The Colin and Samir Show - Inside Ryan Trahan’s 50-Day YouTube Marathon

Inside Ryan Trahan’s 50-Day YouTube Marathon

Jul 13, 2025 - 58m 45s

In this episode, we catch up with Ryan Trahan midway through 50 States in 50 Days—his most ambitious YouTube series yet. Ryan breaks down how he's producing 20–30 minute daily videos while traveling to a new state every day, all to raise money for St. Jude (over $3.6M so far). We talk about building repeatable formats, interactive storytelling, and why this feels like YouTube’s version of “watercooler TV.” Plus, Ryan shares the discipline and intention behind the series—and what it’s taught him about impact, creativity, and generosity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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St. Jude

Ryan discusses raising over $3.6 million for St. Jude through his series.

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The Ambitious Journey of 50 States in 50 Days

Ryan Trayhan shares the transformative experience of his latest YouTube series, '50 States in 50 Days.' As the title suggests, this adventure involves traveling to a new state every day for fifty consecutive days, all while raising funds for St. Jude. The initiative, which has already surpassed $3.6 million in donations, highlights Ryan's commitment to positive impact through his platform. The unique nature and scale of this series have captivated audiences, garnering collective views exceeding 100 million already.

Crafting Content with Intent: Daily Uploads and Format

In discussing why he chose to create content daily for 50 days, Ryan emphasizes the distinctness of daily uploads and their ability to create 'live stream magic' reminiscent of popular Twitch creators. He details the significance of establishing repeatable formats and engaging segments to keep the viewer-oriented and invested. By incorporating routines like 'jammy time' and the 'game plan,' he's ensured that each episode retains its own flavor while embodying structure, allowing viewers to feel connected and comfortable amidst the changes.

Interactive Storytelling and the Wheel of Doom

One standout feature of Ryan's series is the 'Wheel of Doom,' which introduces unpredictable elements into the storytelling process. This gamification aspect encourages viewer engagement as donations activate the wheel, leading to entertaining and sometimes challenging tasks for Ryan and his team. This approach emphasizes the shifts taking place in media consumption, where audiences desire interactivity and involvement, creating a shared experience akin to modern live streaming.

Building a World Through Familiarity

Ryan's strategy for content creation benefits from a strong sense of routine, which leads to the formation of a 'world' within the series. The consistent use of similar visuals, character introduction, and familiar segments (such as the morning routine) fosters a comforting space for the audience. Ryan notes that while familiarity enhances viewer enjoyment, introducing variables keeps the adventure refreshing. This balance of structure and surprise cultivates a unique viewer relationship — their investment becomes ongoing rather than a one-time viewing.

Lessons in Discipline, Creativity, and Generosity

Throughout the series, Ryan reflects on broader life lessons learned from this project. He addresses the importance of discipline and commitment in creative endeavors, illustrating how ambitious goals can transform a person's work ethic and creative outputs. Moreover, Ryan expresses gratitude for his community and emphasizes the greater purpose of his content — fostering generosity and serving others, aligning deeply with his motivations for creating.

Transcription

Oh my goodness.

Well, Ryan.

First question for you is, why are you making the same video every day?

What?

Am I going nuts?

Am I making the same video every day?

Good morning, Sleepyheads.

Today on The Con and Spirit Show we're catching up with Ryan Trayhan in the middle of his series 50 states in 50 days.

Now, every summer, Ryan Trayhan does a big series where he goes daily on his channel, all with an effort to raise money for a charity.

This year, 50 states in 50 days is by far already his biggest yet in terms of viewership and money donated.

So the time that we're recording this, it's been 29 days, so there's been 29 episodes of this show.

It's crossed over 100 million views collectively.

Each episode is averaging between like two and four million views a day.

You'd have to imagine these are all returning viewers coming back the episode lengths are like 20 to 30 minutes So this is truly like a hit show that's on every single day and then from the fundraising perspective They raised over 3.6 million dollars for St. Jude's now.

It's also a very unique show It is an incredible feat for Ryan and his small team to bring it together So we caught up with him to learn number one How is he making the show how is he doing and what does this show mean about YouTube and media as a whole?

All right.

After you hear from Ryan, we're going to come back here and debrief to talk about the biggest lessons that we're learning from this series and that we learned from this conversation with Ryan.

Here's our conversation with Ryan Trayhan from the road.

Well, first of all, dude, how are you doing?

I'm doing pretty good.

We're an uncharted territory.

One day, 33 and 50.

any series was 30 days.

So we are now beyond our longest daily blog series ever.

Let's just start with, why are you actually making a video every single day for 50 days?

What is the series?

Yes.

So right now, Haley and I are going to 50 states and 50 days.

We are staying in the coolest Airbnb I could possibly find in each state along that route.

This is really something I wanted to do with Haley, before we even got married, I wanted to do a road trip where we go see America.

That's why I have a many of them, like it's really something I've always wanted to do.

And I'd say after the Penny series, I was kind of contemplating, like, what if I did a series with Haley where we do that?

It's kind of like a daily upload series once again, just because I think daily series on YouTube are so magical.

like you capture a little bit of like the live stream magic that we all love like on on big Twitch creators and everything.

And it's really like the antithesis of what YouTube is, I'd say.

So that's why I'm doing it.

I think it's amazing and the fun reason that we're doing for St. Jude is also incredibly motivating.

And wanted to use my platform for good this year.

I tried to do that at least once a year.

So that's that's the it's a conglomerate of reasons, But I'd say it's going really well.

I'm really happy that we're doing it.

Well, you also show us out the window like what are you looking at?

Oh, yeah, sure you guys are never gonna believe this.

Oh god.

There's the road.

Okay.

You get to see it.

Wow.

Well, uh, so little sneak peak We spun the wheel of doom and recently because we had three million dollars raised We had to switch out a bunch of penalties that we've already landed on and so one of the penalties that we switched on was It's called anti-climactic and we have to go to the lowest rate and tourist attraction in the state that we're in before continuing on to the road trip.

We are in New York because we are driving from Vermont to Pennsylvania.

If you look it up, it literally is Times Square.

No way.

Well, we are on our way to Times Square and not expect to go there.

We were trying to avoid it because of how much traffic there is and how crazy it is.

But yeah, we're going to Times Square.

Thanks to the wheel of doom.

