Filipino American named Vlogger of the Year

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Wil Dasovich receives his Shorty award in ceremonies in New York City.

WHILE EXERCISING, I like to watch travel videos. Searching for a video of travel to the Philippines, I stumbled upon Will Dasovich, a San Francisco-born Filipino/American, who recorded his adventures as he traveled through the Philippines and other Asian countries.

He was upbeat, having fun and seemed to genuinely enjoy himself while learning about the culture and the people of the Phiiippines. And once in a while, he'd offer a travel tip or suggest foods to try.

Watching him helps me get me through my workout and makes the time fly by.

As it turns out, last month, he name Vlogger of the Year by Shorty Awards, the vloggers equivalent to the Oscars or the Emmys.

The Shortys honors “the best of social media by recognizing the influencers, brands and organizations on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Musically and more.”

Dasovich, 26, started on YouTube by recording his globetrotting adventures after graduating from Cal Poly in 2013. 

His travel vlogs gained him an international audience, and in 2017 he quadrupled the size of his YouTube subscriber base, ending the year with well over 1M+ people tuning into his inspirational uploads. 

"After graduating college in 2013, I decided to travel around Asia for three months. The moment I got to the Philippines, I bought a Filipino language book for beginners and started learning right away," he told Garage magazine.

His first vlogs were about his attempts in learning to speak Tagalog, the Filipino dialect of his mother.

"Back in California, I grew up in a predominantly white community with no Filipinos around. But being half Filipino I became so intrigued with the language and culture; spending entire days and nights reading and memorising words. I, then, made the decision to stay in the Philippines for at least a year, and not leave the country until I was 100% fluent in Tagalog."

Even though he's learned to speak Tagalog fairly fluently, he decided to move permanently to Manila.

Last summer, his vlog took a turn towards seriousness when he was diagnosed with state III colon cancer. He decided to not let the disease slow him down and recorded his fight against cancer, all the while, staying positive.

"It's not the years in your life, but the life in your years that count," he believed.

In September last year, the day before starting his cancer treatment, he had his sperm frozen because there was a chance that the treatment would leave him infertile. Of course he vlogged the experience.

"More than anything, however, if I can inspire, motivate, and influence people in a positive way, that is where I feel I can make a difference," he told Garage. "This is the most fulfilling part about vlogging and YouTube."

In Februrary, he learned that he was cancer-free. The Shorty was icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, Dasovich is moving on. He's sdiscontinued his daily vlog for now as he tries out a new business venture.

Fortunately, you can still watch more of his vlogs on Youtube, or at his website.

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