I have had too much Caffeine this morning in the Philippines

hey guys what's up I thought I would go live because I have had too much caffeine this morning had too much caffeine this morning in the Philippines and I thought I would just hop on here um yeah feel

free to um add any questions guys I uh part of the reason I'm going live this um morning instead of tomorrow or Sunday I've got a lot going on this weekend as far as um stuff that I'm doing

uh for Content creation so I'm setting up um hey good to see you John welcome welcome yeah I've had a lot of caffeine this morning so uh yeah so this weekend I've got a lot of uh interviews well

I've got multiple interviews to do um which is exciting some new guests uh one guy who I don't think he's um I don't think he's done an interview before I think it'll be his first YouTube interview and so

that should be really exciting I'll be scheduling that on Sunday so it won't happen on Sunday but I'll get a time and date locked down on Sunday uh yeah Paul so I had I think I had five cups

of coffee uh this morning and then I started drinking uh one of these which is uh has about the same caffeine as a cup of coffee so something like six cups a lot I now of course the cups

I had were kind of small but um yeah I just knew I really wanted to get a lot done today and I went running last night um and I uh definitely felt it this morning felt a bit tired

because I ran a lot last night at the track I go to the track here and do magetti and uh and run three times a week now um I just started that a week or two couple like uh

yeah like last week early last week uh and so my body's adjusting and I definitely felt a little achy so I thought why don't I drink some caffeine and power through it so that's where I'm at um and

uh just wanted to hop on here trying to do these once a week to get together with everybody get feedback uh have some um kind of Q&A type of uh discussion and also just provide life updates that sort

of thing uh one of the things I was going to do is mention I'm having a hard time to deciding my next steps here um so my initial thought about applying to nursing school here was to just apply

to silly mom but I realized well one I may not get accepted right I don't know what their expectations are it's a very uh desirable place to to study uh but twoo there's other great quality schools here in

the Philippines as well uh and they may offer me an opportunity to live in some other cities so I think what I'm going to do is research and compile a list of places I'd like go uh probably the

top schools because um those are going to be like most likely to feed me into a role back in the US but also you know normal schools I'm not an elitist I just want to make sure if I

invest the time that I'm able to translate that toward uh opportunities and so um that's kind of a Focus right now compiling the list of schools I want to apply to and then if I um you know if

I go back to the US to get my apostal documents I'll know um I'll know I can compile uh my list of schools and get say 10 sets of documents come back to the Philippines mail them all out

and then have a have more of a solid answer rather than go back get documents for one you know you know it doesn't make any sense to fly back and forth to the states uh for multiple sets of

Doc docents I'd rather just get everything done in one go send out my applications find out if and where I've been accepted and then proceed from there philli says hey Alex good to see you Phillip how's it going

in life dretti has been quiet for over a month now yeah it's been refreshing honestly I I you Philip you read my mind this morning I was thinking man what's gonna happen next um because there's always seems like

there's always something wild going on now I will say a the vlogging scene is kind of um Consolidated here uh you know obviously unfortunately Mark is gone uh Gio has moved up to Bola as he's let everybody know

on his channel uh I think Paul station Adventures as well has moved up to Aid and who else yeah so so you know so several people have have uh have departed and and I think that reduces it somewhat

I mean there's uh which is you know I I think the lack of drama is good um Philip I'm I'm glad that the drama has cut back I don't I get that it gets clicks I get that it

gets views I just don't think it's the most flattering impression um of dag Getti I'm kind of I'm pretty I try to be pretty specific about who I spend time with because uh to me it's just a place

to come relax and chill out the Philippines in general is a place to relax chill out I've never understood you know the need for for the drama I mean I guess you know like I said it gets clicks

it gets attention but you know to me it it's um there's a lot of awesome things about being here and and uh yeah um hey D good to see you oh so John wanted so John asked a good

question what have you done professionally thus far um so I've always done some kind of sales work so I I had an e-commerce store I had several e-commerce stores I did that for nine years eight or nine years

where I sold stuff on Amazon on eBay on Etsy and uh and then I got into technology sales did that for a couple years I suspect I'm washed out of tech um I tried to go back for computer

science and um you know I Tech is just not in a good place right now in the US as far as the industry goes it's consolidating um not much hiring going on uh I did some applications but it

seemed like the companies weren't super serious about bringing people on board uh so I've always done some kind of business or sales work um and you know um I'm not opposed to getting back into it but I also

I also know that it's kind of boom and bust and very cyclical uh whereas Healthcare is just very steady like uh my mom went back for nursing in her mid-30s she her first degree uh was psychology and then

her second degree was accounting so she worked as an accountant uh and then she decided to go back for nursing to to have some higher earning potential and uh I think you know that's kind of what I'm looking

at is you you can do well in Tech but like I said it's boom and bust it's cyclical um and you know they don't there's no Health Care bust right or Health Care bubble like there is with tech

and and I like I said I saved some good money when I was working in Tech I only worked in tech for a few years but I was able to save a good chunk of my earnings but uh

I don't want to keep like people keep telling me go back to the States go back to the States go back to the States one I'm not in an emergency Financial situ right so I'm not in a position

where oh I'm I'm running out of money tomorrow I'm running out of money next week um a lot of people would like for that to happen because they they don't like me or for whatever reason but that's not

the case on the other hand I'm not totally financially independent so I I don't have so much in terms of resources I'm I'm done working and I would get bored too like being retired uh you know my 30s

so my thought is how can I pivot to another career where I can earn enough to live like um not like live rich in the United States but put away money every month um that's kind of a misconception

people think is that oh you have to make a lot of money in the US because you want to live a super high standard of living that's not my goal my goal is yeah I could go get a

warehouse I could get on a plane tomorrow and have a warehouse job on Monday I'm not going to get ahead working a warehouse job in the United States uh for $15 an hour I'm going to be going backwards

financially um I've lived on that amount and yeah maybe you cover your bills any extra expense car breaks down you need new tires um you need you know you need to buy something whatever it may be that comes

up unexpected then all of a sudden you're in the red and so it's not really sustainable to live on that kind of wage unless you're independently wealthy or you have family that will just put you up for free

um neither of which are my expectation uh then I I start to ponder okay what could I do where I could earn enough to be independent also put away money every month right like my goal Financial Independence move

to Southeast Asia long term but to do that I need to build up a dividend portfolio uh Investment Portfolio that can cover my cost of living independent of my output dayto day and so I thought why don't I

go into Healthcare uh there's a demand for it there's the wages are High um there's demand all over the country so I wouldn't have to go back to my hometown I don't want to go back to my hometown

um so I could go back to California where I much prefer to live California if you earn enough money to afford it I've never found any place that I like to live better than California um money not you

know assuming I'm earning enough money to live there I love the weather I love the culture I love the beaches the mountains the architecture is interesting um meet a lot of really bright people in California but you need

to earn good money to live there so if not for Tech right if Tech's in a bad in bad shape and I'm not going to get a tech job then health care I think could be a good option

for me to um you know to to be located out there um so yeah John that was a really long-winded way of answering your question but I always done some kind of sales or Business Development and uh it

um you know it being in a bust I don't want to count on getting back into it I also don't want to get into a a deadend job that uh I'm going backwards financially and I happen to have

saved enough money so that I can have some time to plan my next moves and uh now could I go back to nursing school in the United States that's a common question well one it's very very competitive it's

typically one of the most competitive programs at many universities in the states um and so everybody you know because people know it pays well and so there's a lot of people and there's a finite number of seats because

you know if I'm if I have a a healthc care background do I want to teach healthc Care Professionals or do I want to go work in Industries so you have a finite number of people that could actually

teach up to the standard and then of those people many would prefer to just work in a hospital right so uh very hard to get into the education and then when you do get into the education you're paying

a lot for it you know it's not uncommon to rack up 100K in debt to to go to get a bachelor's and nursing um because it's not just your tuition it's your um rent it's your food people say

well just work well if you try to work while you're going to nursing school you're competing against people who don't have to work right you're the you you're always competing against the best of the best in the United

