0:00

My name is Adelon Yango, and welcome

0:02

to another episode of Legally Cluelessness.

0:05

No seriously, I have no clue

0:07

what I'm doing, but I'm pretty sure I'm

0:09

not the only one. Hey,

0:11

you. Welcome to episode one hundred

0:13

and ninety three. Thank you so

0:16

much for rocking on this podcast.

0:18

If this is your first time listening, welcome

0:20

to the fam, audio episodes like this card.

0:22

Every single Monday, we have three

0:24

seasons of our video series out

0:27

where you can watch fantastic Africans

0:29

showing their fantastic stories. We

0:32

also have our tour series where we've

0:34

got across Kenya. We've been

0:36

to Paris, to Zimbabwe. to

0:38

Dubai twice and

0:40

all that while collecting more African

0:42

stories head of it to legally kiddlersafrica

0:45

dot com to watch A big shout

0:47

out to everybody who is part of

0:49

our insta family at legally

0:51

coolness Africa. Just gone

0:53

to the DMs and

0:56

seeing a lot of love. I took a bit

0:58

of a one week break. While

1:01

I was in Thailand, I

1:04

don't know why I just I'm really feeling the

1:06

end of your burnout, and so I just

1:08

I just couldn't handle

1:11

my usual workload last week. But anyway,

1:13

thank you for being part of the Instagram.

1:15

If you're not head of it to legally

1:17

clueless Africa on Instagram. There's a

1:19

link to it in the show

1:22

notes. I am super excited

1:24

about this episode because it has been

1:26

a long while since we had a random

1:28

convo listen to this. don't know. I just

1:30

look

1:30

at the world different now. Like, a lot of stuff

1:32

that I've been taught growing up in the US. I'm just,

1:35

like, I feel like it was conditioning us

1:37

to, like, keep, you know, black people

1:39

apart. What do you learn about Africa?

1:42

If at all? We don't learn much. They they

1:44

don't teach us much. The things we do learn

1:46

is just like on pretty much like, on

1:48

TV, it's like, if

1:49

you donate a dollar a day, you'll be feeding

1:51

a child.

1:51

It's pretty much all we know.

1:53

Yeah. Like, you have to do your own research.

1:56

Even in college, I took I got African

1:58

religious culture

2:00

course. And it was very

2:02

just we just cover, like, the the

2:04

broad topics so they don't teach us

2:06

much. I think it's intentional. I think

2:08

so too. You know what I mean? Yeah. because we

2:10

have the same issue when we're talking

2:12

about our

2:12

colonial past. It always

2:14

baffles me how I learned about Hitler,

2:17

but I didn't learn about concentration camps

2:20

in Kenya during colonization. You know

2:22

what I mean? And they were there. We had an

2:24

apartheid system as well in our

2:26

history that kinda gets a

2:28

whiteboard. That's Julien. We

2:30

have such a fantastic conversation

2:33

coming up, and I'll tell you more about

2:35

him a little later in this episode. But

2:37

first song of the week, I cannot stop

2:40

replaying the song. For example, I

2:42

watched him live in New York

2:44

in September. You remember a couple of episodes

2:47

ago, I told you about that. spiritual night

2:49

I had

2:49

oh

2:51

for watching Bernabei on stage.

2:53

Well, before Bernabei, a lucky day,

2:55

performed an oh my

2:57

word. His vocals are

2:59

everything. I also still remembered

3:02

the jacket he was wearing because I was trying to figure out

3:04

how do I steal this jacket? It was so beautiful.

3:06

His music is great. Like, not

3:08

just the top hits, but like I was

3:10

listening to his entire recent album.

3:12

And one song that I completely fell

3:14

in love with is called ego. I think

3:17

maybe because I'm currently doing

3:19

this thing where check myself whenever I think

3:21

something in reaction to something someone

3:23

has I'm always like, is that from

3:25

ego? Or are we being rational?

3:29

So immediately, when I saw the name, I was

3:31

like drawn to it because I'm in that

3:33

space. But it's a really nice song

3:35

and he's he's just so talented. I

3:38

think I'm slowly becoming a

3:40

super fan. So check out the song.

3:43

It's called Eco By Lucky Day. I've

3:45

put a link to it in the show

3:47

notes. still on music. Chiato

3:49

Yu, who is listening to our

3:51

first playlist called

3:54

Cheyabato and Melanin. These are linked to

3:56

in the show notes. It's a collection of

3:59

songs that

3:59

feel like share butter being rubbed on

4:02

beautiful dark skin. And yeah,

4:04

because of the pressure. You've given me

4:06

since I share music with you

4:08

to put them into a playlist. So that's playlist

4:10

number one. I am currently working on playlist

4:13

number two. very excited about it. It's called

4:15

sunrise. And, yeah, it's gonna be

4:17

one of those playlists you start your morning

4:19

with. So I can't wait to share that with you

4:21

very soon. I'm about halfway done. So

4:24

let me tell you about Thailand. So

4:26

last week I was in Thailand.

4:28

It was my first time not only in Thailand,

4:31

but in Asia sides, and I'd

4:33

gone to host a moth session

4:35

at the International Conference for

4:37

Family Planning. And the moth is

4:39

all about story I love them. I'm part

4:41

of their family. Honestly, going through

4:43

their workshop in twenty eighteen has given

4:46

me the skills to even run legally

4:48

to the South Africa So I absolutely love

4:50

them all. The session went so

4:53

well. I was so worried

4:55

I was gonna forget bits of my story because when

4:57

you're hosting you're hosting

4:59

and you're also telling a story. So it's

5:01

a lot of work and these are what you

5:03

have to remember you also are

5:05

in charge of like the energy flow,

5:08

you're trying to make the storytellers comfortable,

5:11

bring the audience along like so

5:13

many moving parts. And I don't

5:15

know why I was doubting myself. Okay.

5:17

That sounds a bit But

5:21

no seriously, I don't know why I was doubting myself because I

5:23

they love storytelling. I mean, like, prepared

5:25

well, but, like, the day before I was just like, we

5:28

panicking a bit, but it went really well.

5:30

The session was opened by the president

5:33

of Jen equality at Gates Foundation.

5:35

Her name is Anita's ID, and she

5:37

was so moved by all our stories. So

5:39

it was such a win, though people afterwards

5:41

in the hotel who will came up and were like,

5:43

who liked your story? And it's it's just affirming.

5:46

Honestly, it's affirming to get that feedback.

5:48

So it was wonderful, the work that took

5:50

me there. went very well. I didn't do

5:53

much sightseeing. I was not in Bangkok.

5:55

I was actually two hours out, which

5:57

is something I didn't know.

5:59

pastas out in a

6:02

town called Pataya, that's really

6:04

pretty, really beautiful. Honestly, it's

6:06

just so be it's like you're in a rain forest

6:08

all the time. the weather is

6:10

so good for your skin, the humidity I

6:13

was glowing. Oh

6:16

my goodness. the food.

6:18

Hey, the food. Let me

6:20

tell you, if there's one thing I did in Thailand,

6:22

it was eat. I had so much stuff right

6:24

chicken in very many different ways.

6:27

Like, I'm even just so innovating and thinking about.

6:29

In fact, my last meal was

6:31

stuffed fried chicken. And then when I got

6:33

to Bangkok before my flight, I had

6:35

mango sticky rice. Oh

6:39

my goodness. I will

6:41

definitely be going back not only

6:43

because I didn't go to any tourist

6:45

attractions. That's like ten percent of the

6:47

reason. Ninety percent though.

6:50

Is that food? Because we

6:52

was really good. Another thing that I said that was

6:54

pretty awesome was the first night

6:56

we arrived, I obviously fell asleep in

6:58

the in the bus because sleep is like

7:00

what I do best. And when I woke

7:03

up, we were dropping people at different they're

7:05

different hotels in this shuttle

7:07

for the conference. And we were

7:09

reversing from dropping someone. And

7:11

then I see the sign board of a hotel,

7:13

a restaurant called cabbages and condos.

7:16

I'm like, am I really that sleepy?

