Alan Estrada (Tepatitlán de Morelos, Mexico) is an actor, theater director, singer and, for 14 years, one of the most viewed and influential travel YouTubers on the Spanish-language network. Estrada's alter ego, Alan x el mundo, has more than 3.5 million followers on YouTube, 1.8 million on Instagram and almost 3 million on Facebook.
Some of his most popular videos have exceeded seven million views and he currently has a team of collaborators who help him edit and maintain his website. In it he publishes everything from advice for travelers and gastronomic recommendations, to general culture questionnaires and experiences of his followers on their own journeys around the world.
His latest adventure has been publishing Viajar will change your life (Editorial GeoPlaneta), a compilation of the ten most important lessons that his travels around the world have given him. After six years of work and with the premiere as director, screenwriter and composer of the theatrical musical Seven Times Goodbye in the Middle – currently on tour in Mexico – the prolific creative finally presents his first book.
What made you want to write a book?
I had always wanted to do it, I really like writing, but I didn't dare. I didn't want to make an educational or didactic book, nor did I want the typical book for a content creator who seeks to expand their audiences, without disparaging those who do it, but I was looking to make something more personal, my thoughts and reflections. Six years ago they contacted me from the Planeta group to do it and it was difficult for me to get involved, to be honest.
Was there any guideline that the editorial set in which it said “not here”?
Not exactly, they didn't force me to do anything, but the title, the photo on the cover... That's what they decided, because in the end it's their business. What I was looking for was to make a book that I would read, something that would be worth the effort of my audience both financially, which I think in Spain it is 20 euros, and in the time they would dedicate to reading it. If there is something that I respect a lot, it is the time that my followers invest in me.
He is self-demanding with his work.
Now you touch my heartstrings... Yes I am, very much so. In all my facets, also in the theater. As I told you, respect for other people's time is something that I value, I really appreciate when in a museum, for example, the lines are organized so that you don't have to be there for an hour before you can enter. I try to do the same with my followers and the people who see me. Theater in Mexico, and in Latin America in general, is very varied, there are many options on the billboard and even so the theaters do not fill up. To the people who come, who leave a valuable part of their salary on the ticket and spend the duration of the play with me, what I want is for it to be worth every peso and every second.
Aren't theaters filled due to the economic factor or lack of culture in going to the theater?
I think more like the second. Obviously, there are many people who have difficulty buying milk and bread and will not spend money on going to the theater. But where I live, in Mexico City, there are people with money who spend money on entertainment, but it seems that theater is like the last cultural option. And the offer is very wide.
Where does this passion for theater come from?
From my grandfather and my family. My grandfather was passionate about theater and opera and he published two books of poetry regionally. Since I was little, I was fascinated by the mystique of theater, being able to set up several worlds in a single set and telling stories.
How did 'Alan x the world' start?
I made videos of my trips and edited them so that my family wouldn't get bored watching them. I put music on them, beautiful transitions... That's how I started making the videos, on a personal level. Then it was around 2010 when there was a boom in YouTubers that I saw who could upload them and help people when traveling. I never in my life thought it would become my job, I uploaded them with the intention that they would be useful if someone saw them, to share my experiences and opinions.
Of the ten lessons he gives us in the book, which one do you stick with?
Surely with the last one, that all trips end and taking into account how ephemeral life is. In everything we do, in our daily lives, we have to decide whether to stay or leave: in a relationship, at work, in friendships... It's all about deciding whether you leave or stay. I try to make these decisions taking into account that we all have an expiration date and thinking, if I reach the end of my days at 80 years old, for example, what I would like to remember about my life.
Doesn't thinking about death stop you from making some decisions? If I do this, I might die; If I eat this, I could get sick...
On the contrary, I think it helps me make much healthier decisions. Without ever putting my physical integrity at risk or putting myself in unnecessary danger, of course. But I think that those of us who have experienced personal tragedies so closely are clear about it: the fragility of life can break at any moment.
In the book he admits that he doesn't like recommending places to travel, but tell me a place that you would repeat without thinking about it.
Italy, without a doubt. She could always come back... If there was a pill to keep from gaining weight, even more so.
And a place you wouldn't want to return to?
I don't think it will happen to me with any place I have visited. I always think that trips depend a lot on the circumstances, one day there may be many lines to access a place and you have a terrible time and if you go the next there is no one. I think that the negative experiences I have had have been totally circumstantial and it would be unfair to have a bad opinion of a place because of the specific circumstances that happened to me. For example, the trip I took to Mongolia, due to how it is organized as a state for tourism, I did it with an agency. In that case, the country is beautiful, and I loved it, but I would say that the organizational management of the agency or the guide I went with were not the best. Still, it is not a place I no longer want to return to, on the contrary.
Do you feel that you owe this impartiality and objectivity to your channel followers?
Definitely. As I told you before, respect for the time and effort of others seems fundamental to me and not because I disliked some aspect of the place I visited can I let it stain the veracity of my story. Imagine that some follower watches my video and was saving up to travel to that place... It wouldn't be fair. I try to follow the guidelines of a journalist and provide neutral information when talking about the sites I visit. Of course I show my opinions, if there is a monument that I think is beautiful, or a restaurant where I have enjoyed the food, I recommend it. But I try not to say “this is the best thing in the world” because it probably isn't for everyone.
Do you find it difficult to disconnect from work and stop making videos when you travel for breaks?
Not at all. In fact, more and more it happens to me the other way around, that I forget to take out the camera at moments when I should, like today at the book presentation in Madrid. But when I'm on vacation I have no problem disconnecting from work. The difficult thing is finding the moments to take trips for me, that's another thing.
