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Digital Nomad Reality Check: Lies, Loneliness, Car Crashes & the Truth About 'Living the Dream' · Babes, how did you get here

• 0:00
  Janelle Brown left the UK for a two week vacation to Thailand, arriving on Christmas day.
• 0:06
  But that was seven months ago and somehow she's still here living in Puket.
• 0:10
  She's a digital nomad, content creator and coach who says that she always knew that she'd
• 0:15
  been living this fabulous life on her own terms. However, she loves to use her platform to talk
• 0:21
  about the truth behind living across the world away from family, friends and the life that you
• 0:26
  want new. Today, we're going to be talking about her soft life strategy, business and what it
• 0:31
  truly takes to build a life beyond the algorithm. Janelle, before we spill the tea babes, I have to ask,
• 0:38
  how did you get here? How did I get to Puket? Yes. With Emirates?
• 0:46
  I love me some Emirates babes. Yeah, 100%. I actually came in 2023 the first time and I don't know
• 0:55
  what brought me here. I just had my intuition told me to book a flight. So I booked a one way
• 1:00
  flight and that was the start of this journey. So that was 2023. Yes. And you were here for a
• 1:05
  whole long then? I was here for three months. And then you went? And then I went back home.
• 1:09
  Okay. And the whole time that I was at home, I wanted to be back in Thailand. Really? Yeah.
• 1:14
  And that was your first trip ever? Yes. Okay, can you tell me when you first arrived in Puket,
• 1:20
  what was it that gave you the vibe that I could live here? I am not too sure because I can't
• 1:27
  explain the feeling. And I think that for a lot of people, you just go somewhere and you're like,
• 1:33
  this is it. That's what I think happens. And that's what happened for me. But okay babes,
• 1:38
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• 1:43
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• 1:48
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• 1:56
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• 2:01
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• 2:06
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• 2:12
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• 2:18
  like a CEO. Another part of it is the Thai people. They are the most welcoming, friendly,
• 2:24
  nicest people. They've got such a sense of community and they're just willing to help. And I think
• 2:29
  when you're surrounded by people like that, it just makes you want to stay in the place.
• 2:35
  Sure. So you fast forward and you're coming here for just for Christmas holiday?
• 2:39
  Yes. And then why are you still here babes?
• 2:45
  So I think, so I landed on Christmas Day. I do have some family that live in Peket as well.
• 2:50
  Oh, you do. I do have a cousin that lives here. But I see him just as much as I would if I was in
• 2:54
  England. Because you know what it's like, we live down the road, but I only probably see him one
• 2:57
  sort twice a month. So I landed on Christmas Day. There was other family members here.
• 3:03
  And I just came out of freezing cold England. I was ill. You know, I got here and I was like,
• 3:08
  yeah, I'm not going back. I'm not going back. Five days later, I found an apartment and then
• 3:14
  literally about two weeks after that I moved in. Really? So what were you leaving behind in the UK?
• 3:23
  So I just got out of a relationship, which is the reason why I came back in 2023. And then we were
• 3:29
  together for two years and we broke up in November. So I think that another reason for me to stay was
• 3:35
  because I kind of didn't have any ties. Sure. I'd literally given up my house. Yeah, there was
• 3:41
  nothing really. I've got, I mean, family, friends and my dog is what I'm leaving behind. But in a
• 3:47
  sense of business and stuff, you know, that comes wherever I am. So do you think that that breakup
• 3:53
  was the catalyst for you to be like, let me just change up the scenery? 100% because the whole time
• 3:58
  that was in that relationship, I really wanted to move back to Thailand. But because his business and
• 4:03
  the things that were happening had to, he had to remain in the UK and, you know, that was a decision
• 4:08
  that was made at that point. So when that relationship broke down, it was like, okay, I'm free. You know,
• 4:13
  it's time to start a new life. What do I want to do? Where do I want to go? And I think that sense of
• 4:18
  freedom was just like, okay, stay here and start to build something. And when you say that five days
• 4:24
  later, you find somewhere to live. My immediate thing is like, my girl, are you not like needing to
• 4:30
  put more time and thought into this decision? Or is this just like your vibe? You're quite
• 4:35
  impressive. Yeah, this is my personality. Okay. If I say I'm going to do something, I just do it.
