My Vietnam eVisa was approved!

Vietnam eVisa Approval

0:13 Hey, what's up everybody? I'm gonna give it a little bit to let things get some more folks in here. I got approved for my Vietnam e-visa. That visa starts on July 8th, which is a month and a day from tomorrow. I should be flying to Vietnam from here in Bangkok.

Travel Plans and Bangkok Sights

0:41 I'm gonna book a hotel next to the airport for the night before, and then I can catch a morning flight over to Da Nang. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing something new. It was a really good feeling to get that approval tonight.

1:08 I just had to add my middle name to my first name on that application, and that's something to keep in mind when you are applying for your Vietnam visa. You need to include your middle name next to your first name in your application because Vietnam looks at your first name as the combination of your first and middle name.

1:33 You'll need to do that if you fly domestically in Vietnam too. So I'll probably be flying from Saigon or from Da Nang to Saigon, and flying out of Saigon to my next destination. When I book that ticket, I'm gonna have to book it with my first and middle name.

Current Life in Bangkok

2:16 It's been a hot and muggy day in Bangkok today. It rained a little bit and then it stopped. I went out and while they were cleaning my room, I just kind of walked around and visited the base of the Mahanakhon tower, which is the tallest building in Bangkok right now. It's gorgeous.

2:40 It's like my favorite building. It's also a Ritz Carlton residence, so a luxury building way above my pay grade, but really a beautiful building nonetheless.

3:00 I've been watching this interesting criminal defense attorney, a Filipino-American guy based in Houston, Texas, called Jom. I watched this YouTube channel, Tyler Ola, and he interviewed Jom or did a video with Jom yesterday. It's just so interesting to see how that guy works and how he operates.

3:21 He's certainly a controversial figure, but also charismatic. Feel free to chime in, anybody watching. Any thoughts or questions or comments you have?

3:34 Any travel plans you have coming up? I've got another interview on Monday with a company based back in California, and I'm looking forward to it. In this job market, I have low expectations, but it's nice to get that interview practice and be kind of warmed up.

3:56 Get some practice in there. Even if it doesn't go my way, it'll be nice to just have, yeah, be prepared for that. But it's been kind of a slow week this week in Bangkok.

Bangkok Food Scene

4:10 I've been hitting up the mango sticky rice trucks. I found some mango sticky rice trucks in Sathorn near my apartment, and they have really high-quality mango sticky rice at the same price as the mango sticky rice vendors at Mahanakhon Market. So that's really nice, and the quality is really good.

4:32 The best quality for fruit, if you are buying fruit here in Bangkok, don't hesitate to buy from the trucks. They are typically direct from the farmer, and the quality is great. With mango sticky rice, it can be hit or miss if you go to not the best markets. You'll get some busted mango sticky rice that are kind of rotten yellow, with this yellow slimy kind of thing going on.

4:56 But the ones in the truck, almost all of them are great condition. One or two are underripe ones, but yeah, most of them are great. I can eat so many of them in a row.

Future Travel Plans: Philippines

5:26 I'm also doing some tentative planning for after my time in Vietnam. If you don't know already, I am looking at going to the Philippines, assuming I don't get a great job offer back in California while I'm in Vietnam. Then I am going to be flying to the Philippines, and I'm really looking forward to that, maybe even a bit more than Vietnam.

5:49 I have a bunch of friends over there that want to meet up, EF friends, online friends, people I've met through the internet, people I don't know in person yet, but that'll change hopefully on this trip. I've already been talking to my buddy who lives down there in Mindoro, and he's wanting to introduce me to all of his friends.

6:10 He's shown me a little bit about what they do. Just hanging out on their slow days, they like to go fishing up in the mountains. They like to go to these farms and they pick fruit. It's just a beautiful paradise.

6:26 I'm a little bit nervous about Vietnam, if I'm going to be honest. I've read that like 95% of tourists don't return to Vietnam. This isn't a slight against Vietnam, but I've heard that you really want a lot of travel experience before you go there.

6:41 So I'm glad that I've I'm fairly well-traveled at this point. I wouldn't call it a place you should go for your first country abroad. I think places like Thailand are going to be a lot easier for you.

6:54 But if you're somebody... wow, we've got four people all of a sudden. Welcome, welcome to this stream. But yeah, I'm looking, you know, I'm looking at Vietnam as a little bit more of a challenge because, you know, of course, English is not prevalent in Vietnam. It's got some edges to it, if that makes any sense.

7:17 Hey Solar Transient, welcome to the stream. How are you doing tonight? I'm just drinking some electrolyte beverage.

7:34 Bridge, what's up? How's it going in your world? So yeah, with Vietnam, I've also heard just from friends, like, hey, you know, be careful over there.

Vietnam Travel Concerns

7:46 Oh, well, thank you so much. I recorded a video today. I've been kind of in a down mood, but you know, just in terms of thinking about leaving Thailand. I don't really want to leave Thailand, but I'm also trying to be optimistic about what Vietnam will bring and what the Philippines will bring as well.

8:07 With Vietnam, you know, it's a little bit, it's got a bit of an edge. Of course, there's some safety challenges in Saigon and in Hanoi as far as theft go. I've heard you really got to be careful about your property there.

8:21 You also are going to want to be careful if you go to Vietnam about scams. Now, I know some people feel like, ah, it's just a dollar, it's just five dollars, what is it? But it can really add up, and it's also discouraging. It feels a little bit humiliating. I don't know anybody that likes to be scammed.

8:39 So it's one of those places that I don't think it's as organic to go to Vietnam as say Thailand or even the Philippines. It's a place where you have to do some work to get that visa. You have to put some work in to fill out that form correctly. You, of course, pay also for that in advance.

9:00 Cool, very cool. You're going to Da Nang soon? Well, May, hey Solar Transient, if you want to meet up, you know, if we're there at the same time, happy to meet up. I haven't actually, I don't think I've met up with any of my subscribers yet, so you might be the first subscriber I get to meet up with, which would be really cool.

9:20 I think Jake's over there too, right? And I asked him about that, he says he plans to be there for a couple more months. So I hope to meet up with Jake as well. If you're rewatching this, Jake, be cool to meet up, grab some Vietnamese coffee or some bun me or something like that.

9:32 It always blows my mind that 1500 people actually subscribe to my channel. So, yeah, like I said, you know, I'm not afraid. Like I've been to places that I've perceived to be rougher than Vietnam, if you want to talk about just safety. Like in Colombia, I did not feel safe based on what my friends there told me. I didn't have any issues.

9:57 But like when I started talking to my friends that are locals in Colombia, they're like, yeah, you need to be careful around here. And same in Mexico, my friends in Mexico like, hey, you need to be careful around here. I never had any issues.

10:09 I don't know if that's it's that I blended in. I had also several people tell me, you look Colombian, you look Mexican, which was kind of funny to me. I did get a kick out of that. So I didn't have any issues in Latin America.

10:25 But those are more over the top. Even when I went to Cambodia, I had some friends mention, hey, it's not safe. But with Vietnam, like it's a bit more over the top. I mean, it was, you know, a country involved in a war. I know like my grandfather served in that war on the American side.

10:46 And that, you know, it's got, you know, it's got some challenges. Vietnam's got some challenges. So I'm looking forward to it though. I think it'll be really interesting. I think I'll learn a lot about the history, the culture, the people.

Vietnam's Industrial and Cultural Landscape

11:03 It's going to be well, no, technically it won't be. It'll be another country in the Sinosphere. So like Thailand is more influenced by India, you see that with a lot of Thai people having Sanskrit-influenced names. But Vietnam is much more influenced by China. So it'll be really interesting in that way.

11:20 I'm looking forward to checking out some of the industry. There's a ton of industrial growth over there. Like I always mentioned this a few times, but these were actually assembled in Vietnam. These are the Apple AirPods. I'm sure people have seen plenty of people wearing them. I'm sure some of you even have a pair or two.

11:39 But yeah, these were assembled in Vietnam. Apple is expanding their presence over there. What else? Of course, they've got this. There's like VinFast, the automobile manufacturer, they're doing EVs. So getting to have some exposure to that will be really cool.

11:59 I don't know where these factories are. I don't know if they're near Saigon, near Hanoi, or if they're in like smaller industrial towns away from the population centers. Da Nang seems like more like a tourist town, so I don't know if I'm going to see anything like that.

12:13 In Da Nang, I'm sure I'll see like Apple stores selling Apple products. And stores selling VinFast vehicles in Da Nang. But yeah, as far as seeing the industry, I don't know if I'll get access to that just from being in the bigger cities.

City vs. Rural Travel Preferences

12:29 I'm a city guy, it's just what I'm used to, so I don't spend as much time in rural areas. I tend to just get kind of, I don't know, stir crazy. Is the word? That's a phrase we use.

12:41 Is the word that's a phrase we use in the South, but I think Vietnam will be really interesting and it's going to be very different from what I'm used to. I have some exposure to the Vietnamese American communities, but not a ton. A lot of those folks see themselves as American. My friends that are Vietnamese American have not ever mentioned going back to visit. I think they feel, depending on the country an American comes from, they have different feelings. I know with India, a lot of my Indian friends do go back to India, not necessarily regularly, but they've been back several times since moving, whereas I never really heard about that sentiment from Vietnamese Americans, so it may be less common. I can't say for certain.

Da Nang Arrival and Content Creation

13:32 Yeah, solo transient, when are you going to arrive in Da Nang? You said you're going to embark to Da Nang soon. Just curious like when you plan on landing there. I am looking forward to some beach vibes again because I was in Krabi. I was in Krabi in April for the month of April, and it was nice to be in the beach setting and just have the beauty of the ocean there. There's something humbling about it, and there's also something relaxing about being by the ocean, being by the beach. I've seen a lot of vloggers in Da Nang showing being at the ocean, and it's just such a beautiful view.

14:31 Yeah, it's just such a beautiful view. Probably late July or early August. And why don't we pull up a map here because I think that's fun when I do that for you. Okay, so this is where I'm staying in the general Bangkok area. Here we go. Yeah, so this is where I'm going to be headed in Vietnam.

15:10 Solo transient says probably late July or early August. Well, definitely send me an email, solo transient, or comment on the content I make over there. I know I've been a little bit slow to upload. I've had a lot of stuff to do, just in terms of getting caught up on my taxes, ordering some stuff. I've been doing some recording, but some of the stuff hasn't turned out as well as I would have liked. The audio is just it can get, you know, Bangkok can be a loud city, so sometimes it's kind of hard to record the content in the way that I want to record it because sometimes I find videos where I'm just sitting and here, like it's just kind of sterile. I know you can intersperse clips over it, but it just doesn't feel as present in my mind as me recording when I'm out in the city. I think that's just more fun for you guys.

eVisa Application Process

15:59 And yeah, I think the numbers speak to that as well. Christopher says, congrats Alex, what was the turnaround time on the EV? So yeah, I wanted to do a stream earlier this week, but like I said, I just got caught up on being busy on some stuff. But I actually got denied. So my first application for it was denied, and the reason being for that is I did not include my middle name on the application. So I had to actually resubmit my application.

