Transcript

015 Stroll · bit of a Rambler

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,800 Hello, my name is Kai and I am a bit of a rambler. 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:09,160 I like to travel, learn, and tell stories. 3 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:13,720 Today I want to talk about walking, perambulation. 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,800 There are lots of ways to travel once you get to the country you want to visit, or wherever 5 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:23,320 you're traveling to, and walking is unique among them for me. 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:32,400 I prefer cycling with just a regular bicycle to a motor scooter or a car or whatever, 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:37,480 but walking is set apart from all vehicles. 8 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:44,360 And I really think that walking enriches the travel experience in a way that any sort 9 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:46,120 of vehicle does not. 10 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,320 Across Vietnam, like I love bicycle riding. 11 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:56,880 It doesn't mean you can never hop on a scooter, like countries are big, but walking is very 12 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:05,440 satisfying to me viscerally and holistically for the travel experience. 13 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:11,960 So you should spend a long time walking one day for the following reasons. 14 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:16,120 One, you will see things that you would not otherwise. 15 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:21,440 Even if you're on a bicycle, like if you go by a path that leads to a river and there's 16 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:27,880 a shrine down by the river, it's so easy to see the angle of the path and then it's gone 17 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:30,760 and you don't know what was down there by the river. 18 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,560 Also you can't just stop your feet and the bicycle stops. 19 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:41,240 You can slam on the brakes or whatever, but you have inertia you are going and it's easier 20 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,480 to just keep going, as Newton has mentioned. 21 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:52,480 When you're walking at any moment, you can just stop, turn, investigate what's interesting 22 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,520 and it doesn't feel like you're interrupting any journey or interrupt. 23 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:02,480 When you're walking, stopping to check something out is part of the walk. 24 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:07,360 You aren't betraying your destination, you're making your journey more interesting. 25 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:12,200 So just that you will see so many things that you wouldn't otherwise see. 26 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:18,800 Little paths are a huge one that lead to the biggest wooden handmade temple you've ever 27 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:23,160 seen or oh, I've got a great one in Italy. 28 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:30,480 I was walking and this tiny trail off to the side led to a tomb in the side of a mountain 29 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:36,520 equipped and I just walked in and got to visit a tomb that I never would have seen if 30 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,560 I was even going as fast as a bicycle. 31 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:43,760 Actually if I was walking a little faster, I would have missed this, but the attention 32 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:49,320 to your surroundings that walking afford you while traveling will allow you to see so 33 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:55,160 much more that you wouldn't otherwise using any sort of vehicle, especially wildlife. 34 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:59,240 Japan is a great example of this when I was walking across Japan. 35 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:06,520 I went over this middle hill, it wasn't a mountain, but it wasn't a berm. 36 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:14,720 I was halfway down the descent when I just looked over and there was this wispy shape of 37 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:20,800 something and then when I looked over, I realized it was a deer and I sought for a split second 38 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:26,720 before it appeared to just jump vertically a couple times straight up a hillside that was 39 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:27,720 almost vertically. 40 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:33,840 It was breathtaking to witness and if I had any kind of vehicle, that deer would have heard 41 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:38,720 me a long time ago, but I was slowly plotting my way down a mountain and so it didn't know 42 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:44,920 I was there until it suddenly did and then turned toward me so I was able to see it. 43 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:49,300 That experience is one of the coolest, it's one of the strongest memories I have from 44 00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:52,040 visiting Japan among so many. 45 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:59,040 I'm going to talk about how it feels internally for me to walk around relative to other modes 46 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,120 of transportation. 47 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:09,840 My mind sort of changes and slows down and connects more with all the stuff around me so like 48 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,440 I said, you'll be more aware of the things happening around you and you'll find the cool 49 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:17,560 little paths or notice animals you didn't or whatever. 50 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:25,240 But more than that, my mind itself is part of the landscape I'm going through rather 51 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,400 than an object passing through it. 52 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:34,360 If I'm on a bike or a car or anything, then everything's outside of me and I'm moving 53 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:35,360 past it. 54 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:44,940 But if I'm walking along a road or along a path, then I am still very connected to the 55 00:04:44,940 --> 00:04:47,760 earth that I'm walking on. 56 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,520 It's very heartbeat of the earth. 