Be Your Authentic Self While Traveling the World with Erick Prince, The Minority Nomad

Sneak Peek:

Eric:    00:00:00    So when I think back about having those experience, about having those contacts and those places around the world that really speak to me, it goes back to my, like, one of my favorite things that I believe is that not everybody's born where they belong. And you should spend your life trying to find that place where you belong. And through that journey, you're gonna start collecting these places, these people, these experiences that you call back to whenever you're in those dark places and you don't know what direction you go.  

Introduction: Welcome to Badass Digital Nomads, where we're pushing the boundaries of remote work and travel, all while staying grounded with a little bit of old school philosophy, self-development, and business advice from our guests.

Kristin:    00:00:51    Hey there, Kristin Wilson from Traveling with Kristin here, and welcome to episode 257 of Badass Digital Nomads. My guest today is the infamous Eric Prince, the Minority Nomad, who was a guest on the podcast almost exactly four years ago to the day Eric Prince and I did a two part episode back in 2021 that I highly recommend that you tune into. It's about living like a local in Thailand, and also we talk about the real Bangkok, what it's like to live there, but also some of his travels to some pretty crazy places. I think he's been to almost a hundred countries, if not more. So you'll definitely want to check out episodes 107 and 108 of the podcast that I will link below, or you can also go to badassdigitalnomads.com/107 or /108 to go directly to those episodes. If you are living in Portugal, I have a very exciting new service for you from our friends at Bordr Portugal.  

Kristin:    00:02:04    They say that Portugal tax season runs from April 1st until June 30th without an option for an extension. So if you are a tax resident in Portugal in 2023, then you need to file a Portuguese tax return, even if you didn't earn income in that year. If you are not a tax resident, but also earned income in Portugal, such as rental income or capital gains from real estate, then you also need to file a Portugal tax return. So if you would like to check out their tax filing service, you can get $10 off any of their tax filing packages, and we will link to that for you in the show notes. So you can go directly to our website, Badass Digital Nomads, and click on this episode 257 to get that link at the top of the show notes. Save yourself $10 on your tax filing service, or you could just click in your podcast app.  

Kristin:    00:03:02    Just scroll down until you see our special offers and it will be right there for you. So get your tax return in on time and our friends at Bordr Portugal can help. I also want to thank Whip it seven from Canada for the review on Apple Podcasts. He says, finally there, I've been following you for a while now and you're such a source of inspiration for an old gal like me. I decided I am going to take the leap and will finally be going Nomad and Van Life with my three dogs next year. All of your podcasts are a source of inspiration for us and educational, hoping to meet you in person someday. I look forward to listening to at least two of your podcasts per day. I get so hooked. Thank you for the push I always needed to become a nomad at 55 years old.  

Kristin:    00:03:52    You are welcome Whip it seven. And thank you so much for the five star review on Apple Podcasts. Really appreciate it. Congratulations on going nomad, and I am sure you're looking forward to an exciting year ahead of Van Life with your three dogs. In today's conversation with Eric, we're talking a lot about the changes that have happened in the world over the last few years since we last sat down to chat, and also how these changes have impacted his worldview, how he perceives travel. And I always love talking with Eric because he goes really deep and he's not afraid to tell it how it is. He's full of real talk. So if you like people that are unfiltered and just wanna tell it how it is, then you're really going to enjoy our conversation today. And it's also a good reminder that life is short. And if there's anything that you've been putting off, then today's conversation will give you that inspiration and push to take the next step today. And with that being said, let's begin.

Podcast Interview:

Kristin:  Welcome again, Eric to the podcast. And I looked back and saw it's been exactly four years since we last had you on the show, so a lot has changed in that time, I am sure. So it's great to have you back. 

Eric:    00:05:21    We wrote a  book, <laugh> 

Kristin:    00:05:22    Uh, we wrote a book together. <laugh>  

Kristin:    00:05:26    I wanna ask you about that too. Um, so yes, for probably Nobody knows this. I'm like, for anyone who doesn't know. No, no one knows. So Eric was the technical editor on my book, Digital Nomads for Dummies, which worked out great. I mean, I think he made it such a better book, really challenged me, and that's why I wanted you to be the technical editor is after seeing your work and reading all of your blogs and then interviewing you in 2021, which is when, when I was starting to write the book, I think it, I, I got the contract the end of 2021. So then we wrote the book in 2022, and then it's out there. Somebody just sent me a photo this morning that they had bought it, so it's,   

Eric:    00:06:11    oh wow.  

Kristin:    00:06:12    It's in a lot of different languages and a lot of different countries. So it was a really big impact. Uh, how, how was that experience for you?  

Eric:    00:06:20    I don't know. I think it was different. I think it was way harder for you than it was me because my, my job was to pick apart everything basically. And I always said, like, when people, I talk to people about that book is I enjoy my side because I'm not the sugar coating narrative, you know, roses person. I, I like facts, I like verifiable objective truths. And that was my contribution to it. It was like when something would come across me, it was like, can we verify this? Can we, what's the sources of this? Like we did that and that was months going back and forth. I need sources, we need sources. So that was fun. It actually made me appreciate a little bit where the world is. Well was at that point when we did the book versus when we started. Because, you know, when we, we started, we didn't have all those resources, you know, Revolut and Wise weren't things, you know, so like really digging a little bit deeper into those aspects of the digital nomad experience really kind of opened my eyes to how fast things are are changing so quickly around the world.  

Eric:    00:07:25    It was, it was a fun process. Uh, maybe not working with some publishers, but it was, it was a fun process overall.  

Kristin:    00:07:32    Yeah, it was challenging. I think that process of writing a book and editing a book and rewriting a book, it, it built a lot of character and also just the endurance of doing that. And I kind of feel like a slacker that I haven't written another book yet since then.   

Eric:    00:07:52    But, yeah, I mean, you, you would have to be, uh, like, yeah, it takes a special person. Like now that I see people who write, you know, two books a year, like, I'm like, no, no way, no way I would wanna go through that process again because I thank God you were, uh, taking the lead on it mainly because there's no way I could've, I could've dealt with that stress.  

Kristin:    00:08:14    Yeah, it's intense. I, I look at people like Ryan Holiday who write a book a year while having a daily podcast and multiple videos going out per week on YouTube. He runs a bookstore, he's a dad, he has multiple daily newsletters, and it seems like he writes everything. It doesn't seem like he's outsourcing any of that. Mm. So it's just mind boggling. Yeah. I don't know how he does it. Uh, has your work shifted from a few years ago? Or what are your main projects and priorities right now? You mentioned that you are back in the influencer scene. I know you, you and I also became DJ since last time we talked, so we'll have to talk about that too. But yeah, fill us in a bit on your, uh, revenue streams and projects.  

Eric:    00:09:05    Yeah. Um, really it, it was more about traveling with purpose, you know, and just for the enjoyment of it, I felt like, you know, towards, 'cause I think we talked at the very beginning of Covid, like kind of when things were shut down and we didn't know how long that thing was gonna last. So obviously, um, this is now a post covid world that we live in. And during Covid, I took a break. I really, because a, it was kind of forced upon us, but I kind of, I looked at the landscape and there was no not much space for somebody like me. And, and again, I've never looked a part of an influencer. I never spoke. I've, I've never been that corporate shield kind of person. And not saying all influencers are, but a lot are, and I've just never been that person. I've been just a little bit too honest to be an influencer in a lot of ways.  

Eric:    00:09:53    And that wasn't great during that time, right before Covid and after Covid, I was blessed to just have come in early. So I had built up a following in the audience and who followed me for that authentic voice. But I wasn't some 23-year-old happy go lucky. Let me just see where the wind blows me kind of person. And that's marketable, that's easy to market to late teens, early twenties, who are the ones who are buying backpacks and host books and all this stuff. So it was a good time to take a break, you know. Um, I was in my late thirties then, and I was just trying to figure out the next part of life, you know, maybe a midlife crisis. I'm not that old yet, but maybe it was at that point where it was like, okay, is it time to pivot into something else?  

Eric:    00:10:40    Like a lot of colleagues, like, you know, a lot of people were doing the digital nomad and we first started, like, we started this, we started the thing, we started the digital nomad thing. The name didn't exist when we started. So a lot of our colleagues have moved on to other avenues in life going back into the corporate world. Um, they're doing coaching and stuff. But while we were still out and about and exploring, still doing the travel journalism thing, from my position when the days of print media and photography for sale are just dying and, you know, for the most part they're dead now and I didn't know where I fit. So during that timeframe, I'd say those last three years of covid, it was time to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up, you know, and that's where the DJing thing came in.  

Eric:    00:11:26    And, you know, it was interesting, I think I can't, I think because we send voice notes back and forth, we normally don't talk active. We just send, we talk through long voice notes back and forth and uh, you know, and occasionally on social media talking about each other's gigs and whatnot. But it was that creative outlet that had nothing to do with what we did for a living. That kind of re-sparked that passion for, for what I actually did for a living. I am a travel journalist at heart and a content creator and influencer, but it was burning me out because that's all I was doing. You know, when your love is travel and it becomes your job, you know, people often tell you that, oh, you're living a dream. I'm like, you don't, it tarnishes it for you. Like, because you can never turn it off.  

