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Living abroad, particularly in Southeast Asia, offers a significantly lower cost of living and a higher quality of life compared to Western countries, enabling financial independence and personal growth.
This Q&A session addresses the channel's milestone of reaching 1,000 subscribers and discusses potential rebranding to better reflect its focus on expat life, finance, and practical tips for living overseas. The host shares his current location in Hat Yai, Thailand, and discusses the challenges of content creation, like wind noise, while planning future videos. He also touches upon the appeal of Thailand, particularly its affordability and lifestyle, as a destination for those seeking a change from Western economic pressures.
The conversation delves into various aspects of living abroad, including housing costs, financial independence strategies, and investment approaches like dividend investing and cryptocurrency. The host contrasts the high cost of living and housing crises in Western countries like New Zealand, Canada, and the US with the more affordable options available in Southeast Asia. He shares his personal journey towards financial independence, accelerated by a severance package and disciplined saving, enabling him to live comfortably in Thailand.
Further discussions explore specific countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, and South Korea, comparing their living costs, infrastructure, and cultural aspects. The host emphasizes the importance of personal connections and cultural understanding when living abroad, noting the warmth of Thai and Filipino people. He also highlights the convenience and affordability of public transit in Kuala Lumpur and the potential of the Philippines with improving internet services. The session concludes with reflections on future ambitions, including focusing on YouTube content, writing books, and continuing to explore new destinations while maintaining a long-term perspective on financial and personal goals.
Achieving financial independence abroad is possible through disciplined saving, investing in assets like cryptocurrency and dividend stocks, and capitalizing on lower living costs. By strategically managing your finances, you can accelerate your journey to financial freedom while enjoying a higher quality of life overseas.
Yes, living abroad, especially in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines, is significantly cheaper than in Western nations. This lower cost of living allows for greater financial flexibility, enabling individuals to achieve financial independence and enjoy a better lifestyle.
Key financial independence tips for expats include leveraging the lower cost of living in destinations like Southeast Asia, practicing disciplined saving, and making strategic investments. Exploring countries like Thailand and the Philippines can offer a much more affordable lifestyle compared to Western countries, aiding in achieving financial goals.
Southeast Asia, including Thailand and the Philippines, is ideal for financial independence due to its substantially lower cost of living compared to Western countries. This affordability allows your savings and investments to stretch further, enabling a higher quality of life and faster progress toward financial freedom.
Living abroad offers numerous benefits, including a significantly lower cost of living, which can accelerate financial independence and improve quality of life. It also provides opportunities for personal growth, cultural immersion, and a less stressful lifestyle compared to many Western countries.
A lower cost of living abroad directly impacts financial goals by making your money go further, enabling faster saving and investment growth. Countries in Southeast Asia, for instance, offer a much more affordable lifestyle, helping you achieve early retirement or financial independence sooner than you might in more expensive Western nations.
The YouTuber is originally from Nashville, Tennessee. He also mentions having an immigrant father from India and an immigrant grandmother from Japan.
India is an interesting potential destination, with many tech firms present. However, the YouTuber notes that salaries and work culture in the US are generally considered better, despite the higher cost of living.
0:06 Hey everybody, it looks like I'm live. I apologize for the few minute delay. Still working out the kinks on how to go live, but yeah, great to see you. Feel free to drop any questions that you have in the chat. I'm thrilled that I've been getting this much support. I'm over a thousand subs. Been taking a couple of days to just kind of chill. I shot some, but the wind noise has posed a new challenge for me to try to work around, and so that's one thing that I'm trying to figure out how to sort through. But yeah, I've got something pretty close to done and hopefully I get that out for Sunday. I need to make a few corrections or edits to that video tomorrow to make sure it has what I want to have in it.
1:04 But yeah, feel free to throw any questions or thoughts down below. I know last time I did a stream, there were some connection issues, so I'm kind of concerned that may be the case again here, but hopefully.
1:51 Let me just check on my phone just to see. Well, that's not gonna be. Hey, what's up? We got one viewer. Good to see you. Welcome to the live stream. Just hang out out here on a Friday evening in Hat Yai. The sun is almost all the way down, and it's been definitely been a warm week here. It's getting hotter for sure as we get deeper into March. April's coming up right around the corner. I can't believe so.
2:26 Close. Feel free to throw any questions or comments in the chat below. I'll throw a note in there too. Thanks so much for all of your support. It's shocking to me that I hit the 1,000 sub mark, and it's great to have a growing audience, and I can't thank all of you enough for your support. It really means a lot to me and it's definitely encouraging in these early days of the channel.
3:01 I am thinking about a rebrand. Let me know in the comments if you're watching this afterwards as well, what you think about a rebrand. There's another channel named Living Abroad, a really big channel, and his name also happens to be Alex, so I'm thinking about changing up the name and just kind of doing a rebrand.
3:33 To drill down on what I want to cover. Certainly being an expat is part of the channel focus, but I think there's also some focus on finance, some focus on reasons. And yeah, just kind of taking on the logic of living overseas and different tips or tricks or patterns I've noticed, reasons why we like this lifestyle or we're hoping to eventually pursue this lifestyle.
4:00 So yeah, feel free to jump in the chat at anytime that you have a thought come to.
4:31 Now, how's everybody doing today? What time is it in your part of the world? It's about a little after 6 PM right now, and I thought I'd stream for maybe half an hour, hour, depending on engagement. And then, yeah, if this is something that everyone wants to see more of, let me know as well, if it's helpful for you.
5:16 Today, just hearing Hat Yai, Thailand, in the south of Thailand, near the border of Malaysia. Oh, Hatyai, very. That's excellent. How is it up there? That's one of the few places in Thailand that I really want to go that I haven't been yet. I'm trying, I would like to swing it before mid-July when my education visa expires. I'm not sure if I'll make it on this trip, so it may be one of those things that I need to make time for in my next trip to Thailand.
5:46 I think in July, unless something comes up, I'm looking at going to Vietnam in July. It would be a new country for me. I'm really excited about that. It's one of the last ones in Southeast Asia that I think most of us would consider for living that I haven't yet been to. The other being Indonesia.
6:12 For Laos, it doesn't seem to come up as much on a lot of people's radars, and same with Myanmar, and I think Brunei as well. But oh, you're retired. Well, congratulations. How long have you been there in Hatyai?
6:36 I've heard it's, uh, rose to popularity because it had the vacation home for the royal family. Wow. So you are a veteran of Thailand, and that really speaks to the popularity of Hatyai. I have a buddy, I think his name's Rob, from the States, and he actually lived down there for a while. He's back in Bangkok now, I think, just for his job, but he really enjoyed it. He said it's very peaceful and very relaxing, and I think I'll really like it when I make it there because that's exactly what I'm looking for. It's a chill and relaxing place.
7:22 I noticed they have a decent variety of gyms there as well. That's something that would be appealing to me is having some places to work out. Of course, you've got the beach as well there. Yeah, it seems like a really nice, nice city.
