Once upon a time…when we were in Bangkok (for like 5 seconds)… Day 3 of 7 we spent in Bangkok, and my take on the need to take personal time, networking, and a new country…

There are some things that some travelers, no matter how savvy, don’t know right away. Sometimes all the time you spend on the computer searching and re-searching doesn’t yield the kind of results in a foreign country like Thailand as they might in a place like, say, the United States. This is something I learned by traveling and not having internet to work with at all.

I have had this problem in the past: Some people more than others, particularly Americans in my experience, are detached. As one Kenyan/American told me once, our culture values time more than relationships, and I’d have to concur. Consequently we have become comfortably attached to our computers. This is normal. We do our work on the computer, we catch up with friends online; its our entertainment, our catharsis, our pleasure, and our business. And by we, I mean myself included. (Guilty as charged.)

I have been taking a different route here in Thailand however: connecting with people. The problem with that is that not everyone else is ready to do that. Building relationships, for some, takes time. In addition to growing accustomed to their new surroundings, they have to trust the person, understand their logic, connect with their background and interests, and any other number of other things. But if I want something I go for it, especially if it is for the betterment of a group.

I’m used to dealing with people who are alive! Who live out loud not in quiet matrimony to their laptops, work, headphones and cell phones. That life is no life in my experience. It may “get things done” but it’s not fulfilling, is it? And shouldn’t each day be full? The answer is yes. A life of constant pursuit doesn’t interest me. So I prefer to engage with the world around me and live in the moment. That’s why I chose to come and do Jet Set Zero in the first place. But when you can’t connect with people closest (in proximity) to you, then what? All the efforts for the better of the group hit a wall. Especially if they don’t arrive in American time, it seems. Maybe it hasn’t hit everyone that we are in Thailand yet. There have been the odd similarities of drunken white people, Western pop music, bars, and brands, but if you seek the unfamiliar then get up and look for it.

In the end what I think is lacking is feeling. Enthusiasm. Excitement. I understand, however, that these things cannot be forced. All the stress aside, my senses, enthusiasm, and excitement have been pretty strong. And if they aren’t I do something about it. I take action. I meet new people, see new things, find light elsewhere. Luckily there’s no lack of it here.

Yes, we have a place to live now. An AMAZING, beautiful, home-y place. True, it’s been a trial, but for the sake of documenting this journey I have to say that this past week has been tough with a lot of tension in the group. Words have been slung, but I vowed before leaving the U.S. to own up to my actions and I did let my ego to the front of the line, passing judgment of people’s processes – and allowing others’ judgment to dull some of my shine. Do I feel my efforts are still under appreciated? Yes, I do. But I expected appreciation from the unwilling. No “thank you” should be forced and I wouldn’t want it anyway. Everyone has their own way of going about things and processing their circumstances. Just because I see my time as well spent doesn’t mean that someone else spending their time differently is wrong; it’s just different.

In the end, we’re in Thailand. What that means to me is more than just geography. I cant wait for other people to adjust to their new surroundings or wrap their minds around their new experiences, but luckily I feel the dynamic shifting already – seamlessly with some, gradually with others. So for now I’ll do what I know best: me. And that advice comes straight from some monks I met recently, so consider this a test of Buddhist practice. (Shh! Don’t tell Jesus.)

Today was the best day I’ve had in Thailand so far. Finally! Finally, I feel as if we’ve reached the true heart of this country. The place that people don’t see on vacations. The reason why Thailand IS the land of smiles.
11:42am, Get a late start on the day and drive 30 minutes outside of Chiang Mai to meet up with our buddy David, a karaoke loving expat slash Chiang Mai local who’s agreed to help with our house search. We left behind all the clueless tourist in the city square and rambled on through the countryside. This whole time in Chiang Mai we’d been wondering where all the Thai people were at, it seemed as if there were more foreigners on the city streets than local residents, and honestly there probably are.

Almost immediately after leaving Chiang Mai we started seeing hints of what I had been seeking this whole time. No more street vendors trying to hustle dumb tourists, no more fucking massage parlors, no more bullshit ass signs for guided tours or zip lining or adventure treks or monkey farms, no more old white men with young Thai girls on their arms, no more Goddamn bullshit. This was the real deal Holyfield; I’m talking about glistening rice paddies and impoverished locals with smiles on their faces, blasé cattle languidly lounging on the ragged street tops, and wayward cocks darting every which way. Sankampaeng has soul in places that the city couldn’t possibly conceive.

