Picture this: a bahay kubo sits in the middle of lush, forest-like greenery somewhere in the northern province of the Philippines.
Crickets chirp in the background as a tanned Filipino man wanders in, sharp bolo by his side, ready to clear his way through the dense shrubbery.
He pauses occasionally, captioning the name of the native plant he picks up along the way.
Then he splashes in a shallow stream, and we see him patiently waiting for tilapia to bite his makeshift bamboo stick fishing rod.
Quick close-ups follow of the five or so fish he caught, then more shots of various vegetables being picked and then washed in the river: saluyot, a small bamboo shoot, a few calamansi.
He quickly rushes back to his house as the rain starts pouring down.
A simple life in the provinces of the Philippines—known as the promdi life—is all that’s being shown.
(Promdi is slang for people “from the” province.)
So why do videos featuring a return to nature, a return to a slow, stress-free life getting so many eyeballs these days?
Created by vlogger “Promdi Boy“, a chronicle of his slow-paced life in the province has garnered more than 16 million views to date on YouTube.
He’s no ordinary Pinoy vlogger, though. His videos feature gorgeous wide-angle and close-up shots, taken from a variety of angles and points of view.
Does he have multiple cameras hidden in trees? By the stream? Right by the uling-fed (charcoal) makeshift stove?
Watching his videos makes his viewers feel like they’re invisible observers, watching him as he quietly goes about his daily life.
This man knows cinematography.
He rarely speaks, and doesn’t acknowledge the viewer.
His soundtrack consists of crickets, the gurgling of streams, the soft pitter-patter of rain, the meowing of his cat and the clucking of a chicken.
This man knows the power of ASMR.
He sometimes plays kundiman songs in the background.
He knows how to gut a fish, how to cook simple Pinoy dishes, and he plates his meals like he’s at an organic, artisan, high-end restaurant.
He uses bamboo leaves to line a woven basket, splashing some soup and fish on top of rice, with calamansi sliced on the side.
This man knows plating.
He knows the appeal of using coconut husks as bowls, clay pots for cooking, bamboo sticks as skewers, and utilizing sustainable materials from nature.
He seems to know what we—the Pinoys who live abroad—hunger for.
We fish with him, pick veggies, cook and eat with him, in our imagination.
We are reminded of how some of us used to live in the Philippines: traipsing through green shrubs, going fishing, feeling the cold water as we picked snails in small riverbeds.
We are right there with him as he blows through a bamboo stick to make the charcoal erupt in flames and sear the tilapia skin to a crisp.
Don’t we all long for the simple life?
A return to the green, lush forests, homesteading, growing our own vegetables, longing for the womb of mother nature?
Promdi Boy, and many others like him, have shot an arrow straight to our collective Pinoy amygdala, and we are all hooked.
I say, keep the videos coming. We’ll be watching.
