First Visit to the Country that Sold Me A Passport

I know we've been gone for a while and I'm sorry about that but I hope that at this point that you can trust that whenever we're not uploading on YouTube for a while that only means one thing big things are [Music] coming we have been traveling far and wide since the start of this year to bring you new stories from all around the world on yes Theory and seek discomfort do you want to join yes let's go but before we start today episode we've got some pretty exciting news for our community in Europe this has been years in the making but we are pleased to announce that seek discomfort is now shipping from within Europe that means you'll now get your order within days not weeks and more importantly you will no longer be paying for customs and to celebrate this moment we've created an exclusive drop that will be available only to people ordering from Europe make sure to check seis comfort.com after you finish this episode and for now welcome to yes Theory 2023 something I realized throughout my years of traveling with Amar is that not every passport is Born the same as we've traveled around the globe and back Amar hasn't always been able to come with us and if he did it always required a lot more work to make sure he could the reason being is that he holds an Egyptian passport and that's not an easy one to travel with those of us who were born with a stronger passport can never truly understand what it feels like to be rejected entry without a Visa by most countries and even when a Visa is acquired the process itself tends to be scrutinizing and not very dignifying I need to prove a thousand things just so that I can move just so I can go anywhere and it's always such a condescending attitude no matter how nice and and warm and and like complete I have everything it's always just such met with such skepticisms and so about 2 years ago we found out a rather costly solution to that problem but one that certainly had the potential to change his life in 2020 Omar began the process of applying for the citizenship and a passport and a small country in the Caribbean by the name of St kits and neas and to be honest we hadn't really heard of that country before so what is so special about this citizenship that it would cost a minimum of $150,000 to apply for St kitas alongside a handful of other countries around the world have a process called citizenship by investment allowing people from anywhere in the world to invest in the country's economy or buy real estate in exchange for qualifying to apply for citizenship this particular attracts people from countries with less advantageous passports who can afford it to be able to travel more freely to put Freedom into context for you amar's Egyptian passport would only allow him to visit 53 countries Visa free versus 157 with the St kids passport so in September of 2021 Amar crossed into Europe for the first time in his life without needing a Visa a big part of this dream was also for him as a dual citizen to be able to go back home to Egypt for the first time in 5 years Egypt has a law that for years has prevented Amar from returning to his home country because if he did he would have to enlist in the army or be on standby for draft until he turns 30 but by obtaining this dual citizenship the Egyptian Army would in theory not accept him for service and he'd be able to go back home before he turns 30 but in 2022 Omar fully committed himself to the creation of our now award-winning documentary feature film Project Iceman which we got to share with our community in a soldout world tour and so as 20122 and the premier tour were coming to an end we planned an epic comeback trip for amar's return to Egypt and more importantly for him to finally reconnect with his family and his roots inshallah within uh 3 weeks I will get to go back to Egypt for the first time in 5 [Applause] years I'm not just going back I'm going back to make my childhood dream come true inshallah I will be skydiving over the great period of Giza on November but just two weeks before our scheduled departure we got some heartbreaking news a friend of mine W he who who was helping us coordinate our trip to Egypt he ended up calling me and saying that a friend of his who lives in New York an Egyptian living in New York who also has a sink passport he was coming in and they stopped him because because he wasn't presenting his Egyptian passport and he didn't even have his Egyptian passport because it was expired and he ended up getting in in like a an interrogation and it was really really stressful so now that this is becoming a more popular thing for Egyptians to do they're they're getting more and more stength and then my mom ended up also calling me and she said there's no one that wants you back more but but but there's no there's no reason to risk any trouble because because there will be nothing that we can do about it just really sucks because this is the second time that felt so [ __ ] close don't know what to do I don't think this is a moment to give up I think it's a moment to regroup and and try and look at what our options [Music] are we're going to get you home somehow like we we got to make it happen it's just yeah and so with the risk of being questioned about the military service at the airport we made the tough decision to call off the trip it took a bit of time to recover and regroup from this disappointment but trusting that everything happens for a reason we started to look for a new plan and so we figured since Amar couldn't go to his motherland what if we kicked off the Year by traveling