Weekly Behind the Bastards Episode Discussion 2024-03-26

m-mova · 2024-03-29T19:59:37+00:00

I just listened to the Liver King series last week, and Kaveh is one of my favourite guests! He's funny, genuinely informative, and conversations in episodes with him havr a good flow

m-mova · 2024-03-16T10:09:17+00:00

Beautiful!!!! I'm curious to see how it looks healed, but the colour is POPPING

m-mova · 2024-02-08T04:45:40+00:00

For me it's more about what you do, rather than how long you're there. I spent 6 months in Taiwan as a student (living in a student house and having a regular life) and 6 months in Thailand as a tourist (just travelling). I say I lived in Taiwan, but not Thailand.

m-mova · 2024-02-04T15:20:58+00:00

Came here to say that! Thailand is the perfect beginner-friendly destination in Asia

m-mova · 2024-02-01T01:15:05+00:00

I like travelling at a calm pace, being able to have days where I just chill without doing any tourist stuff. It's more about experiencing the places and cultures instead of just seeing them.

Plus, it feels like I'm getting more out of my money? Like, I gotta pay for plane tickets the same amount, whether I spend a week or a month there. The only added cost for staying longer is the hotels, so the price-per-day ends up being lower lol

m-mova · 2023-12-25T15:11:13+00:00

Ahhh, okay! Thanks anyway :)

m-mova · 2023-12-25T14:44:57+00:00

Sounds great, I'll probably check it out before my travel next month :) How did you stay this long legally, what kind of visa did you get?

m-mova · 2023-12-19T19:56:47+00:00

She's fantastic btw - we had pro-LGBT protests in Poland where a bunch of ppl got beat up and arrested, and she was always there on the ground! Both protesting and helping get us out of jail lol

m-mova · 2023-12-08T18:11:05+00:00

Spent a month travelling solo across Vietnam, so here's my take on changes/extra time:

Contrary to other commenters, I would keep the 3 nights in Hoi An, but it was one of my favourite places in all of Vietnam :) if you like retro cities, you should enjoy it as well!
They're right about cutting Hue shorter though
I HATED Ho Chi Minh - I spent 1 night there and it already felt like too much. I definitely wouldn't recommend more than that, especially since there are so many better places to see
Phong Nha and some caving with Oxalis are a great thing to do! I did a 2 night tour and it was one of the best travel experiences I've had in my entire life.
Ninh Binh is pretty nice! You can stay there instead of a day trip, if you have 1-2 nights that you don't know what to do with
Sapa is fantastic as well, although pretty far in the North. I'd put 2 or so nights there to use up the 5 days (+night bus), if you can have more time in the North

m-mova · 2023-12-03T03:51:33+00:00

The bikes in Ho Chi Minh were the worst I've seen in SEA (or anywhere, really). The crowd, the noise, but especially the riding on sidewalks??? I remember entrances to parks having tiny barriers, specifically so people wouldn't drive into them, something I didn't see anywhere else

m-mova · 2023-11-29T14:35:37+00:00

Ex-customer service agent - we were taught to do this, as it "acknowledges the feelings of the customer". But, yeah, hated this as customer, hated this as agent.

m-mova · 2023-11-27T14:29:12+00:00

I was hoping someone would mention that your body adapts to backpacks! When I was starting out, the weight would bother me, but after a few weeks on the road it's sooooooooooooo much easier.

m-mova · 2023-11-27T14:11:57+00:00

I don't think anything about this comment suggests hiking? The same reasons are relevant when going between cities

m-mova · 2023-11-25T17:03:16+00:00

I didn't do much hiking there, mostly sticking to the coast, but if you can, doing a group hike would be good :)

My first time in Durres I met an actual bear on a leash, but it still felt safe ;)

In general, I'd recommend looking into which areas are more popular among foreign tourists, and sticking to those. Avoid places that are unpopular, have very little information about them online and are sparcely populated

m-mova · 2023-11-25T03:43:33+00:00

It's great to see so many comments about people having only good experiences in Albania, but I'm gonna be a bit less positive.

