I'm home: How 10 years of travel helped me find belonging. | Phil Cha

I'm home: How 10 years of travel helped me find belonging. | Phil Cha | TEDxUW

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8 жыл бұрын

In this engaging talk, Phil Cha describes his decision to drop everything and travel the world while he was still in medical school. See how this path not frequently taken turned into a path of finding for the serial martial artist and marathon runner and the surprising takeaways at the end of it all
Phil Cha was your standard student on the path to medical school. When he graduated from undergrad, however, he decided to learn more about people before becoming a physician. What followed was a decade long adventure that included a marathon on every continent and martial arts around the globe. During this time, he realized how identity is simply the product of collaboration.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

Пікірлер: 133

@kylehartico3945 2 жыл бұрын

This is very true about fining yourself when you travel. at first my parents were not big on me going to a different country but eventually they said ok. so, i went and I learned way more about different cultures and foods than school ever taught me

@nleem3361 4 жыл бұрын

Thinking on this we all have things that make us feel like outsiders physically or internally, but it's up to us to choose to embrace one another anyway, and to be a good friend, to make the world a better place by treating each person with kindness and to look for things in common rather than difference.

@aurarajasemrau6580 2 жыл бұрын

Oh wow this is absolutely wonderful, thank you so much, just coming out of eleven years of traveling and feeling this so so much!!!

@olivianapaz 4 жыл бұрын

Paulo Coelho is a great writer! He is from my country, Brazil ❤

@theredhatchback9732 3 жыл бұрын

I thought he was from Portugal.

@zabo01 7 жыл бұрын

mental masterbation was probably the best way to describe that feeling and it can very tough to get through! thank you for the much needed inspiration, you have gained another follower

@NomadicDmitry 4 жыл бұрын

I could totally relate at what this man said. 16 countries last year, 6 month in Mexico before that. Every time I'm back I don't even know who I am. Confused, happy, different and same at the same time. Too much travel 😀

@elisabethstabel2082 4 жыл бұрын

He tells my story. I'm born in Russia , grow up in Germany and I traveled for 10 years and now I'm struggling a whole lot to settle back in Germany.

@shazigetssober2394 7 жыл бұрын

I identified with this a lot, as an oreo. It wasn't just me who thought I was the outsider but those around me. And moving has made such a huge difference. People at home always asked why I want to orgainize this, or do that. And here in Russia I've found so many persons who share my likes, desires, and open-mindedness it's amazing. Sometimes I'm just shocked that I could existed for so long things I was alone...while on the other side of the world there were always people who so much like me...Italians, Spanish, French, Russians, Indians, Chinese, and so on. And as I find these hands to hold, I find that my comfort in being me allows me to become stronger more easily and more versatile and more openminded as my identity too grows, deepens. (To be clear I've only been to Russia. I just happen to meet a lot of expats.)

@fatimamatar4710 8 жыл бұрын

This is very good, gave me a lot of food for thought for my research on the meaning of Home and Belonging. Thank you for being inspirational

@ZihadTarafdar 7 жыл бұрын

That's an inspiring talk! thanks for motivating many around the world

@atticuslaedawks6918 3 жыл бұрын

This is so inspiring... travel is truly a gift.

@guitardds 6 жыл бұрын

It's true, we learn from others what we want to be and well as what we don't want to be.

@sabaidris6930 7 жыл бұрын

I get what you're saying about spending time away from people who tell you what to do all the time. But it's really not that easy. However, that is my new goal now. I want to get a job somewhere out of this city and, hopefully, enjoy and make decisions for myself.

@f1234k 7 жыл бұрын

this is on of the best talk i've heard. full of personal details and resonance.

@xiaochenwu9980 3 жыл бұрын

How i wish i could travel all the time.

@mariapitsini6669 5 жыл бұрын

thank you for sharing your experiences!

@balikongable 7 жыл бұрын

Very inspiring indeed!

@booish5 6 жыл бұрын

Great speech, wandering Nomad! Hope you have found your peace now.

@sriraagsridhar2011 7 жыл бұрын

Amazing talk .. Loved it

@lisandroge 7 жыл бұрын

Dude is this guy a buddhist. Its crazy how much he sounds like one. Every traveler I listen to, always ends up sounding like one Buddhist.

@liannezonnebeld6377 7 жыл бұрын

ignis yeah i'm guilty to. 🙈

@CC-sz9ze 7 жыл бұрын

ignis The more you live and learn about life, you can't help but getting closer to Buddhism.