States and that's in every element of life and so you're trying to to work full time while you got other people that during the hours that you're working they're studying right they're able to get ahead uh they're able

to form study groups they're able to maybe go and speak with the professor about questions they have they they're able to get ahead of you basically and uh and so then I was thinking well the United States hires

a lot of Health Care Professionals from other countries you know I how about the Philippines and so I started to research and look into it and I made that video and I got tons of uh Filipino Health Care

Professionals telling me you found the secret that's like the the secret is to go and do your training in the Philippines come back to the States pass the examinations the enclex exam and then be employed and so now

you study I I would be able to pursue the education without working without occurring a bunch of debt uh quality education and then come back and earn where uh where the wages are high and I can't I can't

legally work here in the Philippines I'm a foreigner so I would not be permitted to work here as a nurse um so that kind of solves itself um D welcome D good to see you I think a Nursing

degree is a f fabulous idea nurses are in demand globally a great way to travel and earn income I absolutely agree D thanks so much for joining us today yeah it's you know it's a very much in demand

field and I've had people tell me oh isn't it's a calling it's a calling I think of it uh one I I I try to be empathetic but two it's a very stable uh in demand role you're helping

people where in Tech I felt at times we have these Solutions looking for problems um and the value is not evident with nursing the value is very evident in my opinion like most people will need health care especially

as they get older they they want Health Care uh services and it's not like um it's not an optional thing I would say for most people uh so it's something that there is a very clear demand very strong

demand and I've had friends tell me you know hey like it's not as cyclical like if you for whatever reason you get you lose your nursing job you can walk down the street and find another job where Tech

is not really like that Tech it seems like uh you know when the when the industry goes into a bad time like everybody's struggling uh or many people are struggling so yeah that's been on my mind but um

cars always remember we are foreigners here we are used to getting special access in the United States where we're citizens but are often Dy because we're foreigners some foreigners yeah um a lot of people are coming here for

uh healthc care education so I I've run into a guy several times here in dag Getti he's uh getting his uh doctor educa like medical doctor education here and um so that's that's kind of it is that basically

you know assuming that they they feel confident about your ability your skill set um your ability to pay right I don't think they have I don't think student loans are a big thing here then they'll uh they'll train

you right um and also I think on their part there's an incentive because they know as a grad like I'm not going to be working here so I'm not going to be competing with their students for uh jobs

here you know I'll be if assuming I go through this go through with this plan as soon as I finish I'll be hopping on a plane and going back to the states to to find work but I've heard

a number of people say they found jobs before they even completed the education if they went to a good quality Ed uh institution here in the Philippines they had something lined up before they even finish so um I'm

not I'm more concerned about getting in right now that's the next step after getting in it's completing the education um and then after completing the education it's getting a job but I also plan to if I get in

I plan to try to Vlog this and and that will probably grow my vog as well a lot of people are curious about studying uh overseas because the uh you know the educa the university system United States is

kind of a scheme where they want to get people trapped into a bunch of debt and uh tuition is just far far less overseas and um you know I've said it before there's really three options for the American

Health Care system because you have this relationship between supply and demand of services or service providers you could let people go without health care which a lot of people don't want right you could lower the standard you could

basically say we're just going to make it easier for people to get a healthare education we're going to lower the examination standards will'll allow more people to become Health Care Professionals both of these come with major downsides one

if you don't give people treatment that's the the problem there is obvious two you lower the standard problem there is obvious or three we could allow people with education from overseas to come in and work in these roles

or in these um you know in these professions and so most will agree that number three is the best option uh because the other alternatives are not good uh let's say um yeah Paul my rent is 8,000 pesos

per month so I pay about $137 us for rent for this studio apartment it is furnished that includes Wi-Fi um I pay about $5 a month for my water bill and my electric bill comes out to around 2,000

pesos a month about $35 for my electric so all in I'm I'm around $188 $190 a month including utilities so very good value for money I mean if I was renting this in in my hometown Nashville I'd pay

probably 15 $1,500 a month for this um apartment and you know I would have uh in in Nashville I'd have crazy neighbors you know people looking to uh just you know have a good time and and uh hear

the neighbors are generally quiet and respectful it's um yeah it's fantastic I mean I I really like being here and um if I get a you know a good education that's fantastic um let's see here John says nursing

is a solid Choice thank you John yeah super in demand demand is is not going anywhere uh as the population the United States ages then there's just going to be more and more demand for health care and more

and more resources uh in the United States will be dedicated to health care services and I I don't see that changing anytime soon um the average American is like 40 years old the average European is 44 years old

uh and so people just need more and more treatment and they're going to you know they're going to be willing to spend their money on it and invest in it and um yeah Derek says don't forget to hit

the like thanks so much Derek I don't know why I'm kind of congested right now guys I need to use uh my inhaler here you studying nursing in the Philippines yeah so Paul that's kind of my next goal

here um is is to study nursing here the tuition is far far less than the United States I think all in I would spend about $6,000 for two years of Nursing education here where in the United States you're

probably talking more like 20K in tuition minimum maybe 30 or 40K tuition um and that and then and then monthly expenses probably spending three grand a month in the US so to do two years of education in the

US you're looking at like 100 Grand where here more like 30 grand maybe 35 Grand something like that and um that's a no-brainer plus the quality of life is high much higher for me here than in United States

I look at the us as kind of what I call an economic zone it's a place to go and earn money um it's the quality of life is just not uh not as strong as what it used to

be for most for many people I'll say not everybody but for many people the quality of life in the US is um just is kind of going into Decline and uh so I is a great place to earn

money great place to get ahead financially once you get that money um you you may try you know I think trying out some other countries is what I would like to do uh in the long term and I

could do contract work right so if I got my nursing education then um you know if I got my nursing education then uh I could um I could do six months contract or three months contract and then uh

you know go travel Latin America or travel um southeast Asia tra do more of Europe I want to see more of Europe because I haven't really seen much of Europe that would be interesting to me and I'd really

get to just uh have that kind of flexibility and that would be really cool um D says it would be so interesting to follow your life as a mature student sing abroad I think it would be quite a

unique theme so many bloggers in the fils are covering the same topics I I absolutely uh agree the you know a lot of Vlogs in the Philippines are covering dating uh budget um that's that's it like dating and

budget and I try to avoid covering those topics not because I don't think they're good topics but one I think they've been covered a lot there's there's logs about every different angle of uh of dating and budget two