Eric:    00:12:11    You're always, your brain just processes angles and lighting and, you know, bad service and, uh, most efficient way to save money and how to get from point A to point B and or tour company. And your brain just goes in that moment instead of just saying, yo, relax and enjoy the moment. Just enjoy it. So last summer I did a trip to Europe to play with the idea of going back into the influencer world, you know, because I'd been, I'd been doing the DJ thing and just fell in love with DJing. I was not really doing any kind of influencer stuff, but I still had contacts. I still had long-term clients who, who loved my work. So I reached out and say, Hey, you know, I'm, I'm coming through Europe. Can we do something right? And a few of them say, yeah, let's, let's make something happen.  

Eric:    00:12:55    Let's figure it out. And my goal was to get back to traveling just because, just to explore, just to see what it was like to put the camera away some days and just go back out and be a, a traveler again and make mistakes and miss buses and, and just enjoy myself. And that's what I did. Um, my partner, she went with me, um, and it was like her first backpack and trip through Europe, which, which was cool. Like seeing these places that I had been dozens of times through the eyes of somebody who had never seen it or had never really experienced that kind of trouble before. Uh, it just kind of changed my perspective again. It made me realize there are those of us who are in our late thirties, early forties, who now have the money. We now have the time and we have the knowledge to have these experiences for the first time because it feels like people have woken up to a lot of the things in the west that we were taught in terms of how to make a living the corporate ladder, so to speak.  

Eric:    00:13:57    Like, no, we don't have to work for the same company for 30 years and get a watch <laugh> no more like that, that world's done Right, are a few companies here and there, but overall we're that first real mobile remote generation. And now people are finally taking advantage of it now, I think is like, wait a minute. I think we've actually done our job at getting more people to understand that you can, you can travel the world and have this amazing, amazing life and still make a living. You know? So the trip to Europe showed me like, okay, travel is still fun. Uh, you can turn off the influencer content creator side of your brain and enjoy travel again. And there's a market for us travelers, I'd call it middle age travelers, I guess now mid range travelers where we've done all the backpacker stuff, but we're not quite in our luxury travel phase. There's this happy middle ground where we could still turn up, but we want to get up in the morning and go check out some museums, right? So that fun range where we're traveling for experience is still, and a little bit of culture, but we also know when to pull back. So, um, I'm officially shifting, uh, in the month of May actually here in seven days back into full-time, content creation again,  

Kristin:    00:15:13    There's so much to unpack in what you just said. I mean, first of all, I also love that you are able to be somebody that can be whoever you want and everyone listening can do the same thing. I mean, you can be a travel journalist, you can be from Ohio and move to Thailand, you can become a DJ, you can go to music festivals, but then you can also take the train through Germany and go to art museums and, you know, you can do everything. You don't have to be any sort of specific label or something. And it's interesting because I've been looking back, I, I'm here in Florida right now and I've been looking back at old photos from the last 20 years and noticing how much of my personality was developed through travel. Like, I've had a bit of an identity crisis because I don't even know who I would be without all of these experiences.  

Kristin:    00:16:12    And I started pulling out some photos to put in a scrapbook, and I had to make a list of like, I've been to more than 60 countries, you've been to more than like 90 or, or something. But just making the list of the places that I had been and then starting to choose photos that represented each place. I mean, it was like, I got to like 50 places on the list and then I, I I took a break, but yeah. How do you reflect on who you were when you first started traveling versus who you are now that two decades have gone by?  

Eric:    00:16:51    I think it's interesting because I, I just, yeah, I'm 41 now. I just had my 41st birthday a couple months ago, and that's something I just reflect on constantly. Um, I've always had a level of emotional awareness when I was like, wait, what is this feeling inside of me? And I like to explore that, right? Because I always say I I, I wanna be an expert on Eric, right? That's my, that's always been my superpower. Everybody tries to be like, everybody, I wanna be like Madonna, I grow up. I wanna be like Michael Jordan. No, no, no. I wanna be like me when I grew up. I wanna be, I gotta figure this out before I can start even considering being like somebody else, right? So I'm trying to figure out me and, and through that journey, you know, I, I wonder why I believe the things that I believe.  

Eric:    00:17:35    And, and travel is a massive part of that. Um, being in the military for some is a master part of that. Being, being a o of the first of 10 children was a part of that. Being from Cleveland, all these things make a person, right? And had I been born a different place, I would be a different person. Had I been born a different religion, I'd have been d had I been born just a couple a, a street over from where I was, I'd be a different person, you know? So I don't spend too much time reflecting on who I could have been and just appreciating who I am because, you know, thinking about who you could have been, it's like, oh, okay. Like it's, it's just, uh, exercise and fun, but it doesn't matter. I am who I am now 'cause of those experiences, and that's what makes me special.  

Eric:    00:18:18    That's what makes us all unique and special. This whole, and I've always found this fascinating, this, any, and, and it is like, you know, racism, homophobia, bigotry, anything, the attack of anything that's different, right? It's what makes us special. It is what makes humans so amazing is that we're different, different should be embraced, different should be explored and, and, and figured out. It's like the whole butterfly effect idea. I don't know if you saw that movie. I believe in this. Like, it's like, oh, what would you change if you go back in time? Nothing. Nothing. Because that, I truly believe like one decision, one little pivot, the wind blew a different direction, and it can change everything for everybody, right? So, and I, and I believe this only because the older I get, the more I realize how interconnected we are. Like me and you doing that podcast changed somebody's life.  

Eric:    00:19:11    Years ago, somebody saw us talking, having this conversation, somebody that we will never know, probably you hear about somebody bought the book, somebody's read one of our blog posts. We inspired somebody to do something different and we had no idea that we actually did it. And when we get these emails and these messages that actually tell us, I'm like, oh man, had I not lived in my spam folder, I would've never seen this email from this person who I inspire who lives in Turkey, or this person who lives in Alabama, or this person who lives in Argentina, right? So when I reflect on who I was at the beginning of my travels to now, I'm like, I, I think to myself as like, man, that kid would not believe it, just wouldn't believe, like if I talked to him where he would be in that timeframe, because I'm always just done, right?  

Eric:    00:20:03    I, I, I've never really worried that much. It was like, okay, now that I'm older and I have responsibilities, I worry about certain things a little bit more, but I still kind of do like, I, I I just follow my heart and I'm like, oh, this, this doesn't feel right. I shouldn't do this. This doesn't feel right. Right? This feels like the right thing to do. And I get burned a lot. Like there are a lot of times, and I still question like when bad things do happen or unfortunate things happen, I, I, um, man, I should have, uh, maybe I should have, but I always go back like, you got, you always gotta go back to like, in the moment, I made the right, I made the best decision with the information I had at the top. Yeah. Right. So when it comes to that travel journey, there's been places that I shouldn't have gone that I went and it worked out.  

Eric:    00:20:54    There are places that I should have gone and it didn't work out. Like it just, it's, it's part of that, that process, that journey. Looking back at those, I saw a picture from 2013 today actually. Um, it was like one of those Facebook memory things, and it was me, my sister, and a girl at, uh, just a, a, a travel romance I had. And looking at all three of us, how different our lives turned out from 11 years ago to who we were at that time. And all of us were just right in the wave of travel. And all three of us now are in very different, and we're all still in touch. And obviously my sister are still in touch, but we're all in very different places in our lives. And that experience in 2013, the picture was 2013 in Thailand at the full moon party. That's where the picture was from.  

Kristin:    00:21:45    Oh, wow.  

Eric:    00:21:46    And a lot of things happened during that trip, which kind of set us up for where we are today. We still talk about that trip to this day.  

Kristin:    00:21:53    Oh, definitely. Pivotal moments and experiences that just change your worldview, change your sense of self change what's important to you. Change what you value, change what you believe. I I really think that every aspect of who I was before I started traveling changed at some point, uh, throughout those years. And I remember thinking the first time that I went to Italy was my senior graduation trip. And that summer was pretty crazy because I got to go on our senior class trip to Mexico and have this, you know, kind of crazy spring break style experience where we were, I was 17, and I mean, we were just babies. Like we were so young and we're just out there thinking that we're adults traveling through Mexico. And then I surfed in a, a surf competition in Hawaii, and I went to Italy for my family graduation trip.  

Kristin:    00:22:54    But I remember thinking that that was going to be the only time that I could travel because then I would go to college and then I would go into the workforce. And so I kind of, I think people think that when they graduate from high school or when they graduate from college or before they have a baby, or before they get married, like, let's go on this big trip and let's do this thing. Never would I have thought that that would have changed my life so much. But just to encourage people at whatever age that you're at, that experience that you have is going to be right for you in that moment. And looking back at 17-year-old me pictures with other girls that I met from the US who were on our tour through Italy and all of the amazing people that I met on that tour, and then how we were somehow able to communicate with the Italian kids that we met there, the wait staff, the people who worked in the hotel.  

Kristin:    00:23:55    Like there's photos of us hanging out with the, the local people in Italy. And you know, this was before cell phones and everything, so there's literally not a single cell phone in any of my photos until probably like the mid two thousands. So it's just people hanging out, spending time together in different countries, going on a road trip along the coast of Australia at 20 years old with my friends, we had no idea what we were going, what we were doing. Each one of those experiences teaches you so much about independence, changing your car's, oil, <laugh>, changing a flat tire. Like you learn all the life skills you have the moments with the, I took pictures of the sunsets, the full moon, and just like, lots of fun, like lots of laughs, lots of really goofy stuff. Like pictures of funny road signs or I don't know, like looking back at these photos, it's like, it feels like a different lifetime.  