7:42 It definitely seems like the crowd there is maybe a little less oriented toward partying than say, Pataya, which I think is appealing to a lot of people. I'm not much of a partyer.
7:52 Samui? Oh, wow, this looks beautiful. Wow, that is gorgeous. I did not realize there were such, like, such a variety of terrain. I knew about the beach, but I didn't know about these mountains. This is really gorgeous.
8:19 Let me see if I can do a screen share. Beautiful. Okay, I need to go back. Check that one out. That looks gorgeous. I did not know that was.
8:44 inim. Now, can you visit these islands? Um, oh, I see. I see it's a half hour from, um, wow.
8:57 Beautiful. It looks like there's kind of a Buddhist, um, I don't know if you call it a temple, some kind of special site.
9:26 Stunning. Looks like you can get a boat as well, maybe a boat rental. Yeah, this looks gorgeous. Thank you so much, Ray, for telling me about that. That's so beautiful. Um, what kind of activities do you like to do there? What does your day-to-day look like?
9:51 Welcome, welcome. Feel free to chime in any questions or thoughts that you have. Comments. The temple inside the caldera is cool. That's great to hear. I'm a fan of looking at volcanoes. I think that's something that is really cool about this part of the world is just the visual of the volcanoes.
10:21 The last time I flew through the Philippines, um, I think Mount Taal was erupting. I think I just made it out in time before it erupted. Hey, Mad Hold TV. Hey from the UK. Well, welcome to the stream. It's great to see you. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.
10:40 Yeah, it's been a grind. And Crypto Kiwi, good to see all of you. Welcome to the stream. Ray says, just hanging by the seaside here. Yeah, that sounds like the perfect activity, Ray. Just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful Thai weather. And yeah, if you were tired, you definitely worked really hard for it and earned it.
11:02 Crypto Kiwi, hey mate from New Zealand. You and Chiang Mai. So I was in Chiang Mai up until a few weeks ago. So to get away from the burning season, I actually came down here to Hat Yai. I'll throw the spelling down there as well, because it's, you think of the word hot, as in heat. But yeah, I'm down here just getting away from the burning season, and the air quality is a lot better down here right now. So I'm enjoying the different kind of location.
11:41 I've also been to Sakhon. I'll actually, I should throw a, yeah, I'll show that next because that's a really cool area. So there are all these monkeys in Sakhon. This is one of the things that I came down here for. Well, I didn't come here for the monkeys, but I ran into the monkeys. There's a beach in Sakhon, it's kind of like northeast from here, and there are all these monkeys that will like come up and take your stuff, and then they expect you to give them fruit to trade for your stuff back. And they can be kind of aggressive.
12:29 Always wanted to go to New Zealand. Such a beautiful country. It's just obviously very, very beautiful country. The first time I met somebody from New Zealand was actually in Peru. I met this guy from New Zealand. I think his mother's from the Philippines, but he was from New Zealand, but he was living outside of New Zealand, just traveling the world. I think a lot of people from New Zealand are really open-minded and world travelers.
12:59 And yeah, I think you have to be adventurous to move to somewhere like New Zealand in terms of just your ancestors and stuff. So it's a really interesting country. And then Mad Hold TV says, I listen to you while walking in the evening. Well, thanks so much, Mad Hold TV. I really appreciate that. That's very kind of you to say, and I need to get back on the uploads. I just did like 10 days in a row, and I do spend a lot of time out in the heat to make my videos. I think it does make for more interesting content, but it certainly can take a lot out of me. But I really appreciate that you enjoy my videos.
13:45 Ray says, my girlfriend's son is a soldier in Narathiwat. I need to look that up. I've never heard of that. Narathiwat. Oh, not very far. So this is even closer to the border. Well, it actually is right on the border. Versus Hat Yai, the province is on the border, but Hat Yai city is further north. But we do get a ton of Malaysian tourists here, and that's so interesting. What you said about your girlfriend's son, he must have a lot of interesting stories. It must be such a beautiful area.
14:25 News. Next comment. Crypto Kiwi says, New Zealand is beautiful, mate, but it's like Canada, housing is incredibly expensive, and things are declining quickly. Yeah, that's a major issue. I actually need to do, well, the video I'm working on right now kind of tackles that subject. But you have in the West a lot of NIMBYs, so you have a lot of people that have legislated away new housing construction, which makes no sense in a country of immigrants like Canada or New Zealand.
14:57 Most of the people in New Zealand, unless you are Maori or partially Maori, then you're not indigenous there, right? So it kind of makes sense if you're trying to invite lots of people to come and live in New Zealand, which I know Peter Thiel, for example, the American billionaire, he's got his doomsday bunker in New Zealand. Then that you would construct a lot of housing because you want people to have a place to live and not be living on the fringes of society. But yeah, it is similar in America. America has a ton of people that are struggling with housing. I've struggled a lot with housing in America, and it's just a really stressful situation. I could see why you want to move to a country like Thailand or the Philippines.
15:41 Or you didn't mention, so feel free to keep Crypto Kiwi to chime in down below and let me know where you're thinking.
15:48 And let me know where you're thinking about going from New Zealand because I know it's just really stressful for a lot of people in the West. I think, okay, I'm going to struggle a little bit here. I think you're Georgian or from Georgia. Toac, feel free to share the pronunciation. I don't want to butcher your name. It looks like a very lovely name.
16:08 Good evening, my guy. Madle TV says, 'One thing I haven't come across you mentioning is your background in crypto. How have you been able to retire over there so early in life?' So, this is kind of a misconception I should clarify. I'm not totally financially independent. I got a fair amount of the way there, but I got laid off last summer from my West Coast Silicon Valley tech job.
16:34 The tech industry is going through a recession right now due to the heightened interest rates. It makes borrowing money more difficult, and a lot of tech companies heavily rely on borrowed money. So, I thought, well, I've got nowhere to stay in America. I did technically was in a financial position to go and like rent a room or rent a small apartment or maintain my apartment, but it's just a lonely life.
17:00 Even if you have money in the West, I think it can be a really lonely life. I've been to Thailand in 2018 and 2020, and I thought, well, if I'm laid off, I've got this severance. Because I got a decent severance from getting laid off, such that I thought, well, why don't I just go to Thailand for a while?
17:20 It's going to take a while for the interest rate hikes to stop and to even start reversing. That's going to mark the shift in the job market. But yeah, I have been in crypto for a while. I actually had some that I sold to fund my trips in South America several years ago, and I've gotten some more. But I'm able to live here really cheap, so even though I'm not totally financially independent, I actually have a decent amount more as far as the dollar value of my assets than I did when I got here last summer.
17:53 Because I'm able to live here cheaply and not spend all my money, then my assets have continued to grow in value. It's still not at the point where I'm totally financially independent, but I would say, so I'm 31 now, I expect to probably end up going back to the US within a year and it taking maybe another three or four years to get to that financial independence point.
18:18 I was able to at my last role save about 70% of my income, and that really pushed me forward. I'm able to maintain that just as a single guy because I'm fine with living really cheap and not spending money, investing every possible penny I can. I've learned a lot about investing. I wish I'd gotten in on crypto early. I knew about it, but a family member called it a scam.