57 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:57,120 That by step, instead of an observer, I am part of the tableau of the environment of all 58 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,480 the animals that I'm walking through. 59 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:07,920 Any sort of vehicle or speed or anything other than the natural rhythm of pedestrianism 60 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:13,720 isn't bad and can be fun, but it doesn't feel the same to me as walking. 61 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:19,960 Once I'm walking in a country for an extended period of time, I settle into the country 62 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:28,200 and it makes more sense to me being in this different place with different languages and 63 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:29,760 food and all of that. 64 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,520 But if I'm walking through it, then I'm walking through it just like I walk through the country 65 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,160 I'm from or wherever else. 66 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:44,880 So I'll just say like the general vibes of walking around are very relaxing and I get 67 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,520 in tune with where I am much quicker. 68 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:54,000 Whenever I move to a new place, the first thing I do, even if I'm going to get a bike or 69 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:58,080 anything like that, I walk around my neighborhood first. 70 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,800 Obviously, if I'm backpacking, I'm walking right away. 71 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:08,640 But that's why I like walking between cities because even if I'm not familiar with each 72 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:18,120 city, walking between them and being part of the environment just feels so comfortable 73 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:24,000 and settles me in that country in a way that nothing else really does, which really helps 74 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:31,280 with interaction, both my willingness to interact with people and people's interest in interacting 75 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:32,760 with me. 76 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:38,080 If you're on any sort of vehicle, if you're in a car or on a bike or on a scooter, whatever, 77 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:43,320 people are less inclined to chase after you and wave you down unless you're extremely 78 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,240 rare in that country in which case it might be a good idea to get a bicycle or a car 79 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:53,320 so you don't have to stop every time you're flagged down and asked what you are doing there. 80 00:06:53,320 --> 00:07:00,440 Even on a bike, you can be stopped and have an interesting interaction. 81 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:11,320 But when you're walking, you are giving up any outward affectation of busyness. 82 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:16,560 You are clearly not too busy because you're strolling. 83 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:21,880 You're walking down the road and I find that comms other people down as well. 84 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:25,880 They're not trying to grab you to say hello or they're like, I have to get this in real 85 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:26,880 quick. 86 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:33,280 They will more calmly approach you and talk to you and you will have conversations with 87 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,400 these people where you will learn things you never would have otherwise. 88 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:44,600 They're interested in meeting you, talking with you and when you're walking and they 89 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,480 introduce themselves, that's the only time where they're going to be like, it's very nice 90 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:49,480 day, right? 91 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:55,640 Because the situation and the context of you casually walking down the road is so much 92 00:07:55,640 --> 00:08:00,320 less dire than it otherwise would be if you were moving at a speed in which they feel 93 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:04,160 like they have to get out what they want to say. 94 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,880 Instead you can just say a few things. 95 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:07,880 How are you? 96 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:08,880 Where are you going? 97 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:09,880 Where are you from? 98 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:10,880 Great. 99 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:11,880 Have a great day. 100 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:17,940 Become interaction or they'll be like, just so you know, there's an amazing temple five 101 00:08:17,940 --> 00:08:22,200 feet down this road that you didn't see when you were walking by. 102 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:27,480 Walking just sort of chills everybody out and put you on equal footing with the people 103 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:29,000 around you. 104 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:36,680 So again, you become more part of the environment, cultural or otherwise and people feel more 105 00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:41,200 comfortable saying hello and the whole interaction I feel is much more comfortable when 106 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:47,440 I'm walking and I see someone instead of someone waving me down on a bike or something 107 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:49,040 like that. 108 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,360 Then there's taking your time. 109 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:57,320 You obviously must take your time more than if you were moving around the country in any 110 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:03,400 other way, but if you're walking around, you can spend all day on a couple streets very 111 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:09,400 easily because each shop has a thousand things and yes, you can stop on your bike and 112 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:14,600 ride to the next one, but it feels weird if you stop on a bike, look at the store and then 113 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,040 go to the next shop two feet down and look at all the store. 