Today’s article comes from a gentleman I’ve yet to meet, even though Mark and I know his brother well. Josh Galt is an extreme athlete who has traveled the world extensively and has built himself a life and lifestyle out of his passions, which in his case entails riverboarding some of the most amazing and dangerous rivers this planet has to offer.
He is a kindred spirit. A man who is driven by creating, learning and doing. I’d like to share with you a post he wrote recently which embodies much of what excites us about some of the rapidly growing economies of the world and opportunities.
You can find out more about Josh on his website. Enjoy!
- Chris
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I would rather live surrounded by the exciting chaos of birth that is Asia, than the struggling chaos of death that is the West.
I met a cute Cambodian girl the other morning as I headed back to my hotel after a run on the beach. We went to breakfast, and she told me she knew a great place to go snorkeling, which was our plan for the day.
She was fun and hot and spoke English, so of course, I told her please come with us!
I didn’t realize she would teach me a profound lesson about what it really means to be a bootstrapping entrepreneur.When we reached our first destination, she jumped in with me and swam around for a few minutes, but then she headed back to the boat. I figured she was going to be a diva relaxing on the boat the rest of the day, or start complaining about being bored. I quickly saw that I was very, very wrong.
More @ Capitalist Exploits
Read that story last night. It did have a significant message and a lesson that I doubt many will appreciate. It was worth a read to say the least.
ReplyDeleteI spent many a moon there and enjoyed them all except the day I went to the Tuol Sleng Museum in Phnom Penh. You won't go back. http://tinyurl.com/kgrlvfo
DeleteBravo for reminding me why America and the West are heading on down the chute. The Scots let 16 and 17 year olds vote in this election for Freedom - that worked well.
ReplyDeleteAnd who can forget that scene in 'Network' imploring Americans back in 1976 to open their windows and scream: I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it any more.
Well, here is the scene that I just saw last night that was far more important regarding The Ultimate Dressdown - what has changed nearly 40 years later ???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkRDMil0bw
Thanks and just further down the tube, maybe. You back already?
DeleteYes, got back around 5:30 today - lots of rain making it fun skating on the Interstate -00-
ReplyDelete:) Well you made it.
DeleteOur government and the left wing nannies in this country have beat down if not completely killed the small business entrepreneurial spirit. If that young girl had done
ReplyDeletethe same thing here she would have been arrested. Fishing without a license, fishing with the wrong kind of gear, fishing for the wrong species, catching a fish that is the wrong size, etc. etc.
Used to be that a man that had a little piece of land and a few thousand dollars could build a little one room frame building and stock it with goods consigned to him by wholesalers and he was in the store business. Today he'd need a minimum of a million dollars, 2 lawyers and 3 accountants before he ever got the doors open. The DOT would make HIM hire a contractor and pay to improve the highway with turn lanes.
Reading that article just makes me want to find an ocean capable sale boat and head out for somewhere that is free. I get the feeling that even the communist S/E Asian countries allow more personal freedom than we have these days at least if you know how to manipulate their system. There has to be an Atoll somewhere in the South Pacific with some coconut trees, fish and a bit of fresh water and few or no people who care, where a man could live his life out in peace.
I'm reaching that point in life where I can no longer ignore my mortality. I don't care how long I live. I care about how well I live and by that I don't mean fancy houses and cars. I mean being left alone to enjoy what life (many more years I hope) that I have left. I don't want the government nanny state taking care of my health care or my security. Dear Lord, I never thought I'd see the day that rural NC fells like a prison but it is more and more every day.