I think other people do better than me I think other people are better at covering dating better at covering uh budget than I am and so trying to go into some Uncharted territories uh some topics that people don't

really talk about um should be really interesting and should be really valuable to the audience who they they want to learn more about the Philippines but uh they feel like you know I've already learned as much as I

can learn about budget cost of living cities uh like that they want to live in whether it be dagate or Sabu or Manila and so going into education opportunities should be a lot of uh should be a lot

of fun um I thought University of California schools were discounted for California residents yeah Philip they are so so the uh big thing to call out there would be California cost of living is very very high uh so

to rent an apartment in urban California you're talking $2,000 a month minimum uh and then your day-to-day expense is probably an additional 1,500 a month uh so just to go to school even if the tuition was free you'd

be paying say 3 to 4,000 a month month and monthly costs um and so you're talking like 40,000 a year um before you get into tuition and I you know I could technically spend that but I I mean

it doesn't make any sense to me to spend that um if I could spend a third of that right uh because I don't I don't believe I mean California one has like a a quite a few um Filipino

healthc Care Professionals yeah the C John you understand you live in Orange County um the cost is not bad if you're working full-time right if you've got like a nursing education you got a A programming degree Bachelor's in

computer science you've got a mechanical engineering background the cost in California is really not that bad I did not find it to be um expensive when I was working full-time but if you're not working then you're just uh

you're spending a lot of money that is not replenishing itself through a paycheck and it just doesn't uh and you're also hoping it works out right like let's say I get through I don't let's say I struggle in

the nursing program right I don't even know if I'm going to be able to get through it it's considered quite difficult let's say after a semester I decide ah you know this isn't for me me I'm not capable

of meeting the standard for whatever reason okay here in the Philippines I spent 1,400 tuition for uh a semester I spent four grand living expenses for a semester five grand living expenses for a semester okay I'm out $6,000

okay in California I'm out let's see $25,000 for that semester that I messed up so losing 6,000 if it does work out versus losing $25,000 if it doesn't work out um that's almost 20 grand difference uh if it

doesn't work out and you know that's that's pretty substantial uh not to mention the startup costs I mean if I wanted to go get an apartment in California I'm putting down first month's rent uh Depo as a deposit

and then I'm paying the first month's rent um could I have a car back in the States maybe I'm having to go and get a parking uh spot renting a parking spot uh it's it's so cost prohibitive um

that you have to really look at Roi look at the likelihood of success and evaluate okay what happens if this plan doesn't work and in the Philippines if the plan doesn't work it's um exactly John John mentions I'm

not watching your channel because I want to retire in California yeah it's I absolutely agree John it's uh most people do not want to retire in California uh for numerous reasons I mean you've got the Wildfire issues you've

got uh not in Orange County but some parts of California you've got some substantial crie problems I had my car broken into before I left California you've got uh you know you have a really high cost of living

in California you've got California has some challenges it's a great place to have a career I think it's probably one of the best places in the United States to have a career but if you want to relax you're

not going to really I don't find California to be relaxing I find it a place where there's always something cool happening there's always something fun to do there's always uh you know interesting things happening in the tech industry

but if your your ideas you want to slow down no it's very fast paced life in California is almost as fastpaced As It Gets in the US except for maybe like Boston or New York uh it's as fast

as it gets there uh the good old us of the 90s is sadly over it's a great place then with all the Silicon Valley startups I absolutely agree prodig Lin I I totally agree that that was really a

a lovely time um back in the States um um is the course curriculum taught in English yes John yeah so course curriculum is taught in English the uh there's really it's a bodal path so you've got the OFW

program where professionals healthc Care Professionals from the Philippines they go to the Middle East uh in the overseas foreign worker program and then the other other path is I think to the United States so both uh are taught

in English because they're wanting to prepare people to go overseas um to get these high quality jobs and then ideally be able to send remittances back something like 10% of the Philippines economy is uh money sent from other

countries so Filipinos living abroad I think it's 15 million Filipinos live outside of the Philippines and many of those 15 million actually send remittances back here to friends family uh loved ones uh through money transfer services um where

do you Al uh prodelin Alex where do you want to oh dating traveling sorry uh getting got ahead of myself a little bit tra get to traveling Nurse Program yeah that's a good call out Derek uh traveling nurses

can do very very well actually before I left California I lived in h near Sacramento and the guy I rented my room from a room from uh he the other new rooms were occupied by traveling nurses so they

travel around California uh picking up these contracts they rent a room 1,200 a month they're hardly there they're working a lot of hours over time earning that money um and so that's kind of how they they they work

this system is they don't go and rent at a full-on apartment they don't get into a lease they get to travel around they get a higher pay rate I do think they have to cover things like their insurance

separately um so they don't you know they make a higher pay rate they use a portion of that to pay for certain things that if they were employed at One hospital that hospital would cover those costs things like

health insurance uh for example um where do you want to work after you obtain your Nursing degree make sure your degree is recognized yeah so um with uh Simon for example 100% of people that graduate from Simon University

that take the enlex exam the uh the American um the American nursing exam pass so every single person that graduates from Silly's nursing program actually passes that enlex exam and I talked to quite a few people too that

commented on my video saying I went to a no-name university in the Philippines like um you know ones you might not have you probably haven't heard of and then I just passed that exam and I was licensed to

work so you don't have to go to the top university the bigger thing is get the education and then pass that enlex exam that standardized test uh and then you're you're good to go now they have to as

Filipinos they have to pass a language test proving that their English level is um at a level where they could work I wouldn't have to do that as a native speaker as a US citizen that's something they would

have to do uh they would also have a harder time in the sense that they would be immigrating to the United States with uh maybe not the same amount of experience like living in the US they might not

have ever visited the states where for me I've spent um most of my life in the states so it's it's a system I'm pretty familiar with and not something that would be a major adjustment I mean it would

still be an adjustment because I've been out of the country for almost two years now but uh it's um you know it wouldn't be the the same as as for a Filipino person who uh maybe you know less

familiar with the us but yeah after finishing work I've had some people say hey you know you could go do contract in Hawaii I've never been to Hawaii but that would be really cool uh to go and work

in Hawaii and and actually earn enough to enjoy some of the nice things that Hawaii has to offer and you know I would don't know that I'd want to live there long term but even just going there to

work would be really cool um but Proto galin probably I'd only focus on high cost of living areas uh because those those tend to be the areas that for me my preferences offer more of what I'm looking for

uh and as a bachelor I'm not looking to purchase a single family home in these areas and I found the high cost of living areas in the US or anywhere in the world they're more so high costs if

you want to have a family there but if you're a single person you're comfortable with renting a small space um then other things don't really add up taxes are high but I I grew up in a low low

tax area and they still get their taxes um so where I'm from uh Nashville they claim oh we're low tax we're low tax but the property taxes are very very high I've have uh friends families back there that

are seeing 30% year-over-year increases in property tax so where 10 years ago their property taxes like two grand a year it's up to like four grand a year or five grand a year so they're paying out $3 $400

a month just in property tax that doesn't include maintaining the house um you know need when you need a new roof when you need to paint you need um change the flooring like pave the or uh you know

top up the driveway maybe the mailbox these are all these additional costs of owning single family home are part of what make high cost of living areas expensive if you're just renting an apartment um oh no the apartment's

messed up I guess I'll just go find a new apartment not a big deal where if you own the property you've got and another thing is the sales tax is very high uh where I'm from so it's I

think it's 10% uh so if you want to consume um basically I look at it is the taxes in the United States people um people often don't talk about the bigger picture the totality of taxes and the fact

that Most states are going to get their taxes one way or another uh they're not going to just let you get by without it and in some ways uh you just pay for it in other ways right so