16:31 I got my rejection email last Friday, and then I think Tuesday, I immediately Googled it. I immediately looked it up, I'm like, why did I get denied? And I looked it up, and they're like, yeah, you got to include your middle name on there. Reddit is super helpful for that, by the way, finding these kinds of weird visa answers. They're of course not a legal advisor or lawyer, but some of the insight they provide is helpful. So I resubmitted Tuesday afternoon, and I got the corrected name on there, and then I got the notice this evening that they approved it. And so that was really cool. I was a little bit nervous because I've heard of some people getting it rejected like a couple times.

17:23 And so this time was great. I opened up the email, they're like, your visa has been approved. So what I'll have to do, so that took three days, so 72 hours. That may be increased a little bit, like if you apply say like a Thursday, I imagine then probably wouldn't be till Monday that you get it. I don't know if they work weekends or not as far as the visa processing people in Vietnam. But that's for 90 days, so I'm valid from July 8th until October 6th. And my lease on this apartment runs up July 7th.

Departure Preparations and Flight Details

17:56 So when this lease runs up, I'll go downstairs with my backpack, all my bags packed. I'll get my deposit back, 12,900 baht, about $350. And then I'm probably going to do a little bit of shopping. I want to get some new shoes before I go to Vietnam, and I may get some other things, just pick up a few things before I head to Vietnam. Then I'll go get a hotel. I haven't booked my flight to Vietnam yet because I just got that notice like a couple hours ago, but I'll probably fly out of Da Nang.

18:37 And then I'll just fly out of Da Nang. And then I'll get a hotel though, right beside it. Like right around it, there's hotels and Airbnbs all around Da Nang. And then I'll stay there overnight and then just head over to the airport first thing in the morning. I'll probably, the flight I'm looking at will land in Da Nang around 11:30. Now, I have heard Vietnam customs and all that can be time-consuming. So I've heard of some people, and this probably applies more to the bigger airports like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, but I've heard it can take like an hour and a half to get through airport security. So I'll be there probably until like 1:00 PM.

19:27 And then around 1:00 PM, I'll be able to grab a Grab taxi and head to my accommodation. So after I book my flight, I'll probably book it after this stream. Then I'll book my accommodation in Da Nang, and then that'll have me sorted out for the first month. I'll know how I'm getting there, I'll know where I'm staying, and I'll be able to worry about other things like making content and all that great Vietnamese food I'm going to have.

Vietnamese Coffee and Cuisine

20:05 And I haven't been drinking coffee. I actually quit coffee a few months ago, but I'll probably have some in Vietnam because it's a coffee producer and they're famous for their coffee, including their egg coffee. I'm wanting to pull up egg coffee here.

20:30 Yeah, so this is the Vietnamese egg coffee that I've been hearing about. And it may seem a little bit strange. Like, when I first heard about it, I was like, egg coffee? I don't know how good that sounds. But I like coffee and I like eggs, but do I like them mixed together? I've heard it's sweet, and normally I don't like overly sweet stuff, but I'll try it once. I'll see how it is. I might like it, I might not like it. But it looks artistic. They've got this, I don't know if that's grounds they put on top or maybe cocoa powder.

21:17 Let's see here. Okay, so it came from France. It's kind of a French import in origin. They're not really talking about what the topping is on it, but yeah, it doesn't look like it's got the black coffee and then the creamer or not. It doesn't have creamer in it, so that'll be interesting. I'm normally not a fan of black coffee, but I'm down to try something new.

Accommodation Preferences: Airbnb vs. Hotels

22:06 Your thoughts on slow travel accommodations in Southeast Asia? Do you prefer Airbnb or Agoda? That's a great question, Christopher. You know, I kind of look at it like if it's for short-term, like less than a week, I prefer hotels. In the week to month range, I feel that you do get discounts with Airbnb that are helpful to knock the price down a bit. You also get a little bit more variety. With hotels, there's some level of limitations on them.

22:38 A few of the things I've noticed with hotels that can be challenging for longer than just a few days is some of them in Southeast Asia, they may not have a desk attendant. I know like here at my condo building, we have security here that's here like 20 hours a day, but there's this time from like 3:00 AM to 7:00 AM or 6:00 AM where it seems like there's a lapse, maybe a few hours where there's nobody here. So like my key card for my place here broke, and fortunately, it's 10:00 PM. This happened an hour or two ago, but I went downstairs and was able to get the key card replaced.

23:18 So that's kind of tricky, you know, when I stayed in Phnom Penh, the hotel owner would pull down the gate because they have these big heavy metal gates, and he'd pull it down at like 1:00 AM, and then he wouldn't open it up until he got up the next morning at like 7:00 or 8:00 AM. And so if you're a night owl, which sometimes, like I'm not a real partier, but I like to just go wander and do night walks, it's kind of a nice comforting feeling to just go walk through a city in the middle of the night. And that was kind of disconcerting. Like I did stay there for a week in Phnom Penh, or a couple weeks, because I came back and stayed there again at a later date. But to know like, hey, there might not be anybody here in this six or seven hour window, that's stressful, right? If you want to go out and hang out, meet up with friends, or just go out and wander.

24:13 So that's where having an Airbnb where I've got key access and I can come and go whatever hour I want, I really like that flexibility. And then at the month-long stay, hotels can kind of wear on you. Like I've stayed in when I went to Latin America, I lived in hotels for about six months, and the transient nature of them, having people constantly coming and going, not getting to really know your neighbors. I don't know, I think hotels are great for like one to six days. And then anywhere from seven to 30 days, I prefer an Airbnb. But really, at the 30 days or more mark, if I can get a rented condo like I'm in right now in Bangkok, that's really nice because then you're in a more of a long-term building. You build up a bit of a rapport with people working there. You get a better rate. You also get some amenities, like your room's going to be a bit...

25:05 Your room's going to be a bit bigger. You might have like a kitchenette. You have some nice little things that can make the experience better. I've got a fridge here too, which some of the hotels I've stayed in have not had. They have like a mini fridge that maybe kind of low to the ground and maybe a little bit hard to work with, but here I can show you my fridge is taller. So it's more of a medium-sized fridge, and that's really nice for having some cold water when I get back from a hot day in Bangkok or even a hot evening in Bangkok.

Agoda and Travel Payment Methods

25:41 I can just walk over there, grab a nice cold water, and cool off. But yeah, I hope that answers your question. Christopher, Agoda is awesome, by the way. I do like Agoda a lot. I'm actually starting to look at them more for pricing out flights and things like that because with Agoda, I can actually pay with my Thai bank account, and that's a really seamless experience. I like it better than using my American cards because some of my cards have expired since I've been in Thailand. I'm going to need to sort out getting them mailed to me, and knowing I have more of a local option is super convenient.

26:21 Solar Transient says egg coffee is good, but it's more of a dessert than a drink. Okay, that's good to know. It is a little bit confusing to hear it's a dessert, though, because I think of dessert as more of like an evening thing or a midday thing, and like coffee really wakes me up a lot. So it might be one of those things I have to have with breakfast because the caffeine has like a 24-hour half-life, and I notice when I drink coffee, like sometimes even in the morning, if it's strong enough, it will make it hard for me to sleep at night. Even if I go and work out, like even if I get a hard workout in, then coffee is just a really strong stimulant for me, and I haven't been drinking it for several months either.

Latin America Travel Experiences

27:06 So yeah, it might be one of those things I have in the morning with like a pastry, some kind of bread. Not the healthiest, but a nice treat. Ah, Latin America. I did a tour of Latin America back in late '21: Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay. How was that, Christopher? What was your favorite? What were some of your highlights? Want to hear more about your Latin America trip. It's awesome. I mean, I love it. I think Latin America is awesome. It's certainly less of a culture shock coming from the United States than coming here to Southeast Asia. The way the cities are lined up is super familiar to me. Of course, Spanish, I found to be very easy to learn coming from English.

27:57 Yeah, I mean, Latin America is awesome, and Peru, I think, is probably my favorite of those places, but I think they're all different flavors of the same awesome thing. Next time I go, I'd like to make it down to Argentina. It's just really far, right? So it's like almost like going to Asia because you got to fly to like, you got to fly to Miami or Texas, like Houston, like Texas or Southern Florida, and then do another like eight-hour flight. You're literally going from like the top of the continent to the bottom of the continent if you're going to like Buenos Aires or Ushuaia, which is even further south.

Mexico Travel Tips

28:40 And of course, if I did a Buenos Aires trip, I'd make it over to Montevideo and Uruguay because you just take a ferry. I think it's like a three or four-hour ferry, and a lot of people, it might not even be that long, it may be only two hours, but a lot of people do that as a day trip from Buenos Aires. And Mexico is always fun. Like Mexico, to me, is so convenient. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like going to another country because I actually last time I went to Mexico, I drove down to the border, like the Otay Mesa area at Otay Vista, and then just like I took a bus. Well, the parking had a shuttle to take you to the border, and then you just like walk over and grab a cab.

29:24 I would definitely overpaid on my cab a lot when I did that. So if you can get like an eSIM or some kind of SIM card that activates automatically, I didn't take it to the more populous part of that border. I took it to the Otay Mesa area where it looks kind of sketch, and it's not readily there's not any businesses there. So that was what threw me off whenever I crossed the border to Mexico was that I crossed over there's like nothing there. There was like a restaurant and like a clothing store, but like there was no convenient store that could sell me a SIM card where I could activate and immediately be online. So I got grabbed in a jumped in a random cab I found, and he definitely overcharged me. So yeah, if you can help it, try to go to the more populated part of the border rather than like the less populated part.

Montevideo and Lima Travel

30:24 Yes, quite the trek. I was in Montevideo for a bit, but it wasn't my favorite in Latin America. Yeah, you know, I've heard mixed stuff about it. Like I've heard it's not really a lot going on, it's kind of a slower pace, it's not really a big city, especially by Latin America standards. I think the population of Montevideo is like one and a half million. The population of Uruguay is around three million. So if you're coming from like a Mexico City or like a Bogotá or like a Lima, then it may feel like a bit of a small town by comparison. Like I was shocked at how big Lima is because it's not readily apparent when you are there that it's such a large city, like because the districts are so divided and like so different from one another, it felt a lot like LA to me.

31:22 And the weather. I mean, the weather in Lima, I don't know how the weather is in Montevideo. The weather in Lima can be kind of a downer. It's like overcast about half the year, cloudy. It's weird to be in Latin America where I think people think of it as tropical or like, you know, like Colombia is very sunny. Outside of Bogotá, Bogotá is another one of those kind of cloudy and rainy cities, but nonetheless, like I enjoy Lima a lot. If I go back to one city I've been to in Latin America, it probably would be Lima because the food scene there is like the best in the world. I still think about the food in Lima, like it was shocking to me to experience all the different things that I experienced there.