Shout out to that guy.

Wow.

How does the mechanism work?

Like, who triggers the wheel of doom?

Is that like Zach and that's called it?

Yeah, yeah, my team activates it whenever we have a donation.

Haley and I actually despise it.

Like, it's kind of funny.

We're not playing it up for the video because we are doing the road trip.

You know, like, been on the road for over a month.

We're like, we just want to get there.

We just want to drive our seven and a half hours.

But now we're going to our square.

It's been honestly really fun to watch.

And I'm sure Samir and I will get into like, like why we've enjoyed watching you go through this.

But when you say that daily uploads are the antithesis of what YouTube is, I believe that's because it is incredibly difficult to make a YouTube video.

So to make one every day for 50 days, at some level of quality when it comes to storytelling, when it comes to production is really hard.

And I would imagine that you had to think really hard about how you're doing this in preparation to make sure you could actually pull it off.

Yeah, what did you have to put in place with this daily show to make sure you could do it every single day?

Yes, well You're totally right.

It is very hard It's it's pretty interesting because I'd say the penny series actually taught me a lot about What committing on YouTube looks like because I say I tell you a lot of creators and we all have like lofty dreams And we all have big ideas And it's so interesting to commit to something if you don't know you'll be able to pull it off.

And for me, I've always gravitated towards things like that, even in my life, where I'm like, that type of ambition and dream scares me and that's almost why I want to do it.

It's almost feels like I know that part of the reason it will work is because so few people are willing to try it.

And I don't know.

And in many ways, I feel like a lot of my life has prepared me for stuff like this, where I know that just through a decent level of discipline, then you can actually accomplish a lot more than you might expect of yourself.

And so yeah, the Penny series taught me like, it is so worth committing yourself to something great and bigger than yourself and following through with it.

And I was just so proud of that fundraiser, so proud of how it is felt like a big positive movement on YouTube and really just like for a human human interaction level.

And so when it came to this Airbnb series, almost double the uploads, double the days and this time going to a new state every day.

Whereas at Penny Series, I was in, I think like four or five states, there was like an Austin, Texas, I was there for nine days.

You can almost like get into a routine in the Penny Series, but to keep moving every day, it's like, it's a lot.

And so I think you guys kind of hit it early on when you ask me if you're making the same video every day.

For me, I really feel like you have to create segments that are repeatable and satisfying and also just like for me and Hayley it's like the same thing we do in our normal life we want to create routines and that's how you get through life it's how you find the things you enjoy and find the little things throughout your day that look forward to and so do whether it's like jammy time or the game plan or getting coffee in the morning by the every day, and I think it creates structure for viewers to where it's not overwhelming of like, wait, where are we?

Like, what part of the video are we in?

Like, I understand I'm just hopped.

If you skip a few episodes, you might miss something, but at least you know, like, okay, here's the game plan for today.

I can catch up and understand where we're at and orient myself and there's like universe that we're in.

And so I just love the structure and it makes things easier for editing too, which by the way, Zach and Cohen shout out to those guys.

They have been grinding.

I just have to brag on them for a second because I don't know if anyone has ever made 20 to 30 minute daily vlogs like this before and by far the hardest part I think is the editing.

We think about that much footage and creating a good video that's 20 to 30 minutes every day.

I think what they're doing is like completely excellent and they're amazing.

100%.

Like to be like, so by the way to say like, you know, you're making the same video every day, like we're saying it as a obviously like joking around, but like, almost as an impressive feat of this rule book you've created, because again, as a creator, like, it's very hard to do what you're doing, both from the production and the post perspective, but a couple of things, like, one thing that we were looking at is, as human beings, somewhere between 40 and 50% of our daily life, like, what we works, right?

As we work in habits and rituals.

And I think as we've been looking at this show itself and like why it's so different on YouTube, it's actually part of a bigger trend that's happening in entertainment, which is this return to appointment viewing.

So like in 2023, 75% of the most popular shows in the US were weekly releases, not binge viewing.

And so we're starting to see like I think people want shared experiences again.

I think people want like water cooler TV.

And whenever you do a daily series on YouTube, it gives us all like a thing to talk about because we're watching the same thing at the same time.

Otherwise, we're watching a bunch of different things at different times.

And you know, maybe we could talk about it.

But when there's this thing happening, we get to we get to talk about it at the same time.

And I think the familiarity of every day.

I have like a deep sense of joy when I watch you guys get coffee.

And it happens every single time I'm like, I just, I like look forward to you getting an iced coffee.

And I think one thing we wanted to ask you is like, what's the rulebook for the show in terms of what stays the same every day and what changes?

What has to stay the same?

What has to change to keep it interesting but also doable.

Yes.

I would say what stays the same every day.

Like the way that I'm directing all these videos is literally my notes app.

I'm writing out the next episode segments before I wake up the next morning.

So when I go to bed when we say thank you guys see you in the morning.

I basically upload all the footage to Zach and Cohen and then I go on my phone and I write out, okay what does tomorrow look like?

And the first four bullet points are always good morning, morning routine, full-ranking game plan, and I know that that's going to be the same every morning.

So in a way, it's kind of a relief.

It's like kind of hard creatively to start up your engine and get things rolling, but if I know, okay, those are my first four segments, I know I can almost do those ritualistically, and it's essentially the same structure.

I just have to plug in the new information instead of it being day 32, now it's day 33, and oh yeah, this time we're heading to Pennsylvania.

And it's really simple in that way.

But then the variables come in of like, okay, how is the route different to Pennsylvania?

What problem does this long road trip pose?

If the wheel of doom goes off, how big of a threat is that versus, you know, if it's a two-hour drive?

And so I'd say that there's so much genuine interest from Haley and I of seeing these new places.

For us, it's really about capturing the road trip of going to all 50 states in the best way possible.

And really, the biggest storyline is raising money for St. Jude and the amount of generosity around that has been completely mind blowing.

And I'd say it's just like for me, the structure allows with the real stories to thrive, which is the adventure and the fundraiser.

I mean, $3.6 million right now is completely insane.

I texted you about that, but like that number is it's pretty hard to wrap your head around that and like what you can do with $3.6 million and where this is going to be at the end.

I would also say one thing that's so interesting to me to think about the fundraiser.

The fundraiser also offers this opportunity for it to be interactive, right?

