Now that uni is basically over I've been spending a lot of time just lounging around reading books, watching films and of course watching a lot of YouTube. But let's be real, I watch YouTube even when I'm super busy with uni work - it's just part of my daily routine and has been for a long time now. I love being able to watch snippets of other people's lives and marvel at the creativity and hard work that goes into video-making, whether that's follow-me-around vlogs, sit-down videos or more poetic montages. However, while my YouTube addiction has been growing for several years now the people I'm interested in watching have changed A LOT over that time and I'm always looking for new and exciting channels to subscribe to. 

On that note I thought I'd share some creators whose work I've been loving recently.

I discovered Annabel's channel about a year ago and frankly I'm obsessed with her videos. The production quality is so high and watching her monthly vlogs is like dipping my toes into a glorious little brightly-coloured world of holidays, thrift shops, romantic picnics and artwork. She's an arts student at Rhode Island School of Design and I think she's just finished her second year there. She has a really interesting personality and goofs around a lot in her videos, which is so refreshing and funny to watch. In general she makes a mixture of content, from the more standard format of travel vlogs and favourites videos to more abstract unique videos of her just chatting or painting or both. As you might imagine, she also has an extremely aesthetic instagram!

While I appreciate high quality artsy videos I sometimes get nostalgic for a good old-fashioned sit-down video, and that's where Zannah's channel comes in. She's a smaller YouTuber and doesn't have a huge number of videos, but everything of hers I've watched so far is so interesting and articulate, covering a range of topics from identity to mental health. Her videos tend to be short but they're some of my favourites to watch, like tiny pale gems. She's currently on a gap year so she's been vlogging her travels too which is really interesting.  She's a very nostalgic, thoughtful person and to be honest I feel like we would get along really well.

This is a bit of a rogue favourite and I honestly can't remember how I came across this channel (something's telling me via John and Hank Green?) but I do know that it's one of the most informative channels I'm subscribed to! Caitlin Doughty is a practicing mortician who makes videos mostly about death, bodies and other delightfully morbid topics. She has a number of ongoing series such as 'Morbid Mysteries' and 'Iconic Corpse', but also does some vlogs and other videos with titles like 'What happens to a body during embalming?' or 'Making your Death Plan!'. Why would you want to watch that, I hear you ask? Well, I definitely have a morbid side but honestly this is the kind of information you wouldn't find elsewhere, and definitely not presented with Caitlin's insider knowledge and wicked sense of humour.

I found Harmony's channel relatively recently but I fell in love with her videos and her unique sense of style. She's a practising witch so a lot of her videos tend to be about her craft, Wicca, spirituality and meditation, but she also makes videos about unsolved mysteries/murders and her own experiences of paranormal activity and hauntings. Again, the latter aspects appeal to my morbid side but I've always been interested in Wicca and witchcraft as well so it's fascinating to learn more about it. Her videos are also really aesthetically pleasing and her makeup skills are incredible.

Jack is a English literature student at Durham, which (if you didn't know) is also where I've just completed my undergraduate degree. Again, I'm not sure how/when I found his channel, but I didn't include him in my 'Durham creators' post I did last July because I wasn't aware of him at the time so it was definitely this academic year. He's a study YouTuber who also has a very swish blog and makes a mixture of videos, from helpful study advice to funny sketches. My favourites of his videos are probably vlogs from around Durham because even though I've lived here for 3 years it's so interesting to see it on a screen filmed from the perspective of a fellow student, especially one at a different college. He also just seems like an all-round nice guy and reminds me a bit of my little brother!

And that's it for now! I'm subscribed to a lot of channels but these are my current favourites. If you're looking for recommendations I'd also throw out there: Conan Gray, Evan Edinger, Hannah Witton, Hi I'm Mimi and Lucy Moon.

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