114 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,320 If you're on a bike, your mind is still moving forward. 115 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:26,320 So you're more likely to dismiss or I am more likely to dismiss like a cluster of statues 116 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,240 as, oh, that's a hundred statues and then I move on. 117 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:35,840 Whereas if I'm walking, I'm in this slow, more zen state where I will notice like, oh, 118 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:43,880 there's owls and lemurs and bobcats like there's all these different statues in that pile 119 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:50,720 of something I would just dismiss as trinkets if I was in a more excitable heart pumping 120 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,360 state. 121 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:58,520 Walking just makes me pay attention more and I'm in a mental state, a more relaxed mental 122 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,600 state to appreciate what is there no matter what it is. 123 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:08,580 If I'm walking down a isolated mountain road and not in a market and I see an amazing 124 00:10:08,580 --> 00:10:11,200 flower, this has actually happened. 125 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:17,600 I'll stop and look at a plant and realize that I've never seen that plant before in my 126 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,160 life. 127 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:25,680 This is a unique plant that I'm completely unfamiliar with or a bug like just completely 128 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:31,360 unfamiliar with and because I'm walking my brain wraps around this new experience and 129 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:38,200 tries to catalog it and extrapolate from it like what does it mean is it here is it pollinating 130 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:43,640 something or and it's a much more interesting way for me to consider the world around me. 131 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:49,240 If I'm walking especially after I've been walking for a while like a couple hours, I am 132 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:58,040 so relaxed and accepting of whatever is around me and I just let my brain play with whatever 133 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:02,400 new experience shows up or a conversation that I'm having or music that I'm hearing, 134 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:08,000 whatever is happening while I'm walking, I'm much more willing to be consider it as 135 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:14,720 into consider what is happening and it doesn't have to be important. 136 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,520 It doesn't have to be the most significant experience of my day. 137 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:26,440 It's very enjoyable to leisurely examine a new plant on a walk or some new clothing 138 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:32,280 that you're unfamiliar with from your own country but everyone is wearing today and it's so 139 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,680 healthy like obviously exercise is good. 140 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:41,720 Don't know if I'm breaking any scientific barriers with that statement, but I feel 141 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:47,160 good while I'm walking in a way that I'm not anticipating the health benefits. 142 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:52,000 I feel healthy while I'm walking and I also feel healthy while I'm jogging but there's 143 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:58,780 that initial blood pumping and exciting thing and bicycles or cars I'm paying too much 144 00:11:58,780 --> 00:12:04,840 attention and when I'm walking I just know that it's healthy, I can enjoy that and every 145 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,280 step I feel like this is good for me. 146 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:15,000 This is also good for me and I can just feel good about what I'm doing for my entire track. 147 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,320 And you don't have to be good at walking in the beginning especially if you're backpacking. 148 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:24,380 I hear this a lot, people are worried about the physical strain it will take to carry 149 00:12:24,380 --> 00:12:33,600 a backpack and walk but everyone I've known who backpacks adapts so quickly to the exercise. 150 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:41,880 And yes I am talking about very young backpackers I'm talking about 50, 60 plus backpackers I'm 151 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:48,040 talking about backpackers with physical disabilities like they had knee surgeries before. 152 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:53,400 And chronic pain, walking and getting into that zone seems to help with that according 153 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,040 to other backpackers I've met. 154 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:00,440 After a day you will walk further than you did the first day, after a day your pack will 155 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:05,200 feel less heavy than it did the first day or at least everyone I know has that same experience 156 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:06,880 and I certainly do. 157 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:13,000 I was kind of worried the first time that I traveled long distance on a backpacking trip 158 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:19,800 I'm not sure if that was Japan or not but after a couple days I was like oh this is much easier 159 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:24,280 and then after a week I could just walk all day with this backpack on my back literally 160 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:29,080 walk all day taking a few breaks every couple hours or something. 161 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:34,960 And now I'm not worried I've backpacked through tons of countries in between cities and 162 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:41,120 I just know that my body will very rapidly adjust to the pace I put it through. 163 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:45,280 You don't have to worry about your knees or anything like that you just walk and you know 164 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,760 you're doing something healthy. 