hey YouTube Alex here and in today's video I want to do a comparison of Latin America and Southeast Asia this is not going to be an exact comparison this is not going to be a video that says which
one is better than the other I think they're both wonderful regions there's some interesting differences that I was thinking about recently that has me wanting to make this video before I get into it definitely let me know down
in the comments down below if there's any interesting differences that you've noticed between the two there's one that you visited but one that you haven't visited I'm always curious to learn more about my audience's travel experience or experience
living overseas in this video I can't compare everything so I thought I'd narrow it down to roughly five categories that are different in Latin America versus southeast Asia I want to explain those differences to help you to better
understand do I want to do a discovery trip or live in Latin America versus southeast Asia when it comes to Southeast Asia I will list a few cities that I've been to just so you know my point of
reference I've been to Bangkok changmai koal lur and penom Pen I've spent significant time in other places as well but these are the four cities that I've spent the most time in for Latin America I primarily spent time
in Cancun bulat in medine in Lima and Cusco I think this is going to be a lot of people's most important factor and that's food in Southeast Asia Asian food of all kinds is accessible you'll be able to
access numerous Chinese Japanese Korean Thai restaurants and all of the medium-sized cities with a few Burmese Filipino Lao Malaysian Indonesian dishes you will find food from all over the world in the major cities like Bangkok koal lur Jakarta
but the farther away you are from a certain place understand that the flavors will be altered to match local tastes farther you get away from Southeast Asia understand that Cuisine from that area there may not be able to
access the ingredients they can access in that place very easily but on to on top of that they are primarily catering to local people they want to alter that dish or dishes to meet local flavor for example certain
cuisines in Latin America use dairy in Southeast Asia Dairy is just really there for a limited market so if you order a dish that is commonly served with dairy maybe hit or miss big example of this is pizza
there are good pizza spots in Southeast Asia not every place that serves pizza is going to serve good pizza the not so good pizzas may include things like barbecue Mayo Thousand Island sauce alongside that it can be expensive
if you want imported meat like from Australia for example it's going to be costly third I would say Indian and Middle Eastern food restaurants will also be expensive especially outside of Malaysia now over to Latin America I found
local food to be cheaper in Latin America than in Southeast Asia according to my preferences or tastes the food in Latin America is more similar to what I'm used to in the United States of course I am from
the United States so my perspective here is biased it's easier for me to eat local food in Latin America versus southeast Asia it doesn't mean the food is better in Latin America once again I don't think one is
is better than the other but rather that I'm just talking about what I'm accustomed to especially in terms of vegetables I think the vegetables in Latin America are often going to be closer to what you're used to being
served in North America if you are from North America or if you've spent significant time there growing up in the US the US doesn't always offer traditional Asian options especially outside of California now in Latin America you will
be able to get Asian food but like I said previously in regards to Latin food in Southeast Asia the Asian food in Latin America is going to be altered to local tastes a lot of the sushi restaurants for
example will include rolls with a lot of cream cheese and Mayo which are not traditional personally out of all the food in Latin America my favorite has to be Peruvian food and that's in part because it's heavily influenced
by Chinese and Japanese Cuisine and it's not as heavy on the dairy which I personally am lactose intolerant so I don't always do well with dairy once again this isn't about which is better it's just about preferences and
also observation alongside that I've just found that the recipes used in Latin America are often closer to what I'm accustomed to it seems like sometimes in Southeast Asia they're using ing certain oils or spices that are harder to
get or more expensive to get in the US one advantage that I like in Latin America is that a lot of these Latin American countries have what is called a menu Delia or a menu of the day and
that's a prefixed selection of dishes typically like a soup an entree and a dessert or a soup an entree and a drink and that really makes it easy you don't have to do a lot of choosing I don't
see that as often in Southeast Asia such that when I go to a restaurant in south these stage where I order food I'm having to do a bit more thinking I'm having to do a bit more decision making
it may also just be me but I found that in Latin America it was easier to opt out of sugar or carbs it was easier to communicate that or to select dishes that aren't so heavy on that whereas
