Why he sold his house, and left Australia to change his life.

brokethehabit
28 Jun 202424:18

Summary

TLDRIn this insightful conversation, David Kai, an Australian with Vietnamese roots, shares his journey of leaving a stable job and home in Melbourne to embrace a life of travel and content creation. David candidly discusses his experiences, from the initial motivation to sell his house and travel, to the challenges and rewards of solo traveling across 15 countries. He highlights the personal growth he's gained through his adventures, the importance of research, and the unexpected moments that have shaped his perspective on life and work.

Takeaways

  • 🌍 David, originally from Melbourne, Australia, decided to sell his house and travel the world after feeling confined by his life and job in Australia.
  • 🏠 Before traveling, David had a comfortable life with a six-figure salary and owned a house, which he sold to fund his travels.
  • 📈 He worked as an Agile Coach in university education, helping to manage and improve various teams' performance.
  • 🎥 David's initial foray into content creation was inspired by meeting travel vloggers in Thailand, which motivated him to start his own YouTube channel.
  • 💡 His first earnings from YouTube came within 3-4 weeks of starting his channel, which was faster than he expected and gave him confidence in his decision.
  • 📊 David's income from YouTube varies depending on the country he is in and the amount of content he produces, averaging around $3,000 to $4,000 AUD per month.
  • 🚶‍♂️ As a solo traveler, David has experienced challenges, such as a tense encounter with a taxi driver in India, emphasizing the importance of caution and research when traveling.
  • 🗺️ David has visited 15 different countries in the last year and a half, with Vietnam feeling like a second home due to his Vietnamese heritage.
  • 🔄 Despite enjoying his travel lifestyle, David sees a potential future where he might return to a corporate job or settle down, but he would continue creating social media content.
  • 📚 For those interested in traveling to Vietnam, David recommends watching travel guides and content creators on YouTube to learn about the country and culture.
  • 🛣️ David's current travel plan includes finishing his motorbike series in Vietnam and potentially visiting China and South Korea in the future.

Q & A

  • Who is David, and what is his background before becoming a travel vlogger?

    -David is a former agile coach from Melbourne, Australia, who worked in the education sector, helping manage and improve various teams within universities.

  • What was David's official job title in his previous career?

    -David's official job title was Agile Coach, where he essentially acted as a team leader and helped manage smaller teams within universities.

  • What platform did David use for his work in the education sector?

    -David used Salesforce as the platform for his work in the education sector, particularly for CRM purposes.

  • How did David's lifestyle in Australia compare to his current lifestyle as a travel vlogger?

    -In Australia, David had a comfortable lifestyle with a six-figure salary, a mortgage, and savings. He was working from home and had a stable job. Now, as a travel vlogger, he experiences a more dynamic and adventurous lifestyle, visiting different countries and creating content.

  • What prompted David to quit his job and start traveling?

    -David felt a strong desire to experience a new world and life after meeting travel vloggers in Thailand. This encounter inspired him to sell his house, quit his job, and start traveling.

  • How much was David's house that he sold before traveling?

    -David's house, a double-story unit with two bedrooms, was sold for approximately 570,000 Australian dollars.

  • What was David's initial financial plan after selling his house?

    -David had over six figures in savings, which he planned to use to fund his travels and start a YouTube channel without worrying about immediate financial constraints.

  • How long did it take for David to start earning from his YouTube channel?

    -David started earning from his YouTube channel within three to four weeks after uploading his first video.

  • What was David's first significant income from YouTube, and how did it affect his perspective on traveling?

    -David's first significant income from YouTube was around 8,900 Australian dollars, which reassured him that he could potentially sustain his travels through his content creation.

  • What are some challenges David faced as a solo traveler, particularly in India?

    -In India, David faced challenges such as being misled by taxi drivers who tried to take him to travel agencies instead of his hotel, and overcharging him significantly for the service.

  • What is David's current monthly income from his YouTube channel, and how consistent is it?

    -David's monthly income from his YouTube channel varies depending on the content output and the country he is in, but on average, it is around $3,000 to $4,000 AUD per month.

  • What are David's future plans for his YouTube channel and personal life?

    -David plans to finish his motorbike series in Vietnam, travel to China, South Korea, or the Philippines, and possibly make Vietnam his base for a while to build relationships and create consistent content. He also considers the possibility of returning to a corporate job in the future.

  • What advice does David have for people who want to travel to Vietnam?

    -David suggests researching and watching content about Vietnam, such as his own YouTube channel, to learn about the country and prepare for travel. He also recommends being open to figuring things out as you go for a more authentic experience.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 From Agile Coach to World Traveler

In this segment, David, originally from Melbourne, Australia, shares his journey from being an agile coach at a university to becoming a world traveler and content creator. He describes his initial role as a team leader and how he managed various teams within the education sector. David also discusses his decision to leave his job and home in Australia, selling his house to fund his travels. He mentions his initial salary of around $120,000 Australian dollars and his realization that he wanted to experience life beyond his home country. David's travels have taken him to 15 different countries, and he expresses his newfound love for his current lifestyle.

