As someone who’s living in hotels and spending the bulk of my time overseas I watch a ton of TV shows on YouTube. US Streaming subscriptions don’t work overseas. This can be worked-around with the use of a VPN. But I’m often either watching local TV or out of the hotel room doing other things. The amount of use I’d actually get from a VPN is very small. When you add the price of a VPN to a couple of streaming services it can easily top $60 a month.
So mostly I fill in the gaps in entertainment screen time with TV shows on YouTube. Standup comedy is a favorite, with new sets and specials being uploaded daily. Podcasts are another bottomless well of content and semi-professional travel channels like Pack Hacker or Attaché are always worth keeping an eye on.
But professionally produced television episodes are the gold standard of content. Perhaps somewhat serendipitously most of the best YouTube TV shows focus on travel and food. Let’s check out the list…
YouTube Travel Shows…
Anthony Bourdain’s Shows
Bourdain really had the magic and no one before or since has combined gourmet food and travel in such a compelling way. The Parts Unknown channel has 58 complete episodes organized into playlists for each season. Additionally the GoTraveler channel has the first two seasons of the early Bourdain series A Cook’s Tour as well as several other professionally produced travel titles.
Unfortunately No Reservations is not available but the Travel Channel’s channel has a playlist of 9 minute segments of that program that totals more than 10 hours altogether. Travel Channel’s YouTube is also home to Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods and more.
For fans it can be bittersweet at times looking back on Bourdain’s work but by and large these episodes hold up extremely well. A search through them for your destination before a trip is still a great guide to get off the beaten path and know what to expect.
An Idiot Abroad
Most travelers like to imagine themselves as the hip and debonair Bourdain, at ease in any corner of the world. But the truth is he had full production teams, expert local contacts and large budgets to make those shows. For the average tourist, whether we want to admit it or not, the experience is much closer to that of one Karl Pilkington.
The premise behind this show is that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant send their non-celebrity friend around the globe to see the Seven Wonders of the World. As a Manchester Everyman Karl is ill-equipped and uncomfortable exploring foreign cities. As his friends throw curveballs into the organization of his itinerary high comedy ensues.
This series pops upp on various channels but at the moment all three seasons are available in a playlist on the Jimbob Porter Channel.
Rick Steves’ Europe
The granddaddy of all travel shows, Rick Steves’ official channel has nearly two million subscribers and a bajillion hours of content. Easily the world’s foremost expert on European travel. Not much else to say.
Scam City
I can recall watching two full seasons of Scam City on YouTube but can’t turn up the full series in a search. It’s a shame because it’s an entertaining show filmed in cities all over the world.
Host Conor Woodman with his crew lands in a new city and sets about putting himself out as bait for pickpockets, cab drivers, ladyboys, voodoo frauds, scopolamine rings and all manner of local scammers. Ironically the show serves to illustrate how safe most travel is because he often has to go pretty far to find himself in trouble or become a victim. If you’re new to traveling abroad this YouTube TV show will definitely make you much savvier about what to look out for.
User Edd Ninety Nine has five episodes up, and random full episodes can be found by searching.
The Express Way with Dulé Hill
The Express Way is a US domestic travel show from PBS that focuses on the lives and culture of people of color in various locations with a wide array of backgrounds. Being public television you can expect the best in terms of production and cultural value. Unfortunately it’s not organized into a playlist so you have to search around on their channel.
The PBS YouTube channel is one of the best there is. There’s plenty of non-travel and food related content on there too. Ken Burns! Nova, Frontline, Independent Lens and much more.
Bonus Tip: Search YouTube for specific public broadcasters as well. Minnesota Public Television, Louisiana Public Television, etc.
Food TV Shows on YouTube…
Kitchen Nightmares
A handsome British chef yells at restaurant owners and makes them humble. Like Bar Rescue but for food. It’s a formula that never gets old. Plenty of slop on the Kitchen Nightmares channel. Go eat it up.
Hell’s Kitchen
You want more of Chef Ramsey?
Yes Chef!
Go watch Hell’s Kitchen. It has its own channel. Gordon is all over YouTube.
OTR Food and History
I just found the OTR Food and History channel recently. Honestly… I’m not sure this is actually professionally produced television but the quality is there. Everything is on location and production value is very high even if the host is sometimes talking directly into a podcast style mic.
A subscription here is a must and I’ll definitely work my way through all of these episodes eventually. Episodes range from 30-60 minutes and cover the history of topics like noodles, rice, coconuts and chili peppers.
Hot Ones
Is Hot Ones a sleeper hit? A breakout hit? Both? I really don’t know but the Internet sure loves it. Famous people eat chicken wings. You wouldn’t think it works but it’s actually great. The Conan episode is the stuff of legend and a good starting point if you haven’t seen the show yet.
Find it on the First We Feast channel along with titles like Snacked and Food Heroes which are not full length but definitely worth a look.
Jamie Oliver
Not gonna lie… It’s a top ten list and it needed one more TV show on YouTube to fill it out. I don’t care to hone my own cooking skill any further, at least until I have my own kitchen. I prefer shows about buying food in restaurants.’
But hey, Jamie is a big time celebrity chef and he’s got full episodes up on his channel. Maybe you’ll enjoy them more than I do.