Kristin:    00:24:53    But I really encourage anyone to kind of dig back those photo albums from 10 or 20 years ago. I was doing this through the Marie Kondo Tidying Method. She recommends that you take out every single photograph that you own in your house. This is after you do her whole other process. So don't skip to this point <laugh>, but I, I did this process a year ago and I didn't finish it. So I finished it this week and I took every single photo from childhood high school, college and just put it on the living room floor and just went through every single one and only kept the ones that I really valued, which was like out of thousands of photos. And it's such a, a cathartic experience, but you learn so much about yourself by looking back at those pictures, whether or not you were traveling, you can kind of start to see patterns of things that were really important to you or your personality.  

Kristin:    00:25:49    And I was thinking about how much this really can help if you are looking to change careers or if you're kind of in a self-development phase of your life and you're trying to figure out what you should do. It gives you all these little like hints and insights into who you are. 'cause you have that 10 or 20 years of perspective, whereas in that moment you wouldn't have noticed it. So it's kind of like reading your old blog posts from 15 or 20 years ago where you're like, who wrote that? You know, it seems like a different person. But how do you perceive this, this shift? So you were featured on this, was it PBS special about digital nomads?  

Eric:    00:26:32    Oh, yeah. PBS, that was a PBS. We had a Future of Work. Future of Work  

Kristin:    00:26:36    Yeah, yeah, yeah. Future of Work. And that was kind of still during the pandemic years, but how have you felt the changes in the, in the greater economy, now that these concepts have gone mainstream? Do you feel like you still have a role to play in contributing to that conversation? Because sometimes I feel like, oh, everyone else is talking about it, so maybe I don't need to talk about it anymore.  

Eric:    00:27:06    My partner was pointing this out to me, um, when I was working on a business deal. And I often look at, um, it was working with a company that was just kinda, I felt like I would be taken advantage of them because I'm at a level they're not ready for yet. Like my knowledge, my skillset is so much higher than what they need. And they still need to start base level, right? Uh, they need to find somebody who's entry level to do what they need, um, and get them to a point where when I come in, I'm efficient, right? And my partner was pointing this out. He was like, I'm said that I'm devaluing my experience and I kind of feel like this, you know, when it comes to content creation, for years I felt this way. And I'm like, if you look at, let's just say Bangkok, I am an expert on Bangkok as an expat. I've been in Bangkok almost 10 years, but I don't do much content on Bangkok because of my home. And I honestly feel like the market is saturated. It is long been saturated in Southeast Asia in general, but everybody's doing the exact same thing. Hey, this is what a luxury condo looks like in Bangkok. And I'm like,  

Kristin:    00:28:16    Oh, yeah, I see that on YouTube.  

Eric:    00:28:18    I just sit there and just roll my eyes. Like this is the best rooftop bar in Bangkok. I'm like, and it's always the same five, like the few, you know, like I could probably name the, I can name. If somebody gives you five, I can tell you 10, and I guarantee you five will be in that top 10 because they keep doing the same thing over and over and over again, right? And there's no shade. This is what we wanted. This is why we, we, we wrote the book. This is why we, we, we started our YouTube channels. This is why we became cr our job was to get people abroad and show them how to do what we did for years. And if we did our job so well, that now we have this massive wave of people abroad doing exactly what we were doing.  

Eric:    00:29:05    The difference is they, a lot of people lack creativity only because they're chasing the algorithm. And unfortunately, we now live in a world where when we first started, you can make, let's say if you made 2000 bucks a month as an influencer, you are doing pretty good like that. That's, that's a little, a bit of long money, right? That you can go to Southeast Asia, which is the reason Southeast Asia was so popular in the early days was because it was an inexpensive place. And you could still make that money in the early days of YouTube and, and, uh, Instagram, when they brought in their partners program brand sponsorships, that was back when we were getting $500 for blog posts. You know, like you do four sponsor posts a month, you're good for the month. Those days are dying out because global inflation covid wiped out a whole generation of content creators and influencers.  

Eric:    00:29:57    So when you come back in, people are chasing algorithms. What gets the most clicks, right? You can type in ChatGPT, give me, uh, 25 ideas for popular YouTube videos, and it's gonna spit out 25 ideas that have been done over and over and over again already because it's following that algorithm. So for people like us, I at times forget how much I know until I'm speaking to somebody who doesn't know anything. Because for us, these things are just second nature. Like, you don't have to like, it's like, explain to somebody how to tie your shoes. When was the last time you thought about teaching somebody how to tie their shoes? Like, un unless you have a child, right? Unless you have a child. It's like, oh yeah. Like, you know, around the tree through the whole, like, oh yeah, because we don't even think about it. It's so automatic. Yeah. And that's a lot of us being expats, you know, you don't even think about, it's just automatic. So those things that are automatic, to me, that's what I have to offer a different perspective. Like, I've been to the Go-go bars, I've been to all the clubs. I've been in the full moon parties and the festivals, and you see this as a dj. Like, yeah, I don't want, I don't want another shot. I'm good. Like I, I've, I've done that. I've been,  

Kristin:    00:31:14    I don't even drink anymore.  

Eric:    00:31:16    I was just say, I was like, if, if I can, if I, and thank God Thailand legalized weed, oh my goodness, Kris--Woo. It's <laugh>. I saw that. But it's like, I always say if, if globally I can get weed regularly, but most countries is illegal. But if I could get re regularly, I would never touch alcohol again outside of cocktails. So I just enjoy the taste of cocktails, but I don't enjoy being drunk anymore. And that was a big part of travel. You know, I, I was, uh, a couple years ago, I was talking about this on another podcast I did, how, uh, backpack and culture breeds alcoholism. Mm. It promotes alcoholism. Everything's a pop crawl. Everything's free shots. So,  

Kristin:    00:31:59    So what is the digital nomad lifestyle? 

Eric:    00:32:01    Yep. Yeah. I think it's like, oh, we're gonna have a meetup. Oh, we're meeting up at a bar. Like, but what about a tea shop or a cafe or something, man, like, so it, it, it's like when you look at the content that's being created by let, let's say, you know, there's a wave of 20 somethings are coming through here now. I'm like, oh, you, you don't know what you don't know yet. You don't, you don't even know what you're doing yet. So for us, we can come in and say, Hey, let me explain to you why you wanna move to this part of Bangkok as opposed to that part of Bangkok, because this is what's going to happen, right? I was just, uh, we just had the song Water Festival and I was giving people advice. Do not do three days of sun care and water festivals. You're gonna get sick, you're gonna get tired, you're gonna get, and sure as hell people did all three days and ended up catching the flu the next, I'm like, I told you not to do it all three days. I told you, go on Saturday, like, go out on Friday, go Saturday all day, and then take Sunday off to rest. But they didn't listen. But that's where we are. We're in the auntie and uncle phase. We're the, we're the, we're the big bro, big sisters now. Like that's where we are. Yeah.  

Kristin:    00:33:10    We're standing in our front yard shaking our fist <laugh>.  

Eric:    00:33:13    Yeah, but I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet. I'm, I, okay, a few more years, I feel like I'm, I'm the uncle that goes, yo, you, you might not want to do that. You gotta learn the lesson the hard way sometimes, but I advise you not to do that, boy. And then when they do it, I'm like, I tried to tell you, bro, but let's, let's get you back. Right? You know? Yeah. And I, I did, I had to fight against that. Oh, you these damn kids, these damn tiktoks and YouTubing, like, because I was that kid, right? I was, yeah, I was, I was wild. I was loose, I was crazy. I was running around just doing random stuff. Um, I had no plan, no, no direction. But now that I'm a little bit older, I can understand that generation that's coming up as well as the, the one that came after, well before us, right?  

Eric:    00:34:00    So we're in that happy medium that, that I, I'd say those of us who are between 35 and 45, we're in a really interesting space, that millennial range where we remember the world without the internet, but we know the internet. We invented the damn internet. So, yeah, it, it, it's, it's like we're in this niche and I, and I feel like those of us who are Americans who've left, we've left behind an entire generation that we complain about. Like these gen z, you know, all these damn Gen Z eras and all this, like, they should be learning from us. They should have learned we're their, we're their uncles and aunts and mothers and fathers. That's us now. Like millennials are all, we're all the parents now. We're the grownups. So I think, you know, me and you being influencers and being on YouTube and in the public eye answering questions of 20 something year olds, I think we have a lot to offer.  

Eric:    00:34:52    Because every time I get on a podcast like this, and afterwards I look at the comments and I'm like, oh, I thought I was just talking shit. I thought I would just regularly have it talking, having a regular conversation with somebody I know. 'cause I generally only do podcasts with people I know now. And like, oh, oh, this stuff really still hits home with people. People wanna hear these things. They wanna explore these ideas. So maybe it was time for me to kind of come back full time and really give it a go. And I, and you know, to your question, I think not only me, I think all of us, our whole generation, those of us who have been doing this for years, who've, you know, stepped away a little bit and walked away, I think it's time for us to come back, because shit's lopsided now.  

Eric:    00:35:33    It's, it's going too far. It's going too far to the other side where these kids, they're just reckless. Like, there, there's this one girl recently, maybe three months ago, I, I became aware of her. She brought a one-way ticket to Japan, ran outta money, then came to Thailand and was homeless in Thailand for a few days. Like, it was, it was insane to me. And it, it blew up on TikTok. And I'm like, uh, she was a black woman. Well, she still is a black woman. She's alive. But it was like, what? Where did you get this idea to do this? Where in the world did you think that that was a good idea? She obviously survived it, but I'm like, no, do not do that. People, and you need people with our experience to tell them not to do that because it's a whole new YOLO generation. Like it's a whole new Yolo generation. I'm gonna be the next big tiktoker. I probably, you probably won't be, but all right. You know, like, we've seen this before. Yeah.  

