Our latest video begins a new chapter for ExploreTraveler. After exploring Malaysia and discovering favorite foods around the world, we’re bringing those flavors home to the USA.
We’re beginning the journey of building a farm and ranch where we can grow herbs and vegetables, raise livestock, and recreate the dishes we’ve come to love—from fragrant curries to lamb, goat, and high-quality beef.
Follow along as we find our land, build, plant, and cook. The foods and experiences that inspired our travels will now help shape what we grow and raise here at home.
Watch our new chapter
Bringing our international food journey home
In this update, I explain why our travels are beginning to take a different direction. We have explored places around the world and found food ideas we want to bring home to the United States. The next step is to look for property where we can grow some of those ingredients, raise animals, and build what I describe in the video as our international dream at home.
This is an introduction to the project, not a tour of an established farm. The plan includes mutton, goat curry, spices, and other ingredients inspired by our journeys. I want to use what we learned while traveling and combine it with the practical work of finding a suitable place. You will see the preparation and the decisions as we go.
What I want to show while we look for land
The property search itself is part of the series. I talk about looking at houses with land, land without houses, and leased property that could give us access to agricultural land and infrastructure. These are different routes to investigate. The video does not announce that we have bought a property or signed a lease.
I also describe wanting to inspect land before and after rain, look at floodplains, and understand ponds through different seasons. Those are useful questions for the place we eventually choose. A pond seen on one visit does not tell the whole story about water through summer and winter, and attractive acreage is only part of deciding whether a property suits the project.
Grazing land for sheep and goats is on the list, with Wagyu cattle mentioned as a possibility. That remains an idea to evaluate rather than a livestock purchase announcement. The land, infrastructure, and work required will shape what we can realistically start with. The series will follow those decisions instead of jumping straight from a food idea to a finished operation.
A warm climate, with planting choices still to work out
I describe looking toward a warm, humid, subtropical part of the United States with a long growing season. In this announcement I deliberately do not name the location. The important point is what we hope the setting will make possible for growing food, while recognizing that individual plants still have their own needs.
Rhubarb comes up as one example of a plant I am interested in and unsure about. I speculate about chilling roots and replanting, but say we will have to see how that goes. That is an idea raised in the video, not an established growing method or a promise that rhubarb will thrive on the future site. Plant selection and local growing advice will need to follow the actual conditions.
The same distinction applies to the curry ingredients. I say openly that I am not certain we can grow everything needed for a good curry. We want to try, learn, and share the results. Growing some ingredients ourselves and buying others can still be part of bringing those flavors into everyday cooking.
Why Malaysia inspired an interest in growing tea
One specific connection in the video is Malaysia’s tea-growing landscape. I mention BOH Tea in the highlands as an example behind our interest in growing tea at home. The ambition is to have enough for our own use and potentially share or sell some to others, rather than announce a commercial tea farm already in operation.
That inspiration does not establish that a Malaysian growing model will transfer directly to our future property. It explains where the idea comes from. Whether tea belongs in our planting plan will depend on the site and what we learn. This is the kind of connection I want to explore throughout the series: a real food experience abroad leading to a practical question at home.
Our existing Penang stories offer more of that background. The fruit plate at a Penang fruit farm and traditional aged vinegar are separate food experiences in our archive. They complement this new direction; they are not scenes from the announcement video or evidence that we have reproduced those products ourselves.
Your experience is part of the conversation
I invite viewers to suggest plants, seeds, and animals we should consider while evaluating properties. We do not have every answer. People who already grow an ingredient, keep a particular animal, or work with similar conditions may raise questions that help us make better decisions. I want that exchange to remain part of the project.
I also explain why there had been a gap in posting: I was not sure what direction we would take and did not feel ready to share it. This update is the point where I begin describing that direction more openly. I mention possibly trying live streams from property visits, but that is something to explore, not a confirmed broadcast schedule.
The first practical follow-up: sheep fencing
The next preparation episode visits Tractor Supply to look at temporary electric fencing, gates, and related equipment. It takes one of the livestock ideas from this announcement and turns it into specific questions about infrastructure. You can follow that step in Mutton Curry Starts Here! Sheep Fencing at Tractor Supply Store.
Travel remains the starting point for this story. The new chapter asks how to bring those international culinary interests into a place at home, through growing, raising, and cooking. Follow the videos and articles together, and share the practical experiences you think we should consider along the way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have we selected and purchased the farm?
This update introduces a search involving purchases and possible leases. It does not announce a completed property transaction or an operating visitor destination.
Why do tea and BOH Tea appear in the discussion?
I use Malaysia’s highland tea growing as inspiration for exploring tea plants at home. It is a goal to investigate, not a claim that our site or production system is already proven.
Will the series include property inspections?
That is the intention described in the video: looking at properties, floodplains, rain conditions, ponds, grazing land, and agricultural infrastructure as part of choosing a suitable place.
How can viewers contribute?
Suggest plants, seeds, animals, or practical considerations in the video comments. I invite that experience as input while the plans are still developing.
Last updated October 14, 2026 (Central time): expanded the companion article and added supporting context and reader questions. Original video and publication date preserved.
From inspiration to preparation
Finding land, building the farm and raising livestock are goals we are working toward. We will share the preparation alongside the food and travel experiences that inspired it.
Our next planning visit looks at electric fencing for a future flock: Mutton Curry Starts Here! Sheep Fencing at Tractor Supply Store.
Watch the original video on our official Exploretraveler YouTube channel.
Continue exploring Malaysia
See more of the food adventures that inspired this next chapter:
Planning your own trip? View the website edition details for John Gentry’s Discover Malaysia guide. The direct download is being prepared. Meanwhile, explore our free planning guides.
Keep exploring Malaysia
Discover Malaysia
Pair this story with John Gentry’s Discover Malaysia travel guide. Ebook language: English.
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