7:20

That I'm hallucinating. So I make a

7:22

mental note, take a picture, and

7:24

I'm like, I'm gonna have to find this place. definitely

7:26

gonna have to have lunch here. So my friend from

7:28

the Moatsara and I went to have lunch

7:31

there someday. The food was really great. A lot

7:33

of condoms everywhere. A lot. Even

7:35

at our table, under the glass door

7:37

with like condoms, which is

7:40

the you know? But

7:43

once they wrote that stuff right, chicken, III

7:46

couldn't care what is around me. But

7:48

anyway, so the entire restaurant

7:51

was started by this guy. Unfortunately, I

7:53

forget his name. It's basically built on the foundation

7:56

of making condoms as

7:58

regular

7:59

as cabbages. So let

8:02

there be no stigma and shame around buying

8:04

condoms just the same way you go and buy

8:06

vegetables like cabbages, the same way

8:08

you should be buying condoms, which is pretty awesome

8:10

if you think about it. And it's a pretty big chain

8:12

of restaurants like this one in Bangkok and

8:15

another another place in Thailand. and

8:17

then they have that one in Putaya. That was quite

8:19

interesting. I I like that excursion.

8:21

Anyway, so I'm back. Another thing that's

8:24

coming up is sixteen days of activism.

8:26

I just wanted to touch on it slightly,

8:29

you know, sixteen days in a year

8:31

where the world is focused on

8:33

ending gender based violence.

8:35

I used to be like super active around

8:38

it. I am a survivor of

8:40

sexual violence But, like, the more

8:42

the years come, the more I feel

8:44

like during those sixteen days, survivors

8:46

are just like tokens. You know what I mean?

8:49

Like, come for this interview. Oh,

8:51

do this, do that. And then on the seventeenth

8:54

day, it's like silence. Almost

8:56

like this thing doesn't exist. It feels

8:58

like organizations, and even

9:00

individuals use it as a

9:03

time where they can hold

9:05

up survivors to look

9:07

like. They're doing the very hard work

9:10

of end in gender based violence. And

9:12

that's a blanket statement. I get it,

9:14

but I have to be honest, it's it's how I

9:16

feel. And so I'm finding myself

9:19

resenting sixteen days

9:21

more and more. because I just sound like,

9:23

as a survivor, like, it's not sixteen

9:26

days. Like, it's your entire

9:28

life. And especially this year, I had

9:31

really bad triggers, triggers that

9:33

have erupted into, like, full

9:35

don't know, maybe call it episodes, something

9:37

that I have not experienced before. And

9:40

so I'm just like, Monday shit is tough

9:42

and it's not fair to kind

9:44

of for sixteen days. use

9:47

survivors. I don't know. I that's what

9:50

I'm feeling right now. It's a blanket

9:52

statement. There are people who are doing great work

9:54

all year round, not just across sixteen

9:56

days.

9:56

But yeah, I just I

9:59

think I feel like five

9:59

percent resentment, and it's

10:02

so uncomfortable. But anyway, I just

10:04

wanted to share that because this is also my safe

10:06

space. So -- Uh-huh. -- there we go. Let's

10:08

jump into random combos. It's really been

10:10

a while since We had

10:12

this, and I'm really excited about this

10:15

because my favorite type of content

10:17

right now is watching people

10:19

travel through Africa. it could be Africans

10:22

discovering parts of their countries

10:24

or other African countries.

10:26

Honestly, it's similar to what we do with the

10:28

tour series here by love blah,

10:30

blah, blah, blah, that type of content. And

10:33

one person whose YouTube show

10:35

I love because he does this really well

10:38

is Julien Alpagino. and he's a

10:40

full time solo traveler. He

10:43

has been traveling through Africa. think I discovered

10:45

him when he was in South Africa

10:47

like this interesting. Then followed

10:49

him to Rwanda, to

10:51

Kenya for a bit, Uganda, and then

10:53

back to Kenya. And then just decided,

10:55

you know what? I like this guy so much. he

10:57

is really in line with

10:59

what we do here at

11:01

legally clueless Africa. I'm a shoot

11:04

my shots. I'm DM him and be like

11:06

yo,

11:06

This is why I

11:07

would love to have you on my podcast. And

11:09

that's what I did. And he got back to me,

11:11

and here he is. Random convos

11:14

on legally clueless. Some we're

11:17

excited to have somebody whose content

11:20

and YouTube has got my company.

11:22

In my village house,

11:25

us while I'm cooking when there's

11:27

no electricity. And

11:29

thanks for going left and just like, okay.

11:31

His voice

11:31

is so soothing and such a companion.

11:33

And we have Julien Elbino

11:35

who is I think we have

11:38

adopted you as an honorary african.

11:40

accept it. Because

11:42

it's a wonderful work that you do, but

11:44

don't wanna give you introduce

11:46

you with titles and and

11:48

tags because I guess we have more than that. So

11:51

who would you say you are? Okay.

11:53

Well Eve. Well,

11:55

my name is Julian. I am

11:57

a free spirit. person

11:59

who

11:59

loves to travel, meet new people,

12:02

see the world. What he's currently doing

12:05

is touring lot of Africa, which

12:07

is why I was just like, oh my goodness, it

12:09

would be so great to have you illegally clueless

12:11

for that. When was the first time you

12:13

realized that you loved

12:15

travel? when I would say twenty

12:18

twenty nineteen. I was a flight attendant.

12:20

Oh, wow. Yeah. And that kinda really introduced

12:23

me to traveling. That was, like, my first trip

12:25

abroad. Yeah. Like, flying for free.

12:27

So I could literally, like, wake up on my

12:29

off day. I'm like, you know what? I wanna go to Argentina

12:31

and it was free. Wow. So I really,

12:33

enjoy that, but I wasn't a good flight to

12:35

turn there. I

12:38

don't know. I'm just not like a like

12:40

a nine to find a five type of person, you know.

12:42

Mhmm. So being on time. But,

12:44

you know, it's for flights, you have to be on time.

12:47

So I I wasn't cut

12:49

out for that, but it really opened my

12:51

eyes to traveling. So twenty twenty,

12:53

I set a plan to figure

12:56

out how to make money and travel and YouTube

12:59

came in. So that was always a plan, but

13:01

you didn't start with traveling around Africa.

13:03

So where did you start off first? Well, it's

13:05

funny. I remember in twenty twenty was planning

13:07

to leave at the top of twenty twenty one.

13:09

I was telling all my family and friends back home,

13:11

like, I moved in Africa, I'm going

13:14

to Africa, And then in December

13:16

of twenty twenty, I was like, whoa, that's

13:18

really far. You know? Let me try somewhere

13:20

little closer first. So I went to Mexico

13:23

for, like, six months to see if I could really,

13:26

like, earn a income -- Yeah. -- like, while

13:28

traveling abroad. So after six

13:30

months, I'm like, you know what? Let me go to Africa

13:32

So I went to South Africa. That was my first

13:35

time on the continent, first country, and

13:37

it was it was amazing. How do you

13:39

pick the country? So like South Africa, do you

13:41

speak to people? Do you just do, like, a Google

13:43

search? Do you Okay. You know, it's funny.

13:45

I literally out type in Google, like,

13:48

countries, US passport, can go

13:51

without a visa. You know, I just go on

13:53

that list and pick one. Yeah. And

13:55

what's one thing that maybe gives you anxiety

13:58

when you're going to a completely new country

13:59

-- Mhmm. -- at least the visa

14:02

issues, like, out because you're like, okay, fine. It's

14:04

a list of countries that you don't need a leader to

14:06

get into or maybe to visa and a rival.

14:08

What other things could give you? Anxiety.

14:11

Anxiety. I don't know. I'm just

14:13

so, like I'll

14:14

just figure it out as I go. Mhmm. Yeah. I don't really

14:16

go with me any plans or expectations. I

14:19

just go with the flow. I would say

14:21

probably housing -- Yeah. -- because I don't like

14:23

staying in hotels, trying to find like

14:25

a safe place, a comfortable place,

14:27

because when I travel, I like to stay in a country for

14:29

at least thirty days. So I think that's probably

14:31

like the biggest headache I have sometimes. I

14:33

remember watching your videos.

