How Much Does 1 Year of Solo Travel Cost? AMA with Small Brained American

greetings friends and welcome back to the small brain podcast today we are doing an ask me anything where I've opened the floodgates of the patrons to uh ask me anything and now I'm going toing answer all your questions so um if you guys would like to be part of the next ask me anything consider joining the patreon it's $3 a month here we go first question what was the scariest part of the trip I feel like the answer is not going to surprise you it was the human trafficing risk in Hanoi Vietnam I think it was Hanoi somewhere in North Vietnam where a strange man tried to drag me into a hotel room I was a innocent young tourist looking for a cheap room I like to to check it out before I buy the room and uh he just fully pulled me in there I guess he thought I was along for the ride to to suck his little so yeah I was actually kind of confused I I knew how it looked you know what I mean I was really trying to give him the benefit of the doubt but when he pulled out the W of cash and then pointed to his mouth and his and showed the money I knew exactly what he wanted so um one thing I was was a little confused about was why because I asked someone to translate it for me he said that the Vietnamese guy was like offering to suck my [ __ ] so if that were the case I don't know why he would pull out the money and show it to me like maybe I was going to pay for it or something I don't know the boldness on that man to just pull a to a foreigner into a room that doesn't even speak the language is insane I must have been giving him homosexual [ __ ] in a hot hotel room in North Vietnam Vibes I don't really know how he got off doing that um but I feel like I would like the authorities to apprehend him because um that's some really sketchy [ __ ] I think looking back it's like funny you know what I mean because I'm like I have distance from it but at the time it was uh very scary I you know the next hotel I went to I didn't know what to expect like I had to get a [ __ ] I have like a special lock that goes on the door um and I was actually really nervous that someone was going to barge in in the middle of night and like take advantage me um because yeah I don't know something like that like it might sound weird when I'm explaining it to you because it hasn't happen to you but it it'll really like shake you um I don't want to be all dramatic but you know to your core like it'll it [ __ ] with you knowing that like someone can just grab you and pull you in a hotel room and like gang up on you and do whatever they want with you because um I feel like I was really close to that happening in Vietnam even though he was like a small dude and I didn't feel like I was being attacked like I think they just got the wrong impression from me but um just knowing that that's on the table now it uh it does [ __ ] with you mentally for sure all right next comment Steph says I love solo travel but haven't done it outside of the US yet as a woman I couldn't help while watching think to myself wow there is no way I could get away with this sorry my reading skills are of the fifth grader especially in India is there any truth to that statement and if so which of the countries that you travel to would be safest as a solo female Traveler I'm thinking Japan but curious to hear your thoughts um so if you can't tell I'm not a woman um no offense Steph but I I just don't necessarily feel qualified to answer this question what I will say is um I met a lot of solo female Travelers even in India um so I don't know I'm not really one to give out tips like this I'm not necessarily like I'm not encouraging people to follow in my footsteps because look what happened to Vietnam you know what I'm saying but um I don't know I would just ask a woman maybe we'll ask Sarah maybe I'll get Sarah here in a minute well what do you know we have a woman right here it's Sarah testing I will say that Connor's gone a few places that I don't know I would feel comfortable going by myself can't speak to India specifically because I've never been there um I have girlfriends who have gone though with their boyfriends and husbands um i' say the majority didn't have have a great time um one did there was one person who like staunchly defended it when I brought it up um so you know she had a great experience but also think that safety is relative um so what like I feel like is too risky or not risky enough for me might be fine for somebody else but yeah I think the considerations are different when you're a woman like um I had a great time in Turkey but I felt better with Connor there um and there's other countries that I've gone to where I had the best time alone Japan yeah super safe but you know nowhere's perfect um well I mean sometimes women get gred on the train there yeah so would just avoid like crowds and stuff yeah and you know like anywhere else too I think there's petty crime no matter where you go so watch your pockets and stuff like that but yeah female specific stuff I think there's a lot of countries that have way better like gender um equality and safety and stuff like that Iceland is one of them that's always the first place that I tell my girlfriends to go if they've not um traveled alone outside the United States Iceland is awesome Iceland Japan um a lot of Western Europe um is it's kind of like the states in safety but yeah yeah but at the same time like you get robbed in France all the time get pickpocketed we we can get robbed here too though yeah DC yeah but America's not safe I