good afternoon guys hope you guys are having an amazing day or night wherever you are in the world
today i wanted to take a pause, a break from all the travel content i'm currently making
and film something a little bit different for you guys
as of recently i've been getting a lot of messages and comments
as to my controversial decision to travel full-time abroad in 2020 and 2021
now first off let me make a disclaimer this is by no means encouraging you guys to travel
but simply i just wanted to share my experiences as to what it's been like
for the last 3-4 months traveling abroad, traveling to several different countries
and one thing that interests me is what is your idea, what is your opinion
of traveling at this time in february 2021
you know have you guys been traveling abroad? have you guys been traveling from city to city?
what's your experience been like and what are your opinions on traveling at this time?
do you guys think that traveling is something that can be done safely?
or do you think that just simply it's not the right time or a moment to be doing it?
so between march of 2020 and september 2020,
i've been basically saving up every single dollar that i had owned
and made working in the united states so that i could travel for one full year abroad
with really no need to make an income and have to worry about
when's the next paycheck going to come in
so as you guys know now it's february and i'm basically halfway through my savings
well almost halfway through my savings
and hopefully by the point of september i will be committed enough into youtube
where i won't have to be worrying about making another income
and simply just make more content for you guys
now my decision to travel of course is going to be controversial to some
and i typically don't make videos like this where i'm just sharing my personal feelings,
my personal opinions about situations because of course they're going to be divisive
of course they're gonna be controversial
people are more than welcome to share their own feelings and opinions and everything
in life i feel that whatever you're doing in life whether it be sports, driving your car,
driving your scooter or traveling to another country,
there are going to be risks with everything you do
and i think ultimately you have to factor the risks and the benefits
and whether you're willing to take some risks more than others
and to me travel is something that keeps me happy and keeps me stable
in september i felt that there was a point to where i could do it safely
and so far i have been doing it safely
now it doesn't mean that i can't get sick tomorrow or a month from now or several months from now
and one of the ways that i'm doing that is of course by masking up anywhere i go
at the moment there's nobody around me so there's really no reason for me to me to be masked up
but however in indonesia they are taking it very seriously
they do have washing stations outside every building
they have temperature checks and they have police checkpoints as well
now one thing that i did find very interesting the other day is that
the tourism director for indonesia, he was encouraging locals in indonesia to travel to bali
because bali has been impacted so much as far as tourism, as far as economy
just as well as every other parts of the world basically
but he is currently moving to bali because he is trying to encourage more local tourism
and more economy into the island because of how severely impacted it's been
now another measure that i'm taking to stay safe of course is with health insurance
i believe it's been since march i've had travel health insurance by the name of safety wing
if you guys aren't familiar with safety wing it's a subscription service similar to netflix
where you can pay every single month for health insurance
and they really insure you for whatever country you're traveling to
one of the amazing features of it is that you can customize a visa letter
depending on what country you're visiting
and they will state that they are insuring you completely for covid insurance
which is something that some countries are requiring if you do plan to travel to it
i will have links in the description for that guys
and just disclaimer, it is a referral link so if you do make a subscription purchase
i do get a small kickback for that
but overall i'm really curious what your thoughts are guys so please comment down below
don't be afraid to express your own opinion
i'm really curious as to if any of you have been traveling at this time
whether it's just been to another city or as far as visiting another country
what's your experience been like with traveling at the moment
and do you feel that you can do it safely?
or do you feel that it's just better and safer to stay at home at the moment
overall though in my opinion i feel that tourism and travel is just so important to the economy
and to the world that as you guys have seen,
stopping it for an indefinite period of time is really affecting families and businesses
and the economy in various countries around the world
so i feel that every day that i'm going out making expenses making purchases,
I'm supporting businesses here in indonesia and turkey and mexico
where i've been traveling for the last few months
however you know you do have to take the precaution of doing it responsibly
and doing it safely
now two days ago i posted a poll on my instagram
if you guys aren't following me down there go ahead and do so
because that's where i'm posting all of my live updates where i'm currently at
and what i'm currently doing
so i basically asked what you guys are interested in knowing
about travel for the last 3-4 months that i've been abroad
and let's just go through some of them right now
now first one is were do you work online or how do you make an income?