Tennessee has a very high crime rate certain types of crime part of that is because uh certain El certain parts of the state are very underresourced and they're not going to show you that right when they talk about

Nashville not going to talk about Backwoods Trailer Park Tennessee where people are living really rough they're going to show you Broadway that's perfectly manicured heavy police presence um you know down the street from the Predators natural Predators hockey

arena and the Titan Stadium uh so yeah that's that's where I um I I'm kind of critical is is that uh there's a certain way kind of of spinning things in a certain light to back up um a

person's kind of opinion on that um guys I'll be right back I drank so much coffee I'll be right back like two minutes e e [Music] all right guys okay um let's see here will you will you be

changing your visa to a student visa if you get accepted you're going to need bank statements among other things yeah I so I can get my bank statements um right now for my online banking I get bank statements

let's see I get four or five banking statements every month uh from my Banks via email and uh I could get those in person too bank statements are easy um but I'll definitely be changing over my Visa to

M uh to maintain compliance make sure I'm following the rules and uh and pro you know do what I need to be doing um let's see taxes are oppressive there too depending on your bracket Texas has become more

popular now but never actually been there so I actually am curious about Texas but then all the people I've worked with and my friends who live in Texas tell me not to move to Texas so I can't really

figure it out um I've been to Austin and I liked Austin a lot Austin's kind of the the California part of Texas you could say I thought it was a cool town I like the uh vibrancy I like

that there seems like there's a lot going on there uh but my friends in Texas tell me that actually grew up there not what you think it is Austin is cool but like Austin's more of a California light

than it is a Texas a lot of my friends in Texas are not in Austin they're in Dallas or Houston and uh you know maybe it's just one of those people or more critical of what they know versus

what they don't know um I'm not a post living in Texas definitely not a post that um maybe I go try to contract out down there but um we'll see uh let's see D says I hope you're not

squeamish thank you D yeah I I think I could get over it I to me I think it's one of those things like I could probably adjust to um needles don't bother me for example um both I think

maybe it's a genetic thing too both my parents were in health care so uh my dad was a doctor and my mom was a nurse so uh maybe it's just like in My DNA to want to be at

Healthcare and uh I think it's something I could uh I could adjust to and maybe I'll research that D thank you for calling that out actually I'm going to do some research on like how do people let me

make a note of that how do people adjust yeah cuz that's that's a good call out for sure and I may I may look into I studying it here I'm a little bit more skeptical of that but um

it's you know it would be in line with my past experience and I think Tech is beneficial because there's less regulation there um so you have more Innovation I think more growth where Healthcare is very much very regulated

uh and there's more rules to follow versus in Tech uh John says you know the California governor relocated the homeless to clean the facade for uh the Chinese president Nashville does not have a monopoly on window dressing oh

absolutely John I will agree with that I met some out of touch folks in California for sure people that are like what California doesn't have any problems um because they you know they're very very blessed in terms of

resource es and they can afford to just separate themselves from some of those challenges one of my stories about California I remember coming out of a Michelin restaurant in San Francisco and uh this is in uh I don't

want to specify the neighborhood but it was in a a decent neighborhood in San Francisco and I walk down the stairs and I get to the bottom of the stairs and there's like four homeless people having a party

at the base of the stairs of this Michelin star restaurant uh and it was just a very Stark extreme situation you know very like where did I okay so I came from that restaurant where it cost $300 to

have dinner and now I'm stepping over people that uh probably don't have $300 to their name so it was uh yeah I mean that's that's certainly not a picture that people see very much and I find a lot

of people too they they treat it as one or the other California is either Armageddon or it's Paradise on Earth um I found a bit of both in my time there and I find that you know for most

people that are busy working in California they're focused on their job they're uh you know they're not hanging out with in on Skid Row just like most of them are not living in the a mansion in the Hills

um most people seem to uh you know they just do their job and they focus on work and trying to get ahead and uh that's their their focus uh Virginia Beach is awesome live there for 35 years before

moving back to California highly recommended I think I've been to Virginia Beach actually I like that I like that area a lot there's a lot to like about uh the East Coast I've never lived on the East Coast

so I've always like lived either in Tennessee or or in the Mountain West or west coast and at some point I'd like to try living on the East Coast not forever but uh you know at least give it

six months or a year I through the channel I've developed some friendships of people that live on the east coast and um I think it'd be interesting I I've spent a couple of summers in the Washington DC area

but maybe going further up the coast or further down the coast might be kind of cool too cars says after two years in the Philippines I think it's best for my wife to be able to live in America

um you want to have shared residency yeah I don't blame you there cars there's some things I do miss about the United States that I didn't really think I would miss or didn't understand that I would miss and

I think the Philippines is great for retirement I think for people that are looking to slow down uh people that they what's the word like they want to enjoy life they're done working um great option for people in

their working years I I think that the United States has a lot to offer I think a lot that's there's a reason a lot of Filipino people for their working years they want to work in the US uh

they want to work in Australia Canada um United Kingdom New Zealand these kinds of places uh just because there's you know they're they're set up for business I think the Philippines is uh more oriented toward relaxation enjoying life

um slower Pace that kind of thing where the US is is you know it's more set up to be getting things done and and just a different lifestyle so I I don't blame you I I think that's the

ideal if somebody would ask me what's the ideal I would say the ideal for a lot of people is to be able to come and go as they please um to go back and forth between the Philippines United

States or if they're from UK go back and forth uh and not be stuck in one forever because when I'm in the US for too long I just get stressed out burnout frustrated people are very kind of combative

and argumentative uh but it's very convenient right there's tons of conveniences in the United States I can go to Walmart uh or go on Amazon or um whatever convenience I want I get my car I go drive and