Bogotá Travel and Culture

32:03 Because you have kind of the overcast weather and you're reminded of Seattle, and Seattle's like an okay food city, but then you get down to Lima, and it's mind-blowing. Like even there's this place I used to go for burgers, and just your basic hamburger, like I think it was 12 Soles, around $3, and I really enjoyed that spot. Not as much of a late-night city, and it may have been because I went there also in 2021. But you know, when I went to Bogotá, I was talking to my local friends, and they were like, 'Yeah, normally Bogotá has like a wild party scene.' And back then, I was more of a partyer, but they were like, 'Right now, it's just slow. There's not a whole lot going on.' So you'll have to come back to Bogotá if you want to have a party.

32:57 Christopher, would you go back to Latin America? I'm curious, like if you go back in the future, would you visit Brazil or Chile or Argentina? Those are the three big ones that you didn't mention, and I'm just kind of curious if you're interested in those places. More graffiti in Montevideo than any other place I visited. Yeah, graffiti can be kind of a downer. I mean, I get it's part of the landscape and it's how people express themselves, but it can also give the city, any city, a kind of a blighted look. I used to work in Oakland, California, and Oakland is covered in graffiti, and it doesn't help the reputation of Oakland at all to have so much graffiti there.

Bogotá Neighborhoods and Architecture

33:44 I understand there's greater issues at play, and you know, there's a lot of young men that have too much free time on their hands, but it's not the most welcoming look if you're a traveler and you see lots of graffiti. Usually, you don't get a great feeling about it. Christopher says, 'Actually, I liked Bogotá a lot.' Yeah, Bogotá, I liked it a lot too. Like the areas I stayed in, in the north part of the city, Usaquén, and also like around Parque El Retiro, a lot of embassies around here.

34:38 And the embassies are just really cool looking. Like I've always thought of embassies as cool-looking buildings, but it was wild to see the Chinese Embassy there, you know, being so far away from China. It was also, I also thought the Japanese Embassy looked really cool. I think I also saw the Ecuadorian Embassy there, which was interesting because Ecuador is a neighbor of Colombia. But yeah, I liked it a lot. I mean, the parks are beautiful. I found the people in Bogotá to be pretty friendly, more so than Medellín. I felt like the people were nicer in Bogotá overall, maybe just because I had local friends in Bogotá that I didn't have in Medellín that could introduce me to other local people. But yeah, I liked Bogotá a lot. It's just reminded me of Seattle a lot.

Bogotá's Urban Landscape and Safety

35:30 I would go back to Bogotá. Great food, and I found that people were mostly warm and friendly. I stayed in La Candelaria near El Centro. Okay, so we can just scroll down. Yeah, so this area, it's really close to Monserrate. Um, yeah, super convenient area, touristic. I had a great meal down there. There was, I think it was like a pork dish that was really, it may have been a beef dish, but it was really tasty. It was huge, and I liked it a lot. They also have a lot of like different vendors down there so you can get clothing, and yeah, really convenient area for sure.

36:37 Yeah, when I went down there, we just took cabs because my buddy said they've just been having some challenges with, I think the bus drivers' union has pushed back on some of the public transportation development in Bogotá. But the architecture is gorgeous. Like Bogotá, to me, had such underrated architecture. I saw some really cool skyscrapers there. I can't think of the name, but there's one like not too far from La Candelaria that I walked around the base and got some.

37:05 I walked around the base and got some great shots. These shots give people a sense of the city. It has beautiful Colonial architecture. One thing I've gotten a little tired of in big cities is the pigeons. I saw them a lot in San Francisco and I see them a lot here in Bangkok.

Bogotá Safety and Altitude Adaptation

37:42 I had a police officer stop me and question me a bit when I was in Bogota. I showed them my YouTube channel, and they were fine. My friend later explained that I was near some military buildings, which is why they approached me. They were super friendly, though, not at all like the stories I'd heard.

38:48 The altitude hit me the first few days, but I still did a lot of walking around. It's something you have to adapt to, but after you get used to it, it's an incredible city. I was super impressed by it, just wandering around. I was worried about safety, but I didn't have any issues.

39:13 It was mind-blowing when I flew from Medellin to Bogota because you're flying through the mountains. I remember looking out the window and seeing the mountains were really close, much closer than I would have thought.

39:30 I agree, the photos don't do it justice. It's a gorgeous city, and you don't get the full sense of it unless you are actually down there in the city. This is one of those towers I was talking about; they lit this one up like the Colombian flag. It's a beautiful city.

40:13 The altitude hit me the first few days, but I still did a lot of walking around. What a trooper! It's something you have to adapt to, but after you get used to it, it's an incredible city. I was super impressed by it, just wandering around. I was worried about safety, but I didn't have any issues.

40:27 I don't know if it's because I dressed down or if I look like a local, but I export a lot, like from the north of the city to the south, and felt less sketched out than in Medellin. I wish I'd spent more time in Bogota.

40:48 I stayed at a hostel in a private room, and this was the Selina. I can pull that up after we look at some more of these photos. It's stunning. It just really threw me off because I wasn't expecting overcast weather, but I got used to it.

Bogotá Malls and Architecture

41:09 The malls are super convenient in Bogota as well. I got a hard drive at one of the local malls and my buddy helped negotiate the price of it.

41:32 Yeah, I think this is the one I stayed at. That actually looks identical. That may have been the room I stayed in. It looks just like the room I stayed in. Super comfortable, super cozy. The temperatures were perfect; I don't remember them needing to run a heater or an air conditioner because the blankets were thick.

41:54 It's kind of a cool city, not cold, but just kind of chill, chilly, and I loved it. I felt great in Bogota. We had a great time, and having a local friend there made it that much better.

42:08 Staying here and at the Park 93, you're close to a whole lot of stuff. I remember seeing a lot of cool cars up here in Usaquen as well. When I'd walk north from my place, I really enjoyed it a lot.

42:28 Here's the Unicentro Mall, super modern, upscale. Love the architecture north of the Dorado. Very cool. I didn't go bowling; I wish I knew about the bowling.

42:49 I'm going to back up a little bit. You mentioned El Dorado. Oh, okay. This might have been it. This is near La Condaria, and it does have a little bit of that old western vibe, or even maybe that Mexico vibe with the brown and red brick. The red brick motif is super common throughout the city.

43:27 So, like up where I was staying in Usaquen, you see these red brick buildings everywhere. It's utilitarian and it also looks cool. I did see tons of security, like when I was in the nice area I was in. I think due to some past challenges, they still have a lot of security, but I thought it looked really cool.

Medellín and Bogotá Travel Comparisons

43:55 At the time, I was not a night owl at all, so I didn't get as many of these city lights views as I would have liked. Compared to when I was in Medellin, I was staying up a bit later. When you come down from the airport, you're winding through the hills and you see the city in front of you.

44:15 There's a famous video too, if you ever get the chance to look up of Medellin people. They actually close these elevated highways, and people go rollerblading through the hills and stuff. It's really beautiful.

44:44 I know you're in Indonesia right now, Christopher. Have you thought about traveling elsewhere in Southeast Asia? Are you more in a chill time right now?

45:02 My buddy from Colombia is in Portugal right now. He actually was there when I was in Colombia a few years ago. He was like, 'Man, I gotta get to Portugal.' So he's actually there right now. I don't know where he's at in Portugal; I should ask him about that.

45:17 I did reach out to him like, 'How's it going?' He's like, 'Oh man, I'm loving it, you know, getting used to it.' He had plans back then to move to Portugal, so he felt like there were unique opportunities for him as a yoga teacher to go and work up there.

45:33 So I think that's his plan is to teach yoga in Portugal. He's done some yoga retreats in Barania and other parts of Colombia, but he just felt like he would have some unique opportunities in Portugal.

45:48 Christopher says, 'I love the cafes and the transient guys squatted and went to the restroom in front of us.' The lady told us that happens a lot in that area. Oh, that's unfortunate. I love the cafes too in Bogota. I felt like they were super underrated.

46:05 I would actually just go out wandering in the city and find cafes. So I would look for places that locals were eating, and those were my favorite places to eat in Bogota. When I would just happen upon a local spot that they serve like coffee and some meat and some kind of bread for breakfast, fantastic.

46:27 Can't go wrong there. I was super impressed by the coffee, the cafe scene there, and the coffee was good too. They grow a lot of coffee beans to Medellin or around Medellin in the coffee region, and a lot of that coffee gets transported straight to Bogota.

46:43 So yeah, I'm so glad you enjoyed that and sorry about that negative experience. I've definitely unfortunately seen that in other cities in the Americas as well, like in San Francisco near where I used to live.

Manila Travel and Opportunities

46:58 Yeah, I've heard that that area can be challenging, like La Candelaria can have some issues at nighttime. My buddy said it's a whole city at night. He's a local and he warned me. He was living near here, and I was staying like six blocks away. He warned me, 'Man, be careful even just walking, you could get taken advantage of, your things taken from you against your will.'

47:33 I'm like, 'Oh man, it's six blocks.' Like I've lived in some terrible places, some awful neighborhoods before, and never heard you can't walk six blocks. But I didn't have issues. But now, if I was living there, I'd probably be more interested in following his advice.

48:03 Christopher says, 'Actually, yes, I am considering a trip to Manila next month for a week.' Very cool. Yeah, Manila, you know, is a huge city. I think it's the most densely populated city in the world.

48:19 So if you're a city person, I need to turn my aircon down a bit, guys. Sorry about this. If you're a big city person, I don't think you can go wrong with checking out Manila and seeing if it's right for you.

48:37 I watched a channel called Frugal Travelers, and they released their videos like six months after the fact, but they're releasing videos from Manila right now. I like their perspective; they're just easygoing and they talk about the economics of visiting wherever they go.

48:57 And I am interested in Manila. I didn't have the best experience in Manila airport, I will warn you. Manila airport is super crowded. When I was there, I just got this kind of a stressed-out vibe due to passenger volume. It's just so packed and crowded.

49:14 But yeah, it's, you know, obviously English is super prevalent there. You're not going to have any challenges communicating in English. It's a mega city. Like I said, I've only transited through there, but a lot of people really seem to like it, especially the touristic areas like Bonifacio Global City and Makati.

49:34 I was at a company where I could have potentially transferred to Manila, but I ended up going to a different job for more money. But sometimes I wonder if I'd taken that job. This was with a tech company that had teams in Manila. So a friend of a friend actually manages some tech sales teams in Manila and she enjoys it.

49:59 Like she went over with a plan to go for like a year, she sublet her place, and she's still there five years later. So there's a lot of opportunity in Manila, I think for, you know, some tech-related opportunity.

Philippines Travel Logistics

50:14 I get a bit bored here, so my wife and I take trips around Southeast Asia every three or four months. Yeah, I mean, I think Southeast Asia is fantastic for that. Where, let's pull out Manila. I'm not sure if I'll be flying into Manila after Vietnam.

