Résumé
Historically, travelogues have taken a variety of forms, depending on the media available. The ultra-fast contemporary development of digital tools has revolutionised this exercise on three levels: the ease of taking and storing images and video, the planetary expansion of their potential reach and the possible immediacy of this dissemination. Combined, they have become a common feature of contemporary ‘connected’ tourism, a major producer and consumer of images. In the case of the recent development of domestic tourism within a growing urban Nepalese middle class, particularly on Himalayan trekking trails, the production and online dissemination of a video account of one’s ‘adventure’ seem to have already imposed themselves as structuring components of the practice, from the choice of itinerary to the realisation and narration of the trek itself, as witnessed by the explosion in the number of videos posted by young Nepalese people recounting their experience. Field observations and interviews (Mardi Himal trek, Langtang) were combined with analysis of YouTube videos posted by Nepalese trekkers to understand their practices and motivations. Some recurring patterns emerge from these vlogs, such as the exaltation of groups of young people at their joyful, amicable undertakings, and the appeal of the environment and mountain landscapes, which often contributes to a sort of national pride.