05:02

🎥 The Turning Point: Meeting Travel Vloggers in Thailand

David recounts a pivotal moment during his trip to Thailand, where he and his friend Randy encountered travel vloggers. This encounter sparked the idea that they could also travel and make content. After returning from Thailand, David decided to sell his house and use the funds to travel, with a safety net of over six figures in savings. He discusses his Vietnamese heritage and upbringing in Melbourne, as well as the cultural influences that shaped him. David also touches on the language barrier he experiences with his parents due to his limited Vietnamese language skills and the emotional distance this creates.

10:03

🚀 Embracing the Unknown: David's Travel Content Creation

In this paragraph, David shares his experience of starting to create travel content without any prior experience. He had no plan B, focusing all his energy on making his travel venture work. David discusses the initial challenges, including the quality of his early videos, which he later removed due to their poor production value. He talks about his first monetization through YouTube AdSense, which happened within 3 to 4 weeks of uploading his first video. David also shares his strategy of traveling to countries that interest him, rather than following a strategic plan based on viewer preferences or monetization potential.

15:04

🏍️ Solo Travel Adventures and the Call of the Motherland

David reflects on his solo travel experiences, particularly in Southeast Asia, India, and Nepal, and the culture shock he encountered. He discusses the sense of connection he feels to Vietnam, describing it as a 'second home' and the pull he feels to return. He also shares a dangerous experience in India, where he was taken advantage of by taxi drivers and travel agencies trying to scam him. Despite the challenges, David continues to travel and create content, with his YouTube channel now funding his adventures to a large extent.

20:04

📈 The Financials of Travel Content Creation

This section delves into the financial aspects of David's travel content creation. He discusses the variability of his income, which depends on the amount of content he produces and the country he is in. On average, David makes around $3,000 to $4,000 a month from his YouTube channel, which sometimes covers his travel expenses, while at other times he needs to dip into his savings. He also talks about his plans for the future, including traveling to China, South Korea, and the Philippines, and possibly making Vietnam his base for a while to build a community and create consistent content.

🔄 Life After Travel: Reflections and Future Plans

In the final paragraph, David contemplates his life after travel, acknowledging the possibility of returning to a corporate job or settling down with a family. He reflects on the personal growth he has experienced through his travels and the skills he has developed. David also provides advice for those looking to travel to Vietnam, suggesting they research and watch content from experienced travelers, such as himself, to prepare for their journey. He emphasizes the importance of embracing the unknown and learning through experience.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Travel Vlogger

A travel vlogger is someone who creates video blogs (vlogs) documenting their travel experiences. In the video, David describes meeting travel vloggers in Thailand, which inspired him to start his own travel content creation journey.

💡Agile Coach

An Agile Coach is a professional who helps teams and organizations implement agile methodologies, which emphasize flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement. David's role as an Agile Coach in Australia involved helping sales teams in universities improve their processes and performance.

💡Mortgage

A mortgage is a loan used to purchase a home, with the property itself serving as collateral. David mentions having a mortgage at a young age and realizing it didn't feel right for him, which led to his decision to sell his house and travel.

💡Solo Travel

Solo travel refers to traveling alone, without companions. David's experiences with solo travel are a significant part of his journey, as he navigated different countries independently, which helped him grow personally and gain confidence.

💡Vietnamese Identity

Vietnamese identity relates to David's cultural background and connection to his Vietnamese heritage. He discusses his parents' migration from Vietnam, his experiences in Vietnamese school, and how his cultural roots influence his life and travels.

💡Content Creation

Content creation involves producing and sharing digital content such as videos, blogs, or social media posts. David started his content creation journey without prior experience, learning to film and edit videos as he traveled, which became his primary source of income.

💡Financial Stability

Financial stability refers to having sufficient financial resources to support oneself. David's financial stability, achieved through years of saving and a well-paying job, provided a safety net that allowed him to quit his job, sell his house, and travel.

💡Culture Shock

Culture shock is the feeling of disorientation experienced when encountering a different culture. David describes his culture shock when traveling to countries like India, where the environment and social norms were vastly different from what he was used to.

💡Monetization

Monetization is the process of earning money from content creation. David discusses how he was able to monetize his YouTube channel relatively quickly, earning his first income from ad revenue within a few weeks of starting his travel vlogs.

💡Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is the equilibrium between professional responsibilities and personal life. David's transition from a 9-to-5 job to traveling and creating content reflects his pursuit of a better work-life balance, allowing him to enjoy life while still earning an income.

Highlights

David, originally from Melbourne, Australia, shares his journey of becoming a travel vlogger.

David's background as an Agile Coach in the education sector at a university.

His decision to quit his job and sell his house to travel, motivated by a desire for new experiences.

David's initial foray into travel vlogging without prior content creation experience.

His first trip to Thailand as a turning point that ignited his passion for travel vlogging.