at least here in Thailand and I noticed this in some of the other countries in Southeast Asia there's a lot of sugar added to various curries or soups or beat dishes that isn't really the healthiest based on what
I know and what I prefer as well taste-wise now in Latin America there are a lot of panaderas or bakeries that do offer sweets and desserts but it felt like something I had to specifically go and get versus
being able to order something like a steak moving on to the weather in Southeast Asia in Southeast Asia the entire region is tropical it's considered within the tropics with few exceptions such as bagio city in the Philippines you're
going to have hot tropical humid weather most of the year basically 9 months of the year and much of the region it's going to be hot and humid you have to be prepared for that you have to be
prepared with sun block with plenty of water understand that some days you're just going to feel like it's too hot to really get out and do a lot particularly I think in March through May tends to be the
hottest months and I I found that when I came to Thailand in May 6 years ago that it was really really hot and that took some adjusting I think that's part of why so many people look at southeast
Asia broadly speaking as a place where you go to see beaches because the thought is well hey if it's hot at least I can go to the beach and cool off in the water and wear a bathing suit
and really enjoy it your big factor here will often [Music] be I think these tend to be the three or four most popular months in Southeast Asia because it tends to be that these months are the coolest months
and people can most enjoy spending time outside without some of the other months that tend to have more extreme heat with weather in Latin America there's really a big variety so you do have the tropical weather that you
have in Southeast Asia if you go to places like East Coast Mexico Costa Rica primarily a lot of the Central American countries but also Coastal Colombia even like Cali Colombia is is a pretty hot City I think it's
like one of the hottest cities in Colombia so you do have that selection there aside from the traditional Beach destination some of these islands you also have cool and rainy cities which really surprises a lot of people I
think when it comes to Latin America because we think of the sun warm weather in countries like Mexico like for Americans I think Mexico is often the first Latin American country that we have substantial exposure to but you
do have these cities like bogot also Cusco in the mountains aido Ecuador even places like Mendoza Argentina Santiago Chile that are cool weather places I mean when it comes to Chile a lot of people compare the climate to
California so there's a lot of variety there it's not just the tropical environment that you have in Southeast Asia some people don't like the tropical weather right they would prefer to be at altitude perhaps have a bit more
rainy or overcast weather and I think that you can have more of that cool rainy weather in Latin America versus southeast Asia where it's much more often that you're having hot and rainy weather in the Rainy Seasons if
you're a person that likes skiing and you are in Latin America you can have skiing if you go down to like Chile or Argentina but if you're in Southeast Asia I think you'll probably need to fly to Japan
or China to have skiing I just don't think it's as common I don't think that the winter sports or winter weather is associated with southeast Asia this isn't really a weather thing but if you're somebody that's sensitive to
altitude that may be something that prevents you from staying in certain parts of Latin America for example I I spent several months in Cusco Peru and that's a city that's located at like 11 or 12,000 ft and you
really feel it I came from bokat so it wasn't so bad for me batas at around 8,600 Ft and sorry for everybody outside the US that's that's thinking in terms of meters that's definitely a factor there where I
adjusted to it but I could see if you're somebody who doesn't adjust well to altitude that you're really going to want to keep your search to perhaps some of the coastal areas in Latin America that are at sea
level the next Factor will be travel within the region for Southeast Asia you have a lot of cheap flights within the region for example I'm here in Thailand and it's really cheap for me to fly to Malaysia or
Cambodia Vietnam Indonesia whereas in Latin America I found the flights to be more expensive those flights I mentioned earlier in Southeast Asia are often no more than $1 to $200 Max maximum in Latin America just for me to
fly one way from Colombia to Peru was like over $300 I'm not exactly sure why that is but expect that if you are in Latin America and you're looking to travel within the region not necessarily within the country
I think flights within country and Latin America are not too bad but if you're looking to go from country to Country expect that you're going to have to budget more for that versus the southeast Asia where they have
tons of affordable flights in regions on top of that if you are somebody that has family in North America or you want to go back and forth perhaps you've got business in North America then Latin America is going
to offer you a lot of accessibility there you are going to be able to get there much more quickly than from Southeast Asia where you're looking at 1 to two days of travel versus Latin America you can get