14:36

And a friend of mine said, what they

14:39

admire most is that you go

14:41

somewhere where you don't know anybody. and

14:43

you end up making friends. And Yeah. -- they were

14:45

like, how does he make

14:48

friends? Like, how

14:49

does he say so who is so your London's out Africa.

14:51

We're exactly in in

14:52

SAD go to. I'm mister Johannesburg first.

14:55

Okay. Yeah. I'm mister Johannesburg. So

14:57

how do you make the first friend.

14:59

How did I make my first friend when

15:01

I got there? I just talked to people -- Yeah. -- you know

15:03

what I've learned, like, on the continent here, like,

15:05

People are friendly. Mhmm. You can literally just

15:07

say Heidi people and your best friend.

15:09

So I remember my first day I went to

15:12

San San City Mall. Mhmm. and

15:14

met a guy. Well, he was flirting with me.

15:16

He was like, he's just so beautiful. I

15:19

think we became friends, and then he

15:21

introduced me to lot of his friend and

15:23

I'm still friends with those people now. That's

15:25

really cool. Yeah. Do you remember the first

15:28

the first thing that was different once

15:30

you're in Johannesburg from home or you like

15:32

that you had to adapt to

15:34

a change? I would say, honestly, in South Africa,

15:37

it wasn't much of like an adjustment

15:39

Yeah. I feel like you can honestly,

15:41

I feel like the the quality of living better

15:43

in South Africa than the US. Yeah.

15:46

So I didn't have that much of a culture shock.

15:48

I didn't fill it until I went to Rwanda.

15:51

Oh, really? And I was like, oh, I'm in Africa.

15:55

I said, oh, baby, we're in Africa now.

15:59

So when you

15:59

look back on your first

16:01

trip to South Africa, how many how long

16:03

were you there? Well, I only plan to stay

16:05

for thirty days. Yeah. I love this so much.

16:08

I state my entire vigilant, which

16:10

is ninety days. Yeah. Three months. Three months.

16:13

Like, I didn't wanna leave. Yeah. They were like,

16:16

you got one more day. you know, you're gonna

16:18

be like illegal here, so I had to

16:20

leave. So

16:21

if you look back, what are some things

16:24

that you know, those things you look back on and

16:26

you're just like, That was such, like,

16:28

a a hot warming

16:29

experience. Yes. It was literally

16:31

when I first landed in Johannesburg at

16:33

the airport, and I was waiting for, like, my Uber guy, and

16:36

I was talking to, like, random airport

16:38

worker. Yeah. And he was like, where are you from?

16:40

Like, the states? And he was like, welcome home,

16:42

brother. And I don't know. It just he

16:44

hit me. I was like, can I have a hug?

16:47

Can't wait just hug. But,

16:49

yeah, I got that a lot when I first got there.

16:51

They were like, welcome home. Welcome home. Welcome

16:53

home. I don't know. That really resonated with me.

16:55

Yeah. That is so powerful. I

16:57

remember going

16:58

for a conference in Senegal,

17:00

and it was for people of African

17:02

descent, and so they was this particular

17:05

African American guy who came

17:07

for the conference.

17:08

When we were walking around the town, he just

17:10

kept staring. And I thought he was, like, taking

17:12

it in, like, you know, first time in Senegal and he

17:14

was, like, I've never been around

17:17

only black people. Yeah. There

17:19

is, like,

17:20

whomly feel -- Yeah. -- that he

17:22

was like, I've never experienced this. Like, I don't

17:24

have to kinda look over my

17:26

shoulder all the time. That's what he

17:28

means. Yeah. And

17:29

so he I was like, actually,

17:31

I don't know. I can't I can't read. This

17:33

is all I've ever

17:34

known. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

17:35

And so was that was there a

17:37

sense of that, like, feeling like

17:38

Absolutely. because, you know, grown up in

17:40

the states like being black. We literally have

17:43

to think about being black before we leave,

17:45

like, for our safety. I remember in

17:47

school, like, I was always the only black person.

17:49

Mhmm. My only job was the only black person.

17:51

So I don't know. It's just different coming

17:54

here and you're just like, Okay.

17:56

It's like seven other other people who

17:58

look just like me, you know. So it's just

18:00

a very I don't know. I felt like connect

18:02

it to something. I'm like, it just makes sense

18:04

to be here. That's powerful. Yeah. I think

18:06

that's a very, very powerful feeling. Yeah.

18:08

What experiences were we in South Africa

18:11

introduced you to a specific culture?

18:13

because

18:14

obviously there are many different communities

18:16

and tribes that, like, did you

18:18

experience something that you learned

18:20

about particular community. Yeah.

18:22

One of my friends, he invited me to,

18:25

like, a traditional Zulu wedding. Mhmm.

18:27

And it was amazing. It was just

18:30

so different from weddings I've been to. Yeah.

18:32

Yeah. It was just very I

18:34

could feel the love and it was just a lot

18:36

of dancing and, like, the culture

18:38

and they had on, like, you know, it's traditional wear.

18:41

Mhmm. So I really love experience. And did

18:43

they teach you the language? I'm still

18:45

learning. I'm still learning. I'm

18:47

still learning. But I I wanna learn,

18:49

that's why Helyph first. Yeah. because people

18:51

have told me, like, if you really wanna, like, you know, settle

18:53

in Africa, that's why Hely should be the

18:56

first language. Yeah. because it's spoken in

18:58

in quite a few -- Yeah. -- countries

19:00

as well. Yeah.

19:00

And when you're in South Africa, what's the feedback

19:03

you're getting from back home what

19:05

a question people are asking. Oh,

19:07

I'd be like, no. Why didn't you call me back?

19:10

Yeah. I mean, I got so many crazy

19:12

questions, like, What are you

19:14

sleeping? And I'm like, what do you mean?

19:16

I'm sleeping a bed. And you're like, what's

19:19

yeah. They're like, where do you shop? Are there malls?

19:22

They're like, they're just really shock. because, you know,

19:24

the things we see on TV from the states about

19:26

Africa -- Mhmm. -- is not the things

19:28

I'm trying to show on my YouTube channel. Exactly.

19:31

So even now, like, being a queer person

19:33

too, they're like, are you gonna say?

19:35

Is it dangerous? And I'm like, no,

19:38

guys. No one really pays me any attention here.

19:40

And I love that. Yeah. Yeah.

19:42

because you're not, again, going back to, like, you're

19:44

not the only black person in the email.

19:46

Exactly.

19:47

And I think we have, in many African

19:49

cultures, like, if you get a sense that

19:51

somebody is afford now, obviously, if

19:53

it's like a cab guy or whatever, they'll try and,

19:55

like, get an extra back from you. Yeah. Yeah. But

19:57

more than anything, the first thing is like,

19:59

Okay. Like, the guest is here.

20:01

Like, welcome them. They make sure they have a good

20:03

experience, you know. So The hospitality

20:06

is very real here. Yes. Yes.

20:08

That's a big thing for us. So your

20:10

ninety days are wrapping up. Mhmm. You

20:12

literally have one day. Literally, I

20:14

didn't have a a flight book. Nothing.

20:17

I remember I was in Santa. am I gonna

20:19

go? Where am I gonna go? Where am I gonna go?

20:21

So I went on Google. You

20:23

know, these are free countries. Rwanda

20:25

have popped up. I'm like, you know what? Golly

20:28

here I come. So

20:31

I went. I had no expectations, but

20:33

I had a good time. Yeah. had a good time.

20:35

What

20:35

I love about what's happening is, like, you're

20:37

moving from South and Africa. And, yes,

20:39

each each country has their

20:41

own individual identity and

20:43

within that many other identities, different

20:46

communities. But they similarities in

20:48

regions. So, like, if you're in South Africa,

20:50

there'll be some similarity

20:51

easier, right, across, say, buttsana

20:53

in South Africa. But you are leaving

20:56

Yeah. I went from southern to, like,

20:58

eastern. Yeah. So

21:00

when you arrive in Rwanda, take

21:02

me feel like the first couple of days.

21:04

Let me think. Let me think. Let me think.

21:07

I mean, I definitely felt like I

21:09

stood out there. Yeah. Yeah. The

21:11

the stairs, the attention, was real.

