That Jason & Stacey

That Jason & Stacey Hola! Welcome to our channel! ✨

We’re Jason and Stacey Marlene, a Deaf travel & lifestyle couple!

An Asian who grew up fearful 🐢 & a Latina who grew up putting others first before herself 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🗺️

🇻🇳🇨🇳🇺🇸
🇲🇽🇺🇸
🐕 Jason used to be shy and quiet, staying in his comfort zone until his 20s. Stacey Marlene, the oldest sibling in a Mexican-American family, grew up always putting others first before learning to choose herself. When we met, we connected over our shared experiences as children of immigrants and our dream to live life for ourselves. Together, we took an unconventional path, traveling the world, chasing new adventures, and creating a life of freedom and connection. We've recently rescued a Turkish semi-street trail dog 🇹🇷

On this channel, you’ll find us sharing:
🌱 Our personal growth and lifestyle
✨ Our cultures and identities
💙 Our relationship journey, including long-distance
🌍 Travel stories and tips
🐕 Our journey with our rescue dog

Come see the world through our eyes!

25/08/2026

this is unacceptable.

[Video Description: An Asian male, Jason, and a Latina, Stacey Marlene, is walking hand in hand on a city sidewalk.
Both appear to be in a casual, relaxed mood. The street is lined with tall buildings, and a few other people are walking in the background. The sky is overcast, and the overall scene has an urban feel. Text onscreen: "When you realized you haven't kissed him all day." Stacey made a facial expression as she realized. She stopped him in his tracks and he looked back at her. She looked at him and smiled. She grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to her to kiss him. He was taken back but hugged her awkwardly.
Jason is a black t-shirt, green pants, and white sneakers.
Stacey Marlene is wearing a black tank top, beige pants, and white sneakers.]

We were reported missing, got stranded in a snowstorm for 5 days, thinking that we’d died. And we just started a relatio...
23/08/2026

We were reported missing, got stranded in a snowstorm for 5 days, thinking that we’d died.

And we just started a relationship just two weeks before (Our relationship was a secret to almost everyone in our lives 🫠).

At 14 days into a relationship, you were supposed to be in the puppy love stage ~ where you’d naturally show your best side of yourselves first and be more hyper-aware of how you present to your new partner. As time passes, you slowly show the other sides of yourself, right? We really didn’t get that. With a life-or-death situation, it destroys the natural timeline of our new relationship. We were thrown into raw, unfiltered survival mode. Forced vulnerability. Tension. Our “good” mask drops. Romance was on a pause. And deep confessions.

When on survival mode and slowly realizing that we might die: We saw each other's realest, raw reactions to something terrifying before we'd even had the chance to agree on what we truly were. Because of that, we secretly also began to have doubts about each other that made us question our relationship and even think about breaking up if we were rescued.

After we were rescued on the 5th day, we were so emotionally overwhelmed with relief and gratefulness to have a second chance at life...and yet, we still secretly had a breakup in mind. Later, we sat together and had one of the deepest conversations in our lives that unexpectedly strengthened our bond. (yup, that’s part of trauma bonding)

We realized that we were no longer in love with the idealized versions of each other, but the truest, most flawed being of ourselves ~ it doesn’t mean it’s the end of our chapter, but the new beginning. Our experience was like a great slap on our face: we only have one fragile life, and how we’ve been living our lives based on societal and cultural pressures. So, we slowly started living the life that we want.

[Image Description: A close-up selfie of a man and a woman, Jason and Stacey Marlene (SM), bundled up in winter jackets. SM looks cold and made a sad and frustrated face, holding up a piece of paper with the word “HELP” torn out of it. Jason sits close beside her with a serious expression. Text reads: “We were dating 14 days when we almost died together (and ended up on the national news)"]

22/08/2026

Why she eat the thai chili sauce like it’s just a soup? 🌶️😦

[Video Description & Transcript: Stacey Marlene, in a white tank top with a black watch, is sitting at the wooden table, finishing her chili sauce in a small dipping bowl with a spoon. She nodded in satisfaction, and proceeded to grab another chili sauce bowl and eat it like it’s a soup. Text on screen in both English and Spanish: “Tell me you’re Mexican without telling me” / “Dime que eres Mexicana sin decirlo”]

21/08/2026

Why some men are like this? 🫪

I still love this man so much, just in case if that’s not clear. Still, at times, I don’t understand why he’s my emergency contact 😂

[Video description: “so THIS MAN is my emergency contact? 😵‍💫” Jason and Stacey Marlene are standing outside on a city sidewalk at night. Jason is holding a small portable fan, and her hair got stuck into the fan. While he attempts to remove her hair, her jaw dropped dramatically and squeezed her eyes as her pair were pulled out. He then walked away out frame, laughing. She continues to film herself, jaw dropped looking at her knotted hair. Camera then turns to Jason, and he says “Just take a shower and you’re good ☺️”. Camera switched back to her face up close with pursed lips and text appears “*the audacity of his*” “alright, alright” as she nods out of slight amusement. Camera then switches back to Jason who continues walking, smiling, snuck his tongue, and gave a peace gesture.]

