A fellow nomad told me to ditch my noise cancelling headphones for two weeks straight

Has anyone else found that noise cancelling actually isolates you from opportunities in new cities?

3 comments

3 Comments

Oh man, I actually did this EXACT thing on accident when my headphones broke in Bangkok. The first few days were ROUGH, I felt super exposed to all the street noise. BUT I started catching so many little conversations about food stalls and local hangouts that I never would have heard otherwise. Ended up finding this hidden rooftop bar just because a stranger asked me for directions while I was standing there like an idiot.

joseph_roberts3d ago

Bet you noticed which spots actually take cash or card too.

wesley_thompson2d ago

Wait wait wait, your headphones just BROKE in Bangkok and you didn't immediately panic-buy a replacement pair from the nearest 7-Eleven? That's wild to me. I feel like I would've been so lost without them, especially in a place that loud and chaotic. But the stranger asking for directions thing really got me - I've always avoided eye contact with people on the street because I'm buried in my headphones, so I've probably missed so many random encounters like that. Now I'm wondering how many times someone tried to ask me something and I just walked past them thinking they were talking to someone else.