My First Real Brand Trip Experience
Okay, so let’s talk about these ‘brand trips’ you see floating around. It sounds fancy, right? Getting flown out somewhere, treated nice. I finally got to go on one not too long ago, and here’s basically how it went down for me, step-by-step.
It started with an email. Just popped into my inbox one Tuesday morning. A brand I’d actually bought stuff from before, which was cool. They said they liked my posts and wanted to invite me on a trip to see their new thingamajig launch. First thought? Is this spam? Second thought? Okay, maybe this is real.
I replied, asked a few questions. You know, the important stuff. What exactly do you expect me to do? Content-wise, I mean. How many posts, what kind, when do they need to be up? Got all that clarified. They wanted a couple of feed posts and some stories while I was there. Seemed fair.
Then came the planning part. They handled the big stuff: flights and hotel. Sent me the itinerary. Looked packed, honestly. Early mornings, lots of activities. I had to figure out my own stuff too:
- Packing: Not just clothes, but all my gear. Camera, backup batteries, chargers, laptop for quick edits. Had to make sure I had outfits that kinda fit the brand’s vibe too, you know? Didn’t want to show up looking totally out of place.
- Home stuff: Made sure my neighbor could grab my mail, stuff like that. Basic adulting.
- Work prep: Tried to get ahead on my regular content so I wouldn’t be totally swamped when I got back.
The trip itself was… interesting. Got to the airport, flew out. Met the brand people and a few other creators at the hotel. Everyone seemed nice enough. The hotel was definitely fancier than where I usually stay on my own dime.
The days were long. Like, really long. Wake up early for breakfast, then straight into activities. Factory tour one day, workshop another day, lots of product demos. And all through this, you gotta be ‘on’. Taking pictures, shooting little video clips for stories, making notes for the posts later. It wasn’t just a vacation, it was work. You’re constantly thinking about angles, lighting, what shot would look good, what caption could work.
There were scheduled photo ops, group dinners. Lots of talking about the brand and the product. Some of it felt a bit forced, trying to get that perfect ‘authentic’ shot everyone was after. But hey, that’s the deal, right?
I tried to capture stuff as it happened, keep it real-ish to my usual style. Talked to the brand folks, asked questions. Got some decent behind-the-scenes stuff I thought my audience would actually find interesting, not just the glossy promo shots.
Getting back home was a relief, honestly. Tired. Then the real work started. Sifting through hundreds of photos and video clips. Editing. Writing captions that met the brand’s points but still sounded like me. Sent drafts for approval – there was a bit of back-and-forth, minor tweaks. Finally got everything posted by their deadline.
So, yeah. That was my brand trip experience. It wasn’t just free travel; it involved clear expectations and a good amount of work before, during, and definitely after. Was it worth it? Yeah, I think so. Got some cool content, made a connection with the brand. But it definitely wasn’t the pure glamorous holiday some people might think it is. Just setting expectations here!