18:41 I knew about Bitcoin actually in 2011. I was told it was a scam, and I believed it, which was really dumb on my part. It was a really big missed opportunity. I try not to feel too bad about it because I follow this tech billionaire, Naval Ravikant. I'll throw his name down in the description because I think he has so much insight.
19:08 He talked about how the first two opportunities he had to get really wealthy, he actually got ripped off. So the first time, his co-founders stole a bunch of his money or equity, and he had to sue them. The second time, something else happened, maybe the company flopped. The third time is when he got wealthy.
19:27 So I try not to be too salty about it because I think it could be really easy to mope about and not try to focus on the future. If I had bought Bitcoin back then, then absolutely I would be totally financially independent, and I would never be going back to the United States. But yeah, I shouldn't say never. I would be going back to see people I care about rather than going back to, you know, to make money essentially.
19:56 But I'm not in a bad position either. I'm not in a position where I'm gonna run out of money and be asking for money on here or something. If this channel makes money, awesome. If it doesn't, I've got a great set of sales skills back in the US, and if you have sales skills, you'll never go hungry in my opinion.
20:20 So yeah, I think that's kind of the career path, but still able to, like I said, live really cheap. And the crypto I do have, I'm not going to specify how much, but I will say I'm interested in Algorand. It hasn't performed as well as I thought it was going to, hopefully that changes. I think the technology is great, but technology in and of itself doesn't always win.
20:47 Ray says, 'It's safer by you.' Thanks so much, Ray. Yeah, I definitely appreciate you mentioning that it's safer in Ho Chi Minh City. I did an assessment, and I felt that Ho Chi Minh City is good, but I've also heard you want to be careful and not just go wandering. I'm more of a city guy a lot of times anyway, even with the challenges of living in an urban area.
21:06 Then I still really like Ho Chi Minh City. It's really surprised me. It's definitely off the tourist trail. I don't often see Western tourists, maybe a few per week, maybe every other day or every third day I'll see one or two. But it's really infrequent.
21:25 Toac says, 'Congratulations on reaching 1K subs, or worthy of several K subs and then some.' Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate that. I was really surprised that that video took off because a lot of people that are subbed to me mentioned that they felt like it wasn't going to happen.
21:46 And I think it will, just because I think it's going to take some time to roll out. But I was having this conversation several years ago when I got back to my hometown from South America. I was talking to a friend's mom, and she said it's really common among the people in that community to be discussing like a lot of the Gen X people, not so much the Baby Boomers. Most of the Baby Boomers in that community are fairly affluent, but the Gen Xers and younger definitely have suffered from the economic growth at any cost policy of America.
22:18 And they're thinking, wow, like I don't like the weather here, it's too expensive for me to do the things that I enjoy. And yeah, I just, and I'm concerned about the rising cost of healthcare. I know a lot of people that used to live pretty good, that basically they just hang out at their house and watch TV now because that's what they can afford to do. Gas prices are high, and there's some crime issues in my home city that have gotten out of hand.
22:48 And so a lot of people just hunker down in their house, and they're trying to make the best of their situation. Even people that you wouldn't call, or for lack of a better term, they are uncertain about the future because even somebody that felt like they were doing well, well now they're getting hit with like a $2,000 plumbing bill.
23:09 So it's like, okay, yeah, I can go out to the bar and spend $100, but like if I need plumbing at my house, if I want to have a running toilet and the toilet breaks, now all of a sudden I may not have the money for that. And in my generation too, a lot of people were discouraged from the trades, so a lot of people don't have a close family member that's got these trade skills.
23:26 Combined with the shrinking family sizes, they don't know somebody that can come really quick and do it for some pizza or do it for a couple hundred bucks. It's like, no, they're going to a private company and they're paying market rate. And that goes for everything. I mean, this was several years ago, but I was living, you know, renting a room from my friend's mom at the time, and she had to pay like $60 for two pizzas.
23:49 And it's like, wow, that's really expensive. Jay Shar says, 'What's good, Alex?' Hey, it's good to see you, Jay. Welcome to the live stream. Thank you so much for joining. I appreciate all of my subs, both long time and new. Can't believe we've got 11 people on here. I remember I did a few streams years back, and sometimes we'd get two or three, but it's great to see everybody.
24:14 And I can't thank you enough. It just means a lot to me that I'm providing enough value for everyone to subscribe. GJS says, 'Did you already share about the financial strategy you're using there to be there in Thailand?' So I'm in this weird spot, Jinsa. So I'm not at zero, but I'm also not at my FI number, my financially independent number.
24:39 I would say my FI number is going to be around $500k USD in assets, $5 to $600k, with the yield being somewhere in the $1,500 to $2,000 per month amount. Now, that wouldn't be spending $1,500 to $2,000 per month. That would be aiming to spend like, say, $1,200 USD per month in a city like Chiang Mai. I happen to love Chiang Mai.
25:02 And it's just, I loved it when I went there six years ago. I was like, oh, I could live here forever. It's my favorite city in the world. So some people might say, oh, you're not really living it up in Bangkok or in the islands, but I really like the laid-back nature of Chiang Mai. It reminds me of my home city in the United States.
25:20 My home city is more of like a country town, Nashville, Tennessee. It's not near the beach, not near the ocean anymore. But back when I grew up, people were laid back. You had these country people, and they're easygoing, and they talk a little bit slower, walk a little bit slower, but they're not so stressed like big city people.
25:42 If you're in any big city around the world, you're typically dealing with high real estate costs, high food, everything is expensive basically. So you're working a lot, and you're kind of stressed out from that. So that's what I like about Chiang Mai. It's developed and it's modern, and it's a large enough city. It's the second largest city in Thailand, but it still has that laid-back atmosphere that you want when you want to kind of slow down and enjoy your life.
26:07 So I'm not financially independent here in Thailand, but I am in
26:12 I am independent here in Thailand, but I am in a position where I got laid off last summer. I got a substantial severance, and I also managed to save like 70% of the income I made in that job. So I've got time. I feel that I could live over here for probably another two or three years without even thinking about it, and still go back with plenty of money to get restarted, start another job. But yeah, it's just kind of this weird holding pattern, you could say.
26:50 So let's see. I hope that answers your question, Jensa. I got the severance, also had a lot of savings, and I'm in a position where it cost me a lot to live in America because I don't have any family to live with. My parents passed when I was quite young, and I'm kind of in the position where it's like, okay, I could rent a room for $1,000 a month and scrape by, or I could take not much more than that, come over here to Thailand, have a nice apartment, have whatever food I want to have, travel around the country, and really enjoy life.
27:28 So it's like going to be spending a certain amount of money either way, but I can be in a place where I like the weather, I like the culture, I like the food a lot. The food here is worth it alone for me. Thai food alone sold me on Thailand, that's how much I enjoy it. But also just the friendliness of the people. I find a lot of Thai people are just really warm-hearted people.
