"Passport Privilege" and what it is 🛂

Hey AWWs! 💜 We discuss:

- What is “passport privilege” and why we need to be sensitive; western travel culture paints traveling as a right or even as a rite of passage when it is in fact a huge privilege
 
- The different kinds of lifestyle design you can use to optimize for travel

- We are opening our speaker applications for our upcoming Asian Wander Women Travel Summit happening March 28-31, 2024

RESOURCES & OPPS FOR THE TRAVELING AWW

🛂 Traveling: According to Travel + Leisure, here are 55 of the world’s most beautiful places to visit. Find some inspiration for your next travel spot!

😍 Inspired by an AWW: Fathin is a halal Muslim travel blogger who has lived in Taiwan for 6 years. She shares Muslim friendly destinations, halal food, and hidden gems in Taiwan.

📚 Readings: How (and why) to travel alone: smart solo travel tips to help you avoid scams, creeps, and loneliness by Vox

Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital
NPR host Elise Hu moved to South Korea in 2015 to establish a new bureau for NPR. American born and of Chinese descent, she is met with huge culture shock: the shining modernity of Seoul, the technology — and the beauty culture. Watch her discussion on The Korea Society.

Vivian Tu RichBFF’s financial literacy book list - books on personal finance and recommended reads for women on career advancement

💼 Job opportunities:
1. Beehiiv is hiring for remote roles within Engineering, Community, Sales, and Product
2. Look for jobs in Southeast Asia on the Tech in Asia job platform
3. Albert’s List Job Search Tool for jobseekers

PASSPORT PRIVILEGE: what it is and when the world is “not your oyster”

“Passport privilege” is a direct result of the socioeconomic and political disparities that exist between developed and developing nations.

Hanna Jobes explains in Jetsettimes, “The type of passport you hold dictates your ability to travel to each individual country and sovereign nation. The power in your passport is determined, ultimately, by the number of destinations you can travel to visa-free (or by visa-on-arrival.) Without this ability you must apply for a visa in advance.”

People are not their government, but while others can move around freely based on the color of their passport, others are confined to complicated travel documents and visa applications because of the country and political standing they are associated with by citizenship.

Angela Phan recounts her experience in Europe over dinner when they were discussing weekend plans. Her and her Canadian counterpart were planning to fly on a whim, and her two Pakistani friends said they could not since they’d have to apply for visas in advance. Angela said this encounter seared in her mind, realizing that “acknowledging the inherent privilege of travelling allows us to be more mindful travellers once we are able to do so and recognize the structures of power and privilege that exist within and outside our borders.”

Growing up, she always heard the advice of

“go travel the world to discover yourself”

“go live in another country for a year”

“travelling is good for the soul”

“Although the advice from above is well-intentioned, it is inherently flawed because it makes the assumption that someone can just pack their bags and leave, irrespective of money. There are significant barriers and structures in place that limit someone’s mobility — such as a passport.”

Lifestyle Design by the Nomad Capitalist

“You might have heard of the ‘Crabs in a Bucket’ mentality that drags people down. This is the same notion at play – if they can’t have it, neither can you.” Dare to be different and stick to your guns on the lifestyle that you want. The article details itself in three sections: 1) change your mindset 2) take control of your income and 3) choose your location. There are four ways you can live as a nomad:

1. The Perpetual Traveler – Bounce around the world, live out of a suitcase and visit a new country whenever you feel like it.

2. The Base Cities Strategy – Pick two or three base cities and visit each of them annually.

3. The Bases + Focus Cities Strategy – Pick a few focus cities you can easily visit from your bases. Focus cities can also be countries where you have planted important flags, which is go where you’re treated best.

4. The Expat Strategy – fully relocate to one new location, get a long-term property, and become a tax resident.

FEATURED AWW MEMBER: YING HUI

👋 I'm Ying Hui, or Ying as some of my friends call me! I'm from Singapore and have been spending the last 2 year working remotely from Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Dubai, Turkiye, Greece and Vietnam.

I started my digital nomad journey more than a year ago but have just recently turned my side-hustle into my full-time remote business. I’m currently focused on helping solopreneurs design websites and offer strategies to amplify their digital presence.

✨ I offer a curated suite of services, including graphic design, copywriting, and SEO, to create a brand-centric digital presence

✨ Utilizing Squarespace and Shopify tools, I create optimized websites that seamlessly integrate with your social media and analytics for a data-informed online presence

If you’d like to chat more about digital nomad-ing and building a remote business, I’d love to connect or see how I can support your entrepreneurship journey! Follow me at @beyingspired or connect at www.yingscreativelab.com.

UPCOMING AWW EVENTS

[Online] Sunday, July 30, 2023 AT 4 PM PST - Fireside Chat: Taking an Adult Gap Year and How to Prepare 

Have you been considering or have ever thought about taking an adult gap year? Did the idea come and go because it seemed scary and overwhelming? This month we're going to sit down with Mars Escobin and talk all about how she came to the decision, prepped, budgeted and so much more. This is your chance to hear about the experience directly from the source.

[Taipei, Taiwan] AWW Business & Travel Summit on March 18-21, 2024
We have opened up our speaker applications for this travel summit! Please apply here and reach out to us if you have any questions.

AWW MEDIA

🎙️ Emily and Ivy discuss how to feel less alone while traveling and how they maintain meaningful friendships in the age of the internet. When you’re globetrotting around the world and having new experiences, it’s sometimes hard to connect with those back home. Dive into this podcast on finding community on the road! We’re on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple.

FEATURED PROJECTS BY AWWS

1. Attorney on a Journey by Francesca Chang: an ex-lawyer, published travel writer, and life coach for attorneys; she promotes tourism in POST-Covid Taiwan and coach unhappy lawyers towards finding meaning in their lives
2. WoMenTalk by Christina Cheng: a bilingual podcast about tech startups, entrepreneurship, and women empowerment
3. The Side Hustle Club by Cheryl Lau: a podcast on side hustling, thought leadership, building a body of work, and creating a business and career
4. Amy Hang’s YouTube Channel: Philadelphia, born and raised Amy shares how she started solo traveling. She was an English teacher in South Korea for almost 5 years!