50:36 Because, well, there's a few things. One, more of the people that I plan to do interviews with are based in Dumaguete. And then two, where I plan to stay longer term is in Mindanao. But you know, I'm also considering doing like a test for graduate school application, either the GMAT or the LSAT, and Manila is the only place in the country where you can take that.

51:02 place in the country where you can take the American versions of those tests. I may end up being in Manila for like a month or so, and if I get a job back in the States, like let's just assume Vietnam goes well, I go to the Philippines, I stay in the Philippines for six months, and I end up needing to go back to the States. Then I'm thinking about spending my last month in Manila.

51:25 This is super helpful as far as knowing about what you guys are interested in. But yeah, the airport is just, I don't know, it's tough too if you need to transfer to a domestic flight. The terminals are really spread apart, where they encourage you to take a cab, and that just seems convoluted to me for a domestic flight. Why you need to transfer from an international to a domestic flight, I can't imagine what that would be like coming from the States where you're jet-lagged and you've sat on a plane for 12 hours.

Southeast Asia Travel Variety

51:57 It's not so bad coming from Southeast Asia, but that is something I love about Southeast Asia is you have so much variety in the region. That if you want to do something different, if you want a different vibe, you're a few hours' flight away from, you know, eight different countries, maybe 10 different countries, and you can get a totally different experience than what you're used to.

52:25 It's strange to me too, because I love the Philippines, and the Philippines is an awesome country. So it is kind of strange to me the Manila airport is the way it is. When I was flying out, I looked out, I got on one of the last flights out of the city. So last time I flew through Manila airport, I think it was the Taal volcano erupted, and you could already see smoke.

52:50 When I landed, I can't remember where I was going, but I think I was going to Japan. When I landed in Japan, I saw over the news that Taal had erupted, and a few hours after, or within like an hour maybe of my flight leaving, they shut down the airport. They interrupted all the flights. They're like, 'Ah, no, we got to wait until this thing stops to let air traffic resume.'

53:14 So I imagine that was a huge headache for all the people working there. I had an American buddy, a guy I went to college with, who was living at the time with his wife, and I think they were somewhat impacted by, not extreme, but you know, traffic and the stress and all that can be a...

Manila Business and Career Opportunities

53:50 Still, yeah. So I can show you this is, I think this is the company, and I enjoyed working there. But I think this is one of their offices. They didn't change the name in the Philippines. So this company was acquired by an American company, but this is actually their office in BGC.

54:14 And I didn't know they had a view of a helicopter pad. Anyway, very, very modern, very cool. Like I've thought about reaching out to my old manager at this company to see if there's opportunities there. Because if I could go back to the States, work for a couple years, and transfer to BGC, that would be awesome. Because that would be, I'd be earning a western income, living in the Philippines in like a great part of the Philippines, right?

54:44 BGC is very convenient. It's like one foot in the west, one foot in the Philippines. And it would, I'd be moving forward in my career, I'd be making career advancements, learning a lot, and it's a great city too.

55:00 If you want to be a content creator, there's a number of really big bloggers that are based there. It's also super orderly from what I've heard. I haven't been to BGC, but that's something I've thought about. So it might be something I do. Might reach out to him. He and I are still on great terms.

Manila's Western Appeal and Amenities

55:22 He vouched for me when I was in an interview process back in February. I was interviewing at a company, I didn't get the offer, got to the last round, but unfortunately didn't get the offer. But yeah, I mean, it would be really cool to be working for, like, that's the dream, right? To be doing this kind of work but in a country that I prefer to living back in the States.

55:51 At least Manila has some places like Denny's, Roadhouse. Yeah, that would be a huge appeal of being in Manila is that you get these American businesses that you're familiar with where you can go and have what you're used to, and you can enjoy. There's less friction there. That's the best way I can put it.

56:10 When you have these businesses, like I love Texas Roadhouse back in the States. I ate there for my birthday a couple years ago. I also like Denny's. I've eaten at Denny's quite a few times in the middle of the night. And when I lived in Denver, I used to live down the street from a Denny's, so if I was hungry in the middle of the night, didn't feel like cooking, didn't have anything else going on, I'd go down to Denny's.

56:37 BGC is pretty nice, reminds me of nicer parts of Manhattan or Chicago. Very clean and walkable. Yeah, and you know, there's security everywhere. So I've heard it's very safe, like it's a place you can walk around in the middle of the night and not feel unsafe. It's well lit, so you can see where you're going.

56:51 I think they have some really nice parks here too. Like I'm seeing some really nice parks here. It's also got the Golf Club, Polo Club. And then you've got this, and oh, so the Manila American Cemetery. Cemeteries can be kind of a sad place, but if they have it set up like a beautiful park, then, you know, it can be a pleasant open-air kind of a green space.

Venice Grand Canal Mall and Philippines Vibe

57:17 And in such a densely populated city, I think you need to have those parks to, you know, up a bit. And this is something I want to see really bad, this Venice Grand Canal Mall. I haven't actually been to the real Venice in Italy, but I've heard about this, that they have these canals, and it, yeah, it looks stunning.

57:50 Very, very modern. Here we go. Okay, you can get a sense of the canals. I guess they have these paddle boats, and here you can see they've got, I guess it's kind of mirroring what the experience would be somewhat like in Italy, but a very, very cool looking it. It reminds me too of the, some of the hotel I've been to in Las Vegas.

58:12 I was there for a work conference about a year and a half ago, and I really liked the design of that spot. Yes, and McKinley nearby is nice. I stayed at a condo at Venice, so you've actually stayed here. That's awesome, Christopher. I'm so glad that you could confirm it's as nice as it looks, because I've been wanting to check it out for a while.

Philippines Culture and Western Influence

58:38 And yeah, I like it a lot. I like the vibe. Like from what I can tell, it looks beautiful, very clean, very well-maintained. And I love the open-air vibe too. Like that's something I liked a lot about the Philippines is there, you know. I didn't, I'll be honest, I didn't like it at first until I spent more time traveling and realized there's elements of this that remind me of where I'm from.

59:06 And culturally, it's Filipino, right? Like in a lot of ways, I mean, it's Western, but it's also, there's a lot of, of course, many Filipinos there. So you get the friendliness of the Philippines, but you get the layout that you're used to coming from the United States. I went to a number of outlet malls in the Philippines, and I'm like, this feels just like America.

59:26 And so this is something that would remind me of some of the outlet or outdoor malls I've been to in like Los Angeles, for example. And it's, I love the fresh air. I love going from inside the air-conditioned store to being out and seeing the beautiful sunset. And you get a better sense of time, like the transition of time in an outdoor mall, where sometimes when you're in an indoor mall, you feel like you could be there for hours and hours and like you're in a casino or something, and you lose a sense of what time it is.

Texas Roadhouse and Philippines Infrastructure

1:00:01 Okay, so this is where Texas Roadhouse is. Rented a place on Agoda Homes connected to that mall. Yeah, I'll be sure to check out Agoda Homes. I've only ever no, I've booked, I've booked accommodation quite a few times through Agoda, but I'll have to look it up. And I'm glad to hear Texas Roadhouse is in there. I'll, you know, I'll definitely be considering it because I miss eating at Texas Roadhouse back home.

1:00:22 I mean, it's just such a good steak restaurant. The quality control is mind-blowing. The fact that they're able to do the volume of business that they do while still putting out a great product. I like Texas Roadhouse a lot. Christopher says it's a great mall. We went there every day.

1:00:45 Yeah, it's awesome to be able to walk around there too, because in some parts of the Philippines, you may not feel like you can just go out walking. I never felt unsafe in the Philippines, but the infrastructure doesn't necessarily lend itself like to you walking from point A to point B. So I think that's an appeal of being in BGC, right? Is that you've got wide sidewalks and you've got large storefronts, and things are more catered to like a western audience.

Comforts of Home and English Communication

1:01:14 But, yeah, I'll be right back. I'm going to hit the... but yeah, um, yeah, it looks really, really cool. And so there is that level of comfort, right? So after a while of traveling in Asia, part of me does miss some aspects of living in the States.

1:02:14 I mean, I mentioned in a video before, I miss my friends back home. But the other thing that I miss is just the general layout. And one of my buddies who's Malaysian, he told me, he's like, 'When I went to the Philippines, I was like, I was back in America.' He went to college in America. And it's just kind of a humorous thing to hear from somebody that's, you know, they lived in America, they're not American, but that being here reminded them a lot of America.

1:02:43 And yeah, the English is something I'm really looking forward to because if I had to say there's one sort of downer or challenge in Thailand is that, you know, the lack of English can be a bit of a barrier at times to connecting. Love the Thai people, but when you can't communicate as effectively as you'd like, then, you know, there's just that piece.

Philippines Christmas Spirit

1:03:06 You know, there's just that piece missing, and you don't have that in the Philippines. You can communicate with everybody really effectively. You can get to know people, you can talk about things like basketball or American food or culture, and yeah, there's a really great place to connect with the locals. I love the Christmas too. The Christmas starts early in the Philippines.

1:04:05 But yeah, we got a few folks on here. Feel free to chime in or throw any questions. I greatly appreciate Christopher for sharing a lot about his experience in Manila with me. But I'm curious if anybody else has been to the Philippines. What were your thoughts? I know I'm going to Vietnam next, but the Philippines stole a piece of my heart the last time I went, and it's a country that I've looked forward to going back to potentially more than any other country. There's just so much to love about it.

1:04:42 It's a place that for me perfectly straddles the line between mystery and familiar. It's not too mysterious that I feel out of my element, like I have in some countries, but it's familiar enough. It's mysterious enough to be interesting, and familiar enough to be comfortable.

Manila's Urban Development and Parks

1:05:08 Here, you guys can get a sense like, super developed. I mean, this looks like it could be any city in the Western democracies with the skyscrapers and the development. W Hotel. It's like a much bigger version of SIU.

1:05:31 Yes, I can see how the Philippines is an easy transition for Western expats. We were there in early December, and Filipinos love Christmas for sure. I think they started celebrating in like October, and it's really cool to see them have that Christmas spirit. Sometimes, like back in the States, you feel like people don't have as much Christmas spirit, maybe more so in urban California. I think because you have more people that are secular, or they're Jewish, or they're Muslim, or they may not observe the holiday.

1:06:13 My manager of my building in Berkeley, she didn't observe the Christmas holiday. So that's something that's just refreshing. It kind of takes me back to my childhood when it seemed like everybody celebrated and it was a very important holiday for a lot of people.

1:06:42 And yeah, I think for somebody that likes walking, like I like walking a lot, this looks really nice. I'd love to go walk around this park and enjoy it. I think you also could be a runner here.

Philippines Culture and Family Values

1:06:58 It doesn't have cemetery vibes. I understand it's a cemetery, and we have to pay our respects, but the greenery is beautiful. And yeah, it's really a beautiful country. I love the wave design that they've got there.

