas is a YouTube channel about all things backpacking, solo travel, life motivation and all the ups and downs that come with it.
It started in 2013 as a way of documenting my travels for friends and family.
I noticed I was getting a lot of the same questions and queries from friends wanting to do something similar, so I thought it would be a good idea to branch the YouTube channel into offering tips and advice. Dishing up the information I wish I had known before going, information that at the time, could not be found on YouTube.
And from these videos, my audience started to grow. And I continued to travel to new destinations, making mistakes and sharing them so that others don’t make the same ones, but ultimately hopefully inspiring others to experience this beautiful world.
I would work any temp job I could find to save money for my next trip. I also did 2 years of working holidays in Australia and New Zealand so I could continue to make content about travel whilst earning enough to get by.
Then in 2017, I took the plunge and became self-employed in order to be even more available for travel. Through people seeing my video work online, I was offered a few freelance video production jobs which kept me financially afloat, still making as many trips as I could to create more adventure and advice videos for Backpacking Bananas.
In 2019, I launched my clothing line Solo, inspired by and made for backpackers who want to wear the most practical and functional attire for travelling whilst looking and feeling good.
Fast forward to 2020, the channel now has over 100,000 subscribers, I have released my first digital products, and I feel proud to call myself a full-time travel vlogger and entrepreneur.
But who am ‘I’? (I hear you cry) See below...
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“The best is yet to come”
Frank Sinatra (and Grandma Risman)
About Me
Hi! My name is Christianne. Thanks so much for taking the time to come and visit my little corner of the internet! And now you’ve reached the part where you get to know about the face behind the banana.
So let’s start from the beginning...
I was born in 1993 in a town called Chertsey in the UK. I am the youngest of 3 sisters and my whole life I have lived in Woking, Surrey.
As a youngster, my passion was sport. In particular swimming and gymnastics. This evolved into becoming a competitive athlete in my teens. I competed nationally, representing Surrey in triple jump, sprint hurdles, heptathlon and pole vault.
When I was 17, the pole vaulting resulted in a severe stress fracture in my lower back, for which I had surgery, equipping me with 2 metal rods now permanently supporting my back (luckily they don’t set off the alarms in airport security!)
Being unable to compete (or indeed move much at all), I focused on new things. Although I achieved good grades at A-Level, university just didn’t appeal to me as there was nothing in particular I wanted to study. So, in between dying my hair a multitude of awful colours, I started planning for a round-the-world trip instead.
Then in 2013, with 2 friends, I embarked on a 7 month adventure starting in Bangkok. And the rest, is banana history.
Fast forward 7 years, I am still in love with backpacking and have worked hard to turn it into my full-time career.
I still love gymnastics and you’ll often find me upside-down. I have an unhealthy obsession with pasta. In lockdown I have become a keen rambler. I’m currently taking Spanish lessons at a B1 level. And I haven’t had a haircut in 2 years...
Want to know more?
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