Latest / bit of a Rambler / 097 Housing Abroad
Transcript
- 1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,080 Hello there, my name is Kai and I am a bit of a rambler. 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 I like to travel, learn and tell stories. 3 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,840 I want to talk about housing abroad today. 4 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:17,000 I think it's important to talk about housing abroad because people tend to think of housing 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,720 abroad the same way they think of housing at home. 6 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:25,920 A big commitment, you have to choose one and it costs a whole bunch of money. 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,120 But all three of those assumptions are incorrect. 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:36,320 There are so many ways to travel and I'm not going to talk about the most expensive 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:43,000 options because yeah, you can always pay an extra $176 for a special rose to be put in 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,440 a vase and the penthouse you're renting. 11 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,520 Like you can always find someone who will take your money. 12 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:56,680 But all of the main options that I know about are to be had for less than $500 a month 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:58,600 and straight to zero. 14 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:06,360 The budget is zero to $500 for almost any type of accommodation per month that you're looking 15 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:07,520 at. 16 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:11,880 It all depends on your comfort level, how you like to travel. 17 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:17,000 But I want to go through the housing options and drill in that it's not like finding 18 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,360 housing at home. 19 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,160 You get to pick these up and discard them as you like. 20 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:25,760 You can try all of them in your first trip to a country and figure out what you want 21 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:31,880 and it'll be different for different countries also hostels are great in some countries and 22 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,840 not my favorite in other countries. 23 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:40,560 So not in a strict order, but I'm going to try and go from cheaper to more expensive up 24 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,240 to $500 near the end. 25 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,200 We start with budget backpacking. 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,960 Backpacking is great because it's completely free. 27 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:51,120 You can do it in any country. 28 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,240 I've done it in tons of countries, but there are countries where it's easier to backpack 29 00:01:55,240 --> 00:02:00,200 where I believe you should backpack rather than renting a place right away. 30 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,480 If you like camping at all, if you don't like camping at all, then skip this section. 31 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:10,360 I love backpacking and camping and some countries like Japan or Ireland make it pretty easy 32 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,720 to backpack through the countries. 33 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:18,040 They're smaller countries, Ireland obviously more so than Japan. 34 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:23,640 It's easier to get between towns and then Japan also has the public baths. 35 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:29,520 But if you backpack through Japan, you're going to have such an amazing experience that people 36 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:34,320 who rent a place and stay in one place just don't get to have by the virtue of backpacking 37 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,520 and walking around your surroundings. 38 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:39,480 And it doesn't cost you anything. 39 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:45,480 So you can pay more for the expensive jacket or sleeping bag or better food. 40 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:53,200 If you're not spending $20 a day on housing, that's $20 you can use on higher quality food 41 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:58,960 or new food experiences you haven't done before or skydiving or whatever experience you 42 00:02:58,960 --> 00:02:59,960 want. 43 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:03,840 If you're not paying any rent because you're backpacking, you're going to have tons of 44 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,440 spare cash to do whatever else floats your boat. 45 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:13,440 Buy a book or buy electronic gizmos and play games while you're walking around. 46 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,960 Get a solar panel, slap it on your back. 47 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:20,720 There's just tons of stuff you can do with just disposable income that you would otherwise 48 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:22,720 pay to have a bet. 49 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:28,800 And if your setup is comfortable enough, it's going to be way more comfortable, a backpacking 50 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,440 setup than living in a dorm or an apartment. 51 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:40,480 And for me, definitely hammock camping specifically is far preferable to most housing options 52 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:42,120 I experience. 53 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:47,840 I have hammock, a bug net, a rain tarp covers me all four weather with a foam pad and a sleeping 54 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:48,840 bag. 55 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:50,120 I mean, and it's free. 56 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,320 So you just have the disposable income to do whatever else you want to do because you 57 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,520 don't have to worry about rent. 58 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:02,040 So hammock camping, tent camping, very viable options that you'll get the hang of pretty 59 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:03,040 quick. 60 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,520 Once the sun starts going down, look around for a good spot that isn't near a bunch of 61 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:07,520 other buildings. 62 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:12,480 Boom, you just saved money on one more night of residence. 63 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:13,480 And it's fun. 64 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:14,800 I mean, backpacking is fun. 65 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:16,880 Anyway, next. 66 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:17,880 Hostels. 67 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,440 Hostels are great because they can be incredibly cheap. 68 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,600 Even in Europe, you can find five to seven dollar. 69 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,360 Nightly stays in hostels pretty reliably. 70 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:30,960 There's always some deal going on. 71 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,120 There's hostels everywhere. 72 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:38,560 And if you're in Southeast Asian countries, $3 is pretty normal to pay for a hostels. 73 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:46,240 So you're spending $90 a month on rent, including a shower in toilets and lounges, electricity, 74 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:50,200 charging stations, Wi-Fi, even AC. 75 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,760 Everything's included for $90 a month. 76 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:56,240 So if you want a frugal travel, I mean, hostels are the way to go. 77 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,360 And before you go straight to the private apartment, check what the hostile private rooms 78 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,760 are going for because things are different. 