27:51 Coming from Bay Area Tech, where it's a grind and people are stressed out and people are cutthroat and they're sizing you up constantly to see what can you do for me, to come here to Thailand where I don't get that near to the same extent. Sure, if I go to Patia or some touristic parts of Bangkok, yeah, the people that work in tourism, they got to be on it, that's their job. But outside of those places, even in Chiang Mai, outside of the touristic areas, and even there, it's just a much more laid-back, less cutthroat attitude. My blood pressure has come down being here. I feel a lot happier. I'm not so on edge or stressed out being overworked.
28:29 Crypto Kiwi says, have you ever at all felt unsafe in Thailand at any point? So I'm going to be fully transparent, Crypto Kiwi. Sometimes the driving does feel a little bit unsafe here in Thailand. I would recommend you doing more research on that on your own. It's not because of any one unique issue, it's more so you have a lot of foreign tourists, myself included, that were not experienced on riding motorbikes. So I witnessed an accident when I was in Chiang Mai. The guy was not hurt, fortunately. He was hurt, and I'm just not good at it. I didn't grow up doing it, it's not something that I'm really accustomed to, and I prefer not to ride.
29:10 But you do have a lot of people with no experience riding here, and I think that contributes to some of the safety concerns. You're probably thinking about general safety, and I do feel most say, occasionally you'll run into an aggressive stray dog. I know Bangkok Pat mentioned in a video he released maybe four or five months ago, he was actually bitten by a stray dog. So those are the two main things: one, traffic can be a little bit iffy, and two, stray dogs could be kind of sketchy. If we took those out, I've never felt in danger from a Thai person. I've never had a Thai person make me feel unsafe. I've never had somebody coming up to me upset at me, never had somebody get angry. Even the security guards are polite.
30:00 I've been in several situations where I thought a security guard was looking at me like, hey, you don't need to come into this area for whatever reason. And I engage them, say, 'Sawasdee krap,' and then they smile and wave back at me. So I think it's this, you get this sense when you're coming from the West, especially the United States, that it's a low-trust society. And then you come over here, and people are more trusting and more warm. So no, I don't ever feel unsafe from the people at all.
30:32 And there are a few like, you know, like the stray dogs, but those are somewhat avoidable. So I don't travel around the time. I'm more of a person where I like to kind of be in a city and live in that city, and I'm a fan of walking. I love walking, and so it's something I avoid. And then also with the stray dogs, they're not everywhere, especially like in the city center of Chiang Mai. I never felt unsafe from a stray dog. You do see some in Bangkok that are sketchy, and I'll admit, some here in Hua Hin that are kind of sketchy. But you pick up a rock, and they get scared. You don't have to necessarily toss it at the dog, but they're used to people shooing them away.
31:17 And I think some for some of them, they're not fixed, and so they just don't know any better. And so some of them do get injured. They unfortunately run out into traffic, and people are unable to stop without causing a much more serious incident. So some of them you will see with a limp. It is really sad, but that's just the way it is.
31:41 Crypto Kiwi says, average house in Auckland is over a million, average income after tax is about 55k. Yeah, it's insane. I mean, that's just got to be so difficult for Kiwi people who are working hard, they're living in what's considered a developed or a Western country where the presumption is you're going to get ahead if you just work hard. But there's no amount of working hard at 55k a year that's going to set you up to buy a million-dollar house. I think the only way to get into housing is to inherit it, and that's really antithetical, I think, to the philosophy of life in the West, right? That people are getting ahead not based on their merits necessarily, but based on their luck of being born.
32:21 In my case, I don't have parents, so I'm not going to inherit a single-family home. There's never going to be a point at which somebody gives me a single-family home, and I don't expect that to be a reality for me. And when I get to the point where I can afford one, I'd rather just take that money and go to a cheaper country where I'm not working to pay for the maintenance. Because a lot of people think, 'I'll just get a house, it's fine,' but the cost to maintain a home, a million-dollar home, is not cheap either. Your plumber is expensive, your carpenter is expensive, your maintenance is expensive, your property tax is expensive, the roof is expensive.
33:01 So it's not just the base cost, as I'm sure you're aware of, it's also all the additional costs that are stacked on top of that. And I hear that New Zealand, Canada, and Australia are the worst, and America and the UK is the worst. America is not quite so bad, but certainly in all the desirable American cities, I would say it's getting up there. If you're looking at a San Francisco or a Boston or an LA, then the housing prices have far exceeded the wages, and you have to really just get there through equity, like starting a tech company and then selling it, or getting into a C-suite role at a tech company, which most people aren't getting into until later in life, 40s, 50s.
33:47 And it's really discouraging. You schedule these streams and set them as the preview video for subs, you'll get more people on. I'll start doing that. Thank you for the suggestion. I need to start doing that. I scheduled this one, but it's the first one I've done in a long time, probably several months. I did one back in early February, but I had a connection issue and I don't think it got distributed. But I'll definitely schedule these in the future.
34:13 Lucky says, hi, are you able to speak Japanese? Unfortunately not, Lucky. I don't speak Japanese. I have some Japanese mannerisms because I was raised by my grandmother from Japan. And I felt like growing up with her, I had one foot in America and then one foot in Asia, so to speak. So I do have some mannerisms and pacing and politeness that comes from Japanese culture, and I'd love to learn the language. Part of me wants to do a year of Japanese study because you can actually study Japanese here in Thailand. There's over 100,000 Japanese expats here in Thailand, and I think that for a fair amount of them, they're going to be teaching Japanese at a school.
34:57 And that's actually one way you can get Ed says, not just a city tie, but you also have Mandarin and also Japanese at some schools. So definitely a goal of mine.
35:08 Stefan Dorian says, you look really good. You look good, but you really need a haircut. Alex, yes, that's true. It's coming up there, isn't it? I'll definitely get one soon because I, yeah, I don't even notice it sometimes. I think working in tech, where you see all kinds of wild haircuts, it's easy to lose track of time when it comes to that. But thank you for the tip.
35:28 Mark Eger says, enjoy your ideas, share it on YouTube. Thank you. You're from Alaska, that's so cool. I think Alaska has to be such a cool place. My grandparents used to love going up there, especially when my grandfather was alive. They would go up there every summer to do a fishing trip. He was from Idaho, and so he was a fan of the L.L.Bean brand out of Seattle, and that whole Northwestern kind of vibe. I think it's one of the coolest parts of the country. You really have to be a rugged person to live in Alaska. You really have to be a tough person.
36:03 And I think the stories out of there are so interesting. I mean, I even grew up reading the Hatchet series by Gary Paulson, which, if I'm not mistaken, was set up there as well. So I think Alaska's beautiful. I hope to visit there someday. It's definitely one of the few states I want to go to in America that I haven't been to. So Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont are like the four main ones that I haven't been to, and Montana. So those are like the five states I haven't been to that I really want to go to at some point. But I've been to the entire West Coast, Midwest, Mountain West, Southeast.
