Whether you ‘re a content creator or not, documenting your family travels is important. Since the dawn of time (or at least, the dawn of camcorders) families have been recording their vacation memories. With technology and social media advances, these videos have come a long way, from grainy shots of everyone smiling at the lens in front of some tourist attraction, to mini cinematic masterpieces. You don’t need fancy equipment or an expensive course to edit together fun family videos that recall all the fun your had together. B-roll video is a big part of putting these family videos in a “professional” way. Keep reading for what B-roll is, why it’s important, and over a dozen ideas for b-roll travel footage if you’re a content creator.

what is B-roll?

The term B-roll comes from the early days of film. There was A-roll, which was the main footage, and there was B-roll, which were the little details that help to visually tell a story. Think about your favorite movie where the two main characters are talking to each other. The shot might cut to birds flying, or steam coming off a cup of coffee, those are B-roll shots.

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If you’re traveling and want to shoot some family vacation videos, B-roll shots might be a closeup of some shells at the beach, then you could cut to a video of your kids building sand castles. If you’re a content creator, that same B-roll travel footage of seashells is great for making easy Reels, Pins, and YouTube shorts!

14 ideas for B-roll travel footage

I’ve compiled a list of 14 ideas of B-roll travel footage you can shoot on your next family vacation. Keep in mind that B-roll can be short. Keep these videos to 10-20 seconds, then you can trim to whatever length you need them to be! I also recommend that you try to get a still shot of a lot of these too, that way you still have photographs–or Reel covers, wink wink.

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1. Sitting in bed at a hotel talking to your spouse or kids.
2. Looking out from your balcony.
3. At the pool–diving in.
4. At the pool–kids playing.
5. Breakfast overheard food shot.
6. Breakfast family lifestyle shot.
7. Walking somewhere scenic.
8. Driving down the road.
9. A sunrise or sunset. Timelapse works well for this too.
10. By a fireplace or bonfire.
11. Of a theme park ride from the ground.
12. Siblings doing something together.
13. Family posing in front of a travel sign or landmark.
14. Souvenir shopping.

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