Before selling my soul to the Computer Science god and enjoying all the privileges an elite education could provide, I was a reckless hitchhiker. For 9 months, I hitchhiked across Africa. Hitchhiking was also my main mode of transportation in Israel and South America. The highlight of my existence was when I was featured on the list of “fantastic hitchhikers” by the Lonely Planet author Anick-Marie Bouchard. Continue reading “[Day 703] Hitchhiking in the US”
Travel
[Day 696] I lost my hair virginity
I was in Orange County and this showed up in my inbox:
This made me feel a bit rebellious so I wanted to do something different. Dying my hair was one of the things I’d wanted to try for a long time but never did. For one thing, I’ve heard that dying my hair could potentially damage it. For another, I’ve spent my entire life learning to accept my hair for what it is so I was worried that dying my hair would only make it worse.
[Day 495] A few things about Copenhagen
Thing 1: We knew that our AirBnB was exactly downtown when we saw downstairs a drunken girl trying to hail a cab and the driver trying not to run her over. Then she screamed at him.
Thing 2: People cycled to pubs. We were wondering if it was legal to drink in public when we saw two guys casually pedaling by with beers in their hands.
Thing 3: It’s possible to accidentally walk into a sex bar. We were happy to finally find a bar without indoor smoking when we realized there was something odd about it. There were only old white men and young Thai girls. Everyone was staring at us. Men were thinking about how Dani lucky was (at least I’d like to think that) and women were probably mad at me stealing their customer.
Thing 4: All the travel guides that tell you about the 10 things you must eat in Copenhagen are lying. There are only three things that people in Copenhagen eat: Chinese box, Doner kebab, and crepe. I think they might have potato and bread too but I’m not so sure. Continue reading “[Day 495] A few things about Copenhagen”
[Day 235] I need your input to write a bad-ass book about Vietnamese culture
Over the years, I’ve noticed three things about books about Vietnamese culture:
- They are all written by foreigners. A guidebook to a country written by a foreigner is like a cookbook written by someone who has only had experience in looking at the food. There needs to be a book about Vietnamese culture written by a real Vietnamese.
- They all start with the war. Come on, the war ended 4 decades ago! There are so many more cool things in Vietnam.
- They all read like textbooks at best and phonebooks at worst. I believe that books should be not only informative but also entertaining.
I’ve spent the last two years interviewing many people: foreigners who have traveled in Vietnam, foreigners who have lived in Vietnam, foreigners who have never been to Vietnam, Vietnamese who have lived overseas, Vietnamese who have never been outside the country, etc. I’ve combined their opinion into a book called “How to not get your ass kicked in Vietnam: The native’s guide”. But I still need more input to make the book as comprehensive as possible. So please help me through this short survey:
Thank you very much! The prologue to this book can be find below.
Continue reading “[Day 235] I need your input to write a bad-ass book about Vietnamese culture”
[Day 153] Packing for a year-long trip: Tips from Asher Leiss – the waterfalls guy
Asher Leiss is a good friend of mine who once spent 5+ years bumming around the world. He’s now based in Taiwan to learn Chinese and is kind of a celebrity there because he has explored hundreds of waterfalls and documented them all. Talk about passion. Check out his website and Facebook to see a crazy white dude jumping off different waterfalls.
When Paul told me that he’d drop out of school to travel for a couple of years, I asked Asher to give him some packing tips. Paul found them helpful, so I hope that you find them helpful too. I’ll also prepare some packing tips and post them soon-ish.
[Day 90] The cheapest places in the world to live for a year
Today, I found out that something I wrote got featured on SFGate. Someone asked on Quora about the cheapest place to live for a year. I answered and SFGate republished it.
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I have been to more than 30 countries in Asia, Africa, South and Central America and I would say that if cost is all you care about, regardless of the standard of living, you would have plenty of options to live under $300/month. Below are some of my favorites:
Continue reading “[Day 90] The cheapest places in the world to live for a year”
[Day 63] Scotland for Dummies
When we first arrived in Edinburgh, as an introduction to Scottish culture, they had us sit and listen to two gentlemen in suits talking in a monotonic Scottish accent for 4 hours. They had powerpoint slides and everything, and they just read things off the slides like tenured professors who have stopped giving a flying duck.
I went out looking for water but before I knew it, I was walking to the nearby ice cream shop and ordered myself a nice, mouthwatering scoop. When I came back, Delenn whispered: “My god you missed it. This guy just read Scottish words off a dictionary for half an hour. Every time he finished a word I thought he would stop, but he just kept going.”
[Day 56] Why we should all move to New Zealand
I have this charming habit of staring at my phone during breakfast. The only reason I’d be inclined to talk before noon is because something bad has happened to me in that 15-minute window from bed to breakfast and I’d like to file a complaint.
When other people delight themselves in small talks and weather discussions, I’d be scrolling through my Google Now cards. Maybe because I have been reading a lot about Brexit, Google has suggested a lot of news about New Zealand. They probably assume I’m a British national who is looking to migrate after their country’s giant farce. At least they are right about me wanting to move there. New Zealand sounds like the best country in the world.
Continue reading “[Day 56] Why we should all move to New Zealand”
[Day 52] Sun sighted in Edinburgh
Today, thousands of locals flocked to the streets to witness what was considered the first sighting of the sun in Edinburgh since the Great Miss Sunshine in 2001. According to several eyewitnesses, the sky was lit up blue for more than two hours from 11am to 1.10pm, Friday, July 1, 2016. The leaves dried up and suddenly, the locals realized that the leaves were of a cheerful shade of grey, not just a sad shade of grey.
[Day 49] Day at the zoo
So I went to Edinburgh zoo today–you can’t be in Edinburgh without seeing its famous penguin parade–and I was telling Jonas about the giant panda I saw at the zoo.
Me: “I kid you not. That panda is awake for only 8 hours but poops 50 times a day.”
Jonas: “That sounds like a pretty shitty life to me.”
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