• 4:39
  Right. And yeah, I was just like, what's the worst that can happen? And I think this is like the
• 4:46
  advice that I always give to people when they're thinking about moving abroad or starting a business
• 4:50
  or just what's the worst that can happen? If anything just happened, you can go back. Right.
• 4:55
  Your country is still going to be there. Your friends and family is still going to be there.
• 5:00
  But yeah, I think a lot of the time, you just have to make a decision and go with it. You can
• 5:04
  always change your mind, but success love speed. So just make a decision and go with it.
• 5:10
  And business wise, because you speak a lot about your online business. How long did you have
• 5:15
  this before you were in Thailand? I've actually been doing marketing. So my business is that I do
• 5:21
  social media marketing for businesses. Okay. I've actually been doing that since 2019. Okay. So I
• 5:26
  quit my job in 2019 again, a risk taking decision. And I moved to Ibiza. So I quit my job,
• 5:34
  had no backup plan. Just quit, moved to Ibiza. And that's when that marketing side started. Okay.
• 5:42
  So it's actually been a long time. It's not I didn't just, you know, start this business
• 5:46
  and six weeks later move. I did have, you know, quite a solid foundation. So when you moved to Ibiza,
• 5:51
  you had plans to set up this business, or that was just another holiday that turned into an extended
• 5:57
  thing. Well, actually, I do have my family were living in Ibiza. So I actually went out there
• 6:03
  just to give it a go and see what happened. That actually didn't work out. Okay. Why? Because I was
• 6:09
  23 living in Ibiza, trying to build a business and the party and took over. I was like, who
• 6:17
  was a business when there's a beach club? So that didn't work out. Okay. And that was my first
• 6:22
  stint of being a digital nomad. Okay. I actually came back from Ibiza with zero money and zero
• 6:28
  clients, but memories, but memories. And also, you know, took the risk. It didn't work out,
• 6:34
  just as some rest don't, you know, sometimes you do things and it works out great. Sometimes
• 6:37
  you do things it doesn't. Do you think that because you had already had that experience,
• 6:40
  it made your tie experience a lot better and more successful? Definitely. I think that
• 6:47
  because I'd had that experience and I realized actually my focus wasn't in the right place.
• 6:51
  I had no discipline. I wasn't really concentrating. So now coming over to Thailand was a completely
• 6:57
  different experience. I was like, okay, I need to work first work. Then play. Sure. For a lot of people
• 7:03
  are considering moving abroad, not necessarily to Thailand, but anywhere. Money and finances
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  probably like a top of the list, right? And I think the fact that you have been able to build a
• 7:12
  business is really incredible because it gives people the inspiration that actually it can be done.
• 7:17
  Did you have any experience in social media marketing? You said you left your nine to five. I don't
• 7:22
  know. Was there a connection between your job and your business? So I, the reason I got into
• 7:28
  marketing is because I lied on my CV. Okay. We love a little judge, babe. Not condoning
• 7:36
  life in, but at the same time, sometimes you just got to get where you need to be. So I was
• 7:39
  actually at university, I was studying events management and I was in my final year and I found a
• 7:44
  job on indeed that looked amazing, but I didn't have any marketing experience. But you know,
• 7:49
  at the time, I think I was 20, I was on social media. I kind of knew a little bit about it.
• 7:54
  So I lied on my CV and said that I did like a sting with, I think it was like a friend's business
• 7:59
  or something. Sure. And then I went to work with that company. They gave me full training
• 8:05
  and as part of, as part of the package. And so then I did learn a little bit from there. But
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  social media marketing is something that you can just pick up there. All of these online
• 8:14
  businesses that you see people do in, you can teach yourself if you want to. There's a lot of
• 8:18
  information out there. You come to Thailand, you get your lease and you're like, right,
• 8:23
  how long does it take to go from that honeymoon vacation period to this is actually now
• 8:29
  real living? I don't know whether I'm still in reality. Yeah. Yeah. I just think that I always say
• 8:36
  Thailand's not a real place. Like I say this to my friends, my friends have now visited and they're
• 8:40
  like, this is not a real place because it just still feel like a holiday. You know, it doesn't,
• 8:45
  I think that when you're not working, you're not having the routine of like a nine to five,
• 8:52
  I can choose whatever I want to do. I don't think it seems like how I would if I would be living
• 8:57
  in England. Okay. You know. But the reality sets in, I think when you are missing your friends
• 9:02
  and family and when things go wrong. And then you're like, I'm on the other side of the world.