@tharun960 7 жыл бұрын

Dem buddhists oh so wise. Lots of wisdom for life. Check out Ajahn Brahm or Thich Nhat Hanh!

@JhonLouderxD 7 жыл бұрын

loverly answer

@grbsygrb29 5 жыл бұрын

Cuz traveling make u closer to universal knowledge of the world. Same as meditation. You don't need to move to travel. You can do it only with your mind.

@sandersk2605 8 жыл бұрын

Omg you are amazing, your my inspiration, been wanting to do what you have done all my life ^^ keep being you!

@MyLevelUps 8 жыл бұрын

+Sander Kristiansen THANKS T^T

@omertalat250 7 жыл бұрын

TheModerateFighter

@rhondarose8180 5 жыл бұрын

Yessss it’s when you leave everything AND everyone behind (even though it hurts)

@anetabachewicz4051 5 жыл бұрын

Indeed. It's important who you are surrounded by.

@ambraambrosini1117 5 жыл бұрын

thank you a very good speech!

@Geshmachten 5 жыл бұрын

We also started to travel around the world! thanks for sharing and for the inspiration! you are great :)

@andriana5776 6 жыл бұрын

Very inspiring and helpful! Thank you!! 😁😁

@faiththong2290 7 жыл бұрын

Really Inspiring

@michaelnjogu7810 5 жыл бұрын

Good work after travelling you just start from humble beginning.

@melissabal7691 9 ай бұрын

I loved this! Thankyou

@hengzhang1988 7 жыл бұрын

well said, collaboration!

@sagardeep.sd_gowda 3 жыл бұрын

it's been 6 years since the last video on his youtube channel and his website is not opening, the only thing I can see is this old 2016 Ted Talk. I just wonder, where is he now... and what he is up to now.....

@kattyk6370 3 жыл бұрын

That was brave and exciting🌉

@walkslyricsandmore 7 жыл бұрын

You are great! Like you

@analeticiagomes Жыл бұрын

Fantastic. You should come to Taubaté/SP. There is nothing here but fun people that likes to climb rocks, ridding mountain bike every high hills around in order to to the view from above and find waterfalls on the way. People from Taubaté like to have coffee time at 5pm, 6pm, 7pm, eat a hamburger from trucks food that are all over the city and visit the beach that is 90km from here. Come to Taubaté/Sp - Brazil

@vikramyerneni 5 жыл бұрын

I feel every word as mine...

@vigilant545 7 жыл бұрын

Good one

@sarahklein4519 6 жыл бұрын

Your the greatest

@vickyskye8492 7 жыл бұрын

ur extremely funny :P the banana thing is halarious... i have been called an "oreo" more times than i can tell u so i totally get it!

@ClayMastah344 4 жыл бұрын

Do you laugh cause it hurts

@emilymalden3310 3 жыл бұрын

I heard an Asian American call her white male friend who loves Asian culture an "egg", White on the outside, yellow on the inside. Go figure.

@gazriley624 5 жыл бұрын

insperation even though i have been travelling for years too

@davidexperiment916 7 жыл бұрын

great.......

@annsmenu1237 5 жыл бұрын

I like your accent Man! 😎

@acajudi100 6 жыл бұрын

I just travelled on my vacations, because I want to work and paid my own way.

@obi-one-shinobistansolo3646 5 жыл бұрын

NUJABES-MYSTLINE!

@masterashanti1380 5 жыл бұрын

Where'd he get the money to do all of that?

@donniedicaprio5049 4 жыл бұрын

Probably volunteered at a hostel in exchange for housing/food or worked while traveling.

@NomadicDmitry 4 жыл бұрын

Honestly there are many ways to do that. One of those is volunteering indeed, but you could also work part time - no big deal.

@setra-8769 3 жыл бұрын

It’s actually pretty neglectful not to share how he can do all that. It makes this wanderlust pipe dream of traveling 365 days of the year (which kids will do for the Gram) seems possible. Looking at what he’s been doing (check LinkedIn) it looks like he has some kind of financial backing.

@mapo5959 2 жыл бұрын

bank of mum and dad

@priyahingu7606 6 жыл бұрын

Loved your talk.. Even I want to travel like this, I love travelling. but my question is how you have managed you expenses?