wouldn't say it's like yeah me neither safe place me neither you know yeah my answer is Iceland yeah yeah because I mean I like just being in Hostel and stuff like over hearing stories of girls traveling like oh yeah in India they're like you know like especially there's like some Festival in India it's like all these girls get assaulted on that day like I think women are like definitely Targets in and when I was in Delhi like remember I sing those pictures on the back of the Tuk TK it's like the driver of this Tuk Tok respects women cuz there's like some big problem with the drivers like assaulting women yeah well that's the other thing too I'll say for ladies that are traveling alone like Tuk tucks taxi driver when you're in restaurants by yourself like I have been in like several dodgy situations in those environments like be super careful with taxi drivers and Tuk Tuk drivers no matter what country you're in like there was one time was that Bangkok with that creepy guy yeah the tax yeah I I've had a lot of experiences that were like scary by myself but I had one experience where Connor was in the car and this guy like wanted to buy me from him so like even when you're traveling with your husband or boyfriend just make sure both of you are aware yeah I guess maybe just really some of the places in the Middle East I wouldn't feel comfortable going by myself but everywhere else I think fair game that's your that's our resident woman our expert woman she's been a woman her whole life I'm going to head back to the kitchen oh my Steph also said you smoked a lot of different stuff with people in these countries which one gave you the best high LOL so Steph's trying to get high shame on you Steph the best tie I mean to be fair I feel like I was just ripping sigs in most of these countries uh in Myanmar I was doing the beetle nut which I guess does not fall under the category of step's question but it was um amazing the beatle net was very nice if it was in the US I would definitely be tempted because I'm sure some Silicon Valley [ __ ] boy would have made it into like a way that doesn't stain your teeth um cuz that was really the main drawback like people's teeth that do the beetle nut are completely [ __ ] okay so my teeth will be red like yours yeah they are some ugly looking [ __ ] like it literally rots the teeth right out of your skull but honestly it felt really nice me and Dan and what's his face were getting nice and toasty on the beatl nut and Myanmar um it's almost like a cocaine SL tobacco SL caffeine Buzz it's like um very it makes you like really clearheaded but also like [ __ ] up and euphoric it's very nice other than that though I guess guess the other only I guess the only other thing I smoked was the uh tobacco pipe in Vietnam which was nice but honestly it it made me like too dizzy it was like and I did a tiny tiny little minuscule amount and it was still like a bit much for my taste I guess I was on a moving train but um it just didn't feel like it was like a controllable dose cuz you know you're ripping a whole [ __ ] chamber of whatever this is like concentrated tobacco um so I wouldn't say it made me feel high it was honestly more scary than anything but I feel like nothing really compares to a indoor cigarette in a crowded Isiah in Japan nothing compares to the sigs inside absolutely nothing touches that high you'll be soaring baby you'll be soaring um someone's uh shreth shre sorry Mr s says what was your original job that you left to travel did that have any influence on you deciding to go across the world well actually I have another podcast I think it's called moving to Japan with no Japanese that actually that was the first gig I ever got abroad and allowed me to take my dumb ass overseas um professionally I guess you could call it I was teaching in like a really terrible English school it's called Nova I would not recommend you teach there they do not care about their employees they work you overtime they expect a lot of you especially if you have Japanese bosses like you are going to be in a world of hurt if you work for Nova so don't do that but there are plenty of other opportunities to teach English in Japan like uh intera is one the jet program if you're young enough uh to do that you have to learn a little Japanese for that but I think um it's actually like a career in Japan you can do it for like five years so I got the five Visa in Japan I was teaching English and that kind of got me overseas like in a long-term kind of position before that I mean the long I had been overseas was in uh College I was doing a study abroad just in Italy and stuff just kind of like [ __ ] American Tourist like it wasn't like what I was doing you know on the last trip or in Japan or anything like that but being abroad for a year having a job having co-workers having friends it really changes your perspective on a place instead of like just flying by the seat of your pants going there for eight weeks like spending all your [ __ ] money if you're there for a year you have to buy groceries you have to like pack a lunch you have to go to work you have to commute it's it'll like definitely change your view of the place um so I mean that was I didn't necessarily save money when I was doing that but that just gave me like a different perspective on how to travel and that oh you can go somewhere for a long time you can live there it's really not that hard I mean there are definitely drawbacks you know you're not with your family you know you miss your [ __ ] Grandma's birthdays and you don't know how much