I can just have such convenient comfortable uh way of doing things but it comes with stresses it comes with people having a uh an being angry right their lives aren't working out the way that they thought they would

in the United States so they're very stressed out very frustrated they feel like uh I think some of it social media where I think people in the US you know they weren't so able to have insight into the

way other people live before social media now they see oh wow like this real estate investor you know seems to have some things I don't have and I I work my fingers to the Bone um and they don't

seem to work their fingers to Bone discounting the work it took for that person to get into that position um the risk that person took uh vice versa people can people who are doing well for themselves um I

don't know they people just seem kind of detached in the US where people in the Philippines relationships seem more important to people people seem to be uh just more oriented towards so their social life and small talk talking

to people um I like I like it hear that I can joke around with people a bit more easily I like that um yeah there so conversely like here in the Philippines sometimes I go to the store they

don't have what I'm looking for right it's out of stock uh sometimes I um give instructions to a service provider and they don't quite understand what I mean they might say yes uh but they uh they might not

still understand quite what I'm getting at um what else in the Philippines well I I don't have a car here right so I can't just Hop On Hop in my car and go drive to town um I could

get a bike but there's some I have some major safety concerns about riding a motorbike uh I've known several people tell me it's not a problem and then those same people get into accidents um it's so yeah there

there's it's tradeoffs I say there's no place that's perfect you come to the Philippines you're trading certain things about the US for different things in the Philippines and vice versa car says agree the Philippines has what the US

does not get the best of both worlds if you can um yeah I agree cars absolutely I mean there's certain things that you know I like I said I miss a lot about the US [Music] I one of

the things I liked about working in the US is I I had more predictability over my day-to-day life I could basically predict everything that was going to happen there's a dark side of that where it gets very boring

and repetitive at times but it was kind of nice to know okay Friday afternoon I'm going to go do whatever we're here Friday afternoon might be a rainstorm uh somebody May cancel plans um I may run into somebody

and get sidetracked into a conversation that goes on for hours who knows what could happen happen on Friday afternoon we back in the States Friday afternoon I'm going to go home I'm going to turn on YouTube I'm going

to pick up some takeout and and veg out um so so there's there's the upside and there's the downside uh let's see I worked hard all my life and I'm fortunate enough to afford to live in both places

yeah cars you prepared well I mean you focused on getting things done you live below your means I think that a lot of guys you probably have heard this or probably know this a lot of guys out there

envy you that you can go back and forth that you could afford to live in the US or you could afford to live here in the Philippines and I think a lot of guys that can't afford to live

back home Envy you and then there's also guys that live back home that are too afraid to leave that would also envy your courage right I think it takes encourage to go to another country to live in another

country and I get it a lot you know uh I got it more in the past when I talked to people back home but now with some of the problems in the United States I meet more people that

are like curious about living overseas some of the issues in the US are becoming more apparent uh cost of living crime um political division they're becoming so apparent they're so obvious that you can't really ignore them and so

I have more people I would call normal or normies that um that are curious about living overseas and and not necessarily permanently you know for not I don't think it's I'm not my I don't want I I try

not to give any advice but my insight is go try some other places out learn about how people live I think a lot of Americans would have much more gratitude for the US if they lived overseas um to

me living overseas has taught me a lot of gratitude about the US simultaneously uh I can be critical of the us some people would say oh you you hate America I don't hate America critical thinking is what a

is part of what makes the United States such an amazing country and the West in general but the United States in particular is that we can criticize is that we can say this isn't good or this isn't good

and we fix it right we Elevate to the next level you think about uh engineering I know cars worked in Aerospace and I have several friends here that also worked in Aerospace if you're building an AER airplane you

better be critical right you better figure out what's not going to work because a lot of people's safety and health is at risk we've seen some major incidents in the last year that have been very tragic and some

of those incidents are caused by a lapse in critical thinking uh so anytime people say don't ever criticize us no criticism is is what has elevated the United States to uh Global superpower is that people don't just accept

things that face Val value but they have some doubt um I think medium trust societies are going to be the most productive places because you have enough chaos that new ideas come up and enough criticism that people refine

those ideas they're trying to make them better uh so I I don't think it's I don't think it's unpatriotic at all to be critical of the US I think that's what makes the United States an amazing place as

that people say no you're doing this wrong right and think about a restaurant in the United States if we didn't follow very stringent uh food safety protocols oh no you know whatever drop the food on the floor who

cares no no no that's a problem okay if somebody gets served that food that has been dropped on the floor can make them very sick throw it out you know I've worked in my first job was in a

restaurant washing dishes and so that's something I think about from time to time uh and that that goes for every element of life in the US um criticism is not bad I think there's a difference between um nihilism

or or excess negativity and saying no there's a proper way to do this there's a proper way to approach this problem and we should do things the right way because uh that's what ensures a high standard of living

that's what's good for people like healthcare I don't I don't want to go see a doctor in the United States and them say h you probably fine probably not a big issue you know whatever doesn't matter no no

no I want them to say hey if you don't stop doing this Behavior it's GNA hurt you um I I want that criticism because that and and in jobs too oh no manager leave me alone I'm doing things

fine no no tell me what I'm doing wrong because I need to improve how I'm doing things I I learned that in sales feedback is a gift and so I think some people that that say oh you're negative

on the US well that feedback is is what improves Us in the US that's why we have products that work uh we have technology that works we have software that works we have the standard of living that we

have in the US and I I uh I don't like the idea of not being critical I think when you stop being critical you stop um you stop improving you stop growing I think it could be taken to

excess I do think sometimes uh some people would would try to make the argument oh the US that's the worst in the world no no no it's not the there's far worse places to live than the United States

um even in the parts of the US that are not very desirable they're still more desirable than some other places like uh I could think of some places I wouldn't want to live um Papua Nini um Congo are

some examples um but yeah that I that's a little bit of a rant guys I just I tie that in um CBGB says nothing is worth breaking a leg or a hip stay off the motorcycles I agree CBGB

I absolutely agree it's um I you know I give credit to those who are able to Pilot them soft or safely but for me I just um I'm not super coordinated and and uh yeah I'm I'm uh I'm

not super coordinate uh John asks how do you occupy your time when you're not creating content that's a great question John so a big one is Fitness I'm getting into running so I and I need to start going

back to to lifting weights in the gym uh so a big one for me is health and fitness it's um I I get people telling me here all the time Alex you're too skinny you're too skinny but I

just I love being healthy I love physical activity and uh going to work out and and so that's a big part of how I spend my free time is trying to learn different Fitness techniques I'm trying to learn

how to run because I've never been a runner before so this is a whole new thing I I got these knockoff shoes I'll show you guys I can show you one of them they're they're kind of dirty because

it was raining last night uh but yeah I got these these are I I thought if I stick with running then I'll get a nicer pair uh but those are just $10 and I take those to the track

the track is like 15 pesos and you can just uh you know going to access that and go running there's no like cars so um it's a it's a good place to get it run in and they have

some like pull-up bars and uh they have just uh a nice space to train and to run there and what else um oh uh part of what I do too John is trying to like I'm working on a

book so I I've put the put the the book on the not on the back burner this week it's been a little bit slow because I've been focusing on interviews but a lot of it is scheduling coordination so