79 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,840 But in some hostels, it's only a couple dollars more and you have a private room. 80 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:12,200 Usually it's like twice as much, so it's almost the same as apartments anyway, so it might 81 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,320 not be worth it because you're still in the hostel just in a private room. 82 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,080 But it's definitely worth looking into. 83 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:24,120 I mean, if you can pay $7 instead of $5 for a private room, instead of the bunk beds with 84 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,840 13 other people, you might want to go that route. 85 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:29,840 Hotels are very buy country. 86 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:35,400 In some countries, hotels are a great resource because a lot of them are privately owned, so 87 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,480 they have very accommodating price points. 88 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:43,040 But if you're anywhere in Western Europe, hotels are usually going to be pretty pricey and 89 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,600 just not worth the value in my experience. 90 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:54,000 European hostels, on the other hand, are great value for money, usually under $10, very 91 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:58,800 nicely furnished, usually have breakfast and always in a great spot. 92 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,000 I mean, usually in a great spot, to stay in a hostel. 93 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:08,400 If your hostel is $5 a night and you pay $150 a month, you probably 94 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:14,280 could have found $180, $210 and it got a private apartment for a month. 95 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:16,680 Way less sounds, obviously more privacy. 96 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,160 So apartments are great because there are so many. 97 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:24,800 They're in all different conditions and you can look for the one you want. 98 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:31,480 I love apartments because if you just look enough, you can find a nice apartment priced 99 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:36,360 well inside of its value for a couple or a few hundred dollars a month and you're just 100 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,640 going to have a great time in your own private place. 101 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:44,000 I like apartments more than hotels because it really feels like you own the place and you 102 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:45,000 control it. 103 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,280 Whereas hotels, I always feel out of my element a little bit. 104 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:53,600 Condos, condos basically the same thing as apartments, but they're always more pricey 105 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,960 and I just don't find them worth the value as much. 106 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:01,320 They just automatically bump up if they use the word condo. 107 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:05,440 But half the time the apartment you're getting is economy in many way. 108 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:07,960 Houses, I love houses. 109 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:13,440 When I'm doing something like podcasting, I obviously need an isolated sound space and 110 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,920 houses don't cost that much more again. 111 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:24,840 If you can afford the 300 for an apartment per month or 350, you get a whole house to yourself. 112 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:26,360 You'll be a little further away. 113 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:31,480 You should check out transportation options first, but it's really nice to have your whole 114 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:36,480 own house that you don't have to take care of that they pay all the utilities for. 115 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,720 Usually I only get the ones with all the amenities, so AC and washing machines and all that 116 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:42,240 kind of stuff. 117 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:48,720 But you're paying again a little bit more for such a great value, especially depending on 118 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:50,880 what you want. 119 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:52,760 So how do you find places? 120 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,640 I will use Airbnb or booking or a Travago. 121 00:07:55,640 --> 00:08:00,480 I just have them all and I click on stuff and one of them has a deal going on. 122 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:07,680 I love doing Airbnb new listings because there's an automatic extra 20% off or something if 123 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,920 you order by the month and there's already a monthly discount. 124 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,280 So I would just use whatever apps you already know about. 125 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:19,680 That'll be enough to find something for sure for convenience is sake. 126 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:24,280 If you're going to stay at a hostel though, I recommend just marking a few on the map 127 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,320 or looking it up on Google Maps and just walking around the city. 128 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,440 After I traveled for a while, this might be more advanced, but after I traveled for a while, 129 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,720 I stopped booking hotels before I got to the country I was going to. 130 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:41,920 I would land, walk from the airport into the city and then just walk around and go into 131 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:48,080 hotels that had hotel signs up and that's a weekly rate available because I noticed every 132 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:53,560 time I was booking these things from an app or a website, I would land, I'd walk to my 133 00:08:53,560 --> 00:09:00,160 hotel and on the way I would see a weekly rate that was cheaper than the rate I was paying 134 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:02,760 for a better looking place. 135 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:07,680 And so I started just landing and walking toward the center of the city and invariably 136 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,920 I would find something that was available. 137 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:16,480 I traveled around China a lot, climbing mountains like all these sets of mountains like 138 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,000 the five Buddhist mountains and stuff. 139 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,200 I just like climbing mountains. 140 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:25,520 And I would get a train to a town, I would land in the town and then I just walk around 141 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:31,040 looking for the symbols that mean guesthouse on there and ask them how much it was. 142 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:39,760 And I mean, I found great places like a whole top half of a house for ten bucks or something. 143 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,840 It's very easy to find places while you're traveling in most countries. 144 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:49,480 Feel free to look up and plan beforehand obviously that's nice in so many ways. 145 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:52,760 It's just you don't really have to worry if you can't find the best hotel because there 146 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:57,160 will be something available for the same price you're looking at but they're not advertising 147 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,360 on whatever app you're using for whatever reason. 