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MARCH 2020
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[Sorry about typos. I don't want to edit it all]
I haven’t posted much lately.
I’ve been in Southeast Asia since early November 2019. I was in Bangkok Thailand for two months, and now I’m in Da Nang, Vietnam, for three months so far. I’m trying/expecting to stay here longer, both because I like it here, and I would anyway because of the Coronavirus.
First, some charts.
Here’s my spending so far in Asia:
In December I bought a new lens and a new phone. I tell you what - Chinese companies (and one in India) are making amazing phones these days.. paying full price for iPhones and high-end Samsungs is for suckers.
In Da Nang, I have an apartment that’s pretty nice for $190/month. It’s almost exactly what I would want. In a fairly small apartment building. I’m on the top (5th) floor, and the only apartment on that floor. Room is maybe 200 square feet, not counting the bathroom. There’s a window that has a good view. I also have a huge rooftop terrace with a cooking area out there (that is just mine). It could maybe be $150 per month if I got a true locals rate. This is a pretty good apartment for staying home a lot. Some apartments/homes here are very closed in, with no windows or only a window that opens to another building 5 feet away.
This is my income and spending since quitting my job, and the area is the running savings over that time. Going into the Covid craziness, I do feel like I’ve done a good thing by keeping my spending low and building up some extra capital.
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THOUGHTS ON SE ASIA SO FAR
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OVERALL
- It is interesting here. There are so many things different.
- Overall, I enjoy it. I want to stay more. In many ways, there is a charm here that I wish existed more in the U.S. Depending on how the virus impact plays out, there’s a good chance that I’ll go back to the U.S. much earlier than I’d want. It might not work out well to stay here. There are challenges related to travel and visas and places being locked down, and mismanagement in some countries that I would have wanted to go to.
- There are various things that they do ‘right’ here that stand out from how things are in the States. Widespread use of scooters and motorcycles for transportation,, especially in Vietnam where they are the default (and for transporting big/long objects) Bidets… smaller homes.. families sticking together more… less of a fierce independence mindset, and more of helping family, social capital, etc… People aren’t fat… people find clever solutions to problems…. people make due in non-idea situations rather than freaking out… really cheap housing and food…
- And some things that aren’t so good: horrible air pollution… trash thrown all over… widespread use of some ridiculous types of traditional medicine… poor food safety understanding and practices… very limited sex lives (for most locals) … some old fashioned gender roles, similar to Latino Machismo culture… many of the government and farmers do a miserable job related to sustainability/environmentalism.
- Weather can be hot and really humid, but I think timing the location with the seasons can keep a person in nice weather most of the year.
- Things are not spread out so much like in the U.S. You can walk to places. Neighborhoods feel much more alive and connected.
- So far, Vietnam is a good place to be during Coronavirus. The government has taken action to limit incoming virus cases, by limiting travel in, and now by quarantining and testing everyone who enters Vietnam. They also do a lot of work to track down people who’ve been in contact with those who have the virus. So far they have about 230 cases, with 75 recovered, and no deaths. There are currently restrictions similar to a lockdown, but not entirely. Seems we’re at an important moment - to see whether the work they’ve done so far can prevent larger transmission from person to person inside Vietnam. If it spreads a lot, it could be a lot of trouble, as they don’t have a lot of doctors or money to provide high quality treatment…. The government response has been well-organized, consistent, and aligned. It’s a single-party government. The people here have a mindset more focused on community and nation - not so fiercely independent like in the U.S. People here trust their government and a large portion of them adhere to the restrictions.
AIR QUALITY
It is REALLY bad. A lot of people here don’t even understand what clean air is like anymore. AQI in the places that Asians consider to have very clean air is 25-150. Dirty areas are 100-400… and China is even worse. The AQI in Los Angeles is like 25. In clean parts of the U.S. it’s 3-7. (generally, AQI below 25 cause very little or no long-term health issues. Over 100 can cause ailments within a few days). Most locals are used to it, kind of like how you can get used to smoking 20 cigarettes per day.