Earning his first dollar from YouTube within 3-4 weeks of starting his channel.

The fluctuating income from YouTube, averaging around $3,000 to $4,000 AUD per month.

David's experience of solo traveling and the challenges he faced, especially in India.

His advice for aspiring travel vloggers on how to get started and the importance of research.

The cultural shock David experienced while traveling to countries like India and Nepal.

The significance of Vietnam for David, feeling a deep connection due to his Vietnamese roots.

David's reflections on personal growth through solo travel and the lessons learned.

His thoughts on potentially returning to a corporate job after his travel experiences.

Tips for travelers coming to Vietnam, emphasizing the importance of watching travel content for insights.

David's vision for the future, including possibly making Vietnam his base for content creation.

The impact of travel on David's independence and confidence, and his advice on self-discovery through travel.

Transcripts

play00:00

what's up guys we are here with David

play00:03

Kai you might know David from traveling

play00:05

all over very notorious I would say I

play00:08

think I might be one of the only VES

play00:10

that are like not prominent but like

play00:12

doing it doing it sort of thing yeah

play00:14

that I've seen anyways like that's the

play00:16

reason like I I I followed your stuff

play00:18

like before like I even made content I'm

play00:20

like this guy do give me a little little

play00:22

motivation to do what I want to do when

play00:25

did you start deciding to move here what

play00:28

was your life in where's home first oh

play00:31

Melbourne Australia that's where home is

play00:33

Aussie Aussie Aussie Aussie you can

play00:34

probably tell by the sort of thick

play00:36

Aussie accent but yeah Australia yeah

play00:39

and what were you doing in Australia so

play00:42

d i was it was always hard to sort of

play00:44

explain my role but I essentially just

play00:46

say sort of like a a team leader my

play00:48

official coach my official um title was

play00:50

agile coach but I was sort of helping

play00:51

manage smaller teams within an education

play00:55

um like a universities so it's helping

play00:57

different sales teams and different

play00:58

other teams just get better at what they

play01:01

do so so they're like um which industry

play01:04

was it like Tech Finance um sales but in

play01:07

University education okay yeah so like

play01:10

CRM for for like uh universities type of

play01:13

thing yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah sort

play01:15

ofce that Salesforce and stuff yeah yeah

play01:17

yeah that's the platform we were using

play01:19

and how was living in Australia like

play01:21

what was your salary back then do you

play01:24

remember how was your lifestyle yeah and

play01:26

uh were you overall like happy there

play01:28

doing what you're doing yeah it's a very

play01:29

good question question man um I guess

play01:31

we'll go back maybe two years I started

play01:34

or I officially quit my job back in

play01:36

maybe July August of

play01:40

2022 that's really when Co sort of just

play01:43

ended and for the last two years I've

play01:45

been working basically from home and I

play01:48

had a mortgage at that time I was living

play01:49

by myself or I had a little dog you

play01:51

bought a house I bought a house yeah how

play01:54

old are you I'm 27 right now to buy a

play01:56

house at 27 even in Australia I would

play01:59

assume the prices are are just insane so

play02:01

that is a great like

play02:03

accomplishment yeah yeah I guess I'm

play02:05

sure your parents were happy for you um

play02:09

like my sister was parents I it's a

play02:11

little a little bit weird with aging

play02:13

parents though because I was moving out

play02:14

as a single person like my dad and mom

play02:17

probably didn't really understand why I

play02:19

wanted to move out when I could just

play02:20

stay at home and save a bit more money

play02:22

so that's probably like the Vietnamese

play02:23

the Asian side of things I was on an

play02:25

income around around $120,000 Australian

play02:28

dollars a year six figures a year six

play02:30

figures that's very comfortable that's

play02:33

very very comfortable like I had so I

play02:35

had a lot of money to put into the

play02:36

mortgage good for savings and

play02:38

Investments as well so I was sort of set

play02:40

what I figured out was when I moved into

play02:42

my own house when I was staying by

play02:44

myself paying off a mortgage it didn't

play02:46

feel right especially at my age I would

play02:48

have been like

play02:49

25 24 then so like I'm way too young to

play02:53

have a mortgage so I decided to some

play02:56

just up quit my job um sell my house a

play02:59

little bit after maybe a year a bit

play03:01

after I bought it I like I want to

play03:02

travel I want to get out of Australia

play03:04

CO's been really sort of like not jail

play03:07

but like very shackling and I wanted to

play03:09

just experience a new world experience a

play03:11

new life and over the last year and a

play03:13

half I've been to 15 different countries

play03:15

so right now it's I'm loving what I do

play03:18

now so let's break that dissect that a

play03:20

little bit let's go let's zoom in you

play03:23

sold your house how much was how much

play03:26

was a house was it a full-on detached

play03:28

home was it a condo

play03:30

yeah so is um we call them units so

play03:33