21:13

I remember the first Atlanta, you know, I got Simms

21:16

card for my phone. Mhmm. I walk into the phone

21:18

store, and you everyone's just talking, doing their

21:20

business, and I walk in, the entire store

21:22

just stopped. And it stares at me. And

21:24

I'm like, what yeah. So I got a

21:26

a lot of I don't know. I kinda felt uncomfortable.

21:29

Yeah. Yeah. You know? But I think I just

21:31

wasn't used to people staring. So

21:34

I think after, like, the second or third day, I just

21:36

started saying hello back. You know? Like, if you're

21:38

downstairs, say hello. And then I realized,

21:40

like, wow, these people are friendly. You know?

21:43

I think I just I looked Fred. And then maybe

21:45

it speaks to, like, the different cultures have

21:47

different personalities, different histories

21:49

as well, you know, that influenced our

21:51

personalities and how we behave. Right.

21:53

So where do you go to in Rhonda? What

21:55

are some of the things

21:56

that you experience? I see.

21:59

Oh, that's like a year ago, theme

22:01

key in Rwanda. Rwanda.

22:03

Rwanda. Rwanda.

22:04

What

22:05

did I do? I remember

22:07

my first I got through around, like, Halloween. So,

22:09

you know, I like to party. If you know my channel, I

22:11

like to party. So I went to a Halloween

22:13

party and I was, like, dressed of

22:16

a cool little costume. And

22:18

I I realized, like, the party seeing there

22:20

is very, like, relaxed. Like,

22:22

you know, I'm in a outfit ready party. We

22:24

get to the party, and people are playing like sand beach

22:26

volleyball ball. Which

22:28

is different. Very different. don't

22:31

feel like I did that much in Rwanda. Yeah.

22:33

because honestly, I went there because in

22:35

Johannesburg, I party

22:37

so much -- Yeah. -- for ninety days. So I

22:39

told myself to Rwanda. I just kinda wanna

22:41

relax, get, you know, get my

22:44

my my business, my work together. So I

22:46

just I just chilled lot honestly. Mhmm.

22:48

And I think that's a good place to chill. It's very

22:50

silent. Yeah. It is.

22:53

It's very silent.

22:54

But I think they've like yeah.

22:56

Again, different personalities. If

22:58

if you gave

22:59

each African country a

23:02

persona, like, we would be

23:04

very

23:04

similar, but, like,

23:05

stark opposite -- Yeah. -- in some cases.

23:07

Yeah. So how long were you in wonderful?

23:10

I was there for thirty days. Mhmm.

23:12

Yeah. And then on the twenty

23:14

ninth day, is that when you're like, It

23:17

was it was another situation where

23:20

I I found out that I could go back to South

23:22

Africa. Yeah. I thought I had to go back to home

23:25

country -- Mhmm. before I can go back. And they were like,

23:27

no. You can leave for two days and your visa

23:29

will be renewed. Mhmm. So when I found that

23:31

out, I'm like, baby. I'm gonna Cape Town.

23:34

So I went back and went to Cape Town and

23:36

stayed there for, like, four months. Oh,

23:38

wow. Yeah. So clearly, like,

23:40

did you love kicked down a bit more.

23:43

It's beautiful. Vues. Like, I just wanted

23:45

to wake up and go outside. Yeah. Just

23:47

to, like, look. You know? But I honestly,

23:49

I like Joe Bird better. Yeah. Like, in Cape

23:52

Town, I kinda got the same tension

23:55

with races Yeah. And it's real

23:57

there. Yeah. It was hard for me to find an

23:59

apartment. I would meet with an well, I

24:01

would communicate with an agent. And she's like,

24:03

yeah. Come tomorrow at ten AM at she

24:05

finds out on black. I don't know how. Yeah.

24:07

And then she'll make up an excuse like,

24:09

oh, I'm sorry. We're repairing the plays.

24:12

It won't be available for six months. then

24:14

it happened again. She was like, oh, I'm sorry.

24:16

We just booked it. And I'm like, it just happened

24:19

too many times. Too many times. Yeah.

24:22

I was looking in camp Bay, which is like a

24:24

really, I guess, exclusive

24:26

area. Mhmm. And one of the agents literally

24:28

told me, like, yeah, you know, we're really selective

24:31

about the kind of people we want here. Mhmm.

24:33

You know, we like a certain type. He you know,

24:35

he was saying without saying, you know, and

24:37

I'm like, wow, this is crazy. Yeah.

24:40

Yeah. So I felt that there. Yeah. Because

24:42

and I have I haven't been to Cape

24:44

Town. I'm

24:45

going in a couple of weeks. And I remember but

24:47

a good friend of mine who's

24:49

Kenyan, black Kenyan, and

24:52

she's married to a white Irish

24:54

man. Okay. And they went to Cape Dunn once, and

24:56

she's just like, it was so

24:58

strange. And everybody's looking at you, so

25:01

the staff are mainly black. Mhmm.

25:03

Mhmm.

25:03

And so they're looking at you, like, How did

25:05

you what's going on? Yeah.

25:07

And

25:08

she's coming with our Canon

25:11

history that's similar in some situations, but

25:13

quite different as well. So we can't really

25:16

the way we relate with

25:17

racism is very different. Okay.

25:19

And so she was like, it was beautiful,

25:21

but it was

25:22

strange. It's like it was just a

25:24

strange experience. It didn't

25:26

really There was more moment that really stuck

25:28

out. the apartment building

25:30

I was living in or the hotel building, I'm sorry,

25:32

in Cape Town. I'm waiting for the elevator to

25:34

go up to the apartment. and there were, like,

25:36

two white girls checking in. And,

25:38

you know, after they check-in, they come to the elevator.

25:41

And she looks at me and she's, like, hear

25:43

my bags. We're on the eleventh floor.

25:45

Like and I'm like, excuse me. Oh

25:48

my goodness. Yeah. And I'm like, what do you want me

25:50

to do with your bag? Yes. She was just like, Oh,

25:52

are you do you not work here? And I was, like,

25:54

girl. Girl. You knew yeah.

25:57

I knew I didn't work here. Yeah. to be rude.

25:59

stuff like that. But

25:59

Cape Town is beautiful. And so you and

26:02

Cape Town for four months. So that's like

26:04

a different cultural experience. No.

26:06

Yeah. how do

26:06

you make friends actually in that setting?

26:09

How

26:09

how did you make friends? Well, at that

26:11

point, like, you know, the YouTube had picked

26:13

up and I've noticed whenever I'm

26:15

in a new country or a new city, after

26:17

I post, like, the first video that I'm

26:19

there, so many people reach out on Instagram.

26:21

No. No. I'm here now. Yeah. So

26:24

it's kinda very easy to make for it. Cape Town,

26:26

it was mainly, like, wine farms. Mhmm.

26:28

That's, like, every other day, I'm in wine farm.

26:32

starts off the thing that, like, these wine tours.

26:34

Mhmm. It starts off being so cultured. You're

26:36

just like, yeah. This is like what mature people

26:38

do.

26:38

Right. Right. And by the end, you are sloppy.

26:42

Literally, I went to be classed.

26:44

Why isn't it denied? It was like girls

26:46

gone a while. So

26:49

you you came down for four

26:51

months. Mhmm. And is

26:53

this another situation where

26:55

your visa is Yeah. At

26:57

that time because I was living in hotel for

27:00

four months. Wow. I was tired and

27:02

it was expensive. Mhmm. So I was, like, immensely

27:04

drained. and I called my mom, like,

27:06

girl, I need to come home. Right? I need to reset

27:08

-- Yeah. -- I went home for, like, a month and a half

27:11

-- Yeah. -- to just, like, not do

27:13

anything. I just wanted to relax, you

27:15

know. So way back to the states,

27:17

and then that's when Kenya popped up.

27:19

Yeah. My friend that I met an American I

27:21

met her in Rwanda. Mhmm. And

27:23

she's like, hey, I have a house on the coast

27:25

of Kenya, but I'm in Thailand.