instead to his stepmother land amar's about to use his s kids passport for the first time going to St kids such so bizarre em thank you enjoy your going to thank you Hi how are you good [Music] morning so I just saw the island for the first time is Tiny it's a beautiful [Music] island I'm here first condition friend welome to than thank you give me a call you got my number I I would love that it's crazy that you got you and the people that got off the plane like you guys have the same citizenship I know St kids clown there's a mural commemorating you oh no you could skip this line wait can we just go with you hello how are you I'm a citizen and then I have two two friends who came with me can they come through here okay local privilege first time going in with the fact thank you thank you how does it feel man feels amazing you're bringing us new yeah yeah I'm like I'm bringing I'm bringing the boys in I know all right thanks for yeah call me out louder bro wow you just got your first s kid stamp in the s kids passport what's your favorite food from the island that I have to try you might try something they call cooker cooker chicken sawfish and sometimes pork all right bro come out with us maybe I'll take your number I've never gotten an immigration officer's number before usually they want things from me thank you bro appreciate it thank you best airport experience of my life I I got his number I call him bro I got my friends through what thank you so much all right let's do this feels like we're on a vacation I know this beautiful country of about 50,000 people was first home to several indigenous communities for over 3,000 years before the Europeans arrived on Columbus's second Voyage to the America's infor 1493 it is composed of two islands the northern island of St kits and the smaller Island to the South called nevas who in more recent history's claim to fame is being the island where the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton was born and is where would start this adventure wow that looks stunning it's really hard to believe that I'm a citizen of this country of this land right now that we're on I have I have rights this is yours yeah I'm just a guest I'm just a guest hi hello hello how's one for you and one for you thank you hello you're welcome welcome welcome while you fre that out I'll get my associate to help me all right who is her associate got you wow I had a hard time reacting for yeah you you glitched for a bit I was like wait wow is this my first home on the island alhamdulillah I'm feeling so many things but I just want to focus on gratitude right now to have had the most beautiful Journey with the most supportive group of friends whove allowed me to be here today and they're actually here with me today is just uh just fills my heart so today we are going to explore the island and we'll give you a glimpse into what this very unique Island that sells passports looks [Music] like we are literally in Paradise yeah man I'm from here I'm from [Music] here made it to Caribbean W got no got you no today is Alexander Hamilton's birthday and this is the Alexander Hamilton house where he was born happy birthday Hamilton he's he's like Hamilton's biggest fan I'm a big fan oh really he can wap the whole musical oh wow nice oh it's nothing it's nothing yes next to the Statue please H come on it's your moment Now's the Time To Shine it is the time to shine we are both on the board of the Alexander Hamilton awareness Society oh my God you found your you found your guy how does a bastard orphan son of a [ __ ] and the Scot Dr in the middle of the forgot spot in the Caribbean by Providence the world is going to know your name what's your name it all freestyle he just read the biography and the rest came to him should I grab so I'm on the left so I would be here you're on the left is here okay tellas how you feeling I'm driving the car is on the left but I am on the right worried never experienced something like this before me neither our tire burst there's another tire down here blown up so not the first huh The Vibes are high if we could have a help from you because our tire just broke if you just want to stay and we're having to do with our car thank you have no fear amazing okay I appreciate you man come thank you so much yeah said have no fear fear have no fear you feeling happy I'm Thomas from yes we're four friends from four different countries come on are We relying on that man to save us yes yeah yeah okay so we're hoping he'll he's coming back have no fear do you think this man will let you [Laughter] down hi bathroom thank you so much thank you much but he was taking a shower so I had to wait sorry the guy out of the shower man everything good what's your name Larry lar Larry Amar thank you so much for helping us no problem that's hey we all need help sometime did you say you're a police or you you were a police I see I had 26 years and 11 months wow wow that's fast this is his job he know what he's about and well if you ever have any problem in says with a axil this is your man right here now you are our God sent angel today hey somewhere along the line somebody's going to help me I'm going to help help because someday I just might need help my wife children everybody somebody for related to me might need the help so M what you sent out comes back right so if I'm if I'm in a position to help I will brother thank you man thank you thank you yes my brother take care for the final part of our journey we'll be traveling to the northern island of St kits thank you all right guys welcome to the other Island thank you let's see