units a little bit cheaper rather than

play03:35

your own block of land so double story

play03:37

two bedroom maybe around about 570,000

play03:41

Australian still pretty expensive it is

play03:44

compared to like probably the us or

play03:46

Canada like from my knowledge you

play03:48

probably get something very similar for

play03:50

like half if not 2/3 of the price so

play03:54

very expensive still yeah depending on

play03:56

where you are I for my knowledge cuz I'm

play03:58

Canadian um and the US you can get some

play04:00

like far away you're looking like Idaho

play04:02

or something you get like a $300,000

play04:04

home in Vancouver I would say that's on

play04:06

par we're looking at like a one bedroom

play04:09

for

play04:11

990,000 for looking like a condo right

play04:13

one bedroom one bath that's like in the

play04:15

sa day the city yeah like the city court

play04:17

you're looking like almost a million you

play04:19

want a house you're talking about like

play04:20

1.52 million okay so that's where we

play04:23

looking up for price points so let's

play04:25

walk us back my my buddy's like everyone

play04:27

has the postco syndrome yeah so like you

play04:31

get locked in your house and like was

play04:34

there a mo moment where you're like F

play04:37

this there was there was one specific

play04:40

turning point that I remember very

play04:42

vividly um funnny enough it was I

play04:45

probably July June of 2022 I think this

play04:49

is when in Australia you're able to

play04:50

travel to different countries again so

play04:52

at that time I had my mortgage I was

play04:53

still working from home but me and a

play04:55

friend of mine we went to Thailand for a

play04:58

holiday and and like it was like it was

play05:01

like a kid exploring a new world like

play05:03

you finally let out of the house a

play05:05

little bit me and my M were in Thailand

play05:07

and we ran into a couple travel vloggers

play05:09

travel YouTubers were they pretty big

play05:11

successful not even not even too big it

play05:13

was like an older gentleman like maybe

play05:14

like 15 20,000 Subs at the time but it

play05:17

was cool to meet someone in that realm

play05:19

that was my first piece of exposure and

play05:21

then after that conversation with that

play05:23

travel vlogger my mate Randy turned

play05:25

around to me and he's like dead blank

play05:28

this is something that we could do and

play05:30

that sort of like clicked into my head

play05:31

I'm like we prob we can do that like I

play05:33

could travel make money and that's when

play05:35

I after returning home from Thailand

play05:37

from that trip my whole perspective of

play05:38

Life sort of Switched and I was like you

play05:40

know what this isn't it I want to sell

play05:42

my house I want to use the money and go

play05:45

traveling but I had a large safety net

play05:47

so I've been able to travel for like

play05:48

relatively freely so that was the

play05:50

turning point so how much if those who

play05:53

want to travel what was the what was

play05:55

that number that you're like okay I'm

play05:56

going to spend this much to travel and I

play05:58

don't have to worry oh

play06:00

I had I had like over six figures in um

play06:03

in like backup savings so you could

play06:07

probably travel with a hell of a a lot

play06:09

less and start like a YouTube channel

play06:11

good for you yeah yeah well I've been

play06:12

working for like over a decade like I've

play06:15

been a student at like saving money yeah

play06:18

so I wasn't always into like partying

play06:20

and like going clubbing buying bottles

play06:22

or anything like that so I had like good

play06:24

money to spend so you meet this guy in

play06:28

Thailand you see this you're getting

play06:29

this like this dopamine head like yes I

play06:31

can do this you go back home let's talk

play06:34

about more about let's rewind the clock

play06:37

even back your family life your

play06:38

Vietnamese identity how how close were

play06:41

you to your roots being like Vietnamese

play06:43

I don't know if I was too close like I

play06:46

parents Mom and Dad they were born in

play06:48

Saigon and I think it was post the

play06:51

Vietnam War maybe in the early ' 80s

play06:53

they fled like a lot of others to the US

play06:56

to Canada to UK my parents ended up

play06:58

going to Australia they had my sister

play07:00

then they had me in the mid 90s and like

play07:03

you grew up you grew up being VI and you

play07:05

know I can speak Viet maybe like not

play07:08

broken but not fluent somewhere in

play07:10

between call it a l l is that what they

play07:13

call it or a v you can hear the we have

play07:17

accent yeah yeah V that's definitely

play07:18

what it is V yeah and then I grew up I

play07:21

went to like vietamese school like all

play07:23

my close family friends with Vietnamese

play07:25

but then I think once I started getting

play07:27

into high school I sort of became a

play07:29

little B bit more detached from the

play07:30

Vietnamese uh lifestyle a lot more of a

play07:33

Western influence social media was like

play07:35

really popping early 2010 to 2014 so I'd

play07:39

say I'm a little bit like not

play07:41

whitewashed but there's definitely like

play07:42

an Aussie or Western influence on me

play07:46

yeah were you ever bullied for being

play07:49

Vietnamese growing up in

play07:51

Australia so thankfully in at least in

play07:55

Melbourne Melbourne's very diverse like

play07:57

