On the left in this picture is Bill, AKA the International Bigshot. He has a YouTube channel and a brand new Substack newsletter all about his thoughts and travels. He recently travelled by train and ship from from Bergen, Norway to Istanbul, Turkey.
Around 25 YouTube videos from that journey will be appearing on his International Bigshot channel. They will start posting on October 6. So, look out for those. Be warned that the International Bigshot has a PhD in cultural insights AND wisecrackery.
https://www.youtube.com/@InternationalBigshot/videos
https://internationalbigshot.substack.com
On the right is Jamie. He is a rarity among my circle of friends moving in and out of Kuala Lumpur in that he is NOT a YouTuber. Yet, he should be. He is often on the move and goes to an incredible number of amazing destinations. With the breadth of his travels and the depths of his thoughts, he would produce wonderful travel videos. But for now, he is content to listen as the YouTubers around him talk YouTube endlessly.
Jamie just arrived in Kuala Lumpur this morning, and I zipped down to KL Sentral to meet him there as his airport bus arrived. He couldn’t check into his new hotel until the afternoon, so Bill, Jamie, and I passed some time chatting over coffee.
Long-time viewers of the Planet Doug channel might remember Jamie from some of his previous visits. He has made guest appearances on some of my videos in the past, including this one:
I had plans to record much or all of this conversation. In particular, I wanted to get Jamie talking about his journey through several countries to get here. But I was a bit unfocused this morning, and I waltzed out of the Hotel Raja Bat without my extra microphones. And there was no way to record soft-spoken Jamie’s voice without having him wired up. But it was fine. I had a good time just chatting with “the boys”.