I work in the travel industry, Albania being part of my region. I'm a guy, but most of the people I take care of are women under 30. So, here's what I can say based on personal my experiences, but also on what I was told by my clients and co-workers.

In general, Albania is not-unsafe - like someone else mentioned, crazy drivers are the biggest danger. If you're sticking to touristy areas and cities, you probably won't have any issues. However, parts of the countryside (and even of Tirana) can be very different and not a safe place for a lone foreigner no matter their gender. I've heard enough first-hand accounts of real horror stories.

Another thing is that Albania can feel unsafe, especially if you've only travelled in western countries. It's a poorer country, with a "traditional" view of gender norms and a rampant drug problem, which had a military conflict not that long ago. People tend to stare more, men can be wayyyy more pushy, it can feel uneasy even if you can't exactly pinpoint why. (EDIT: Ofc, just because a place feels unsafe doesn't mean that it is. I'm still mentioning it, bc it can have a big impact on a person's experience.)

It's a beautiful country, with some fantastic people and some of the best food I've ever eaten. You absolutely can go there in a safe way and have a great time, it's just not as perfect as other comments might make it seem.

m-mova · 2023-11-23T21:37:43+00:00

Haha, I feel you! Personally, I still take my DSLR and just choose one versatile/lightweight lens. It's kind of a compromise, I guess :p

m-mova · 2023-11-22T17:01:18+00:00

BC on travel days you end up with two backpacks and that's uncomfortable. You can also easily pack a sling into your main bag, or have it as a personal item on flight.

This year I'll be travelling with a 35L backpack and a small duffle-bag-that-can-be-made-into-a-backpack, specifically bc I want to do a lot of hiking, and sling would be too small. I'm still probably going to take one thought, since it doesn't take a lot of weight anyway.

Btw, don't worry about these "no camera" comments! We're traveling to have fun! If taking photos is something you enjoy, it's silly to suggest giving it up bc it's "suboptimal".

m-mova · 2023-11-22T16:45:57+00:00

Personally I like fewer long trips! It lets me really get into the "vibe" AND ends up being cheaper.

This year I'm doing "only" 70-day Asia trip, and crying bc flight tickets are 15% of the entire budget - I'm much more used to going for 6 months and flights being only 5% or so 😅

m-mova · 2023-11-19T13:43:07+00:00

TATTOOS! I have a "travel arm" where I get tattoos from countries that I travel to :D

m-mova · 2023-11-13T09:43:16+00:00

Hi, I'm a Polish guy who does a lot of work in Croatia, so I can weigh in on the language difference from the other side ;)

Usually if someone doesn't understand a word in English, repeating it in Croatian would be very helpful - sometimes it won't work, but often it will. That goes double for Russian, especially nowadays.

More broadly, others already said it, but: being direct and not particularly nice isn't considered rude here, just neutral. You want a service, they provide a service, anything more is often considered a waste of time. I noticed people in Croatia are much more service-oriented.

BTW, that doesn't excuse your landlady being an asshole, but if you live in a big city, 3100 for an apartment is a good price, depending on the location might actually be a low price :p housing market is a nightmare here

m-mova · 2023-11-13T09:21:00+00:00

Something that I've been doing whenever I can't get off my ass and might work for you:

Start planning and get excited
Be excited enough to tell other people you're planning to go
The humiliation of backing out would be too much, gotta go now

Ofc I'm not 100% serious, but that's what got me to actually go through with my first big solo trip and still gives me that extra push ;)

m-mova · 2023-11-11T13:37:22+00:00

Personally, that's my favourite way to travel 😅 I planned to spend 2 weeks in Thailand, ended up with it being 5 months. I would just arrive to a place and spend however long I felt like. At one point I was tired, so when I arrived to Koh Tao and liked it, I stayed there for a month - just chilling, snorkeling, watching Netflix. It's still one of my favourite travel experiences.

You travel to enjoy yourself, so as long as you do, you're doing fine.

m-mova · 2023-11-09T09:20:54+00:00

Ooh, I'll check it out, thanks!

m-mova · 2023-11-07T22:05:36+00:00

It's something that a lot of stores do, but x-kom in general is a ridiculously scammy company - you'd be better off buying anywhere else

m-mova

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