I found some people that do interviews they go and ask somebody hey do you want to be interviewed and then the person says no I'm not interested and then oh okay bye enough with you well I like to

develop a little bit of a friendship and try to to work out uh would it be a good interview would it be valuable for them I don't like the interview the idea of an interviewer Channel being unidirectional like

hey you give me your time and there's nothing in return for you I like to to interview people that they've got a channel where we can talk about their channel uh they've got a project they're working on maybe

they're a person who's written a book uh maybe they're looking to connect with certain type of people um I try to figure out a win-win situation where there's a win for me and a win for them so some

of that involves just emailing like I just go through and find people that I think would be interesting to interview and I reach out to him like I'm going to go do an interview tonight I'm really excited for

this one this one is one I'm very excited for I don't know how much the audience will care um but I'll just drop this hint keep an eye out for this one in the next week There's a new

Cafe here in dumag catering to people who have uh who are neurodivergent right so people who have autism uh people who have ADD or ADHD which is very much me um I'm scattered if if you can't tell uh

and and so the cafe caters to that so I want to interview this person and ask them about it and learn about that uh so a lot of coordination happens John and I would say another chunk of my

time is spent with other vloggers I try to get together with Mike at least once a week and Mike is very insightful he's got a very good Channel Mike's Philipine retirement he's been very very good to me Paul

as well Chad as well but Chad left town so Chad kind of bounces in and out of town but I try to get together with my blogger friends because they have taught me so much they have been so

good to me um I can't thank them enough for their input I would my channel would not be where it's at today without the input the feedback and the guidance from these guys who are very very good at

what they do and and um so yeah Fitness uh collaborating with other vloggers um what else how else do I spend my time oh I do watch a good bit of YouTube so just for fun I I like

to watch YouTube um yeah those are the big and coordination those are the big things that I do car says you have a good life too always considering all options listening and adapting and prayers our strengths Alex thank

you so much cars I appreciate that yeah I really enjoy my life here I feel very blessed here uh to have this lifestyle sometimes I have a nagging feeling I'm doing something wrong but I think some of that

comes from being in the US where if we're not productive every second of every day we feel kind of guilty and I realize good judgment beats activity um some of the worst decisions I've made have just been from

I've got to do something I've got to do something when with the really big decisions I think we really have to think them through and really plan ahead and and dedicate a lot of time to it uh you

know I don't need to think that much about just like a random meal I have but when it comes to education that's a lifelong thing impacts the rest of my life uh when it comes to where to live

that's another big decision um but you know there's a lot of decisions that are not as important and I I try not to worry too much about them any more than I'm naturally uh inclined to um Kya says

I hi Alex I'm watching you from Alberta Canada welcome Kya HT nice to see you I think this is the first time I'm seeing you uh on the stream it's uh it's wonderful to have you with us tonight

I think of several subscribers from uh Canada and yeah I always get along really well with folks from from Canada Philip says is it possible for expats to dat college students attending Simon are they solely focused on their

studies Kya says dating with students is acceptable I think it comes down to expectations Philip I have been on a date with a student uh who's I think she's studying at Asian College it's a really big commitment for

them financially and TimeWise so you have to I think moderate your expectations I think some guys they want uh to see someone who is able to kind of Bolt their life onto the the expat's life like hey I

need somebody who's going to be able to help me and to focus on my needs where uh if a woman is in college I find her family is spending a lot of money for her to attend college uh

for her it's a way for her to advance her life she's typically going to be very focused on her studies and not have a lot of free time so that's the kind of tradeoff I find there I'm not

saying it's not possible I definitely think it's possible possible to date a student but I think the expectations have to be different than uh say a person who's not in college or or maybe working a a more modest

job let's say um so yeah I'm that's definitely like something that I'm open to if I go to college here but I also have learned the hard the hard way somewhat to moderate my expectations and think okay she

may be uh very busy with her classes she may be very busy with her studies so it's not going to be something where we're hanging out all the time maybe you see them once a week or twice a

week something like that uh for a short duration as opposed to uh the person who's looking to have their partner move in with them to live with them full-time I think that's just a different um different lifestyle D

says you look great Alex really relax and healthy your Fitness routine agrees with you thank you so much de yeah I'm loving running it's something that's very new to me but it's uh it's been fantastic I didn't ever

think I would enjoy it so much but it's yeah it's really good for me it's really good for my my mental health and I just need to combine it now with lifting weights and I think it'll be great

I uh I'm going every other day uh so today I won't run but hopefully tomorrow I'll run last time night's run was so so so maybe I need to give an extra day for Recovery I definitely feel it

today like I woke up and I felt like wow I I feel like I ran last night and uh so yeah don't want to don't want to burn out but definitely want to make sure it's a habit where

I'm consistent because it's it's a it's definitely something I have to I have to be consistent about if I want to get good results what's everybody getting into this weekend not running B there done that that's funny John

I could appreciate that at I wouldn't mind getting into cycling um I thought about buying like a regular bicycle not a motorbike and and that would be uh I think that would be one great for transportation but two

uh great for exercise as well it's lower impact than running I don't want to run um on on concrete I've heard that can be kind of hard on your ankles and knees so I go to the track because

the track has a little bit more spring and give where it's not yeah think it's a little bit better for ankles and knees Super Bowl so it's a Super Bowl weekend let me look up who's playing in the

Super Bowl playing in the Super Eagles and Chiefs okay cool yeah that should be interesting I hope everybody enjoys the Super Bowl this weekend andh their team wins hey Ben good to see you uh Ben um it's going

well I'm I'm just um I'm just having enjoying my uh Friday midday I'm actually almost done with a video that I'm going to be uploading tonight guys I interviewed a guy from Turkey who's traveling here in the Philippines

it's the first time I I've met someone from Turkey in person uh so that was pretty cool and he's had some interesting things to say about his experiences here I've just got to film my intro to that and

then plug that in and that should be ready to upload um so yeah that's that's mostly what I'm work what what I've been working on I'm going to film an interview tonight I've got an interview tomorrow and I

may be able to film one Sunday we'll see how Sunday goes uh I'd like to film one um yeah I'll just I'll have to see how Sunday goes um hey Alex watching from San Francisco have you adjusted to

the food in the Philippines that's a great question scg so I've had to change it up I definitely not eating the same food that I'm used to eating in the Bay Area I think the Bay Area has one

of the best food scenes in the United States I I definitely miss the food in San Francisco from time to time it's um it's incredible there uh so what I focus on here is I focus on the proteins

so a lot of what I eat here that I really like because I think some people they you know they they may not care for Filipino food which I understand it's it's not what a lot of people are

accustomed to but I really like the fish I think the seafood here is so underrated I really like the the S really like the uh Seafood here seafood and rice or like pork and rice or chicken and rice

