The Funny Travel Stories Podcast · Yi Ping Bao

A Romantic Travel Surprise… at a Military Base | Sam Liu

February 10, 2026·29 min

Yiping Bao opens by asking Sam Liu to introduce himself and his work. Sam says he runs a program in West London called TechStart. He explains that it helps young people find opportunities in tech, supports their studies, gives them jobs, and takes them around the world so they can see how big the world is and what opportunities are out there. The conversation turns to travel, and Sam says the funny moments are often what make a trip worth remembering. He talks about the awkward things that can happen when you are somewhere for the first time or speaking another language, and says those moments can be even funnier when they catch you off guard. One memory takes him to mainland China. He describes being in Tiananmen Square in Beijing when two military police officers came up to him because he was behaving and dressing a little differently. Sam laughs about how people read him as not quite fitting the expected picture. The talk widens into identity and how people from Taiwan, mainland China, Hong Kong, and the UK can carry different assumptions. Sam says he believes there is a lot people can do to uplift each other. He recalls growing up around a Hong Kong church and being teased by Hong Kong boys who said he was from the mainland, before those tensions softened into friendship. That history helped Hong Kong feel familiar when he later set up his company there. He also mentions old church potlucks and Hong Kong-style food that still bring him back to childhood. The episode closes with a mention of a romantic surprise and some unexpected travel moments with young people and his best friend. The overall feeling is warm, reflective, and lightly funny, with a clear sense that travel can carry memory, identity, and care for the next generation in the same bag.

As heard by us

Travel humor, identity memories, and a romantic surprise give this conversation a warm finish.

Sam Liu's conversation treats travel as a way of noticing difference and finding connection. It moves through being Taiwanese by birth, a tense question from military police in Beijing, and Hong Kong church memories that still sit close to home.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for Sam Liu's Beijing, Hong Kong, and surprise-filled travel stories.

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