Friday Favorites: Vlogs (Calmtainment and Lifestyle)

I became a pretty serious consumer of YouTube vlogs over the course of the pandemic. Naturally there was a strong escapism factor, but I also just appreciated these folks who were going to the emotional effort of sharing their stories and lives with the rest of us who were starved for community. Here are the ones I ended up subscribing to:

• Li Ziqi: This is the vlog that started it all for me. I don’t really have the words to describe it–you just have to watch a couple of episodes. Maybe jaw-dropping is a good word. I think back in 2019 I saw an article somewhere about the episode where she makes her own bamboo furniture with only hand tools, and I admired it but forgot about her vlog until I came back across it during the early days of the pandemic–at which point I watched her entire back catalog. She was one of the inspirations for me to try to grow/produce more of my own food (try being the operative word there). Many older episodes have subtitles. Now that I’m writing this, I think I’ll watch all of them again….
• Country Life Vlog: Obviously inspired by Li Ziqi but beautiful in its own right, this vlog follows the lifestyle of a couple producing most of their own food in the Azerbaijani highlands. Their little terrier needs his own vlog.
• Milanonna: Partway through the pandemic when I was losing the will do do anything except flop back and forth between my bed and my computer in the same set of pajamas, I got a jolt of much-needed gumption from this Korean grandma who splits her time between Milan and Seoul. She is a retired fashion executive and just has a good handle on life–as well as the gift of making you feel that you might be able to get a handle on life.
• haegreendal: One of the OG calmtainment vloggers, and for good reason. Calming, centering, and beautiful.
• kominka solo life: Japanese cottagecore from a man living in a traditional Japanese house in the countryside.
• choki: Japanese cottagecore in an apartment with two cats. Made me feel I was slacking on exploiting lockdown to its fullest potential, which was a good thing. Bonus if you like the food from the Miyazaki films as she occasionally recreates some of those dishes.
• Dearly Bethany: I legit learned a lot about dressing as a (semi) petite from watching this vlog made by a woman half my age. But as I’ve said before, fashion sense is not one of my native gifts. So, thanks to Bethany for doing me a solid.