36:40 Coast Midwest Mountain West Southeast and the rest are like I haven't been to the DTA's or Iowa or Nebraska. These are not as high on my list in priority, but certainly Alaska's up there. Jinsa says thanks so much for sharing about your financial strategy. I'm looking into CM2, 70% nice, looking into dividend investing recently. I will say Jinsa that I'm heavy on the growth stocks right now. Just at my age, 31, I think I've got a lot of time in the market, but I am going to be pivoting more to dividends probably with my next role. Just because the goal is to get to a certain amount of growth and then sell and transfer to dividends that I feel at least some are going to be more stable in terms of income generation. So I'm not as much of a fan of selling the underlying asset. I think it's just a little bit more in line with my tolerance for risk to collect the dividends and live off those.
37:41 I do have some dividends. There's a portion of my portfolio that is in dividend stocks, but it's not enough to make a big difference as far as income goes at this point. Jinsa says you're thinking about cost of living is and what we get here is spot on. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, a lot of people, they don't understand this stuff, and I just kind of put two and two together on it and was like, man, a lot of this information would be helpful for people because we see the standard of living declining in the West, but we can't articulate why. We don't know why things are artificially priced so high, why things cost so much more like a Pad Thai here in Thailand. I can have for 140 equivalent, 60 baht, maybe I think that'd be like $2 in Australian currency, maybe a little bit more in New Zealand currency. Whereas in the US, then that same Pad Thai is going to be $15 and it's not going to be a better Pad Thai. I think it's going to be comparable to the Pad Thai we have here.
38:46 And so that's really, that was really my the start of my questioning a lot of stuff about life in the West because my buddy convinced me to go to Thailand six years ago, and I couldn't believe how nice it is and yet it was also much cheaper. And so that was really a shock to me. Thailand Masters foreign Cuisines. Krypto Kiwi says, Thailand Masters foreign Cuisines too, not just Thai food. Yeah, the Western food here, there's a good amount of good Western food here. You also have international chains like McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC. And like I had a pork steak the other night, it was delicious, really, really good. It was like $5.50 equivalent compared to the same would be probably $12, $15 in my home city, and the service was great. They served it with mashed potatoes and a salad. Yeah, really, really tasty. It makes me hungry just thinking about it. I after this stream, I'm gonna go out and have some dinner.
39:50 I have Crypto Kiwi says, I've ridden mopeds in Chang Mai, even on the motorway, enjoy the experience, but yes, risk for sure. Yeah, I'm just, I'm nervous about it. I'm not the most coordinated person, but certainly for some foreigners and expats, it's just fine. My buddy Jesse, who convinced me to come here to Thailand, he rode just fine, he had no issues at all. And so I think for some, they're not gonna have problems, they're going to be very careful and it'll be fine for them. What's your dreams and ambitions moving forward? My main dream is to hit that 5 to 600k mark in terms of value of my assets and then come to, probably Thailand or the Philippines. I'm still kind of working it out. Could be Vietnam. It's the visas are a concern. They're my top priority. Any country I'm thinking about living in, I want to know for a fact I can sort out my long-term visa such that it's not going to just come to an end at some point. I like to really think long-term.
40:51 And from there, when I hit that five number, just totally focus all on YouTube, perhaps writing some books. I have a bunch of ideas that I want to share with people back in the West, like, hey, you can leave if you're frustrated by your declining standard of living and you don't see it changing in your lifetime. And you have some unique circumstances, maybe you're an only child, maybe you're not super close to your family. Then I think there's a lot of great options in the world, not just Southeast Asia. I spent time about six months in Latin America and I loved it down there as well. I'd like to go back. If I go back for a job in America, then my next trip after that will probably be somewhere in South America. I want to see Chile or Brazil. Argentina is up there and exploring these places and doing research and really just trying to share information.
41:42 A lot of people are worried about this, and actually I'm working on a video about this right now. Aren't you worried about the costs going up? Well, certain costs will go up, certain costs won't. I paid less this year for my apartment in Chiang Mai than I paid six years ago. Why is that? Well, in Chiang Mai, they build plenty of housing. So housing is at least in part something for people to live in, not just an asset for people to make money on. So there's not this lack of housing like the lack of housing in the West is an artificial construct. Whereas in Chiang Mai, there's tons of variety. If I want a studio, I can have that. If I want a single family home, I can have that. You can get condos for as low as like $10,000 US in Chiang Mai. You can get houses for as low as 50k. Now, of course, you're not going to be the owner of that if you get a single family home, only Thais are allowed to own single family homes. But the point still stands, there's no house you can touch in New Zealand or Canada or the United States, my home country, for 50k, unless in the US you're in the middle of nowhere and the house is falling down, where you're going to just like live in a tent on the property or something. It's just not possible.
42:48 DH Kim says, what do you think of Korea? You know, I haven't been to Korea, DH Kim. I have heard, of course, it's more similar to Japan in terms of cost of living. I think that might scare away some people. They associate Korea as being a highly developed country that isn't so affordable, just because you do have a very high standard of living in Korea. You have great public transit, you have amazing Korean food, you have a very clean country with a lot of gorgeous nature. I'm not to say that developing countries don't have this as well, but a lot of people, I think a lot of people in the West really admire Korea. So I'm Pro Korea. If you're from there and you understand the language, I think for people who don't understand the language, that it's going to be a very difficult language to learn and that they may struggle with that. But everything else I've heard about is great. I'm a big fan of the Best Ever Food Review Show, and he lived in Korea for about eight years, a guy named Sunny. He's one of the largest, if not the largest travel food bloggers out there, and I love his content, and especially his content about Korea. You can tell he has a real deep passion for the country and the culture and the people. He's living in Vietnam these days, I think he married a Vietnamese woman. But certainly, definitely want to check out Korea. I may hit up Korea on my way back in the States. If I get a job in California, then Korea is like a perfect midway point. Fly there from Thailand, spend like a week in Seoul or Busan, or maybe a few days in each, and then fly back to the States.
44:25 Just so I can better speak to it, because I always struggle to speak about countries I haven't spent at least a month in, or at least a short visit, because I feel like I'm sharing information that other people can access. And I always want to do something with my channel that other people aren't doing, something that's unique and kind of sets me apart, where I feel like you're only getting this here, at least in terms of my analysis. Will says, hi Alex, many congrats on the thousand mark. Thanks so much, Will. That's really kind of you. I really appreciate that. Jinsa says, oh, and thank you as well, DH Kim, for the congrats on the thousand subs. I really appreciate that. Jinsa says, how's your experience making genuine connections, friends with Thai folks? It's great, assuming they have English. Um, it's harder if they don't have English. I have, I would say probably five or six Thai friends that have English, ranging from basic to, I would say not fluent, but fluent. I have two of my Thai female friends, they both worked in America as au pairs for about a year, and so their English is strong. And both also use some English at work. They both work for international companies.