@ericaroundtheworld 5 жыл бұрын

every long-term traveler has their own way of managing expenses, most but of them won't go out and get a one-way ticket and no saving when they start their trip. *( you may, depending on what passport you are holding, but the country that you are entering may NOT let u go in without showing your return ticket or at least knowing you have some sort of financial back up to support your trip while you are in their country.) some countries are more cautious especially if you are a young looking girl, they don't want you to be end in the allay ,selling your body. if you are serious about traveling, first, you MUST have some saving. while you are saving up for money, you may also start developing a skill. no kidding, it would be useful if you decided to travel for a long time. whether is a language you can teach to make extra money, or music, or even interpersonal skills like talking to people. then you need to ask yourself what KIND of traveling experience you want to have... you cannot just say you want to experience what THEy experience in their culture, because same as your culture, rich people experience different life than poor people than really really poor people... so WHICH are the experience you plan on experiencing??? say... if you are going to Australia, do you want to do any water sport, activities? scuba diving... sky diving... driving along the coast.. camping outside... going to waterfall... EVERYTHING costs money. now if you want to experience the farm life, u may join volunteer work, at the farm. look up the work-exchange, u may get accommodation for free while getting to experience farmer-life in Australia. but that's just one part of their lives tho. I have been to Antarctica , on a 10-day cruise, on a very very small vessel and relatively "cheap" compare to the luxury ones where the gym is newly equipped with better food and activities.. but mine was still 4000 USD. i am not sure how expensive or cheap it gets when he goes there to run marathon maybe he is with some special organization, u will need to find out. some people climb mount Everest. if you check the price for that climb, it would have cost some 4600 USD, of course u could find something cheaper with the locals. but that also an expense u need to consider now if you think u want to experience all the FUN, very rarely you can find them for free. so you could either do a working-holiday ( but that also involved working.. no long term traveler can avoid work if they are doing it for a long run, then of course, if some said if you are happy with what u do, u don't feel a day at work, but in reality , THAT is still work. and that is also why developing skills that will help you in a long run) it sounded so materialistic when all of a sudden everything is about money, but honestly all the travels i have met, they have some saving. so don't expect you get out and experiencing "life, culture, food, fun" without a little bit of saving. and quiet frankly a lot of times, travelers who stays i hostels, they didn't care what they eat! they might have gotten the cheapest pasta from the supermarket, tomato sauce, and bread , that's their one meal! they went hiking ( which is FREE. but u need to have ur own gear. THAT my friend, is also money) like ur hiking boots, or even with your own equipment. do some math, and pick a small location, don't try to go on a long-draunting trip and expect you will get the same experience as all the "world-traveler" who quit their jobs , travel for life... sometimes their daily-life , bread-eating days just don't show in the video or in their talk :) wish you luck in your future travel plan. i'd be glad if i can help in any ways about traveling. have a great day

@layanasbw 5 жыл бұрын

Erica doko thank you for taking time to write all of this in details , you are amazing ... wish you all the best

@drtarunsinhvaghela2267 4 жыл бұрын

@@ericaroundtheworld perfectly narrated..Loved the way you have explained and so simple way to Express yourself and make it clear...thanks a lot

@Nomad332 7 жыл бұрын

Inspired 😏

@diegomoreno5927 7 жыл бұрын

You are also white on the inside?

@kentlarsen5834 Жыл бұрын

Phil Cha is right, he first saw way to many churches and way to many art galleries. That's what travel agents show you to lure you, but it doesn't help your understanding of self, because you've just become another spectator with money.

@iLoveTurtlesHaha 7 жыл бұрын

1:40 ... "All my friends were white" I see this all the time. So many people just have a homogeneous group of friends and sometimes one "token" person but it's still the same nonetheless - Why? Aren't people curious about other cultures and/or people? That's why we socialize, no? To learn and grow from each other? This is why my circle of friends is so diverse. I will never surround myself with sameness ever. Why should I? What fun is that? I once had the opportunity to meet another group of friends from a friend of mine and they were all white(I'm not saying THIS is wrong), there were so boring and clueless about world issues that they lacked any empathy towards anything other than themselves. It was so sad to see. That day, I promised myself to never associate myself with people who lack the very foundation of intellect - empathy.

@acajudi100 6 жыл бұрын

iLoveTurtlesHaha I love friends of all nationalities.

@joshuaswope4495 5 жыл бұрын

It is that way for the same reason there is racism. There are people who can't take the differences in ideas or cultures and it hurts them so much that they take away the idealistic side of it and make it about only what they can see. And empathy is not a base for intellect, it's a base for emotions and one of the compositions that make us human. Having sympathy/empathy for only one race is racism, but empathy takes intellect and understanding with an open mind.