so i think i addressed this earlier in the video,
i started saving all my money back when the pandemic began and i was back home in the states
so that i could travel for one full year without having to worry about a paycheck
and basically i've been living off my savings since september just focusing strictly on youtube
and i'm now basically 5-4 months in so almost halfway through my savings
were you nervous about traveling?
absolutely every single day but luckily i'm taking all the precautions
and i do have travel insurance cover me for covid so really important to have
another one, how did you become financially free or work remotely
and also your favorite country so far
save all my money to commit to something that i love which is youtube
and favorite country so far has to be indonesia because this is now my fourth time here
next one from philip, do you miss partying and how do you meet new people?
partying really wasn't much of a thing for me before the pandemic
so really don't miss it that much at the moment
and how do i meet people? i join a lot of facebook groups when i'm traveling to a new country
so that's a great way to meet people just say:
"hey i've just moved to vietnam or in indonesia and i'm looking to meet new people"
and people are usually very open and welcoming
because most expats living in a different country are there for the same thing
to connect and meet new people, so it's pretty easy
next question, are people still traveling?
from the content creators that i've seen on youtube yes they are still traveling
next one is from quattro, why do you prefer living outside your own country
far away in another place?
that's something i never really thought about
but ever since i started traveling in 2017
i flew to latvia and then off to ukraine to visit my family
and that was really my first experience in traveling by myself
and i just fell absolutely in love with it
just the whole experience of being on my own being somewhat independent
but you know waking up in a new country not knowing what you're going to do today
and not knowing your surroundings is just something that's thrilling to me personally
and ever since i just had the travel bug
and ever since i've been basically just trying to find how can i do it
where i don't have to worry about money or anything else in the world
and to me at the moment that's through youtube
next one, how do i convince my parents? that's a very good question
it really depends on what kind of background you're coming from
for me, me and my mom immigrated to the united states when i was very young 6 years old
so traveling essentially was already kind of in me
but you know what's funny about my experience is that my mother immigrated me to the US
so that i could have a better life and have a better opportunity in the united states
and what's funny about the situation now is that i'm trying to escape the united states
and live and travel abroad and she's just like what are you thinking
but overall my parents are very open to it as long as i communicate with them
and tell them where i am
next one from my friend litzy, i know there's so many cons but what about the pros?
so basically pros and cons about traveling during the pandemic
pros is that it's a lot cheaper, cons is that there is more of a headache and visa requirements
and travel restrictions, so you really have to do your research as to what the restrictions are
to the country you're traveling to. so that's been the biggest headache and doing all the research
from rory make it a reality for me and harrison please and thanks
you guys can do it! i just start making money online
how do you budget?
so before i started traveling i started using this brand new app it's called modify
so basically i have a limit for the entire year that i'm traveling and i budget out USD 1000/month
anytime i make an expense whether it's cash or credit i put that into my modify app
and that's how i track all of my expenses and then at the end of the month,
i make my expense cost of living video depending on what country i'm in
now unfortunately is i have to do it manually i haven't found an app that will do it for you
so it's just a hassle
all right and last one before you guys get bored of this video
from tina, can you still do the same adventures during the pandemic?
and are you worried about testing positive for covid?
yes, you can somewhat do the same adventures
so when i traveled to istanbul they were still doing food tours you just had to mask up obviously
and they had the tour company actually provides you with mask which is very nice
and they provided hand sanitization so they took you to all the local restaurants
it's just that they weren't first enforcing more measures as far as bali is concerned and indonesia
they are doing temperature tricks in every single building
when i did the atv tour i mean they weren't really doing anything different for covid
except for the fact that i just arrived with my mask on
and washed my hands before doing the atv tour
that's really about it
when you're visiting restaurants they're just doing temperature checks
and you have to keep your mask on especially now
the government's really enforcing it critically and you just have to wash your hands
am i worried about testing positive covid?
absolutely yes, so far i've been doing really well with washing my hands
masking up when i'm in public and social distancing
but for worst case scenario i do have health insurance with safety wing
so that's gonna be the last one, hope you guys enjoyed this video
a little bit something different for me
if you guys are interested in and me doing more of these talking segments
where i just pick a different topic and speak to you guys a little bit more about it
let me know and of course really curious to know your opinion about the situation right now
have you guys been traveling? how far was your experience been like..
so next week we will continue the rest of my trip and adventures across from bali
and the surrounding islands
if you enjoyed this video give it a like and comment down below
and i'll see you guys next week, peace!