Gone are the days when the young and restless would dream of owning palatial bungalows in upmarket locales. Our choices have become unconventional. We have become more mindful about our expenses, a major portion of which, also constitute our living expenses. By Karan Kaushik
People don’t want to spend too much on their living spaces anymore. Instead, mental peace and a little bit of adventure, is what they are seeking. They are turning towards a more simplistic and natural way of living. They are realising that there’s no place for excesses in our lives anymore.
After more than a year of working from home and remote locations, most people have realised the importance of saving and not having to spend too much on concrete rented spaces. This is where alternative living comes in. The world is moving towards minimalism, and the first step is looking for affordable and flexible living spaces.
Here’s how YouTube channel FLORB is introducing us to the world of alternative living
Alternative living not only reduces one’s cost of living by lowering housing expenses, but it is also friendly to the environment. While alternative living spaces don’t fit into the mould of traditional housing, they allow us to simply live without any financial pressures. From makeshift houses to eco-friendly homes, alternative living is here to stay.
There’s some incredible work being done in the field of alternative living across the world. We came across this amazing YouTube channel FLORB, which is introducing the world to some incredible ways of alternative living. Run by Dylan Magaster, Jackson Peters and Sitara Shakti, the YouTube channel helps viewers explore unique ways of living. The channel has a solid following, with as many as 751K subscribers.
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It was in 2016, that Dylan Magaster, the CEO of FLORB, created the YouTube channel with an aim to share useful insights about alternative ways of living. His first effort towards this was taking a trip across North America in his self-converted van. During his journey, Magaster documented the lives of people who had opted for alternative living spaces. From someone who was putting up in a retired plane to people who were creating mobile homes, he was fortunate to meet some amazing people.
Magaster, who hails from Kansas, has another YouTube channel in his name, where he publishes content on travel, lifestyle, and philosophy. An adventurist and storyteller at heart, Magaster has always been a supporter of sustainable living. The YouTuber set on an epic sojourn across Europe in early 2018 and started a film production company, also called FLORB. Today, Magaster and his channel partner Jackson Peters are sailing the high seas in Europe and creating video content on Alternative Living Spaces.
It would not be an exaggeration to call Magaster a digital nomad. It’s been a while since he took to filming documentaries about the people, he is fortunate to encounter during his journeys. His focus has always been on introducing his viewers to alternative living environments.
From converted vans to off-grid homes to anything that does not fit the mould of traditional dwellings, he has documented several ways of alternative living. He has even made a video about a home in Oregon, which was made from a jetliner. Some of his initial documentaries for FLORB were based around people living in cabins, treehouses, and tiny houses.
One of their videos was about a solo female traveller, who chose to travel Europe in her camper van. Another was about how a group of high school students converted their school bus into a tiny home. Then there was this video, where an artist from Washington built an entire forest village from raw and reclaimed material.
In another video, they documented how an old school bus had been converted into mobile dentistry. Similarly, another video on FLORB, took viewers through a dreamy off-grid dome that had been built on an island, while another documented how a group of professional chefs had moved into a van to expand their culinary horizons. Most of their videos are about tiny houses, micro cabins, and converted trucks. They also focus on solo female travellers and their make-shift living spaces.
The name FLORB is a combination of floating and orb because Magaster and his team apparently live on a floating orb. Crazy, right? They are also focusing on documenting eco-projects. For example, their film about a project in Cornwall, England, documented the construction of two big biodomes. It was called the Eden Project, during which they built a rainforest in an old clay mining pit. Intriguing much, we’d say.
On his personal channel, Magaster wants to share videos, which highlight what it means to travel. His travel videos are not just about travelling from one place to the other. Instead, he tries to focus on the adventures that he runs into and the lessons that they teach him. The in-depth videos are more about how travelling changed Magaster as a person.
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