post the war there was a gold run we've

play07:59

got people from like Italians we've got

play08:01

Greek we've got chinese vietnamese it's

play08:04

a Melting Pot of different cultures so

play08:06

growing up it was probably normal to see

play08:08

Asian so no I was never bullied for

play08:10

being Vietnamese or anything like that

play08:11

yeah how was your relationship with your

play08:15

parents as you're going through the you

play08:17

say you went to Vietnamese school but as

play08:19

I I would assume as you're getting more

play08:20

detached and being more quotquot

play08:22

westernized and Australian how was that

play08:25

relationship with your parents I think I

play08:28

think one thing is because Vietnamese

play08:30

isn't like perfect it's great like my

play08:32

sister's is like incredible compared to

play08:34

me because she was a first child so

play08:35

mine's a little bit like I said broken

play08:37

so it's always been difficult to fully

play08:39

communicate with my parents mom and dad

play08:42

because they're know they know a little

play08:43

bit of English but they predominantly

play08:46

speak Vietnamese or like Chinese and I

play08:48

can't fully have an in-depth

play08:50

conversation with them so that's always

play08:52

been like a a Blocker in terms of how

play08:56

deep I can speak to them I reckon a lot

play08:58

of others like probably feel the the

play08:59

same way but yeah it's it's I love them

play09:02

don't get me wrong like always be there

play09:04

for them always you know try and take

play09:05

care of them but like it's hard to like

play09:07

connect on a a deeper level with them

play09:10

yeah so in other words in vames they

play09:12

call it Thum being able to emotionally

play09:16

Express and like have a heart to heart

play09:18

yeah yeah yeah so how do they feel when

play09:22

you're like hey Mom hey Dad peace I'm

play09:26

selling everything they probably thought

play09:27

you're like what the hell David it's

play09:29

it's an interesting one cuz when I told

play09:31

my mom first like I was I was a bit like

play09:35

not scared it's not the right word but

play09:36

you feel a little bit uneasy you want to

play09:38

you want to break this news to like

play09:40

parents that you're not going to be

play09:41

living in Australia for like a year or

play09:43

even months at a time but surprisingly

play09:46

mom was like Mom and Dad were super

play09:47

chill with it really yeah like deep down

play09:50

I knew that um they were like sad

play09:53

obviously they won't be seeing me but I

play09:56

think the fact that I'm like 27 I've had

play09:59

good job I've had money the only thing

play10:01

that they were scared about is how are

play10:02

you going to earn money cuz they don't

play10:04

understand you can actually earn money

play10:05

online social media so doing stuff like

play10:08

this right now could potentially get you

play10:10

paid but like obviously they're from a

play10:12

different a different mindset right how

play10:14

old are your parents they're born in 63

play10:17

so that's like 60 61 I think this year

play10:20

they have still got that and they're

play10:21

Vietnamese so like add that on top so

play10:23

like they got the old sco enemies

play10:24

mindset maybe back then a lot now that

play10:27

I'm doing what I'm doing there are

play10:28

probably a lot more use to the idea yeah

play10:31

and I like I talk to my mom every like

play10:34

fortnite we just on the phone FaceTime

play10:36

we just chat tell her how I'm doing etc

play10:38

etc Dad I'm not as close to but I still

play10:42

love him and and all that first you sell

play10:44

your house you you get all this money

play10:47

now you have an idea but like have you

play10:49

had experience creating content before

play10:51

no I had no experience creating content

play10:54

whatever watched people yeah yeah yeah

play10:56

like I watched Vlogs and stuff of uh

play10:58

like a couple people I started watching

play11:01

when I wanted to plan like Harry jagard

play11:04

Luke deont go with Ali these are like

play11:07

YouTubers travel vloggers in my niche in

play11:10

my real so I was watching a lot of them

play11:12

but I had I didn't edit my first video I

play11:14

didn't film my first video until I

play11:15

actually landed in Thailand which is

play11:17

like my first country that I flew to to

play11:19

make content for so no no experience and

play11:22

if you go back I've deleted some videos

play11:23

now cuz they're like why the [ __ ] but

play11:26

someone wants to go back and be like

play11:27

yell out SP well the good ones are on

play11:30

there if you want to watch it no not

play11:32

much of like like a muscles in terms of

play11:35

like filming you're just like yo I'm

play11:37

going to do this I have a plan I'm going

play11:38

to sell everything and if it works it

play11:40

works yeah yeah yeah and luckily it did

play11:43

but did you have a plan

play11:44

B uh I I didn't have a plan B sometimes

play11:49

I in the back of my mind when I was

play11:51

doing that I'm like if I have a plan B I

play11:53

don't want to put like all my energy

play11:54

into making plan a work so that was

play11:57

essentially my thinking and reasoning

play11:59

behind behind it so I just and I had

play12:00

like a decent safety net so I wasn't too

play12:02

worried yeah as well so you upload your

play12:06

first video that I've that I can see on

play12:08

the channel the why why I quit

play12:11

everything and you kind of go on briefly

play12:13

