Shadowing Practice: The Dark Side of Digital Nomads - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Greetings, friends, and welcome back to the Small Brand Podcast, the most horribly racist travel podcast on the planet.

Have you guys hit subscribe yet?

We're trying to hit 100 ,000 subscribers on YouTube, so thank you very much for coming here and joining for another episode of Small Brand Slop.

Today, we're talking about digital nomads.

I almost forgot what we're talking about.

I have nothing planned.

I have no notes.

I just have a heart full of passion for these people

because um as someone who's traveled off

and on mostly non -stop for the last four

or five years well seven i guess

if you count living in japan i have a lot of opinions about digital nomads

i would consider myself one um so i am integrated in the culture

and i can tell you all the intimate little nitty -gritty

details do you guys like my new little uh podcast uh studio

i have a like a 57 dollar amazon table uh we found this cactus in storage

and it's weighing down this actually this podcast stand is very heavy

so it's actually a necessity

and um yeah kind of uh the lowest effort studio i could set up uh

but yeah if you guys have any ideas for the studio i have no idea what i'm doing

but that's not why we're here guys we're here to talk about digital nomads.

It's a very polarizing crew of individuals.

Like I said, I consider myself one and you either love them or you hate them.

You know what I mean?

I feel like I oscillate wildly between those two things.

You can go to somewhere like

Bali and feel like you're really scratching the surface of a new plane of dimension.

You're really uncovering some kind of truth about the world about

borderless countries about you know swapping spit with russian instagram models at fins in a nightclub

you know you can really think

that you're uncovering some ancient truths via an eighth of mushrooms with a shaman a guy

that looks like an aquaman shredded definitely on human growth hormone and testosterone.

You know, he might finger you during the ceremony.

These are all things that happen to digital nomads, guys.

When you put yourself out there, you know, you're obviously taking some risks as far as lifestyle.

You're not just working at fucking

State Farm or at AAA, you know, telling someone that their battery is shot in their car.

You're not selling insurance.

You're going out there and you're trying something new.

And that aspect of digital nomads, I actually really respect.

I think, um, they're trying to forge their own path, you know, growing up in the suburbs, um, of a major U S city,

you know, there's certain expectations of me.

There's, you know, my parents wanted me to go to law school.

I wanted to go to law school for a while.

Um, you know, make $75 ,000 a year,

like selling used car i mean honestly any trajectory is better than what i'm doing now in my parents eyes

if you had asked them two three years ago before

i made a dime from any kind of content actually

i made like actually one month i made like 150 on tiktok

and i was like blown away also i used to do i probably shouldn't say this

but i'm probably gonna regret mentioning this i don't want any archived videos to come up

but i did a few live streams on tiktok like way back in the day

when i had like a thousand no i think you need 10 000 followers on tiktok i can't remember

but just horrible quality live streams just talking to the same seven people

and i think one time some guy sent me like five dollars

and i lost my mind

but even then my parents were like what the are you doing

this is not you're not making any money like why are you just hanging out in a hostel in portland

and filming homeless people and drinking with them

and what is this thing you're doing my dude

i the number of times my grandmother asked me what are

you doing like how do you make money on this

and i was like well i don't now

but someday this could happen you know i could make it big and

but you know i don't expect them to get

it it's not their thing well why would they understand

it's a new job i actually remember in seventh grade my math teacher told me

that something like 80 of us in his classroom

were going to have jobs that didn't exist yet and wow was he correct i think youtube actually

was it 2005 so this was just shortly after that but no one made money on YouTube until like the mid 2010s.

I think it, guys, I think it's been like just a little over 10 years.

People have been like actually stacking bread on YouTube, which is insane.

I mean, it's a brand new job.

I mean, who knows what it's going to look like the next 10 years with, you know, 360 cameras and VR headsets and fucking,

yeah, it's going to be a different, wildly different landscape.

So I'm just, you know, milking this cow as far as, as much milk as i can get out of this udder

you know what i mean um actually

that's part of the reason why i have the podcast is just to like relay some messages to you guys

and not have to travel so much

because you know it's it's tough like like right

now i don't have any videos uh in the fucking like lineup i have nothing and

that definitely like causes some anxiety i'm like well

we're gonna be in the poor house

i'm gonna have to sell feet pics on only fans

i'm gonna have to spread my butt for 64 year old guys

and by the way guys stop asking

if i'm gonna start an only fans like i get

that you're you know curious but like you know if if

if we're being honest this is a parasocial relationship right

you feel like you know me i've shared some

you know intimate details about my life with you i know nothing about you right

that's just the reality of it that's how the parasocial relationship works you know these mediums youtube they spread

my message to as many people as hopefully possible

and then i know nothing about you right so

but the assumption is like we're friends right and so

if you're sitting there and i'm like connor's my friend oh i'm gonna ask him

if he's gonna sell feet pics i'm gonna ask him

if he'll send me a dick pic i'm gonna ask him

if his girlfriend's gonna start an only fans page i I mean, is that the way you would treat a friend?

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You know, that's just fucking strange.

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That's just strange.

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Yeah, I don't need any more of that.

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That just took a crazy meandering turn.

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But, wow, I almost lost it.

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I think I'm getting it back, guys.