Like one of the unique pieces of this show is that it's interactive media, that we can participate in it, that you've done such a good job of creating these stakes and these incentive structures for us as viewers to engage or to get excited when someone triggers a donation, whether it's Dollar Shave Club and they're now impacting the fact that you can't shave your beard, right?

or if it's like the split, like you've done a great job of creating this game that we get to play in.

Or Airbnb with the chef and the experience.

Yeah.

One thing I wanted to talk about and wonder how much you thought about in advance is like character development because another thing like your exceptional ad within formats is building characters.

Even down to the fact that you and Haley are wearing the same clothes every day.

Like that makes you guys into characters for me.

There's familiarity to that.

like there's a sameness that makes me comfortable and there's like the wheel of doom is a character.

The Airbnb's are characters like how much do you think about within each episode who the characters are and what they represent even people who donate our characters.

Jeff probes is a character.

Oh my goodness.

He is.

He's an amazing character.

That question is really interesting and I think it makes me realize how much things move slowly and then feel like they're moving all at once.

When it comes to your development of your creativity or your style, because I'd love to take credit and feel like a genius for all of these things like being highlighted.

Oh yeah, that's like now an element of the series and our clothing is a way that we can feel more like characters.

But I feel like it's almost like over the course of years, like we've known each other for so long.

And I feel like it's almost these little realizations about your style that but almost inform how your content comes out.

And like, I just really like wearing white in my videos.

Like I had the white tank top during the penny series.

It just feels like this blank canvas that's super simple makes me look more tan at times.

And I feel like it works really well with my thumbnails.

And so it was almost a no-brainer of like, okay, I want to wear like a simple outfit.

I'll wear a white t-shirt.

I started wearing jeans shorts this past year because my friend Mitchell put me on them And it just feels like it felt like, okay, that's gonna be like sort of like my outfit for the series.

It just felt like a thing that was almost obvious and same for Haley, like it just felt like we just wanted to be like a simple thing.

And when it comes to the characters, I had this realization like five years ago that if you just put a camera on an everyday person, they would probably be like a superhero.

Like I really feel like the day-to-day average person you interact with, if you just put a spotlight on them, everyone would fall in love with them.

And that's the amazing thing about YouTube and I feel like my channel especially is I've kind of felt liberated to be like, hey, do you need the video?

And a lot of people are like, yeah, sure.

And they end up being the most hilarious, likable person way more than I could be in that moment.

And so I think that's just encouraging for humanity in general, just be like, oh, okay, maybe the everyday person who I just breeze past as I walk by them, maybe they actually have a really funny thing to talk about with me or they would be really positive and encouraging to interact with.

So I think that that's been a big realization and it kind of naturally comes out in the content because I've been doing it for so long But then when it comes to the wheel of doom and the fundraiser and trying to make that as fun as possible Like that is a thing I've definitely put so much passion and time into and like When I'm going to sleep thinking of different ways to make the fundraiser more interactive and thinking of ways to make it to where brands want to donate And so the fact that like this time around we are having like fortune 500 companies donate Whereas the Penny series is mostly creators and like really, really generous people just like Supporting in a big way like this is a huge deal to me and also I hope for like the YouTube platform to see like It's awesome for these huge brands who have huge marketing budgets to interact with something that feels so communal and feels so over You were talking about earlier some years like the water cooler conversation.

I'm just like yeah, it's water cooler TV Yeah.

Exactly.

I feel like it's so cool to see huge brands interact with this content because it feels so low-fi.

It doesn't feel produced and it feels like we're just literally on a road trip going across America.

So I'm happy to continue highlighting brands and just like the way they're interacting with us feels so not corporate and I think that's what feels good about it.

It was intentional to not get a brand involved as like the presenting sponsor or something of this series because I'd imagine there's a lot of opportunities for that, right?

Like where a brand and wants to be like 50 states and 50 days presented by, you know, I saw Kia donated or T-Mobile or like, like, you know, even Airbnb, I think there's probably some people who still in their head think like, oh, this is a deal between Ryan and Airbnb.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's, it's not, it's a, for me, I think when it comes to fundraiser's on my channel, I think this is like the fourth or fifth fundraiser I've done, and I've always wanted them to feel just pure, and I've always wanted them to feel like, We have a single goal in that series as much money as possible.

I feel like if we had a sponsor or like a partner in that way, they were paying my team and I just feel like it wouldn't come across as genuine.

And for me, I think people are way more excited about brands donating than as this series is sponsored by this person, try their product.

There are a lot like my viewers are a lot less likely to actually try their product than and if Airbnb donates $250,000 and gives us the ability to have a chef come to our house as part of their new services that they're offering.

But I love is I feel like these brands are, they're actually so smart about how they're donating.

And it almost feels better than if it was just a traditional sponsorship because they're affecting my adventure in a way that I wasn't in control of and they're also highlighting it as a natural integration.

And so for me, I just want the fundraising to be as successful as possible.

And if partnerships come after this, because of, you know, like our ability to see how well we work together, like with team mobile or key or Airbnb or whoever, I would love that because I like working with brands that support my fundraisers and support my vision for my channel and how I want to do things.

And so, you know, we'll see how that goes.

But as of right now, I just love keeping the fundraisers focused as possible.

And if we can, if we can and just like keep pushing it forward, then I just know the good stuff will come later.

I know this opportunity will come, but I'm not too worried about it right now.

That's awesome.

So in terms of like accessibility of putting a camera on someone, like one thing that I'm looking at too is like the 99% of this series is shot on iPhone.

Yes.

That's like one of the things that makes it wonderful is how accessible it is.

And when you do go to New Haven and someone's outside the pizza shop and you wanna film them, like if you had a big camera, that's a different experience.

Yes.

Right.

And even the graphics that you put on screen are generally iPhone, UI graphics or their Airbnb graphics.

It looks incredibly familiar to us in that way as well.

Yeah.

It's very native.

I think that I'm a big fan of Apple and Airbnb in their creative direction.

Obviously, as I've been building joyride, I thought a lot more of like how a brand talks and how a brand has like their own voice.

And so I've just kind of like looked around like what brands I feel like are doing UI the best and also feels the most accessible and relatable.

And I just love it.

Everyone has like the emoji keyboard on their phone or everyone has the an emojis.