1:07:19 Oh, okay. So you're from Indiana, Christopher. Yeah, I totally can relate, you know, being from Tennessee, very similar to Indiana in a lot of ways. And it's definitely comforting to have that experience, something that you're very familiar with.

1:07:33 That you feel like, wow, even though I'm from halfway around the world, we have this really important holiday in common. And they love it. I love it. My probably the best Christmas I've ever had was in the Philippines when I was there in 2019.

1:07:50 My buddy picked me up from my hotel in this truck he borrowed from his cousin, and we went with his wife and son to his mother-in-law's place in Cagayan de Oro and had Christmas there. I got to meet all of his extended family, and we had some cakes and stuff like that. It was really, really nice.

1:08:16 I think over 30 or 40 people came. So many people came, we couldn't fit in the house, so some folks were hanging out outside, and we kind of cycled and shuffled in. Christmas is really special in the Philippines, and I'm hoping I can spend this upcoming Christmas in the Philippines because it's just such a special holiday.

Connecting with Locals in the Philippines

1:08:40 It has this Central Park vibe, where I know Christopher, you've been to New York City, but you see the skyscrapers and the urban landscape, but then you have this green space where you get fresh air and you can decompress. You feel like you're in a forest. I think that's so important for our mental health to spend time in parks, even if we're in a concrete jungle.

1:09:06 Two of my favorite places in Bangkok are Benjakitti Park and also Lumphini Park.

1:09:18 Filipinos are so sweet and family-oriented. I very, very much agree with that. I'm shocked by the kindness of the Filipinos. Whenever I talk to my Filipino friends, it's like even though I haven't been there in about four and a half years, it's like I was there yesterday. And I felt this connection with my buddy from the Philippines that we're going to be friends forever.

1:09:45 You don't often get that feeling, right? People come in and out of your lives, people move, people change, people develop different kinds of priorities. And yet, unless he's super busy with work, we've still been able to be in touch. And I feel a really great connection there.

1:10:04 I think with the Philippines, it's the place I've had the easiest time connecting with the local people. And it's something that, you know, I keep going to new countries, but that's something that always stands out in my mind is how kind people were to me.

Manila's High Street and Western Food

1:10:18 It was really surprising because you experience people that don't have a whole lot, and you're not really sure what to make of things, but you feel very much welcomed there. And it's a feeling I'll never forget.

1:10:35 Now, I imagine in Manila, it may be a little bit more challenging because people are so busy. It's such a big city, it's such an important business hub, a tourism hub.

1:10:48 But yeah, I really look forward to going back.

1:11:00 So this is the High Street. This must be like the most important shopping street. And I love these billboards. This immediately reminds me of Bangkok, beautiful billboards and Blade Runner vibes, not as much as Bangkok though, because it seems maybe a little more subdued than Bangkok, where Bangkok ads are over the top.

1:11:22 I mean, they're very much in your face, which I like and is quirky and interesting, but this looks nice as well. And yeah, the deli looks great. I think it'll be interesting.

Filipino Cuisine and Burgers

1:11:35 I mean, I know people pay a premium for it, but I think there's going to be more Western food in the Philippines compared to Thailand, which is something I miss from time to time. I do order pizza here in Bangkok a couple times a month, and being able to have that more readily available just because, you know, the Philippines, former American colony, a lot of service members, military bases.

1:12:01 So I think that even though it's arguably harder to produce some Western foods in the Philippines, there's going to be more interest to import a lot of those goods, the meats, the cheeses. And then of course, local Filipino food, like some of it reminds me a lot of the food from where I'm from, like dishes like chicken adobo.

1:12:26 What a sweet cat. And they've got a Krispy Kreme. I remember going to Krispy Kreme the first time I went to LA was about 15 years ago, and we went to Krispy Kreme in Englewood.

1:13:21 City. Oh, Raging Bull. Okay, I'll have to make a note of that to check out the Burger Bar, Raging Bull Burger Bar. I had a great burger in SIU. I was seriously impressed by it. I was like, this is like the best burger I've had in Southeast Asia.

Philippines Economy and Travel Experience

1:13:36 It was a spot that's not open late night anymore, but it was open at like 1 o'clock in the morning. I was hungry, and maybe it was 10 p.m., maybe it wasn't quite 1, but it was late. And it was packed, like it was almost a drive-in style, like a Sonic Drive-In kind of, and you had all these people around it. Super popular, super crowded with locals, amazing burger and fries that I got there.

1:14:17 And it's lively. You know, going to the Philippines, a country with a rapidly growing economy, it's just such a lively place. But I'll probably wind down shortly, Christopher, just because I've been rolling for about an hour and 15 now, and I have some stuff to do to prepare for my next trip. But I really appreciate you chiming in and talking about your experiences in the Philippines and confirming a lot of what I'm excited about.

1:14:50 And sharing your experiences that are so interesting to hear about. And shared experiences are just one of the most fun parts of traveling. It'll be fun to walk around the malls and look at the interesting stuff they have.

1:15:22 I want to check out the SM for sure. SMs are always really, really nice and beautiful. It's in a different part of town. It looks like they position them. I'll probably stay on a bit longer for Tony. Hey Tony, how are you doing?

Philippines as a Blend of Cultures

1:15:43 No worries. I think I'm gonna keep rolling. I thought maybe folks might be getting tired of dropping off, but I'm going to keep rolling on the stream. Tony, we're talking a bit about Christopher's experience in Manila and talking about the Philippines. I know this stream is supposed to be about Vietnam, but my plan is to go to the Philippines after Vietnam, and a lot of folks just love the Philippines. I love the Philippines.

1:16:10 And I think for English speakers like us, the Philippines has so much to offer in terms of connecting with local people and having, like I always use this phrase way too much, but one foot in the west and then one foot in another country. And I think you have that feeling at times in the Philippines because the language barrier is not there. You can communicate effectively with people.

1:16:34 I recently hopped on Mike's Philippine retirement stream. I jumped on because he was just testing his equipment out, and I was able to immediately have a conversation with Janet, his wife. And that was just surprising because I'm used to just not being able to connect with these significant others of expats, because they may not have tons of English. But Janet, of course, she has great English.

1:17:12 Filipino. So SM Mall, you know, super modern. So it looks like they do this because it's similar in SIU where they built the mall in the reclamation area. So I don't know if this is this looks like it may be a reclamation area as well, but in Manila instead of SIU. So that may be where they position them.

1:17:29 That may be where the development, the growth is happening in the city, but it's nice to spread them out. It's nice to have, if you're staying in a different part of the city, maybe you're in more of the downtown area, you don't quite want to go across the city to BGC. Then you're able to just come down here to the Reclamation area and hit up a super nice modern mall.

Pace of Life Abroad

1:17:58 It was nice to chat, but how are you doing, Tony? The one foot and two worlds principle of living abroad appeals to me as well. I'm leaning toward finding a place that's culturally, economically 30% Western, 70% non-Western.

1:18:15 Yeah, I think it's a great idea, Tony. I think that you have more comfort in that way, right? You have some of the things that you like from back home, but you are in a little bit slower pace. That's one of the things I love about being abroad is that the pace is just a little bit more moderate, and you feel like you can think through things, not be so reactive.

1:18:39 At least I feel that way. Of course, you won't have the pressure of your career when you're living outside of Canada. So yeah, I think that's you're going to enjoy it a lot. I hope I wish you the best in your search for the right place for you, the right place that you want to enjoy.

Cultural Differences and Priorities

1:19:03 There are so many wonderful places out there that you can discover and check out, and the Philippines is definitely up there for me. But there's just tons of great choices. And yeah, I agree, that's why I like the Indian countries. You can feel like you're outside the West totally.

1:19:21 I agree. I wasn't sure about that because I wasn't sure if I should refer to Latin America as the West or not. I was doing some digging online, and people were saying no, Andean countries in Latin America, they're not, you shouldn't consider them Western countries.

1:19:38 And yeah, it just the pace is so much more relaxed, and people have different priorities. They're not stressing out as much to the same extreme to pay bills. People still worry about paying bills, but it didn't seem so hyper-focused on that.

1:19:56 It seems like when we meet folks in the West, one of the first questions we ask each other is, what do you do for work? And I never got those questions much in Latin America or here in Southeast Asia. Eventually, it comes up, but it's not really the priority like it is in the West, where people are trying to figure out where you are in the hierarchy.

Passport Renewal and Travel Logistics

1:20:19 But yeah, I liked that a lot. It's I love the colors too, like in the Indian countries. The colors are just so different. The pastels, the sunsets, but also the buildings are very colorful. San Francisco is a colorful town for what it's worth, but certainly San Francisco is an exception in the United States.

1:20:59 I don't know. I looked at some Airbnbs in Manila. It may be something where I go for a month. I've got to renew my passport, something I didn't bring up earlier, but my passport expires next summer, and I want to renew it this fall.

1:21:16 And I may do it in Vietnam, but if I don't get around to it in Vietnam, I'll definitely need to do it in the Philippines. And you can only do that in Manila or in Cebu. I have heard you can mail it into the embassy, and you can pay the fee online, and they'll mail it back to you.

Indigenous Cultures and Western Influence

1:21:36 But getting it done in person would make me feel a bit more secure, at least doing some of the process in person, because a passport is like your lifeline, right? It's one of your lifelines aside from just money. And when you're traveling abroad, it's having that exit pass.

1:21:55 But yeah, Tony says the strong indigenous culture of parts of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador really makes you feel like you are outside the West, which appeals to me. It does, right? Like I was surprised when I met up with this Peruvian girl in Cusco. She opened a popup restaurant in her mom's restaurant.

1:22:16 Her mom owned a restaurant, and then she would do her thing on the days her mom's restaurant was closed. She would pop up in there and she served sushi and local drinks. She had a couple of younger sisters, but really a family kind of warm environment and a community feeling.

1:22:36 I met her friends, and I met this local band. She had a band come and play for everybody, and yeah, really, really warm vibe.

1:22:50 Mexico City feels very US Western. Yeah, you know what, Tony? That makes a lot of sense. I've heard it's become super popular with digital nomads and Western tourists, and a lot of people looking to go somewhere close to home but somewhat different.

Mexico City and Tourist Impact

1:23:09 And unfortunately, I think that can influence the vibe to such an extent where you're like, 'Ugh, I still feel like I'm in the US.' I felt like that to some extent in Cancun because there are so many Western tourists in Cancun, like so many.

1:23:23 And my friend that lives down there, he and his significant other, they work in the tourism industry. He's lived there for like, well, he's from the West Coast of Mexico, south of Tijuana, but he moved to Cancun maybe 30, 40 years ago.

1:23:39 And he, you know, he has a t-shirt business, he also owns some restaurants. And you definitely feel like you get the sense in parts of Mexico that the economy does cater a lot to Western tourists.

1:23:53 I felt like that in Tijuana when I went to get a wisdom tooth out. The dentist spoke great English, and the facility was super modern, very clean, very, very nice. But there was an element, and there was a Walmart, like his dental office was like a block or two away from like a Walmart.