longer she's going to live you I mean it's kind of dark but that's that's the truth um you know there are definitely drawbacks like it's tough setting up a life in another country but if it's if it's what you want to do I mean you'll just find a way won't you so um that was what originally brought me overseas and then I just got addicted honestly I just couldn't stop so what I would do is I went home and now that I had this thing on my resume that I had taught English taught as being used very Loosely in that sentence but now that I had like taught English put it on my resume got a job at a community college got a job like tutoring Latinas that were trying to learn English for like their citizenship test and um just kind of went from there and just kind of was like a dirt bag English teacher for several years and uh I would live with my parents which was a big Advantage at the time and just cake up there and then just like hit the road and then run out of money and just come back and do the same thing so it wasn't like a very professionally rewarding time in my life but I mean recreationally like what it was able to let me do was fantastic because now I have a full-blown career so um yeah I definitely no regrets with that I mean I just think like I just don't know if I would recommend doing what I did because you do have to kind of suffer for a while like in the trenches um at least building a career but honestly like if you're just going to move to Japan if you're just going to move to Thailand or Vietnam or wherever you want to go and have an apartment and teach English like honestly I would definitely recommend that because it's an easy life it's pretty cushy it's not I mean I dude I was making like 25 Grand a year like I was making like two grand a month um but that was enough in Japan honestly because I was living pretty humbly um for a single guy right like it's not like I have [ __ ] mouths to feed if you have a family definitely probably don't want to do that but I was you know going out to eat drinking just like living a pretty comfortable life but not going crazy or anything um and it did allow me to travel to like Thailand and like um all over Japan actually I went to Okinawa and Hokkaido all the way in the north and yeah I just had like a basically a free year-long vacation I um I did I did the finances later and I [ __ ] broke even like I didn't save any money but didn't also end up in the red so I mean it's honestly if you just want like a nice long vacation in Japan I think that's the move um I can't necessarily speak to other countries like I know in in South Korea China Vietnam like those those kind of richer Asian countries not Vietnam but um like definitely South Korea and China will will pay you nicely so um definitely something to look into I know has been like a long rant and uh let's go to the next question all right Weston Kutz says what gave you the idea to do content creation and how did you go about it also love the videos man thank you Weston Kutz thank you very much um honestly I knew I wanted to do something like making online money for a while ever since I lived in Japan when I moved to Japan I bought this book called vagabonding by Ralph pot I'll link it down in the description but it really changed my life I don't want to sound so [ __ ] dramatic but it honestly changed my whole outlook on travel and how to interact with people how to move slowly through the world how to move purposefully and how to just get more out of your experience while you're on Earth I know it sounds really lame but it's true it really changed the way I see things and um instead of me like going to Japan to work a job I was there to experience the culture fully and I think this book vagabonding really focused my attention on that one goal so while I was there I realized I wanted to make a living um traveling like I you know I didn't want to teach English for the rest of my life I barely made it one year in Japan I absolutely hated that job um although I will say the career in general is a decent way to start traveling and getting out there and like exploring what you want to do but I just knew teaching English was not for me long term and I wanted to like share my stories because I felt like you know I'd be in bars or isaka telling people what I'd been up to and there had always been like oh that's really interesting like have you ever thought about writing a Blog blog or something and so I think that's where like my first initial thought of like how to do this longterm emerged um but then I realized like you know no one reads blogs like I don't read blogs you know what I mean I mean I do think there is a business model there that exists and you can get rich making blogs but I was just like I just don't care like I don't read blogs so I don't want to make that and then I was stuck at home during the pandemic and I started watching like really raw honest travel Vlogs where people were going to places that I had never seen before I didn't even know you could go to these places you know what I mean people like uh places like North Korea or Siberia you know what I mean like places that I just it was not even in my realm of possibilities that I could do something like that and I saw these people doing it I just felt this like sense of Freedom that I had just never felt before especially because I was locked inside I think that dichotomy was just so strong it just pulled me out of my shitty world of the pandemic and just brought me into this new realm of like yeah you can do this like you can you can do