Kristin:    00:36:35    I've seen people getting deported from Bali for sharing fake information on TikTok and Instagram, or telling people how to overstay their visas and working when they don't have work permits. And it's like, people just have this complex where they don't, you know, they think they can just come in as a foreigner and that it's gonna be fine, but I saw broke down palace <laugh>,  

Eric:    00:37:00    Or they don't know how to keep things to their selves either. Like, I know Kristin, there's stuff that me and you don't put on the internet a lot. There's stuff that we say we know we do, we've seen that we will never talk about publicly, especially me, I live in a country where you can't even speak about certain people publicly. There, there are defamation laws. You can't complain about hotels publicly. So it, it, you know, for me it's relatively simple where I live, but I'm like, there's this concept, you guys are self snitching. Why are you getting on YouTube telling people the illegal things that you're doing in other countries?  

Kristin:    00:37:34    They don't know it's illegal.  

Eric:    00:37:36    They don't know it's illegal, or they don't care and they think they can get away with it. They just don't care. Yeah. So yeah, it's, yeah, we, we gotta be better aunties and uncles.  

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Kristin:    00:41:15    I think you're right about needing to speak up about things, because I feel like I was so much more opinionated before the pandemic that I kind of stepped back a bit in the past few years, and I haven't been publishing as much of what I used to publish that gets less views because it's not made for the algorithm. But I've been thinking lately of changing even what I post about. And first I'm thinking of publishing less often because I don't like being on that hamster wheel of every week having to get something out or having to batch so many episodes in advance to be able to have brain space to do other things. But yeah, it was kind of this period of going more inward and just processing what was going on to now come back with another, another perspective on things. And I don't know what that's exactly gonna look like yet, because like you said earlier, it's about knowing yourself and it can be really easy to lose your sense of self in the world of social media and, and everyone having an an opinion about everything and the mainstream news and stuff.  

Kristin:    00:42:32    So watch out for whatever's coming next, because I think I'm gonna do more unfiltered. No, not that I'm very filtered anyway, but you know, a lot of my videos are like the best things to do here, the best places here, and I've lost that section of my personality that is, let me opine about these news headlines and let's actually talk about what's really going on here when you see this or that. It's more to what meets the eye or these stories are factually incorrect, like just kind of pointing all of that stuff out and bringing attention to that. I wanna get more, more into, because that's what fires me up. But there's also this weird time right now, as you mentioned, being in your mid thirties to forties or even beyond, you know, there's a lot of people that, that consume this content and listen, and they've been doing this for longer than we have, maybe, but they just don't talk about it, but they like to hear what we have to say about these topics.  

Kristin:    00:43:36    So there's a lot of people that don't comment, that don't talk publicly about things that are just observing and taking things in, but they also know the deal. So we're also, you know, communicating with them. But I got a message from a friend this morning and he said, I feel so weird because I got to the Lisbon Airport for a conference, and I went straight to my favorite cafe in the airport and started working. And he's like, I realize that I have a favorite cafe in the Lisbon airport. And I was looking forward to getting there, and I started thinking that it is so weird. Like I have favorite places all around the world that when I go back there, it's like I just kind of walk in like, oh, I'm gonna go to my favorite yoga studio, my favorite cafe, whatever. I would love to get your perspective on, on this feeling, because it's hard to really put your finger on it. It's like, what, what is this feeling when you are from Cleveland, you're a citizen of Thailand, or a resident of Thailand, long term resident, but yet you feel so comfortable in these other places. Like you could go to Uzbekistan and you'd like have people on your cell phone that you could ask for things like, what is this feeling to you?  

Eric:    00:45:02    I think it's maturity. I think it's, uh, and, and I think it looked a little bit different when we were younger. When we were younger, the people who were our age, you know, in their forties and their fifties generally, you know, those who had achieved something. And me and you have achieved something. People who had lived a life of exploration and adventure and energy and, and, and, and success. They, they had this, this era of, of, of coolness to 'em, this relaxation, this chillness. And, and it's because they don't have time for all that negativity necessarily. Like, I don't know about you, but the people I looked up to were that way. I was like, man, how are you so chill? How are you so cool? And I realized that it's because they realize how short life is, and the older we get, the more we lose heroes. One of my childhood heroes just passed away in February. His name was Carl Weathers. Um, he played Apollo Creed in Rocky movies, uh, action Jackson, like that, that was my hero. Like, people were like, oh, he is my hero. No, no, no, no. This guy, like Carl Weathers was my hero,  

Kristin:    00:46:08    And he passed away.  

Eric:    00:46:09    I know that. And he, he played, uh, in Mandalorian, that's how the younger people know him now. Um, Happy Gilmore, uh, Chucks  

Kristin:    00:46:16    Happy Gilmore. Yeah, yeah,  

Eric:    00:46:17    Yeah. So he passed away in February, and I'm like, and after losing, uh, my father losing, uh, my grandmother, like, I'm like, wow, all the people who I grew up who made me who I am who helped develop me as a human are are gone or, or, you know, or or going to be gone soon. So I realized like all that time that, you know, you spend on social media arguing with strangers, being upset about what, like being, being, being frustrated about all these things. And it's like, I, I'd say I'm 41. I'm about halfway there. It's about 50% of the way over for me. You know, like my family usually about 80 eighties, about when we kinda wrapping it up. So for me, really honestly in my head, and I hope I'm wrong, but I'm about 50% away, done. That's it. My life is about 50% done.  

Kristin:    00:47:12    I think of that a lot.  

Eric:    00:47:13    And this last half, I wanted to be as enjoyable and as positive and as inspiring as possible to as many people as possible. I'm thinking legacy at this point. So when my story's by myself or somebody else, they, they can talk about my favorite, my favorite restaurant in Bangkok, my favorite, you know, cafe in Milano, like my, my favorite club in Rio. Like tho those places are a part of me, a part of my development, part of who I'm, and we're at a point in a world where people aren't necessarily as adventurous anymore because everything's at your fingertip. You have top, top five places to go in Portugal. All right, I'm gonna go to those five places. And we constantly complain about these algorithms, but we feed them, we constantly engage with them, we feed these algorithms. And instead of, you know, Chiang Mai was discovered, Georgia and Azerbaijan were discovered, you know, of Warsaw in Poland was discovered by somebody and they became popular and famous because that person went there and was like, yo, this place is amazing.  

Eric:    00:48:28    We've lost that sense of adventure and that discovery. So, you know, like when your colleague talks about his having all these amazing places around the world, and we both have phones and Rolodex is full of those contacts, I feel inspired and energized because I, I just don't know if those coming behind us are gonna have those kind of connections to, to, you know, just take a random train and to che you. Yeah, alright, let's go. Like, yeah, okay, I got three weeks. Let's, let's do it. Hey, you know, we love to have you come to this thing in India. All right, let's go. You know, like that's, that's what I'm excited about. That's what I'm excited about for the next 40 years. When I think about going to these places, like I'll be back in Europe in, um, October. I'm gonna World Travel Market in London.  

Kristin:    00:49:18    I'm going planning on going back to Europe in October, and I just found my world travel stuff from 2015 is the last time that I went to that. So we should meet up.  

Eric:    00:49:29    Yeah, yeah. Uh, I'll be at World Travel Market , uh, well that's the first week of November. So I'll be in Europe for one week. I'm taking family with me, uh, for the first time. So you might be able to meet somebody super special. And then I'll be going to know Berlin and I'm gonna go have an absolute blast with some close personal friends who live in Berlin, uh, maybe end up in Turkey and then come home to, uh, Thailand. But having those options, having that opportunity, that ability to do a trip like this and take friends and family with me and, and see the world through their eyes is, it's so energizing to me to be able to spread positivity. And, and it is like, it's so funny. Like, I feel like being the world's finally caught up to me. 'cause I've always been authentic and real, and with so much ai, fake bullshit in the world now, that's the new currency is being authentic and real.  

Eric:    00:50:23    And it was like, oh, now you fucking, now y'all catching up. Now you figured it out. Like we knew we were doing this a decade ago and you guys are just catching up to us. Like we've been doing this. So we, we've been saying whatever we want, right? We've been trying to look at things from a positive perspective and not feed into these negative headlines that you guys complained about. And you, you remember back when Fox News and CNN and BBC, they were the big bad wolves. Now it's Instagram and TikTok and Twitter. It's like all these, you know, bias social media sites are banning people. I'm like, yeah, yeah. It was the same thing with tv, but we kept, if you keep feeding it, that's what you're gonna keep getting. So for me, I'm like, man, I'm trying to put as much positivity in the world and share those secret favorite spots that I have around the world.  

Eric:    00:51:10    Yeah. And keep a few of those things to myself because I'm not trying to have y'all mess up my favorite spots, but it really is. So, so when I think back about having those experience, about having those contacts and those places around the world that really speak to me, it goes back to my, like, one of my favorite things that I believe is that not everybody's born where they belong. And you should spend your life trying to find that place where you belong. And through that journey, you're gonna start collecting these places, these people, these experiences that you call back to whenever you're in those dark places and you don't know what direction to go.  

Kristin:    00:51:51    Yeah, that's a great quote. Not everybody is born where they belong. I, I definitely relate to that. I think a lot of people do relate, and many of us who are listening are fortunate enough to be able to change our location away from where we were born while still accepting and acknowledging the parts of home that made us who we are today. But what you said about being halfway through life, so we're the same age. We have so much in common. I think we even don't, we have the same birthday or close in July, right?  