27:28

So if you wanna go, it's free, just

27:30

get there. Yeah. So two days later, I

27:32

was like, I'm going to Kenya. So

27:35

I came to Kenya. Do you do any

27:37

Google search before you go to a place

27:39

to, like and and what sort of things popped

27:41

up about Kenya. I don't. God. I like

27:43

to go with, like, no frequency

27:45

notions, no expectations. because

27:48

what you see online could be so different. Yeah.

27:50

You know, so I just like to go make

27:52

my own experience. We'll see. The

27:54

things I knew about Nairobi was it was

27:56

like party capital. So as

27:58

soon as I landed, I was

27:59

like, I'm going out. It was a Friday too.

28:02

Yeah. So I literally I think I

28:04

went to five clubs by myself that

28:06

night. Wow. Yeah. That was like my

28:08

first Kenya video, which is like my still

28:10

like one of my, like, most viewed videos. So

28:13

I met so many people that night

28:15

and I realized, like, I think my my robo and

28:17

my roboob is, like, the Las Vegas -- Mhmm. -- of Kenya.

28:21

I remember I was going to Alkemiz.

28:23

And you know, like, the dirt road across from Alkemiz

28:25

-- Yeah. -- all the, like What are the

28:28

the metatuz? Yeah. So it was like a a

28:30

couple between two Matatos, you

28:32

know, a couple and they

28:34

saw me and they just they didn't stop. Here's I

28:36

was like, oh, this place is wild.

28:40

That was gonna be craziest moment.

28:44

Company. They were just couple.

28:47

You know? It was very funny.

28:49

Oh my goodness. I believe in it. I believe they

28:51

saw me, and they just they just kept going. It's

28:54

more like that you were in the wrong -- Yeah. --

28:56

but they're like you're interrupting us, you

28:58

know.

29:01

Oh my goodness. And what type of year

29:03

is

29:03

this the OIBDA will be? I came in May.

29:05

In May. that was maybe winter. You were born

29:07

into winter. Very, very cold. Yeah.

29:09

very cold. Yeah. So then

29:11

looking for places, you say you don't like

29:13

living in hotels. So how was

29:16

the experience trying to figure out an

29:18

apartment housing area. Yeah. So

29:21

when I came to Kenya, I was in Nairobi for two

29:23

days, and then I was scheduled to go to Kuwait

29:25

feed. went out there for

29:27

ten days and I met this really nice

29:29

lady. She took me on I forgot

29:32

what it's called. We went on like the boat. Beautiful.

29:34

And I just kinda brought up, like, I'm going

29:36

back to Nairobi, but I don't have a place.

29:39

Mhmm. She has a friend here who's a really good

29:41

agent. So she connected me with him, and

29:43

that's how I found the place. I think I remember

29:45

seeing that video where you were looking at

29:47

views and -- Yeah. -- and it's always so

29:49

interesting to watch is, like, to

29:51

try and figure out Where Where

29:53

where is he? Like, when is that movie?

29:55

I know Where is Waldo? I

29:59

just,

29:59

like, until afterwards, I'm like, ah,

30:01

okay. I know

30:02

what you're like. So

30:04

what was that experience like? Was

30:06

it more difficult than looking for

30:07

place back home or

30:10

No. I think it was much easier

30:12

back home. You know, they do so many different

30:14

credit checks. Mhmm. But it

30:16

seems like they just want so much verification.

30:19

Whereas here, it's like money talks. So

30:21

if you got the money, you you

30:23

move Yeah. But I do feel like I

30:25

was being a little overpriced effort.

30:28

Yeah. You know, like, I saw, like, the

30:30

same unit with two different agents

30:32

and it was one agent quoted

30:34

me two hundred thousand -- Mhmm. -- per month.

30:36

And then the other agent quoted me, like, four

30:39

fifty -- Wow. -- per month. You

30:41

know? Yeah. That's crazy. So

30:43

before I even decided to move there,

30:46

I started talking to some of the neighbors. And

30:48

I'm like, hey, like, no. If you if you're comfortable

30:50

telling me how much are you paying? So it was

30:53

kinda around the same size. I'm like, okay. I feel like

30:55

I'm getting a a decent price. Oh, yeah. Oh,

30:57

Let's always come together. always

30:59

scare. But that's

31:01

smart. I think Nairobi teaches you how to

31:03

be sweet smart. If anything -- Yeah. -- that's

31:05

what she leave with. Yeah. That's so true.

31:07

Yeah. So you find a place. You

31:09

come back from Khalifa and say you and

31:11

I will be for a bit more.

31:13

How do you make friends here? Do people

31:15

reach out? And and kinda what are

31:17

some

31:17

of the experiences you have after killing me?

31:19

Yeah. So when I first got to Nairobi,

31:22

one of the guys at the hotel -- Mhmm. -- like,

31:24

we just click. Mhmm. So

31:26

he took me out, I met all of his

31:28

friends, and then we all became

31:31

friends. And then again, at that point, I had, like,

31:33

a couple of videos up you were like, oh, let's

31:35

hang out. Let me show you around. I feel like

31:37

King is really wanna make sure you have a good

31:39

time -- Mhmm. -- on, you know, the trip here.

31:41

people were just really just wanting me like,

31:43

just wanting to show me new places. Yeah. Well,

31:45

that's how I made friends. And

31:47

what are the questions now from

31:49

back home specifically about Kenya.

31:51

Mhmm. Where there are people still asking the same questions?

31:53

It's

31:53

a good question. Are you serious? Same

31:56

same I think it was even more, like, outrageous

31:58

versus like the South breaking questions. They're

32:01

like, so Are they like, you know, lions

32:03

walking around? They're all like, they're

32:05

just crazy questions, you

32:07

know, like but it was mainly, like, safety.

32:09

like, are you safe there? And I'm like, guys, honestly,

32:12

I feel a lot more safe here Mhmm. --

32:14

and back in the states. I think it speaks

32:16

to, like, us being able to

32:18

as

32:19

Africans, as Kenyons, etcetera, tell

32:21

our

32:21

own stories and even like the content that

32:23

you do -- Yeah. -- because

32:26

it's been told from

32:27

a very Western lens and

32:29

it's only told when there is a crisis.

32:32

You

32:32

know? And then if there's a crisis in Westlands,

32:35

the story is told, like, there's a crisis

32:37

across

32:37

kennings. You know what? We don't

32:40

understand much. Just like one point three.

32:42

Yeah. So it's like, okay,

32:44

it's really time for us to tell our

32:46

own stories even visually. because

32:48

before, if you watch something on, let's

32:50

say, for example, CNN, you didn't have

32:52

a reference point. Like, okay. So what

32:55

else --

32:55

Exactly. -- how do know they're telling

32:56

the truth or it's not biased, you know, but

32:59

now these these these options, so that's That's

33:01

why this is important. And so

33:03

what other memorable

33:04

experiences do you go through your second

33:06

time now and now we'll be after delivery?

33:09

Is

33:09

it more partying, Julien? No. No.

33:11

No. No. I've actually been more just

33:13

focused on my content, like, meeting people

33:15

trying to meet the right people. feel like

33:18

I've been to most of the parties here. It's the

33:20

same twenty five songs they play. I

33:22

got their vibe. So

33:24

yeah. on which party, you know, Halloween

33:27

weekend. Yeah. That was it. Yeah. You know,

33:29

like, this time, I'm trying I honestly, I wanna

33:31

get it out of Nairobi in see more of Kenya.

33:33

Mhmm. But it's really hard getting around with without

33:36

a car. Yeah. Especially if you're going

33:38

to not the bomb assets or whatever.

33:40

Yeah. Like, I wanted to go, like, like,

33:42

Western Kenya to, like, Kisumo

33:45

-- Mhmm. -- things like that. But even

33:47

when I tried to rent a car, I

33:49

called a place and they're, like, five

33:51

thousand per day. And then I have one of my kindergarten

33:54

friends call and they're like three thousand. Three thousand.

33:56

I was gonna say,

33:57

oh, man. This is crazy. It's

33:59

it's

33:59

the accent. I'm so sorry. Apologize.

34:04

We will make sure that you get somewhere. This actually

34:06

keeps it more. I think the sunsets and keeps

34:08

it more just like Really? -- out

34:11

of this world. Out of this world. I gotta

34:13

make that happen. So but, you know, we've jumped.

