Publishers Weekly – July 29, 2019

22 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JULY 29, 2019

Travel Books

A Palestinian-Israeli who grew up modestly in northern

Israel, Nuseir Yassin earned a scholar-

ship to Harvard, graduated in 2014,

and launched multiple online flops

before landing a six-figure job at Venmo.

Then, in 2016, Nas, as his friends called

him, chucked it all in. Equipped with a

drone, a camera, and protein bars, he

set out on what was meant to be a two-

month global lark, posting one 60-

second video postcard a day on Facebook.

Three years later, his page, Nas Daily, has

13 million followers and his videos regu-

larly attract millions of views. In Around

the World in 60 Seconds (HarperCollins,

Nov.), Yassin expands on some of his most

meaningful experiences.

Your book is categorized as a travelogue. How would

you describe it?

It’s much closer to a Humans of New York than a Lonely

Planet. This isn’t a travel book; it’s a book about humans.

It’s for anyone who cares about the world in general—not

just people who travel but anyone who gives a shit about

someone else.

What will readers get from the book that they don’t

get online?

Most of my videos are 60 seconds long. They can only fit

about 200 words. There are a lot of things that I wanted

to discuss about a given topic—my feelings behind it,

how I ended up making a video, what happened before

and after—that I couldn’t because I had this 60-second

limit. Also, the average follower probably watches seven

to 10 videos, so I choose the best ones from more than a

thousand for the book.

Is there a video that stood out to you at the time you

shot it—one in which you knew instantly that you’d

have more to say about it?

All the stories that talk about Israel and Palestine, and the

ones that talk about Jews and Arabs. For those, I always

had more to say. When I made those videos—they’re so

freaking sensitive it’s crazy—I had to be very careful about

what I said. But in the book, I decided to speak candidly

about my history, my childhood and upbringing, and why

this idea in this chapter is important to me.

How did you maintain a positive message while

reflecting difficult situations you encountered along

the way?

Of course, it’s much easier to get attention and views if

you talk about negative stuff. But then the viewer ends up

hating something. That’s a guarantee; you end up making

your viewers angry. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to

make people hate Israel or hate Palestine or hate Jews or

hate Muslims. I tried very hard to stay away from that and

make them at least humanize the other. The goal of the

book is not “kumbaya, we’re all lovey-dovey” crap, but I

do think there’s room for just not making people hate.

The idea that social media can enrich travel experi-

ences and foster connections recurs in almost every

chapter. Why is that?

When I land in a new country, I’m a tourist. I can’t become

a local in one day. But it becomes easier when I have 500

Germans in front of me telling me what it’s like to be

German, telling me what they want to have in the video

that represents their country. The meet-ups really show

you—this is the kumbaya part—that people are so fucking

good. They’re nice, they’re excited, they’re energetic, they

all want to showcase their country to the world. They’re

sending a message to the world, and I’m just a messenger

with a video camera. —J.K.

PW talks with Nuseir Yassin

Just the Messenger

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