I’ve been impacted by the air a few times. It inflames the lymph nodes in my neck, gives me a sore throat, and maybe a bit of a headache. Wearing an N95 mask helps. Having a good air filter at home helps a lot. I’ve built one myself.
Like this, but with smaller parts. Cost me about $32. Could have been less if I got a better price on the fan. The purpose-built Air Purifiers cost around $200 and do the same exact thing.
IMPENDING (slow) DISASTERS
One of the impressions I’ve had since coming to Asia is that they are on track to cause/have serious problems. Problems of pollution and trash. Ecological impacts. Issues related to being so densely populated, to having so many people live in big cities… and so on. And China has the things I’ve observed multiplied by 2 or 3. I flew through Xiamen, China on my way to Bangkok. I looked at the satellite view of Google maps to see what the city is like, and I was appalled. It is so extremely dense. I’m talking 20 story buildings packed in one right up against the other, filling up huge areas of the city. It just ain’t right to live that way.
There’s also the fact that many of the cities out here within a meter or to of sea level and as the ocean continues to rise, they will have some huge problems. That seems to be coming in the next 30-60 years and could displace more than half of the population in Southeast Asia and all the big port cities in China. Seems like that will be a huge deal.
COST OF LIVING
It’s pretty darn low. My costs are around:
- Rent, $150-350
- Food, ~$120-200
- Travel between countries: $50-120 every 2-6 months
- Visas, $0 to $60 per month.
So it seems pretty easy to keep spending between $500 and $1,000 per month, and the $1,000 level would include quite a bit of spending on extra stuff
DATING
It has gone pretty well. I met a lot of women in Bangkok, and made numerous, but didn’t form any significant relationships. One was fairly close, but she wanted more of an ongoing thing that I do (to continue a long-distance relationship after I left Bangkok). I did meet a girl who is a masseuse, and (her idea) she’d come over and give me a massage like once a week. Still have never paid for a massage, even in Bangkok where it seems like everyone does. I did also meet a girl I got along with really well who turned out to be a celebrity of some sort. Related to hosting some kind of TV shows.. and now she basically makes a cooking show. It was sort of surprising.. I met her at a coffee shop. She happened to sit next to me and I started a conversation. After a while we left there and had dinner at a place nearby.. And at dinner, other customers recognized her and asked to take a picture with her. I don’t really care whether someone is a celebrity, but it was surprising/interesting. I met her like 2 weeks before leaving, so not much happened with her.
In Vietnam, I’ve dated fewer women, and have made way fewer friends, but have two women that I spend time with regularly.…. and have kind of a loose relationship with one.
WHAT’S NEXT
I’m not sure. This afternoon, I got my visa back after doing an in-place 3 month extension. I paid $350 to a visa agency to do it for me. Normally I’d go to the border, and the would’ve cost me $65 total, but we can’t do that now. Extensions without leaving are fairly complicated maybe impossible to do yourself here, I believe that is due in part to corruption, but it’s not totally clear.
Over the next three months, I’ll be deciding what to do next. If things suddenly get much lot better in the area (like the miracle Trump said might happen), I’ll continue along to other countries like I had been planning.. But I don’t think that will happen. So,.. I might try to stay in Vietnam longer. Or maybe go back to the U.S.
Going back to the U.S. will be a little tricky because I don’t have an established home to go back to. I was thinking about it before as a contingency plan.. Normally I could straight back to where my sister lives (my stuff is stored in her basement), but a truck, and then go off to some city I want to live in. But.. I was thinking it’d be a bad idea to go straight there after flying back through crowded airports and a much higher chance than normal of picking up the virus.
For now, I’m staying at home nearly all the time. I’m not making very good use of my time. Watching a lot of Youtube.. playing a video game a lot. I am
some of the things I think I should - reading, exercise, investment research.
I’ll probably share some pictures. I shot a fair amount in Bangkok, but very little so far in Vietnam