Back That Month Up | Kuala Lumpur
The right place at the right time
The Nation
Yep, Ol’ Miguel is up to his tricks again and is switching things up a bit this month.
While I usually highlight “The People” that made the month special for me, I feel like it’s only fitting to highlight the entire RY Nation this time around.
From start to finish, this month was full of some of the most top notch people I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with on RY — from Kaihart (the Super Group born from Kaizen and Earhart both being in KL this month), to the RY Citizens from Ikigai and Darien that have been traveling with Kaizen throughout Asia and have become close friends (I swear they’ve been with us the whole year it’s weird), to the unbelievably awesome KL City Team, to the fellow Remotes and RY Staff that we met up with on a side trip back to Thailand— Month 8, for me, was a testament to how the entire RY community, both Remotes and Staff, absolutely make this experience as incredible as it is.
To steal a quote from a WApp message that the effortlessly articulate Aashima, who just got back from this month’s RY Nation House, sent me:
“…it was a great reminder that RY is not just Kaizen and these 12 months, but is a greater community and a lifelong shared experience.”
Damn, she’s good.
I could solo travel all I want, to these same cities even, but without having this menagerie of spectacular humans around, it simply would not be the same.
End of story.
The Places
Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR
Before I started researching Remote Year, I had never heard of Kuala Lumpur. If I’m being completely (and embarrassingly) honest, I’m not even sure that I knew Malaysia was its own distinct country #educated.
I can now confirm with the utmost certainty that Malaysia is in fact its own distinct country and that Kuala Lumpur is not only a city, but it’s also a really great one to live in for a month. To make it even sweeter, KL is basically the gateway to the rest of SE Asia due to its prime location and cheap return flights to everywhere you could possibly want to visit.
KL came at just the right time for me. After spending 40 days in Japan, I was unknowingly in need of a change of scenery. KL provided the perfect balance of newness and SE Asian familiarity that I was craving by the time we got there.
It was a complimentary blend of the SE Asian lifestyle that I had grown accustomed to in prior months mixed with an urban, big city vibe that I had never lived in before. The diverse, coexisting cultures of this melting pot of a city provided both an interesting contrast to the homogeneity seen elsewhere as well as a bomb food scene.
Even the quirks that initially lead to some raised eyebrows somehow seemed to grow on me. The unreasonable amount of malls, the people pestering you to come inside on Bar Street…and Massage Street…and Food Street, the “sidewalks” that really are just uneven dirt paths with rebar on top of them, the almost daily rain showers — by the end, it all just was.
It’s kind of like that one friend who is painfully unfunny and despite how cringey his jokes are, you kind of love him for it anyways because it’s just unapologetically him.
There are so many different highlights to call out for the month: spending the month with Earhart, kicking the month off with Beer Olympics, having one of the most fun and most helpful City Teams we’ve had so far (Asia is staaaacked with good City Teams), zip lining on one of my favorite track events of the year, finding Indian food literally everywhere, taking an unforgettable and hysterical staycation centered around an infinity pool, having the best bros night (well, afternoon) of the year, and sharing one of the most memorable Thanksgivings I’ve had in a while with the Kaihart family.
Most importantly, I got down to the bottom of the age old question: how many infinity pool pics is too many infinity pool pics?
I feel pretty sad leaving KL, but with so many places in SE Asia remaining on my bucket list, I would bet that I’ll be returning sooner than later.
After all, getting to Vietnam from KL is like twenty bucks… ☕️ 🤤
Thailand
KRABI
When you’re living in KL, you’re spoiled with possibilities for side trips. All of SE Asia is right at your fingertips due to the insane number of cheap, short return flights.
So what do you do when you and 50 other Remotes from seven different communities and a handful of RY Staff want to meet up for an epic SE Asian weekend?
Why, you go back to a country you had already lived in for five weeks, of course!
Yup, we went back back to Thailand Thailand for a weekend this month because we were in the neighborhood.
Honestly, from the second we got off the plane, things just felt right. There was a feeling of familiarity with Thailand this time around that was both surprising and welcomed.
Like, how do I feel like I’ve been somewhere before that I hadn’t? And how is it in Thailand of all places? Thailand is a place that I never thought I would ever go to, and now I can get dropped off in a random city and feel like I can navigate it without using Google Maps?
Even after 8 months I’m still not used to this kind of thing.
But whatever, I’ll allow it.
The weekend, which was dubbed “RY Island Takeover” despite the fact that that the place we went, Krabi, is not, in fact, and island, consisted of ever-flowing Chang beer, more Indian food (can’t stop, won’t stop), fire twirlers, sketchy massages on the daily, new friends, surprise guest appearances (hi, Ton!), and, most importantly, TOASTIES!
Oh, yeah, this happened too…
Renting a boat to take 50 friends and I to several Thai islands and secluded beaches is not only the fanciest sentence I’ve ever written, but it is also one of the more epic things that I have been a part of this year / life.
The Things
Goodbye-for-nows
The end of Month 8 ushers in several different types of goodbyes for Kaizen.
First, we are saying goodbye to a continent that I never knew I wanted — no, needed — to visit. I wrote in a previous post that I originally paid my deposit for a non-Asia itinerary because it never really appealed to me for some idiotic reason, and, to be quite honest, it kind of scared me a little.
Now, after four months of living in Asia, I cannot imagine my RY without it.
It challenged me, it humbled me, it taught me, it welcomed me, it fed me, and it made me leave wanting more.
Lastly, we are saying goodbye to some RY Citizens that have made a huge impact on myself and on the group during our time in Asia. We were lucky to have Citizens from Ikigai and Darien join us over the last four months and now it’s kind of hard to imagine them not being around.
Despite our failed attempts to get them to cancel all prior commitments and just stick around for the South American leg of the trip, they all have promised that they will meet up with us again at some point this year. Everyone knows you can’t break promises, because if you do…
Clarity
It can be hard to approach Month 9 and stay completely present. You often catch yourself looking ahead at the next couple of months and even life after RY. This can understandably be pretty nerve racking.
When I catch myself looking ahead, instead of trying to pretend I’m not having these thoughts and forcing myself to think of something else, I am choosing to look ahead with optimism and opportunity.
I am starting to feel that things are coming together just as they are supposed to, and am starting to find a little bit of clarity.
This is a welcomed, albeit unexpected, development.
Stay tuned.
Before you go, don’t forget to back these months up, too!
- Europe: Split, Prague, Lisbon, Sofia
- Asia: Hanoi, Chiang Mai, Kyoto, Kuala Lumpur
- Latin America: Lima, Medellín, Bogotá, Mexico City
RY Island Takover video and photo credit to Bharath ft. drone bae (@livingliferemote) and Dad (@zach_boyette).