I get the feeling that even the communist S/E Asian countries allow more personal freedom than we have these days
DeleteYou do, as long as you forget politics and guns. Want to open a business? Go for it, you may need to give the cop on the beat a few dollars, but chickenfeed to what goes on here and business is frankly, free enterprise. My friend who hadn't been back to Vietnam since the fall finally went back after my much insisting and stated that if he had been in a time machine from 1975 until whatever year it was when he finally went back, he would have thought the South won. :) Really, except for the red billboards blathering about Communism, it's quite enjoyable, but then again I've spent well over 10 years there, so I obviously appreciated it and the people. You might enjoy this:
http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=18&highlight=saigon+travel+bureau
Brock said: "I get the feeling that even the communist S/E Asian countries allow more personal freedom than we have these days"
DeleteMy little brother is living and working in Vietnam, and he says he has more freedom there than he did in Seattle. That's a piss poor commentary on our country, when a commie country has more personal freedom than we do.
One of my friends are moving back to the West after living in Cambodia for 20 years. Why? Communism is resurging there. Cause a days wages buys a single mango in the cities. And if you work for a large corporation, you'll be fired every six months or less and replaced by someone who speaks six+ languages and has a cousin that runs the local worker's union (or worse: is acting sheriff or mayor equivalent). Same for the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia. Thailand, and Nam. Friends there are all leaving and returning to the West. One in Thailand owns an island bed and breakfast and he said they went from 500 guests a year to 40 or less in one year. The thrill is gone it seems. It never really was there, just a lot of dumb farang tourists who think because it's different it must be better. It's actually one of the filthiest places in the world. The rain forests and beaches used to be beautiful but they are now polluted and smell horrible if there's any traffic. Crime is off the charts. Mafias run every thing. The toilets are worse than being in prison. Many people drown in nearly all of these countries because trash they throw on the ground clogs up the sewage/drainage system and rains have no where to go. Happens all the time. Did I mention it's not clean? Hence all of the flu issues and STDs. Pig farmers live all over the place and their pigs often carry diseases (no vets). Not to mention the 1989 Reston, VA Ebola near-outbreak was due to monkeys captured in the Philippines. Yep, and it was airborne Ebola too. Speaking of that, all of Asia is a sitting duck if even a couple of Ebola patients get loose there. Try avoiding disease in a place where used feminine hygiene products and dirty HIV+ needles are thrown every where on the sidewalks and waterways, people sit on each other in the Jeepneys and Tuktuks, etc. Sex tourism is off the charts too. Almost every pretty girl has had sex for money. They'll never admit to it though. Very sad. Oh and the hospitals leave other people's blood on the bed they put you in while you were out cold from slipping and hitting your head getting off the Jeepney's roof in the rain. And Jolo in the PH is the home of the largest Asian Al-Qaeda/ISIS linked terrorist cell (Abu Sayyaf) and they kidnap Westerners all the time and hold them for ransoms (usually kill them anyway). They also blow up people in the cities and wreak havoc on the police and military. Don't get me wrong, some of the best people I've known are from these areas. It's just they are fighting a losing battle because communists run every thing with their mafia cronies. The Thai king is constantly having to repel waters and keep the reds at bay. He's the last hold out there really. Be glad you're in the West. It's still best place to be in the entire world. Grass isn't really greener and this poor kid is delusional. Just my 2. Thanks for the opportunity to vent. :D
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, but I won't rebut any of your accusations as I have been in every country for many years and am still alive and healthy. :)
DeleteA country boy can survive. ;)
DeleteYup and ready to do it again! :) Been 9years, way overdue.
Deletehttp://globalnation.inquirer.net/109344/therell-be-no-stopping-ebola-spread-in-ph-says-expert
DeleteI am sure in country hospitals, but in ones like The Makati Medical Center, I wouldn't have much more concern that from those stateside. I received Cobalt at this hospital in '74/'75 or my vocal cord cancer.
DeleteThanks and although they are mainly located in the distant islands, seems like the government forces could make more headway against them.
DeleteMy little brother is living and working in Vietnam, and he says he has more freedom there than he did in Seattle. That's a piss poor commentary on our country, when a commie country has more personal freedom than we do.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't get it open to reply to your post underneath yours, so........I can't remember where he is?
He's in Da Nang
DeleteThat's right. Thanks.
DeleteWell, it was Seattle after all. Home to grunge music and heroin addicts that drown in the rain. Not much difference really. LOL
Delete