165 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:52,600 Which I want to point out is huge in other countries relative to where I'm from the 166 00:13:52,600 --> 00:14:01,240 states our old people can't walk a lot of them don't and can't and they have motor scooters 167 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:06,520 or they just sit at home all day or if they do make it outside uncomfortably shuffling 168 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:10,600 down the road each step clearly hurting them. 169 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:14,240 And that's pretty strange for the rest of the world. 170 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,560 In most other countries old people can walk by themselves to the grocery store walk up and 171 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:24,120 down mountains not the same as if they were 20 years old but perfectly comfortable with 172 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:27,120 their own mobility and independence. 173 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:33,680 And exercise is the obvious delineating factor here that I see everywhere that people are 174 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,640 more active. 175 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:41,680 Usually in Asian countries there are exercise parks and people are walking or dancing together 176 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:49,280 and moving people are moving and you can be any age and continue to walk you don't have 177 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:54,880 to worry about jogging messing up your knees when you're 80 years old because you can still 178 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:56,200 walk. 179 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:02,120 And I really think this contributes to the amount of mobility just the level of mobility 180 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:09,480 in general that I see in a lot of countries that are absent in the US or at least greatly 181 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:11,080 minimized. 182 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:17,800 We don't have a particularly healthy aging population whereas many countries do have very 183 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:20,800 healthy aging populations. 184 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:29,000 Having met so many older people who move around still when they're older and them invariably 185 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:33,520 being more mobile and energetic than the people I knew back in my own country. 186 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:39,320 I'm even more motivated to keep walking and keep exercising the older I get. 187 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:45,800 I'm completely anecdotally convinced that walking will keep me in shape and all do stretches 188 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:51,920 and you know weights and the other stuff but walking just keeping moving, keeping your 189 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:58,960 body moving seems like the magic bullet to a lot of the problems in aging population 190 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,160 usually goes to a lot of the physical problems. 191 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:07,560 A lot of these directly play into this whole putting your hands directly on the culture 192 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:14,280 experience that I get only when walking through a country or walking among neighborhoods 193 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,120 in a country. 194 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:20,960 I can't get it if I'm in a vehicle even on a bicycle. 195 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:22,520 It's a different experience. 196 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:27,280 I'm not inclined to stop my bicycle get off and touch something. 197 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:31,640 But if there's a statue and I'm walking past it, I get I'm much more interested in how 198 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:37,320 they carved in how smooth those carvings are after 400 years like what does it feel 199 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:42,280 like unless you're clearly not supposed to touch it in which case I totally never never 200 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:46,320 have broken those rules unless the statue looked really cool. 201 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:52,360 The feeling I have while walking through a place versus any other mode of transportation 202 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:55,800 is so clearly holistic. 203 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:03,760 I care about all the details on the murals they have in Lisbon's mosaic sidewalks much 204 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:10,020 more if I'm walking past them and necessarily contemplating them because I'm moving at a 205 00:17:10,020 --> 00:17:13,760 speed that I can't help but take in their entire picture. 206 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:24,000 Every aspect whether it's cultural or personable or compassionate, consider it architectural. 207 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:30,360 Everything I'm in at the time that's informing me about the new place I'm traveling or 208 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:38,400 honestly even at my hometown is heightened elevated and connected by walking among it. 209 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:48,120 It's that sense of unity, community, just I become much more a part of something when 210 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:49,960 I'm walking in it. 211 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:59,960 And my footsteps are echoing off the walls in Morocco, these giant, crazy twisty alleys. 212 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:05,800 It feels so much more viscerally like I'm part of that world. 213 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,340 And you know what, since I am talking about this, I'll come clean and also say that I play 214 00:18:10,340 --> 00:18:11,340 walking games. 215 00:18:11,340 --> 00:18:14,080 I used to play Pokemon Go. 216 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:16,840 I'm playing walkscape now. 217 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:22,440 And that's a fun way to supplement your interest in walking. 218 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,840 If you have little achievements that you can achieve in the game by the number of steps 219 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:33,040 you walked, like those are so great for just having fun while you're walking in a different 220 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:38,720 way, knowing that however long you walk you'll check in and it'll be like, great work. 221 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:43,080 You mind several gold ore or whatever it is. 222 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,440 You can also play a fun game while you're walking and all you have to do is walk. 223 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,480 All of these walking games are based on the distance you go or the landmark you visit 224 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:52,600 and that kind of stuff. 