back in maybe 6 8 10 hours or 12 hours if you are like further up the West Coast for example but much closer to the United States Canada and Mexico with southeast Asia it does seem to be that
you get more people from like Australia New Zealand Europe because it is closer to these places and it's a cheaper flight from these places and it's just uh often easier to access coming from Australia or New Zealand or
Europe you don't feel quite like you're flying to the direct opposite side of the planet whereas where I'm at now is 12 hours time zone difference from what I'm used to and in California it's 14-hour time zone difference
so it's really substantial there when it comes to xack in Southeast Asia you're going to have more European expats and then also Asian expats you might be surprised but here in changai there's a large population of expats from
Japan that have come here for warmer weather lower cost of living so it's not just Western people that are coming to stay here from Australia New Zealand England Germany Scandinavian countries these kinds of places in Latin America you're
going to see more people from North America but then also within South America as well I had a conversation with a friend of mine from Mexico and I asked why don't you and your partner travel more in South
America you're in Mexico it seems like it's fairly accessible you just have to fly from Mexico City and you have a lot of different places you have Colombia you have Argentina Chile Brazil all kinds of different Ecuador Peru
you have a lot of choices Paraguay he said well I want to go do something different than what I'm used to so he's from Mexico he's lived his entire life in Mexico outside of a few years elsewhere and
he said well the thing about traveling in South America or in Latin America is that it's much more similar to Mexico so I don't really get that feeling like I'm on vacation or like I'm experiencing something radically different
so I prefer to go to North America so that's one factor because he's still close to North America but it provides some differences I didn't really dig into that I'll definitely ask him next time I have the chance
to have a conversation with him but but that's something to think about as far as the types of xats you'll interact I also met expats from the United States when I was in Latin America also some of my
friends from Latin America had lived in the US so they could definitely more easily relate I do have friends in in Southeast Asia that have lived in the US but it seems that more people in Latin America simply
due to geography have at least visited the United States it may also just be me and it may be a language thing but I noticed that it seems like xat have an easier time integrating in Latin America at
least from the US because Spanish is closer to English where like for here in Thailand try as they might some people will just always struggle to learn thae I'm definitely in that boat where thae has been very very
difficult for me to pick up and it does create this kind of layer there that's harder for me to access now I do have Thai friends that have great English and that is sort of a key to entering
some of those conversations or spaces being able to communicate with others but that's something that I think prevents a fair amount of expats from really integrating here in Thailand I think that's what makes the Philippines so popular is
that so many Filipino people do have great English where if you are coming from the United States Canada the UK Australia New Zealand it's easier to relate in that regard right it's just easier to connect and do just
strike up conversations with people of course not everybody in the Philippines has English but there's a much higher prevalence of English there than say a place like Thailand I noticed though in Latin America all my friends have pretty
decent English a lot of them have lived in the UK or lived in the United States worked there spent some time there perhaps they do business with people in the United States or in other countries that are speaking
a lot of English so it's valuable for them to have those English skills don't assume if you move to Latin America that you won't make any friends if you don't learn Spanish but learning Spanish will help you it
can't hurt you to learn Spanish if you're going to live in Latin America certainly it's not nearly the same learning curve that you'll have trying to learn Tha and I loved it I mean that was something that I
really loved about Latin America is within 6 months I had some very basic Spanish that could get me through a lot of the scenarios that I found myself in as a traveler this is different than after 6 months
in Thailand where I have some you know a few words but not enough to have a meaningful conversation unfortunately I can say Hello thank you how much but beyond that it's it's kind of difficult adding to what I
said earlier about travel think about what you'd like to access if you're in Southeast Asia you have easy access to South Asia countries like India you also have access to East Asia countries like Japan South Korea of course
the aforementioned Australia New Zealand you have access to these countries that if you're from the US like me you haven't really spent much time in this part of the world it's been pretty far away from home and pretty
costly to get over here this is different from Latin America where of course you have that access to the United United States you have access to other countries within Latin America if you're a fan of Tropical Islands you