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I think I'm getting it back.

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My train of thought.

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But, you know, I'm trying to milk it as much as I can.

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Fuck, what was I saying?

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Damn it, I thought I had the thread damn it I thought I had the thread we're only like five minutes in

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and I'm fucking sidetracked oh yeah my parents like only until very recently they were disapproving of it I mean

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and that's like the normal life trajectory

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and you can't blame your parents for not agreeing with you doing this experimental highly risky career like I remember

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when I was moving to Japan my grandfather told me

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and you know he grew up during uh world war ii

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and the depression crazy time to grow up

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but he told me he's like dude

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you're wasting your life why are you moving to japan you're wasting your life he was

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so dramatic about it he's like you need to go to law school

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and get a career you don't have any money

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you have nothing to show for all this work all this work no he didn't say

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that he didn't give me any credit he was pretty harsh

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but he was like yeah you're wasting your life get a real job

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and i was like respectfully no i am 23 24 years old

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i'm gonna take some risks

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this is the time to do it this is the time where you can you know make a difference

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you can build an empire if you want you can starting early

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and then you just keep chipping away at it for a decade

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and by the time you know it you know things have worked out

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so i'd like to think if he was still alive he would approve uh

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but i guess that's not the point i'm trying to make.

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The point I'm trying to make is it's, it's in their best interest to convince you to not do it.

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Right.

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Because they're, you know, they birthed you like my parents, my grandparents, they're worried about me.

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They want me to like be taken care of.

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They don't want me to take risks.

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They want me to do the safe thing.

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And that's why here we go, guys.

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I came, I, we came full circle.

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I meandered so hard.

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I, I, as I was meandering, I was like,

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I don't think we're going to get back i think we're on like a stray path right now

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but we are back

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and i'm the point i'm trying to make is i respect digital nomads for

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that they they're they're going against the grain

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they are trying to forge a new path they're they're attempting new things

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they're you know redefining what it means to be successful

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they're living without borders you know i feel a little cringe saying

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that but so there are like many good aspects to it i mean don't get me wrong i'm then

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and also like don't get it twisted i'm gonna talk

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so much shit about digital nomads in this episode

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but i just want to give you

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that little preamble of like i agree with the principle with the concept in general like i think

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it's a good thing i think people should do it kind of you know i respect it i am one

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so i can't say don't do it

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but i also can't give it my full endorsement

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because i feel like being a digital nomad has so many downsides

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and a good friend of mine said one time i think he might have been quoting like an economist

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or something or like a anthropologist i have no fucking idea he's smarter than i am but he's like there's no

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easy answers in life.

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There's only trade -offs or there's no like cheat codes in life.

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There's only trade -offs.

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So yes, being a digital nomad has, you know, huge upsides.

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If you can run a business, even if you can work for somebody else,

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you know, even if you're clocking in from Thailand or Columbia or wherever you're living,

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Peru, if you can clock in from there and spend four or five, six hours a day on the clock,

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like I did, I was actually like a wage monkey.

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I actually don't know if I talked about this

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and I did a podcast like a year

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or two ago called how I afford to travel long -term where I talked about just like schemes

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I had to make money and like little jobs I had here and there.

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And one of the jobs was data entry.

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I don't know if I actually touched on this in that podcast.

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It was so long ago, but data entry, it was the most boring thing I've ever put myself through.

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I only lasted two months there before I got fired where my manager came on one day and was like, yeah, this is your last day.

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Cause long story short, I was in Columbia.

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I just needed some cash and I told them I was still living in the United States.

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I think I was breaking some kind of laws, but yeah.

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So I was just working from Columbia, just pretending like I was in the U S like, you know, avocado salesman coming by my window.

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Aguacate, aguacate maduro aguacate basura you know cheap ripe avocados

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and i had like a prepared uh like speech in my head

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if someone had asked like oh what's that about

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because dude i was training like i just started this job

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so i was on one of these zooms every day

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or microsoft teams or whatever it was

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so i'm on zoom every day i got my camera on you know i'm saying like

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so i basically had this speech plan where they're like what's

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that why is someone speaking spanish and I was going to say, oh, well, you know, my niece is, you know, she's learning Spanish. So adorable.

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Hey there, little tyke.

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Okay.

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You run along now.

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Oh yeah.

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I'm watching my niece and nephew today in Georgia.

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Oh yeah.

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And I'm Googling the weather.

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Oh yeah.

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It's really, um, rainy in Georgia today.

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It's very rainy.

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Yes.

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Let's talk about the weather.

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Let's talk about you.

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What did you do this weekend?

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Don't ask me because I just did ayahuasca 36 hours ago and crashed my motorbike and, you know, almost got hit by a truck.

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Don't ask me because the story will be interesting

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but it will make me lose this job so let's just let's just focus on you

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but yeah massive trade -offs um like i said even even working for somebody else

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guys you like how organized this podcast has been i feel like i've really

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thread the needle very effectively might i say i've meandered very hard

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i feel like i'm getting better at this podcast thing make sure

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you guys hit subscribe we're trying to hit 100k on youtube leave us a review on spotify

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and um okay now i lost a thread okay never mind don't subscribe

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uh so yeah i was working for somebody else but it's still i would still say as a net

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positive like i was still working remote

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i didn't have to go to an office

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i could work from columbia even though i was surely breaking some kind of law you know um

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but i was free i was more free than these sad fucks working in, like, Topeka, Kansas, or St. Louis,

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like, driving into work 30 minutes a day.