Before heading out on our search for housing we decided to sit down for a bite to eat. David took us to a place on a quiet side street near his house. Four or five elderly Thai women sat out front of the open air restaurant shooting the breeze, talking about this and that. A handful of chickens roamed the ground below our table, unaware that they would soon be on it instead of safely below it. The shop owner turned on a TV and the women gasped and chuckled lightly to the musing of the telecaster. I think we all took comfort in something that needed no translation or explanation to appreciate, just a group of old ladies enjoying each others company and an unusually pleasant day.

After having what was hands down the best meal I’ve had since being in Thailand we began the terribly long and arduous struggle that is house hunting in Thailand. 5 minutes later we’re standing in front of a beautiful unfurnished 3 bedroom house with a leafy green yard and a slithering creek. Well, I guess the search wasn’t that long or arduous after all.

I almost couldn’t imagine living in a more perfect place. A short walk from our front door at the end of the street an endless sea of kelly green rice fields crash against the smoky mountain tops of Doi Suket, farmers tend to their crops in the cool country air, and 4 American travelers stand idly by, searching deep within themselves for the space to take it all in. This is it. This is what we came here for. This is the place we’re going to cry about when it’s time to leave. This is home.

Jet Set Zero proudly presents a new audience-powered series: Jet Set Zero – Spotlight!

We’re putting the spotlight on YOU so that you can show us how you follow the Jet Set Zero philosophy and live a “jet set” life on “zero” dollars. Submit your own travel videos, articles, or photography that showcases a favorite destination, experience, travel tip, or anything else travel/budget/adventure related. Send us your submission (spotlight@jetsetzero.tv), upload your video to YouTube and email us the link, or post your video in reply to our example video (directions below). We’ll post our favorite viewer submissions on the Jet Set Zero site and then feature you in our Spotlight series. Here’s an example Spotlight video from Taylor:

Name: Taylor Russell
Age: 19
Current Location: Various places in the beautiful state of Washington!
Travel History: I’ve been to many states in the USA, as well as Italy, France, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, & Canada
Travel dream/goal: Explore my two favorite places: Eastern Europe and Japan!
Most valuable lesson learned on the road: Don’t be scared to try new things! Most travel experiences are once in a lifetime, you can’t pass anything up!
If you could recommend one place in the world: Ljubljana, Slovenia. Amazing city, amazing country in general! And not yet heavily touristed!
Favorite Jet Set Zero episode: S02E03 – Things To Do in Tokyo When You’re Broke. How could anyone not want to go to Japan after seeing this?
Best cheap travel tip: Buy food at grocery stores and prepare it yourself.
Follow her adventures at: http://tayloralexandra.wordpress.com
Video Background: I made this video to show off the great city of Seattle and give travelers an inside look at the best places to visit.

Read on for more details!

(more…)

I have traveled to many places, and been a passenger on many planes. Yet, the Air Asia flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok produced a first for me. Never, have I ever, seen the magnitude of vapors coming from both sides of the plane as I did on this flight.

Post this video I had to pull a flight attendant aside and confirm it was air conditioning.

Jeremiah, who made it a point to emphasize his fear and reluctance of flying was the star of this flight. I tried my best to help him through it, even when it was clear that we were flying through lightening, and I told him it was a streaming white light on the side of the plane, totally normal. Love that guy…hilarious.

Thailand is fucking madness! Every day presents some new challenge or some new fucked up adventure. Seriously, one day we’re petting dangerous predators the next we’re chasing down elephants in the city streets the next we’re driving motorbikes on the highway in a full on down pour. Each day brings us a new Tiger that must be fought and conquered.

Collectively we’ve been fighting these Tigers together, but truth be told we’ve been fighting these Tigers on our own as well. It’s seems like each person in our dysfunctional band of gypsies has a personal struggle that they’re confronting in on this voyage. Whatever the outcome, I think it would be fair to say that each of us is going to learn something about who we really are on this trip. So I say, “bring on those fucking tigers.” Whether we are swallowed whole by them or stand proud as victors is entirely up to us. Either way, the battle is going to reveal each persons true nature.