about selling everything and then were

play12:16

you able to see your first dollar from

play12:17

that I was able to see my first dollar

play12:19

maybe like three it's on my Instagram

play12:21

story lines maybe about three weeks in

play12:24

four weeks in at most so I was thankful

play12:28

like I was scared I wasn't scared but

play12:31

like I was concerned when might take

play12:32

like six to 12 months because feedback

play12:34

from other people I've heard is like on

play12:35

YouTube it's not easy but I something

play12:38

happened in Thailand and I had a

play12:40

relatively good shoot for my one of my

play12:42

first videos and then that just got me

play12:44

monetized straight away then I was able

play12:45

to make money after like 3 4 weeks and

play12:47

what was that first dollar amount that

play12:49

you saw like well like YouTube Google

play12:51

AdSense they pay you monthly so it would

play12:53

have been like 8900 Australian dollars

play12:56

something like that bro that's yeah so

play12:58

your first 3 weeks you're like 900 this

play13:00

is and you're like you're probably like

play13:02

there's something going on here yeah

play13:04

well like in the back of my mind like I

play13:06

I had made friends online who has sort

play13:08

of been in the YouTube space already so

play13:10

I was able to get a gauge on like kind

play13:12

of money you might get from like certain

play13:14

views Etc so but yeah when you get your

play13:16

first paycheck was more so when I got my

play13:18

first th000 Subs yeah and then I got my

play13:21

first 10,000 Subs so like it's like oh

play13:23

[ __ ] it's actually working or like

play13:25

people enjoy the content I might be able

play13:27

to do this for a long term was there any

play13:29

anything places you want to hit cuz I

play13:30

know you're in Vietnam right now yeah

play13:33

but what made you go all over southeast

play13:36

Asia like what was the intentions the

play13:38

motivation was it more of like a

play13:40

business perspective or was it I'm go

play13:43

everywhere and I'm going to Vietnam's

play13:44

going to be my home afterwards yeah so

play13:48

if I could go back now knowing what I

play13:49

knew I would have planned it a lot more

play13:50

strategically because certain countries

play13:52

Garner a lot more views in the travel

play13:54

nich and certain countries also Garner a

play13:56

lot more RPMs or like money per views as

play13:59

well so if I could go back in time I'd

play14:01

do it differently but I just wanted to

play14:03

go the countries that I really looked

play14:04

forward to to travel and I'm I'm solo

play14:07

traveling as well so I'm keeping in the

play14:09

back of my mind I've never solo traveled

play14:11

before I want to travel to countries

play14:13

that are relatively safe I know that I

play14:15

can navigate around there's a little bit

play14:16

of English fast forward a little bit

play14:18

like I went to majority maybe like 10

play14:21

Southeast Asian countries and I I dipped

play14:23

into like India and Nepal as well which

play14:25

was such a culture shock and then I

play14:28

finally myself coming back to Vietnam

play14:31

maybe the same reason like you've come

play14:33

to Vietnam as well there's like a I

play14:35

don't know to say it's like a to calling

play14:37

but it's something a little bit like my

play14:39

energy is drawn towards Vietnam maybe

play14:41

it's cuz I'm like first generation my

play14:42

parents were born here something like

play14:45

genetic but once I travel Vietnam since

play14:47

I can speak to people as well it feels

play14:49

like home or at least a second home

play14:51

that's why I I keep like coming back

play14:53

here yeah so there's a term

play14:56

called which means it's like coming back

play14:58

to home it's like the whole the

play15:00

motherland is calling you I don't know

play15:01

if you seen your comments but for me

play15:03

what's while I get a comment it's like

play15:05

welcome home I get like back to the

play15:07

motherland like and for me it's like I

play15:11

don't know I feel like everyone is like

play15:13

sort of like my relative CU it's like

play15:14

growing up in Canada I didn't I wasn't

play15:16

really like surrounded with that this

play15:18

much Vietnamese outside the home but now

play15:20

it's like everywhere I go were you able

play15:22

to get what you're looking for from in

play15:24

terms of like traveling before working

play15:26

that 9 to5 like how do you feel the

play15:28

first year that you're doing it yeah

play15:30

well I probably got a little bit burnt

play15:32

out after the first 3 months like the

play15:35

first three months I hit up Thailand

play15:36

Philippines and Singapore and at this

play15:39

time like my friends who I had made

play15:43

online and I watched some podcasts I was

play15:45

saying you know in this in this Niche

play15:47

you want to like daily Vlogs I was daily

play15:49

vlogging I was vlogging every single day

play15:50

I was editing every single day and I was

play15:53

posting every single day like the first

play15:54

2 to 3 months but essentially yeah I was

play15:56

burnt out like after I went to

play15:59

Philippines or Singapore I was feeling a

play16:02

little bit burnt out I went to Indonesia

play16:04

and it wasn't my best series I was like

play16:06

visibly like a lot more tired so I went

play16:09

back to Australia and then I like reset

play16:10

replanned everything then I set off

play16:12

again on my next trip and went from

play16:14