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I'm more free.

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But, and let's begin with the, you know, the negatives, but

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I'm not connecting with my community in a way where I would be if I had a job there, right?

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Like, you know, I'm in the U .S right now, and I work for myself.

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I podcast, I write, I have a blog,

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smallbrainamerican .tv go check out some funny blogs over there I'm trying to write trying to get into writing

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and go check out Sarah's blog

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while you're at it waitwhereishe .com very good stuff over there she's been doing it for like five years

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and she's definitely honed the craft so go check

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that out I'll leave it in the description

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if you want to hear about you know some of our stories from a different perspective oh fuck

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now I forgot now I forgot now I forgot oh yeah but I'm just sitting at home all day, editing videos, you know, filming podcasts,

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writing, and I'm not spending any time in the local community.

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I'm not, I don't have coworkers.

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I don't have a morning commute.

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I don't have like a favorite bagel shop that I go to every day on the way to work.

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I don't have kind of that built in routine, that built in like integration into the culture, right?

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Like I don't have any of that.

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Like there's nothing that takes me out of the house every day.

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Like I could be a hermit and make just as much money

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and then go travel right

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and then film my videos come back edit like there's there's actually nothing

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there's no good reason for me to leave the house every day

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and you know i could sign up for like intramural sports and like

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you know a run club and we do some of

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that stuff but it's not like

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that forced right like don't get me wrong guys

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i hate having a job um you know i taught english in japan for a year

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and i made some really good friends there like really solid friends

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that i still connect with you know my friend ben was

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in the intro to this the salaryman drinking video in japan hilarious guy my friend kyle

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you know just like homies like like guys

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that like you're gonna continue hitting up throughout your life be like oh hey i'm in such

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and such city let's meet up for a drink whatever like those kind of friends

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that you can catch up and like no time has passed at all um

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but that was from a physical job like

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that was me going into a job

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and like sifting through all the neck beards and the retards

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and like the you know the sad alcoholics we're the cool alcoholic guys we're a cool alcoholic uncle

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that doesn't have that bad of a problem.

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Or maybe I'm not old enough for it to be sad yet.

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I'm still kind of coasting off those college years.

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But just a lot of like weirdos and, you know, a lot of sifting through social situations and having uncomfortable conversations and water cooler discussions.

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And but, you know, it got me like two good friends, like going into a physical job.

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And I just

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that would never happen with my current situation like i have no co -workers

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you know i have a couple guys that do things here

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and there for me but they live in other countries

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and i just hit them up

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when i need something

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it's not like clocking in every day hey sal hey paul whatever the fuck like you know

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it's not it's not like that like i work for myself make my own hours

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but again that like it's just like my um 10 things i hate about japan episode

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that i actually call it 10 things i hate

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and love about japan because it's like the best things are often also the worst things like that.

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If something is like really positive, it's going to have like really negative downsides, like smoking crack.

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Why do you think people ruin their lives for crack, for fentanyl, for meth?

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Cause it must be fucking incredible.

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Why do you think people get addicted to drugs?

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Why do you think they, their life falls apart and crumbles around them for this substance?

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Because it has incredible upsides and I'm not encouraging you to do drugs

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but it's going to have like equal downsides does

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that make sense like in no world is something just a purely positive thing like there's trade -offs to everything

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there's trade -offs to everything just like with being a digital nomad like okay positives

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you set your own hours you are your own boss

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you you know don't have to work for long stretches of time

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that's that's a pretty positive one i'd say

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that's more positive than negative uh you know you can live anywhere

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that's also very positive that's a very positive one

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but these things all have trade -offs like

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if you can live anywhere you also live nowhere right if

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if you're spending six months out of the year abroad are you really coming home

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and feeling like that's your home or is this just also another in between situation.

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Like you never truly settled where you are.

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You know what I mean?

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Even if you're on the road a lot, obviously it's great.

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If you can see a lot of places and if you're in your twenties for sure do that.

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But at some point that pole is going to start to call you and be like, well, maybe I should go home.

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Like I, you know, my parents are aging or, you know, whatever's happening at home, like real life happens

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and you need to be there for like life's biggest moments like your you know nephew being born

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or like your uncle dying or like real shit happens in life

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and you have to like if you're a digital nomad like you won't be there for

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that stuff or you can be but it's like okay i'm in fucking sydney australia

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and you know my grandmother has a stroke.

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How long does she have dog?

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Like straight up?

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How, how many, like clock is ticking.

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How many hours does she have left?

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Right.

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Okay.

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I can time the flight and like, Oh, what about the time change?

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And okay, well, this connection is in Vancouver.

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And could I get an earlier flight?

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I mean, like it's a disaster, but you're, you're doing, you're, you're taking the hit of fucking, you know, dopamine of life.

