Stoking my way through SE Asia (and unexpectedly running into my privilege)

I’m writing this post from Osh, Kyrgyzstan. It’s a place is different in so many ways from SE Asia that I have some distance and perspective as I attempt to sum up the roughly two months I spent tearing through Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Lombok with brief stops in Chiang Mai, Bali, and Singapore. I covered a lot of territory in two months and as those of you who know me well would expect, this time was packed full of adventures and good times. Based on what I saw, visitors to SE Asia are constantly bombarded with opportunities for an adrenaline high, both natural and drug induced. There is amazing food, cheap and readily available stimulants, natural beauty unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and women who will make you feel desirable (and do a lot more than that, or so I hear). Oh and there are motorbikes. Lots of lots motorbikes. All of this is available for a fraction of what it would cost Americans or Europeans back home. How can you not have a good time?

There was more than adrenaline in SE Asia for me though. I had long periods of time by myself to absorb and reflect on what I was seeing and doing as well as catch up on some reading. I’ve realized that what I was doing in SE Asia was pursuing my stoke. This article from High Country News sums up the concept nicely:

"More than mere jargon, stoke has become an ethos, claiming the best life is one lived with unbridled enthusiasm and the uncomplicated pursuit of experience. For those of us who identify with modern outdoor recreation culture, stoke has increasingly begun to mediate our relationship with the natural world."

Fittingly, this term has its origins in surf culture and I read the article while at Surfcamp Lombok. The article then goes on to talk about how outdoor enthusiasts and gear companies endorse the narrative that outdoor thrill seekers are also conservationists so the more stoke chasers there are the better protected the environment will be. While this sounds like a win win proposition to people like me, the article says this is a myth: there is no discernible correlation between outdoor thrill seeking and a desire to protect the environment. What does result in an increase in environmental stewardship is being connected to a particular place. And here I was, along with thousands of other visitors, zipping through SE Asia not staying put long enough develop a place based connection. Well shit!

Reading this, as well as a related High Country News article about how epic Instagram photos are responsible for a significant increase in mountain rescues in Colorado and other places in the United States, I spun myself into a minor guilt fueled existential crisis on my last days in Indonesia about what I was doing here. I was loving life, which is exactly why stoke pursuit is so popular, but I now felt like a self indulgent ass. I had also been in SE Asia long enough to develop an awareness of what was going on around me. My stoke and that of other visitors to the region comes at cost that is paid by the both the environment and local residents.

Let’s start with the environment. I’ve already talked a bit about the trash that is everywhere in SE Asia but the trash problem is not strictly a byproduct of foreign visitors and it probably deserves its own post if I’m going to address it. The rampant development throughout SE Asia is all about foreign visitors however. Everywhere I went I saw large new hotels and other facilities going up, almost all catering to foreigners - many right next to a beautiful beach or rice paddy. Unsurprisingly local families, corporate conglomerates, and governments are lining up to cash in on the wave of Westerners and Chinese people with deep pockets who want to explore SE Asia. Yes, these developments bring jobs but most, with a few notable exceptions, don’t strike me as being particularly rewarding. Plus the average hospitality wage in the area is a measly $150 per month (which explains the everyday low prices I’ve enjoyed). Particularly in places along the Banana Pancake Trail, foreigners are deciding to put down roots in the region buying land for more than what locals are able to pay which makes local life more difficult. Really, this is the same as what is happening in Portland with all of those damned Californians.

Layered on top of this was another long but excellent article I read while at Surfcamp. This one is from the Atlantic and it’s about the new American Aristocracy, the 9.9%, of which my Californian parents are card carrying members and that I am on track to join. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s about ambitious, privileged professionals like myself who have succeeded in our current economy. We like to credit this success to our ambition. We do not like to acknowledge the fact that much of our success has to do with the family we were born into. I may be a native Oregonian but my parents are part of the first wave of California transplants who began transforming my state. I was born into a household with California connections and San Francisco values whatever those are. This means that I too am basically a Californian. Don’t tell anyone back home. This was all stuff I knew but hadn’t confronted in awhile. I came to realize that my stoke was sponsored by my own personal luck at the expense of the land and the luck of locals.

