EP 48: Hermes- Travel Scams, Cons, and Grifts

Holy Cats! What an episode! My friend "James" (who wishes to remain anonymous due to an embarrassing story) recounts a regrettable experience regarding alcohol and a tattoo parlor. My guest and I then discuss the culture shock of traveling from Kenya to southern California to attend university. My friend details how he managed to navigate a completely new lifestyle in a wildly foreign setting from which he was not accustomed to.

Episode Highlights:

• The Ill-Advised Tattoo 
• American Food Portions
• Learning the Collage Drinking Culture
• Benefits of a “Digital Nomad”

My guest Alex S. graces the podcast, and reflects on his state of mind when he decided to pack his bags and leave the corporate life in the USA, for a life in Bali. He explains how he took action to maximize his happiness, and he follows it up with a story about thieving monkeys. 

Episode Highlights:

• The Journey Foward
• Insights and Reflections
• Maximize your Life for Happiness
• Thieving Monkeys

Visit The Travel is Real Youtube channel for more video content. 

Sunny Ju graces the podcast this week and holy cats does she give a wild story. Turns out, getting lost in a massive, remote rainforest is easy. Unnervingly easy. Sunny illuminates  her experience on how she and three others struggled for survival for eight days in the jungle….with only two days of food. Its an amazing story of determination, confidence, and the will to live. She follows this cautionary tale, by discussing why she jumped out of corporate life in Germany, to work for herself in SouthEast Asia.

Episode Highlights

• Somethings not Right!?
• Things are Getting Bad
• Poacher's Hideout
• Jumping out of Corporate

Michael D. joins the podcast! This fine Brit recently moved to Bali to learn coding/programing, but before that, he had lived in Bangkok, Thailand for years! Too many years to count! Michael regales a travel story which he and his friends suffered through an incident, to which, could have put significant hurdles and roadblocks on their backpacking trip. But with luck, fortitude, and a specific purchase of a certain item, Mike and his friends had turned a terrible situation into an amazing few weeks backpacking in New Zealand. Mike also illustrates the most effective way to hunt for frogs at night, in northern Thailand.

Episode Highlights:

• "Sorry Mom, I'm Not Coming Home"
• The Terrible Incident
• Rice Paddies and Car Batteries

The Travel is Real Youtube channel for more video content.

In this episode, my guest Sophia and I discuss some of the more bizarre things one can expect to see in the city of Saigon. We then get into a bit more serious topic concerning what its like teaching English in South East Asia as black woman. This is a great episode to listen to, if you are keen on teaching English in another country, or interested in traveling to Asia.

Episode Highlights

• Child Fire-breathers?! 
• American English? English English? Auzzie English?
• Racism Woes as an Expat

My friend, Hella, who is Co-owner of Canggu’s Camp 308 and quite the avid surfer graces the podcast. She first tells a story of how a near death experience fortuitously lead her to make a decision which brought her to BALI. She then illuminates what it's like to live and work on a very small tropical island. Turns out, it's harder than you think. 

Episode Highlights:

• The Washing Machine
• Tropical Island Life and the Difficulties
• Freediving All Day!

My guest Jeroen Van Overbeak, AKA "The Water Magician"  presents his story of how he was able to bring clean water to thousands of Indonesians, by using his invention..the Nazava Water Filter. This water filter cleans water at low cost, effectively, and highly sustainable when compared to other water filtering or disinfecting processes. We then discuss his experience of bringing water to Lombock island after the devastating earthquake which occurred last year, which leveled communities and killed thousands of  Indonesians.

Find out more about Social Impakt at https://www.social-impakt.com

Episode Highlights:

• The Water Magician
• The Nazava Water Filter Creation
• The Island Disaster

Check out The Travel is Real Youtube channel for more video content.

In this special episode, one that I’m very excited about, my guest Kieran Hedley, also known as Coach Kezza, graces the podcast. Kieran has been traveling and living abroad for quite some time, as mental health coach who specifies in anxiety. His coaching service, is extremely valuable and rich in content for anyone who is struggling with anxiety and depression….and much of his content is very funny. In this interview, Kieran gives some of his tools and advice which helps him power through and overcome anxiety and depression that comes with living a nomadic life, or any kind of life for that matter. This interview is jam packed with knowledge so listen up!

Episode Highlights:

• Living the Nomad Life with Anxiety
• Understanding Perspective
• Tools to Overcome Destructive Anxiety

Find out more about Kieran and his coaching at https://linktr.ee/pocketcoach

Also, check out The Travel is Real Youtube channel for more video content.

My guest Sabby on today's episode is a very great friend and great dude, who I met here in Bali. Sabby details how he went from living in his parents house for one year, to achieving a successful and rewarding lifestyle working remotely anywhere around the world…AKA living that digital nomad life. But first Sabby dives into an absurd hostel hookup story that doesn’t really end well for anyone. Its a great lesson in why you don’t stay in a 30 bed Dorn in a hostel. After that, Sabby details his startup experience while he was living in the states, and then gives light as to why he wanted to leave Canada, and explore the world while working from his computer. Lots great advice and insight in the one, so listen close.

Episode Highlights:

• A Risque Hostel Hookup
• Starting a Start-up: Y Combinator
• Optimize life, travel, and work for happiness
• How to work while Traveling

SCAMS, Cons, Cheats, Grifts, you name it, this episode has it. My guest Hermes and I detail a few common, and oddly intricate scams travelers encounter when adventuring abroad. We start out by detailing some tips for people looking to backpack abroad, and how to keep your money safe from fraudulent ATMs. After that, Hermes illustrates a crazy story of his time in China, and how he got swindled by a con, known as The Teahouse Scam. Its wild.  We then talk about the Black Budda Temple scam found in Thailand,  various other scams and cons we have both encountered along our travels. Listen close so these cons don’t happen to you. It might not save your life, but it will save your wallet.

Episode Highlights 

• Bogus ATMs
• The Tea House Scam
• Pickpockets. Pickpockets Everywhere!
• The Budda Temple Con

Also, check out The Travel is Real Youtube channel for more video content.