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You're, you're like getting like the pure raw life of being a digital nomad

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you're like out there trying new things making a lot of money

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you know meeting interesting people seeing interesting things guess what

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when you come home like you're gonna pay the cost

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you're gonna pay the price you know what i mean it's not just like fucking rainbows

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and butterflies like travel

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and i hope i can convey

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this to you in my videos on my podcast um it can be brutal it can be brutal

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and i know like I subject myself to that like willfully for, you know, your entertainment sometimes,

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sometimes for my own, you know, sick, sadistic fascination.

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But, you know, you know, it's brutal.

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It's brutal.

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And there's no like trick or cheat code to life.

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But I, again, I do think

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that like being a digital nomad for me is like the creme de la creme lifestyle that works for me for now,

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but I can for sure see like the downsides of it.

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If you do something long enough, of course you're gonna, you know be able to pick it apart and like choose

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which things could be better and like what could be improved upon

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and like give an actual real life appraisal of it instead

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of just give you like a fucking circle jerk of like it's so awesome i'm so awesome we're so awesome

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and that's what i feel like is happening in bali honestly like i talked about it earlier how you know

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you can meet interesting people you can make more money working for yourself obviously

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if you start your own business you can employ people

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and like you know the sky's the limit

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but like also you're always working right you have to be the boss you have to set the hours um

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but maybe that's too specific to like owning your own business

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i think just let's try to keep it okay connor let's keep

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it focused on being a digital nomad um

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you know a lot of those bali people

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they're it's it's kind of like self -aggrandizing masturbatory like yes

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yes yes oh my god like i have a six -pack

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now i've just been smoothie bowls for the last six months

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and oh i'm doing the cayenne pepper and lemon juice cleanse

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and i haven't eaten for 17 days guys i had a fucking coach in bali

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i won't be more specific uh i don't want to i don't want him to come after me

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and beat my ass but I had a coach in Bali

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that was like on a cleanse for like 17 days

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and like just trying to convince me to do a cleanse

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and like and I guess that's good right they're trying to like be healthy

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and you know be informative and stuff but it's just a lot of

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that it's like look how great I am look how sexy

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I am look how many Instagram followers I have you should do this too

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and I just I want to use this podcast

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and my channel to like cut through some of that noise

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and to say like

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that ain't it man like it's not

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it's not just a silver bullet of a lifestyle choice it's not just like go to bali

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and be happy although it would be nice to live there

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but it's a lot of transitory people

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that are not living there permanently they're not interested in the culture whatsoever

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and they're also not interested in like going home

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and seeing their family i think it's a very selfish uh way of life honestly um

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and that's not to say like if you live in bali you're selfish

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or i'm not knocking that at all i i support you for doing

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that if that's what you want to do

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but just realize like your family's not there your real friends aren't

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there your real friends are back home uh well i mean

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you know you can make friends on the road i'm not saying

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that i've met some really cool people abroad obviously

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because then you have like shared interests and stuff

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but it's not like your homies

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that you like went to preschool with it's like you've met them two years ago

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and like your boys and stuff

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and again i don't want to use this as i'm not like criticizing you

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if you live in bali whatsoever i wouldn't mind living there like two months out of the year

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but just let's just not act like it's the best thing

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in the world let's not act like just like you shouldn't act like living in fucking

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you know like making georgia isn't the best.

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Like, wouldn't that be obnoxious if your friend like found out about making and was just like, you have to go, man.

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It'll change your life.

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I love making Georgia.

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There's so many Kia dealerships.

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I love going to the open mic punk rock show on Thursdays.

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You should love this too.

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I just don't think that's how life works.

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Like, especially as we're adults, nobody gives a fuck.

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Nobody gives a fuck about what you're doing.

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They don't, they don't.

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I've been lucky enough to find an audience on YouTube.

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Thank you very much for sticking around and listening to me rant.

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I don't even know if this has been interesting.

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Especially if you want to make content on YouTube, you have to start with the assumption that,

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first of all, no one knows what you're talking about.

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You have to explain it and explain why it matters and why you care and what it means to you.

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Also, nobody gives a fuck about you.

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No one gives a fuck about you, especially if you're making online content.

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No one gives a fuck.

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It's cringe.

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They will hate you.

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They will put you down for years, especially if you're like a girl trying to like make it.

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Dude, you will get so many weird DMs and dick pics and like unsolicited date requests.

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And like, I mean, that's different.

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That's not what i experienced

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but like it's just it's it's brutal like you're gonna you're gonna fail over

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and over and over again

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and there's gonna be a view count underneath everything you make explaining to people in very vivid

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and easy to understand terms you ain't shit you ain't shit.

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And it'll be so obvious to everybody.

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And you just have to, you have to truck through.

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If this is really what you want to do, you just have to do it.

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Um, and that's kind of like what being a digital nomad is like, it's like you're, you're alone.

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You have no support system.

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You have no coworkers.

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Um, maybe you have employees or maybe you have people that are in the same industry as you,

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but you know, if you're going through like a really rough patch and maybe this is just me, maybe I'm just speaking for myself,

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but if you're going through a rough patch with, whatever it is, who do you even turn to?

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Again, no coworkers, no boss, no subordinates.

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It's just you alone in a foreign place.

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You don't know anybody.

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You barely speak the language because you're just online all day teaching English

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or doing data entry or working at a remote call center, whatever it is.

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There's so many remote jobs.

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And again, I'm not saying working remote is bad.

