Me with Brogan Tate on Bournemouth Beach

On Saturday 29th April 2017, Bournemouth-based YouTuber and blogger Brogan Tate hosted her first ever meet up for her YouTube subscribers, blog readers and social media followers to attend on Bournemouth Beach to commemorate her 100th weekly vlog. I started watching and subscribing to Brogan in August 2016 and have enjoyed her YouTube channel, which has a mixture of weekly vlogs; advice videos; beauty videos; travel vlogs; hauls of products from shops such as Primark and Home Bargains; and Disney-themed videos, ever since. Brogan is a lovely, genuine, down-to-earth and bubbly person. While her weekly vlogs are so real and honest, her advice videos are very informative, her travel vlogs are beautifully filmed, particularly those in Gran Canaria, Greece and Iceland, and her main channel videos such as those where she shares her favourite things in a particular month are appealing. I enjoy reading her blog as well and my favourite posts include 15 Ways To Lift Your Mood, which helped me with my anxieties at the time the post was written, and her review of her local Miller & Carter Steakhouse.

The first time I went to Bournemouth was in the summer of 2000 when I was 13 and with my family after a holiday in Butlins Bognor Regis. It was a bittersweet trip because we went on a boat ride and my grandad poured my grandma’s ashes (she passed away a month prior) onto the sea, which was a sentimental part of the trip, but it had a special place in my heart. I mentioned my first trip to Bournemouth to Brogan in the comments of one of her Life Chats videos that she did in place of her weekly vlogs for a little while and she replied to my comment giving her condolences to my grandad and me but she understood the special hold the trip had for me.

Just before I met Brogan, I was filming some footage from a platform near the beach and I very excitedly panned my iPad mini across as soon as I spotted some silver balloons that formed the number 100 to represent the number of weekly vlogs Brogan has made.

Bournemouth Pier and Bournemouth Beach

The meet up took place on the beach beside the pier, which was an ideal location because it was near toilets and places where people could buy snacks, drinks and ice creams. As I approached the group of people beside the balloons, Brogan got up and we greeted each other. She sat me down beside a group of girls who I hadn’t met before and encouraged me to mingle with them but unfortunately I just sat there quietly for the most part because I might have had social anxiety. As part of my autism I find it difficult to speak to people I am unfamiliar with. Brogan asked me again if I was mingling with the girls and I explained to her that it’s hard for me to speak to unfamiliar people. She assured me that I didn’t have to speak to them if I didn’t want to and instead advised me to just eavesdrop on other people’s conversations. I found Brogan to be very understanding of me when I didn’t mingle with certain people because I was worried about coming across as rude and standoffish if I didn’t speak to anyone I was unfamiliar with. I also feel I could have been more generous with the food I brought down with me by offering it to people, especially if Brogan’s mum Julie offered me some Krispy Kremes, but I didn’t think about it and felt as if I were absorbed in the moment of the meet up. On the plus side I found it very easy to speak to Brogan because I am familiar with her in terms of watching her YouTube videos and having already communicated with her on social media. I especially liked the fact that she asked me about how I was settling into my own flat and I even showed her some pictures of the flats I looked at. I also spoke to Brogan and Julie about my first ever trip to Bournemouth. It was even cool of Brogan to point out my Fitbit that I mentioned in the comments on two of her videos and I was surprised to hear that she saw my video where my parents tried to guess who some of my favourite YouTubers were including herself. She also loved my Ariel-themed Minnie Mouse ears from an Etsy shop called Ears Ever After and she showed me her sparkly silver Minnie ears that she wore on her 22nd birthday at Disneyland Paris last year. Before I left the beach to explore Bournemouth Gardens and the town centre, I gave Brogan a piece of artwork made of cardboard, paper quilling strips and letter and number stickers to commemorate her 100th weekly vlog and she absolutely loved and appreciated it. She even complimented me on how creative I was and reminded me of the shrink plastic keyring I made for her 23rd birthday this year and sent to her PO Box alongside a rather funny Ariel card.

Left column: Brogan’s commemorative artwork I made her; Brogan’s shrink plastic keyring. Right: Brogan’s Ariel birthday card.

The other YouTuber I met at Brogan’s rendezvous was Sam from a YouTube channel called Sam4G0d. Sam’s channel consists of vlogs of trips to Disney Parks such as Walt  Disney World, Disneyland Paris and even Shanghai Disneyland as well as theatre vlogs and reviews. I also found Sam lovely and easy to talk to.

Me with Sam from Sam4G0d

Besides Brogan, Julie (who was very caring towards me, especially when I felt unwell as a result of nerves, the heat and maybe other possible factors) and Sam, other people who attended the meet up and I was familiar with were Brogan’s brother Fraser, her boyfriend Benji and her friends Megan, Georgie, Joe and Kalem, all of whom I unfortunately didn’t get to speak to because I was sitting quite far away from them. I also spoke to a lady called Paula who comments on Brogan’s videos and Instagram photos and participates in Brogan’s Instagram live streams.

Bournemouth Lower Gardens

Overall despite finding it hard to talk to certain people I was unfamiliar with, not getting around to sharing the snacks I brought and feeling under the weather (as well as getting sunburn!), I had a wonderful time at Brogan’s rendezvous and found it a pleasure to speak to her as well as Julie, Sam and Paula. I would definitely attend another meet up hosted by Brogan whether it’s in Bournemouth again or even in London where I live.

I have also made a vlog of my day in Bournemouth that you can watch below:

Brogan’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/brogantatexo

Brogan’s blog: http://www.brogantatexo.co.uk

Sam’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Sam4G0d

Ears Ever After Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/EarsEverAfter?ref=shop_sugg