• 9:08
  I'm not just down the road. Sure. Has anything gone wrong yet? Yes. Really? And you tell me,
• 9:14
  what's been going on, babes? I mean, okay, two sides, right? Business and personal. So
• 9:20
  I had a car crash on Thursday. Literally. Literally. Thursday just gone. Thursday just gone. Okay.
• 9:26
  Nobody was injured. Okay. You know, we were fine. But in that moment, the whole front of the car
• 9:32
  came off and I was just like, oh my god. And of course, like it's a big shock. Sure. And I just had
• 9:37
  a breakdown at the side of the road and I was like, oh my god. And in that moment, you just want
• 9:41
  your friends, you want your family, you want your people, you know, and obviously I rang my mom
• 9:47
  and it was great to have her on the other side of the phone. But the reality is that you've got
• 9:53
  to deal with this by yourself. And I think business wise, yeah, I just, I literally last month lost
• 10:01
  one of my biggest clients. Oh no. Just because this is what happens, you know, people side in a
• 10:05
  contract with you, but when that contract's up for reviews, they have, if they want to. Yeah.
• 10:09
  And it's not about the work being bad. It's just because their finances have changed or they
• 10:14
  sometimes want a cheaper service, which they've now found. Right. Um, so yeah, when things like
• 10:19
  that happen, you're like, what do I do? Driving. I'm like, every time I come here and I always say,
• 10:26
  I learn how to drive in Jamaica. And I believe that learning to drive in Jamaica prepares you
• 10:30
  for the world, right? If you know, you know, however, even on this side of the world, I think it's
• 10:36
  part language barrier. I wouldn't want to have a car accident and not be able to speak with
• 10:41
  all Google translate. Yeah. And also the more pets and like the bikes, they just take over the road.
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  So I'm like, it's cool. Grab can take my little money. And it means that it's just one less thing
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  for me to think about. So when I saw that you were driving, I was just like, what? Maybe I've
• 10:58
  been dramatic, but I was super impressed. Um, well, we drive on the same side of the road.
• 11:02
  Right. I think. So I think that's one thing. Right. I don't know. Did you make
• 11:06
  us? Yeah. We don't think so. Right. Yeah. So I think that makes it a little bit easier.
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  People coming from Europe, I think you find it a little, a little bit harder. Um,
• 11:13
  I do think you need to have your wits about you a little bit more. But I've, other than that,
• 11:18
  I've been absolutely fine. Really? Yeah. It's been absolutely fine before that. I was driving a bike
• 11:22
  as well. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Which you just have to learn to try. Were you wearing a helmet?
• 11:28
  Of course. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Of course. Um, but for me, um, a big part of like freedom is just
• 11:34
  being able to get up and go where I need to go. Um, and I love grab and I love like being,
• 11:39
  you know, being able to just go places for cheap at the same time. I love a car journey. Yeah.
• 11:45
  You know, no, I do, I love driving. Yeah. So I completely get like, you can have a bad day,
• 11:50
  babe, put me behind a steering wheel, turn the music up. And I'm like, cool, life's not that bad
• 11:55
  anymore. Exactly. Exactly. And also in terms of living, I do think that when you drive somewhere,
• 12:01
  it does start to cross over from tourist experience to lived experience. So I completely get it.
• 12:07
  I just don't know if I'm brave enough. Yeah. And I think that something can always happen,
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  right? So for me, um, I've got friends here that don't drive at all. They're never going to drive.
• 12:16
  And they're like, you're crazy. And I'm like, the thing is, could I have a car crash in England?
• 12:20
  Of course, I couldn't. I know I've had a car crash in England. You know, so these things can
• 12:23
  happen anywhere in the world. The difference is that obviously the experience and the fact that
• 12:27
  you're in a different country, there's language barriers, there's a lot going on, you know,
• 12:30
  it's very overstimulating. But aside from that part, you know, these things can happen regardless.
• 12:35
  So true. Do you think that there's anything about living in Pouquet that surprised you?
• 12:41
  I know you'd visit a few times. You have some family here, but just in terms of your own experience,
• 12:45
  did you ever have moments of like, I didn't expect that. I think living in Thailand in general or
• 12:51
  in Pouquet, the amount of animals that I just everywhere, like there was a monkey on the side of
• 12:56
  a car the other day. There's just, yeah, there's just animals everywhere. It's just crazy. And I think
• 13:02
  the amount of like, wow, dogs and yeah, just walking down the road is in an elephant. It's casual.