Eric:    00:52:23    I'm on the 26th. February 26th.  

Kristin:    00:52:25    Oh, Okay. I thought we had the same birthday. I've been thinking about that. My family had a personal situation that I haven't talked about publicly. I don't know if I will, but basically, yeah, I don't know even how to say it. But basically one of my immediate family members was almost killed in a mass shooting in the US and I don't wanna like give a lot of details on it, but she narrowly survived. And of course the whole guns and violence in the US and racism, we've talked about that and your other episodes. So we'll link to those. Of course, you can say anything else. So here, but between that happening this month, and I think being in my forties now and then looking at those old photos and seeing how many of my friends have passed away from high school graduation to today, it's like we don't know how long we have on this planet.  

Kristin:    00:53:25    And everyone's planning for that time when they retire. Or even most of my clients that are in their sixties and seventies are still planning for that next 10 years when they're gonna be 80. And I'm like, we don't have 10 years. Like, we need to start right now because we don't know how long, if you've made it to 65, like you're lucky. My friends died in their twenties, thirties, early forties for different reasons. You know, car wrecks, like you never know. Or if you're in the US some psychopath can come into your office and start shooting people. Like you just don't know. So that being said, and you've alluded to this a little bit, what would you say is the the most important thing for you right now?  

Eric:    00:54:14    Enjoyment. Enjoyment. Just doing and seeing and experience things that I enjoy and discovering just new and exciting things is continuing to try things. And I would say those, you know, those, I'd say three years off, you know, and I'm blessed to have invested money enough, well enough where I'm, I'm just fine for the rest of my life. I'm like, in that timeframe, what did I do? I spent a lot of money on alcohol and drugs and partying, and what did I show for? It was fun. I am not that guy who's gonna tell you like, oh, it wasn't fun. I feel bad about having all this amazing experience. No, but I would say that I wish that I had the mindset then that I have now. And everybody says that, right? Everybody says, I wish, had I known then now I'm in that place where I'm like, okay, let, let's try something new, something different.  

Eric:    00:55:13    Like something I have not done before. You know? And I think a lot of people get to this point where, you know, the club isn't boring. I've just done it. That it hasn't changed. It's the same thing has always been. It's just we've done it over and we've already done it. So now we're looking for other new things to inspire us and get us excited and happy. So it's like, I've never really been on a cruise before. I'm like, wonder what that's like. Like I, I wanna go on like a long cruise. Not like I, I've done a three day cruise. I wanna go like on a one to two week transcontinental cruise. Like I've never done that before, right? Like, there's so many things I've never done. We have so little time on the planet, and I keep seeing friends and people who are same age as we are, who are miserable because they've got stuck in this system that they can't get out of, they can't afford to get out of, especially as things in the states are getting economically worse for a lot of people where they don't have that freedom or the opportunity to just up and take a shot like we did, you know, things were a lot simpler, say, you know, 14 years ago when, when we were looking at doing this.  

Eric:    00:56:28    So I wanna be able to, for, for me personally, enjoy myself to have an absolute blast and bring as many people as possible with me, you know, to have these experiences like the Kambala in India, the largest gathering of humans ever. The one I went to. And I have almost no video of it. And I was like, I have the memories, I have the photos, but I was like, man, I wish I had video of that. I wish I could have. And this was even during my influencer days, I was like, I wish I could have conveyed what I was experiencing, what I was feeling, and what I was seeing. And I hope to have that opportunity again one day, but in the meantime, I, I don't wanna waste it again. Like, I wanna make sure that I try as I might, as much as I can, as to share those experiences that might not happen again. Because, you know, while we're talking about the individual in terms of, you know, you know, people who plan to be, to basically pay to live till they're 80, 90 years old. And we don't know, I think as, I don't know what's gonna happen with us as a species, to be perfectly honest. Yeah. I'm worried about humanity. I'm worried about the planet. I'm like, I dunno if we're gonna be here in a hundred years and people are like, ah, you know, you might be over exaggerated. I'm like, uh, alright. I hope I'm wrong.  

Kristin:    00:57:50    I know. Think of what's just happened in the past five years and then think of what could happen in the next 50 years. It's, it's scary.  

Eric:    00:57:59    Yep. And, and we might still be around in 50 years, you know, like in 50 years we might be like, yo, like you remember that podcast? We did it way back in 2024. Like, you know, like,  

Kristin:    00:58:13    Let's put this in the time capsule where you bury the stuff and dig it back up.  

Eric:    00:58:17    Dig it up in for the years. Oh man. But it's, it's really, it's just, you know, have, just have as many new and exciting experiences as possible and try to share that slash get as many people brought. 'cause that's, that's what I, it's always been about. It's to inspire people to get up and just go and try and explore and, and venture and see what's out there. Because life is super short. It's cliche as hell, but it's true.  

Kristin:    00:58:42    It's so short. And you don't have to be a content creator or anything to be able to have impacts in people's lives. Lives. And, you know, we've, I've only been doing this for a few years, but when I looked back at those photos and saw all of those relationships and friendships, it's like, wow, think of all of the people that you've been a part of their lives. Even if you haven't thought about them for 17 years or whatever, you see that picture, you remember, oh, that conversation or we shared that moment, that memory, whatever it is, that's all very important. And life is really short. And even when I got this news about my family member and I was just walking outside on the sidewalk and saw this most beautiful sunset, and I was thinking like, how surreal it is to be feeling this, this devastation and all of this stuff in one way, but then to just see traffic going by like normal and the sunset there is just such a kind of out of body experience. So I don't know what the meaning of life is, but I think that a big part of it is about, as cliche as it sounds being present each day.  

Eric:    00:59:58    Yeah. My grandmother used to say, she used to say, walk while you can't, 'cause one day you can't. I think we have this, this mentality of constantly chasing tomorrow and assuming that, you know, our body and our financial status and our family structures will all be there tomorrow because we're so used to it. Um, without acknowledging how short life is, how our, our bodies are deteriorating as we get older. How our finances are changing, how the world can change around us. And it all can be taken in the blink of an eye. And, you know, one way or another, you're not going to be able to do this forever. You're not gonna be able to walk your dog on the beach. I'm not gonna be able to go to, you know, parties in Berlin. Like, we don't know when the last time is gonna be that you hug that person you love.  

Eric:    01:00:48    So instead of worrying about tomorrow, you just living today, we're, we're, we're missing out on living today, worrying about tomorrow. At this point, I'm like, I, I really wanna just live today and tomorrow's gonna come. And, and I'm not saying don't prepare, but don't overdo it. Like, don't over prepare to the point where it's impacting your today life. That, that schedule, like, like my schedule for example, I have a very clear and strict schedule and people say, oh, your schedule is no flexibility. I'm like, no, there's flexibility. I just understand that sometimes today you have to do things I don't want to do so I can do the things I do I want to do tomorrow. And so I do have that flexibility, like, yes, I do need to do an hour and a half every day of admin work. I need to do an hour and a half every day of creative work.  

Eric:    01:01:41    I need to go to the gym an hour and a half every single day. I need to do two hours of absolutely nothing. Like the these things, they, they feed my quality of life. Like the, it is, it is like water in the plant. Like there, there are steps if you want the plant to grow, you have to do stuff. Like, you can't just not do anything and ignore it and you can't overdo it either. You can't add too much sunlight, too much water too. And it is going die and you can't add too little. You have to find that balance to grow that plant in a way that it cultivates and feeds you. You know, either it's beautiful or, or, or providing some kind of food or vegetable nourishment or better quality air, something. So that's how I look at life is like a plant is like, you have to find that balance of, you know, enough, the perfect amount of sunlight, the perfect amount of water to get you to where you wanna be. And I think people lose lose sight of that, you know, and they look at everybody else's gardens like, oh, why it's going so pretty. I'm just not working hard enough and I'm not doing enough. I'm not doing this. Instead of asking that person, Hey, what are you doing to get those roses so red? And usually the answer is pretty, pretty clear. Like, oh, a little bit of sunlight, a little bit of water, you know, enjoy it. Yeah.  

Kristin:    01:02:53    You know, that's a great metaphor. And it's weird that we treat ourselves worse than we would treat a plant or a pet or a child. So definitely good. Not all of us, but you know, sometimes a lot  

Eric:    01:03:06    If you're  

Kristin:    01:03:07    A lot of people burning the candle at both ends. Yeah.  

Eric:    01:03:09    Yeah. And I do it too. I still, and even though I said I still do, I'm in the middle of that now. Like, literally, like it was, I took a nap before this 'cause I was like, I was so exhausted, like the crazy thing in Bangkok. We're having one of the hottest dry seasons that we've had in years. Like we were, I was talking to a friend of mine who's been here 20 years, I've been here 10, and he was like, man, I can't remember in 20 years when it was this bad for this long. And I'm like, I don't either in, in my 10 years. It's a rough one this year.  

Kristin:    01:03:39    That's what I was going to ask you. What, what is your daily life like now in Bangkok? Kind of what's the vibe there as far as yeah. Your routine, but also the vibe with tourism and other remote workers and people.  

Eric:    01:03:53    It's changed so much. Like, it, it, it's really interesting being at this point Philip Cornwell Smith, a brilliant author and now a friend. He wrote this book called Very Thai. And he wrote another one called Very Bangkok. Uh, in my opinion, those are the two most important, two of the most important English written books on Thailand and Bangkok. Uh, Philip Cornwell Smith, Very Thai, Very Bangkok.  

Kristin:    01:04:16    We'll link to those.  

