Favorite YouTubers and YouTube Culture

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Life as a Dance and Where I'm Going. Days before that, I wrote about Reality TV/Vlogs. Well this is a continuation on those thoughts.

While I've been staying at my sister's house in Acton, IN, I've spent a lot of my days replacing cable TV with YouTube and two of my favorite channels are women living off-grid--Stephi Lee and VanWives, Crystal and Jaz.

Stephi Lee's Channel (click here)

Vanwives (click here)

Stephi recently converted from Van Life to a home of her own and focuses on her inward journey, as well as her outward. That includes her struggles with Cystic Fibrosis and Mental Health. She's a nomad and an artist, so I just love her vibe...and her honesty about her struggles is refreshing. Steph is not the typical "look at me living my best life" YouTuber. She's more honest, authentic and real! Check her out.

The Vanwives also converted from Van Life to a cabin in the woods of Nova Scotia in the last year. Their transformation of the land they own has been an amazing DIY project. They are living totally off-grid in a self-sustaining vegetarian-style lifestyle. It's rustic and remote and totally amazing! Check them out, too. Also, their Australian Shepherds are ADORABLE! (You gotta love dog people!)

But my transformation to almost exclusive YouTube watcher, with an occasional Netflix doc or news show on Peacock, has some pitfalls of it's own. I have NO MORE patience for repetitive commercials. Thankfully, most YouTube ads are no longer than :15 each (the non-skippable ones, anyway). And I've gotten so conditioned that I find myself getting impatient with the microwave! I'll be reheating my coffee for :30 and looking for the "Skip Ads" button. :D :D :D

That's mostly a joke...but not really. I hate ads. I started watching "Escaping Polygamy" for free on PlutoTV, but their ads are so frequent and so repetitive, I had to find the episodes on YouTube and watch them there!

But as with most social media, when you're following some "internet celeb" on their YouTube channel, you've got to take their "reality" with a grain of salt. I always find myself asking how these non-traditionalist/off-gridders actually make money apart from monetizing their channels. I haven't looked into ramping up my own and monetizing it. Who'd watch it anyway??

The point is, there is an alternative way to receive news and entertainment these days...what with streaming and the Internet. I get most of my infotainment and news from YouTube and other social media.

Now, with my Facebook getting hacked and suspended, I'm spending more time on Twitter and YouTube. Those have become my primary sources of late.

I've still been following Martijn Doolard and his cabin transformation in the Italian Alps, the Bus Life of RegretLyss, who I've discussed before, and occasionally I'll watch The Cottage Fairy's channel. She's got a book due out any day. If you're looking for something different, I'd recommend watching, even subscribing to, any of these channels.

There are ways to watch YouTube ad free, either through purchase of YouTube Premium, or add-on extensions through Google Chrome. I'll put up with the "Skip Ads" button and the shorter interruptions. I'm okay with those...but if you start cursing your microwave because there is no skip button, well, it might be time to get outside and take a break. I think today I'll take a bike ride :)

The Dance and Where I'm Going

Watch this video (listen really):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV-D2_G9w5c

I've listened to several Alan Watts' clips, but never this one until yesterday, after finding it on my new favorite vlogger's YouTube Channel.

When I blogged the other day about Reality TV/Vlogs, I didn't mean I was swearing them off. They are still my escape and guilty pleasure. And the last few days I've been following Alyssa Bean, aka RegretLyss (her YT and IG handle), who lives with her dog in a converted short bus. This off-grid, non-traditional "van life," or "bus life," has been her thing most of her adult life. A graduate of Purdue and social media guru, she travels the country and has a video diary where she delves into her psyche while sharing her solo wandering from mountain to shoreline.

Check out RegretLyss on YouTube

As a non-traditionalist, wanderer/explorer, I dig her vibe. But I've been too sedentary of late. When I was living in the foothills of the Rockies, I was exploring all the time. I was very active, hiking to peaks in the 8,000-foot range, lounging at waterfalls, exploring abandoned mines...AND MYSELF! But here in the last 10 months, I've been nearly stationary, motionless and growing more and more restless. I need to wander. That's why you've caught me dreaming of Belize.

Part of that is discontent and wanting to leave this country for good. The other part is simply my wanderlust and need to find my center at the beach, in the tropics! 

But what about "the dance," as Watts puts it?

What about my day-to-day existence...my presence on Planet Earth? I haven't been dancing; I've been surviving. How much longer can I exist in survival mode? Even being sedentary as I have been, it's exhausting! It's taken a toll on my psyche. And I need to get back to dancing.

Thanks to Alyssa for the reminder yesterday. (I'll get back to "the countdown" momentarily, thanks for reading).