1:24:11 So you do feel a little bit like you're back in the West. And that can be nice for short periods of time, but for longer periods of time, it's like I'd rather just be back in my home country where I know everybody, I know plenty of people, and I speak the language.

1:24:28 And I'm able to connect with people that I'm already familiar with. Where when I go abroad, I want something different, right? I want something that's taking me out of my element to some degree and giving me a variety of experiences that I couldn't have back home.

Laos Travel Considerations

1:24:42 Laos looks interesting. Yeah, you know, Laos is, we can pull up. Why don't we pull up Laos? If I had gotten a multiple entry visa, which I didn't, I applied for a single entry visa, I would do a run to Laos.

1:24:58 It's interesting to me. There's a sizable Laotian population in my hometown of Nashville. And it's got a more of a country vibe. Like you notice it doesn't have a coastline like its neighbors, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia.

1:25:16 I've heard it's more country-like. It's got more of a, how do I explain it? Like it's just laid-back and slow-paced. I did hear from one guy that when I first went to Chiang Mai about six years ago, a mutual friend went up there for about a week.

1:25:40 He said the people are super, super nice, but that there's not much to spend money on. So if you're a person that wants to have some modern conveniences, then you may have a bit less of those than Laos, but it's still a nice place nonetheless.

1:25:58 And you know, for a break or to kind of do something different, like definitely appealing. I'd like to get to Laos. I don't think I'll make it on this trip. I hope to make it next time.

Vietnam's Unique Appeal

1:26:08 I'd like to see Luang Prabang. I learned about Luang Prabang in one of my courses in college, and I'm interested in that. There's another town, I don't know if it's Lakon, but this is where people do their visa runs. So if they're in Vietnam and they need to do a visa run, I've heard it's popular for people to take a bus to here and then turn around and then go back after a few days or something like that.

1:26:40 But yeah, Laos is definitely interesting, like different, right? Different from these other countries in Southeast Asia that I don't know. I just feel like Laos probably doesn't have quite the same level of international influence as some of the places that have the coasts and places with like Vietnam has an unfortunate history, Thailand, of course, an international hub destination.

1:27:06 But yeah, Laos is certainly interesting.

1:27:13 I'll be landing in Da Nang, so I haven't booked my flight yet. I plan to do that after this stream. But I'll be landing, where's the airport here? Yeah, this is the airport I'll be landing here.

1:27:28 And then I'll take a cab, and I'll probably stay somewhere on this peninsula here, probably the more of the northern part. That's where the Airbnbs I've been looking at are located.

1:27:39 And yeah, I think it'll be, I think it'll be really interesting. It'll be a new country for me. It'll be the first new country of this year, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Vietnamese Cuisine and Regional Differences

1:27:54 I have been eating Vietnamese food for like over 10 years and never been to Vietnam, so I'm really looking forward to the Banh Mi and the Pho and trying some other stuff, right?

1:28:10 Most of the Vietnamese cuisine we have in the West is Southern Vietnamese food, right? And so trying some of the stuff that's more influenced by the North, like in Hanoi, will be really interesting. I don't have plans to go to Hanoi.

1:28:26 I plan to focus on Da Nang because I'm more of a midsize city kind of guy. That's just kind of what I've discovered over the last year. I like Bangkok, but it can be a bit overwhelming at times.

1:28:40 But I do plan, if I do end up doing my passport renewal, I do plan to go down to Hoi An City. So Hanoi, you know, it may be a thing where on the next trip to Southeast Asia, I visit Hanoi and Luang Prabang, just to kind of check out the North, more of the North in one trip and have that experience.

1:29:04 Great question, Tony. I'm gonna drink some more water here.

1:29:13 So I plan to go to Vietnam in one month. So it's almost midnight. So a month from tomorrow, I'll be flying to Da Nang from Bangkok.

1:29:22 And I'll be going there. It's like an hour and a half flight. Yeah, it's about an hour and a half flight, maybe hour and 45 minutes. Not a long flight at all.

Vietnam Travel Itinerary

1:29:33 I'm really looking forward to something a little bit.

1:29:38 Forward to something a little bit different. I'm very, very comfortable here in Thailand, but I want to do something to kind of mix it up and change things up. I could extend my time here in Thailand, but I'm ready to do something different. I'm really ready to do something a little bit different, and I think Vietnam is going to be the perfect fit for that.

1:30:07 So I'll land in Da Nang on July 8th and then, yeah, I'll be there for probably about two months. My thought process right now is to stay in Da Nang for about two months and then go down to Ho Chi Minh City for about a month. Then I'll fly from Ho Chi Minh City to the Philippines.

Vietnam Concerns and Exit Strategy

1:30:36 I don't know how much I'm going to love Vietnam. I've heard mixed stuff about it, so I have mixed feelings about Vietnam. It's been high on my list for a lot of reasons. I have a Vietnamese-American friend that I've connected well with back in the States.

1:31:03 It's chaotic. You also have only 5% of visitors to Vietnam return, so you have this ratio where 19 out of every 20 people that go don't come back. That's a little bit worrisome, right? Like you wonder what were their experiences.

1:31:26 I've done some research. There are some petty theft issues in Vietnam. There are also some scams. I don't know how much I'm going to run into that. I've heard that overcharging is common, like sometimes people won't give you your change back, and you have to really push to get your change back.

1:31:52 I've also heard that just trying to take, like at the airport, try to call a Grab, and people will come up trying to cancel your ride, or people will try to input a really big tip. That kind of behavior is not the most welcoming, right?

1:32:06 As a tourist, I don't like getting scammed based on principle. I worked hard for my money and I don't want to part ways with it for no reason. That's part of why I put off Vietnam for a while.

1:32:22 I could have gone to Vietnam a while ago, but I'm running out of new countries in Southeast Asia. I thought, well, I'm pretty experienced now in Southeast Asia. I've lived in Thailand for a year, why don't I give it a shot?

Vietnam's Developing Economy and Nightlife

1:32:39 If I don't like it, my plan is to leave early and go to the Philippines. So that's kind of the plan. I could stay for up to three months based on the visa I have for Vietnam, but if for some reason I don't like it, I feel like the touts, the scams, or the petty theft is just too much for me to tolerate, then I'll just hop on a flight and head over to the Philippines.

1:33:08 I'm not assuming any of these things will happen. I've heard of plenty of people say that they love Vietnam, they had no issues, they weren't dealing with any challenges, that it's their favorite country, they love to go back, they plan to go back. So I go in with little expectations and a cautious mindset, but also a lot of intrigue.

1:33:27 Ho Chi Minh City seems very loud, chaotic, fast, not great for us introverts, while Da Nang is quieter. Still seems on the extrovert side. I've heard that about Ho Chi Minh City as well, like it's a grinder of a city. I've heard it described as more chaotic than Bangkok, which is impressive to me because Bangkok is a wild city.

1:33:54 But yeah, I've heard that about Ho Chi Minh City. It's rapidly developing, there's construction everywhere. The economy has slowed down a little bit recently, but it's still a rapidly developing place with a wild nightlife scene. I've heard some people say it's what Thailand was 10, 20 years ago.

Passport Renewal in Vietnam and Philippines

1:34:16 So, a month is pushing it. But if I do my passport renewal, I worry a little bit about being far away in Da Nang when I do that. The Airbnbs I looked at are like a five, 10-minute walk away from the US Embassy or consulate actually in Ho Chi Minh City. So if, you know, when I need to go drop it off, I could just walk down there, drop it off, and if anything comes up, I can just head back down there and sort out any issues that may arise.

1:34:55 I also have some concerns that if I'm flying out to Manila, I want to make sure I'm close by to pick that back up. Because what I've heard the challenge when it comes to getting it done in the Philippines is that when you need to transfer your visa from your old passport to your new passport, you actually have to make a trip to Manila.

1:35:14 So if I'm in Mindanao or in Dumaguete, I'd have to actually fly to Manila and hang out up there for a while to get the visa transferred from my old passport to my new passport. So I'm going into Vietnam with a fresh passport, or to into the Philippines with a fresh passport. That will save me that trip to Manila, which, yeah, Manila can definitely be pricey, and it's not out of budget, but it does seem like an unnecessary expense if it's something I could tackle in Vietnam.

Anthony Bourdain's Influence on Vietnam Travel

1:35:50 Anthony Bourdain really liked Vietnam. It was his favorite place. I'm going to have to go. You know what, Tony, thank you so much for mentioning that. It's funny, your name is Tony H, and also Anthony Bourdain's name is Anthony Bourdain.

1:36:09 I'll go back and watch his content on Vietnam. I'm a fan of all of his series. Cook's Tour was the original, and then Parts Unknown is the more famous one. But I'll go back and watch his Vietnam content because he really inspired a lot of people to travel, including myself.

1:36:30 He's just definitely totally missed by a lot of folks. I wish he was still around making content about travel because he has such a unique perspective, and down-to-earth, and open-minded, and relatable in some ways. He really respected the people because of his experience in the restaurant industry, he could really relate to the people that were making the food.

Vietnam's Cultural Differences and Appeal

1:37:03 Sometimes on travel shows, you get the impression people are a little bit out of touch, but I never got that impression from Anthony Bourdain. He talked about how much Vietnam touched his soul and really felt connected to the people. Very interesting. That's something I'm going to load up.

1:37:42 All of his stuff is up on YouTube. I'm gonna have to watch that. And you know, there's the famous pho shop in Ho Chi Minh City where he and Barack Obama ate. So I'd like to go check it out. I actually looked up the reviews for it a while ago just to see.

1:37:58 I don't know if they let people sit at that table anymore, but it would be cool to see, like, a piece of history and a connection between two really, really people that really impacted the world. Two people that had a massive, outsized impact on the world.

1:38:19 I'm, yeah, thank you for reminding me, Tony, because I'm getting excited about this, about doing something new. I love Thailand, but I've seen so much and experienced so much in Thailand that it's becoming the norm. I'm looking forward to Vietnam a lot. It's going to be very different from here in Thailand.

Vietnam vs. Cambodia Travel Experience

1:38:41 Vietnam is much more influenced by China, so Vietnam is part of what a lot of people call the Sinosphere. It's going to be very different culturally from here in Thailand. And yeah, I think it's going to be really cool. Like I said, a lot of people have said it's like Thailand was before the tourism boom or when tourism wasn't to the extent that it is now.

1:39:05 I think that will really add a lot to the experience of being in a country that's Thailand to me feels more middle of the road. I don't call Thailand developing or developed. It's, if you could call it second world. I don't really like the first or third world distinction, think it's not always super helpful.

1:39:27 But I've heard Vietnam being compared more to Cambodia, and I loved Cambodia. I felt like Cambodia had such nice people. I connected really well with them, had a lot of life-affirming experiences in Cambodia. Best partying I've ever had done in Southeast Asia was in Phnom Penh.

