Did you miss us? We missed you. And we wish we could say that to you in a foreign language. But since we’re proud Americans the grew up in the ‘80s, we don’t speak any other language but one. And poorly at that! That’s the issue we’re tackling today: The differences in language education in America vs what it’s like overseas. Full episode details: https://www.theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2019/11/8/why-is-foreign-language-education-a-foreign-idea-in-america Become a Patron and get early access and great bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon.

ShEvo vs. The First World | A Skeptical Look at Western Culture

Why Is Foreign Language Education A Foreign Idea In America? [S5E13]

We’re back after a long absence -- an absence explained in detail to our supporters -- to talk about air travel in America. Recent cross-country trips for both of us are causing us to pine for the ease, reliability, and cost-savings of traveling overseas So leave your assumptions aside and listen in as we tell you why air travel in America downright sucks when compared to the experience in many developing nations. Full episode details: https://www.theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2019/4/4/american-air-travel-is-awful Become a Patron and get early access and great bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

American Air Travel Is Awful [S5E12]

Back in 2015, Evo spent several hours in a tattoo chair in Thailand. Just a few weeks ago, Sheila got a new tattoo in America. The differences were vast. Join us as we talk about the finer details, including Time investment Overall skill of the artists Sanitation and sterilization … and more! We’ll leave the decision to permanently remember your next trip overseas with indelible ink -- or Hep C -- in your hands. Full episode details: https://www.theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2018/12/24/tattoos-over-here-vs-tattoos-over-there-season-5-episode-11 Become a Patron and get early access and great bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

Tattoos Over Here Vs Tattoos Over There [S5E11]

Recorded during a road-trip to San Diego, we were inspired to compare our current situation to where we just were for the better part of three years, traipsing all around a developing nation wherever the road would take us. Also, this episode is very late. We’re sorry about that. And the audio is rough, but that makes it more “authentic”, right? Tune in and hear us talk about comfort, safety, and law enforcement differences from here to there. Full episode details: https://www.theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2018/12/5/tripping-out-on-road-trips-abroad-season-5-episode-10 Become a Patron and get early access and great bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

Tripping Out On Road Trips Abroad [S5E10]

Today, we are going to talk about travel. Yes, we’ve talked about travel for the better part of 4 years. But this time, we’re taking a broader look at how air travel works in places like Southeast Asia. Because unless you’ve experienced it first hand, you likely have some misconceptions about air travel in developing nations. Topics covered include: “Taxis” aren’t always taxis curbside check-in Airports that make LAX and DFW look like regional airstrips Standing on the walkways Why we really dislike KLIA (Kuala Lumpur Int’l Airport) Immigration miscues and mis-queues Planes don’t fly out of the sky No chickens on the plane Only beautiful people allowed as flight crew Exceptional food … and more! So leave your assumptions aside and listen in as we tell you why air travel to developing nations is often rather great. Full episode details: https://theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2018/10/31/airing-out-the-stereotypes-of-third-world-air-travel-season-5-episode-9

Airing Out The Stereotypes Of Third World Air Travel [S5E9]

Let’s talk about your place of residence. Specifically if you’re renting the place in which you live. And even more specifically, the horrible “switching costs” associated with moving from one address to another. Moving. It sucks. Which is probably why, statistically speaking, you’ve probably lived in the same place for a very long time. Moving… sucks. At least, it does here in the west. But in developing nations? It’s kind of a breeze. We’re sharing with you just how incredibly simple it was to move around condos in Bangkok with literally the clothes on our back. Because in many developing nations, the concept of owning furniture is downright odd. Full episode details: https://theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2018/10/3/its-too-painful-to-move Become a Patron and get early access and great bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

It’s Too Painful To Move [S5E8]

It’s hard to believe we’ve been making this podcast for four years, across five different seasons. And in that time, we’ve never really talked about religion. Well… that’s changing.Based on our time abroad in some 20-ish countries in 3.5 years, we’re qualified enough to discuss the “optics” of religion in societies around the world. This isn’t a comparative study of religion for college credit. No, this is real-world things we’ve seen and heard in more than a few nations, from emerging to established. Full episode details: https://theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2018/9/26/proselytizing-from-west-to-east Become a Patron and get early access and great bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

