Where I've Been

Jun 9

Last August, I had an amicable parting of ways with a job that I loved.

I've always planned to travel the world before starting a family, but I thought it would be under different circumstances, like a company exit or BTC to the moon... lol.

By the end of August, I flew to Poland and took the 10+ hour train ride to Kyiv, Ukraine. The primary purpose of the trip was to meet Iryna’s family; however, I ended up also spending some time with friends and Ukrainian startup founders while I was there.

In mid-September, I went up to Newcastle to meet my cousins (my mom’s 4th brother’s eldest daughter). It was the first time I met four little ones and my cousin’s husband. The week there flew by, and I enjoyed being Uncle Jermaine, doing mundane tasks like walking them to school, feeding them, etc.

Iryna and I reunited in Zurich and eventually made our way to Munich for Oktoberfest. The first day was spent with friends, and the second day was with USC Alumni from all over Europe. I’m not a beer drinker, but this was one heck of an event - I’d recommend it.

I spent a week in Prague to meet with a few venture capital friends and hang out with more tech people before going to Vienna, where Iryna officially lives. It was the most “normal” relationship week we’ve ever had: she stayed in her flat, and I stayed in my hotel; we did date nights and met up for coffee during the day, and had movie nights and sleepovers.

October started with a quick trip to Sweden - actually, that quick trip turned into a longer one as we both changed our flights to attend my friend’s product launch. My friend is/was serving as the Croatian ambassador to Sweden, and we had a great time dining with all the EU ambassadors based in Sweden.

I made it home just in time for Mom and Jerome’s birthdays in mid and late October, before taking off again to Denver to help move my youngest brother, Jerrick, home. He was living in Denver for a coding bootcamp. At the conclusion of it, we drove from Denver to Las Vegas, and from Las Vegas back to LA.

I turned 33 surrounded by loved ones. I feel so blessed by all the kind people in my life. Thank you.

After my birthday party, I flew to Zurich with Jerrick, and then three days later met up with my parents in Dublin. It was the start of a long-overdue family trip. The whole family flew over to the UK to see my cousin in Newcastle, and then we road-tripped through the country and ended up in London.

Cydney and Jerome had to go back to work & school, but the rest of us carried on and went to Paris. I’ve been to Paris many times, but it was the first time with my parents. We spent a week walking around, eating, and working remotely at WeWork. Then, we went to Amsterdam for the weekend, followed by Berlin for a week. I got to show my parents the cafes that I went to, the places I’ve been on dates, and they got to meet my local friends from each city.

On Dec 10, my parents went back to LA, and I flew to Kuala Lumpur to take care of my grandma. She was a trooper - we exercised almost every morning and “co-worked” at cafes in the afternoons. I learned more about where I came from and the stories about her life that she can remember. We also spent some time in the hospital.

I flew to Tokyo just in time to ring in the New Year with Iryna. Admittedly, I didn’t have the best perception of Japan prior, but it was nice. Since Iryna was there for work, I spent my days in WeWork and occasionally fulfilled my Instagram Boyfriend duties - i.e. filmed her interviews and trainings.

Then, I went to Taiwan for a week. It was one of the best stops on my trip. I love the food, the music, the people, and the city, Taipei. I met up with manufacturers in the EV and chip space, caught up with some logistics partners, attended a Rotary meeting, hung out with friends, and even had lunch with my mom’s college friend. I can’t wait to be back.

Iryna and I met up again in Kuala Lumpur for Chinese New Year. It was my first Chinese New Year in Malaysia since 17 years ago. We got to partake in some of the festivities and saw lots of family and friends. It was her turn to see “my culture,” and it made me realize one of the most beautiful things about our cross-cultural relationship is that we get to be thoughtful about all the little things that we would otherwise take for granted.

For Valentine's Day, we went to Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand for 5 days. Then we went to Bangkok where she had a business etiquette training.

After traveling non-stop for months, we both were excited to settle down in Da Nang, Vietnam. We signed a one-month lease by the beach in the expat community of My An, where one of my best friends, Samy, lives. While there, we had a community of nomadic friends and got to focus on building up some personal and business projects. I even got to help Samy plan his proposal to now-fiancé Emma :)

Chinese New Year, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Ever since the early days of our relationship, we both agreed that we wanted to go to India for Holi, and so we did. We flew into Delhi days before Holi and took a 5-hour Uber to Jaipur. The trip was challenging due to air, food, and water quality. We wanted to be travelers and not tourists, so we did not book organized tours. Our entire trip was self-planned and guided. In India, it wasn’t as easy, but we made it work. Holi was amazing, the Taj Mahal was everything I expected it to be, and Delhi.. well, it’s one of the most populous and polluted places in the world. Iryna survived 11 days of congestion, coughing, and mild fever, and I survived taking care of her while getting food poisoning myself. We definitely became better travelers because of India.

Following a hectic trip in India, we arrived in Nepal desperate for rest. Luckily, the Kathmandu air was cleaner, and we were able to breathe normally. We spent a few days in the capital and then went to Lumbini, Buddha’s birthplace. We also met some awesome Rotaractors who took us to a Monastery in the mountains. Among them was a former monk who explained to us many of the nuances (Thanks, Santosh!). Iryna spoke at the local Rotaract club, and then we flew back to Malaysia.

After some time catching up with chores (laundry, haircut, etc.), Iryna and I flew to the east coast of Malaysia and spent 11 days apart without phones/internet. We had two very different experiences. I mostly stayed at a Hyatt Regency by the beach with the goal of doing deep work, meditating, journaling, and exercising. I came out of the experience feeling very refreshed with a sense of clarity of what is next.

For the next two weeks in Kuala Lumpur, I stayed with my grandma while Iryna stayed at a nearby Airbnb. At this point, my grandma had gotten used to having me around. Again, I took her to the hospital, and she accompanied me to the gym and coffee shops throughout the week.

I’ve always wanted to visit Bali, the original digital nomad hub. Instead of actually living like a local, we ended up jumping between hotels in different parts of Bali. Our time there was 50/50 work and travel. Some days we chased waterfalls and visited temples, while other days we spent all day in the hotel room or by the pool on our computers.

We returned to KL for a week to hang out with my dad (he came over to take care of my grandma) and repacked our entire lives, with luggage going to LA, New York, and Europe. Originally, I was going to fly from KL to New York, but since Iryna had to be in Singapore, I wanted to check one more thing off my bucket list: Marina Bay Sands. So I flew down to Singapore with her to experience the iconic world’s largest infinity pool and then proceeded to travel 36 hours from SIN - KUL - DOH - JFK - Pennsylvania for my best friend’s wedding.

I spent a week in NYC catching up with friends, and now I’m back in LA for the most part.

Throughout the past 8 months, I maintained a ~10-hour/week workflow on consulting, advising, and investing. The rest of the time was spent helping out with Iryna’s projects and the family business.

Onward.

Jermaine Ee

Where I've Been

Vicky, my brother, and a refugee camp

A Note to Myself