Streaming platforms aren’t just for video games. While most of the biggest stars on the likes Twitch and YouTube all have gaming-orientated audiences, there are plenty of experiences outside of running, gunning, flaming, and rage quitting.
The IRL scene is massive, from streamers inviting their viewers to come along on cool adventures with them, to hosting reality shows, to teaching them about the natural world. It’s the realm of streaming where variety reigns supreme, and it offers up some experiences that are wildly different from the usual gaming content.
So while we here at The Loadout often cover streamers who reside firmly in their gaming chairs, we thought we’d celebrate some of the channels providing some awesome real world content. From the educational, to the entertaining, to the downright unusual, here are some of the best IRL streams for you to feast your eyes upon on Twitch.
Maya Higa
While not exclusively an IRL streamer, Maya Higa often provides her viewers with some awesome insight into the natural world.
An avid conservationist and animal lover, Higa has previously taken her viewers along to meet her horse, to a job she had working at a zoo, or to a centre that raises injured birds of prey where she is currently earning qualifications in falconry.
Her stream is a must for those who love the natural world or just want a bit of something different from a Twitch stream. Even if some of her animals aren’t her chat’s biggest fans…
Wild Earth
Another awesome channel to check out for nature fans is Wild Earth, which takes viewers on daily safaris around the Djuma Game Reserve in South Africa. The team film and stream their drives or treks through the reserve, capturing glimpses of your typical safari fair of lions, wildebeest, crocodiles, giraffes, and more.
And for the price of absolutely nothing (and zero threat of the animals you’re watching turning around and eating you) it represents pretty good value compared to an actual safari.
You never know what you’ll bump into each team you join the team on their safaris, and while sometimes that means some flat moments, it’s never too long until something like this happens.
Hitch
Trevor ‘Hitch’ Daneliuk has got to be Twitch’s most travelled streamer. He’s made a name for himself by livestreaming his long trips exploring different countries – solely by hitchhiking.
Unfortunately, his most recent trip – which would see him hitchhike from Portugal through most of Europe to TwitchCon 2020 – was cut short due to the coronavirus epidemic, and travel restrictions mean that Hitch hasn’t streamed for a while now. However, we implore you to go back and watch some of the VODs of his trip. They’re excellent.
Not only do you get to see some awesome parts of the world and witness Hitch meet a multitude of interesting locals willing to give him a lift, but you also get golden moments like this very nonchalant stream snipe from a casual Croatian.
Austin
One of the most popular forms of entertainment in the 21st century is reality television. So it’s no surprise that one of reality TV’s most famous game shows has made its way onto Twitch with a streamer-themed twist.
Austin – who was previously known as RajjPatel before changing his name because it was “insensitive” – is the brain behind Love or Host (formerly The Rajjchelor/ The Rajjchelorette), a hilarious and immensely popular game show on Twitch (obviously based on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette) where one streamer or content creator is given a number of potential suitors all vying for the chance to be his/her final pick.
Related: The weirdest Twitch clips of 2020
Before the game begins, each suitor chooses ‘Love’ or ‘Host’, with love earning them a date with the contestant or host binning them off in favour of Austin hosting their channel. It’s proper guilty pleasure stuff this, but offers up brilliant moments like this from Carson ‘CallMeCarson’ King, in which he turns down a date with porn star and streamer Mia Malkova. Art.
Music and Performing Arts Section
We know this one’s a little bit general, but Twitch has become home to loads of amazingly talented musicians who love performing to their online audiences. Obviously everyone’s taste in music differs, but the Music category on Twitch has most things covered.
In between the horde of non-stop radio stations are some awesome individuals showcasing their musical ability. You’ve got DJ’s playing sets from their living rooms (German streamer ‘Sintica’ often draws in a pretty big crowd) to musicians performing requests and mashups on the spot (like Trevor ‘88bitmusic’ Gomes, proud owner of the best damn donation alert on Twitch) to the likes of the rather unsuspecting ‘Insomniac_rap’ who freestyles off the top of his head from words sent to him in chat. Whatever the genre, it’ll be there somewhere.
The coronavirus pandemic has also seen countless famous artists, producers, and DJs take to Twitch to connect with fans while touring and concerts have been out of the picture.
Critter_Vision
Another wildlife stream, but this one is a proper hidden gem. A round-the-clock stream of a bunch of feeders and a water feature in a South Carolina back garden doesn’t sound all that appealing to begin with, we admit.
But this ongoing livestream from Critter_Vision is pure gold. While action can sometimes be a little flat with just the odd squirrel dropping by, you can sometimes see a whole cast of creatures from deer, to raccoons, to foxes all pile in.
And even if you don’t get to encounter any critters, open the stream up, leave it in a different tab, and send off some emails to the tranquil tones of bird song and running water. It’s super relaxing, trust us.