So that's why Haley and I have like an emojis on the map of whenever we're progressing towards the next Airbnb.

It's just all things that feel very native to your phone.

And I think that what you're saying some years totally right where even if I brought a DSLR to 7-Eleven to do a joy ride run, it's like who's this guy coming in here and like filming and talking to his cameras.

It's really obnoxious at times and I found like the ironies I just get uncomfortable filming in public But if I have an iPhone I feel much more like okay everyone kind of films in public like a lot of people take photos on their phone You know, even if you're doing a tourist like activity like everyone gets their phone out And so I feel much more comfortable and much more like not a nuisance And so it makes other people more comfortable the film with me as well So right at this point I feel like your style has become so distinct over many many years of creating these daily series.

And now, I feel like people will copy parts of it.

Similarly to when Casey did daily uploads, we did it, and tons of creators were like, okay, I'm gonna go daily now.

And we probably made that decision without much thought.

It was just like, oh, he's doing it, we like it, and we wanna replicate it.

And then we all kinda were like, wow, that's really hard and he's really good at that.

And maybe I learned something about myself and I'm not gonna do that anymore.

What advice do you have for creators who are watching and they're very inspired by what you're doing?

And they're so inspired that they're like, I've decided no matter what, I'm going daily.

But obviously you've put a lot of thought into it and you've had many years of experience.

So what would be your advice to creators who are like, so inspired, they know they're gonna go daily but they haven't thought much more about it.

Well, first of all, I really appreciate that idea that people can be inspired by me.

Because I've always been, I feel like I've always been in the position where I've been the one inspired by other creators and other people that are just like doing cool things.

So the idea that I can do that for someone else is really cool.

But I'd say the biggest thing for me it is just personally I think YouTube's in a place where it's good to create an event.

I always tell my other friends or creators like like audiences really gravitate towards memorable moments.

It's the same with brands, I'd say.

Like, it's the same with baseball teams.

Their football teams were really anything we're fans of.

Like, you really latch onto even musicians because of that one album or that one concert you went to.

And I think it's very similar with creators who are like, you know, Ludwig, he always puts on these really cool events.

And I feel like that's the type of water cooler conversation you're talking about, Samir.

it's like, did you see this person do this?

And I'd say that that's really the one of the only ways that we mentally gravitate or like lash onto a person.

Even when PewDiePie did his Minecraft Summer series and whenever he was like trying to pass T series, it's like these moments that are like fixtures in YouTube history to me.

And so I was trying to tell like my friends who are creators like, what could be like a week long series that you could do like something that you feel like you're committing to that feels scary, but it's like an adventure that people would love to cheer you on for.

I think Preston goes at his train series was the perfect example.

And it wasn't even daily.

I think he uploaded over the course of three weeks.

He uploaded a one video week, but it still felt like this is a thing that Preston goes did.

It's probably nothing he did at this point.

And so I'd say when it comes to daily, like just asking, is daily really the way that I need to create that experience for my audience or my future audience or kind of do it through just some sort of other endeavor.

But it all comes back to like, is it memorable?

Are there are there phrases and terms that people can spread the word of mouth?

Like even with this series, like 50 states and 50 days feels like it's been coined as the term that people are sharing verbally.

Whereas the penny series is the penny series.

I didn't even call it the penny series.

It just like started getting traction in that way.

So I think thinking of all of that together as a creator can really help you understand like okay what's the thing that I feel passionate about that can make me stand out and then honestly not not to ramble too much but I think you can really balance something like that with just like the the bread and butter of posting every two weeks on YouTube posting a really good video and being there for your audience who who does like your videos and showing up consistently because I think you can do an event and then just like vanish for like six months and then you almost like miss out on the whole point of doing something special, which is connecting with viewers and doing that consistently.

So I think finding a balance is really important as well.

So one thing that makes you unique in doing this is while the videos are relatively low-fi, they're like rooted in your personality, they're accessible, the thumbnails for this series have been out of this world.

There's one for Maryland that is like one of the most beautiful thumbnails I've ever seen where you're like peeking through the grass, or the one for Alabama where you're like in the keyhole.

Like, Colin and I were talking about how this is like a gallery.

Like I would go to a gallery to look at these thumbnails and like they're all beautifully designed works of art.

And you know, I've watched you work in titles and thumbnails before.

Like I've never seen anyone do it in the way that you do it.

And this series I think is really emblematic of how you operate with titles and thumbnails.

and I'm just curious about like the process of making 50, did you make all 50 thumbnails prior to the series?

And then how you thought about packaging the series because I know there's actually been some changes along the way.

Yes.

First question, yes, we did make all 50 thumbnails before we left.

It was a grind.

I mean, I think I made 50 thumbnails in the past two years combined.

Like obviously with ABC testing, that's going up.

But like the amount of work that went into ideating before we even started shooting them, like, oh my goodness.

there's months and months and that really comes back to what I've talked about before on this channel which is like that concept of redemptive work of just like you might notice it because you love YouTube and you love thumbnails and titles but I'd say the everyday person probably won't think of the thumbnails and think too much of it they might think like oh that's cool like he's kind of like at a farm this time but I just love that concept because it really is like I doesn't matter Or if we get credit or recognition for working hard or for, you know, having the most creative thumbnail or process, as long as people are enjoying it and the fundraiser successful and it feels like we've given a gift to my viewers and to St. Jude, hopefully.

then it was a success and I feel like that redemptive framework is still serving me to this day and it inspires all of my team just to like work to give people a gift and the rest will take care of itself.

But I'd say beyond that when it comes to the overall packaging we wanted to start with an Airbnb concept in the title and we changed to the original title from I tried the top 50 Airbnb's in America to now it says I visited 50 states in 50 days and the The reason we wanted the Airbnb concept at first is because one of my favorite videos I've ever made on my channel is I stayed at OMG Airbnb's and it was an outlier on my channel.

It did really well and so I was like, okay, doing the top 50 in America feels like a really strong packaging concept.

And so if you look at all of the thumbnails, they now have states in the thumbnails in terms of the text.

But before it was sort of like Airbnb categories, the biggest thing is we notice a lot of people started calling it 50 states or 50 states in 50 days.

And if that was the element of the series that people caught on to, I thought it's probably better for us to pack it in a way that people remember and people are already talking about the award of mouth.