19/08/2026

um SIR, we don’t ask that here! 😭💀

✨ For those who ask about being deaf and dancing to music ~ because we KNOW this is coming: Deafness isn’t all-or-nothing. It’s a spectrum. Only some Deaf people use assistive technology (hearing aids, cochlear implants, etc.), which works differently for everyone. Some deaf people hear some sounds or none at all, with or without assistive technology in various degrees. For example, in my case (Stacey Marlene), I can hear some music with hearing aids on but don’t have clarity of what is being said in music - regardless of either language (English or Spanish, unless I learn the lyrics)—and depend on feeling the beats of the music.

[Video Description and Transcript: Video titled, “Taking my Asian boyfriend to my Mexican family’s party.” An Asian male, Jason, and a Latina, Stacey Marlene, are both smiling and looking at the camera. They’re at her Mexican family’s party with Mexican music playing in the background, and they continue on dancing till late at night. Stacey Marlene: Latinos, you would not believe what he just asked me. He asked, What time does this party finish? We, Latinos, don’t ever ask that!]

13/08/2026

A little gestures like this ❤️‍🩹

[Video Description: “Met a man who understands the smallest acts of love matters too (face holding back tears emoji )”. Video starts with an unclose selfie on Stacey Marlene’s face who’s looking happy and a little emotional with slightly squinted eyes and the corners of her mouth turned up like she is holding back a bigger smile. She’s wearing gold hoop earrings, subtle eyeliner with a small wing, and a black top with a thin, simple necklace. Video turns to Jason who’s walking down a city sidewalk holding two drinks. Text appears says, “*I got you Hojicha, babe! ☺️*”. He smiles once he spotted her and handed over her drink. He signed, “Look how roasty it is! It looks delicious!”. He’s wearing a blue noragi, a traditional Japanese work jacket, over his beige T-shirt and loose tan pants.]

11/08/2026

So we continue traveling in silence? 🤨

🙃 For real, no one talk about it sucks to have argument in a beautiful scenery like this and how we had to walk around in silence in annoyance and frustration while attempting to enjoy the beauty before our eyes.

We, of course, soon reconcile and went back to normal 🤪

[Video Description: on-screen text says, “you’re mad at each other but you’re stuck on vacation together 😒”. A mixed-race/cultural couple, Jason and Stacey Marlene, are standing outdoors near a rocky coastline with the ocean in the background. They are facing each other, both with annoyed expressions, and looking away from each other. They’re both in silence, not saying anything. Behind them, dark volcanic-looking rocks extend toward the water, with small pools of clear turquoise water between the rocks, and calm blue ocean and a light blue sky above.]

For real, many people think there's something wrong with us. We're two Deaf kids (Asian & Latina) from immigrant familie...
09/08/2026

For real, many people think there's something wrong with us. We're two Deaf kids (Asian & Latina) from immigrant families who later realized this was our only life to live, so we stopped doing what everyone else expected of us.

🙋🏻‍♂️ Jason Hoang: Vietnamese/Chinese-American, born and raised in New York City, Virgo, introvert, neurotypical, rejected his Asian and Deaf identity until his late 20s.

🙋🏻‍♀️ Stacey Marlene Valle: Mexican-American, born and raised in Los Ángeles, Leo, ambivert, ADHDer, embraced her Latin and Deaf identity since as a child.

👫 We’re so different, yet so alike. Somehow, we make complete sense to each other?

We grew up knowing exactly how life was supposed to go: Graduate. Work. Marry. Kids. Retire. Travel. And then, die. For a lot of people, that life is everything, and it genuinely is. It just wasn't the life we wanted for ourselves (especially not in that order...and yes, it's a privilege). We really don't think anyone should feel like it's the only acceptable way to exist. Nobody's path should be the only path to live a life.

We had been living our lives for others' expectations. After a near-death experience together, we realize that we only have one life and should start living for ourselves. We recently rescued a semi-street dog from Türkiye. And our families had a lot of feelings about that.

That doesn't mean we stopped caring what our parents think. We probably always will in some ways. We just stopped waiting for permission to actually live that we've been wanting. Being Deaf, we also get a lot of doubts in our abilities. So, in more ways than one, we navigate the world differently. And we've learned that living differently doesn't make us any less. 🫶🏼

[Image Description: Jason and Stacey stand together smiling in front of a large wall of stacked traditional Japanese sake barrels decorated with Japanese calligraphy, likely at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. Jason is wearing a light gray jacket and Stacey is wearing a black top with a multicolored striped wrap. Text overlays read: “Most people think we’re doing it wrong. Almost 10 years together. In our 30s. We’re unmarried. No kids. Slow traveling long-term. Living abroad more than twice.”]

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