Connecting with Locals in Vietnam

1:39:44 I think Vietnam is gonna have more of that vibe. I don't have any local connections in Vietnam, so one of my subscribers, Jake, he is there right now. He's living in Da Nang right now. Aside from him, well, and one other person earlier in the stream, Solo Transient, he's planning on going to Vietnam in about a month. So I'll have a couple of subscribers that are actually going to be there when I'm there.

1:40:09 That'll be really nice. But aside from them, I don't know anybody else. So that'll be a little bit different, not having a long-term resident of Vietnam there. But I can meet people, right? I can put myself out there and meet different people and connect with different people.

1:40:29 That was something that helped me a lot in Cambodia. A friend convinced me to go there and took me out and showed me around town, and we had a lot of fun. So that's something that will take a little bit more legwork on my part. But obviously, I'll try to link up with Jake and also Solo Transient, and that should help as far as having a better sense of the lay of the land.

Vietnam Travel Vloggers and Content Creation

1:40:54 I think Chris also loves Vietnam, the red-headed vlogger. Yeah, I've watched some of his stuff. I like his stuff. I'm gonna watch some more of that to prepare. I like his vlogs. He connects with people and talks to people, and he seems very respectful and considerate.

1:41:14 He's able to break down the language barrier to some extent with the locals. I think that's super valuable and definitely deserves respect for that, right? Like a conscious traveler trying to honor the people.

1:41:31 But yeah, that's funny. We watch. I think I have a feeling we watch a lot of...

1:41:36 I think I have a feeling we watch a lot of the same vloggers, Tony. Some say don't watch too many bloggers if you're making content, it might influence it. But no, like a lot of these people are so good at what they do, it's mind-blowing and inspiring. They're doing one-of-a-kind stuff that nobody could replicate, and that's why they build such a large following and are able to show people a different side of the country.

1:42:00 Sometimes, you know, something I like about Chris is he shows a lot of boots-on-the-ground experiences. I feel like sometimes travel vloggers show you vacation mode, and there's a lot of value in that, right? Like if you're doing just a discovery trip, you just want to get a little taste of it, see what it's about, then it's super helpful to see those vacation videos.

1:42:26 But if you're thinking, 'Hey, I might want to live here for a while, or even just a few months,' then seeing those vloggers that are there for more long-term, that invest the time in learning some basics of the language, or try to connect with local people, I think that's incredible. It's super helpful for people that want that deeper experience and want to get a sense of what it's like to actually live here.

Vietnam Travel Tips and Vloggers

1:42:55 Chris's friend Max spends a lot of time in Vietnam. Okay, I'll be sure to check out Max as well. Like, this is super helpful, thank you for letting me know about these guys, Tony, or reminding me about Chris and then letting me know about Max. Because it's kind of funny too, like who knows, I might run into some of these guys.

1:43:18 Like I ran into Slide when I was in Peru. I'll drop the name of his channel; he's an American vlogger from Seattle and he's been everywhere. He retired from the military, so he's got this military pension and he's gone all over Africa, South America, Europe, and Asia. It's incredible what these people do and the courage they have to approach people, talk to people, put themselves out there, and share their stories.

1:44:00 Dang, in a previous livestream I did cover a lot of what I want to see. I'll plus us down to Ha Long City, I covered it somewhat, but I know a lot more about it now. Okay, very cool. Aon Mall, I didn't know they had one. Aon is the nicest mall; it was five years ago the nicest mall in Phnom Penh. They have built a newer mall since then, but Aon is this Japanese chain and they do really, really nice malls. I really like the layout and the modern construction, really high ceilings.

Vietnam Landmarks and Controversial Vloggers

1:44:49 They probably have this looks like a similar store in the Aon Mall in Phnom Penh where they've got a lot of imported goods. So if you're like, I remember they had sushi, they had this whole sushi section at Aon in Phnom Penh, so they may have that here as well at Tan or Ton Fu.

1:45:31 I do want to see Landmark 81. This is the tallest building in the city and it looks so epic. I'm a huge fan of architecture and it reminds me a bit of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Now I'm wondering if they have shopping or anything like that in the base. In Kuala Lumpur, they do have a really nice shopping mall in the base and there's a lot of conveniences to be had there. There was a western-style grocer there, very, very cool.

1:46:08 He may not like him; he's controversial, but there's a really famous vlogger from a Nordic country who does Vietnam videos. He goes to really small communities, non-touristic areas. Bald and Bankrupt, probably I am familiar with him and I've heard a lot about his controversy. I have mixed feelings about him; I know he can get pretty controversial.

Vlogger Critiques and Travel Risks

1:46:33 You know, I think he's good at what he does as far as making engaging content. Sometimes I don't like when some of these guys underplay the risks that they take on. You know, I have some level of concern that they might inspire some people to try to follow in their footsteps, people that are not so prepared or cavalier as them.

1:47:00 But, you know, I've also heard from a buddy of mine back in my hometown, he was telling me that he watches this channel, Small Brained American. And Small Brained American can sometimes be a bit abrasive as well. And if it pops up, Tony, I'll be sure to let you know like who it is and, yeah, just like what I think about it.

1:47:33 How's it going, Chris? How are you doing tonight or today? I'm not sure where you're located. Ah, I see in Colorado. I lived in Colorado for several years. Chris, what a small world! Welcome to the channel. It's interesting to find out you were in Cusco. Very, very cool.

1:48:06 Cusco is a town or city that Tony, who's joining us tonight, and myself both love a lot. Cusco is a really cool city. I love Cusco, I can't say enough positive things about that city. It's just a charming, really charming town.

1:48:27 And Harold Baler, yeah, I've watched Harold Baler off and on for a while. He was recently in the United States, and then I think he's most recently left. Let me look up really quick where he's at. Oh, he's in Vietnam. Yeah, okay. So he's actually in Vietnam right now. Yeah, I'll watch some more of his Vietnam content.

Cusco and Travel Vlogger Experiences

1:48:53 That was really shocking to me. Of all the places for him to go, he's actually in Vietnam. Chris says, 'Last time I tuned into your stream, I was in Cusco.' Yeah, Cusco is a cool town. It reminded me a lot of Colorado, like with the mountains, of course. It's not nearly as cold, but it's still got that mountain town vibe.

1:49:30 Salah Urban Park, really? I think I did take a look at this earlier, but with a koi fish or in a prior stream. E-mart, this might be, well, it says supermarket, and I'm wondering. Whenever I think of E-mart, I think about like electronics malls, but it looks like it's more of a standard supermarket. But that's a really fun way to kind of learn about a different country is hitting up the local grocery stores.

1:50:13 Any travel plans, Chris? I know you said you were in Cusco last time. Do you have any plans for the second half of this year? I know one of my buddies, Joey, like we met through the sound tribe sector and Iron community, so we used to follow the same band. He's in Italy right now, and I've actually been talking to him about Thailand. He's wanting to come to Phuket, I think, at the end of this year.

1:50:37 So he works like 28 on, 28 off. He's in oil and gas, and I've been just telling him about Thailand. I'm happy for him, but I'm also a little bit jealous that he's in Italy because I've never been to Italy. Italy just seems like a really, really beautiful country with amazing food, friendly people. Of course, not closer to home as far as level of development, but an interesting place nonetheless.

Vlogger Controversies and Travel Ethics

1:51:11 Whatever you may think of, I think he spells it Harold Balder, but his Vietnam and Cusco videos go way out in the country. He goes to the homes of poor farmers, doesn't speak a lick of Vietnamese, but gets by. Yeah, he's cavalier, and you know, I try not to judge these guys either. People love to tear apart anybody that gets notoriety or fame online.

1:51:31 And it's like, yeah, well, I think it's important to have an open mind, and we have to understand that these vloggers are there for our entertainment and for our enjoyment. It's not much different than, I don't know, looking at a Hollywood actor and being like, 'Oh, can you believe they did this or that?'

1:51:54 I'm not saying that we shouldn't have standards, but it almost takes away from the value of their content and the risks that they're taking by going to these places. You know, it can be dangerous to travel, and like even in ways you wouldn't expect. Going up to the mountains in rural Vietnam where you don't know anybody and you don't speak the language, what if you forget water? What if you get lost? Innocuous stuff can be dangerous.

1:52:22 So they deserve some level of credit. I know they're getting paid well for the risk that they take on and the challenges that they overcome. I'm sure there's a lot of different things that happen off camera that are difficult in terms of logistics and visas and all of that.

1:52:41 So, you know, I try to avoid getting too much into the controversy because I don't like to start conflict with other bloggers. But I lean toward not being judgmental because, to me, like I'm not, you know, in the legal system, I don't make the judgment on visa issuance. If the country allows this individual to come in, then that's on them, right?

1:53:06 They've clearly done some background on these popular vloggers and made a determination: is this somebody that we want to come here and spend money and enjoy themselves or not? I'm not in the position to make that determination, so I don't like the mob when it comes to going after big vloggers.

Vlogger Criticism and Personal Backgrounds

1:53:24 I don't know that my channel will ever be that successful, but if I get there, I hope that people have some level of mercy and grace because I don't have a perfect past. I don't think any of us do. I think we all have some things in our background that we're not proud of.

1:53:42 I don't have anything extreme in my background, but people are also very good at making small things into large things. And people figure out troll types figure out a way to present things in a way that makes things worse than what they are. Like you could jaywalk, and people would make that out to be, 'Oh, you're causing traffic disturbances.'

1:54:08 So, yeah, I don't like that, and it seems to only amplify these vloggers. When people go after them, it only seems to give more attention and build up their subscriber base more, unless it's an extreme example like World Tour. That's the only vlogger I could think of where people really turned on him, but his background was extreme, right?

1:54:30 He really did some really bad stuff that universally people don't agree with, or people agree that it was really bad. And so the more gray area stuff, like, you know, I overlook it. I try to overlook it because it's, it's...

1:54:47 It's important also to give people a second chance. I mean, people do dumb stuff when they're young. It's part of being young. It's part of how young people learn is making mistakes and trying to move on from those.

1:55:02 It's one thing to expect a judge or something to have a spotless background, but an entertainer? What do you expect? Even Anthony Bourdain, Tony, had a bit of a checkered past. I'm a huge fan of his, but if you read his books or listen to him talk about his younger days, he had some real issues.

Vlogger Impact and Tourism Benefits

1:55:31 In spite of those issues, Anthony Bourdain opened up a lot of people's minds. People are seeing this guy who came from New York City, one of the most developed cities in the world, if not the most developed city in the world, one of the most prosperous places on the planet, a place that millions of people dream about living. Then he goes to some godforsaken places and humanizes the people that live there, giving a window into their lives in a way that's non-judgmental and shows us the humanity in these people and these places.

1:56:15 It demystifies them, it de-stigmatizes them. I think it's great if it encourages tourism. That's one of the things people can do that would benefit a lot of the developing world: actually going there and visiting, maybe even living there depending on the circumstances. Putting money into the local economy, hiring locals for services, eating at local restaurants, staying with locals in accommodations.