34:15

We we're talking about your second trip to

34:17

Nairobi. Mhmm. But after you come back from

34:19

Khalifa or Nairobi for a few

34:20

days, then you go back you

34:22

go home or where'd you go to? No. No. No. So

34:24

after Khalifa, when I return to Nairobi,

34:26

I stayed for, like, a month. But

34:28

it was, like, the the middle of winter -- Mhmm.

34:31

-- at this point. and it was so cold.

34:33

I didn't even wanna leave my house.

34:35

So I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna go to South Africa.

34:38

Again, you know? That's like my reset

34:40

place. So I stay there for three months

34:42

and then I'm like, you know what? I think

34:44

Kenya should be little warmer now. Mhmm.

34:47

Let me go back. Yeah. Oh, but before I came

34:49

back Kenny, I I made a pit stop in

34:51

Uganda. How have you achieved?

34:55

Uganda. It

34:57

was

34:59

It was interesting. I I don't feel like

35:01

I don't I don't think I got, like, a good I

35:05

don't experience with it. I didn't do anything.

35:07

Yeah. You know, I chose I

35:09

stayed at the hotel. We rode around on the

35:12

the boat. Yeah. But the traffic

35:14

was crazy. Yeah. People only recommend

35:16

it, like, a partying for me. That's all I

35:18

know about you. Do you guys know how to change this?

35:20

Literally. When I posted a video, all the

35:23

comments from like, oh, that sucks. You mess

35:25

this, like, best nightlife. Yeah. But

35:27

for some reason, I just was not in the mood

35:29

to party. Mhmm. You know? I just I don't know.

35:31

I wasn't I wasn't Maybe you have to go

35:33

back and maybe get out of Campala. Yeah.

35:35

Yeah. I think I need to know someone. That seems like

35:38

a place you need to know someone. Yeah.

35:40

And I literally didn't know a soul there.

35:43

So you therefore, how long? I think

35:45

maybe seven or eight days. Yeah. Yeah. Then

35:47

you come back back to Nairobi.

35:49

What was the decision to come back? Was

35:51

it Was it always the plan and

35:53

you just stacked for the weather to

35:55

get you stacked together? Yeah.

35:57

So I played no stain and maybe you've gone there for,

35:59

like, thirty days. Yeah. But I'm

36:01

like, you know what? Let me just cut the assortant

36:04

device and iRoby. Yeah. So and

36:06

I love the food here. Like, I have not had

36:08

bad food aerobias. Oh, really? I love

36:10

the food here. What what are some things that you loved?

36:13

Ugali. Mhmm. Me and I didn't even

36:15

make that last night. Okay.

36:18

So he met Dennis Kurian

36:19

who's been on actually, this

36:21

week, his story is on the audio episode.

36:24

Oh, wow. Right. So yeah.

36:25

And so but he's been on the

36:27

video series, the third season.

36:28

And so he's a he's a friend of

36:30

legally to this. And so

36:33

you were in good hands. Yeah. So

36:36

he taught you how to make ughali. ughali.

36:38

And then we made don't tell me the word.

36:42

Meachama. Not much of them. Not much

36:44

of them. Yeah. We made that.

36:46

Yeah. And then I I like

36:48

Chapati. Oh, cool. So

36:50

I just like the food here seasoned very

36:53

well. That's so

36:53

interesting because we get a lot

36:55

of flack

36:56

from other African countries

36:58

for having the least spiced

37:01

food, which

37:01

in in somewhat? Yeah. They're just

37:03

like, you guys are the British. Your

37:06

food doesn't have enough spices,

37:08

enough taste, and when I do travel

37:11

especially to, like, Western African countries,

37:13

I'm like, this is so much spice.

37:16

Yeah. What's happening guys? spicy

37:19

with a side of me. It's like a what

37:21

is it a? Is it a kusu

37:23

soup? A Gucci. Agusi. Agusi. Agusi. Agusi.

37:27

Agusi. Yeah. my I thought my ears are gonna

37:29

fall off. Oh

37:31

my goodness. So now you come back

37:33

in. I'm hearing you

37:35

talk of. a lot more opportunity that

37:37

you're seeing in Nairobi. Yeah. Maybe you could tell us

37:39

more about that. Yeah. I

37:41

don't know. I feel like coming back

37:44

I'm meeting the right type of people who

37:46

wanna collab. I'm meeting a lot

37:48

of creatives -- Mhmm. -- in Nairobi. I didn't know,

37:50

like, the creative scene was so big here.

37:53

So I can I can really see myself like

37:55

if I make this like my home base -- Yeah.

37:57

-- I can do a lot of creative work here. Yeah.

37:59

We really

37:59

really like that. And we're at a really

38:02

good point. I think there's a

38:04

lot more hope and lot more color

38:06

in the creative industry now. Mhmm.

38:08

A lot more collaborations and

38:11

just a lot less fear in,

38:13

like, owning our identity

38:15

and our like, we don't have to be anything

38:17

but

38:17

-- You know? -- and so

38:19

it's a good time. -- clients are very proud to be

38:21

Canadian. And I love that. Yeah. I love that.

38:24

And as someone who does social media,

38:26

I'm realizing Canadians love social media.

38:29

They love social media. In terms of,

38:31

like, the people who consume your shoe --

38:33

Mhmm. -- a lot of Kenan's top -- Yeah. -- of --

38:35

Yeah. -- of -- Really? -- Canadians say

38:38

-- Yeah. -- the states. that's also,

38:40

like, my top three, like, countries. Yeah.

38:42

And so maybe you could speak to

38:44

what does it

38:45

change? So you've been to all these

38:48

African countries completely different

38:50

from home. Yeah. And how

38:52

do you think that experience has like

38:54

pondered you

38:55

just on a personal level.

38:56

Yeah. I feel like I've grown. Mhmm. I spoke

38:58

to my mom just, what, I think, two or three days

39:00

ago, and she's, like, I can I can hear

39:02

the majority of the noise. I

39:04

I really feel like I'm changing, you

39:06

know. I don't know.

39:08

I just look at the world different now. Like, a lot

39:11

of stuff that been taught growing up in the US.

39:13

I'm just like, I feel like it was conditioning

39:15

us -- Mhmm. -- to, like, keep, you know, black

39:18

people apart across. the

39:20

the the planet. So I

39:22

don't know. I feel like with the opportunities

39:25

I have, you know, from the states, I wanna

39:27

use that in bring it over here -- Mhmm. --

39:29

because I really wanna I want to find, like,

39:31

a home base and make somewhere

39:34

in Africa at my home. Mhmm. Yeah. I just wanna even

39:36

see myself living in dates anymore. And

39:38

like for what? Why? Like, anything I need

39:40

or one, I can get it here -- Yeah. -- you know, and

39:42

be around people who look like me.

39:44

And maybe you could talk to because we don't really

39:46

know a lot of, let's say, what

39:48

does the education system look like

39:51

in terms of in the states?

39:53

What do you learn about Africa?

39:56

If at all. Right. Yeah. We don't

39:58

learn much. They they don't teach us much.

40:00

The things we do learn is just like,

40:02

on pretty much, like, on TV, it's like,

40:04

you donate a dollar a day, you'll be feeding

40:06

a child. That's pretty much all we

40:08

know. Yeah. Like, you have to do your own

40:11

research. even in college, I

40:13

took like a African religious

40:16

culture course And

40:19

it was very just we just cover,

40:21

like, the the broad topics. Nothing, like,

40:23

really in-depth, you know. So

40:25

they don't teach us much. I think it's

40:28

intentional.

40:28

think so too. You know

40:30

what I mean? Yeah. because we have the same

40:32

issue when we're talking about our colonial

40:35

past. so we will learn about

40:37

other countries. It always baffles

40:39

me how I learned about Hitler. Mhmm.

40:42

Not to say it's bad to know what happens.

40:44

in other parts of the world. Yeah.

40:46

But I didn't learn about concentration camps

40:49

in Kenya during colonization. You know

40:51

what I mean? And they were there, and we had

40:53

kind of, like, we had an apartheid system as

40:55

well. There was so much torturing. There

40:58

was so much, but, like, in our

40:59

history, that kind of gets

41:01

a white washed.