And so we switched the title from I tried the top 50 year being B's in America to I visited 50 states in 50 days.

And I'd say so far it's been a good change and I just feel like it embodies the series a lot better and I feel a lot more proud of like how it comes across and how you could to click on each state, the state that you live in and watch that episode much more easily.

Yeah, I actually totally agree.

I think it actually makes you feel like you're in the middle of the journey, right?

Like if I see, I went to 50 states and 50 days or I visited 50 states and 50 days and I see Nebraska, I know that that's one of 50.

And then again, like what you said is like every episode has this root framework, like a system to it that I can live within.

And if I did miss three days, is it's actually not that big of a deal.

How surprised are you guys, and maybe not surprised, but I would say, I feel surprised about the Haley TikTok edits.

Yeah, it is completely weird.

Like, I actually, I don't even know what to say.

I can't believe it.

Like ESPN posted Haley doing a, I don't even know, I don't even know the guy who's like a Lamar Jackson edit.

It was insane.

Steph Curry edits.

I don't understand TikTok.

I haven't had TikTok for like four years.

I feel like an old man, but I got sent these, and I'm like, okay, can someone, is this like bad?

Are we doing, like, is this a bad thing?

You're gonna be doing it making fun of us?

But it's not, it's really good.

Using your footage to like speak.

Yeah, I think it's a good thing.

It's hilarious, I love it.

I think it just for me symbolized like, oh, this series is actually crossing over into different cultures, which like you said before, like the Penny series I think remained in the world of YouTube a little bit and now this is like between the Fortune 500 donations between like ESPN and Houston Texas making TikTok and it's based on Haley, like it, it feels like this version of the series has expanded quite a bit.

Yeah, and actually I think traveling to every state is part of that.

The fact that it feels like everyone is going to get to be a part of it at least in the US right now.

I'm sure there's watching them all over the world.

But if you're here in the US, it's like everyone gets to watch their state.

Yes, it was cool.

Even today we got a we got a wheel of doom activation like right before this call, but it was from Bob Evans.

He's like a restaurant in Ohio.

And how crazy that like we are going to Ohio.

Of course, they want us to go to the restaurant and we will.

But it's just so cool because I would have never gone to Bob Evans if we hadn't done the series.

And also that like I would have never known that someone at Bob Evans watches it and wants to support and is so generous to donate over $50,000.

Like, I just think it's incredible and what you're saying, Colin, is so right that like, it really creates a universal experience where it feels, it feels that intimate and special at least once for, you know, a viewer who lives in maybe like Montana or Wyoming, like, it is really exciting for sure.

So this, this concept of like the wheel of doom activating and this interactive media idea of being able to donate and impact it, I do think that feels like Twitch, right?

Like that feels like Kaisenath or Ashospede interacting with chat.

Like that is, there's an element of chat there.

And I'm just curious, if you have thoughts on why all of media is moving in that direction from an audience satisfaction perspective, because we came from a world of YouTube with really high budget, high effort videos that were We're kind of like, let me make this video for you when you watch the video.

And now we're starting to move in this direction that starts to feel a little bit more like, I actually want to be able to interact with the content.

I want to be able to interact with the creator.

Do you see that as like a trend that's happening across YouTube and media?

Or, you know, why do you think this series fits into the puzzle that is, you know, media right now?

Yeah, that's a really good question.

I feel like I consume most content that is like doesn't get as many views like I actually I love every Mr. Beast video I watch all of them, but he it's like this really funny gap where I watch Mr. Beast and then I don't really watch any other big creators.

I watch kind of like these niche interests I have which is like football or gaming or these really random like curiosities that I get into week to week and those videos have like 10,000 views of video and like it's just really interesting for me because those types of hobbies and interests are things that interact with typically in the real world or I'll talk to other friends about.

So I'll talk to my friends about football or obviously I love YouTube, like I'll talk to my other friends about YouTube and I love watching like channels that break down, you know, different reasons that creators do things, like calling it some ear.

And so like it's really, it's really interesting to think about in that way.

But I'd say it has to just be like this bridge with what you're getting at Samir, which is just like, how does the content I can soon interact with my real life?

And how does it affect like my ability to feel like it's part of my human experience?

Because that's what life streaming is.

I feel like you're you're really like in a moment.

And it's kind of getting back at the heart of what I'm trying to do here is like create a moment for people to experience on YouTube.

And for me, I agree.

Like our YouTube videos for the big creators have gotten so infrequent.

Like all the big creators upload like once a month or once every two weeks at best.

And I think that it makes it really hard for people to feel like YouTube can be a place they come home from school every day, log in and just feel at home.

So I think that's why Twitch has been able to create like an environment that feels like that for for kids and adults too.

So I'm curious y'all stuff though because I feel like y'all have seen the big creators that you've all interviewed to change their posting habits.

And even you guys, like what's your perspective on that?

Like, yeah.

Because after this, I'm like, what do I do next?

I don't know what I should do after the 50 days series.

I'm curious how thoughts on the state of YouTube.

I think a lot has changed actually.

I think this year feels the most tangibly different on YouTube in a long time for me.

And I think, um, I think it's either you have to show, you have to really show me something I've never seen before.

And Jimmy is exceptional at that.

Like, let me show you a cheetah racing and F1 come back like I've literally never seen that before in my life.

So like, okay, I'll watch that.

Or it has to be interactive media.

It has to be something that is a part of my life that I can have impact over.

You know, and I think it comes to that world of like video games are some of the most impactful forms of media because we're interacting them.

I get to be a character in the story.

And so I think it's, it's either or now.

It's like show me something I've never seen before or show me something I that I can interact with or talk to other people about.

Like I was comparing, I was texting Colin last night comparing the 50 states and 50 days series to love Island.

I don't know if you've ever watched love Island.

But right now love Island is on fire.

It did like a billion minutes it's watched, it's uploaded six days in a row, it's relatively live.

People are able to make predictions, they're able to talk to their friends about it, they're able to talk about it over dinner, and I think you're totally right.

It's like, either it's allowing me to create a more social experience and a more interactive experience in my life, or it's something I've never seen before that I cannot predict.

Yeah.

I think those are the two things and I think there's a murky middle ground of like what's in the middle.

Yeah.

I think it's also a discussion of viewership versus impact.

Yeah, right.

And like viewership is incredibly quantifiable and impact is not.