what this looks [Music] like good morning everybody we uh have an earlier wake up today because we're going to do the scenic train my immigration officer who stamped me in stamped us all in he agreed to join us so we're going to go pick him up from the village that he lives in which is about 20 minutes away and then we're going to drive to Phoenix train Thomas and Stefan are going to meet us there good morning B how are you morning all right welcome welcome man ni to meet you You' been the kindest immigration officer he's ever encountered 100% that's why it's such a trip that I'm like my my problems in my life have been with immigration officers and then I get the nicest one coming to my uh New Home Country glad I could be a difference in your life man oh broy see you man glad you we we met him on the street 3 years ago and now he's part of the part of the group he walking on my way home they asked me if I wanted to swap life in America I got quite excited and I went there and someone lived my life and since then we became friends three principles for yes the say yes and be open to life and people seek discomfort best experiences in life happen when you step outside of your comfort zone and love over fear and decisions you can either be driven by love or fear we choose love we try so that's the theory so far it's it's been a good one it was well explained and happy well explain man how does it feel to have Amor as your new citizen here good man I looked at the video that he sent me that's saw story and I really appreciate what the passport means to him man see that um his own local passport the Egyptian passport he couldn't do nothing with it basically I even go back home understanding that the sing is pass for taking back home to his family it's great man that's true nice that you watched the video yesterday yeah man I like his story I like his journey I like you guys journey man I like that you guys go to different places get to experience different cultures and stuff like that you earn the subscriber come on let's go two locals dancing on the island what did you think when we we started to talk to you cuz the citizenship by investment thing it doesn't always get a positive light you know but to see that you come here to discover what we're really about it's a beautiful story man see the excitement on your guys face man live positive amen what I learned this morning is to seek discomfort man seek places that will make you not feel too comfortable and too relaxed that's where you find the best things in life man you guys taught me something great this morning amen yeah man wow and he he genuinely just he like he saw it on your T-shirt this morning and he was like oh what does this mean so we explain then I'm so glad it resonated man yeah man yeah just finished this beautiful train ride around the island this guy's going to put his form on we're going to drop him off to the airport yeah sure amazing it's for you guys man oh that's so sweet what is this my mom made wine thank you so much that's so kind thank you this is uh where it all started it is actually literally a full circle we don't want to drop you off stay with us you have to work man this is what we call exposure therapy been scared of immigration officers my whole life wow now I hung out with one for a whole morning for making my first s k experience to truly feel like home I felt welcome thank you for all your generosity your his name in Arabic means generous does really I didn't even know that thanks for everything bro welcome man look at this I get call this home now it's fine I was shaking people recording all of you that have supported and followed and and and engaged with us for the past 7 and 1/2 years I you know and when I think about this moment and this achievement and this new found Freedom I'm also thinking about every single one who's who's been there for us so from the bottom of my heart I want to say thank you and I want to say don't take your freedom for granted because not everybody gets to have a passport that allows them to travel to anywhere they want not to do it out of guilt but just do it out of understanding that you've been privileged in this life to have certain freedoms so make sure that you use those to improve your life and improve people's lives around you I my intention and commitment and using this passport is to do exactly that it's Thomas is right there just getting the Epic drone shots how beautiful is that this piece of paper gave me the freedom that I dreamt off my whole life so I had this idea that maybe can help pay forward the greatest gift I've ever received but I'm going to let Thomas explain it because it's uh be too much to do right now and I also want to enjoy the sunset much love everybody as Amar said we are endlessly grateful for the support you've shown us over the years and we cannot wait to show you what's to come next we want these travel stories to be a source of encouragement for people to go out into the world and Dare to Live their own adventure so we have decided in this episode to give away a flight to someone's dream destination comment down below what your dream destination is and why and we'll pick a winner in the next yes Theory episode and finally if you're in Europe do not forget to check out cison fort.com and rep our exclusive [Music] drop

Channel: Yes Theory

Views: 2,350,443

Keywords: yestheory, seek discomfort, yes theory strangers, yes theory travel, yes theory subscribers, getting out of your comfort zone, Amazon FBA

Id: QO7Ymd99RtY

Length: 19min 28sec (1168 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 19 2023