A YouTuber embarked on a journey in September to see if he could survive using Bitcoin alone as payment while traveling to 40 different countries.
Speaking to Cointelegraph on Monday, YouTuber Paco De La India — or “Paco from India” — said that while Omicron’s proliferation changed his initial travel plans somewhat, he was still surprised at how many people accepted bitcoin (Bitcoin) in countries where crypto has been in a legal or regulatory gray area. Beginning his journey in the Indian city of Bengaluru, Paco sold his belongings in September 2021 and relied mostly on BTC donations to fund his journey – which has taken him through India, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Cambodia so far.
The YouTuber, who said he prefers to use non-custodial wallets and Lightning for BTC transactions, originally planned to visit 40 countries for 10 days each, but COVID restrictions had changed his itinerary somewhat. Paco is working on mandatory quarantines, many countries’ requirements for tourists to stay within their borders for at least 14 days, and the additional costs of polymerase chain reaction or PCR testing.
Paco speaks from Siem Reap, Cambodia
According to Paco, two people who carried out his COVID test in India for travel to the UAE accepted BTC instead of fiat rupees without hesitation. In addition, he was able to negotiate a PCR test with test-takers in Thailand in order to travel to Cambodia. The YouTuber attributed part of the reason for accepting crypto payments to officials being more concerned with verifying vaccination certificates than COVID testing.
“At the end of the day, it’s a piece of paper,” Paco said. “It’s just a piece of paper [for] the [there] cannot be checked under any circumstances. The only thing they are checking right now is the vaccine because of the QR code.”
Related: Cryptocurrency Adoption: How Can Crypto Transform the Travel Industry?
Although many countries have announced plans to do so verify the authenticity of the COVID-19 test results Using blockchain technology, there appears to be no international standard for immigration officials to recognize tests conducted in foreign countries. For example, travelers flying to the United States must take a rapid COVID test within 24 hours of arrival, but not all Health passport apps recommended of US airlines can recognize the QR codes provided by foreign verifiers.
In addition to the COVID testing, Paco said he was able to survive Bitcoin as a form of payment often by accident, never forced crypto on an unsuspecting party, and was surprised at how many random vendors were open to it. According to the YouTuber, he was forced to avoid most public transport in those four countries and use his debit card to fuel his bike, but was able to connect with more local people.
“Thailand is super crypto-friendly,” said Paco. “Cambodia is different [super friendly] Location. UAE it looks like it but I think it’s only between the richest people.”
He added:
“I changed my approach a lot. I’ve progressed more from talking to old people who’ve already lived their lives to young people who are really tech-savvy […] You are really curious [Bitcoin]. It’s always: They want to make money. Everyone just looks at bitcoin as a money maker.”