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I actually support that.

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I do it, so I can't say not to do it.

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but there, there are just so many opportunities

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and most of them require you to just sit in a room with a laptop and maybe a ring light.

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If you're going to be cringe and film yourself or type numbers in a spreadsheet, like it's a lonely existence, man.

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It's a lonely existence working for yourself.

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And I just don't want you to get the impression that like, it's the best or it's,

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there's no other job that's good in the world or

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because again like I said you'll grind your ass off for years maybe months

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if you're luckier than I was I'm not sure but you know

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Mike okay on YouTube he makes fantastic stuff he fucking he ate it for longer than I did on YouTube

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and now his like rise is like steeper than mine

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so like I don't know what's going on with the YouTube algorithm I don't know

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if it's like they're forgetting about people

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or it's harder to break through maybe that's it maybe they're just a lot of people

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but you just have to like love it enough to care to keep doing it like that's all it is

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so i mean i didn't want this to turn into like a youtube

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you know like self -starter like motivational podcast

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but i guess that's just where we are um just don't get

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it twisted don't i don't want you to think

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that like this is the perfect lifestyle or anything like that

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because you know there are serious trade -offs man and

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and like you know places like mexico city

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you know let me let me take a sip of coffee before

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i continue on this rant you know places like mexico city bali tulum medellin colombia

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you know places in thailand they're having a similar problem is people are coming to work remote

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and they don't want to like participate in the culture

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and that's you know from a digital nomad perspective i can understand it

453

because it's like i'm here to make my money i want to go to the spa.

454

I want to go to the smoothie bowl.

455

I want the Thai lady boy to suck on my tip for a little while.

456

Like you just want to have your predict,

457

like you want to kind of live like a nine to five lifestyle predictable going to my cafe in a foreign country.

458

And I understand that, but also from their perspective, like you're not learning the language, you know, you're being obnoxious.

459

Like all these bros in Bali drive around on a motorcycle with their shirts off.

460

That's actually very rude to do in conservative, traditional, I think it's

461

Hindu, yeah, Hindu culture on the island of Bali.

462

It's not how it's done.

463

You can spot it a mile away.

464

These guys don't care.

465

They're not here to see Indonesia.

466

They're here to bang the Ukrainian sad, hot refugees that need a husband.

467

That's what it's all about.

468

That's what it's all about in Bali.

469

It's about getting bodies, you know what I mean?

470

Stacking your body count and stacking your bread.

471

You know what I'm saying?

472

That's what it's about.

473

It's about getting pussy and getting paid.

474

You know what I'm saying?

475

I feel like I'm about to bust out in the freestyle rap.

476

But that's what it is, guys.

477

If you're a nomad, you're not putting forth the extra effort to see a place.

478

as you know so let's say for example you worked in like a bank in you know medellin

479

or something you're going to participate way more in the culture

480

you're going to do what i was talking about earlier

481

you're going to have a commute you're going to have co -workers

482

you're going to have a boss you're going to have subordinates you're going to have like your co -worker's wife

483

or you're going to have like your co -worker's

484

you know daughter like you have like people you have like a network

485

you know what i mean i'm not saying

486

you should talk to your co -worker's daughter

487

i'm just saying like you have people kind of on your periphery whereas like you know

488

we're in the u .s now working for ourselves

489

and it's hard to meet people like you know as an adult how are you gonna like put forth,

490

you just had to put forth more effort in like new ways.

491

Whereas like, if you're working in a job, it's right there.

492

Like your coworker is right there, you know, and you have like a company cocktail party and yeah, it might suck dick.

493

It might be a huge bummer to like be forced to hang out with like finance bros or something,

494

but it's still something you're still like putting your foot out there and you're like attempting, you know what I mean?

495

But, but I guess my point is like you're not even making an attempt you're just like going to work

496

and it's just happening for you whereas like a digital nomad again is way more free

497

but that means like all your decisions are your own you

498

and and again as i say it sounds like a utopia but any utopia

499

could also be a dystopia like very easily i mean why do you think communism sounds

500

so good on paper and then when you do it it just falls apart completely like any like beautiful perfect

501

plan is gonna like involve some serious trade -offs

502

and that's all i'm saying guys i'm not saying don't be a digital nomad

503

i i really think you should do it actually

504

or maybe not like a blind endorsement but like you know

505

if you're not feeling fulfilled at your job um

506

and you know for me like I feel like I have a sick twisted gene in me

507

that like I can't work a normal job like any normal job

508

I have I just want to kill everyone I see like I want to go on a violent rampage

509

and just end people's lives like I don't know what it is

510

and you know maybe if I end up doing like a shooting one day they'll play this

511

and I'm like I should have seen it coming you know

512

but I just I feel this like rage inside of me

513

when i have to work a job i just i can't do it man i mean maybe i could like

514

if someone was holding a gun to my head

515

or like i had no other options and i've done it in the past

516

but i just honestly i can't hold on to a job for more than like two

517

or three maybe four months max part -time

518

i could do four months part -time i just can't do it i just i can't do the small talk.

519

Uh, you know, dude, I was at, uh, I was at a physical therapy today and the people were like,

520

you know, the, the, the PTs were in there working with their own, you know, separate clients and stuff.