45:40 And so I would say if you're looking for making connections with Thai folks, especially in terms of English comprehension, your best bet is spending time in Bangkok. I think also the tourist hotspots have more of that as well. It's going to be a little harder in a place like here in Hua Hin. I don't encounter English as much. And then you do get it some in Chiang Mai as well. One of my buddies, Matt, is a Thai man. He's from Bangkok, but he lives in Chiang Mai, and he's actually an English teacher. I think that surprises a lot of people. They think only Western people or native speakers are teaching English, but he teaches English very well. And I think that he, he told me he grew up on a lot of Western media in Bangkok, so he's always had this affinity for the West, even though he is a Thai man. And he's such an interesting character. I did an interview with him, but I didn't have the mics that I have now, so the audio is not so good. I have it on my hard drive. I want to go back and re-interview him because he's just such a warm person. I find that, you know, I talked to some of my Thai friends about this, and I was like, there's this perception Thai people are cold, which I disagree with. And she said, well, Thai people want to talk to you, but they're nervous about their English.
46:52 They're nervous about their English, they're shy about it. They feel like, 'What if they can't understand me? What if I sound a bit silly?' So you can make connections with people, understand that it may be a little bit more difficult if you're not talking to somebody that works with tourists. Or like here in Haot, I need to take back what I said. I think English is actually decent because they do deal with a lot of Malaysian tourists, and the people that have worked a lot with Malaysian tourists, they are better at English. But yeah, that's, I hope that answers your question.
47:32 Pay me in dividend, Will says, 'I'm going to go out of limb here in Guiyur, K.' Well, $500k sounds like a solid five number. Throw that into a nice yielding dividend portfolio, and you can live well in most Southeast Asian or Eastern European countries. Yeah, I think so. Thanks so much, by the way, for the congrats. Pay me in dividends. Yeah, I mean, a lot of people exaggerate what you need to live in this part of the world. A lot of people will come on and say, 'Oh, you need $4,000 a month to live in Thailand.' My opinion, at that point, why don't you just say you need $10,000 a month? Why don't you just exclude probably 80-90% of people in the world from the Western world? Because most Western people don't have that kind of income.
48:12 Also, you don't necessarily have to go out and start a big family with five kids. Yeah, if you want to get married and have five children, then you may need three, four K a month. You also want to send them to some private schools, that might not be enough. So for the single guy, or for the dual income no kids situation, or the retiree whose children have grown up and are out on their own, I think you can do fine with $1,500. You're probably, I would say, you're not gonna want to go to like a Bangkok. I think it's gonna be a little bit more challenging in a Bangkok because not even necessarily only because Bangkok is more expensive. The upmarket districts are, but you can live on the outskirts of Bangkok and pay $100-$200 a month for rent. I've looked at apartments in Banapi, which recently got its first MRT station. So if you don't have to be in the city center of Bangkok, you can find affordable rents. It's more so that you're going to have a lot of temptation to spend money in Bangkok. It is such a convenient place to live with so many opportunities to spend money that you may feel a little bit stifled if you're trying to keep it to $1,500.
49:21 You're going to hear about a cool restaurant or some kind of interesting entertainment, or maybe you want to purchase a certain nice thing. Then you're going to feel like, 'Man, I'm a little bit tight here.' But you look at a Chiang Mai, you look at a Pattaya, you look at Haot, where I am now, and I'm really enjoying Haot. Been pleasantly surprised here. You're going to be fine on that amount. Of course, you're going to want to look at health insurance just to help with emergencies and things like that. You're going to want to look at what are the local districts that you want to enjoy, just to, um, just to not be eating Western food every day. But to me, it's not this major adjustment. Like I ate Thai food a lot in America, I just paid a lot more for it. So the fact that I get to eat Thai food here and pay a lot less for it doesn't really feel like a sacrifice.
50:18 I love Korea. I lived in Hong Kong for 30 years. My Korea to do times. Korea has changed a lot in 30 years. Soft power has increased immensely. Yeah, I would agree with that, Will. I think Korea is really grown a lot in terms of popularity. People love K-pop. I love the Korean food. Korean barbecue. Korean food is very popular here in Thailand. All the major Thai cities have Korean restaurants, and I would see Korean people a lot in Chiang Mai and some in Bangkok as well. But I think they stick out more in Chiang Mai just because Chiang Mai is not quite such a big city, and the popular district is Nimman. Whereas in Bangkok, you see tourists in all kinds of neighborhoods, like Sukhumvit, or of course, the city center. And, uh, yeah, really, really lovely city.
51:04 So you're Japanese, and what if you don't mind me asking? Oh, Jay. So the other half, the rest is, so my dad was from India. I say Indian, but a lot of, uh, United States people think Native American. But from India, India, uh, from the south of India. And then on my, so my mother was English, Irish, half English, Irish. So, and then, uh, half Japanese. So I'm technically half Indian, a quarter Japanese, and then a quarter English Irish.
51:42 Korea is widely seen as super cool. I absolutely agree. I'm a huge fan of Squid Game and Parasite and Blackpink. And I haven't listened to BTS as much. But yeah, tons of soft power, and the consumer electronics are definitely a big thing. I've had several Samsung phones over the years. Will says, 'My parents in Glasgow both have Samsung mobiles. Their washer dryer is LG.' That's funny. Yeah, I mean, the, the, it's the industrial might is there. I think people really trust Korean products. They associate Korean products with both economic utility, but also good value for money. I feel the same way. I think they really punch far above their weight in terms of production.
52:24 Crypto Kwi says, 'Appreciate the Chatman. We binge watch more of your videos.' Thank you. Well, thank you so much for chiming in. I really appreciate your comments. I hope you have a good night as well. Jin says, 'Getting curious about dividend.' Yeah, dividend. Pay me in dividends. Feel free to chime in. Okay, great. So you did, you did start posting. That's wonderful. I'm gonna have to check out your channel after the stream because I think it's just such a good idea. And, uh, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be here without Jason. Jason lives in Chiang Mai, actually. If you're not familiar, he was who got me inspired to pursue the dividend journey. I'll throw his site down in the description.
53:08 Grab the charger. Yeah, he does a website called, or a blog called Mr. Free at 33. And Jason's been living in Chiang Mai for, I think, seven or eight years. I think he came here in 2016, and his story is incredible. I relate to it a lot. He actually grew up in Detroit, which is a probably the worst city in America as far as crime and lack of opportunity and danger. It's kind of the ground zero for the collapse of the automotive industry in 2008. And he racked up some college debt, but then eventually he was like, 'Okay, I need to get out of here because there's no jobs.' He lost his job in Detroit, so he ended up moving into Florida and working in the auto industry down there. I think he got into, into, um, was it Nissan? He got into one dealership and he worked his way up into Audi. And he pinched every penny, ended up selling his car, moving to a smaller apartment about a half hour from his job, taking the bus to work. And then, uh, started building his portfolio.
54:14 And then part of what it got him there is that he sold his blog. He had a blog called Dividend Mantra that he sold, I heard for, reported now, don't quote me on this, but if it's accurate, $300k. And he already had $100k dividend portfolio. So he took that $300k, bought dividend stocks, got him up to $1,000 a month in dividend income. So this was, um, this, well, I should say $1,000 month budget. So if this at $400k at 4%, that's $16,000 per year, and that works out to like $1,200 a month. And so spending $1,000 a month would give him a $200 a month buffer for any emergency expenses like healthcare. And so he's lived in Chiang Mai for like seven or eight years. He's built up his blog and increased his dividend income dramatically to where he's got like a $7k a month income or something like that.
