Nomadic Neil

Hey guys,

I apologize for the lack of updates over the past few weeks. I’ve been really busy, first with finishing up the translation work I was doing and now working on some of my own projects.

A few days ago I had to go to Krabi town in order to have my visa extended by 30 days. My friend and I took the opportunity to meet up with some of the people that are staying in that area.

First we met up with Brook from www.businessbackpacker.com. She is a business consultant who has lived in Thailand for a year. Her work involves helping small businesses and individuals rearrange how they work so that their lifestyle goals can be met. She recently started teaching English at a high-school as well. She only spends around 4 hours a day teaching which still leaves her plenty of time to work on her own projects.

After that we headed over to Ao Nang which is a little tourist town close to some great beaches. There we met up with Dan and Ian from www.tropicalmba.com and Sean Ogle from Location 180.

Sean has only recently arrived in Thailand and is working with Dan and Ian on their projects. I was impressed by what Dan and Ian have set up, a real business that provides real products to individuals and businesses, not just your average information product marketing. Dan and Ian host a pod-cast called the Lifestyle Business Podcast which you should check out because those two guys are the real deal and know what they are talking about.

The next day was spent at Raleigh Beach, swimming in the gorgeous water and drinking fruit-shakes. It was good to get away from the computer for a couple of days and left me fully rested and ready to get back to work again.

Stay cool.

This guy made a video of himself dancing around Koh Lanta. Have a look to get a sense of where I’m staying.

[Photo Credit: Tjeerd]

There’s a little bar close to where I’m staying that I used to hang out at. It’s basically a small shack surrounded by bar stools. There you can sit out in the open watching football (soccer) on TV, meet fellow tourists and get tricked into drinking horrible Thai whiskey to the amusement of the barman. All good fun, but sadly no longer for me. I’ve been informed through my friend that I am no longer welcome at the bar or allowed on the premises of the bungalow resort next door which is run by the same people (I stayed there for a week when I first arrived on the island). My friends, through their association with me, are also barred.

So what kind of behaviour has led to me becoming a persona non grata? Have I been smoking pot on the premises with the Swedish stoner dude. No I haven’t. In any case a blind eye is turned to drug use and the stoner guy is back in Scandinavia courtesy of the Swedish embassy. (He was walking around naked shouting obscenities at people. Probably due to one too many ‘Happy Milkshakes’, milkshakes that include psychedelic mushrooms as one of the ingredients).

Was it because I was drinking too much and causing embarrassing scenes? Vomiting on the bar and singing ‘Hotel California’ at the top of my lungs? Not really, I prefer water and soft-drinks, only drinking the occasional beer or cocktail as to not cause offense to the staff. To be honest if I had the choice I wouldn’t drink alcohol at all, but being the ‘rich tourist’ means I sometimes have to compromise in that area.

Maybe it was because I was taking an interest in the local Thai women, accidentally chatting up somebody’s daughter, sister, girlfriend or wife? Not true either. I’m not attracted to Thai women and my only interactions with them are with the waitresses in the restaurants and shop assistants.

The reason I am no longer welcome at my local, so my friend has been told, is that I’m ‘too good with the tourist ladies, and steal them away’. Yes, that’s right, it turns out that I am in fact a ladies man. How they got this impression I’m not entirely sure. I used to be quite shy as a child and made efforts to be more outgoing and social as a teenager. This means that I make a conscious effort to talk to people around me. Old or young, man or women, it doesn’t matter. So when I was staying at the resort I remember speaking to pretty much everyone, including those that everyone else ignored like the old chain-smoking German couple and the Swedish stoner.

Now the local Thai guys have a habit of falling in love with pretty much any Western (Developed Country / 1st world) girl that speaks with them for a few minutes. I think it’s because they spend a lot of time listening to cheesy love-ballads which has affected how they experience the male / female dynamic. So all the time that I thought I was being cool and courteous by introducing my Thai ‘friends’ to any women I was talking with, maybe they were actually growing resentful of me? The problem is that most Thai people just don’t speak English that well, so any attempt at a conversation with a Western girl quickly falls flat. Obviously my tales of high-adventure and my quest for fortune and glory are just leaving them in the dust, while I cruise off into the sunset on my moped with a girl on the back. Yes, in my imagination!

I think there are other factors at play, the fact that I moved from their resort to a different one 2 minutes away and being perceived as being cheap because I don’t want to drink a bucket of Jack Daniels, Red Bull and Coke every night could be playing a part. Anyway, there are plenty of other places for me hang out in the evening, I just hope this island isn’t so tight-knit that I get banned from other bars.

This incident does bring up the interesting topic of what kind of behaviour is deemed acceptable between the sexes in different parts of the world. For example the south of Thailand has a Muslim influence and the locals will ask that tourists to make sure they are dressed conservatively when away from the beach (that means not walking into a restaurant in a bikini).