They mean.

So of course, it's great to upload a video every two weeks that gets 15 million views.

That's like incredible.

But are you potentially having more impact by reaching two million people more often, right?

Every single day, right?

Like are you creating something that these people remember and actually He does become a habit and becomes a part of their life and does enact change.

And I think as a creator, you have to think now, like, what am I trying to achieve with what I make?

Yeah, right?

And even for us, we've started to think, like, you know, we've been doing a lot of live events where there's, you know, 150, 200 creators that come and spend time with us.

And I think that's incredibly impactful.

I don't have a metric for that, but I can feel it.

Yeah, like that's impact.

Yeah.

and sometimes we'll get a video that has a million views, but I can't always feel the impact.

Totally.

No, that's such a good point.

That kind of feels like the milestone of success on YouTube is kind of like that viewership we all have in our heads of like, if it gets to have any views that's like check box, we did it.

But whenever you sort of wake up the next date, it doesn't really feel too different from the day before that milestone occurred.

So I do think it's really cool to see experience your community in different ways.

And for me, I think that's what I'm really enjoying about this daily series is like going through my Instagram story mentions There are kids that are like dressing up as me and Haley and like going to Target and getting joyride or it'll be a family watching the series together And they're like all pajamas and they're like Jimmy time It's just so wholesome and it's like man This is real like for people and families like this is how they're spending time together And I just know like for me growing up that's that's like memories I really cherish with my family.

And so the fact that we can be a part of that for millions of people is pretty surreal.

And I think what you're talking about calling a spawn on, to feel your impact, it has to look a little bit different than whatever you might feel like the YouTube platform saying is success.

So that's fire.

So right now, at least from what we've seen, because you're four days ahead right now.

Yeah, but from what we've seen 29 videos uploaded a hundred million views across those videos dang I didn't Calculate it yet.

That's crazy.

You've raised $3.6 million for St. Jude's.

Where do you think this will be or What's like at this point like dream scenario for you at the end of of the series?

Honestly, Dream scenario has been surpassed.

I really wanted to set the goal for St. Judith of Million Dollars.

My true dream scenario is surpassed the Feeding America fundraiser that we did for the Penny series.

And honestly, like at this point, it's funny.

It's, you can look back and say, okay, of course, we were going to beat the Feeding America fundraiser because it's just blown past it.

But when you said a goal is lofty as a million dollars, it's like scary.

The thing, okay, I think I know a few people I can donate, but I don't know where the rest is going to come from.

And so the fact that we've surpassed the feeding America fundraiser of 1.4 million dollars, that that, to me, it was a really emotional night.

And it was such an early on part of this adventure.

I would say like at this point, the sky's a limit.

Like if we actually, if we raised $5 million for St. Jude, this already is like one of the most important things I've ever done in my career already.

And we're halfway through, really little past halfway through.

And so this idea, like $5 million to me just feels like it has to be something I don't know, like that is going to be the peak of my YouTube career in my opinion.

I think the, something to think about too, I think the side-man charity match, they raised so much money.

I don't know the exact amount they raised this past year, but I think it was like $6 million and probably even more than that, but just thinking about how special that event is and how much work goes into it, how much of a cultural moment it is.

If we get close to that and I have a team of like five people, we're a really small team and we're just working so hard and pouring everything we can into this.

And the fact that I can share with Hayley, like if we get close to that, to me, it's like it really kind of oriented the whole series in my head of like the impact that we're having.

So dreams have been surpassed already.

I'm so excited for where this lands, but if it ended right now, I'd be stoked for sure.

I mean, yeah, I would say like we're all as a community.

I can feel it.

Like obviously me personally, I've texted you But I feel like incredibly proud, man.

I think you're using the YouTube platform in a way and your ability to storytelling articulate things in a really, really impactful way.

And I think it's really special to watch.

And it feels really just good as a fellow creator to watch.

And I know the whole community feels that way.

So I think we're all really proud and excited that this is a representation of what we do.

and this is something that's possible given the skill set that we work on every day.

I think it reframes what this platform is, to me at least.

And it helps me come back to the original impetus for telling stories.

That's so good.

Thank you, severe.

I would say, right, for me, I watch two things every night with my wife.

One is incredibly wholesome, and one is not.

One is love island, and one is you and Haley with 50 states and 50 days.

And they are incredibly different, and in some ways similar.

I'm very thankful that you've given me a more wholesome option to watch at night.

It's my honor, it really is, I appreciate that.

It's really crazy guys, I just reflected before the call like we've known each other for so long.

It's been so fun to see how the YouTube platform is involved and the whole time you guys have just been so supportive of me and really been like really just supportive, supportive friends along this journey.

So just to think back on even the penny series you guys are right there cheering me on it just means the world And I just appreciate you else wisdom all the time always like giving me great advice.

So thank you guys for what you do and Wouldn't want to talk to anybody else on the road Appreciate that.

Thanks, right.

All right.

We will we will let you get back to your your trip, right?

And Square, but any any parting words with the world of YouTube any parting words with the creator community from you Any parting words?

Let's see.

Listen to comments from me here.

That's number one.

Um, I, I'm super grateful.

I feel like I've been doing YouTube for a long time now and it's pretty surreal to be this position.

I think, uh, think about it all the time.

I've just whenever I wanted to start and I, I really went all in on YouTube like, but I was 18 and I have not stopped since then.

26 now.

So this is eight years in.

And I just talked to Haley a lot about like, man, I stopped upload like three days a week for years and then, you know, slowly figured out my style and I think it's just to really, really sweet thing to look back on and see how many different things I tried to get to this point, how many different types of content I created and how many different, um, I guess ideas like this that I tried that maybe didn't work out as well.

And for me, it's just like really, really cool to look back on.

And I don't know, it's probably similar for you guys.

We're like, you You know, you can feel like your career in life is a lot like what concrete, where you're trying to form it as you go.

I feel like it's a really special time.

You've really got to cherish that time where you don't know all the answers and you don't know what your career's gonna look like or what your style's gonna look like.

And I'd say at this point, like I've been doing YouTube for eight years and I kinda feel much more like a, this is definitely my path and I just wanna give it as much as I can.

But you know, you don't have that like discovery phase anymore.

or you don't have that opportunity to really wonder and be curious about what your creativity could look like.