521

And I'm just hearing them like speak to each other and the way they're talking to each other, they're just, they're not saying anything.

522

They're not like providing any new information or anything interesting.

523

And they're also acting like what they're saying is funny they're like, yeah, I slipped through my alarm today.

524

Missed my first client.

525

The other lady in the room, the other PT is like, oh, that'll happen.

526

What is that?

527

First of all, pause.

528

What does that mean?

529

What does that mean?

530

That'll happen.

531

What does that mean?

532

That means nothing.

533

You shouldn't have said anything.

534

You should have smiled and just continued working.

535

That'll happen.

536

What is that?

537

You're not, that's nothing.

538

Those are empty words.

539

Oh, that'll happen.

540

Yeah.

541

I told myself I wouldn't, but I just slept through it.

542

And you know, I missed my first patient and my birthday's off to a really rough start.

543

I haven't done that in six years.

544

They're saying nothing.

545

They're not funny.

546

Uh, it's just a painful conversation to overhear.

547

And I'm lucky.

548

I only had to be in there for an hour.

549

These sick fucks they have to work like nine

550

you know eight nine ten hour shifts it was 7 30 in the morning

551

and this poor bastard had to wake up at like 5

552

30 go to his own gym eat breakfast get gas like i i can you know

553

it should be your baseline assumption

554

that i don't support having a normal job for me like i just can't like i said

555

there's something wrong with me i mean i wish

556

i could be um

557

i just feel like i'm needy like it it's it's me being needy like needing to be a digital nomad

558

so don't get it twisted guys like i hope to never work another job i i honestly

559

that is my dream to never ever ever have another boss ever

560

and that to me is worth all the downsides you know the independence the like having to do everything yourself

561

but that's just like a small business thing i think like anytime you start a youtube channel

562

or uh you know whatever it is instagram page podcast like you have to it's just

563

you out in the wild alone you know and i think maybe

564

if i was better at like hiring people

565

i'm really bad at hiring people i have like a very small selective team right now

566

and i feel like if i was like a better boss and i communicated better and i planned things,

567

then I could make a lot more money and be a lot more, you know, have a lot more mental peace.

568

But I just don't see that happening without some like major restructuring in my life.

569

You know, like a gnarly ayahuasca trip that just like slaps me into shape.

570

I don't know.

571

I'm not sure what it's going to take.

572

But for now, I mean, this is working for me.

573

Like, you know, my life is in disarray.

574

It's very chaotic.

575

For example, I was about to go on like a mega trip yesterday.

576

I got all the visas.

577

I got everything in order

578

and it was a lot of logistics it was a lot of logistics

579

and then at the last second i was like

580

i don't feel like doing this anymore

581

and i just bailed to be fair i didn't buy the plane ticket

582

so i didn't like lose any money yet but

583

that impulse is always there to just like pull the plug

584

and be like let's do something else and i like that freedom but i feel like i'm

585

kind of victim to it sometimes like a victim to my own whims whereas like if i had like

586

if i had a boss like someone answered to and they're like no you have to do this trip

587

within this three you know day window like are you gonna

588

do it like sometimes i'm kind of jealous of like bourdain

589

because he like gave the crew the ideas and then it's my understanding

590

and i could be wrong about this

591

and they would set it up they would do the fixers

592

and the translators and hire all the cars

593

and he would just go along for the ride

594

but he did have people to answer to he had like five

595

or six guys he would travel with and like i guess a director

596

and a producer and stuff and like fixers

597

so he at the last minute he he couldn't why do i do

598

that once every episode i mean it's probably too much coffee jesus it's fucking embarrassing

599

as i drink more of the thing that i think is causing the the Tourette's

600

but you know he couldn't just bail at the last second

601

because people would be like what the fuck dude we spent all

602

this money we booked all these tickets it's you

603

and the crew what the fuck no you can't bail

604

you're going i almost wish i had someone like like kicking my butt a little bit

605

and being like nah you can't just

606

because it is exhausting like literally i booked that trip

607

or i guess i didn't book anything but i like got all the visas

608

and everything with the intention of doing on a certain day

609

and the day came and i didn't book the plane ticket

610

because i knew i was kind of like feeling flaky on it.

611

I was like, nah, I don't want to go today.

612

And so I'm not going and I'm going to do it like later, you know, a little bit later, hopefully, hopefully I don't just fucking flake,

613

but you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a victim and a benefit benefactor of my own whims.

614

Sometimes it's like, you know, you guys don't know where I'm going to go next.

615

I don't have any idea where I'm going to go next.

616

I mean, I have an idea now, like I got the visas for a certain trip.

617

But yeah, I feel like that's pretty much it, guys.

618

I feel like I've rambled as far as I could in this podcast.

619

I just feel like you need to know.

620

You need to know like what the downsides are.

621

It's lonely.

622

Your parents will kind of hate you.

623

Your grandparents will think you're wasting your life.

624

You won't be integrated into the culture, you know, save for a few exceptions.

625

Although I will say like when I lived in Japan, okay, this is not being a digital nomad.

626

This is just being like a traveler, but I had a physical job in Japan and that really helped me meet people.

627

I don't know how I would have met people other than just boozing.

628

Yeah, I guess I was boozing and I was like young and single and stuff and I was going out a bunch.

