Buddy The Traveling Monkey Interview with the Hungry Partier

An Interview With The Hungry Partier

Drew is obsessed with creating maximal amounts of fun around the world – 53 countries since 2012 to be exact.

 

After teaching in Korea, how did you decide what other countries and cities you wanted to visit in Asia?

I always ask people and look for their recommendations.  Or basically anything that peaks my interest, I will do some further investigation online and then simply buy a plane ticket!

The more I travel, the more that I become familiar with the world and the more I realize which things I’m interested in seeing.

 

Which was your favorite and least favorite city is Asia?

 

My favorite city in Asia is Seoul.  I know that I’m biased, because I lived and taught English there for 18 months, but really it is just the best!  The people, culture, food, and especially nightlife are unparalleled to the rest of Asia and the world.

Buddy The Traveling Monkey Interview with the Hungry Partier

 

My least favorite was Brunei.  It’s a tiny country on Borneo Island, sandwiched in between Malaysia and Indonesia.  I didn’t like it because there was NOTHING to do, and the laws were too strict because it’s a complete Muslim country (like no buying or consuming booze).   I don’t know why I decided to go there, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

 

What was your favorite and least favorite meal in Asia?

 Ahhh this is a tough question!  I would have to say Din Tai Fung in Taipei. They are famous for their incredible soup-filled dumplings that are made to perfection!

My least favorite meal was dog soup in Korea.  I know, I know, many of you are going to scream at me for even doing it.  But I am a big fan of trying anything and everything, but dog meat was just disgusting.

 

Which social media network is your favorite right now and why?

Snapchat!  It is a very new platform and I’m trying to jump on it and build a following before it becomes too mainstream.  It’s really cool because I can share photos and videos of what I am doing LIVE on a day to day basis.

I have already gotten a few thousand followers in the last month, and I’m spending a lot of time to grow it even more!

If you need any help on how to build a following on Snapchat, then see this blog post that I wrote 🙂

Buddy The Traveling Monkey Interview with the Hungry Partier

 

 

I know you’re a sports fan! Was it hard to keep up with your favorite sports teams while you were abroad?

 Yes I LOVE sports.  And yes, this is one of the most difficult things for me when I travel.  I am a huge fan of my college – The University of Wisconsin-Madison, and we made it to the championship in college basketball for the first time in 70 years!  I managed to watch the game on my laptop at 3AM in Jaisalmer, India, but it just wasn’t the same.

But in the end, I love to travel so much that I must make simple sacrifices like watching sports and hanging out with my best friends and family.

 

Your hair color gets you a lot of attention. Have you ever thought of changing it and if you did, what color would you pick and why?

Nope, I would never change my hair color.   It is what makes me unique, and I will rock it for as long as I live 🙂

 

You survived a deadly bus crash in India and three weeks later you missed the devastating Nepal earthquake by an hour. How have your family and friends reacted? Are they trying to convince you to stay home?

Yes, that was so crazy.  I think that I am still a bit traumatized from these 2 near death experiences, so I have just been relaxing at home and doing nothing.

Buddy The Traveling Monkey Interview with the Hungry Partier

 

Of course, my parents were not too happy and my mom always asks me to live at home and stop traveling.  But that is totally understandable, and I’d probably do the same if my kid almost died twice in India.

My friends aren’t really convincing me to stop traveling, because they enjoy watching me globetrot around the world.

 

What’s your next big adventure?

I just bought a one-way ticket to Europe on July 3rd! I plan on spending about 3.5 months there, traveling overland by train from the UK to Romania.

I lived and studied abroad in Prague for 6 months in 2012, and I had the opportunity o travel to about 20 countries during that semester.  So this time, I am trying to hit up all the countries that I haven’t been to in Europe (about 20 more).

And after Europe, I will most likely return to Asia. It’s going to be awesome!

 

What is your best travel tip for the average person?

 Make as many local friends as you can. 

If you think that you know it all when you are in a foreign place, then you are just stupid.  Make local friends to show you around their city, culture, and food.  They will take you to the best places that you have never even heard of.  They can help you understand the culture better, and you will have a MUCH better experience in a city with locals.

And you never know, some of them will turn out to be your best friends!  I still keep in touch with dozens of locals who I met while abroad.

 

Did you have a favorite stuffed animal when you were a kid?

Haha I was waiting for this question!!

And unfortunately, my answer is no.  I wish that I had a cool monkey like you have!

But I love yours because it makes you unique and memorable.  Keep rocking it all around the world 😀

 

Thanks for the interview!  If anyone has any travel questions or just want to say hello, then don’t hesitate to contact me! And let me know if you want to meet up in Europe this summer!

 

Buddy The Traveling Monkey Interview with the Hungry Partier

Drew blogs about everything on The Hungry Partier, and loves meeting new people so contact him to say hello!

TwitterInstagramFacebook, and Snapchat – @drewbinsky

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20 Comments

  1. Thanks so much for featuring me on your blog! It looks great 🙂

    1. Me too Jennifer! Hopefully Thailand in November 🙂

  2. The Hungry Partier! Love the name. I too am a big fan of trying everything and a “when in Rome” philosophy, but I don’t know if I could eat dog… they’re just too cute!

    1. I’m not sure either, even though I did just eat cuy (guinea pig) in Peru…

  3. I haven’t used Snapchat. I think it’s time I get on it.

  4. I enjoyed learning what Drew has been up to since the two experiences in India and Nepal. Perhaps our paths will cross this summer, as we’ll be on quite a few trains in the Balkans as well. 🙂

  5. Lovely! It’s always good to see fellow travellers enjoying themselves. TEFL in South Korea sounds like a great experience – I loved TEFL in China. And I totally know what he’s on about in regards to the hair being a red head myself!

  6. Great interview! He sounds like an awesome guy! Very scary ordeals he had to go through in India! Glad to know that he was okay.

    I also have always wanted to teach abroad in South Korea!

    1. It seems like a really great way to immerse yourself in a culture.

  7. What a great interview AND interviewee! The questions are just perfect. Im preparing to do an interview and have trouble thinking of awesome questions, these have inspired a couple! on to check out Snapchat!

  8. WOW, 53 countries in 3 years! So far, I’ve only covered 15 countries in 24 years, haha. Have a long way to go!
    Good interview!

  9. Ah to be young and carefree again. Drew sounds like a pretty great travel companion. Totally agree with his advice about finding local friends. So great to get tips from real live people who know the area, rather than relying on advice left by a tourist on some travel website.

  10. Traveling – by its unpredictable nature – has a lot of ups and downs. You are thrown into stressful situations, exposure to unsanitary foods and bacteria and put in situations that are out of your comfort zone.

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