And at the same time, I'm still so young.

There's still so much I can do, and I look forward to that.

But I'd say a lot of creators want to get, they want to get to the finish line as fast as possible.

And I'd say that there's a lot of joy to be had in the early phases when you don't have it all figured out.

So soak that up.

And so I'd say that's the main thing.

other thing is I just think it's so cool to continue to think of life and and work in that redemptive framework.

I just want to reiterate that.

I said it last time with this podcast, but you know, Samir, we talked a long time ago.

It's about how important my faith is to me.

It's been so cool.

I feel like a lot of the donations that have come through, like shared scripture on the St. Jude page.

And it's just been really, really encouraging to see like what generosity looks like and I think you can you can be generous in so many ways whether it's like what type of work you create or for these people I'm like financial giving even these corporations being generous I think just having a generous lens on your life can really change your experience as a human and try to allow you to serve others and even for Haley and I to serve one another and yeah, I'd say just thinking of generosity in more ways than just money is really empowering to you.

I feel like that's what I'm learning on this adventure.

So yeah, I appreciate you guys so much.

Love you guys.

Love you, man.

Love you too, Ray.

Thanks for coming on.

We'll see you every day for the next 20 days.

Yeah, and then I hope I see you in person.

I'll see you too.

Bye, Ailey.

See you guys.

Bye, Ailey.

The first thing that stuck out to me from the conversation was him talking about taking risks and he wants to do something that he's not sure he can finish or accomplish.

And I think inherently that just makes for a more interesting story and something that's harder for other people to replicate.

I 100% agree with that.

I actually think even that question you asked him around what about creators who are gonna clearly get inspired from this.

As I watch this, it gives me that same feeling of like, like, you know, we've compared them before, but like Emma Chamberlain, where you're like, I just, nope, just nobody else.

You can do the same concept, but you just can't do this because Ryan has a specific tone personality, like, and I actually think the underrated quality of Ryan Trayhand, he mentioned it in this, is his discipline.

He's actually the most disciplined creator I know.

Like I truly don't think I've met a creator who's this disciplined when it comes to brainstorming ideas every day when it comes to the structure of his videos, when it comes to the tone or the repetition of certain things, like he is very disciplined in how he does it.

The guy is wearing the same clothes.

Yeah.

And so is his wife for 50 days.

Yeah.

Like I think that kind of underscores, it's easy to look that over and be like, okay, yeah, it's like good for the videos.

It keeps it simple, but that truly speaks to how disciplined he is, like even down to his clothing.

And that's something that is also prevalent throughout the series.

There's a story that I've told before, but I think it's so important that one time we were in a car with Ryan, it was like an hour and a half car ride and we were talking and we were just like talking about whatever catching up on life and like an alarm went off on his phone and he was like, oh, hold on one sec.

I'll see you guys in 10 minutes.

Just put on his headphones and just took to his phone.

Ten minutes later he took out his headphones.

He was like, yeah, so we were talking and I was like, what was that?

And he was like, oh, every single day, I brainstorm 10 new ideas.

I think that just informs you of his discipline.

It's like, oh, he's, it doesn't matter.

He's just gonna do it.

Even if he's in the middle of a conversation, even if it's like, he has a thing that he's focused on that he's gonna do.

And that's what, like those ripple effects of brainstorming ideas like that.

That's what creates this concept.

That's what creates the OMG Airbnb's video that he made.

That's what creates these like events that he produces.

It's what creates these ideas, but without the discipline to execute, it's nothing.

Totally.

So let's break down a couple of reasons why I think this works.

Both from what Ryan just said, which I think is a lot of new and interesting things that I didn't think about, as well as I wrote an email that we sent out to our creator startup newsletter list, right when the series started, of why I thought this was working so well.

The first thing learning from success, combining what's already working, building off of like, ooh, that was an over performer on my channel, and that was an over performer.

How do I, how do I do that again?

But in a way that's different.

He is an expert at that.

So you go from the penny series, right?

Ooh, these daily video challenges work.

People watch day to day.

They follow this story next has a start and a finish.

And then you go, oh, I did these Airbnb videos and like I tested, I stayed.

How do I match all of this together?

And that's what the series is.

It's like a equation that goes the most successful stuff on my channel, let me add it all together.

Yeah, I mean, that's a superpower of YouTube creators in general because we're uploading more often other people and you're just gathering data.

And it's just a byproduct of honestly all of our careers.

Like everything makes sense in hindsight, right, when your career comes together, it just feels a little more clear for Ryan because you can see these videos on his channel and it's, he seems to be learning quicker than other people definitely and able to like take action on that.

on that.

I think the second thing is inviting the audience into the story.

I think that point that we talked about is incredibly important of like people want to engage with media and content that has an impact on their human life, right, on the day-to-day life.

So even as simple as like, you know, in his kinetic, his new haven episode, he tries this pizza, Sally's, right?

And it takes like a really long time to try it.

But it was a really interesting thing of how accessible and rooted in reality his whole series is.

You're just going to different states and going to certain restaurants that you could go to, right?

So it's that there's an invitation for me to participate in the same thing that Ryan is doing.

Both from the real-time aspect of I can donate and impact the story.

I can see other people trigger the wheel of doom.

I can look at someone like Airbnb who can donate $250,000 and they're a member of the audience just like me.

They're interacting with the story just like me.

So I think all that, the concept that it's like just traveling through America, engaging with restaurants, engaging with real people, like that invites us into the story, and the iPhone, like it all invites us into the story that feels interactive.

That was really interesting.

One of the first things he did was compare it to Twitch stream.

I thought that was really interesting.

I hadn't thought about it in that way, that like this is low-fi and interactive, and that is something that matters a lot right now on the internet.

Yeah.

And to be interactive, you have to be frequent, which what he was talking about, YouTube has sort of drifted away from frequency.

Yeah.

It's consistent.

Top YouTube creators, like he said, are going maybe once a month, every month, maybe every two weeks, but not with the level of consistency that we're seeing on Twitch, where it's every day for eight hours.

Well, I think, you know, shared viewership creates opportunities for discourse, meaning, meaning like when I'm watching at the same time as someone else, it creates an opportunity for me to have a conversation.

And I think that has been undervalued over the past couple of years on YouTube.

Actually, over the past couple of years on, you know, across all of media, like I think we brought up Love Island.

