The YouTuber renovated two cabins in the rustic Italian Alps, and it went viral

After years of traveling the world, graphic designer Martijn Doolaard decided to find a remote place to call home.

Fifteen years ago, Martijn Doolaard worked full time as a graphic designer in Amsterdam, but he wanted more adventure in his life so he started Travel around the world on his bike and documented on YouTube.

After spending several nights camping in stunning landscapes, he wondered how he could make a place like this his home. “I was thinking, ‘How can you actually live there instead of camping for one night,'” he told Insider.

In 2021, while still living full-time in Amsterdam, he began looking for remote properties in the mountains, starting in Spain before exploring options in Italy.

After four weeks traveling through the Italian Alps in his campervan in search of the Advertised Territories, he discovered the plot of land he decided to make his home: a less than six-acre plot of land in Pimone, northwest Italy, for which he said he paid €21,000 ($21,600). to.

He came up with two stone cabins that Dollard planned to turn into a home. Built in 1903, he said, they looked like barns or animal shelters at the time of filming.

“It’s bare bones. It’s basically four walls and a leaky roof,” he said in the video, adding that there were no plumbing, toilets, or electricity.

Now 38, Doolaard has been posting videos of his renovation for a year, and his channel has grown from a few hundred subscribers to over 400,000. His YouTube platform not only allowed him to fund his project, but it also kept him motivated and provided a community of support and advice while he underwent his renovation. .