225 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:57,320 And a lot of the landmark ones, like Pokemon Go, I was playing Pokemon Go in both Taiwan 226 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:01,800 and Japan while I was walking across those countries. 227 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:07,560 And I visited so many places that were marked on a map and it's at seven miles away. 228 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,120 And I just shrugged and be like, all right, I'll go check that out because I had already 229 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:15,680 seen like they're going to take me to a cool temple or a public bath or like something 230 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,880 interesting, culturally that I wanted to learn about. 231 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,840 I was always interested in seeing a new one. 232 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:29,560 And yeah, those walking games just made my trek that I already enjoyed just a little more 233 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:35,160 exciting in the times that I wanted a little more excitement. 234 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:40,720 But they would still lead me to real life cultural artifacts or meeting points or community 235 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:42,160 centers. 236 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:47,520 Getting interesting in the real world and the walking games helped me get to a lot of those 237 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:53,040 places that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise because I'd very randomly meander 238 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:57,440 down paths when I travel, especially when I'm walking. 239 00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:58,920 And I walk a lot. 240 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:05,920 I've walked from Dublin to Cork, from Tokyo to Osaka, south from Rome, across Sicily, 241 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:10,520 straight across, I don't know how many provinces in Thailand and many more countries. 242 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:18,120 And every walk has woken up my spirit and enhanced my appreciation with the world and comfort 243 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:20,760 within the world around me. 244 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:25,400 And how walking seems to lend itself to making personal connections as well. 245 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:30,080 And a great benefit of that is that you're often given the opportunity to help someone. 246 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:31,080 I was. 247 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:35,920 While I was walking across Ireland, I had the opportunity to help someone off a ledge 248 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:40,880 that looked unsafe and helped someone put firewood in her car. 249 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:46,160 While backpacking around Taiwan, I met two first time travelers who had no idea what they 250 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:50,520 were doing and were very confused how they could survive in the night and taught them how 251 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:56,560 they could urban camp in Japan or camp on the beach because it's legal and culturally accepted. 252 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,520 I taught them new hammocks setups and how to tie the knots so they could easily set up and 253 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,120 take down their hammocks each night. 254 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:07,480 I met a girl who's backpack had broken while I was in Thailand and I was able to show her 255 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:14,240 that all you need is a key ring and that zipper will work just like it always did. 256 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:19,960 Not life changing events, but it's very gratifying to be able to help people and while you're 257 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,360 walking around, you're going to come across that opportunity. 258 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:27,400 When I was backpacking across Japan, I found someone who had fallen down on their bike 259 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,480 and they couldn't lift it back up by themselves. 260 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:35,360 So I was able to help them get their motor scooter back up right, get them on their way. 261 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:42,680 It feels great to help people and it rayifies your existence and your value within the world. 262 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,400 That's what helping people does for me anyway. 263 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,680 So get out there and put one foot in front of the other. 264 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:54,480 Contact me at bit of a rambler@gmail.com and I'll talk to you next time. 265 00:21:54,480 --> 00:22:04,920 A note before we go, De-Cathalon, French sports equipment company has one second pop-up 266 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:09,600 tense, amazing rucksacks minus still intact after 15 years. 267 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:11,720 Not just intact, it looks almost new. 268 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:16,520 I threw it in the washing machine and I couldn't believe it looks new when it came out. 269 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:23,960 So if you need any of these hiking things for camping, go to De-Cathalon and pick them 270 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:24,960 up. 271 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:32,920 It's an amazing equipment for a very good price considering the quality and the lasting 272 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,440 ruggedness of the equipment. 273 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:41,760 And you can walk across countries for 15 years like I have with that same equipment. 274 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:47,040 Oh, they have those hammocks, the exact hammock I use when I go hammock camping. 275 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,600 Super comfortable ultra lightweight. 276 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,760 <break time="700ms"/>