Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kLD27Rz4DedM7slUrVPuX?si=UuipdsoTRniN7qidrQ4V5g

Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/homeboyandthepyramids/p/homeboy-and-the-pyramids-50-clarke?r=3jp6p4&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Peace. This is Clarke Illmatical—journalist, director, and host of Homeboy and The Pyramids. In this episode, I reflect on my journey—eight years living abroad in total, across Brazil, China, Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Tanzania, Mexico, and Guatemala. As I wrap up my travel memoir, I take time to celebrate those years and reflect on the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Contact:

@homeboypyramids

Homeboy’s Travel Origins

• What pushed me to leave the U.S. and build a life abroad.
• The transition from corporate life to international living.
• Key cultural influences, including how films like City of God and The Beach shaped my imagination about the world, freedom, and escape.

Countries I’ve lived in

• My experience living in Brazil, China, Taiwan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Tanzania, Mexico, and Guatemala.
• How each country shaped me differently.
• The difference between visiting a place and actually building a life there.
• Which countries made me feel most accepted and comfortable as a so-called Black man.

Culture shock and adjustment

• The hardest parts of adjusting to new countries.
• Responding to the common claim that locals in some countries “don’t know any better,” and why that phrase can oversimplify people and excuse bad behavior.

Expat communities in real life

• The different types of expat communities I’ve encountered abroad.
• The positives and negatives of expat circles.
• Difficulties of integrating into those spaces.

Digital nomad reality check

• My honest thoughts on the digital nomad lifestyle and why can promote bad travel habits. 
• Whether it’s better to start with a stationary position abroad before jumping into the digital nomad lifestyle.

Friendship, romance, and temporary relationships

• How to build meaningful friendships when traveling.
• The host’s own struggle with making lasting connections abroad.
• Navigating expat friendships, romantic relationships, and dating in foreign countries.
• Learning to appreciate temporary relationships without forcing everything to become permanent.

The Passport Bro conversation

• Thoughts on the Passport Bro movement and how it has affected Black travelers.
• Whether it has created opportunity, stigma, misunderstanding, or all three.
• The racial dimension: how Black men are perceived, policed, or judged while traveling.

Beliefs that changed

• A belief I had before traveling that changed completely after living abroad.
• A belief that stayed the same no matter where I went.

The biggest surprises

• Which country surprised me the most, and why.
• Locations that helped me grow the most as a traveler and as a person.

The most transformative moments

• The most transformative experience from eight years of travel.
• Whether growth came from one defining moment or from a long, gradual process.
• Moments when something “clicked” internally.

What keeps travel alive

• What still excites me about travel after all these years.

Advice to my younger self

• What I would tell myself before my first international move.
• Advice for a younger Black traveler who wants to explore the world seriously.

The future for Black men in travel

• Reasons for optimism for Black men in the global travel space.

I’ve travelled to all those places, alone, and got dates and scored in almost every of those countries , ask me specific questions if you want

for informations , I’m black man from France, 23, 6 foot, dreadhead

im actually travelling in Kazakhstan