there but fast forward to now I'm a lot

play16:16

more strategic and a lot more planned in

play16:19

what I want to do except for my current

play16:21

series my current series is like driving

play16:23

a bike from south of Vietnam so on all

play16:24

the way to the north so that's a little

play16:26

bit more unplanned you can't like like

play16:28

plan every single detail on every stop

play16:30

to a tea yeah so talking about unplanned

play16:33

from your whole trekking southeast Asia

play16:36

was there any dangerous moments as a

play16:38

Solo Traveler where you're like oh man

play16:41

that was I wish someone could have told

play16:44

me about that if you ever go to India or

play16:46

if you've ever been to India it's like

play16:47

the Wild West it's like over a billion

play16:49

people there concentrated into like a

play16:51

relatively small and you stand out I

play16:53

stand out yeah like yeah like even

play16:55

though I'm Asian and they're Asian it's

play16:57

not the same yeah so and what I think

play17:01

I've learned is if I'm going to a

play17:02

country I've never been to before I

play17:04

don't want to arrive there at midnight

play17:06

cuz that's when crazy [ __ ] happens and

play17:09

essentially IED there at midnight I went

play17:11

I went to get a SIM card for some reason

play17:14

I got a SIM card and they're like this

play17:15

won't be activated to another hour I was

play17:17

like all right come whatever let's go

play17:19

out went to get a taxi and I got one of

play17:21

these black taxis that in hindsight now

play17:24

probably should have got it from like a

play17:26

legitimate like place but there's like

play17:28

20 black taxes line up outside the

play17:29

airport I'm like this is legit it's like

play17:31

a Vietnam vibe to it worse 10 times

play17:34

worse 10 times worse essentially at

play17:37

night what they do is um to fast forward

play17:40

it they take you from one spot and

play17:42

because you don't know where you are

play17:44

they say the roads are closed and they

play17:45

take you to an area that's sort of like

play17:48

they take you in a loop of like

play17:49

different places that are getting fixed

play17:50

at night and then I'm like right what

play17:53

the hell's going on here and he's like

play17:54

oh I'm got my phone I'm like let's use

play17:56

Google Maps he's like Google Maps

play17:57

doesn't work in India so just lying and

play18:00

lying and lying eventually takes me to a

play18:02

travel agency to make it seem legit but

play18:05

then once I get into the travel agency

play18:08

the guy immediately wants me to cancel

play18:09

my hotel accommodation booking he's like

play18:12

stay with us we have accommodation by

play18:13

next door I'm like this is way too

play18:15

convenient so I'm like 10 minutes of

play18:18

like what the hell's going on I just get

play18:19

me to my hotel get to me to my hotel

play18:22

they do this very sneaky thing where

play18:23

they let you call someone but they put

play18:25

in the number so the number gets

play18:27

directed to someone like that's a friend

play18:30

and then they tell you yeah like you

play18:31

can't get anywhere the streets are

play18:32

closed etc etc eventually I like not

play18:35

fight my way out but I'm like get me

play18:37

somewhere so I can go to my hotel now so

play18:38

they get me a Tok to a Rick Shaw does

play18:40

the same thing drives in a 10 15 minute

play18:42

lap not again I'm like bro I have no

play18:45

idea where I am I don't want to lose my

play18:47

temper because you know you're in a

play18:48

foreign country he does the same thing

play18:50

takes me to another travel agency and

play18:53

then he says I can take you there now

play18:55

and then by the end of it he wanted like

play18:56

2,000 Rupees which is like when we

play18:59

agreed on like maybe 100 or 200 rupees

play19:02

essentially I'm like no I walk the rest

play19:05

of the way he bges into the hotel I'm

play19:07

like I threw the money at him like get

play19:08

get lost yeah and then like thankfully

play19:11

the hotel stuff were nice and help me

play19:13

but yeah that was the only time where I

play19:14

felt like what is going on I should not

play19:16

be in this situation right now how how

play19:18

long have you been traveling now up to

play19:20

now India would have been like I want to

play19:22

say November last year so that's like

play19:26

it's about 10 months in yeah so 10

play19:29

months in what are we looking at let's

play19:32

talk a little marketing month over month

play19:34

how much were you making on a consistent

play19:36

basis just off of YouTube yeah i' I'd

play19:39

say it varies right it's not like a set

play19:41

paycheck like 9 to-5 job it varies

play19:44

depending on how much content I'm

play19:45

putting out depends on the country but

play19:46

I'd say on average maybe

play19:51

$33,000 a month yeah and like for an

play19:55

example like I'm in Vietnam right now

play19:56

and a lot of like Vietnamese overseas

play19:58

people watch so like the last month I've

play20:01

made like over 4,000 so it just really

play20:04

depends what country you're in yeah on

play20:05

an average like three is is the YouTube

play20:07

channel funding your travels or are you

play20:09

still uh dipping into your savings to

play20:11

fund everything yeah like it fluctuates

play20:14

again so like this month I'm like able

play20:16

to use like I'm survive off solely my um

play20:20

YouTube money some months I got to dip

play20:22

