The Drone Dish: Ben Freely

Tyler talks with travel enthusiast Ben Freely (AirVūz Profile: Ben Freely) to hear how drones have changed the way he captures his adventures across the globe. Hear more about Ben's travels in the episode! For more highlights from the world’s best drone pilots, click HERE. And for more amazing aerial views, keep it tuned to AirVūz.com . VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Tyler Mason: We're thrilled to be joined by Ben Freely today on The Drone Dish. Ben, thanks for coming on the show. Ben Freely: Thanks for having me on the show. Tyler Mason: Now, you're originally from Manchester. You live in Ireland now, and a lot of your drone videos focus on travel. Tell me a little bit about the travels you've taken and how you've decided to incorporate a drone to kind of showcase where you've been. Ben Freely: Well, it sounds like a bit of a cliché, but traveling is my greatest passion in life. It almost is my life. All my decisions are based [00:00:30] around traveling. Where do I go? How long can I go for? Can I work there? So, I've traveled all over Southeast Asia, Australasia. I lived in New Zealand for a while. There's only one way to really capture the heart of a place, and for me, paradoxically, that is by pulling out and capturing it from the sky. So, I knew had to get used to drones. Tyler Mason: Sure. What was that process like to start flying, and then, what kind of drone are you flying these [00:01:00] days? Ben Freely: So, at the moment I'm flying a DJI Mavic Pro, but it's perfect for me. The camera's great. The portability's fantastic. The hardware's great. Like most DJI drone pilots, there are software issues every now and again, but I just make sure I'm not the first person to update its firmware. Tyler Mason: That's a pretty good strategy, for sure. Now, one of the first videos of yours I noticed was of Bangkok, Thailand, which I had the chance to visit a year ago. [00:01:30] And I didn't bring a drone with me, so it was kind of cool to see it from the perspective that you had. What did you notice about that city when you got up above it and then saw that aerial perspective? Ben Freely: I absolutely love Bangkok. It is a stunning city. And what I discovered when I went above was just the sheer symmetry of the buildings when you fly over the temple complexes and some of the older buildings, the architecture and the details and the idiosyncrasies of the buildings. It's almost [00:02:00] as if they're made to be viewed from above. Tyler Mason: Oh, I know. In Thailand and other countries, it's getting a little tougher to fly with different drone regulations. What have you noticed in travels in Asia and elsewhere just about how they're kind of adapting and changing their regulations? Ben Freely: Yeah, Thailand's getting a lot stricter at the moment. I believe they're really reinforcing their drone registry, so they're talking about fines and jail times for people that don't go to the police station to register. But I've found in other Southeast Asian countries, there's just [00:02:30] more of a sensible drone regulation viewpoint. So, the obvious, don't fly too close to buildings, crowds, the no-fly zone, respect some people's privacy. I've found most countries to be pretty receptive and positive about drones, to be honest. Tyler Mason: Another Asian country just posted a video of Singapore. The architecture and the lights there are just ... It was amazing. I assume as soon as you got there, you knew that you had to fly the drone and then get some aerial shots of that. Ben Freely: [00:03:00] Oh, it was stunning. To be honest, most of our locations are pretty well-scouted ahead of time. My fiancé, [Anya 00:03:08], she does all the research, and she did loads of research when we got there. And as soon as she showed me the pictures of the Garden by the Bay Light Show, I knew I had to get that on footage. All the different angles, the perspectives, and just to be able to show an audience and tell that story was really, really cool. Tyler Mason: Do you have a favorite city or country that [00:03:30] you've flown in? Ben Freely: Vietnam. Hands down, it has to be Vietnam. The place is a drone pilot's paradise. It is absolutely stunning. You can travel to a new place every day and shoot something completely different. It's just got an incredible range of landscapes from the Sahara-esque dunes in Mui Ne to the towering mountains of Sapa with all its terraced rice [00:04:00] patties. It is absolutely phenomenal, and the Vietnamese are very, very receptive to drones. I never had any negativity about flying in any of the locations I had in Vietnam. Tyler Mason: Yeah, well, congratulations on the engagement, and I look forward to seeing what your travels bring next. I've enjoyed watching your videos on AirVūz and keep up the great work, Ben. Thanks for joining the show. Ben Freely: Thank you so much. It's been wonderful being part of the AirVūz community. It's a fantastic community, and it's a great site. And I love watching everybody's work. Tyler Mason: [00:04:30] Great. We love to hear that, yeah. Everybody, check out Ben's work. Thanks, Ben. Ben Freely: Thank you very much. Cheers, guys.