this for a living and then I set out driving across the country during uh the pandemic one day I just got so fed up you know I was just so scared for months and one day I was just like [ __ ] it I just I just I'm not going to care anymore so I started driving across the country met all kinds of characters I've done a podcast about that before but I could definitely do another one there was so many characters in so many stories that I didn't catch any of it on film just because I didn't necessarily have the confidence or anything to recording before then you know I had this like far away vision of like doing a blog or doing something social media related to make money and actually at the time I um was like posting on Instagram a lot I thought that was somehow going to make me money I had no idea how you know what I mean but I knew it was an interesting story and I knew that it would compel some people to watch me move through the world on Instagram even though like looking back it is kind of [ __ ] boring and like the travel Vlog is to me like the um ideal way to show you what I'm actually doing because it's like it's like you're there in the moment with me so um yeah I think I've just really hit the nail on the head and and you know honestly I I felt that way ever since I was in like Iraq and Pakistan and India and Myanmar and stuff and I feel like that was a time where I just felt like my craft was kind of coming to a head and I was like really figuring it out how I wanted to do this thing and you know I've been really fortunate that those videos actually took off and it makes sense like I think you know back in the day when I was on Instagram and I was just like dming random influencers like hey will you feature me and just like just like hustling but not in a productive way you know I realized like I I just wasn't any good and it made sense that I hadn't taken off yet so um I think now like with all the success and everything it it just makes sense you know what I mean I feel like I've I've actually earned it this time and I'm not just getting a hand out so feels really nice and I know you didn't ask for all of that but that's the answer you got Weston Kutz so thanks for the answer so thanks for the question Mark says what are the Necessities you bring on your trips I'm sure the list has narrowed over the years and maybe you can help others prepare yeah so Mark I um only pack honestly like the heaviest most expensive stuff I bring is my technology I bring my laptop my camera my Chargers adapters um this microphone um yeah so that's pretty much all that's in my tech bag I also bring a journal and I think you know podcasting is nice and the videos are nice to kind of commemorate my experiences but nothing really ever gets as personal as a journal so I carry like a tiny little Journal that I can just pack in honestly even my pocket just to kind of you know write some Memoirs and stuff and pass the time on trains when you don't have service and stuff like that and um I just think it's really nice to look back on those journal entries you know years down the road and just see exactly how you're feeling at the time you know so definitely recommend a journal I'm pretty Bare Bones when it comes to packing I just pack like one pair of shoes they're um all birds that I find are really lightweight and like decent on most terrains I would not hik in them but they're like they're good enough to get the job done if I really need to you know what I'm saying and if they get wet you just throw them in the dryer also I have um UFOs I should probably link some of these down in the description because I feel like you guys actually might want this [ __ ] the UFOs are amazing because they're just like really lightweight I can take them wherever wait do I have them here no I don't have them in here um they're really lightweight you know you can take them in the spa or like take them to the pool or honestly just walk around town with them they're really light and comfortable it's nice when you're flying because you can just slip them off and not worry about TSA [ __ ] um also on the plane instead of like kicking off your smelly shoes you can just like slide off your little sandals and it's just really honestly that's my go-to uh travel shoe um and then anything like more substantive like if I'm planning on getting wet or you know doing a lot of walking I I'll just wear the all birds but that's pretty much it I just wear the two forms of shoes and if I really need to like go on a nice hike or something I guess I'll just like rent a pair of boots if that's possible um but yeah pretty I try to keep it really Bare Bones one other thing I just bring a bathing suit because you never know when you're going to have a nice body of water to jump into or a hot tub or something like that so um that's pretty much it I mean yeah as someone mentioned before I should probably bring like a bigger med pack of like actually that's one thing I forgot the first aid kit like especially on the motorcycle I was carrying Band-Aids iodine um little alcohol swabs just just like simple first a if you really get in a pinch that you're not going to [ __ ] bleed out on the curb and uh diarrhea pills definitely bring the diarrhea pills if you're going to be hitting up South Asia all right Chris says I'm going to Japan in 2 months never been but with no Japanese language what are your recommendations for getting the most out of bar hopping and drunken eating I guess I read a lot about some places not wanting foreigners but would like to create the alcoholics guide