Proselytizing From West To East [S5E7]

As you might imagine, there are lots of little things that we notice that bug us. Things you probably ignore.  Things that we ignored the first four decades of our lives. Some of those are so baked into the very fabric of our lives, they disappear into the background. So much so, that you don’t think about them. Until you’re out of clean underwear. Listen to this episode and find out exactly how convenient it is to have access to nearly full-service laundry in every home really is. Hopefully you’ll never look a gift clean pair of underwear in the mouth again. Though why you want any sort of underwear in your mouth is beyond me. But keep flying your freak flag. We won’t judge. Full episode details: https://theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2018/9/16/dirty-underwear-abroad-season-5-episode-6 Become a Patron and get early access and great bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

Dirty Underwear Abroad [S5E6]

Traveling the world, we’ve had some pretty great coffee. But the Senegalese spiced coffee we found tops the list. Listen in to learn more and to discover that, if you play your cards right, we just might send you some as a token of our appreciation, Patron. ----- This is the actual episode we released to our patrons over the weekend. We're giving it to you, the listener of our "regular" show, so you know what sorts of things we get into on the Patreon-only show.  If you like where you hear, Sign up. And help it spread. Invite your friends to check out our Patreon page. Please? https://shevo.wtf/patreon ------------------

Senegalese Stoner Coffee Stories - SPECIAL RELEASE!

We’re taking a look inside your refrigerator.  Not that we care what kind of food you eat. You do you. No, what we want talk about is how the items in your fridge or your pantry got there. We’re claiming expert knowledge of shopping around the world.  Where many travelers stick to dining out when they visit a new country, we LIVED in most of the countries when we traveled,  and tried to live as “locally” as was possible. That means we shopped in lots of grocery stores, bodegas, fresh produce stands, and boutique markets in lots of different places. Which was, for the most part, a lot of fun. Full episode details: https://theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2018/9/11/grocery-shopping-the-western-way-season-5-episode-5 Become a Patron and get early access plus bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

Grocery Shopping The Western Way [S5E5]

Living in Phoenix Arizona, it really seems like there is a new ethnic restaurant popping up on every corner. Ethiopian food. Peruvian food. Dominican Republic food… You could probably eat the cuisine of a different culture at least once a week (maybe even twice a week) for an entire year and still not have covered all of our ethnic food choices. And that’s us in this overgrown cow-town we call Phoenix! ----- Key Links: Niccolo Chengdu - Best hotel experience in China! Thipsamai - Best Pad Thai in the world! Support us! - The best way to help the show ----- We’re not so bold as to assume our 3.5 years living abroad has made us qualified to talk about the state of cuisine around the world. But we can sure poke fun at our American obsession of seeking out “the most authentic ethnic food”. Spoiler: It’s dumb to think think there’s anything “authentic” about a single dish that’s supposed to represent the way that dish is prepared in a continent-sized country. We’ll give you some specific examples. You’ll agree with us at the end. Full episode details: https://theopportunistictravelers.com/2018/9/4/is-the-ethnic-food-you-are-eating-really-authentic-season-5-episode-4 Become a Patron and get early access plus bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

Is the Ethnic Food You Are Eating Really Authentic? [S5E4]

Key Links: renuval - Medical tourism to Thailand Bonus content & early access ----- One of our biggest concerns was what to do about healthcare as we traveled the world. As good Americans, we bought into the story of incredible the healthcare in America is compared to anywhere else in the world. Turns out, we were suckered. Our first-hand accounts of encounters with the medical system of countries like Denmark, England, Spain, and Thailand have give us a new perspective on what we used to accept. If you’re one of those who’ve drank the “socialized medicine in other countries is a fiasco!” might want to listen to this. While anecdotes don’t add up to evidence, they can cause you to take a bit more of a skeptical look at what you think is true. Full episode details: https://theopportunistictravelers.com/blog/2018/8/28/make-american-healthcare-great-again-season-5-episode-3 Become a Patron and get early access plus bonus content: https://shevo.wtf/patreon

Make American Healthcare Great Again [S5E3]