41:02

And it's just, like, customization is just,

41:04

like, little bleeping and they're like, and

41:06

then we're back in attendance. Right.

41:09

Like, even in the states, they, you know, the

41:11

education says and we learned about, like, the holocaust.

41:13

But, like, why why don't we learn about, like, the genocide?

41:16

Mhmm. You know, like, it's just very white

41:18

watch Why wants to know? Right

41:21

now, what think is happening with this

41:22

African awakening is we're

41:25

trying to piece together

41:26

our identity. And all of a sudden, we have

41:28

access to this information. Yeah.

41:31

We're able to question without disappearing

41:33

and, you know, and so it's it's

41:35

quite an interesting interesting time.

41:38

So what about do your family everyone

41:40

to come visit? Like, when you tell them

41:42

stories, I'll be like, hey, you

41:44

can't wait to come. I

41:46

don't know. I think I I'm like the black

41:48

sheep of my family. Like

41:51

my I I I'm the only one of my family

41:53

with a passport. really? Like, they

41:55

just don't have any kind of desire

41:57

or interest in traveling. But,

41:59

I mean, long term goal, I wanna,

42:01

like, buy a house here and move my mom here. Mhmm.

42:03

You know, she's single so and she's

42:05

struggling in the US. Yeah. And I'm like,

42:07

girl, life could really be different. Don't have to

42:10

live like that. So But no.

42:12

They they they have no really, like,

42:14

real interest in traveling, not just

42:16

Africa but, like, anywhere. I've read something on,

42:18

like, seeing in one

42:20

night, and it was saying, I don't know the percentage. Maybe,

42:22

like, sixty percent of Americans just

42:24

don't travel. Don't don't support.

42:27

And you know that why that's so shocking

42:29

is that the American passport

42:31

is one of the strong is not the strongest.

42:34

don't know. the strongest brands up there.

42:36

Yeah. So these are a lot more

42:38

countries. So I do the same thing as you do,

42:40

like, Google, like,

42:41

Where don't I need a visa? Which I'll tell you about

42:44

Ghana. Yeah. Because canyons, we don't

42:46

need visa to go in. I was like,

42:48

this is great. But I think our

42:51

list is much shorter than

42:53

if I had an American -- Yeah. -- an American

42:55

passport. So that's interesting. But I think

42:58

that's because, like, a lot of Americans we

43:00

were taught, like, this is the best country in

43:02

the world. Like, you know, extreme patriotism.

43:05

So I just feel like maybe a lot of

43:07

America and feel like, what's the point? If

43:09

I'm in the best place and it's like, you're

43:11

not. You really should get out there in

43:13

the world and see other places, you know?

43:15

When you say that's so interesting

43:17

because we always talk about for

43:20

there was a period. think now

43:21

it may be reducing, but there was a

43:23

period where

43:25

a lot of Kenan's were trying to

43:27

get out and get to the states. And this is the same

43:29

for quite a few African countries. So

43:31

if you look at, like, Nigeria -- Yeah.

43:33

just it was, like, if you want

43:35

a better life -- Yeah. -- get out of here

43:38

and go to the states. To some extent, you can understand

43:40

that because there's probably, like, political tension

43:42

in those years. economically, there

43:44

were not many opportunities

43:46

here. But, like, if

43:48

it's that easy to

43:50

to make it in the states, if if that I

43:53

think so. Mhmm. At first, I didn't.

43:55

Mhmm. But since I've been traveling, I've

43:57

I've been able to understand my own privilege

44:00

and the things that we take

44:02

for granted. It's like, yeah. Like,

44:04

I don't know. I remember I was talking to my mom

44:06

and she was complaining about

44:09

hope she doesn't listen.

44:12

She was complaining about, like, some some

44:15

institutional organization that was, like,

44:17

assisting her with some fine -- Yeah. -- you

44:19

know, to, like, help her, like, financially. And

44:22

she was like, oh, they were supposed to give me this money

44:24

by this date and this date, and she was just really

44:26

upset. And I'm thinking, like, okay,

44:28

they may be, you know, they are too late. They're

44:30

giving you this money whereas a lot

44:32

of other countries, they just don't even have that,

44:35

like, option. You know? We complain

44:37

about, like, if you go to school

44:39

there and you get, like, loans, the maybe

44:41

the high interest rates is you have to pay back

44:43

and I'm, like, at least you're getting -- Mhmm. --

44:45

the the funds to even get that education. what

44:48

did you find? Is more of a convenience

44:50

here? Or is probably structured

44:53

better here than at home? I think

44:55

if you have like a entrepreneur spirit

44:58

is much easier in, like, less

45:00

loopholes to start business. Oh,

45:02

really? Yeah. In the States, oh

45:04

my god. It's It's

45:06

just so many, like, loopholes and,

45:09

like, permits and sort of just things to

45:11

make money. Even me, like, I have real estate business

45:13

back home. And every year I have to pay

45:15

fifteen hundred dollars just to it's called a

45:18

privilege fee. And they don't tell

45:20

you where that money goes. Yeah. I think it's just literally

45:22

a fee they wanna charge, just money from

45:24

you. It's just everything is just

45:26

money.

45:26

What about socially? Because I

45:28

don't know about

45:29

the states, but I don't remember visiting

45:31

a friend in London.

45:34

And I think the African in me

45:36

was just like, what is going on here?

45:38

Because we went to his apartment block.

45:41

And first, there was no guards.

45:43

There was no scary. Mhmm. And

45:45

-- Yeah. -- everything

45:46

was so electronic. I was like, oh,

45:48

so who lives this side and he's like,

45:50

oh, I don't know. And so he didn't know his neighbors

45:52

and I was like, what do you mean?

45:54

And I was

45:56

like, This is so different. I

45:58

need to meet the God, hear the

45:59

a bit of small talk. What happened today?

46:02

That somebody from the Christy

46:04

Company. Come on. That's

46:07

part of the routine. And then know my

46:09

neighbor or she's in now or her

46:11

kid is sick or like, you know, Is

46:14

that the same?

46:14

Very different in the settings. Yeah.

46:16

When I got here, I'm like, wow.

46:18

People are just so just they just wanna

46:21

talk. Yeah. They're like back home. don't know none

46:23

of my neighbors. Like, do not knock on my door.

46:25

Don't ask me for a cup of sugar. You

46:28

know, it's just very different. Like,

46:30

I think in the the US, it's very just

46:33

like a individualism type of society

46:35

-- Mhmm. -- like every man for themselves. Yeah.

46:38

It really is like that. It's like stream version

46:40

of capitalism. Yeah. Obviously,

46:42

there is privilege that comes

46:44

with being able to travel

46:45

-- Mhmm. -- but how can you kind

46:47

of with all you've done, have you gotten some

46:49

tips that could help in terms of budgeting,

46:52

in terms of, like, trying to make the

46:54

most

46:54

of your trip, making friends. Yeah. You

46:56

know, it's not it's not

46:57

the easiest of things. What are some tips you can

46:59

give? I I would say definitely try to

47:01

secure maybe some type of remote

47:04

work or let's say, like, you're coming from

47:06

the west. I would say, make sure

47:08

you have, like, consistent flow

47:10

of, let's say, US dollars. coming

47:12

in. Like, when I left the US, I left for like a thousand

47:15

dollars. Like, I did not have a lot of money.

47:17

And I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do this YouTube

47:19

and it has to work. Like, it has to

47:21

work. Like, thirty days ago monetized -- Oh,

47:23

wow. -- very very serious

47:25

about that. But obviously, just try

47:27

to make sure you have some kind of

47:30

income coming in. I think

47:33

I mean, I think I'm kinda like a like

47:35

a booji traveler, but if you're like a more budget

47:37

traveler, if you can just make maybe a thousand

47:39

dollars a month. Mhmm. You can you

47:41

can survive. Coming

47:42

with a thousand dollars. As it's running

47:44

out, what's

47:44

going through your head? I was freaking out.