Many parts of the world don’t share our decadent Western ways and places like Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Iowa aren’t comfortable with public displays of affection. The basic rules that you should follow are:

1. No hugging or kissing in public. Couples holding hands is usually ok, but check first.
2. Sex on the Beach (or on the Road as I saw in one bar) is just a cocktail. Not something you should do in certain countries like this couple.
3. Don’t chat up the locals. Many countries have a tradition of arranged marriages. People meet through friends and family. The girls you meet at the bar are probably ‘professionals’.
4. Dress appropriately. Bikinis are usually ok on the beach but anywhere else women need to be covered up. Guys can usually get away with t-shirts and singlets.
5. Observe the locals and do as they do, and if in doubt, just ask.

Have you had any experiences like this when travelling? Maybe you accidentally offended someone or had to fend off enthusiastic advances from the locals? Discuss it in the comments section.

Stay cool, stay awesome.

This is what the dread-locked Thai beach bums listen to.

So after a week of driving around Koh Lanta sorting out accommodation and our working area I was finally able to get down to being productive. As I mentioned before I’m out here with a couple of friends that have decided to stay in a serviced apartment while I commute 3 minutes down the road from my guest-house to use their internet and enjoy the air-conditioning. The photo above is actually misleading because it’s far too hot to work outside and having the sun shine on your screen isn’t handy either. But I didn’t want to destroy the ideal fantasy that some of you might have built up in your mind. Also, the reality of me sitting in an air-conditioned room with the curtains drawn just wouldn’t make for a good picture.

I usually arrive at the apartment around 10 and work until 13:00, we then go for lunch, maybe a swim, then work until 18:00. I’ve been doing this 7 days a week, although today we took the morning off because it was high tide which is ideal for playing frisbee in the sea. I should get out in the sun a bit more though because I’ve been here since the 20th of November and still don’t have a tan.

So far this week I’ve been working on a membership site for my brother and have been writing a couple of articles for one of my affiliate sites. My dad passed on some translation work for me to do and I’ll be doing that for the coming weeks while planning on how to move forward with my own projects. I’ve also fixed up a few things on nomadicneil.com including improving the SEO of the site. All I need to do now is choose some ads to put up so I can squeeze a few dollars out of you guys as well. You know I’m relying on you to pay for my cocktails right?

BTW, if you’re interested to know, the price for my accommodation is 7500 Thai Baht / 225 USD / 138 GBP / 152 EUR per month. Just a simple room, nice clean bed, a fan and a cold shower. The apartment my friends stay in is 1200 THB / 362 USD / 221 GBP / 245 EUR per month. They get air-conditioning, internet included and a warm shower. Plus they have a cleaner come in whenever they want. As you can see I’m slumming it somewhat, but I’m easy going. As long as I have a clean bed and a mosquito net I’m happy.

BTW, if anyone has any questions for me about anything just leave them in the comments section and I’ll be happy to answer them.

One of the things I have to bring with me when travelling is my guitar. Sure it takes up a lot of space and is awkward to carry, I worry whether it will be damaged on plane journeys and where to keep it safe when I’m staying in shared accommodation. But I can’t go a day without playing, I need it with me. It’s like some kind of drug, and I get withdrawal symptoms when I can’t play.

It’s no coincidence that I make significant improvements in my playing when travelling as a lot of time is spent waiting for trains, plains and buses to arrive and leave. I think every traveller should have a hobby that can kill the down time. Things like hacky-sack, poi or interpretive dance should do. You get bonus points for anything that can involve other people joining in or has the potential to impress a member of the opposite sex.

For me playing guitar is a great way to brake the ice with other travellers and locals because many people can play guitar, while everyone else can make a request. Old Filipino ladies have taught me blues licks and I’ve had Vietnamese teenagers ask me to play ‘Winds of Change’ by the Scorpions. Then there are the other travellers that like to sing along to Bob Marley and Jack Johnson songs.

A couple of nights ago there was a party at a bar near my guest house. The bar owner had set up some microphones, bongos and a guitar amp and invited anyone who was interested to come up and make some music. There happened to be a Swedish session musician present, he had an electric guitar with him so naturally took up lead duties. A Thai guy manned the didgeridoo, while a German played the bongos. I was on rhythm guitar and vocals. We made up some instrumental jams and performed a couple of my own songs. We also performed a cool instrumental version of Superstitious by Stevie Wonder.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it as we received lots of applause between songs and plenty of people took photos of us. I didn’t hear a ‘Booh! You suck!’ at all! I knew it was good when afterwards people asked us how long we’d practised together. The answer of course was not at all, we first met when we got up in front of everyone.

Here’s to all the musicians around the world. Keep jamming together in occasional unison and harmony!

Hey guys it’s been a while since I last updated you. The whole packing up and moving to Thailand kind of kept me busy.

Right now I’m sitting in a nice air-conditioned cafe on the island of Koh Lanta, off the west coast of Thailand, drinking a cool Mango shake. Myam, myam!

But let me back up for a moment. I spent the first two weeks after my last day at work getting vaccinations, packing stuff and figuring out what I wanted to take with me. My parents were kind enough to keep hold of most of my things, mostly clothes, saving me from using a storage facility.