Most people could probably shrug this off but I like to think I live my life in a way that makes me different from the 9.9%. After two months in SE Asia I could no longer live in denial. One of the most insightful things my therapist told me towards the end of our time together is that I hold very high standards for others. This, he said, prevents me from connecting with people, even those I am close with. I agree with him though I also think this can be a good thing - it means I’m selective! I’ve also come to realize I hold similar high standards for myself. Occasionally, like when trying to live the good life in SE Asia, these standards can be difficult to live up to. The thought has occurred to me that the fact that I'm even discussing this here is a luxury available only to people like me.

Flying to Kyrgyzstan didn’t fully resolve this for me. I imagine balancing my stoke with my desire to do good by the world while also accepting the fact that I was born lucky is something I’ll have to think about for the rest of my life. I definitely didn’t expect to confront this while lounging on the beach, trekking through the jungle, and enjoying cheap alcohol to a rotating soundtrack of Ed Sheeran, Despactio, more Ed Sheeran, and an Asian cover of Despacito. One of the joys of long term travel though is that it opens your eyes in new ways when you least expect it. However, I have decided that these realizations will influence how I want to approach the rest of my trip. For one thing, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere here, I have decided to slow down a little bit. I’m going to spend more than a few days at each place. I’m also going to change my relationship with Instagram. I’m going to check myself from putting my most beautiful, people free photos on the platform and also post less frequently. Partly this is selfish, I want to spend less time getting sucked into Social Media., It’s also selfishly altruistic - I’m in a wild, beautiful, and relatively untoursited place right now. I’d rather not play a role in turning Central Asia into another paradise for foreigners in search of adrenaline and that perfect photo. If you want to see some photos of this great beauty reach out to me personally and I’ll send you a few.

And with that I’d like to wrap this post with a few bullet points on my time in SE Asia:

Symbol for a tattoo on my left calf: Scooter hauling a surfboard

Favorite Hashtag / Expression: samesamebutdifferent

Favorite Dish: Spicy Grilled Eggplant Dip with sticky rice (Laos)

Most glaringly obvious geopolitical trend: The rise of China and Chinese tourism

Song that sums up this portion of the trip: Closer by The Chainsmokers (feat Halsey)

Public Soundtrack: Ed Sheeran, Asian Cover of Despacito, more Ed Sheeran, Drake, Bob Marley, Indo House Beats, Pretty much any other 6 month old American Pop song

Personal Soundtrack: Walk the Moon, Blind Pilot, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Flaming Lips, Kendrick Lamar, Dispatch, Podcasts

Highs: Phong Nha National Park (Vietnam), Crushing Mt. Rinjani (Lombok), Siem Reap nightlife with the Irish (Cambodia), Sunset Viewpoint (Laos)

Lows: Missing homestay dinner in Phong Nha National Park because of a stomach illness, 23 hour bus ride from Sa Pa (Vietnam) to Luang Prabang (Laos), Listening to couple have sex in hostel dorm, asshole tourists/travelers, humidity, air quality, trash

Sleeper/Pleasant Surprise: Pretty much all of Laos, Realizing I’m getting too old to enjoy loud parties (though I still like small to mid sized ones), relative cleanliness in Vietnam

Favorite way to travel: Scooter and River Boat

Least favorite way to travel: Sleeper Bus

Most Western Airport: Singapore or Dubai, really both belong in a category called Beyond Western Airports

Least Western Airport: In SE Asia, Lombok, Indonesia, but it still had a Starbucks. Grand prize goes to Amritsar, India which is not SE Asia

Stories that didn’t make my blog or Instagram:

• The Happy Ending Massage I unknowingly walked into but in hindsight was glaringly obvious (Siem Reap)

• Late night wanderings through the Phnom Penh and Chiang Mai red light districts

• Eavesdropping on French tourists including the young couple in Cambodia who insisted that their wine be served exactly as it is at home

• Summiting Mt. Rinjani with the bare chested Czech Russian, about 50 completely inexperienced Chinese people, 100 other mildly experienced westerners, and our support crew of 100 locals

• What needs to be done on land to help keep SE Asia’s (and Oregon’s) oceans trash free

• The delightful Mekong Slow boat

• The undeniable rise of Chinese influence and corresponding decline of American relevance (and why it’s not necessarily a bad thing for America to stop intervening all the time)