I don’t know if I find it fitting, or not, but I had a breakdown on September 11th. Full on needing to talk to someone back home, someone I felt safe letting it all hang out in front of. Enter Jason. The best friend, the protector, the rationality to my emotional nature.

I sat my ass on a bench, next to the city center water square. I spoke, fast, trying to clump so many experiences into a five minute time frame knowing that only five minutes on my timecard would be left for response. Sentences and experiences ran into one another and I’m sure my impending anxiety was evident to him, though it’s nothing he hasn’t heard before.

He let me go, let me cry, and offered his perspective. This is what friends are for. 3:30am on Septemeber 11th, in NYC and Jason took the time to talk me through my life right now.

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t take a moment, how brief it may have been to think about the anniversary of our towers falling in New York.

The irony of it with all the debate on building a mosque there. Meeting people from around the world, many ask our opinion on it.

My opinion…build the mosque, put a temple, shrine, church, synagogue, and every other building with a religious representation right next to it. Make the spot represent us all, in remembrance of those who died there.

This is for them…New York I definitely take your strength with me.

So, in trying to find ways to make money on this trip, it’s approaching week three, money is being spent, yet it’s still a dilemma for some to figure out how to get it coming in. There is a potential for work over the next two weekends, something everyone is hoping for, yet it’s a case of us not knowing until we get there.

In trying to be as efficient with energy and time as possible, it makes more sense to try to find ways to make money remotely, earning the US dollar, rather than working an 8 hour day in Thailand, making the equivalent of $30 a day. I could sell two smaller travel photos and make a days work here.

So, in my mind I’m trying to mesh the two. The businesswoman has emerged, and I woke up this morning with a goal on my mind. 100 photos. I don’t know where the number came from, but it spoke to me. As did the feeling in my gut that reassured me that the photography may be the gateway. Trust your hustle. So, I created this flier , have already sold a photo, and am leaving the rest up to the Universe to have it all work out. I believe in the images, and I believe in myself. Sometimes that’s all you have, and all you need.

One day.

Wake up. Late morning. Light, cool breeze.

Take a walk. Rent a motor bike for the first time in your life. Lie and say you have ridden before. Take the fuck off on the open road with no direction. Learn you are quite skilled at riding said motor bike.

See live tigers interact with people. Crack the fuck up as they cuddle with the wild animals. Feed koi fish. Take off on said motor bike again. Drive indiscriminately into the Thai jungle with no sound but the music of said jungle.

Share some rice wine with your newly formed motor bike gang – “The Chicken Leg Gang” – and some new awesome friends at a dimly lit outdoor patio. Barefoot – as is the custom.

Get invited to a house warming party for an Italian expat. Revel with men, women, and children from all over the world and learn phrases in three languages, three dialects, and seven accents.

Get in a truck. Drive. See a fucking lone elephant! Scream and point. Witness your camera man eat shit as he practically fractures his coccyx on the asphalt after leaping from the moving vehicle. Witness his awe inspiring recovery as he then bolts to film the elephant. Cherish the 4 second clip he captures.

Take your motor bike to an awesome reggae bar. Meet more people from more places. Dance on benches with beautiful women. Listen to live music.

Drive motor bike back to guesthouse on a lone stretch of dark road, through an alley, past a Buddhist temple, and dismount.

One day.
Best day.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat right? My idealistic goal is to break the Jet Set Zero model of work and travel. Everyone has different goals in life and especially in travel (I realize that now more ever). Personally, I don’t just want to quit traveling after my Jet Set Zero experience. I’d like to keep going for 6 months, or 1 year, or how ever long I can make this last for. In order to stay on the road for that long and maintain my sanity I feel like I’m going to need a different solution. Something more sustainable.

This kind of thing has been rolling around in my mind for quite some time now. Can I create some hybrid system of employment where I work remotely to bring in the base of my income and also pick up local employment when it’s available? Can I schedule my travels around places where I know I can work, save money, and when the time is right pack up and fly to the next location? The idea is extremely idealistic, but worth considering none the less.