Although the initial plan was to go to Thailand with one other friend, in the end two other people decided to join us. So on Wednesday the 18th of November the 4 of us boarded a plane to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, we stayed one night to recover from the 13 hour flight and from there flew to Krabi in the South of Thailand. We had arranged a mini-bus to take us to the island of Koh Lanta and 4 hours later we were chilling on the beach. I won’t lie… it was actually overcast for the first 3 days! I waited till the sun came out to take pictures though. Now the sky is clear and the temperature is probably in the high 20’s or early 30’s (Degrees Centigrade).

Over the past few days we’ve been looking for accommodation that we ca stay in for at least a couple of months and that provides us with all the facilities we need, not too far from the beach, close to bars and restaurants and with WiFi internet included.

We rented scooters and combed the island, speaking to expats, locals, estate agents and property investors. It’s been quite hard work searching for 6 hours a day, but we have settled upon an arrangement which should allow us to work towards our goals. It’s been quite challenging satisfying everyone’s needs and wants. In fact not everyone is completely satisfied. It’s was sometimes frustrating because I’m used to travelling on my own and don’t need to think about anyone else but myself. But we’re not just here for a holiday and we’ll have to compromise on some things in order to get work done.

Other than looking for a place to live we’ve been doing Yoga and short meditation sessions on the beach, having the occasional massage and have spent time chatting up Swedish / Canadian / Dutch tourists at the local beach bars in the evenings. Hard life.

Anyway, this is going to be the first proper week of work, exciting times!

I spent a few days in the Netherlands visiting friends and family last week and it really reawakend the travel bug inside me. Packing my back-pack and getting my passport and plane ticket ready got me in the mood for my trip to Thailand, though it still doesn’t seem totally real. I keep having to remind myself that there are still a few things I need to sort out before then; insurance, vaccinations, finding someone to take over my room, so I need to get myself in gear!

Anyway, the first few days in NL were spent in the small village and town where my family and friends live. There’s nothing much to report on that except how I noticed how small the distances are compared to London. Walking to my friend’s local pub takes 2 minutes whereas in London I regularly travel an hour to go out. I went to Amsterdam the day before my flight home and visited the Rijks Museum looking at some Rembrandts, including the ‘Nightwatch’. In the evening I went out to a club with some people I had met at the hostel I was staying at. A quick side note, on the way back from the club I was surprised to see that there were many small galleries displaying contemporary art in the city centre. The lights were left on in most of the display rooms so we could have a look at some of the pieces on display.

The funny thing about the hostel was that it had a smoking room in the back where people could smoke pot and listen to the Doors all day long, and I believe some people actually spend most of their time in Amsterdam doing just that. I do hope some of those people do manage to stagger outside to discover some other aspects of the city, even if it’s only to satisfy their munchies!

I’m not against people taking drugs and partying but I’m glad I’m not one of those people whose memories (or lack of them) of Amsterdam boil down to: ‘Man I was soooooooo wasted!!!!’ In stead just think of the endless possibilities the city provides and imagine in years to come telling stories that start with: ‘I was looking at a self-portrait by Rembrandt… and I was soooo wasted!!!’

I booked my ticket to Malaysia the other day (from there I’ll be travelling to one of the islands in Thailand). This means I really have to go through with my crazy plan and will have to get myself organized in order to be ready for my flight on the 18th of November. Doh!

But seriously, that’s a good thing. Doing it reminded me of the commitment and consistency principle I sometimes use. I think I first heard about this principle in Robert Cialdini’s book ‘Influence’. It goes as follows: “If people commit, orally or in writing, to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honor that commitment”.

I think this principle works because on one hand people don’t want to suffer embarrassment for not following through on what they say they will do, and on the other because people have a hard time acting in a way that they consider contradictory to their identity or personality. I think I’m correct in saying cognitive dissonance plays a role as well.

In the past I’ve used this concept to push myself to go on my last world trip, to go sky diving, bungy jumping, learn how to scuba dive and get on stage to play music in front of a crowd. All this, and more, despite being quite scared at the time. It’s such a great tool on so many levels. It forces you to really think about what you want to do, whether you are willing to stand behind your decision, how you’ll go about doing it and how you’ll communicate it to other people. Then you get  the benefit of social pressure pushing you along so that you don’t have to suffer being made fun of or thought of as weak.

So here’s a 3 step action plan to use the commitment and consistency principle.

1. Decide what you want to do.

Now you really need to be clear about what you want for yourself. Not for your teachers, parents, friends or society at large.  It sucks when you publicly commit to something that you don’t really want for yourself, you’ll feel resentment and it will drain you. In contrast it will be awesomely powerful when it’s a completely authentic personal decision as it will make you feel energized, powerful and alive.

2. Tell people about it.

You can do this in person or set up something public; like a website, blog or a note on Facebook. You might feel embarassed about your goal, dream or vision, because your really putting yourself out there and if they reject your plan then it will feel like they are rejecting you.

But don’t worry because it turns out that most people are more worried about what you think of them than whether your plan will really work. They may feign shock and incredulity. They may make fun of your dream or point out the flaws of your plan, but an hour later they’ll have forgotten about you and will have gone back to wondering what they are going to cook for dinner later and how they can best go about asking out Sally from the marketing department.

3. Go and do what you said you would do.

Because if you don’t you’ll feel like a loser, people will point and laugh at you and nobody will want to be your friend.