Eric:    01:04:18    Uh, a phenomenal, phenomenal author. And he's been here 32 years. And, uh, Joe Cumming, who wrote the, uh, the First Lonely Planet Guide, uh, to Thailand, I wanna say Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia, I think he consulted on. Oh wow. But Joe Comey also lives here. I mean, he's been here 34 years and talking to them about what it was like when they first got here versus 20 years ago versus 15 versus, and 10 years ago when I really, really got here and how rapidly it changes here. And I tell people all the time, like some old head, oh, you kids, uh, when before Thailand was a different place before Covid, very different place before Covid. So now like the building, I I ended up getting my condo in years ago. It was almost all middle class tie. Now it's almost 50% foreigners now. Mainly Russian Ukrainians now, uh, because of the war and economic stri is going on in Europe.  

Eric:    01:05:19    And it changed the entire, not only did it change the demographic of the building, it changed the character of the entire area. Mm. Prices went up, a lot of locals get got priced out. Condos started popping up like weed. Uh, it changed. Yeah. But that's just not my area. It's the whole city of Bangkok. Yeah. There was a lot of amazing food and beverage people who left because during Covid you couldn't make a living. And the only reason you were able to stay in town is because you could make a living. But during Covid, you couldn't make a living. So you had to go back to your home country and you didn't have the funds to start up a new restaurant or a bar in Thailand again. And it changed the landscape. We lost some amazing restaurateurs and bars. And those spots have been taken by other people.  

Eric:    01:06:06    Which change has changed the entire outlook. For me personally. I have focused so much on my physical fitness and my enjoyment of Bangkok. I've made a massive show like, oh, content, you know, next trip. And I'm like, nah, I'm, I'm thinking about, and especially now I'm actually moving into my house. The condo life was a bachelor's life. It was a traveler's life where you have a condo because you're one foot out the door, it's inexpensive, it is basically turnkey. You don't have to buy any furniture, you don't have to worry about anything. Your office takes care of all that stuff. Like something gets broken, you literally just go to the lobby, Hey, the shower's broken. 'cause somebody fix it. They send somebody up. Getting a house is investment in the long term. So all, all the issues are yours. All the, all the, all the maintenance is yours.  

Eric:    01:07:00    The decisions are all yours. When you leave town, there's nobody actually keeping an eye on your place where you, unless you put 'em in that position. Right. That's a, a shift me worrying about my body. I don't train to be as strong as possible anymore. I was doing power lifting, now I train for longevity. I train for mobility and flexibility. I wanna be able to get off the toilet in 15 years from now, <laugh> without any help like that. That's a very real concern. 'cause I know a lot of people in their fifties who can barely walk. And I'm 41 now, and I look around at other 40 somethings. I'm like, oh no, that's, that's chasing us. Right? Yeah. So I focus on my health a lot more now. I'm in better shape now than I was in my thirties, in my opinion, because I'm eating better.  

Eric:    01:07:46    I'm consciously focused on how I'm moving my body. I'm, I'm doing different styles of yoga and stretching and mobility training, like working with my knees and making sure my knees are good, my back's good, my heart's good, my brain's good. Make sure those things are structurally sound for the next 40 years because I need them <laugh>. Like I need those as the word. Um, my relationships here are more based in character. And when I say character, I mean this is a person who deserves my time as opposed to just somebody like the, the, the days of meeting somebody in the cup, oh, let's get a drink. Those are kind of like, uh, I I'm good like, like you're cool to hang out with at the gym. But in my other time, nah, I'm intentional with how I spend my time daily here now because everybody who comes here isn't, isn't worth your time or energy  

Kristin:    01:08:43    Or they're not, or they might not even be living there  

Eric:    01:08:46    Or they might not be living there. Yeah. Especially if you get into something romantic like it, like, oh, this person's gonna be going tomorrow. So day-to-day, the demographics of Bangkok's expat community has changed drastically. You have a lot of Europeans, um, and you have a new generation of very, very young travelers. And it is bizarre to watch because backpack and culture's dying. Another amazing friend of mine, nomadic Matt, one of the first, you know, backpackers ever was out here, uh, for a few weeks. And, uh, we hang out a lot. Very good friend of mine. And he went to Cal San, it was one of the few nights I couldn't go out with him. And, uh, we were texting back and forth and I had work and he was texting me and he was like, oh, I'm gonna, you know, spend, uh, my first four days staying near Calend Road.  

Eric:    01:09:34    And I'm like, bro, it ain't Calend Road that we remember. I'm telling you. He say, oh, it's, I'm like, I'm telling you, he lasted like a day and a half and got a hotel closer to where I'm at because it is not, it's not what we remember. It's not backpackers anymore. It's people who are trying to make money off the memory of what backpacking was like. It is kids chasing what they saw in the beach and our old blog posts from nine, 10 years ago. That's what they're seeing. So they come here and they think that's what it is. It's not that anymore. So not only has Bangkok changed, Thailand has changed the demographics of the people who traveling here have changed, which in turn has resulted in me having to change how I interact with the country, the city, and other travelers. So my day to day is really about me trying to find as many new things to experience as many cool people, uh, to spend my valuable time with and taking care of my body to be honest.  

Kristin:    01:10:35    Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Definitely important priorities. Self-care, you know, eating, family, friends, work like exercise. There's not much time left over. But yes. Before we let you go, I'm so curious to hear how it's been going with DJing and why this has been such an important creative outlet for you to pursue at 40 and beyond.  

Eric:    01:11:01    It's actually way better at DJing than I ever thought I was. It's apparently I'm a very good music selector. And I think it's, uh, I think it partially comes from me being a traveler because I, I look for sounds that I've never heard before, or sounds that I, I find exciting and new and different. I've been, uh, very curious with finding more African vocals or, or Indian instrument, uh, Nepalese and, uh, Bangladeshi, um, drums and other types of percussion instruments. A lot of, uh, central and South American guitars, like the finding those kind of elements of, of sound and finding ways to mix those with more tradition, more mainstream melodic systems. Right. Uh, exploring organic house and, and, because I feel like you we're both kind of in that housey range, but I tend to go with a more vocal high energy house, more of a new disco.  

Eric:    01:11:56    Like I'm, I'm, I'm kind of in that, um, that Afro house new disco kind of range where, you know, anything under 1 22 is a little too slow for me. And I'm like, oh God, I wanna take a nap <laugh>. But, um, it's that adventure of it. And, and I'm a hip hop head. I love hip hop. Everybody knows I love hip hop, but they're shocked that I don't DJ hip hop. And the reason I don't DJ hip hop is because it's too same samey for me. It's very similar. But in the place of house, if you take, say Lou Vega, um, you, you take Honey Dijon, you take Fred again, you take Daft Punk and you, and you listen to them DJing, they're so damn different. There is such a wide range between how they explore sounds, even like Carl Cox, how they expand and sports sounds, and the new generation like James Hype, how they look for different ways to connect with an audience.  

Eric:    01:12:54    It gets me excited. I I just had a show, funny, um, last Saturday I, this past Saturday, a few days ago, my God. And it was at a, uh, like a weed shop, a rooftop of a, of a weed shop. Uh, amazing. My very first show was, uh, top of one of the best rooftop bars in Bangkok during the sunset. It was amazing. And this what kind of took me back to that energy, that feeling, right? So I'm at a point in my, my, my DJing where I'm not nervous anymore. I I don't have that nervousness necessarily anymore because I know I know it, but I don't know the crowd. And I'm trying to sneak in. I'm trying to find that connection that through line to connect everybody on the same, the energy wave. And I had a two hour prime set. The first hour was, was smooth.  

Eric:    01:13:44    I mix and key. I try to keep the vibe, the groove going, but I don't know what the hell it was. I don't know what happened that second hour where I was in such a, do you, did you ever see the movie Soul? It, it was, it was about jazz. It was a pix, it's a Pixar. I believe it's this groove that you get into as a musician where everything else falls away and it's just the music. And that's what happened to me. It's like the last 45 minutes, it was me and the music and the crowd, and we were just in a perfect syn. Every transition was perfect. Every song I selected was perfect, and everything flowed. And I'm like, oh my God, I can do this. Like, this is a thing I'm good at now. Like, it's something that I'm excited about and I love doing.  

Eric:    01:14:38    And, and, and that energy is there in the room and people enjoy it. People really enjoy it. And, and I always thought like, yo, I'm like, I'm not a scratch dj. I'm not James Hype. I'm not about to be doing cartwheels like Steve a I'm not doing any of these crazy things to be on these big stages, but in a small room, you put me, uh, two, three hours in a small room with people was love music. Oh man, it's something special. So for me, DJing has become that new outlet, that new connection with the community and people. And the same way that I love travel and meeting new people, I find that through DJing.  

Kristin:    01:15:22    Yeah, I, I think that everybody who's ever been in a flow state, which is probably everyone <laugh> knows what that means, but it's really fun to apply that feeling in a musical performance context, which is something that is new to both of us because we haven't been DJing for that long. But it's a different feeling from when I was younger doing dance recitals and, and things like that. And is a kind of more of a, it's like a collaboration with the audience because you're trying to figure out what they respond to while also being true to yourself. But then it's also a collaboration with the universe and a higher power, because I often think that I don't know what is the next song I'm going to play. You know, at the very beginning, I would make a track list and I would just follow the track list because I was so nervous, like you were saying.  