to Japan Vibe good question Chris good question yeah that's a tricky one honestly I think if you learn five words in Japanese you will change people's life you will you will just rock their world with your deep and wide knowledge of the Japanese language because as you've seen in my videos it does not take much to wow people you can just be like kicha you know that's good morning uh Kwa that's good evening or Ohio gas which is good morning so that's three right there you'll [ __ ] blow people's minds with those three how about uh s in anytime you're like in a restaurant you want someone's attention or anytime you bump someone on the train you say that or if you really want to wow you say goai which means I'm sorry so that's even more respectful you know what I mean it's it's like oh my god I've been such a bad Japanese boy I I I didn't need to apologize from the bottom the depths of my soul you know what I mean if you're if you really [ __ ] up you say go meni and what's that four things um this this one will get them J which means see you later right you're you'll [ __ ] wow people with that ALS also just Basics on like ordering beers and stuff I think will take you really far and honestly man like you might be impressed with my level of Japanese which you shouldn't be but literally all I've learned is is is basic greetings like cheeky little compliments to people and ordering stuff and that's pretty much it if you can order stuff you'll survive and you'll be just fine in Japan you're going to have a great time all right Chris Patrick says what country did you enjoy most no BS answer only name one okay Japan easy Japan is it's my favorite country on the planet and I know a lot of people that's like a polarizing topic is your favorite country but I think just um I don't think there's any objective best country I think there's just a there are countries that have you have interacted with them at a the right time in your life and they've just hit you in the exact right way and that's been Japan you know when I lived there I felt like Japan was a nurturing mother that took care of me it was very safe you know what I mean there's no crime I can just move about very freely on not a lot of money and um yeah I just had an amazing time in Japan and then I went back a couple times and each time it's just been getting honestly better and better because you know I went with Sarah I showed her around that was an amazing time yeah I just think Japan has something to offer for everybody it's safe it's clean things work people are really nice the food's amazing it's a little pricey you know what I'm saying but with the with the value of the Yen right now it's a nice time to go um and dude just the food man just just just having that selection of amazing food at your fingertips no matter where you are in the country and just having the nice people around to enjoy it with it's just you just can't beat Japan if you could go back through your entire trip was there one moment you wish you could experience again also was there anything you experienced that was scary or shocking that was never caught on camera yeah so as far as the experience again I would definitely do Glastonberry again I would sneak into that [ __ ] and do it exactly how I did it I um was staying like a B&B kind of nearby and I left some of my stuff there because I was driving on a motorcycle and had a bunch of [ __ ] so I just wanted to leave it in someone's garage so I essentially paid this woman for a BNB for like three nights and left my [ __ ] in her like spare garage or whatever and anyways as I was leaving to go to the Festival I told her what my plan was and she was like oh well you're probably going to die because people die at glassenberry all the time and uh so I need you to sign this piece of paper that says I'm not responsible for any of your stuff or repatriating your remains or whatever it is so she made me sign like I think it was like a little napkin or some [ __ ] just to like make her not legally responsible but that really tripped me out um so I think going into it I was like pretty nervous um also where the [ __ ] did she get off thinking I'm going to die just by going to a music festival I don't know old people are [ __ ] strange but yeah I was I went there like pretty much on a Sho string like I had bought all this stuff like camping gear and water for 5 days and like wine and stuff to drink and um I had no plan B key to success in life kids don't have a plan B because if you do you'll just fall back on that and you'll live in mediocrity but you could live in glory you could sneak in to the UK's biggest Music Festival if you don't have a plan B so there you go kids that's my PSA for today but yeah that that was a [ __ ] send I um was very nervous entering and I just feel like the high of being like thinking I wasn't going to get in and then in just an instant I'm in you know I had bought I mean or basically stolen like a $500 ticket to this Festival met a bunch of friends you know what I mean when you go plac a single a solo you can just you're just way more open to the experience you can meet a bunch people and yeah I just had an amazing time in glir and I just don't feel like it would ever be the same if I had just like bought a ticket and done it the regular easy way I had to really earn it um and especially where I was in my life like I just um I don't know I just like as a Creator I don't feel like I was making like amazing content and that video just really stood out to me like I I can rewatch it and I'm still like that's a great