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One thing that is common in NZ is for young people to travel a lot. We have a saying here "OE", which means Overseas Experience. People will say "he's on his OE". All my friends have lived in many different countries, and then most return to NZ.
I know you live in SIngapore, but I'm not assuming you're Singaporean, but if you are you are probably similar in the fact that you don't come from a global power and your population is small, so you have to learn about the world.
We all grow up, and continue living, with the knowledge that NZ is small and there is a big wide world out there, very different from home and we want to experience it.
I grew up in a mid sized (very dull) city in NZ, and at 21 I went to the US for a year, then at 23 I was in Japan. Very formative experiences, but not actually that uncommon for Kiwis.
I just wanted to work in travel because I thought banks and insurance companies looked like really boring places to work. And we come from a tourism country, so there's a lot work around. When I started you could earn OK money, enough to survive and even buy a house, so we didn't feel like we were losing anything.
And the work experiences were unbelievable, helicopter trips into the NZ backcountry, hiking on glaciers, underworld rafting and caving. But the best thing was the people we met, I have visited many people I've guided over the years at their home in the US, Japan and Australia. And made lots of great friends from the people I worked with.
Good work stories and good friends.
oh I’m Singaporean.
can certainly relate to a lot of what you’re saying. Many Singaporeans love to travel and actively seek to indulge in their wanderlust. having said that, we are quite risk-averse as a people. you mentioned about exorbitant housing prices in New Zealand. the same thing happens here, hence we are conditioned to get stellar grades, graduate with multiple internships and degrees, make fuck you money in finance and tech, find someone to marry and buy a flat together. it’s all frightfully formulaic. But I don’t judge other people. Aside from my stint in Japan, I follow largely this prescribed route to “success” haha.
I feel that being a parent has prevented me from travelling much. I used to resent fatherhood so much because I thought it had stripped me of my freedom and identity. But on the other hand, I know that I’m blessed to have my kids come into my life. These days, I just try to gain unique experiences in my home country.
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i didn't know singapore was on the jet programme actually.
how do you think AI will change the "success path" for people in singapore?
and what about bitcoin in singapore, how do most people view it?
i remember a few years ago seeing some interesting statements from singapore govt officials about adoption of digital assets so i thought it may be advanced there. but then i also it's a very strict state, so i don't know how freedom money fits into that.
i've been thinking a lot about children lately, because both my parents died in the last 2 years and i saw how much it meant to them to have us around during their last days.
but we won't have that, so it's a trade off. most the travel i did was before meeting my wife, but since then we've also travelled a bit.
i'm the same, i try to have meaningful experiences with the people around me as much as possible.
hai, gambarimashou!
I’m sorry to hear about your loss.
my mum passed on more than 10 years ago, and I still feel a void.
We used to have Bitcoin ATM machines - maybe pre-Covid - but the government has since taken a tough stance on Bitcoin (and by default other cryptocurrencies). It is unfortunate that FTX collapsed, and along with it, the investments pumped in by Temasek Holdings (a governmental organisation that invests our money) vaporized. So, government officials issue warnings about being scammed via cryptocurrencies. They lump Bitcoin with shitcoins, so I don’t think Singaporeans will get to know this freedom money since we are conditioned by such propaganda haha
Do you have nieces and nephews? younger cousins?
This will be a problem for many people in Japan and S Korea and Taiwan
how have your extensive travel experiences shaped you to be different from your countrymen? or the travel industry is important but doesn’t necessarily shape your identity?