Kristin:    01:16:26    But in, you know, recent years, it's just, I play the next song that intuitively sticks out to me. And I don't know what that is until the moment that it's time to select a new song. And that's what helps you stay in the flow because you're not thinking about anything else. You're not even really thinking <laugh>. And I even watched a documentary about, about music in Germany and Berlin in the nineties, and I, I clipped a quote that one guy was saying, and he said, why do I always pick the right song at the right time? <laugh>. And that was when he was playing on vinyl. So I think it must be some thread that goes through probably everything. It's probably just related to creativity. But what are your thoughts on that?   

Eric:    01:17:14    Yeah, I think it's, uh, it is not only related to creativity, it is related to human connection. It, it, it's, it's like the pleasure that a mother gets, uh, or a father gets when they, uh, prepare a big meal and their family enjoys it. You know? Um, I'm sure chefs feel that all the time. It, it's when you put your heart and soul into something and other people really enjoy it. Now, I know a lot of, uh, DJs, creatives, musicians, artists who make art for themselves. And I'm one of those people. I make it, I create sets for myself and I hope other people like it, which is why I'll never be a professional DJ because I never, I could never cater to. And I've been offered gigs here in Bangkok that I've turned down majority of 'em, because there's this culture of creating a set list for the DJ where the, the club owner manager gives you x amount of songs that you have to play a night.  

Eric:    01:18:07    And I'm like, no, I, I will never do that because I don't enjoy it. Right? Like, I, I will never play a song that I don't like. So I think it's, okay, let me play these 50 to a hundred songs in my given space, or 25 or 20, however long your set is, and let's see what that journey is. What the story we can create is, I would, I would, if I create a set for a, a, a queer event, a a event that promotes itself as queer, right? There's a certain expectation that comes with that versus a, oh, this is Hardstyle techno, this is like Berlin style techno. There's a different energy that comes with that. And when we prepare a set list, um, and I don't know how a lot of other DJs are doing it these days, but when I prepare a set list, I'm like, if I was in this club during this time, on this day, what do I want to hear? What do I wanna feel? What do I want to experience? And as an artist, I say, okay, what do I want my audience to feel and to hear and experience? And that first part of your set that warm up into it is those first five to six songs is me finding where everybody is. Where's the vibe? Where's the energy? There's a, when you go and, and you know, talking about BPM, right? And, and, and BPM is not necessarily an indicator of energy, but it's a pretty good barometer for the most part.

Kristin:    01:19:29    Beats per minute for non-music--

Eric:    01:19:32    Yeah, beats per minute, I'm sorry, <laugh>. So if I'm starting somewhere in, in, in like a groovy soul house range, like 115, I'll likely end up somewhere closer to a 130 in a, a higher energy tech house vibe, border lining on that melodic techno range, like that, that early getting, getting into that, right? And I can see the crowd change and shift. People come, people go, that's what I think that flow state truly is, is finally recognizing humanity in yourself and other people. Because I firmly believe that as humans, we're all interconnected. Your actions, even all the way over there impact my life some minor way, you know, doing this podcast, I can be doing something else right now. So it, it, it's, it's these little connections between all living organisms. And I think we constantly forget about that. The beauty of art and observing how your art is received is that connection.  

Eric:    01:20:32    Like, these people don't know me. They might know the songs, but they don't know my set. They don't know my background, my story, my emotional journey, my trials tribulations, and I don't know theirs. But in this moment, in this six minutes right here of this track, we're connected in this three minutes we're connected. That one minute isolated stem vocal touched that person in a way that changed their life. And that's the beauty of that flow state. So for me, I think it's, it's about having that creative freedom, but it is also about connecting on a, on a basic human scale.  

Kristin:    01:21:06    Yeah. There's this sign in the elevator in this new building that I moved into, and it said, it says, create more now just in a vertical row. And I was thinking, no matter where you go in the world, the culture could be different, as you mentioned with the, the club owners picking your tracks for you. You know, maybe that's just something that happens in Thailand. I've never heard that before. But all these different factors are at play, the crowd, the people. But at the end of the day, there's this inherent human urge to create things and to produce things. That's where I think the word productivity comes from. Producing, what are you putting out into the world? And that can be in so many different shapes and forms. But that I just saw that sign and it, and it struck me that no matter where you are, there are people who are struggling inside because they want to connect with people they want to create.  

Kristin:    01:22:08    And it's just like these little reminders. And for some reason, it's part of, it's part of human suffering. Like, I saw a quote, uh, my mom and I were listening to classical music, and she has it on, on cable where it shows the name of the composer and like little facts about his life or whatever. And I can't remember the composer's name, but he said that he composed this music with no great feeling of love or warmth, like he just made it and wasn't feeling himself that day. You know, he wasn't in his flow state, but he did it anyway. And, and that's this, I don't know what it is, just this human thing that we have to create. This is like Stephen Pressfield and the War of Art. Do the work. Why is it so hard for us to do the work and the things that we love to do sometimes? I don't know, know but--

Eric:    01:23:04    well, I think it's also, uh, I, I think we also have this, especially now we have this anti work culture. It's, it's, it's, it's a, it's a massive pivot away from the, the Puritan work ethic that America was founded on. And the, the flip, and, you know, people call it wokeness and whatnot. I, I just don't, I, I, I, I think the world's changed, but our our culture and society in America hasn't necessarily kept up with that change, that technological advancement, social advancement, economic change. Um, I think culturally we just haven't shifted that much yet. Um, it's coming, but we have it. So when we, we talk about the work, right? Everything, you, you ask me the questions, Hey, how's the, how's the house coming? I'm working on it. Hey, how's that thesis coming? I'm working on it. How's the set coming working on it?  

Eric:    01:23:57    It's the default answer for effort, right? It's work, work, work, work. But is creating artwork or is it therapy or is it connection or what is it? Right. And I, and I think that people have got ha don't know how to balance anymore because society doesn't allow us to balance it's extremeness or extreme that it's, you know, um, you know, outside of nine to five, I expect you to still answer emails for work. Like, uh, no, nah, no. And, and in, in America specifically, it's very difficult for a lot of people to get outta that space or even be an artist anymore because still looked down upon, yeah, you're just a lazy slacker or some hippie, you don't want to get a real job. When art has always been the foundation of humanity, it's, it's one of the oldest forms of communication. I mean, you look back at the walls of cavemen and trying to depict what they see in artistic form, and it's been one of the foundational gifts that we're given, but is ostracized and, and, and is made fun of and is dismissed, um, and is devalued in a lot of ways.  

Eric:    01:25:07    So I think that it's a double-edged sword when we have these conversations about why can't we not put the work in on the things that we love, is because we are part of a civilized society. I'm throwing up air quotes for everybody who's <laugh>, who's listening, um, as part of civil, civil, uh, civilized society, there's a social contract. And one way or the other, we signed it. Uh, as long as we participate, we signed it. And part of that comes with this work culture that if you're not producing something that I like, it's meaningless and it is not worth something. Right? But I think there's this pushback against that, which is beautiful. You have an entire generation now, and it's coming up in the world where work doesn't mean the same thing as it did when we were kids. Where, and, and, and, and I'm afraid for 'em, because it's a little delusional at times.  

Eric:    01:25:59    You can't wake up at 14 year years old and say, I'm gonna, oh, you know what? I have a passion for music, so now I'm going to headline Coachella. Nah, buddy. That's not how it works. There's a, a journey. But finding that balance between working on the things that you love and doing the things that you don't, I always, uh, I do the shit that I don't wanna do today, so I can do whatever I want tomorrow. And, and, and it's like, I don't want to get up at 6:00 AM to go to the gym, but I have to, I've gotta do that because I want the results, right? I don't wanna sit there and practice beat matching by ear an hour and a half, but I have to just in case something happens. And it always happens as, you know. So it, it, it's like all these things that we don't want to do leads us to the freedom to create art.  

Eric:    01:26:51    And I think it's a a, i I think we're gonna, we're gonna find out, we're gonna find out if I'm right or if I'm wrong. What other 10, 15 years down the line, I believe that human art is gonna be more valuable. Everybody's complaining about AI. Um, and I was like, look, look, I get it. AI is scary to some people. Uh, and no offense to mediocre people. AI, if AI can be a better version of me than me, mazel to, to that system, but nobody can be a better you than you. When you come to my show, you get me. Like, you're not coming to just listen to some tracks. You're coming for me. And what I do when you go to, to my website to look at my work, you're not just going for travel advice. You're coming to ask me specifically for travel advice.  

Eric:    01:27:34    When you go to read, read Digital Nomads For Dummies, you're asking you and me like they're, they're coming from Kristin and Eric's opinion and points of view in their, in our background, right? So the hard work that we do creates our freedom. And I believe we have to look at it from both sides of that coin. No, even if you're not a creative, when you see people who are creating, you have to understand what's going on behind the scenes that you don't see. And I think that's where, that's kind of where we slip up as a society. But it looks like things are changing a little bit.  

Kristin:    01:28:07    Yes, I agree. I think that with ai, humanity will be more important. Art will be more important. Creativity will be more important, and things will change. And maybe, you know, certain jobs or certain people will have to change how they work. Oh, yeah. But  

Eric:    01:28:24    Absolutely does happen.  