piece of work because I just feel like I really changed up my editing Style on that one I try to because I mean it's a music festival what am I going to do wake up and be like hey today we're going to get [ __ ] up and listen to music haha here we go like I don't need to narrate that you know what I mean so I kind of explored like letting the actions speak for themselves letting the setting the scene the characters speak for themselves instead of me try to mediate it to the audience which I feel like kind of cheapens the experience so I feel like I really learned a lot about making a good video with that one so um yeah I would definitely do glasir again okay wow I'm very long- winded boy we've only answered like three questions um next he says or they say um what's their name was there anything you experienced that was scary or shocking that was never caught on camera yeah I would say um not necessarily scary I mean it was a little scary at the time just more so annoying but I met a guy in PNA India after I got off that like hellish train ride who said he was from Colombia and like oh I'm from Bosnia Colombia which is not even a [ __ ] place that gave me the creeps a little bit and then um he like showed me to this hotel that night and I was like oh my God thank you so much like you're a great help and then the next day I wake up to a [ __ ] phone call in my hotel room and I'm like okay well no one has any reason to contact me check out isn't for another two hours get [ __ ] and I just basically like picked up the phone hung hung it up whatever call me an [ __ ] I just don't want to be bothered first thing in the morning when I know that I don't have anything I don't have anyone to answer to so and then like five minutes later the phone rings again I do the same thing I hang it up and then I get a knock at my door and it's the guy that led me to the hotel last night and I'm still in my [ __ ] pajamas I had just woken up and he's like hey bro it's me remember can I come in I was like absolutely not you cannot come in what are you doing I can't believe the the [ __ ] receptionist guy gave you my room number first of all like I guess yeah you did know where I was staying and then that's kind of a betrayal of trust to just show up at my door the next morning the door guy and you like have you no respect for privacy and that was when I was like man Indians are kind of [ __ ] pushy aren't they man like this guy like went past the door guy and uh decided he he had the audacity to ask to come in my room first thing in the morning like what are you talking about dude are you insane like are you going to kill me right now like that was really disturbing I'm not going to lie I I know I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill but just I just felt Disturbed and kind of um violated I was like I can't believe that the door guy would just [ __ ] knock on me like that and you're just going to come in and expect me be like yeah good buddy come on inside let's have a chat like he was like can I come in I was like no you can't come in like what do you want and I mean in his defense he was he didn't want to show me around the city and stuff which is cool but but like just text me bro you don't need to [ __ ] like that was really weird um another situation I've already talked about on the podcast but when I was in no way song with our with our old buddy Dan uh it was like 3:00 in the morning I was in a little beach Bungalow so like there's no great insulation from inside to outside it's like you can hear and almost see outside from the Bungalow so it's like 3:00 in the morning and this [ __ ] Jeep Rolls by loud like a whole Convoy of jeeps Roll by next morning I asked the hotel staff like what was that and he's like oh yeah that was the military government they were um patrolling the streets making sure no one was breaking the military curfew I guess preventing an uprising or something but yeah the dude told me that they had taken people in the middle of the night like some people were breaking curfew and they just took them they just disappeared them like [ __ ] uh CCP does up there in China which was insane I was like oh dude Jesus Christ like I'm here for a nice little vacation a little [ __ ] fun little YouTube channel and people are getting taken I was like dude this is not worth it and at the time I couldn't go into detail in the videos I couldn't explain the backdrop of the political environment because if you talk about it they take you so you know me myammar was a tough one because the content was fire like I had some great adventures but the tradeoffs I just don't think it's worth it to go back and I've said this before I'll say it again if anyone could get me back into Myanmar legally let's talk about it let's talk about it I would really like to go back um if I can prevent being taken in the middle of the night that's a essential part of the deal Connor hi will you take Pepto Bismol anti-diarrhea tablets Tylenol and anti- parasite tablets with you next time if you go back to India Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries yes yes I will I mean I've said it in the mamar videos I think at the time I had a parasite that I didn't know was a parasite so I was just pregaming every bus ride and train ride with diarrhea pills because I knew it was coming it was just inevitability in that part of the world so I was like well I mean if I have to hold it for 12 hours like I guess we'll just take these [ __ ] pills I don't know what I did longterm to myself digestion you know what I'm saying I I