You know what’s the best part of taking 12 weeks off from podcasting? Coming back. This is the first episode of Season Two of the Opportunistic Travelers Podcast! 

This episode mixes beer and finance in one unexpected little package, with stories told in Hue, Vietnam and in Hong Kong. It’s just over 14 minutes long, so listen and enjoy!

(Side note: We Periscoped the recording of the first part of the show, and we might do that every week! So give us a follow and you can watch live!)

If you were a fans of the 30 episodes (or 42, if you count the minis) that made up our first season; don’t worry. Our commitment to a tightly produced travel podcast where we tell the stories from our everyday experiences of our travels around the world remains. We’re just getting a little help from the friends we meet along the way!

Long-time listeners of ours (we’ve been at this podcasting thing for over a decade now!) will be thrilled by the new format. We’re injecting more of what you love -- the energy and fun that develops when we banter back and forth. Naturally and unscripted!

And if you’re brand new to our program: welcome! Thank you for subscribing to the show. We’ll do our very best to produce a weekly travel-focused podcast unlike anything you’ve heard before. Hopefully, we’ll inspire other travel podcasters to share their stories in a similar way, too!

We share two travel stories on today’s program, one from Vietnam and one from Hong Kong:

1. The BB Clee (Hue, Vietnam)

Music: The Show Must Be Go! by Kevin MacLeod

Over a can of mass produced Vietnamese beer called Huda, Evo tries to convince Sheila of his latest epiphany: The Beer Based Cost Of Living Index.

In theory (and we’re stretching the definition), you can determine the entire cost of living of a country based solely on the price of an average beer at an average bar. No, it doesn’t work for craft beer and it doesn’t work in The States or other places where bars hike up the price of a beer hundreds of percentage points over their cost. But as you’ll hear Evo explain, it does seem to hold true across parts of Vietnam, where the price of beer ranges from 15,000 - 25,000 Dong (totally not making that up) and in Thailand, where a bottle will run you between 50 - 80 Baht.

Now if we can only get Planet Money to do a follow up piece with us.

2. Quarter Life Crisis (Hong Kong)

(Music - Name the Piece 08 - Crystal Bungalow by Kevin MacLeod)

After the better part of a year living as full time travelers, we've covered the gamut of accommodations. Five star resorts, cheap hostels, private bedrooms. And then we went to Hong Kong.

Grant was our boat mate for a few days while we were in Hong Kong. And by "boat mate", I mean we shared a boat in Aberdeen Harbor. A very nice boat, but still a boat. That was interesting. Luckily, so was Grant.

Originally born in China, Grant returned (well, to Hong Kong) after graduating college to pursue a career in Finance. We get a little history lesson about moving capitals, why Hong Kong is a great jumping off point for world explorers, and some oddities you’ll need to be prepared for when you visit Hong Kong. Like having to ask and pay for napkins at restaurants!

Oh, and about that quarter life crisis? Apparently, traveling is the new form of narcissism. Don’t tell us that, Grant!

And that’s the show!

What do you think the new format of the new season? Let us know by emailing, Tweeting, Facebooking, or just plain commenting on the blog.  We would love to hear from you!

Special thanks to Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech.com for our theme music Upbeat Forever and all of the music used in this episode. See you next week from Sydney, Australia!

Funding for this podcast and all the great content we produce is made possible by listeners just like you. Visit ShEvo.wtf/postcards to pledge your support, and get a hand written postcard each month as we travel abroad.

Additional funding provided by TravelSmith. Inspiring people to go places they've never been, and keeping us looking smart and well-outfitted on our journey.

And if you want to travel the world… it’s cheaper than you think! Visit ShEvo.wtf for more details, and click on the Housesitting link to find out exactly how we afford to travel the world in style.

New episodes of the The Opportunistic Travelers Podcast are available every Tuesday. Of course, Tuesday can be a very different thing depending on where we are in the world. Cheers!