Kristin:    01:28:24    But yeah, you don't see a sign that says outside of a restaurant that says playlist today, you know, it says, live DJ today. Because people want that. And it, and it applies to every different industry and every type of field of work. You know, maybe, I'm sure when robots and machines started replacing humans in factories, it was like a doomsday scenario then as well. But those people were freed to do other types of jobs. Well,  

Eric:    01:28:55    I grew up in Cleveland. I grew up in Cleveland, um, and I watched exactly what everybody was talking about, what happened. Those jobs all went overseas. Those factories got, uh, Ford, GM, uh, Timken Steel. I grew up literally watching the fires from the steel mill. I grew up there and I saw family members being unemployed after working there for 15, 20 years. Like, yep, we got nothing for you. So you have these 30, 40 year olds who have to all of a sudden become new creators and some something. Yeah. They have to find a way to make a living and, and, and survive, you know, and you know, not to get political. I think this is why the political changes happened in America so quickly. It's because people discounted the very real reality of how the world works. New things come to make our lives easier.  

Eric:    01:29:46    And you adjust or you get wiped out. It's always nobody's, there's no horseshoers anymore. There's no chimney sweeps like the, the like jobs cha, they, they change, they adjust, they pivot, they shift. And we have more than enough knowledge now to prepare for it as if I've pulled back heavily on my photography because it's been devalued. Now I'll still do my personal and my passion projects. But as a working travel photographer that is dying, and I saw this coming before Covid. I saw this when you, they, they would have digital artists listed as photographers on Instagram when as a photographer, I know that was created by a computer, because I've been to that spot, I know exactly where that there's no lotuses floating around then as canals, like, come on. But they're so good at that point. You can't, the untrained eye or the, uh, unknowledgeable, they just can't tell  

Kristin:    01:30:41    Photoshop. Yeah.  

Eric:    01:30:42    So now when you can literally type in a prompt in the Photoshop and change everything about the photo to perfection, oh, the writers on the wall for us photographers, Adobe just came out and said, uh, they, they basically said that photo, um, photographers would die. We're done, we're dying like Adobe all. And, and people were upset because we have given so much money to Adobe, which is a dinosaur company. I'm excited for when, like, I'm not excited for people to lose their jobs, but I'm excited for that trash heap of a company to go away. And it's because a company like Adobe, instead of incentivizing innovation and helping creators create more, they leach and they pull and they gate keep as much as they can, as many resources as possible so they can make as much money as possible and then replace us. Yeah. And, and that's exactly what Adobe's done, which is why I don't use Adobe for anything anymore.  

Kristin:    01:31:42    What do you use, because I've been trying to get out of the ecosystem. I know you can.  

Eric:    01:31:47    Oh, one and Capcut.  

Kristin:    01:31:49    What do you use?  

Eric:    01:31:51    Uh, On 1 for editing and Nik Software. I love Niks and, and On 1, uh, I'm pretty sure Google still owns them. And, uh, I use Capcut for almost anything. Video reality Capcut is so Capcut is so far ahead. I'm shocked. People still use Premier, Capcut is so much better at this point for normal, like if you're making YouTube videos or vlogs or Capcut has everything you need, and it's a app plus digit, plus desktop, it's Capcut for video, Capcut.  

Kristin:    01:32:18    Okay. I use Final Cut at least 'cause I can own that. What about, do you use any, I guess you kind of have to pay for a DocuSign service. I've, I've narrowed it down to, I just have Photoshop, Illustrator and Adobe sign because I figured  

Eric:    01:32:37    I use Canva, I use Canva, uh, for any, pretty much anything, uh, like art related that I need to do adjust. And I use On 1 for, um, editing photos.  

Kristin:    01:32:48    Okay. So let me write this down for the show notes. So the first one was Niks, NIX?  

Eric:    01:32:58    Yeah. NIK. Oh,  

Kristin:    01:32:59    NIKS.  

Eric:    01:33:01    Yeah. NIKS and  

Kristin:    01:33:03    On 1

Eric:    01:33:04    And On 1, On 1 So Nik, Nik has a collection of software. Uh, 'cause it used to be very good with, uh, it used to pair very well with Photoshop, uh, but it kind of got a little bit janky over the years. But it works really, it, it still works pretty well.  

Kristin:    01:33:19    Okay. Awesome. We'll link that in the show notes.  

Eric:    01:33:23    Yeah. Niks, uh, Niks, On 1, uh, O-N number one. Uh, those two are probably what I would recommend for photo, uh,Capcut a hundred percent for video edits, especially if you're doing like basic stuff. Oh, Capcut, is, is the way to go.  

Kristin:    01:33:38    Okay. Got it. And so what's next for you, Eric? I know you just moved into a new house and what's the next phase in life? 

Eric:    01:33:49    Uh, I'm back to, I'm gonna be an influencer. I'm gonna learn how to do this all again. Um, so I'm taking the, uh, next two weeks, uh, to retrain myself, relearn how this influencer world works. Now. You know, I've been out the game since Covid like full time out the game since Covid, so, you know, three, three and a half years. Um, and I'm just trying to see what the world is. Um, I feel like there's not a lot of people with my voice and my experience, uh, in, in, in the world, especially exploring and covering Asia. And I just think that I can, and I've always created content for people like myself, like people within my age range. Um, I wouldn't recommend, uh, uh, 17-year-old backpacker look at my work now and, and plan their trips around that. I think you should look for backpackers, right?  

Eric:    01:34:35    Um, the same way I look at at myself at 41, I'm not gonna follow, I'm not gonna check out somebody who's backpacking around for recommendations. 'cause we're, we travel very differently, different experience. We're looking for different things. So, um, I want to not only create, uh, a lot more content for people around my age globally, but I wanna show people what it's like to live in Bangkok as an expat. Nobody's really doing that. Everybody's, oh, I'm a food vlogger, and they just walk around eating stuff and I'm like, but that's a small portion of living in Bangkok. Like, that's not, that's not a lot of information you just eat. That's it. Or they're showing condos. I'm like, okay, cool. It's a condo. We all know cheap condos are here. So I wanna have interviews. Uh, I wanna do more interviews with expats, like people from all walks of life.  

Eric:    01:35:20    I have friends who are the best, literally Michelin star chefs or close personal friends. Um, award-winning bartenders, uh, club owners, um, people who work for Pepsi, some people who are teachers, people who work for Facebook and Google. Like, I have some ama amazing network of friends and expats, um, across the city. And almost everybody's willing, like, yeah, let's, let's talk, yeah, let's, let's show people and talk to people about what it's really like to actually live here. It, it, it, it, it, it seems like everybody's creating content for backpackers or retirees or the digital nomads, as we talked about earlier.

Kristin:    01:35:53     Yeah. No one's talking to people like that, that I've seen. It's only if it's about the cost of living or something but--  

Eric:    01:36:01    Yeah, so that's the plan. Uh, cre create more, uh, content as a full-time influencer. Um, and a lot of it's gonna be, uh, Bangkok expat.  

Kristin:    01:36:09    All right. We'll be looking forward to that. So where can everybody follow you?  

Eric:    01:36:14    Uh, everything minority nomad, uh, YouTube, Instagram mainly. But if you google minority nomad, you'll find me.  

Kristin:    01:36:20    Thank you so much, Eric. And we'll also link to your previous episodes and we'll have you back on again soon. There's so many different topics that we can talk about, and it's always good to get your perspective on things and see how you are evolving over the years that I've known you online.  

Eric:    01:36:39    And we gotta get back, we gotta get that back to back soon. You gotta come to Thailand to visit this, this look up in Europe at the end of the year. I'll be there October until around Thanksgiving and November, so.  

Kristin:    01:36:52    Oh, me too. Yeah. Okay. We'll definitely connect and I'll bring a lot of new organic house and deep house and  

Eric:    01:37:00    Yeah. And, and I'll  --

Kristin:    01:37:01    send me some of your se. I'll link to your sound

Eric:    01:37:03    and I'll book after you go. <laugh>  

Kristin:    01:37:08    Do you have, uh, any music online?  

Eric:    01:37:11    Um, no. So, oh, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm gonna start uploading, um, weekly, uh, mixes, weekly two to three hour mixes, uh, just to get more practice. Um, I'm on this new disco wave, I love new disco, and I've, I've just been riding this and it's not big here yet, so it's not huge here. So I'm trying to see what I can do with like the, um, the new disco kinda genre. And I wanna play, I wanna play for fun, so I'm gonna put out challenges where I'm like, Hey, gimme a song that you guys want me to mix, right? So I'll do like, uh, a quick four track mix and, and just kind of put that out and just kind of just to have fun, just to practice different things, like different techniques, different effects. And uh, yeah. So I'll be putting that out on, uh, mix call and I'll shoot that over to you.  

Kristin:    01:37:57    Uh oh. Yeah. What's your DJ name again for people?   

Eric:    01:38:00    Uh, Tep.  

Kristin:    01:38:01    T-E-P-T-E-P. Okay. We got it. Thanks Eric. Have a good rest of your night over there and yeah, yeah, we'll talk again soon.  

Eric:    01:38:10    Yeah, for sure. Later.  

Kristin:    01:38:13    I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Eric. He always gives me a lot of food for thought, and I hope it was the same for you as well. I love his unfiltered style of being himself. And yeah, just always gives me so much to think about in the months to come. Remember that if you are a tax resident in Portugal or you've earned income in Portugal in 2023, then you need to file a tax return this year. So let our friends at Bordr do that for you. They have a brand new tax filing service, and you can save $10 on that by using our link in the show notes. And also, if you're looking for a cool destination to travel to this year, but you don't want to go alone, then check out Hacker Paradise and you can save $100 on your first reservation by using our refer a Friend link also in the show notes. You can get the links to these offers and other resources from this episode directly on our website at badassdigitalnomads.com/257 for this episode number or by checking the description in your podcast app. Thanks for spending time with me today. Thank you again to wit seven for the amazing five star review. Feel free to leave a review wherever you listen, and I will see you in our next episode.