I I I kind of don't want to mention that to my doctor next time I go back because I feel like it's going to be bad news uh but anys we won't think about that all right n3x says what got you into traveling the world and how did you get started I feel like I just touched on that in the the Japanese one where I just ranted for like 10 minutes um but basically actually to go back even further I had like a internship when I was like 20 um with a lawyer actually I thought I wanted to be a lawyer for a long time and I moved out uh to his place in Washington state and lived with him for like a month and I had my own truck I had a job you know I had weekends off um and I just had a lot of freedom so I was like doing a lot of solo traveling doing solo hiking actually went to another Music Festival like way back in the day this is 10 years ago now crazy to think about but um yeah I think that was my first actual solo travel trip where I really just explored the freedom that it allows you you know if you have time you have your health you have a little bit of Pocket Change you can do some amazing [ __ ] it doesn't take that much money to do it like I've been doing it for the last 10 years I mean I actually looked at my finances I'm actually surprised no one has asked this question yet but a lot of people were asking about like finances and stuff and how much I spent and I did the budget and I spent around $223,000 for 12 months on the road so that's a little under two grand a month which um is probably I mean it sounds like a lot but month by month like you could take that and do two months you could save $4,000 and go two months but keep in mind a lot of that is because I was traveling to so many countries and I was getting expensive visas in Asia and I also had a motorcycle that I had to pay insurance for I had to register I had to buy it you know what I mean I had to take a big loss when I sold it in Bulgaria so if you cut out those expenses I would venture to say I was spending around 1500 to like 1,300 a month which per day is like4 to $50 which I feel like most people can do like at your job if you make even like I think it's like wait let me do the math so if you make $100 a day at your job you're making $25,000 a year which in the US is not very much so if you can make $100 a day at your job and save half of it for 6 months you can basically do what I did you know what I'm saying but if you make 20000 a day it's even easier you know what I mean and like just go up from there so I think yes I know I'm I'm in a position of privilege especially because I lived in my parents house and I was able to save money and this is why like I don't even [ __ ] with the whole oh I recommend you do it because I can do it and look anyone can do it I I I don't want to make content like that I used to do that on Tik Tok and it just people will just come after you so I can just tell you what I did so that's what I did um and I think honestly if you stuck to countries like southeast Asia South America Africa um the Balkans Central Asia you know what I mean you can live very cheap uh for probably 20 to $30 a day so that's like 600 actually when I was in India and me andmar I spent around $850 a month that was two months in a row I think I spent $850 in a month which is is crazy that's like almost nothing so um yeah I think if you can swing that you can do it so there you go that's my little motivational speech and I will never bring that up again so this person says uh teodoro sorry Mr Garcia says in your opinion what was the place you felt the most scammed or likely to get scammed do I even need to tell you teodoro do I even need to explain it was India it was definitely India um 1,000% I feel like I couldn't walk out of the door without being bothered by scammers and touts and people screaming and telling me to get into Tuk Tok and following me and um India just is an assault on all of your senses and I I don't want to sound dramatic but it's just honestly that's how I felt after eight weeks there is no place that I went to in India okay I I'll give you the caveat there could be places in the South and [ __ ] but the places I went were an allout assault on your senses even the countryside when went to that Meditation Retreat like I'm meditating sitting there trying to focus on my breath and I'm smelling burned plastic and dog [ __ ] and spit and human excrement and it's just the smog and it's just uh [ __ ] a man it's it's a very intense place and um Honestly though I think some people still love it it has like a cult following like I think like 10% of Gringos that go there absolutely love it um but the rest of the 90% [ __ ] hate it so I don't know I'm not sure what camp you'll be in teodoro but um for me it was not it was not it you know and I've been to like Colombia and stuff and I kind of understood like the hustle culture and stuff like that but in India it's just on a completely completely another level it's like you're going to war when you leave the house and actually in the India sucks video when I left the bus originally that's why I like just was walking aimlessly because I'm like I just don't even want to acknowledge these people they're so annoying I just woke up I just need a [ __ ] second man I just need a second can you please just give me a second I felt like a hungover stepdad in some movie you know what I mean I was like just shut the [ __ ] up just just just don't make noise for 5 seconds and let me think W so that guy followed me from the bus uh I feel like I have numerous stalkers so yeah there's your there's