1:56:45 These are all positive. I know some people say, "Oh, overtourism is bad." It's like, there's plenty of tourism in the Western World. People in the Western World make tons of money from hotels, fancy restaurants, airplanes, and all that stuff. Spreading it around isn't the worst thing in the world.

Undiscovered Destinations and Tourism Impact

1:57:05 That's what I'm saying. When you think of Bald and Bankrupt, his vids give us a glimpse into the lives and homes of poor people outside of expat and tourist areas. Those are the people that need it the most. It's easy to put money in the pocket of somebody that's got a fancy hotel in Singapore, but it's arguably more impactful to go to places that are not as well-known.

1:57:29 The places that are not as well-known may be the tourist hotspots of tomorrow. I talked to my buddy down in Mexico about it. He lives on Isla Mujeres. When he went there, it wasn't that developed, not that many people. Now it's grown a lot, and there are a lot of people that love to go there. It's busier and busier every time I go there, and the people benefit from that.

1:58:07 Thank you, Tony. I appreciate you saying that. Thank you so much for bringing this point up. The places that are undiscovered today are potentially popular places of tomorrow. For me, I wanted to go to Cancun, but I stayed with my buddy that lives on this island.

1:58:28 It's not the same built-up vibe that you have five or six years ago, or seven years ago when I went there for the first time. It was much less developed, and so you could see the beauty of Cancun across the water, but you're not in the hotel zone, where you're paying $500 a night to stay in an all-inclusive. You're in Mexico, but you're not really in Mexico; you're in a very curated experience.

1:59:02 You've got the all-you-can-drink, the all-you-can-eat, the luxury pools, and you don't really spend as much time with the local people. In the hotel zone, you're quite literally separated from the local neighborhoods, so you don't really get that full-on experience that I think a lot of us more serious travelers are looking for.

Poverty and Perspective in Travel

1:59:27 There's another Indo-New York guy vlogger I just discovered who goes to poor and isolated communities. Some don't like it, but you get to see what poor people in isolated Central America's homes look like. I think that's so important because, you know, the immigration crisis in the United States, and there's this interest on the part of some people to grift up resentment and negative sentiment and anger and frustration.

1:59:57 A lot of people are totally detached from the way other people live due to the extreme inequality in the United States. People are very detached from the harsh realities of the lives of much of the developing world, and more so than the developing world, the super-frontier. The frontier world is where the real challenges are, the places where they may not have safe, clean running water, or access to modern amenities, good jobs, or good education.

2:00:45 No matter what your problems are in the developed world, you can't imagine what some other people are struggling with. It's not to minimize problems we have in the developed world, as there are many, but it's important to try to put things in perspective. I think it helps me especially to calm down and not overthink my problems when I see, "Wow, these people are surviving on like nothing." So maybe I can sort out my problems.

Vlogger Content Creation and Challenges

2:01:16 For the record, I don't like mob attacks on these guys for their personal lives. I don't care about that; these videos are real, educational, and realistic. I feel the same way. If I go to watch a movie, I'm not sitting there thinking, "What did this guy eat for breakfast?" or "Where does he live? I can't believe he's so rich." Who cares? They're doing a lot of work.

2:01:45 I know that sometimes it may not be construed that way because we see such a nice end product with some of these vloggers. They have such a well-edited, well-planned, thoughtful presentation. People don't know how difficult vlogging is. Some of my vlogs I put a lot of work into and they didn't get any views. It takes a lot of effort to get to the point where you've got this big audience and people are willing to watch and engage on a consistent basis.

2:02:21 You're defying gravity to have a successful travel channel because there are so many good travel channels out there in 2024. The fact that they still stay relevant, that they're still able to put out compelling stuff after all these years of them traveling and going to different places speaks a lot to their work ethic and their ability to tell stories. These stories will be around forever.

2:02:51 You can go back and watch years and years of their travels and get a glimpse into another world. I think it's also super educational. There's only so many vacation videos I'm going to get benefits from, whereas with these guys, it's not vacation mode. If you're going into a remote part of Central America or Vietnam, it's much more educational than just pure entertainment or, "Oh, that looks like a cool resort" or "Oh, that looks like good food."

2:03:32 It feels almost more real in a way. Great point, Tony. I think the vloggers get way too much critique and criticism. I think some of it's jealousy. People are in their office jobs, chained to a desk, frustrated, not getting the respect they deserve, not paid as well as they should be, having family issues, health issues. They see these vloggers in these beautiful countries.

2:04:18 They see the highlights; they don't see the vlogger getting locked out of his hotel and trying to speak to somebody in another language. They only see the nice bits and imagine the financial upside, but they don't realize these guys are not taking the safe route. You're an independent contractor on YouTube. They have to do a lot of work to make sure their videos pass muster, that they bleep out inappropriate language, that they edit out some negative experiences.

Top Travel Vloggers and Their Impact

2:05:03 They also don't want to show the country in such a light that they're not welcome back. You do that to a certain extent, and you may not be able to go back. There's a lot of work that goes into these vloggers behind the scenes. My favorite is probably Best Ever Food Review Show. I'm like, oh man, this guy has seen a lot. You just see it in his eyes, the amount of countries he's been to, the places he's been.

2:05:38 The amount of work he's done coming from nothing in Minnesota to being the most popular travel vlogger ever, being on Joe Rogan's podcast, mind-blowing. Paul Dilla is his name. I think he's born in New York; he's from an...

2:05:52 I think he's born in New York. He's from an Indian background, okay. Yeah, I have to give him a shot. See, Paul, oh wow, okay. So I'm gonna subscribe. Thank you for catching this, Tony. He's, yeah, he's definitely Indian. I recognize that. This is really interesting. Or he, I should say South Asian. He might be Bangladeshi, but yeah, I mean, he's going to a lot of off-the-beaten-path places, a lot of places that most people would not go to.

2:06:30 I need to watch some of this. Thank you for all these tips, Tony. You're catching these vloggers like I wouldn't be able to find on my own. And that's the beauty of social media is these rapid connections that you can make to people that you really get along with, people that can teach you a lot, share a lot with you.

Livestream Wrap-up and Weekend Plans

2:06:54 Yeah, that's really cool. I'm looking forward to it, but I am probably going to start winding down here in the next, I would say, 10 minutes, Tony, as my voice is starting to go a little bit. It's been such a great livestream with you and with Christopher as well, who joined earlier. It's so much fun to be able to do these with everybody.

2:07:13 I think I'm gonna order some dinner and eat, and then oh, I need to book my flight. And that's the goal for tonight. But any weekend plans, Tony? We're here on Friday. I'm curious if you have any plans this weekend or what you have going on.

Working-Class Neighborhoods and Local Life

2:07:45 Tony says, how many Americans going to Roman Norte and Laesa do we need to see? Let's see real working-class neighborhoods and living in smaller rural villages. Yeah, I agree with that. Tony, I mean, you know, easy mode is fine, but I'm almost more interested to see videos of like LA or New York City or Chicago or Toronto than I am Laesa or Roman Norte.

2:08:13 Because it's, I don't know, like I can relate more to the people living in LA or New York or Chicago than I can, you know, somebody that's treating Mexico City like a playground. Like there's not as many people, Americans that are actually working and have to have a normal day-to-day life. Whereas if you go to these villages, these lesser-known places, you are seeing more.

2:08:43 It's like in the United States or like in Canada, going to like a smaller town or a smaller city, you're going to meet very different people than you would meet in a Vancouver or a Toronto, maybe a Montreal. Nothing wrong with those big cities, but you're going to get a different sense of what life is like there.

2:09:01 You may get more exposure to local culture, right? Because in the fancy neighborhoods, they're almost always international. They're almost always catering to an international crowd because the majority of people in these countries cannot afford to be in those neighborhoods. Just the cost to get there, right?

2:09:20 Most people did not have the finances to go fly there, to book a $100 a night hotel in the city center, to eat at the fancy sushi restaurant. And so, you see, it's almost like when you go to the or you see the more small towns or rural areas, you see people you might be able to relate to better.

Humility and Gratitude in Travel

2:09:42 I didn't grow up in a big city. I grew up in Nashville, and I had times relating more to those working-class people, more of those small-town people that may have big-city dreams, but that are making the best of the opportunities they have at hand.

2:09:59 Opportunities that may not exist there, that we are fortunate to have in the Western democracies, historically speaking. Right? I mean, it's very common in the big cities in the United States, probably Canada as well, to meet people from other places that have come there just to work hard and to try to get ahead.

2:10:19 But you know, in some countries, it's harder to do that, right? Like it's, you know, it's harder to get the requisite education, it's harder to make the connections. It's just a much steeper climb. And there are people that accept that they're not going to be able to make that climb and are going to give it their all anyway and deserve respect and appreciation for doing things without the aid of as much of certain conveniences.

2:10:44 I mean, seeing people that do their laundry by hand, seeing people that have to prepare their own meat or grow their own vegetables, things that we don't have to do in the big cities in the Western democracies. I, the first time I ever washed clothes by hand was here in Thailand, where I was living in Krabi. I was not very close to a laundromat.

2:11:07 And so my roommate in Krabi, he's actually washing his clothes by hand. I'm like, wow, I didn't, I'm so privileged, just like in some ways that I didn't know this was the thing that people are still doing. And it gives you a greater sense of gratitude, right?

2:11:22 Like the FIRE movement doesn't seem to exist as much outside of the Western democracies, and I think that's for good reason. I think we have to have some humility when we are traveling to appreciate the amount of work that goes into making these places that we like to go to work so well.

2:11:45 I learned some about that, you know, just in Cusco, talking to tour guides and talking to people about like the work that goes into the cuisine, right? And like seeing construction sites. You see construction sites here in Thailand, people are using machinery, but there's some things people are doing by hand.

2:12:05 And like in the Philippines, my buddy was explaining to me, I buy construction materials with each paycheck, and so I'm building my house slowly but surely. But it's not an overnight process where I go stay in a nice rented house and these guys come to the construction site and do everything and I supervise a little bit and go back to my office job.

Travel Plans and Weekend Wishes

2:12:29 He's like, no, I'm doing this by hand. I'm literally putting this house together, brick by brick. And it's definitely humbling. It's definitely humbling.

2:12:41 Yeah, thank you so much for everybody to everyone for joining the stream. I really appreciate you, Tony, Chris, Christopher, also Solo Transient for chiming in. Anybody watching this in the rerun, thank you as well for supporting the channel. Feel free to join in. I know I don't announce these. I'm not the best at that.

2:13:05 I'm still confused a little bit by the interface, but yeah, comment down below any, you know, plans to travel in the next year or so, anything you're looking forward to. Is there anything like, have you been to Da Nang or Vietnam? Is there anything I should check out? You recommend.

2:13:23 But yeah, I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend and a safe weekend, a relaxing weekend. And yeah, safe travels, and I look forward to seeing everybody again soon. All right, bye-bye.