I eat a lot of that this morning I went to one of my favorite places called Low here in D mate and I'll throw the name in the description because it's really a fantastic place to have food it's

called lantau and they do a breakfast buffet with coffee and they have like eggs and toast and bacon um usually a chicken dish a beef dish rice soup I forgot to get soup they had egg drop soup um

so I missed out on the soup today uh and coffee and um it um yeah that was really good so I had that and had eggs bacon um toast um I had the beef dish and they have I

don't know it's some kind of vegetable I think it's a rude vegetable but I don't the name is similar to the name for potato but it wasn't a potato it tastes more like a a zucchini um kind of

vegetable um let's see what else foodwise could I talk about I love the tuna here so the biggest um the biggest uh the my favorite food here uh scg is the tuna and when I say tuna I think

sometimes people think of like can tuna uh and I'm not as much of a fan of like the the tuna sandwich type of thing with the the Mayo because that that tends to make my stomach feel unwell but

the tuna they they catch a lot of tuna here and so that's like my favorite thing to have here is is uh tuna sushi like tuna Sashimi or um grilled tuna or tuna in the form of K La

where they put like um I think they put vinegar and calam like citrus juice on it and they they H uh and pepper and fresh onion fresh tomato it's kind of like Ceviche if you've ever had Ceviche so

that's my my favorite thing here I think the tuna is super underrated in the Philippines I don't ever hear people talking about it I think a lot of American people um prefer to have like imported beef that's a

really popular thing for a lot of people to have here is uh uh beef imported from the United States which is is good but as far as local food I like I also like the pumpkin here a lot

the pumpkin is really tasty um let's see recovering from a minor surgery but healing more day by day yeah I hope your recovery is going well Ben that that sounds painful um yeah I definitely hope your recovery keeps

um keep rolling forward and and you're feeling better soon John says have you experienced intestinal distress fortunately uh not much I've only been sick here once in the last six months and I haven't been back to that restaurant

and it wasn't as bad as the sickness I got in Thailand so after I got food poisoning in Thailand I did some research on how to prevent it because I don't want to experience that again I felt awful

John I was laying in bed for about 36 hours with well 24 hours was the worst of it with like cold sweats and feeling very uh ill just not good at all um so the thing that I found

is helpful is to only eat made to order food so that's been kind of my rule since that food poisoning I do spend a bit more uh to only do made to order food but that's that's the way

I found um has helped me to prevent uh intestinal distress that being said most people here would benefit from taking a dormer every six months um yeah so that that's one thing that uh a lot of people here

do uh let's see D says I'm going to a will signing party three of us recently rewrote our Wills we're getting together to be each other's witness getting old sucks D yeah that does sound stressful um I I

haven't yet wrote written a well but I probably should do that at some point that's probably something I need to do because um you never know what could happen and um that's a responsible thing to do uh D

and I I can imagine it's it's tough reminder because nobody um seems like nobody really likes to to get old um yeah I feel old but then I have many friends here that keep kind of elbowing me like

you're not old and um I think like the you're such an upy person and and you're it seems like you're like really optimistic and uh it's um you're still very like uh young at heart or young in spirit

and it's admirable that uh yeah I I hope to maintain that as well as I get older because sometimes I feel like I'm an old man trapped in a young man's body um but being around positive people helps

me a lot I um I was a little bit stressed yesterday morning just trying to get some errands done and then I ran into a subscriber and he's just really upbeat he's an older gentleman who's retiring in about

a year and a half he's still working but kind of wrapping up his career just such a positive upbeat guy and he told me about some of the struggles that he'd had when he was younger and it really

um it just brightened my day it really um he really helped helped me to just kind of be upbeat and positive and anytime if any of you are watching this either live or on replay and you see me

feel free to greet me um I may look kind of stressed I have a resting be face I'm not sure why that is but I always like running into subscribers and people that enjoy the channel and you might

just make my day because sometimes I just get stuck in my head and I I overthink things and I get in this kind of circular worrying kind of pattern and running into somebody I I know that recognizes me

then it it interrupts my racing thoughts or it interrupts my circular reasoning and uh it helps me to it helps to kind of distract me from whatever I'm I'm overthinking I tend to overthink or overanalyze and make a

small problem into a problem that's bigger than what it actually is or to worry about something that's outside of my control I'm trying to get better about that not worrying about things I can't control um and you know

so there's a lot of life that I I can't control I try to I'm trying to get better about focusing on things like effort like I can control my effort um that's a big one that I I can

control I can't control the weather sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate um I can't control other people sometimes I schedule an interview and the person has something come up and I'm like oh I really wanted to get that done

I have to realize out of my control can't worry about it have to move on to the next thing so that's been a those are some big things that I've been trying to work on is worrying about what

I can control and um getting out of my head and and that's something my subscribers can help me with is to kind of disrupt that overthinking by bringing me to the present like it it surprised me when that

person greeted me I guess for some reason like I'm expecting somebody to confront me and and to um stop me and say oh I hate your channel I don't really know what there is to hate but I I

guess I I get a little bit paranoid about that but um John I had read your comment I hope I'm not out of place here to mention it but you mentioned I'm I seem wise thank you so much

John that's so kind of you I really appreciate that um it's um I think it some of it's come through making a lot of mistakes I think some of it it's has come too from observing people living in

a way that I didn't want to live and trying to figure out how I could do things a bit differently I've made a lot of mistakes uh and I continue to make mistakes but I'm trying to trying to

just learn and trying to uh improve and trying to grow and uh and trying to have self-awareness I think self-awareness is a big one that I've tried to adapt and and learn and incorporate in my life because I

think that's something that a lot of people struggle with in the world it doesn't matter what country they're in or or what culture they're in is having that self-awareness of of um of knowing who they are and their

strengths and weaknesses and what they could improve on what they could uh get better at and um yeah uh let's see oh hey James Smith good to see you good morning hope you're doing well Derek says I like

van lifee YouTube me too Derek I think van life is interesting and one of my thoughts is if I get the nursing uh education I've thought about doing van life um I've totally thought about buying a van and

parking it in the hospital parking lot working tons and tons of overtime and just stacking Cash There's a number of nurses that do that in the Bay Area that just work and work and work put away lots and

lots of money um I've kind of committed to bachelor life for a while I'm not in a rush to be in a relationship that would be the main instance where it'd be helpful to have a like a rental

I think or having a more of a traditional um a traditional housing dwelling for me I don't mind living in a van I could see why uh a significant other might not like that right like I'm cool with

it I don't expect other people to want to live that way and so um yeah I think van life might be an interesting way to address the high cost of housing and to get around it I think as

long as you've got a gym you've got a place where you can consistently shower you've got a laundro at place you can consistently do laundry make sure you're clothes are clean your body's clean um nothing wrong nothing's wrong

with that I don't I don't judge people at all like that's why you'll never see me rail against people struggling with homelessness um some of homelessness I think in the past homelessness is a function of some issues these

days a decent chunk of it is just uh the high cost of housing people not uh uh not wanting to spend such a large chunk of their income just for a box to sleep in right uh I don't

need to show off a house I remember growing up uh my grandmother being desperate to have a nice home externally like uh I've got to mow the grass all the time I've got to put all this money into

making it look nice and then she had to eventually sell it and when she sold it within like six months or a year of her selling it the people changed all kinds of stuff so and like that all

this work she put into trying you know of course she struggles with narcissistic personality disorder but all this effort that she put into it um disappeared overnight because you know the new owner of the house had different plans

in mind they put in an RV pad they parked a big RV back there uh they were dual income no kids so they lived a very fun lifestyle or they live a very fun lifestyle uh and are not

really concerned about keeping up a certain appearance or certain look um so yeah have you been to Don Roberto's bar let me look it up Don Roberto's bar I haven't yet but I'll go check it out that looks

really this looks really cool um it's next to let's see here it's near Simon University okay I think I know exactly where that is I think I've walked by that before I oh yeah I've definitely walked by it

because I shop downtown at Robinson's pericas uh so yeah I'll go check it out sometime Ben thank you for the heads up on Don Roberto's bar it was pretty good it felt more like a locals Place National Highway

between Simon Street and San Juan Street okay very cool Ben I'll definitely check it out djc says nursing and Van life is a sweet combination go for it brother um yeah djc I did Van life for two years

before coming to the Philippines and seriously considering going back with my partner to do it again and in the United States you know it's such a cool country for that like you've got really nice roads you've got a

ton of variety of Landscapes um the infrastructure is very good for vehicles you could see so many cool places in the country doing that like you could go see the deserts the high desert in Utah Colorado uh the