I think that's an interesting experience of shared viewing and discourse.

But a lot of the other series, like you and I were talking about this series called Overcompensating on Amazon Prime Video.

I'm actually watching it at a totally different time than you watched it.

So we can't really talk about it.

We know we've both watched it, but we can't really talk about it.

And that changes our experience with entertainment, the fact that we can't talk about it.

And we moved really far away from that.

We're going to start watching American Idol, man.

I'm not going to watch it.

How many times do I have to say?

I don't have that much.

I mean, I watch a lot of stuff.

Interactive show.

It's great.

I watch a lot of stuff about it.

I can't.

I can't get into American Idol.

Say that to Simon Kelly.

I might.

But I think just playing it simple, like the ability to talk to someone about something you just watched, it's a very simple thing, but we shouldn't undervalue it as creative people.

Like that is a joy in life.

It's a joy when you're the creator, too.

Yeah, totally.

Sometimes in the past, and it's really fun when people are able to interact with what you're making.

It's also, you just don't sleep.

So it can also be terrible.

Yeah.

Yeah, but Ryan seems to have figured it out.

Well, yeah, credit to Zach and Cohen, the editors, seriously.

Mm-hmm.

All right.

The third thing, I think he's done an amazing job of building a world.

I, you know, I said this and Ryan said, like, it's about simplicity, but I do think from an audience perspective, the fact that Ryan and Haley are wearing the same thing every day.

It builds like a container for this world that when I click into these videos, I get to experience familiarity.

And there's these, there's these studies we were looking up about like human beings and mood.

And when it comes to watching something familiar versus watching something novel, watching something novel increases your potential of disappointment.

Yeah.

And watching something familiar increases the opportunity of enjoyment, of course, right?

So it's like when I click into one of these videos every morning when I wake up and say, oh, there's another 50 states, you click into it.

And if you had fun yesterday watching it, it's almost a guarantee the way he's built the world, the way he's built the structure we joked about.

He's making the same video every day.

But that is like, that is by design because it's familiar and feels like comfort food.

And my choice between watching episode 30 of 50 states versus a new thumbnail that's come across my screen, that has too much risk to it.

But yeah, if I'm on a plane, the likelihood that I will watch a new movie is pretty low.

As I'm searching through the movies, I will most likely choose something I've seen many times before, just to feel level of comfort.

And I thought about this the last time we saw like a really successful daily vlog was Casey Neistat and that like New York City was a contained world.

Marlon, the delivery guy was a character, the time lapses, the time lapses, the studio was a set.

that dollar pizza was a character.

It's not just going daily, it's making sure that almost every element is familiar.

Yes.

You know, we're watching Ryan's daily series right now.

Every 15 seconds, something is similar to the day before.

Of course, things are different, but there are so many similarities.

Morning routine, you know, good morning, sleepyhead, or like some sort of good morning.

Jamie time.

Jamie time, game plan.

Even the tour of the Airbnb.

Coffee, the tour of the Airbnb.

Him flying the drone.

these are all segments.

Like when he said they did segmentize it.

Him going on a run.

Yep, so there's so many familiar segments that make us feel comfortable and and guarantee our enjoyment.

And at the same time, the next bit is leaving space for surprise, right?

Like leaving that openness to going where are the variables within these segments?

The Wheel of Doom is like he built a character.

That's a like a crazy, spontaneous character.

The wheel of doom can be triggered at any time.

It can change the dynamic of what's happening.

And that's really fun.

So you're building familiarity, you're building segments, but then you're building variables inside of those.

And that keeps me watching because if it was actually exactly the same every day, you might start to see viewership dip, but you're not seeing viewership dip.

You're seeing viewership increase over time.

Yeah.

The series has shown me how much more controlled our show actually could be in terms of segments and that that may create variation in a good way.

I'm not saying we will do this, but you imagine if the Colin and Samir show instead of being what it is now, conversation, it was every time we get on, we run through the top headlines.

Then we have a top story.

Then we answer a question from someone in the comments.

Then we're giving each other there are gripes, things that are pissing us off, right?

Like there's just, we could over-segmentize our show and that actually may add to a better experience for the audience.

That might be a better audience experience.

Yeah, I mean, you guys tell us.

But, I mean, it makes sense.

It's an easier creator experience.

I mean, good Mythical Morning is a great example of this.

Like anyone who does something daily is building segments and repeatability and then variables within that, which your variable might be your personality, how you react.

And that's how you build culture within your own fan community, yes, by creating similarities.

Yeah.

There's so much to learn from the series.

And like, personally, I've learned so much from Ryan.

Like, I've learned so much about creativity, storytelling, YouTube, specifically from Ryan.

And I feel like every time we talk to him, it is just like, you just feel inspired in a different way to make work that matters.

It's okay to grow my beard out.

Even if I don't have a full beard.

You should.

I only would now because I'm a bit inspired by his braver.

He looks cool.

Just back to the series and back to Ryan.

A lot of these notes that we're sharing here about Ryan's series, we wrote in newsletter that we send out every single Sunday that talks about what's happening on YouTube and what's working on YouTube.

If you want to check that out, the link is in the description.

It's just callinantomere.com slash newsletter.

And I just want to reiterate like a lot of this campaign that Ryan's doing is about raising money for St. Jude hospital and he's done such an incredible job.

We want to take part in it.

So we're donating $5,000 to St. Jude's.

Even if you don't have cash to donate, there's a lot of other ways to get involved.

If you follow him on Instagram, he's donating a penny for every follower gain.

He's already donated over $20,000 based on that.

So thank you, Ryan, for joining us and hope you guys enjoyed this conversation.

with Ryan Trayhan.

We'll see you next week here on The Collinant's Rear Show.","created_at":"2025-07-13T15:04:05.000000Z","updated_at":"2025-07-16T11:15:52.000000Z","requested_by":[2],"status":"completed","delay_time":9736,"worker_id":"j20c2lxa58pllr","job_id":"1b0efd4f-9b9c-47bc-8b72-66ee0ff61a40-u1","execution_time":48932,"runpod_job_id":null,"error_message":null,"completed_at":null,"word_level_timestamps":null,"claimed_at":null,"embedding_claimed_at":"2025-07-16 11:15:52","embedding_worker_id":"pad19labs-mac-mini-1"}