Life Of A Vlogger Behind The Lens - Pea Behind Closed Doors

Pea pulls back the curtain on her daily life as a full-time YouTube creator living in the Philippines. She walks through her entire routine from waking up to bedtime, showing the real workload behind her channel — from managing her Patreon community to the surprisingly labor-intensive process of scripting, filming, and editing videos on a 48-hour turnaround.

Morning routine and sleep schedule ​

• Pea typically goes to bed between 1-3 AM, especially on release nights, because she needs to answer comments while it's daytime in the West (where most of her audience lives)
• First thing she does is grab her phone to see "how badly I overslept"
• Won't do anything until she has her coffee — she used to drink the three-in-one sachets from sari-sari stores but switched to brewed coffee after reading the ingredients and realizing they're unhealthy
• She loves a specific Coffee Mate creamer that's only available at one store downtown and has been out of stock for months — she suspects one person keeps buying them all out: "If you're that person, shame on you"
• Introduces her deaf white cat Ivar, who is "a bit bitey"
• Breakfast is minimal: one small English muffin (available in the Philippines but "doesn't taste quite the same"), usually with blueberry preserves, which are also out of stock today

Patreon community management — first priority every day ​

• Patrons get "the first crack at my time" every morning because they're the backbone of her channel
• She considers many of them extended family and friends after years of interaction
• Activities include brainstorming future content and outros, helping patrons with travel logistics (hotel stays, restaurants, places to visit), and giving personal advice on how to deal with their Filipinas
• She does private direct messaging for sensitive topics — "my lips are sealed, so I'm their confidant"

YouTube comment management ​

• She only deletes comments for three reasons: racial slurs, excessive vulgarity/obscenity, or doxxing/reputation attacks
• Otherwise she's "all for free speech" — constructive criticism and adult disagreement are welcome
• Directs people who want drama to "gossip channels"
• Notes that YouTube's auto-filter sometimes deletes comments on its own (triggered by links or unknown words) — "it's not me, wasn't me"
• She manually releases comments held for review, then answers the overnight comments
• When videos get 2,000+ comments, it's physically impossible to respond to all, but she reads every single one

Personal appearance and grooming ​

• Showers are quick despite long hair — she only uses shampoo, conditioner, and occasionally coconut milk once a week; her brothers actually take longer
• She almost never wears makeup because of the Philippine heat — "it's very hot all year round... wearing makeup would be feeling yucky"
• Only wears minimal makeup on camera (eye definition to look alive when sleep-deprived, plus lip gloss/chapstick for chapped lips)
• Shows her bare face with mosquito bites on her forehead, noting that between her and Lucy (presumably a housemate or friend), only she gets bitten — "maybe my blood is sweet"
• Never gets pimples — "that's one thing I could thank my mama for, my genes"

Wardrobe reveal ​

• Fans compliment her fashion, but her actual wardrobe is a small, messy storage area — "never mind the mess, I swear I'm not a messy person"
• Keeps her costumes there too, including her pilot outfit that was featured in Manila Up Magazine
• At home she just wears a comfortable shirt and shorts — picks purple for the day

The video production process — this is the meat of the episode ​

• She releases videos every 48 hours ("last night I just released a video and I've only got 48 hours to produce another one")

• Two types of videos, each with different production tradeoffs:

• Scripted studio videos:

  • Writing the script alone takes 1-2 full days
  • Process: choose concept → research the subject for factual accuracy → rough draft → fill in details → polish every sentence
  • She obsesses over making lines relatable, funny, witty, and flowing: "if it's funny, I want it to be extra funny... I want it to be perfect"
  • Filming a 15-minute video takes about 3 hours using a teleprompter
  • The studio setup is the same equipment she's had since starting four years ago: two light boxes and a fabric green screen duct-taped to the wall ("I hope my landlord is not watching this")
  • The reason filming takes so long: constant interruptions — roosters, barking dogs, motorcycles, trucks, people at the door — each requiring a cut and restart
  • Those tiny "head jerk" cuts viewers notice in her videos are where she edited out interruptions
  • Editing a studio piece takes 1-2 hours: import raw footage, splice clips, choose green screen background, export

• Street interview videos:

  • No script writing needed (easier on the front end)
  • But editing takes much longer — sometimes 2 full days
  • The challenge: interviewees searching for English words, lots of "ums" and pauses
  • She tries to help them find words on camera, which viewers sometimes interpret as interrupting — "you guys say, 'Pea, let your guest talk!' I'm trying, folks"
  • If she didn't cut the filler, she'd end up with massive files and viewers listening to endless "ums and ohs"

Rest of the day ​

• While videos upload to YouTube, she does chores: laundry, feeding cats, grocery shopping, cooking dinner (her one big meal of the day)
• She's avoiding carbs, so lunch is fruit — today it's mangoes, avocados, and banana
• Her guilty pleasure with any free 30-45 minutes: playing video games on a PS4 that a previous owner left behind thinking it was broken — she got it fixed at a local repair shop for just a bad HDMI port
• Currently playing No Man's Sky, a space exploration game — "sometimes it's kind of mindless, but I really don't mind, it helps me relax"
• Jokes about being a gold digger (looking for gold, platinum, and silver resources in the game)

Bedtime ​

• A comedic bit where all her video personas (pirate Pea, genie Pea, bartender Pea, Hooters Pea) tell her she needs sleep or they're all out of a job
• She counts stars instead of sheep to fall asleep — "I'm such a nerd" — but keeps losing count
• Final joke: "I'll just watch a few videos from some of my copycats — that'll put me to sleep"

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