Rocky mountains Coastal California Coastal Oregon Coastal Washington you could see um the planes I mean you could see all kinds of cool things in the United States living in a band and uh the infrastructure is such that you

could get to you know like I said laundry mat showers um you can I've seen people with all kinds of interesting setups and uh and that would be a cool evolution of the Vlog too is like you gave

me an idea where I could if I went back I could definitely Vlog nursing van life I mean let me look that up actually on YouTube to see I'm me check that out really quick to see if anybody's

doing a vlog like that I could imagine somebody working full-time as a nurse might not want to Vlog but um okay yeah there's some Vlogs wow wow there's somebody with almost four million views solar camper okay very cool

yeah so I'll have to check that out after I wrap up the stream thank you for calling that out djc uh Derek says um cycling is easy on the knees I agree Derek James says I couldn't do van

life now over the years have developed insecurities relating to hygiene that when I was young I just didn't care I could appreciate that James it's certainly uh a more of a pressing need and uh not as easy to

address those needs if you're living in a van uh compared to living in a more traditional apartment or um house djc hygiene is no problem with Van life A Basin in wet wipes and truck stop stop showers and

you'll stay odor and iy free have you seen the channel Van City van life I haveen it but I'll check it out thank you scg I'll make a note of that D says love van life shows considering getting

a Class B Sprinter van I really enjoy driving exploring and spending time by myself winwin yeah I think it's so interesting I one of my favorites uh you guys have probably seen and I haven't watched her in a

while uh but Nikki delventhal she does some really interesting stuff she her channel is like really a huge Channel and it's been interesting to see the evolution of that and there's uh she was living in a Prius and

I think now she's in a sprinter van I've seen some other people as well do it but uh I think it's really it shows resilience it shows humility it shows like uh adaptability and I think it also breaks

stereotypes that's something that I think is really cool about life is it you know there's a people assume if you choose van life or you choose that kind of way of doing things that you're living on the fringes

of society or there's something kind of wrong with you upstairs and I think it's it's uh it's cool right I mean it's cool that we live in a it's cool that the United States or Canada are safe enough

such that people feel comfortable doing that not saying nobody runs into problems doing it but it seems like a lot of people get a lot out of that lifestyle um I did I did a little bit of it

when I was younger I I uh I owned a property but I did uh live in my car at the same time because I just wanted to go see other parts of the state like when I lived in

Colorado um I wanted to go check out national parks I wanted to go hike 14ers uh so I totally I mean I I owned a property downtown Denver but um I wanted to ALS also go explore some places

that uh were not like down the street from the property and it was comfortable I often slept better in in the car than I did uh in the property because um it was quieter where my my property was

kind of loud it was just in a busy part of the city and very noisy uh where you know parking in a national park very peaceful very comfortable I had a really a high-end sleeping bag so uh you

know that could keep me warm and very very cold temperatures so yeah I I miss those days I think about those days a lot um let's see uh D says love oh yeah that's right yeah D that's really

cool that I I think van life shows are interesting and I think too like it shows people they could see a lot of the country you know one of the things that surprised me growing up was um you

know my family was a military family my grandfather was in the military and so they got to see a lot of the country but some people and they spent time around people that had traveled around a lot through

the military where some people I knew didn't and I always felt like man you're missing out like one of the coolest things about the United States North America in general is you've got such a variety of Landscapes you've

got the coasts you've got the plains you got the mountains you've got deserts and um uh tropical or or subtropical I think places like Florida you've got so many so much Variety in the states um more so I

think than many other parts of the world and it's safe it's relatively safe and you have infrastructure setup so you could stop and get food anywhere uh you can go big box shopping anywhere you just pull into Walmart

you can get whatever you need um Costco membership you can go to the food court uh truck stops have and gyms have showers like it's uh it's easier than I I think it's easier than it gets credit for

um that was just my experience after a while I had embarrassment about it because I thought this is weird uh but now I feel less embarrassed about it and and and more open to talking about it um because

you know some people can be kind of judgmental and I come from a shame culture where oh you're not living in a normal house but there's nothing wrong with it who cares what people think I that's something else

I've struggled with guys is worrying too much about what other people think and it really um it really makes me feel better that so many of you are are understanding of it and and also curious about it and

like we you know we we're not here forever right so like it's important for people to do all the things that they want to do in life and and get what they want out of life and uh for

me a big chunk of that includes traveling and seeing the coasts of the United States and uh uh exploring nature and meeting different people all very very important to me um my Ben says my bill at that restaurant

wasn't much for a pretty good meal maybe five or six dollars I gave the waitresses a 50 peso tip and she gave me the biggest smile another reason I think they get mostly locals got it that's not too

bad at all yeah I'll check I'll check them out Ben thank you for the heads up djc some Nomads are living on The Fringe but majority are awesome Some Humans I agree D djc John says funny as I

too am considering bad life Sprinter 4x4 my struggle at my age would be the return on investment as a retiree I would overthink what's next got it yeah it's definitely a major adjustment I don't know if I'd want

to do it uh at retirement age I think i' if I was a retirement age I look more at like a Thailand or Philippines um but there's so many different cool options these days like I I think you

can't go wrong djc says Bob Wells of cheap RV living YouTube Fame is the greatest of all time very interesting I don't think I've um well I'll I'll check uh Bob Wells out to djc um yeah I'm going

to subscribe very cool thank you so much for calling us out I'm going to check these folks out and uh learn more about them thank you so much guys uh well guys my voice is starting to go guys

and gals my voice is starting to go and I've got uh some stuff to work on but thank you so much everybody for joining I think I'm G to go ahead and wrap up here uh to save the

last of my voice for tonight's interview um I hope everybody has a really nice weekend thank you so much everyone for joining D Ben djc John James Derek Cars was in here earlier kuya Phillip um Ed stopped by

Prodigy Lin sto by Paul sto by um excellent well guys thank you so much everybody I hope you all have a wonderful weekend if you're watching the replay of this gives a thumbs up it helps with the YouTube

algorithm comment down below are you interested in Van life are you curious about education abroad finally please subscribe to the channel down below if you want to see more content like this and we will see you soon thank

you everybody