8 Delightfully Weird Content Rabbit Holes to Explore While You’re Stuck Inside
While some folks are perfectly content and able to keep themselves entertained when they're cooped up inside for weeks at a time, others of us need a little outside help to stay balanced.
And chances are that you're going to blast through your usual avenues of amusement while you're stuck at home, leaving you aching for something new and exciting to help you bide your time.
If that sounds like you, keep reading for eight of our favorite weirdly unique channels to watch while we practice social distancing.
Jelle's Marble Runs
With sports games canceled around the world, many of us are hankering for something competitive to watch. This may sound a little out there, but Jelle's Marble Runs may be exactly what you need to fill that athletics-sized hole in your heart. It's like the Olympics but for marbles, with teams contending for the top spot, complete with a professional announcer, making the whole thing feel authentic and official. Over time, you might even start rooting for a favorite team.
Will you go for the O'rangers, Chocolatiers, Green Ducks or someone else? With different series such as Marbula One, Marble League and Marblelympics, and more than a hundred videos, there's a little something for everyone. And once you're hooked, they even have merch for the different marbles.
Jun's Kitchen
Need something a little homey and relaxing to distract you from the troubles of the world? We recommend Jun's Kitchen, which features an amateur chef in Japan who cooks delicious-looking meals from scratch, using professional cutting techniques, and always getting his adorable cats in on the action. These kitties are calm and curious, and eager to smell every ingredient that goes into the process. Our favorite videos are about crafting delectable foods specifically for the cats. They deserve every tasty bite.
Cheeseman Gavin Webber
It's hard not to love a YouTube channel where every video starts with a friendly Australian cheesemaker welcoming his audience with, "G'day, Curd Nerds." We've been obsessed with the Cheeseman's videos ever since we first stumbled upon them because they feel reassuring and informative. Not only does he make his own cheese, but he also taste tests what he makes, and tries various cheeses from around the world. While it might make you crave cheese when you don't have access to it, it might also inspire you to try to make your own at home. After all, you probably have plenty of time to take up a new hobby.
WildEarth Live Safari Drives
If you need to feel like you're anywhere but home, you may want to check out WildEarth's Twitch channel, which allows you to go on a South African safari, live, from the comfort of your room. They broadcast live from South Africa twice daily, at their local sunrise and sunset, with each broadcast lasting about three hours and showcasing the incredible wildlife of the savannah. And if you can't tune in live, you can always watch earlier streams, which are saved for two weeks. Elephants, warthogs and leopards await!
Watch WildEarth Live Safari Drive from wildearth on www.twitch.tv
JetPens
Sometimes, something mundane is exactly what you need to forget about whatever's going on in the outside world. One of our favorite channels is JetPens, packed with oddly soothing videos showing off all kinds of pens, stationery and other school supplies that are great for enhancing productivity, as well as cuteness. The channel features innovative products from around the world, and each video makes you want all of it. And if you like personality quizzes, the video below matches a pen to eight different distinct personality types. Maybe that's why we can't stop watching.
Piano for Elephants
Eager to watch someone do a little good for the world? Pianist Paul Barton calms rescued elephants by playing piano for them. He sets up his piano at Elephants World, a Thai environmental conservation organization that rehabilitates and cares for domestic elephants, and it's magical to watch the way they respond to his beautiful music. Plus, if you're in love with watching elephants sway to the classics, the channel features about 80 of these videos.
Baumgartner Restoration
There's something very satisfying and relaxing about watching someone take an object in disrepair and restore it to perfection, and that's exactly what the Baumgartner Restoration channel is all about. In these videos, professional art restorer Julian Baumgartner walks viewers through his meticulous process of taking old or damaged paintings and bringing them back to life. There are few things more gratifying than watching old, grimy varnish get cleaned away from a piece of history to reveal the gorgeous original painting underneath, or to see old oil paint get carefully scraped away with a scalpel.
Serious skill and dedication goes into making these paintings perfect and presentable again, and no expenses are spared, making the final reveal epic each and every time. Plus, many videos come in both narrated versions and ASMR videos that are all about the unique sounds that come with restoring a priceless work of art.
Mayapolarbear
Animals can be the ultimate healers in these trying times—and it helps if they're preposterously cute. Meet Maya the Samoyed, whose adorable videos are a balm for the soul. Most of them are about testing whether Maya is a good dog (she definitely is) and Maya sampling various foods and deciding whether she likes them, with the mic up super close so it doubles as an ASMR video. Complete with silly captions, her little adventures are sure to put a smile on your face.
Need help staying positive? Click HERE for ways to look on the bright side of life while you practice social distancing.