Before we go too far down highway 420, we need to stress that the two strongly support a comprehensive repeal of America’s stupid federal ban on cannabis. We’re also keenly interested in the good studies on the medical uses cannabis -- either the whole flower or isolated compounds -- might have on public health. 28 countries -- including the US and Canada -- have some form of medical cannabis law that ostensibly allows an authorized patient to spark up a spliff in the comfort of their own home. 12 of those are developing nations, spread around Central & South America, Eastern Europe, and even a couple of countries in Africa. In America,  30 states (well, 29 plus the District of Columbia) have passed medical marijuana laws. Even Oklahoma, which surprised both of us. Unless you’ve been ignoring any and all media, you have likely heard near-magical stories of cannabis as a medicine, curing just about every kind of disease and condition under the sun. But these personal stories are simply anecdotes, and anecdotes don’t add up to evidence. Worse, quality scientific studies on the medical effects of cannabis are few and far between. Largely, many claim, because of America’s federal ban on cannabis. That makes it extremely difficult -- bordering on impossible -- to find money to fund a large-scale study. But there have been some studies. We know, for example, of very interesting compounds that come from cannabis:  two of them are THC and CBD. Generally speaking, THC is the psychoactive component -- that which gets you high. CBD, on the other hand, doesn’t. Go deeper than that, and things start to get messy. Many in the scientific and medical community ask a simple question: what’s the proper dosage of either of those two compounds -- either isolated or in combination -- that will provide the necessary medical effect on any given patient? So why did we pick medical marijuana as our critique on first world culture? Because Evo thinks that the stoner culture might be “imperfect messengers” for the cause of medical marijuana. Though, as you’ll hear in this episode, his opinion is changing.

Is Pot Culture Hurting Medical Marijuana [S5E2]

Key Links Smart medical advice from Dr. Terry Simpson Support us on Patreon ---------- There's a common stanza for Americans who travel abroad: DON'T DRINK THE WATER. To find out why -- or even if -- that's a problem, we enlisted the help of one of our good friends, Dr. Terry Simpson. Prepare to be terrified back to the tap… unless you’re traveling overseas.

Is It Safe To Drink The Water In America? [S5E1]

As a special treat to those of you who stay subscribe to our podcast, we’ll be releasing some special, long form audio over the coming weeks as we travel to Cambodia, China, Japan, and Korea before landing back in America.Today, you’ll hear a long-form ambient audio recording of one of the most bizarre -- at least by western standards -- religious events in Thailand. It’s called the Sak Yant Wai Kru. It takes place every year at a temple called Wat Bang Pra, which is about 50 km NW of Thailand. Each year in early March, more than 10,000 afficiantos of the sak yant tattoos gather at the temple and well… go a little crazy. The reason for the gathering is to get the tattoos recharged. In the strange amalgamation of religion and mysticism that is Thai Buddhism, sak yant tattoos imbue their owner with special protective powers. And just like it’s a good idea to reboot your computer or update the apps on your phone once and awhile, the tattos need a little recharging.Or a lot, as you’ll hear.What follows is just over 2 and half hours of un-cut audio I recorded at the 2018 event, my third time attending. Sheila took a bunch of pictures and has them on Flickr. She also has a great video from the 2017 event on YouTube. In the audio, you’ll heave me interacting with some of our favorite people that we’re going to miss a lot when we leave Thailand in just a few days. Ric, Jack, Karina, Ian… and a bunch more. You’ll also hear me clearing my throat a lot, as I was just getting over a cold. And from time to time, you’ll hear my reactions and Sheila’s reactions to the quite literal insanity of the event.If you can’t make it through all 2 and a half hours, I understand. The first three minutes of the audioclip gives a fairly good representation of the rest of the audio. Of course you might be sucked in after that. IT happens.So here we go. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back from time to time with more audio. And eventually, season five of our podcast will start up again. Whatever we decide to call it. Cheers!

Sak Yant Wai Kru 2018: Thailand [Ambient Audio #1]

A critical look at the first world, inspired by the reverse culture shock your hosts, Sheila Dee & Evo Terra, experience every day as American citizens returning to Western civilization after three and a half years living and working in developing nations. Expert guests from the fields of science, skepticism, and critical though are frequent guests.

hubhopper

ShEvo vs. The First World | A Skeptical Look at Western Cult...

hubhopper