into the savings yeah what's next for

play20:24

your your channel and audience yeah so

play20:26

like right now I'm I'm sort of stuck in

play20:28

between exactly what I want to do I want

play20:30

to try and finish off my motorbike

play20:32

series then I want to head to China as

play20:34

like the next travel destination and

play20:36

then maybe South Korea or Philippines

play20:38

One More Country and I want to take some

play20:40

time at the end of the year just to like

play20:42

reset spend the New Years with the

play20:44

family and then come into like next year

play20:46

with like a fresh Vision on what I want

play20:48

to do moving forward my thinking

play20:50

potentially for next year is to like

play20:51

make Vietnam a base live here for like

play20:54

what you're doing now maybe 6 months to

play20:55

a year and make consistent content here

play20:59

and that way I can I'm able to like

play21:01

build relationships and build friend

play21:03

groups here in Vietnam rather than like

play21:05

every 3 days traveling to a new city in

play21:06

a new country that's like what's taring

play21:09

do you ever see yourself like going back

play21:11

cuz I'm sure you have like your network

play21:13

of friends back home in Australia are

play21:15

they doing the typical corporate job you

play21:18

have this a home you're reaching the

play21:20

point where like starting to have

play21:22

kids yeah do you see yourself doing that

play21:25

anytime uh it's definitely in my sights

play21:27

like yeah like you're all my mates

play21:29

they're either getting married

play21:30

purchasing their first home or like

play21:32

they're still in 9 to-5 corporate office

play21:34

job and I definitely do potentially see

play21:37

myself going back to that one day I

play21:40

think after like two years of travel

play21:42

it's given me a new like a sense of

play21:43

reality where like I could go back into

play21:45

a corporate job if I wanted to but it

play21:47

have to be for the right reasons but I

play21:49

don't think I'd ever like stop making

play21:51

social media content because it's just

play21:52

so much fun and worst case scenario I

play21:55

could just do that as a side gig if like

play21:57

I don't want to to travel long term

play21:59

anymore what was like the tldr of like

play22:02

the past two years and your own growth

play22:05

yeah I think if if someone asked me like

play22:08

what's the ultimate way to like grow

play22:09

quickly as a human being I'd be like you

play22:12

don't have to like sell your house qu

play22:13

your job and stuff like that but like go

play22:14

on a month or two month or three month

play22:16

solo travel trip and you'll learn so

play22:19

much about yourself and you gr so many

play22:21

ways because at home like when I was at

play22:23

home like you know Mom would do the

play22:24

washing like some of the bills are paid

play22:27

for

play22:28

you're sort of like in a controlled

play22:29

environment but like what I've learned

play22:31

about myself is like how confident I can

play22:34

be and like how Fearless I can be by

play22:36

just just like leaving everything behind

play22:38

just one backpack seven kilo carryon and

play22:41

just traveling the world like you can

play22:42

get so far and do so much on your own so

play22:46

that's like I've g a lot probably I was

play22:47

always independent but like got a lot

play22:49

more independently like when you go to

play22:52

set as side a time set time aside to

play22:54

like edit film and no one's demanding

play22:57

you to do that

play22:59

but you're just doing it on your own to

play23:00

in order to build the lifestyle you want

play23:02

that's like the biggest like underlining

play23:04

three tips for people who want to uh

play23:06

come to Vietnam specifically so you've

play23:07

been here for a while couple weeks

play23:09

months yeah I've been here this this

play23:11

time around I've been here for two

play23:12

months already but like in the last year

play23:14

and a half maybe like six months what

play23:16

are your three biggest tips when it

play23:18

comes to coming to Vietnam for maybe

play23:22

extended travel like what are some

play23:23

things I have no I have no idea I can't

play23:25

speak the language what are some tips

play23:28

all right um not a plug but get his

play23:31

travel guide he's got a new one travel

play23:33

guide like I've seen the content and it

play23:34

really hits home with everything that if

play23:37

you've never come to Vietnam even if you

play23:38

want to live your longterm two watch my

play23:42

YouTube David Kai another plug but in

play23:46

all honestly like the best way you can

play23:48

learn about a new country is actually

play23:49

just watching or reading content and

play23:51

like YouTube is amazing like that's why

play23:54

I love the platform so much like there's

play23:55

so many like guides good review

play23:57

restaurants Etc Etc and I'll be honest I

play24:00

don't I don't have a a third tip besides

play24:03

research but if you want to have fun and

play24:05

do what I do you can just go to Vietnam

play24:06

and just figure out everything as you go

play24:10

there's nothing more fun than that tip

play24:12

number three is referred to tip number

play24:13

one to get my guide and check out his

play24:16

content I appreciate you bro peace

Rate This

5.0 / 5 (0 votes)

相关标签
Travel VlogDigital NomadLife ChangeContent CreationSolo TravelCultural ExperienceAustraliaVietnamYouTube SuccessPersonal Growth
您是否需要英文摘要?