47:47

I was freaking out because the thing is like

47:49

the place I was staying in in Mexico

47:52

was eight hundred dollars. So I only had

47:54

like two hundred dollars to make

47:56

stuff work. So, I mean, I'm a hustler,

47:58

really. So, I started,

48:00

like, revising people's resumes for

48:03

them. And then, like I mentioned,

48:05

I also I have a real estate business.

48:07

I mean, I'm kinda part time with it. So once

48:10

the money was getting low at the end of the month, I'm like,

48:12

okay, I need to sell house really quick. So I

48:14

did. And that's kinda how, like, the first year,

48:16

I would sell a house, you know, get

48:18

a lump sum of money and just kinda live off that

48:21

until you to became more, like, consistent

48:23

income. Yeah. And with YouTube, what works?

48:25

know already when you're creating

48:28

from Africa, you can't make

48:30

as much as a creator based in the

48:32

states. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting.

48:34

Like I mentioned, like, South Africa and

48:37

Kenya are my top, like, countries.

48:39

Mhmm. But the the CPM, the amount

48:41

YouTube pays you. Mhmm. It's very low.

48:44

I think it's maybe, like, three or four dollars

48:46

per view versus US.

48:49

Like, a viewer is, like, twenty dollars.

48:51

Wow. Yeah. So it's a big difference. So

48:53

I I realized, like, okay. I can't really rely

48:56

on just the YouTube income tax

48:58

since money. So that's where sponsorships

49:00

came in. What I still do to this day

49:02

literally every week, I spend maybe two days

49:05

where I reach out to ten

49:07

brands a day. I was sending email to them, like,

49:09

this is my channel. These are analytics. You

49:12

know, I'm interested in this. Like, I love your suitcase.

49:14

I will love to promote it my audience.

49:17

Let's collab. And yeah.

49:19

Like, that that's the real income. I don't even

49:21

look at YouTube money anymore. Mhmm. It's mainly

49:23

sponsorships.

49:24

Yeah. I think, like, ninety percent

49:26

of the work is

49:26

pitching. Yeah. And you have to pitch with your chest.

49:29

So, like, I used to just wait

49:31

for them to come in, but, you know, it

49:33

sixty days, nothing was coming in. I'm like, you know

49:35

what? I gotta I gotta pitch myself

49:37

-- Yeah. -- to do that now. And that's how that's

49:39

how I'm living. Yeah. That's

49:41

really really interesting. And

49:43

in terms of, like, the social aspect,

49:46

building a community

49:47

home while you're traveling,

49:49

like, where is home? What is

49:52

home? You know, I have that moment in

49:55

South Africa, a couple months ago. I almost had a mental

49:57

breakdown because I was like, I don't have a home.

49:59

Like, I literally I feel like I'm like

50:01

like just

50:03

like a popular homeless person. Like,

50:07

I genuinely don't have a home. So I

50:09

think now going like, my goal for twenty

50:11

twenty three is to secure,

50:14

like, a actual home base. Like, I need a home.

50:16

Like, those moments where I'm kinda burned out from

50:18

traveling. Yeah. I wanna be able to just

50:20

go home, arrest, and then, you

50:22

know, go back out in the world. And where is that looking

50:24

like? Is looking like an iRoby? Good. It looks

50:26

like iRoby before for many reasons, I can

50:29

tell, like, that will be is is growing. There's

50:31

a lot of construction here. Mhmm. So the moments

50:33

that I'm not traveling, I can use that property

50:35

as an property. Mhmm. Get that cash

50:37

flow coming in. Yeah. As long as it's not

50:39

in kill me money, I see this because

50:44

Why not kill me money? It's a

50:46

dubious activity. Chabas,

50:49

every listening who lives in Kalibani, we love

50:51

you. You get It

50:53

was somebody said it's like the Florida

50:56

of Oh, god.

51:00

I used to live in Florida. Only

51:02

for, like, four months that I left. Now

51:04

you see how you get all of these wild stories

51:07

and stuff. Sort of as wild.

51:09

Yeah. I can see that. awhile stories

51:11

come from. No.

51:15

And do you have any in closing just

51:18

life lessons that you've learned maybe specific

51:20

to traveling the continent or specific

51:22

to just traveling in general? I

51:25

I think I would say, you know, if you wanna do

51:27

something, whether it's traveling or anything in life,

51:29

just don't let other people project

51:32

their fears onto you. Mhmm. because I remember

51:34

before I started traveling, I told all my friends

51:36

and family, like, I'm gonna move to Africa.

51:38

I'm gonna travel. And, like, literally,

51:41

I probably only had two people that

51:43

were supportive. Everyone else was like, are you

51:45

crazy? Why would you go? you're gonna

51:47

die. Like, they're gonna Mexico. The mafia's

51:49

gonna get you, and it's just like,

51:52

I I would say, you know, go

51:54

to a place, create your own experience,

51:57

create your own narrative because other

51:59

people can really,

51:59

like, put their fears on you, and you can

52:02

miss out on a great experience.

52:03

Most of people who allowed us

52:05

have no information back in

52:07

that opinion. You like me. everyone

52:09

that was like, you know, don't go to Kenya, don't

52:12

go to essay. I'm like, oh, how

52:14

was your trip there? You're like, oh, I've

52:16

never been. But you know, I saw that in Flic

52:18

Show and it seems scary. And I'm like,

52:20

get out of here.

52:23

I'm not sure when the next random convo

52:26

will be, but I hope you enjoyed this

52:28

one. I absolutely

52:30

loved meeting Julian. Having

52:33

him on the podcast, I was so

52:35

excited. Just because I just love how

52:38

genuine and authentic he is,

52:40

both in his content and in

52:42

person. And he's just traveling

52:44

this continent. In such a way that

52:47

he honors the communities that he

52:49

gets to be injected in, yeah,

52:51

it's just such breath of fresh air.

52:54

I feel like a lot of travel content is

52:56

so overclammarized. And

52:59

to a point you can't even connect

53:01

with it. And then I also find

53:03

that a lot of travel content

53:06

about Africa to be very condescending

53:09

sometimes. Sometimes it's like,

53:11

Oh, look. I'm at an African

53:14

heart. To

53:16

to get what I'm saying and and my gerry and

53:18

I just will leave leave the way he honors us

53:20

as he tell his story

53:23

while going through our continent

53:25

that that I feel drawn to. And I generally

53:28

think, like, we need to have more visibility on

53:30

Africa. so that

53:32

our true stories are amplified.

53:33

A hundred percent stories by

53:36

us about us need to be forefront,

53:39

but also stories of black

53:41

people from outside the continent

53:43

are also needed in this kind of

53:45

awakening we're going through. So in

53:47

the show notes, I have with a link

53:50

to two things. Jillian's YouTube

53:52

channel so you can check out the content

53:55

we're talking about and also his Instagram.

53:57

So that you can connect with him in case he want

53:59

to

53:59

learn more or know more about his

54:02

solo traveling. If you have a story

54:04

that you wanna share on this podcast, If you're

54:06

African, we wanna hear it.

54:09

Oh, I don't know why it's saying it. All you have to do

54:11

is click the link in the

54:13

show notes to fill out the form, and I will get

54:15

back to you. Remember, you can catch

54:17

this podcast on trace of them here

54:19

in Kenya. All you have to do is go to

54:22

trace radio dot c

54:22

h dot k e.

54:24

We are there every Monday

54:26

and Wednesday at one PM and

54:28

eleven PM and Fridays at one PM.

54:30

Audio episodes like this. If you're new to the

54:32

family, go out every single Monday. Make

54:34

sure you subscribe on whatever

54:37

platform it is that you streaming this on, and

54:39

you can check out our video and to the

54:41

series right now. Just by heading to legally

54:43

kudos Africa dot com. As usual,

54:46

I am, you know, send me a lot of grace.

54:48

Be graceful with yourself this week. And

54:50

as I keep saying towards the end of the year, man, burnout

54:53

is real. So if your body

54:55

is demanding rest, give it

54:58

rest.

54:59

That's it for

55:00

this episode of Legally Coolers.

55:01

You can share this podcast with your

55:03

friends. You can keep it for yourself. I'm not

55:06

judging. Just make sure you're here next

55:08

week for the next episode.