your answer meline says throughout your whole trip through various countries what was your favorite interaction or sighting of an animal not commonly found in the US the monkey in Japan fighting for my life against a band of ravenous monkeys oh [ __ ] oh he's coming over oh no no no no oh [ __ ] oh [ __ ] Patrick says apologies in advance that this have been covered would love to know more about your origin story did you travel much as a kid Etc so one thing I will mention I I've talked about a lot of this in the um I think moving to Japan with no Japanese story I did what's called drum core uh which is like a professional level marching band where you travel the country you you're basically go on tour and do shows every night for for paying audiences and I did that between the ages of 18 and 21 22 and so that kind of introduced me to like the fast-paced travel life and also there was another question I got I'll go ahead and answer it uh Diego Garcia says I noticed in your comments that someone mentioned you were in DCI since DCI that's drum core tends to be very physically and mentally challenging do you feel like it helped you with some of the harder parts of the journey much love thank you Diego to answer your question yes I do feel like it helped with the harder parts of the journey because drum core or DCI is not a paid gig it's like it's essentially volunteer or you have to pay to do it which sounds crazy but it's like the most elite level of this thing and I just felt like at the time of my life I really wanted to excel at something so I did that and um yeah it um it definitely prepared me because I think you know doing drumcore you have to rehearse between 12 and 14 hours a day for like a whole month you're learning the show you're practicing it you're perfecting it and then you take the show on the road you go all around the country I've been almost States because of drumcore literally this a [ __ ] little traveling circus band I did when I was 18 but um yeah I mean it's it's really challenging and like no one gives a [ __ ] outside of the little drum cor community so I kind of learned how to like put passion and everything I do even if no one's watching you actually have to give it your all and believe in yourself I know it sounds [ __ ] lame but it's true like you know being amazing in something not getting a lot of recognition like I feel like that was me on YouTube for years and I'm not trying to [ __ ] toot my own horn or nothing but I felt like I was developing a craft and I thought I was getting really good but I was getting like 100 200 views a video but drumcore you know taught me like just don't focus on the outcome like it's just about it's your own personal standard and you know it's not like I was like small time in drum Court I did Carolina crowns so we got a silver medal at World Championships should have been gold but um yeah I mean even at the end of the season it was a little disappointing getting you know second place but um just knowing that I did my best that's all that really matters so I do feel like that helped me with the YouTube Journey also just like the day-to-day grind of of traveling it's it's a 7-Day 24hour a week uh job traveling because you know you have to number one think of interesting videos film them upload them find good Wi-Fi be patient with the Wi-Fi think of good captions posted to Instagram Tik Tok YouTube Snapchat Twitter [ __ ] also you're looking up visas for the next country you're you're doing uh applications for that you're sending money for that you you got to like call your mom back home it's it's like a constant you know I have to be my own travel agent and I have to be my own everything on YouTube so yeah I'm just [ __ ] complaining at this point I mean it's the best job in the world but it is a ton of work and drumcore just kind of gave me the tools to just like truck through it and like knowing that it's going to work out and I think that's it let me check oh Ado says will you ever come to Lithuania I suggest going in summertime yes I would come to Lithuania I mean if there's cool [ __ ] to do there if the people are friendly that's pretty much 90% of the of a good video so yeah okay meline also says were there any moments during a trip that happened off camera that you wish were on camera honestly you know I keep talking about India but the deli uh night bus that I got on from I think it was the one that I got off of in the India sucks video where there was like a pile of trash at the bus station it was the bus station was literally a pile of trash it was literally a dump I wish I would have gotten that on film so I could actually show you like how jarring and disgusting India really is because that to me was like the Pinnacle of gross India but I I was in a really big hurry to catch the bus I thought I was going to miss it um you know in classic small Brin American fashion so I did not film it but I feel like that would be very illustrative of how horrible India is like just a screenshot of that would would change so many people's minds about India if I haven't already done that yet with my constant bitching about it well anyways guys that's all the questions again if you want to join the next ask me anything join the patreon $3 a month so byebye see you next time

Channel: Small Brained Pod

Views: 48,469

Keywords: Solo podcast 2022, Travel podcast 2022, solo travel podcast, Crazy travel story, travel stories 2022, small brained american

Id: bITVRMToGTw

Length: 41min 41sec (2501 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 13 2024