Luke Nichols, the creator behind the popular YouTube channel Outdoor Boys, is saying farewell to the nearly 15 million followers he’s garnered by posting videos of himself camping in extreme conditions.
In a five-minute video published Saturday titled “Goodbye,” the father of three said he’s going to stop making content “for a little while” to spend more time with his family.
He said the attention he’s received because of his channel’s booming popularity has been “overwhelming.”
Nichols started Outdoor Boys in 2015 and has about 14.9 million subscribers.
The creator said in the video that 12 million of those subscribers came in just the past 18 months, while his content has amassed more than 6.8 billion views in total.
“The sheer volume of fans trying to contact me, trying to take pictures with me, or just trying to come up and talk to me in public can be a bit overwhelming at times,” Nichols said. “And my wife and I, we both have real concerns about what this will do to our family if I keep growing my YouTube channel at this pace. And the time to stop is before this problem gets so out of hand that my family and I can’t live normal lives.”
Nichols said there are other reasons for his decision to step back from his channel.
The creator said he wants to spend more time with his children, including helping his oldest son grow his YouTube channel, Outdoor Tom. He said he also wants to start helping other people.