629

So maybe I would have met like some homies, but it was just nice to have like that in common

630

and you can meet your friends at the work

631

and you can commiserate and you can you know smoke cigarettes in an alley

632

and pass out in a bush and you can laugh about it

633

and they'll understand you and you'll speak a common language but

634

if you're working by yourself yeah it's just it's just tough

635

it's tough to meet people it's tough to actually see outside of your little bubble

636

but I guess in bali it's like the bubble is the digital nomads

637

so like and the bubble's big enough to where you kind of are seeing the culture

638

because the culture is like white dominated russians americans you know fucking europeans it's it's kind of like dominated by

639

that scene and so like if you're a digital nomad i guess

640

that is the place to go to experience like digital nomad culture

641

if that's even a thing you know i will say when me and sarah were there we actually really enjoyed

642

having like a sense of community like having people

643

that understood what it's like to be a digital nomad all these things

644

i've described to you like there's thousands of people out there maybe millions i don't know

645

that understand these dynamics and they're living it every day and

646

so it's not something you have to like explain to them

647

they just know like oh yeah well i you know my boss called me at 2 a .m

648

because it was you know noon in new york

649

and we had to get on a call

650

and i was like drunk whatever like there's all these things

651

that could happen all these new challenges

652

that can arise from being a digital nomad and you're around these people

653

and they understand and

654

so that's like a really good feeling like having a sense of community having like homies

655

that like you know i met a lot of youtubers in bali and like we speak a common language you know

656

um that it's just really hard to relay to people outside of

657

that bubble so i will say you know after all the shit i've talked about bali i think

658

that is the place you know in medellin mexico city

659

but you know those those places have like serious issues

660

because of the digital home ads like locals are being priced out

661

you know people aren't speaking the language i mean it's all the things

662

that like republican dads complain about like immigration in america you know what i mean it's like it's funny

663

because i'm seeing these like protests in mexico city where they're like you know foreigners go home like yeah

664

we should build the wall like we can't afford to live here

665

you're not learning our language you're not paying taxes like go home

666

and i'm like now you see now you see what the republicans have been talking about for ages it's just

667

so funny to see it flipped flipped on its head

668

but yeah digital nomads have just it's it's just creating a new set of problems um

669

but again i think it is the best uh solution for me um

670

but you know

671

if you're living in a place i'm not sure how mexico city is i've never been there

672

but if you're living in like ash kyrgyzstan or like bishkek kazakhstan

673

or whatever and you're a digital nomad like you're not really gonna see

674

that much i mean there's probably not even much of an expat

675

or digital nomad community like at all even in um in sapro me

676

and sarah were there um like a about a year ago

677

trying to do our thing you know she's writing a blog she does like a website design business

678

um she actually built my website smallbrandamerican .tv so

679

if you guys want to check that out

680

if you like what you see book a website with her she's very talented um

681

but you know she's working remote i'm working remote

682

and we're in japan and we're not like we were there for three months

683

and it just didn't feel like we were truly interacting with the culture in a meaningful way

684

you know if you know

685

if i had been teaching english i would have had a co -worker

686

i would have had a boss i would have had like a watering hole

687

i would have had a favorite restaurant

688

i would have like a path to work every day like there are these things

689

that like they're boring and mundane

690

and they kind of suck the life out of you in a certain way

691

but they also like enrich your life a lot you know they really do

692

and i just feel like in some countries in some cities

693

it's hard as hell to find um it's hard to actually truly interact with the culture in a meaningful way

694

if you're being a digital momad like i said in bali

695

it's easy it's super easy to like hang out with all

696

your bros all your shredded bros on testosterone shirtless no helmet on a moped head no shoes

697

you know just dick blowing in the wind fresh off the beach salty balls blown in the wind

698

you know i mean um you know wind flowing through your receding hairline

699

but don't worry you'll just go to turkey in two months

700

and get your hair transplant you know it's it's uh where the fuck was i going with

701

that yeah i might have lost the thread on that one um

702

but that is the culture there whereas like

703

so you are interacting with it in a meaningful way

704

but in a lot of places man like

705

if you're a digital nomad you're not gonna see really much of anything in

706

that place because you're gonna be especially if you take your job seriously

707

or like you own your own business or you're really trying to start something from the ground up you're not gonna

708

truly like interact with the place

709

so i i feel like you know you've made

710

it this far on the podcast you're probably looking for some advice i would say

711

if you're gonna move abroad

712

if you're gonna be a digital nomad like start with just a bullshit like wage monkey data entry or like

713

I don't know consulting I think

714

that pays well I don't know

715

I'm not gonna tell you like what to do I'm just

716

gonna tell you how to do it like you just need to work remote for somebody else

717

while you start your own business but and even better than

718

that start your own business like use your real big boy job in america

719

and save even

720

if you're a waiter you can make

721

you know 200 bucks a day in america just save up

722

you know like live in a cheap part of town save up build your business like hustle

723

it's going to be dark for like a year

724

or two you're going to have to go into monk mode

725

it's going to suck you might develop a nicotine habit

726

but just do that like really grind your dick in balls

727

and pulverize them into a pulp for a year or two and build your own thing and then go abroad because

728

when you're abroad and you're being a digital nomad and you're trying to learn a language and you're trying to,

729

you know, adapt to this culture and you're trying to like have fun, it's impossible to start your own thing.

