About
Kara and Nate: The Nashville Couple Who Visited 100 Countries and Built a Travel Media Company
They began as a "super normal" married couple from Nashville, Tennessee — a teacher and a small business owner who decided to take a year off. That year never ended. Today, Kara and Nate Buchanan are the operators of a digital media brand built on relentless travel, savvy entrepreneurship, and over 1,000 videos. Since departing on January 10, 2016, they've transformed a simple travel vlog into a multi-platform brand with over 4.2 million subscribers, culminating in a separate, highly profitable media company, Daily Drop.
How Kara and Nate Started: Travel Hacking, $35K in Savings, and a One-Way Ticket
Before launching their YouTube channel on December 8, 2015, the Buchanans led conventional lives. Married in June 2013, Kara was a teacher, while Nate operated a small printing business from their apartment's spare bedroom. The catalyst was their honeymoon planning, during which they discovered "travel hacking" — the strategic use of frequent flyer miles and credit card points.
Over two years, they saved $35,000 in cash and amassed over two million miles and points. In January 2015, they sold their cars, left their jobs, and departed Nashville for what was initially a one-year trip around the world.
They left on January 10, 2016, documenting travels for friends and family. Partway through, the one-year plan was replaced with a new goal: visit 100 countries and all seven continents before 2020. This quest became the central narrative arc, attracting a loyal audience. On April 15, 2018, they won the Shorty Award for "Best in Travel." In his acceptance speech, Nate credited YouTuber Casey Neistat as the inspiration for vlogging: "…he inspired us to document our trip. so we owe this to him."
In December 2019, they reached their 100th country. Then COVID-19 hit. They returned to the US, bought a converted Sprinter van, and spent two years on domestic travel. In early 2022, they moved out and resumed full-time international travel. Through it all, they've shared personal challenges — Nate announced a skin cancer diagnosis in September 2021 and Kara revealed her epilepsy diagnosis in June 2024.
Kara and Nate's Content: Three Distinct Phases
Phase 1 (2016–2019): The 100-Country Quest. Fast-paced, budget-conscious travel, heavy on travel hacking. The clear, quantifiable goal gave the channel a compelling structure.
Phase 2 (2020–2022): US Van Life. The pandemic forced a pivot. Their adventure format was re-contextualized for domestic settings — US national parks and cities from a tiny home on wheels.
Phase 3 (2022–Present): Post-Goal Exploration. With the 100-country goal completed and their finances transformed, content shifted toward luxury experiences — traveling on Africa's Rovos Rail, flying first class on the inaugural flight of Global Airlines — and extreme physical challenges. Nate documented his attempt to run the Marathon des Sables, a 155-mile footrace through the Sahara Desert.
How Kara and Nate Make Money: Daily Drop, Newsletter, and SaaS
The Buchanans have built a diversified business. Their primary enterprise is Daily Drop, a digital media and SaaS company founded by Nate. Its core: a free daily email newsletter with over 1.5 million subscribers, serving as a massive top-of-funnel marketing tool. This feeds into Daily Drop Pro, a premium subscription offering proprietary software for finding flight and hotel deals. A secondary YouTube channel, @DailyDrop (195,000 subscribers), is dedicated to travel hacking tutorials, funneling qualified leads into the Daily Drop system. The operation is heavily monetized through affiliate marketing — commissions from credit card and travel platform referrals.
Their personal site, karaandnate.com, serves as a blog and brand hub. During their growth phase (2016–2019), they published detailed quarterly income and expense reports to build audience trust — the last was for Q3 2019. On-channel monetization includes recurring sponsorships from AG1, BetterHelp, and Airalo.
Kara and Nate's Collaborations and Brand Partnerships
They've produced collaborative videos with prominent YouTubers including Eamon & Bec, Louis Cole, and Raya Wasilewska. Their website lists past partnerships with Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, tour operators like Southern Explorations, and cruise lines including Royal Galapagos and Delfin Amazon Cruises.
Kara and Nate's Controversies and Criticism
While the 2018 Shorty Award represents industry recognition, the couple's decade-long career has generated recurring criticism, particularly on the r/KaraAndNate subreddit.
A persistent critique targets their travel style as superficial and "checklist-oriented," arguing the 100-country goal sacrificed deep cultural immersion. Their business practices have drawn fire too. A 2024 "Dream Job" contest to hire a content creator was met with backlash — critics deemed the $50,000 prize (intended to cover six months of travel, production, salary, and taxes) financially unviable. Accusations about aggressive affiliate marketing have appeared in public forums.
As the channel became more commercialized, some viewers have questioned the volume of sponsored content and the ethics of partnering with tourism boards of countries with poor human rights records. Nate's on-screen persona has been described by some as dismissive of Kara's safety concerns and prone to excessive risk-taking. After Kara's epilepsy diagnosis, their decision to continue frequent, remote international travel was questioned on health and safety grounds.
The couple has shown willingness to respond to audience feedback. In a 2020 video titled "we messed up," they issued a public apology after receiving over 400 complaint emails for charging $1 for a digital guide.
Kara and Nate Today
Now in their tenth year of continuous travel, the Buchanans operate far beyond their original one-year plan. They're no longer just travel vloggers — they run a multifaceted media company, balancing content creation with the complexities of a growing business. Their journey from a Nashville apartment to global reach is a modern story of brand-building, strategic pivoting, and the ongoing challenge of maintaining authenticity in professional content creation.