55:04 He's actually moving back to the States. So he's married a Thai woman, and I think she's a nurse based on his blog, what he said there. And so they're looking at moving back to the States for personal reasons. And I wish him the best of luck. I think his journey is inspiring, just coming from a broke background in a disadvantaged city and being raised by, I think he was raised by an aunt. His mom took herself out. And I can relate to that a lot. So yeah, I think he could be inspiring for a lot of average people that want to become financially independent. Because a lot of people, when you start talking about financial independence, they assume you're coming from a well-to-do background. They assume you have an Ivy League education, and that the average person can't attain it. But I disagree with that sentiment. It does take a lot of sacrifice, a lot of discipline, plan, a lot of focus. But I think it's going to be really wonderful when I get to that point and I'm able to fully commit to living overseas long term.
56:06 And this is a discovery trip. Part of this, and this is what I think a lot of people should really think about, is before you commit to financial independence overseas, plan in your working years. This is going to set you back time-wise, but do at least one or two discovery trips. If you're thinking about living in a certain country, maybe come over for a month, or if you're in between jobs, or like two weeks. I should say two weeks. I know most Americans don't get a month off, but if you get two weeks, take your two weeks and come to Chiang Mai for a week, and then come to Bangkok for a week, and get a sense of what it's like to live there. Because the worst thing I think could happen is you spend years and years working toward your goal of financial independence, and then you go somewhere and you find, 'Mexico, for example, well, I like financial independence, but Mexico isn't for me.' So really take the time to do that. It will just help save you a lot of time and stress and figure out what you like in that time too.
57:03 Are you a beach person? I'm not really a beach person. So the appeal of living long-term on an island, I just get kind of like island fever. The best way for me to put it, I feel like, oh, I'm just limited in where I can go. And so I don't know that I'd commit to living on an island long-term, even though they are very beautiful here in Thailand. I think that I'm more of kind of a city guy, and also more of an inland guy, a mountain guy. And that's why Chiang Mai is.
57:33 Mountain Guy and that's why Chiang Mai is so appealing to me. It is a bonus that Chiang Mai is affordable, even by Thai standards, but it's just such a cool city. It just has this cool, mysterious vibe. It never loses this feeling of mystery for me, even after six months in Chiang Mai. It just has this, like, I don't know, you just feel like you're on another planet, not just from the language difference, not just from the food difference, but the nature is so beautiful. It has this like other-worldly kind of feeling, and Thailand still has magic and charm for me. If anything, it has more for me because I'm getting little bits of basic words in Thai and I'm starting to understand what people are saying more.
58:15 So, if I had to commit to Thailand for the rest of my life, if you told me right now, planes aren't working, you're in Thailand, and money wasn't part of the equation, I'd be fine with it. It's such a beautiful country. It's safe, it's fun, the food is amazing, the people are warm. The only thing I miss about back home is my friends. That's really the main thing I miss from back in the US.
58:41 Will asks, "Do you have any plans to permanently base yourself in one particular city in Thailand, having tried various ones? And if so, which are you leaning towards so far?" So, Will, I do want to try a year in the Philippines. That's one of the other countries I would consider living in because the visa situation is so easy for Americans. In Thailand, the visa situation is a little bit more tricky. Yes, there is the elite visa, but do I want to spend that amount of money? I'm not sure that it makes sense for me. It's an individual choice, and it may make sense for other expats.
59:15 There are the language visas, which I'm on right now, but I've heard you're really limited to like two years on a language visa. So, what if I have to transfer to studying Muay Thai? I'm not sure if I want to commit to multiple Muay Thai classes per week for a year. I'm getting up there. I'm not at retirement age, but I don't want to get hurt in Muay Thai. So that's certainly in the back of my mind.
59:39 If I had to pick one, I'd pick Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai, minus the burning season, is one of my favorite cities in the world. It's just got everything that I want, and I don't find myself missing much from a day-to-day perspective. I enjoy Bangkok and I love the excitement of Bangkok, but sometimes Bangkok can be a bit overwhelming for me. I grew up in a city of about 1.5 million people, it's now around 2.2 million people, and Chiang Mai, in terms of population and size, just reminds me so much of my hometown.
1:00:13 It fits like a glove. I was really disappointed when I had to leave six years ago because Chiang Mai is just everything I want. I don't think it's perfect for everybody, but for me, I can't think of very many other cities that can compete. Some of the Philippine cities can, for me, because the English there is so wonderful. That's something that I love about the Philippines is that you have that ease of communication with people.
1:00:42 It's going to take me a while to get there. I think if I studied Thai consistently for several more years, I would get there, but it's also a significant time investment. It would also probably involve private tutoring, which would be a financial investment alongside the time investment. And so, I'm not sure if I'm ready to make that commitment. But I think that I'll have a better sense of it after a year in the Philippines and after a visit in Vietnam. I'm looking at Vietnam for several months. Vietnam is definitely a high priority for me as far as visiting goes.
1:01:13 And I think after a year in the Philippines, I'll have a better sense of it. A lot of people are asking, "Which is better?" and I feel like I don't know yet. Which I think is better? I think it's an individual choice. To me, it's an apples-to-oranges comparison. For Thailand, a lot of people are familiar with Thailand from a tourism perspective. For the Philippines, English makes it so easy. So once I invest that time in the Philippines, I'll have a better sense of it.
1:01:44 There are some things that are challenging in the Philippines, just like any other country. I found when I was there four or five years ago that the internet was iffy. I have heard that's changing, and I have heard Starlink is becoming a bigger thing there. So with Starlink, that could be a game-changer for the Philippines.
1:02:04 What else? I know I said I'm not as much of a fan of islands, but the islands in the Philippines are so big that it doesn't always feel like island life. In Cebu, I felt like, hey, I'm in a metropolitan city. Yeah, you cross the bridge and yes, you do land in Mactan, which is part of an island, but it's so... I don't know how to explain it. It just maybe it's the urban vibe. It doesn't feel so remote.
1:02:31 Like when I'm in the Philippines, I didn't really feel remote. I felt like I was like in another part of America. I haven't been to Hawaii, but I imagine it's what some people feel like living in Honolulu, at least in terms of the big cities. And then in the medium-sized cities, there's a lot to offer there. I had great Italian food in Cagayan de Oro.
1:02:52 What else did I? The dating was fine, like the dating was great in Cagayan de Oro, even though it wasn't a large city like Cebu. You still have, I think, 700,000 people in the metro area. So I would say, as well, there, taking a look at different sized cities and finding, like, do I have to be in the biggest city in the country, or am I going to be happier in a smaller city? Am I okay with province life? Personally, I'm not as much of a fan of province life for expats, especially people that are approaching retirement age where healthcare is a concern for them.