730

I mean, it is, it's, I guess, you know, there's probably exceptions to the rule,

731

but in general, you're going to eat shit for a long time before you get anywhere, before you get anywhere.

732

So it's best to do that before you move abroad.

733

So, but if you're really gung -ho moving abroad, you know, if you just murdered somebody or you're like on the run from a DUI charge.

734

Just bail as fast as you can.

735

Get a data entry job.

736

Do something really meager and menial, I guess is the word I'm looking for.

737

Do something that doesn't matter at all.

738

It doesn't matter if you do a bad job.

739

And do as bad as you can at that job every single day until they fire you.

740

Or walk that line.

741

Do the minimum amount of work.

742

And this is coming from someone who hires people and who want, who needs them to do a good job.

743

I'm telling you the inside scoop.

744

This is how I got where I am was by not giving a fuck about other people's businesses, about other people's projects.

745

I just sucked the teat of their wages.

746

As long as I could, I did as bad of a job every day as possible.

747

I made that my mission to do as poor of a job as physically possible until I got fired.

748

And I did that data entry job for like two months.

749

Hey, that's too much of wage, two months of American wages in Columbia.

750

That's pretty damn good.

751

It was only 17 bucks an hour, but in Columbia, that's really good.

752

You know, imagine somewhere cheaper.

753

Imagine working that same job in Vietnam.

754

You know, that's like half the price of Columbia.

755

Cheap as hell.

756

Pakistan, crazy.

757

I mean, I wouldn't necessarily recommend being a digital nomad in Pakistan because the wifi is terrible.

758

And for all the other reasons I listed, but

759

that's how i got to where i am i just

760

you can't like you got to focus on your own shit

761

and you know you can't give too much of your brain power to somebody else's project you know

762

so i guess you've made it long

763

and this long in the podcast um yeah hopefully i gave you some advice i don't know

764

but if you like this podcast make sure you hit the subscribe button please go over on spotify

765

Leave us a review, share it with your friends, and see you guys in the next one.

766

Bye -bye.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Dark Side of Digital Nomads”. This video has 766 sentences and 8896 words to shadow. The speech runs for 47:23. The speaker talks fast, about 188 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
remote adjective	/ɹəˈməʊt̞/	At a distance; disconnected.
abroad adverb	/əˈbɹɔːd/	Beyond the bounds of a country; in foreign countries.
downside noun	/ˈdaʊnˌsaɪd/	A disadvantageous aspect of something that is normally advantageous.
thread noun	/ˈθɹɛd/	A cord formed by spinning or twisting together textile fibers or filaments into one or more continuous strands, typically used in needlework.
wage noun	/weɪd͡ʒ/	An amount of money paid to a worker for a specified quantity of work, usually calculated on an hourly basis and expressed in an amount of money per hour.
clock noun	/klɑk/	A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day.
whereas	/(h)wɛɹˈæz/	In contrast; whilst on the contrary; although.
lifestyle noun	/ˈlaɪfˌstaɪl/	A style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group.
brutal adjective	/ˈbɹuːtəl/	Savagely violent, vicious, ruthless, or cruel, often in an unintelligent manner.
suck verb	/sʌk/	To use the mouth and lips to pull in (a liquid, especially milk from the breast).
twist verb	/twɪst/	To turn the ends of something, usually thread, rope etc., in opposite directions, often using force.
interact verb	/ɪn.təˈɹækt/	To engage in communication and other shared activities (with someone).
subscribe verb	/səbˈskɹaɪb/	To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
hire verb	/ˈhaɪɹ/	To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
check out verb	To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
fall apart verb	To disintegrate, to break into pieces.
go out verb	To leave, especially a building.
go through verb	To travel from one end of something to the other.
grow up verb	To mature and become an adult.
save up verb	To accumulate money, especially for a specific, planned expenditure.
blow away verb	To cause to go away by blowing, or by wind.
break through verb	To gain popularity.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

Have you guys hit subscribe yet?
You know what I mean?
What did you do this weekend?
It's about getting bodies, you know what I mean?
You know what I'm saying?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if he was still alive he would approve
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	she's been doing · have been talking
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	it's been · have been · i've shared
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is shot · be taken · being born

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 392 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, I'm, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: thread /ˈθɹɛd/, grandmother /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/, math /mæθ/, seventh /ˈsɛvənθ/, grandfather /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑðɚ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: assumption /əˈsʌm(p).ʃ(ə)n/, exception /əkˈsɛpʃən/, selfish /ˈsɛlf.ɪʃ/, immigration /ˌɪmɪˈɡɹeɪʃən/, shortly /ˈʃɔɹtli/
Long words — get the stress right: participate /pɑːˈtɪs.ɪ.peɪt/, whatsoever /ˌ(h)wʌtsoʊˈɛvɚ/, alcoholic /ˌæl.kəˈhɔ.lɪk/, trajectory /tɹəˈd͡ʒɛktəɹi/, testosterone /tɛˈstɑ.stəˌɹoʊn/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like podcast, remote, abroad.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: The Dark Side of Digital Nomads - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?