The Best of Ride With Gabi
Highlights from my favorite travel guru
When I was planning my trip to India last year, I started watching a wide range of Indian travel videos. Almost all of my favorites were made by the YouTuber known as “Ride with Gabi.” Since I’ve been unable to persuade him to do a podcast with me, I’m just going to share my favorite RwG videos with a little commentary.
In case you haven’t heard, Gabi is an Italian national who travels the world. He’s an adventure tourist, though not frighteningly so. And his perspective is deeply Epicurean. He loves travel because he (a) takes joy in other human beings, and (b) keeps his expectations so low that reality almost always exceeds them.
The Golden Temple of Amritsar
While I’d vaguely heard about the Vatican of the Sikhs, it was Gabi’s video that convinced me I should go. Beautiful and fun.
Is the Taj Mahal Worth a Visit?
I knew I’d be going to see the Taj Mahal in Agra with the Mont Pelerin Society, but after watching Gabi’s video, I was even more excited to go.
Inside the Biggest Slum in India
Unlike Alex Tabarrok, I wouldn’t enjoy visiting a slum. My ability to forecast my reactions to unfamiliar experiences is sky-high, and I have visited a few slums by accident. (Including one in Delhi when I was suit-shopping). As a social scientist, I know a slum visit would provide plenty of useful data, but this video is a close substitute for first-hand experience.
Brutal 16-Hour Train Ride
As you may have heard, comedy is tragedy plus time. This video about Gabi’s miserable train journey with his motorcycle is incredibly entertaining — and shows how a real-life Epicurean copes with a litany of minor woes.
Why I Left Italy
Last but not least, I enthusiastically recommend Gabi’s “Why I Left Italy.” It’s less than 9 minutes long, and almost perfectly overlaps with three of my favorite themes: the evils of European labor market regulation, the value of non-conformity, and why you should stop following the news. An Epicurean tour de force!
P.S. If you see this, Gabi, I’d still love to interview you!
That Mumbai slum tour is fascinating. I always like to see the gritty stuff. ie my wife and I spent a week in LA, first stop walk around Skid Row. Every city ask locals "where do you NOT recommend" "where are the famous crime/riot scenes". I haven't left western hemisphere, but north St. Louis still the most desolate slum I've been in.
Who pays for the food to feed all those people?
And why is this economic system self-sustaining? And does this show that "and give to those who can't" works? Marx was right all along?