Occasionally I get asked by fellow backpackers or locals why I don't live in America. After all, it is heaven, right? It is where one can pursue and attain their dreams, right? It is the land of liberty and justice for all, right? Why am I not married yet? Why don't I have a good job and a lovely home surrounded by a white picket fence with 2.5 kids and a dog?
First of all, I hate dogs. Not to the extent I'd eat them, but don't force me to pet your dog and let him sniff my groin and lick my hands. Just don't dig that shit. And with dogs comes dog shit, definitely don't dig that shit. Foul to say the least. Almost as bad as finding a human turd on your lawn. Almost.
I seem to have strayed off the path. Ok, where was I...in America I am tied down. I don't like that. I don't like receiving mail. I don't like having health insurance or car insurance. I don't like having a car or relying on a car to get from point A to point B. I don't like sitting in a car. Of course, cars are nice sometimes, but I don't want one.
I also don't like paying taxes. Who does? If I can choose not to, then I won't. I also hate mobile phone contracts. Who thought of that shit? Outrageous, yet a whole society lives and breathes in that fashion. I want to buy a phone, put in a sim and keep it simple. Not agree to a 2-year contract of rules and regulations that keep me down.
So, let's see, mobile phone contracts, taxes, mail, cars, insurance...what else? It's not all about what I dislike about America, it's also about what I love about Asia. I love driving a motorbike, I love the abundance of cultures within a hop, skip and a jump. While any one southeast Asian nation may be less multicultural than California as a whole, an entire nation is waiting to be explored the same distance as another state back home. Hmmm....each of them so unique in and of themselves.
I also love Asian food. Way more than Western food. And I love being sexually attracted to women on a daily basis not just once a week when a particularly stunning but out-of-my-league woman happens to walk past. Yes, she's taken. She has more suitors than you have friends on Facebook. You can try, but you'll more than likely be shot down and your confidence will be decimated for weeks. In Vietnam or elsewhere, you can try, fail and try again within the hour with no damage done to said confidence. Oh, southeast Asia.
The cost of living is also a major plus to living in a developing nation. There are certainly advantages from being from a developed nation, particularly America. And even more advantages are given to white males from America. I try not to take that for granted. Lucky me, life is so easy and seemingly unfair (to others) at times yet I still find reason to complain. Me, complain? You don't know me.
I don't know what else to say. I think developing countries have an energy that is unparalleled in developed nations. Back home, everything is too clean, brushed under the rug and too expensive. Too many rules and things you can't do. There is more of a sense of being ALIVE in Asia, particularly southeast Asia and even more particular in Vietnam. That's why I chose that place.
Yes, the noise contributes to that sense of being alive. There is a constant energy that can only be compared to having just downed a red bull in a club with throbbing dance music and sweaty, sexy pole dancers all around. It's invigorating, but exhausting at the same time. But sometimes it's the perfect balance. I don't know if it is sustainable, I don't know how long I can hack it, but it does the trick now. And now is the only time we have.
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