@Ghrainne 5 жыл бұрын

you are so wonderful. you are so much better than everyone else. WOW I am in awe of you you are so diverse

@nnak4440 4 жыл бұрын

can you guys help me summarize the main idea of this video? please!!! I can understand all the things he said :(

@richardyoo4597 3 жыл бұрын

Identity and Belonging relates to the people you are close to. His travel led him to realize 4 important things which he frames as progressive steps: 1) Know who you are 2) Know what you want 3) Know how to change myself 4) Know resilience and belonging

@Fioren 4 жыл бұрын

Tafe 수업 시간에 들었어요.

@AudreyNataliaKosmar 7 жыл бұрын

Best banana - yellow outside, white inside LMAO. Do you have any funny answers to answer those people when people ask you where you REALLY come from? I get that all the time too and pretty tired to explain to people a Chinese descendent can be born at Indonesia, have a very Spanish name and be totally fluent in English. I also finished medical school and considering working while travelling. Do you know good options for physicians to travel and still working as physicians around the world?

@johnnyaguilar8699 7 жыл бұрын

Nothing wrong with people asking, they won't change.

@TheDementia96 7 жыл бұрын

Doctor's without borders is the only one I know of.

@jadejab6 6 жыл бұрын

Audrey Natalia give me ur email !!!

@userwheretogo 6 жыл бұрын

Among asians,it is not a joke.It is an idiom.

@northofyou33 5 жыл бұрын

I'm white, but I can't figure out what I am, either. That's because some people just never belong to a group.

@lostinlife7226 5 жыл бұрын

I am African i feel the same...I feel like I don't country,ethnicity,tribe,religion or family I belong too 😆 😆

@chicomalo991 7 жыл бұрын

great speech. do you have a fb page i can follow.

@rah4254 4 жыл бұрын

Nice humblebrag bro

@Ekergaard 6 жыл бұрын

Predictable we have comments about money. Do normal people think the only problem with travelling like this is money? I wanted to travel and I had money, I still couldn’t. One time, years ago, I was on a plane from Vancouver to London, I changed a few words with a newlywed couple sitting next to me. The woman said she had backpacked alone when she was twenty-one-year-old and had not been alone for a second. That's the totally opposite to how traveling alone works for me. I would be alone all the time if I travelled like that. And that wouldn’t work.

@gazriley624 5 жыл бұрын

have you been to iceland?

@setra-8769 3 жыл бұрын

@aazz9714 2 жыл бұрын

He mentioned at 3:10 he was given a “gift of travel”

@pardesmayar3314 4 жыл бұрын

You need to find a church or a mosque and start praying to God, I'm sure it's gonna take less than the struggle you did for that long. Find yourself a goal, it's gonna make your life easier.

@rhondarose8180 5 жыл бұрын

To know where you belong in the middle of strangers

@niler3019 7 жыл бұрын

This is so strange? Why are people so afraid of their roots? If some one asks.. just say, i was born in Canada, but my genes are from South Korea... We are living in a world that are afraid of roots.. and want to try to wipe out our identity, and our differences.. we should all be the same... but we are not...

@seider780 7 жыл бұрын

Nils Mikal Lerøy they are not afraid of their roots they just don't identify with them.

@kyledelrosario2081 5 жыл бұрын

yes

@Ghrainne 5 жыл бұрын

you cannot be serious

@danpt2000 5 жыл бұрын

Not afraid of roots, it is that non whites are assumed to be perpetual foreigners. To pay taxes, build businesses for over 30 years, and people questioning your citizenship.

@thaikumnun8681 5 жыл бұрын

Roots are simply be human being not nationality brainwashed propaganda !

@supersonic956 4 жыл бұрын

For someone who has done so much he has got so little to say.

@cpatel4752 7 жыл бұрын

are you back in medical school now?

@lilaalexinglis1436 7 жыл бұрын

C Patel oh please don't be so gullible this guy is full of BS North Korea if they even let you enter the country let alone leave definitely will not let you listen to music on your iPod as well notice how he said he was an engineer and went to school for that in the very beginning of the talk but then magically all of a sudden was going back to 'medical school again' by the end of the talk? The contradictions and lies are way too numerous to mention; really takes away from any little grain of truth that may have been lost (but most likely never existed - lol) in there to begin with

@sebastianwardana1527 7 жыл бұрын

C Patel check your facts...

