Xander Budnick Talks Survival, Outdoor Filmmaking, Getting Sober & the Value of Learning by Doing

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Xander Budnick Talks Survival, Outdoor Filmmaking, Getting Sober & the Value of Learning by Doing

This is Episode 5 of Baird Country, the podcast where outdoor adventure meets personal stories. In this episode, Xander Budnick shares some thoughts on what it's like being a YouTube content creator.

Xander Budnick has a YouTube following of over 680,000. With a background in film, he shares how that has helped him to create stories of adventure and survival to share with others.

During our conversation, Xander discusses his passion for creating outdoor and survival content. He shares some insight on becoming a better whitewater canoe paddler, his journey on getting sober, wilderness survival, what fuels his love for the outdoors, what keeps him excited about filming his epic adventures, and an update on what he has planned for this year.

He also talks about how the value of learning something on a deeper level by doing it, and how he has effectively jumped into things and grown wings on the way down.

Sit in with us for a great discussion on what it's like to be a full-time outdoor content creator in this episode of Baird Country!

Check out Xander Budnick on YouTube ​⁠ @XanderBudnick  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xanderbudnick/

Check out my social media channels for trip photos, articles I write, video reels and podcast updates.

https://www.instagram.com/jbadventurer/

https://www.facebook.com/jbadventurer

https://www.tiktok.com/@jbadventurer

Check out all my podcast episodes through the playlist linked here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdWkde9gml__GpO_JouKEWl1UdckeYDeg&si=w9jDkhiQ6Xj7Gzl8

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:08 Xander explains what happens after he paddles down a rapid at the head of a canyon
• 10:14 Xander talks about the survival content on his YouTube channel
• 14:30 Jim asks Xander about when he decided to become a content creator full-time
• 26:00 Xander talks about his background in film and how it helps to create the videos for his YouTube channel
• 29:00 Jim asks Xander about why he started filming survival-based adventures
• 31:01 Xander discusses the difference between outdoor adventures versus survival adventures
• 32:15 Jim asks Xander whether the adventures he films are fuelled by passion or video views
• 43:30 Xander talks about how to gain confidence while paddling down rapids
• 56:34 Xander shares about an upcoming adventure in Nunavut
• 1:00:18 Jim asks Xander about when Clay Hayes taught him how to make a self-bow
• 1:14:10 Xander discusses his journey becoming a hunter
• 1:26:03 Jim shares what adventures he’s doing in 2024
• 1:39:51 Xander talks about his experience with bugs in the outdoors
• 1:43:16 Xander talks about how he publishes content on YouTube
• 1:46:07 Jim asks Xander about what keeps him excited about creating content