Dear NYCTT community,
I always say that my blog is about sharing experiences of New York City. A couple of months ago, I received a lovely video on my Facebook feed starring an awesome little boy named Kylo. Kylo took a quick trip to NYC with his family and made a video of his adventures in the city (watch here). I absolutely loved his energy and his communicative smile! I wanted to give him a space to express himself on my blog, and here it is!

I sent Kylo a series of questions and he prepared this interview with Nicole, his Mom. I asked Nicole to tell me a bit more about Kylo so I could make a great introduction. I can’t compete with Nicole’s words! Enjoy this interview as much as I did when I read Kylo’s answers and please subscribe to Kylo’s Youtube Channel!

Who is Kylo?

Kylo is a compassionate, comedic, loving, intelligent, and entirely energetic, 7-year-old with an unending supply of drive and determination. His friends, family, and faith mean everything to him. He’s also the most amazing big brother. It’s Kylo’s continual effort and “never-give-up” attitude that contributes to his ability to reach his goals. Kylo loves the phrase, “practice makes progress.” You’ll sometimes hear him repeating this to himself when working towards a goal.

Kylo communicated his interest in being a Youtuber and starting a YouTube channel several years ago. Finally, this year, we started his channel titled, Kylo’s Goals. Early on, we didn’t know what we were doing (and sometimes still don’t), but we are slowly figuring it out and learning along the way!

Kylo was diagnosed with severe food allergies (milk, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts) within the first year of his life. Last year, while undergoing an endoscopy to confirm celiac disease, the doctor discovered lesions, furrowing, and edema in his esophagus. These findings suggested a diagnosis of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), which was ultimately confirmed via biopsies soon after. We have tried several restrictive elimination diets, with additional endoscopies in between, but we have been unable to find out the food(s) triggering the disease. More recently, we made the decision to start swallowed topical corticosteroids to give him some relief, while we figure out what food(s) to eliminate next. We realize this is a disease he will have to live with, so our hope is to find what food(s) are causing it.

Kylo adores traveling and exploring new places! Our stay in NYC was brief, but we will be back, I promise. As you can imagine, traveling with a child with several dietary restrictions and severe food allergies is challenging (we have to pack each and every item, from his oat milk to his toaster oven); we never know what brands of food we’ll find “on-the-road.” As a mom, each time we tackle a small trip, I gain more confidence and tricks to help us on our next journey.

As I laid in bed with Kylo last night, we had a lovely conversation together as he answered these questions.

Hi Kylo, can you introduce yourself in a few words?

I love my family and friends so much. I love going on adventures! My dad and I have so much fun playing together.

You shared a video of your adventures in NYC recently. What was your first impression of New York City?

It was wayyyy bigger than I thought it would be. I couldn’t believe that a city this big exists and that people actually live in a city like this. There was more traffic than I have ever seen before and it was so busy.

What is your favorite landmark and why?

I really loved the Statue of Liberty. It made me so happy to see it. The video on my YouTube channel, Kylo’s Goals, shows some of that adventure. This was the #1 spot I wanted to see in NYC. It was cool that it was built so long ago and transported from France in pieces.

Before we went to the Statue of Liberty, my mom and I talked about the story behind it, and we looked at a lot of pictures- some of the pictures were from many years ago and were black and white. My mom showed me a picture of her hand; it was bigger than a person!

What would you recommend doing in NYC as a 7-year-old?

We didn’t get to do this, but I wished we could have taken a ferry to the island to see the Statue of Liberty up close. But, even more, I want to go inside and all the way up it! I think kids (and adults) would really like that. I believe kids would also have fun bringing things they like to play or do to Central Park (I’d bring a football and a soccer ball). Going to the top of the Empire State Building, watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square (I hope to do this someday), seeing the Brooklyn Bridge, and riding on the subway are also things I would recommend. It is also a lot of fun to go down in the subways!

Fantastic!! And now, tell me more about your projects. You’re a very active little boy on YouTube, what is your channel about?

My channel, Kylo’s Goals, is about everything I like to do, things I’m working hard at, and things I wish we could do more of. There is a lot that we have not filmed, but we will get to it.
I also enjoy sharing videos of fun games and the places we go. We like to do shout-outs to let people with medical things, like food allergies or EoE know that they are strong and not alone.

I’m impressed by your big heart!! Now I’d like to know what are your goals.

We set short-term goals all the time. Some of my short-term goals are learning to do a backflip; I’m taking a gymnastics class right now. My mom is filming some of the class, so we will definitely have a video on that. I also want to learn to jump off a diving board; I just learned to jump in a pool this year.
This winter, if we have time, I want to learn to snowboard. I also want to take more trips and take a vacation with friends. I want to get better at football and soccer and become a better bowler. Recently, I’ve been really loving soccer and would like to be a soccer player; I’ve never played on a soccer team.

Another short-term goal is one that I can’t complete on my own and need others to help with. People like you. I’m really trying to get to 1,000 subscribers on my YouTube channel before 2023. We keep posting videos, talking about my channel to people, and I hope people will subscribe.

Some of my bigger, long-term goals are being a famous YouTuber and being in the NFL someday. I really have been thinking about being in the Olympics someday too (my dad and I have been doing track and field stuff a lot, and I like the discus). Recently, I have even thought about being a professional soccer player.

I love it! I understand that your family is helping you with your channel, so who is doing what?

Most of the time, my mom films my videos. My Dad, brother, and I are often in the videos. We don’t have any fancy equipment, we just use her cell phone and a tripod. Someday, we hope to be able to get some better gear.
Sometimes, if my mom’s not with me, my dad will film. My mom puts the videos into an editing app and a lot of the time we work on them together. I give her ideas for sound effects or good clipart ideas. Sometimes we don’t finish the videos before I go to bed, so she works on them when I go to sleep, and we talk about it and work on them the next day.
I do most of the voiceovers. I try to give her ideas of things that I think would be funny, interesting, things I like, or things I think other people would like.
Someday, when I learn how to edit, I hope to do most of this myself. It is a lot of fun.

Do you already know about your next adventure/video?

I have a lot of ideas. I want to do more track and field stuff with my dad and a gymnastics video soon. The class I am taking right now for gymnastics is called “flips and tricks.” It is my second gymnastics class I have ever taken. I’m not positive, but I think we may be taking a little trip later this fall, I hope we can film some fun stuff there as well.

Do you have a message for the readers of my blog, New York City Travel Tips?

When you travel, don’t just take pictures, take videos. Videos are so fun to watch over-and-over again. They make me happy.
Also, I am so glad that I was able to do this interview, that you are reading this, and I really hope you get to look at my channel.
If you have something medical going on, or food allergies, or EoE, don’t let it get you down. That is only one part of your life. Your life is filled with so much that you can do- try not to only think about the things that you can’t do.

That’s beautiful Kylo! You’re giving us a life lesson! I wish you and your family all the best. I don’t want you to have a thousand subscribers but many more!!

Kylo’s mom, Nicole, monitors Kylo’s Goals email and would be delighted to answer any questions. Kylo’s email: kylosgoals@gmail.com
Kylo’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/kylosgoals
Kylo’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/kylosgoals

Thank you so much, Kylo and Nicole! I’ll end this portrait with Kylo’s video in NYC