1:03:25 I think when you're too far away from hospitals, that it poses some level of health risk. And also, I just like certain conveniences that come with a larger population. I like being able to go and get a Thai massage. I like being able to go to a large shopping mall and just kind of walk around, have some munchies, some good food, maybe do some shopping for electronics. So that's where I kind of push the urban areas, but certainly the provinces do make a lot of people happy. I think especially for people that grew up in a rural area, maybe the countryside in America or the UK, Australia, New Zealand, then the provinces are going to be more in line with what they're accustomed to.
1:04:11 Kyle says, "Love your channel, would love to hang out when you're in Bangkok." Absolutely, P. I'm definitely down. I'll be in Bangkok in five weeks, maybe three weeks, probably three to five weeks because I've got to do my next education visa extension. I've got to go to Bangkok immigration and do my visa extension, and that will be my last visa extension. That will get me from the beginning of May until mid-July.
1:04:39 And then around mid-July, early to mid-July, I'll probably be flying to Vietnam. It's looking very much, unless a job offer comes up, that I'll go to Vietnam next. But happy to hang out. Definitely comment down below, or if you see my email in the description, shoot me an email. I'd be happy to meet up.
1:04:59 Will says, "Oh, I covered that one." D Kim says, "I think Southeast Asia is great for the public safety factor alone. I've been to Thailand less than seven times, but to the Philippines over 100 times. The people in the Philippines rule." Yeah, Filipinos are awesome. I don't think it's a contest because I love Thai people as well. But to focus on the Filipinos for a bit, just in terms of conversation, the people will give you the shirts off their back. They will help you out. They're very kind and warm.
1:05:33 And I was very suspicious when I went to the Philippines because of how nice the people were. I was like, why are these people being so nice? I come from the US where people are not that friendly. And I was just shocked. I was like, why are these people talking to me? Why are they asking me how I'm doing? Why are they asking me where I'm from? Why are they so warm and kind and friendly?
1:05:55 And then I got it after a couple of weeks. I'm like, okay, I get it. I get why the people here are nice because they treat each other well. They're kind to each other. They're sweet to each other. And yeah, I fell in love with the Philippines as far as people. I found a very strong connection to the Filipino people. I just found it so easy to connect with them.
1:06:18 There's this kind of bond. It may just be the English, but I think it's more than the English. I think it's just like I have this respect for them because I think that they have a lot of character. And I think that they see that I respect them, and I don't see them as people there to serve me, which I think is unfortunate for some expats or Western tourists. They look at the locals as their servants, and I don't see it that way at all.
1:06:40 I see the local people as helping me to navigate an unfamiliar world, an unfamiliar country, an unfamiliar culture, unfamiliar food. Like half the time I'm asking the locals, "What should I eat? I have no idea what you guys eat here, so please let me know." Because when I did my four-month trip to Southeast Asia at the end of 2019, I didn't know anything. I really didn't know much about the countries I was going to.
1:07:04 I typically had a friend there like I met online that was going to help show me around, but I was naive and new. I knew they worked in the Philippines. I didn't know much beyond that. But pork is huge in the southern US, so that was something where, like, coming from the southern US, I'm like, I already love pork, so that's going to be a no-brainer.
1:07:30 Will says, "I totally agree on the visa issues. That's what ultimately led me to choose Malaysia over Thailand for my retirement." K has changed so much since I've been going. It's like a cheap Singapore. Everyone speaks English in Malaysia. Of course, I find Malaysia to be the most underrated country that I've been to. So many people don't know about Malaysia because they're thinking...
1:07:50 About Malaysia because they're thinking in terms of partying, for example. Malaysia is not really your biggest party country or party place, but I'm not a big partyer myself. I can't really handle alcohol; I get the Asian flush. For a fair amount of East Asian people, they can't consume alcohol. They actually have an allergy to alcohol, and I have that allergy.
1:08:12 So for me, Malaysia was perfect. I love Malaysian food and Middle Eastern food. You have a ton of great food options; I met a guy serving kebabs who was from Iran and moved to Malaysia. His food was amazing.
1:08:27 I could talk just about the conveniences of Malaysia alone. I love the shopping malls; they have modern shopping malls everywhere. You can get whatever you want from the shopping malls. The prevalence of English made it very, very easy to be in Malaysia.
1:08:44 It's great for living. I wouldn't necessarily say it caters to everybody's preferences for a party vacation, but if you want a place where things are orderly, and if you're coming from an English-speaking country or a former British colony, Malaysia is a former British colony. So you're going to be more familiar with certain aspects of life in Malaysia that just seem to come more naturally to somebody who's grown up in a similar style.
1:09:20 I also like the public transit in Kuala Lumpur. I was blown away by it. How can this be so good and yet so cheap? I was shocked by that. I really hesitate to use the word cheap anytime I'm talking about things, but this is one of those occasions I've reserved the word cheap for the transit in Kuala Lumpur. I just found it to be so convenient; it makes it so easy to get around the city.
1:09:48 DH Kim says, "I've been to Malaysia twice, not that interesting, but could be a good city to live and work in. The hot weather is a turn-off, plus it's considerably pricier than other Southeast Asian countries." Yeah, the cost is definitely higher in Malaysia. I definitely noticed I was paying more in Kuala Lumpur for rent. I think I was paying like $150 US equivalent, about 600 ringgit per week for an apartment rental, but I did find it to be very convenient, very clean, very safe.
1:10:22 Certainly, you'll pay more than some other places. So for people that want something a little bit different, it may not be ideal, but I like Malaysia a lot. I'd happily go back at some point in the future.
1:10:40 We've been chatting for a little over an hour now, and I'm getting pretty hungry for dinner, to be totally honest. Will Smith says, "I'd have to disagree on pricing. The age I luxury condos about 20 to 25% less than Bangkok." That's interesting. Yeah, that could be. I think it depends too, like in Bangkok, it seemed like more people wanted to live in the city center. In KL, I felt like it was more spread out than Bangkok, maybe it's just my perception.
1:11:35 Definitely cheaper than the Philippines for most things. Yeah, I found the Philippines to be surprisingly expensive actually in some areas. I think the rent is cheap in the Philippines, but if you're talking about imported goods, I paid like $10 for a pizza on Palawan island five years ago. $10 is like even more than what I could get a comparable pizza for in the US.
1:11:58 Wrapping up, thanks so much, everybody, for joining. I really appreciate the help on getting to over a thousand subscribers. Thank you so much for the support and the encouragement that you enjoy my videos. It definitely pushes me to keep making more. I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend and has a safe weekend wherever you are in the world.
1:12:22 Short-term is definitely more expensive than long-term. No, I haven't eaten dinner yet, so I'm going to go out. I'm here in Ho Chi Minh City, and I'm going to go out and have some food. I haven't decided exactly what I want yet, but there are so many great food options here.
1:12:38 Great talking to everyone, and I'll talk to you soon.
Follow the journey through expat life, travel experiences, and the realities of living abroad while exploring different places, cultures, and everyday life overseas.