also have countries like the Bahamas it's just a different set places that you can access here's a question that I think some of you may be asking now that we've hit these Five Points of comparison which one is
more expensive well I don't necessarily think it's always easier to answer that I think a lot of expats that I've talked to said generally speaking southeast Asia is more affordable but I don't think that takes the entire conversation
into what I think is a more accurate comparison or way of thinking about this is one are you in a big city big cities whether you're in Latin America or you're in Southeast Asia are going to be among
the most expensive places in a country right here in Thailand Bangkok is one of the most expensive if not the most expensive cities in Thailand not just because of cost of rent food and transportation but also the sheer
amount of things that you have to spend money on there's parts of Thailand for example Ean where where people may live on a low budget not because they're always the most frugal but because there's really limited things to
spend money on you don't have the international flights out of Ean for example it's not better or worse it's just different alongside that I would also say Islands tend to be expensive if you look at southeast Asia the
most expensive countries I would say would be Singapore and the Philippines and Malaysia and what do those places have in common well there are series of islands in the case of Singapore it's an island and then with Malaysia
and the Philippines it's a series of islands that tends to make costs of ringing Goods more expensive tends to make infrastructure more expensive to maintain versus Mainland southeast Asia where you have countries like Vietnam I think Vietnam is
often regarded as the most affordable country in Southeast Asia alongside Lao and it's the same deal in Latin America in Latin in America if you were to ask me what are the most expensive places I would point at
the major cities Santiago Chile Lima Peru bugata Colombia those tend to be the most expensive places alongside the islands if you're looking at beach destinations for example there's certain Islands in Colombia for Ecuador there's the Galapagos and these
places tend to be expensive relative to your small to mediumsized cities if you were to ask me well what's affordable what's affordable in Latin America look at like a Cali Colombia I personally found Cusco to be relatively affordable
here in Southeast Asia I'm looking at cities like changai and Chang Rai in other countries in Southeast Asia you have Hanoi that's going to be more affordable than a place like hoochi men City so I wouldn't necessarily think
what's going to be more budget friendly Latin America or southeast Asia I would think what kind of budget do I have in general in those regions I need to look at places that are more affordable if I'm more
budget conscious or if I'm really demanding a high-end experience and I'm going to need to look at the islands or look at the major city just don't find it to be as helpful to compare Lima Peru to changai
Thailand well Lima is a coastal Capital City one of the Premier Food destinations in Latin America you also have a lot of wealth there in Lima considering it's the Hub of business I think the World Bank Latin America
is based in Lima so it's really not comparable a city of 8 to 10 million people to a city like changai that's maybe 1 one and a half million people Lima is not better than changmai it's just simply
a different scale which do I prefer well I like both regions for different reasons I think both offer a lot of wonderful things I'll likely in my lifetime be bouncing back and forth between the two I love a
lot of things about Latin America and I love a lot of things about here in Southeast Asia and my last point point number five is housing there's more variety in Southeast Asia when it comes to housing you can
rent a small condo you can rent a single family home there's a ton of variety you can get a unit in a skyscraper you can get a unit in a lowrise I think that Latin America is more similar
to the West than that you do have the historical districts more often or at least in my opinion the historical districts tend to be larger and those areas do have a limit on how high you can build and
so I think that many people would argue that housing is going to generally be more expensive in Latin America there are some exceptions like I said if you look at some really small cities but I think all else
equal you're going to pay a bit more for housing in Latin America here in changai I pay around 250 a month for my studio and if I was to look at a comparable city a city like Cusco I'd
expect to spend for this same apartment that I'm renting here in changmai for 250 a month I'd expect to spend more like 375 a month or something like that especially for a modern building maybe $400 a month so
I hope this video has been helpful for you today let us know down in the comments what you think have you traveled to Latin America have you traveled to Southeast Asia are either of these regions on your list
for next year where approaching the end of 2023 it's been a wonderful year I spent about half of it here in Thailand and I'm looking forward to spending some more time in Thailand until next time I'll see you
later