@elisagriffith5411 3 жыл бұрын

He's a handsome Chinese 💓💓

@sahir313 7 жыл бұрын

never find a Canadian as a Korean citizen or an American as an Arabian citizen.

@cyworld2707 5 жыл бұрын

This guy is an Asian from a white controlled country, Canada. He's probably Korean. He traveled the world to find out who he is. For the rest of you, you don't have to travel the world for years and in many places to find the meaning in life for yourself. You are an infinite being going through a human experience in a human body. From the window of that body, you get a reaction from the outside. If you are subconscious of how you are perceived, you'll search the world to find a reaction that lives up to your expectations: that is a positive, loving embracing response.. He isn't, and never got it from the whites in Canada, the U.S., or any other country. Having been hated, despised, insulted, and discriminated against by whites for being so stereotypical a nerdy Asian, he is seeking a group will accept him as a human. If you love yourself, uncover the talents that have been gifted to you at birth, and ignore your physical self and reaction therein. Make your contribution to the world and be so fulfilled for having done that.

@carpediemus 7 жыл бұрын

You have an identity problem as you stated. Maybe that is why people ask where you are from or ask about where you identify yourself as belonging to. Do you see the circularity here.

@darkcity925 7 жыл бұрын

enjoyed the talk, but is it a bit hypocritical to complain about people stereotyping Koreans but then you stereotype Thais by mentioning your ladyboy experience?

@seider780 7 жыл бұрын

Buster Highman no?

@rhondarose8180 5 жыл бұрын

You didn’t talk about how you could afford it

@TheoCynical 7 жыл бұрын

"The Most Interesting Man in the World." :This guy!

@rhondarose8180 5 жыл бұрын

Noooo same same but different!!! Lol

@tekanolee 2 жыл бұрын

...

@poknari 6 жыл бұрын

Like how could you teach buddha buddhism.

@russianfantastico 7 жыл бұрын

Call me Phil 😉

@ggrthemostgodless8713 4 жыл бұрын

Are white people the only ones without identity issues?? is that because they set the standard on most things?? Is like the dollar, its the world's currency, the standard, but as anyone who has studied the international monetary system, it is the standard by force. The petrodollar etc etc. Evolution is by necessity and survival a slow process, and it must be, and so it is with these standards. What traveling made me realise among many other things was that I don't even belong anywhere, not even where I was born, and if you start to learn languages it gets more like this.... so the places belong to me; not me to those places.

@poramindove 3 ай бұрын

your identity maybe is a traveler.

@teacherrefat2259 7 жыл бұрын

It's never possible to travel from BaNGLDESH WITHOUT MONEY.SO STOP DOING IT.

@hamedhussain7562 6 жыл бұрын

How did he afford it for the last 10 years ? Trust fund or something??

@Jenny-oo5xk 5 жыл бұрын

Hamed Hussain As he said it wasn’t always easy, was homeless at some points, and a beggar but was determined. It may be difficult to imagine if you haven’t traveled but you can find work along the way, live below your means, have no rent to pay, aren’t spending $100 on a night out or on drinks, clothes to buy, don’t waste money on materialism, you’d be surprised how far you can go.

@MatthewRafat 4 жыл бұрын

Part of his travels were financed by a fundraiser on Indiegogo.

@MaeLeong 6 жыл бұрын

I don't find any inspiration from this gentleman at all. His obsession with finding his own identity is just too much. I doubt it was an excuse to escape the reality and to avoid from something he didn't want to do. His travel photos of himself display no philosophical element but just some adventures in foreign countries. He had spent 10 years on focusing on himself. What he needed to learn is to grow up and start to think about and care for others, our environment and the world.

@chiaracrispa 6 жыл бұрын

Kind of agree with you. I think that both elements are important. A period of focus on yourself is necessary when you don't know exactly who you are. And travelling may help you in this. But 10 years seem too much to me: it's a looong period, not weeks or months... After selfishness, I think you need to return to give others what you get, and care more for others.

@drfdwf392 5 жыл бұрын

Exactly. I'm curious how he was able to travel like that. Everyone who has money and desire can do all these things. His story itself isn't inspiring, but how he delivers his realizations are wonderful and valuable.

@krepperkrepper2489 5 жыл бұрын

@@chiaracrispa he was the power to change but you you stay home you go to work shopping and home that's a life tell me I'm 19 I travel for 2 years and it's the best choice of my life

@7saany 5 жыл бұрын

Ummmm bitter much?