With millions of followers and billions of views, Ryan Trahan is a bona fide YouTube success story! He's best known for his one penny challenges, but he's been on all sorts of other adventures! Read on to get the low-down on YouTube's favourite fundraiser, traveller, and water bottle mogul! You're sure to learn something new! And for more Ryan, try our trivia quiz (you're sure to ace it after reading these facts!), or give Ryan a run for his money and see if you could travel across Europe with just a penny!

1. He started YouTube in 2013!

Ryan started his channel in October of 2013, so he's been in the game for a long time! The oldest video still on his channel is from 2015, when his content was a little bit different (more on THAT later)!

2. His wife is also a YouTuber!

Ryan's been in a relationship with Haley Pham since 2018. Haley's no stranger to YouTube fame, as she has her own beauty and vlogging channel, which she created when she was only twelve! Ryan and Haley got married in 2020.

3. He's very successful

As of 2023 Ryan has racked up an amazing 13.5 MILLION subscribers, and over two BILLION views. In 2022 he also scooped up a Streamy Award for Breakout Creator, and was nominated for the best Creator For Social Good award. Those are some amazing stats!

4. He COINED an awesome challenge!

Okay, he didn't exactly invent the idea of a penny challenge, but we couldn't resist the pun! Some of Ryan's most popular vids are his penny challenges, where he has to complete a challenge starting with only a single penny to spend! So far he's travelled across the USA, crossed the Atlantic ocean, and survived on just a penny for a month!

5. He dropped out of uni

Ryan went to Texas A&M University, where he was a student athlete. He dropped out eventually to focus on running the water bottle brand he set up with his friend!

6. He started off as a running YouTuber

Ryan's oldest videos are all about his passion - running! In high school and college Ryan was a cross-country runner, and his YouTube vision was to make a channel all about it! He ended up shifting his content over time, but he still posts running vids sometimes (the Running in Skinny Jeans challenge, anyone?).

7. He was valedictorian in high school!

A valedictorian is the person in a graduating class with the highest grades - and when Ryan graduated high school in 2017, he won that title! His valedictorian speech is up on his channel, and it's super inspirational!

8. He's an entrepreneur

One of the reasons Ryan dropped out of college was to focus on the water bottle brand he created with his friend Caden Wiese - the Neptune Bottle. Neptune Bottle earned an amazing $50,000 in its first year of operation! In 2023 he also started a clothing line, Howdy Howdy, named after his catchphrase!

9. He's from Texas!

Ryan was born and raised in Eagle Lake, Texas! He currently lives in Austin, which is the capital of the Lone Star State. Looks like you can't take the boy out of Texas!

10. He's a Christian

Ryan's open about his religious beliefs, which he says is his source of joy and love. He talked about his religious journey in an interview with Anthony Padilla (of Smosh fame)!

11. He's charitable!

Those crazy penny challenges weren't just for fun! Ryan uses the events to raise money for worthy causes. In his original 30-day cross-state journey, Ryan raised $1.38 million for Feeding America, a charity focused on ending hunger in the USA! All of his penny videos since have also been fundraisers - Ryan's latest adventure raised $400,000 for water.org, a charity that helps people all over the world access clean water.

12. He loves a hotel

Ryan's challenges are about more than spending a penny! He's made a series of videos where he stays in some of the world's weirdest hotels - and they can get weird! So far, he's stayed in the world's oldest hotel (it's in Japan and first opened in 705 AD, over 1300 years ago), an underwater hotel in Florida, the world's tiniest AirBnB, the world's cheapest hotel (FYI, it's literally a bed in the middle of a field), an abandoned ghost town, the loneliest house in the world, and in Japan's overnight sleeping pods! It makes your last Premier Inn stay look a little dull!

13. He's not afraid to get weird...

Ryan's not just about weird hotels, he's down for weird everything! Some of his adventures include attending Shrek Fest (yep, that's a thing, and there's an onion eating contest), trying out a sensory deprivation chamber, spending 50 hours in complete darkness, trying out the world's quietest room (it's harder than you'd think!), making a vlog using only 1990s tech, copying other people's Insta feeds, and deliberately buying products from scammy ads! You can always count on Ryan to try out stuff you'd never think of!

14. He can't swim

It's a little ironic for a water bottle mogul, but Ryan describes himself as having "negative buoyancy", which means he sinks right to the bottom when he's in water. He doesn't really like swimming, though he's done it a few times in his videos, most notably the underwater hotel vid. In one vlog he tries to make an underwater tin-can phone, but has to be hauled out of the water by his friends before he can finish.

15. He has a second channel!

Can't get enough Ryan Trahan but already watched all his vids? Don't worry - he has a second channel! And even better news - he has a third one! Check out the channels tab on his YouTube page for more of Ryan's antics!