148 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:07,760 I would also just search Google Maps, hostile when I was in Korea or hotel and I would just 149 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:12,760 walk place to place because there's like twelve hotels on every block in most countries. 150 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,760 And if you just ask all the people you'll find a price that fits your range. 151 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,440 Okay, so you have all of these different options so what should you choose? 152 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:22,920 What do you want to do? 153 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:28,760 Just stick with that and choose your abode based on that preference. 154 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:33,920 Me right now I want to podcast and do audio work, I want a private space, I either want 155 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,040 an apartment or a house. 156 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:41,000 And the more I look for apartments and houses the better I get at spotting the good ones 157 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,960 that are quiet that fit exactly what I like. 158 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:48,680 Not a very busy area of the city which tends to be cheaper anyway. 159 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:53,080 Thick walls, all the amenities, washing machines are great. 160 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:54,640 That's what matters to me. 161 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:59,120 It wasn't always very recently I loved staying in hostels. 162 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,080 I always met new people. 163 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:06,040 It was very easy to make connections romantic or otherwise you can just instantly talk to 164 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,080 people if you're staying in a hostile. 165 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:12,960 And I'm a fairly independent person with solo hobbies mostly but when you're in a hostile 166 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:14,960 people talk to you. 167 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:20,200 So if you're looking to meet people or just have a fuller cultural experience I mean hostels 168 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:21,200 are the way to go. 169 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,000 They're cheap obviously. 170 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,600 You have to interact with people because you're with so many people. 171 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:32,720 There's going to be something going on some guys using a guitar or some girl is singing 172 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:39,080 a song or hostels are fun, they're fun and they'll give you experiences you wouldn't normally 173 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,080 have. 174 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:46,440 Events are great if you want to get to landmarks in the city but you want a more private place 175 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,240 to relax at the end of the day. 176 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:53,120 Or if you're trying to save money and you just want to travel backpacking is awesome and 177 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,760 especially hammock camping my favorite. 178 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:02,160 I would say function over form except that's almost never really an issue. 179 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:07,400 I guess when I want a house for quieter private spaces I would choose the house even if 180 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,760 it doesn't look as nice as the apartment that I was looking at just because I get that 181 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:13,760 added privacy. 182 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,560 But the whole point of renting a place to someone is usually they want you to stay there 183 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:21,560 as long as possible so the places are pretty nice you don't really have to worry about 184 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:25,200 the form of most places abroad you're living in. 185 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:29,160 If you look at the picture and there's a bunch of stains and it just looks gross don't 186 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,760 go to that place just don't. 187 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:36,280 But if it looks fine and you're like oh why is this one so much cheaper than the other 188 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:42,100 ones you were lucky probably it's there's so many places people can rent so many reasons 189 00:12:42,100 --> 00:12:46,600 why that listing would have become available on the day you're checking you probably just 190 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:52,320 got lucky that day go for it also don't worry about choosing the wrong place. 191 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:56,600 It's going to be a little more expensive per day like $2 more per day if you switch every 192 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:01,000 week but if you switch every week for a few weeks you're going to figure out what you like 193 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:05,840 really quickly and then you can just stick with that preference afterwards. 194 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,920 So I would get a week at a time first or a couple days at a time first and just try different 195 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:18,040 spots unless you're like okay I like condos near the center of the city or I like suburban 196 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:23,920 houses outside I don't mind that the transportation isn't as reliable you can just see how you 197 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:31,800 feel in each space and go off of that the more you choose housing the more you travel the 198 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:35,240 better you're going to get it traveling that is given. 199 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:41,120 After you figure out how you like to live you're going to find cheaper ways to live that 200 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:42,120 way. 201 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:46,680 So get an apartment first and if you don't like it check out the hostel maybe you do like 202 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:51,320 hanging out with people more than you thought I did I didn't think I would like hostels 203 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:58,600 because they seemed so crazy and lively but I think I stayed in my first hostel just because 204 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:04,760 it was so cheap and after hanging out there a couple days I had a ton of fun and I 205 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:11,000 stayed at hostels for years so I think it's worth trying everything out seeing what you like 206 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:18,600 and then going with that and just to reiterate finding a place just basically finding a place 207 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:24,320 that you can sleep in is not going to be an issue you can find a place anywhere you want 208 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:29,680 to travel especially if you're backpacking and you'll get better at finding places you 209 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:37,320 like the more you do travel but there's houses everywhere and none of them that I'm talking 210 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:42,840 about in this episode are more than 500 bucks a month and that's significantly more expensive 211 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:49,120 than you have to pay in most countries like $300 is very normal for a private apartment 212 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:58,160 or a hotel room in most countries I've stayed in so get out there get a house or a hostel 213 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:04,480 looks like there are rooms available in Sweden for 300 houses available in Sweden for 500 per month 214 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:13,240 and 11 hostels in Hanoi via NAM right now for $5 or less per night enjoy your travels you can 215 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:19,120 contact me at bit of a rambler at gmail.com and I will talk to you on the next one 216 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:29,120 [MUSIC]