Kids of the Colony: Rewriting the travel show

Each time Abubakar Finiin, Zakariya Hajjaj, and Kayum Miah hit record on their adventures, the result is never your average YouTube travel vlog. Rather, there’s a special kind of alchemy in what Kids of the Colony does. It’s an emotional relay between past and present, a trip through identity, ancestry and memory. Together, the childhood friends based in London have built a vibrant corner of the internet, one that celebrates being young, Brown, Muslim, and endlessly curious.

“We wanted to create a series that explored our roots and became the kind of representation we never saw growing up,” they tell Dazed MENA. “We’d always watch travel shows and never see people like us, children of immigrants, leading the story.” And they decided to remedy that.

After being turned down by traditional broadcasters, the trio packed their cameras and passports, setting off for the countries their parents once called home: Somaliland, Morocco, and Bangladesh respectively. The result? A docuseries brimming with joy, honesty, and self-awareness—so much so that in an ironic twist of fate, the same TV networks that passed on them came knocking later. “The BBC ended up airing our footage,” they recall. “It was proof we didn’t need permission to tell our stories.”

That defiance defines the group’s approach. Their work rejects the polished detachment typically found in traditional travel media, forgoing the glossy drone shots and distant narration, and opting instead for genuine affection and lived-in intimacy. They eat home-cooked meals, stay with families in their homes, and fold themselves into daily life. “Our trips are the opposite of luxury travel,” they explain. “We stay with locals, not in resorts. We live how people actually live.”

In their Somaliland series, Finiin made Hajjaj and Miah take on traditional jobs – from serving tea to hauling water – as a way to experience the rhythm of everyday life. “It’s funny and humbling,” they say. “But it’s also about showing respect.” Humour, for them, is the heart of connection. Their content thrives on inside jokes, awkward moments, and infectious laughter. But beneath that levity also lies a sharp sense of purpose. 

“We’re driven by the desire to offer a different visual language for countries often portrayed through narratives around conflict or poverty,” they share. “We want to show laughter, normality, and warmth.” That warmth has resonated deeply across the diaspora. The trio have built a dedicated and supportive fan base that, ostensibly, revels in the joy of seeing people like themselves mirrored in stories about belonging, culture, and family. “Our parents are our biggest inspiration, and every trip we take is really a journey into their pasts,” they reflect. “Our stories are about travel, but also about time travel.”

In fact, their success feels like a quiet revolution in storytelling, one in which travel and connection no longer feel transactional. They often work with local creators and community filmmakers, helping amplify voices rather than simply documenting them. “We want to build something that celebrates second-generation stories around the world,” they explain. “A space where people like us can explore their roots without apology.”

Now, as they are in the process of planning a new series retracing the ancient Silk Road, following trade routes that once linked Africa and Asia, Kids of the Colony’s purpose remains unchanged. “We want to move away from consumption and spectacle, and towards dialogue and rootedness,” they say. “It’s not about ticking off countries. It’s about connection.”