• 13:10
  I was saying to my friends that we take, we just look at an elephant walking down the road,
• 13:14
  and we're just like, yeah, call her in Pouquet. But do we actually process it? Like, do we,
• 13:19
  do we process like, this is not normal for our brains to see, and just take a minute, like,
• 13:22
  there is an elephant there. So yeah, there's things like that that just take you off God sometimes.
• 13:29
  Like, you can just be like, I say this to, I have this conversation. And sometimes when you've
• 13:35
  been here for like as long as I have, you are just like, cool, I'm in Thailand, or you don't
• 13:40
  really think that you're in Thailand. But then there's these little pots throughout your day,
• 13:44
  oh, throughout your week, like, yeah, I'm really in Thailand. So true. And the animal thing really
• 13:49
  resonates. I had a friend of mine that came to visit me and Jamaica, and I'm from Kingston,
• 13:52
  right, capital city. And she says to me, and she's from New York. She's like, April, there's a lot
• 13:57
  of goats in the road. And I kid you not. I was at this point, like, 22. I had never noticed the
• 14:03
  goats. It was only when she said it again, because she's coming from an outsider's perspective. I was
• 14:08
  like, you're so right. And she goes, and they really know how to cross the road. Like, they wait
• 14:12
  for the cars. And I know it's silly, but I was like, why are there so many goats? But I had never
• 14:16
  seen them. So the whole elephant, monkey thing really resonates, because it's sometimes it's for
• 14:21
  someone else to point it out to you. And you're like, they have literally been here the entire time.
• 14:26
  Yeah. But living in Puket, why did you choose Puket? Was it really just family connections,
• 14:32
  or had you been to other parts of Thailand? No, the first time that I came to Thailand, I flew
• 14:38
  straight into Puket. I never looked at, so I'm a type B traveler, okay, which isn't that I.
• 14:44
  So there's type B and type A people. Type A people are highly organized. Yeah. Very, you know,
• 14:50
  they know what they're doing. They've got an itinerary. That's me. Yeah, I'm the diver. Whatever you are,
• 14:54
  I'm the opposite of that. I did no research. Sure. I did a little bit around the laws,
• 15:00
  but I didn't do any research. And I never do any research when I go to countries. And maybe that
• 15:03
  is a fault, but at the same time, I just like to have the experience, right? But I just,
• 15:08
  I didn't go to Bangkok, which usually people fly into Bangkok. I do not know why I just decided
• 15:13
  to come straight to Puket. And I didn't even tell my cousin that I was coming here. I didn't tell
• 15:18
  anybody, actually. Yeah, I didn't tell anybody. I didn't tell friends, I didn't tell family until
• 15:22
  like two weeks before. And I was like, just to let you know, I'm going because I think sometimes
• 15:26
  people's opinions could put you off going somewhere or, you know, if you know in your mind that
• 15:32
  this is where I need to be, for some reason, it's calling me. So that's what I did. There was
• 15:36
  no, oh, wants to be here for this reason. Sure. Yeah. So. And then in terms of the connections
• 15:43
  that you would have had, like your friendships that you would have had in the UK, have they all
• 15:47
  survived the trip? Have you learned anything about these, these relationships? Because I know for
• 15:51
  me, I've always felt that out of my, and I don't have many friends, I don't like people. That's not
• 15:56
  good to say, right? There's like a few people. But I think that I'm often always the one moving.
• 16:02
  Yes. And so it's been a learning experience to see how we navigate that, like I'm really good at
• 16:08
  keeping in touch with people. But I don't always want to be the one that has to call you know. And
• 16:12
  so I just wondered if you've had any experiences that have kind of changed even relationships that
• 16:17
  you thought were solid that maybe just are being tested. I would say that my friendships are really
• 16:25
  solid. And there was solid before I came here. These are the same friends that I had when I was
• 16:29
  here in 2023. Okay. So for me, my, my, say, my five friends there, you know, I'm in a group chat with
• 16:36
  some of them. Sure. And the rest of them would do speak on a daily basis. There are some friends that
• 16:40
  were a little bit surprised in it. But they want, they wasn't my closest friends. But you know,
• 16:44
  they've not reached, I've not reached out to them. They've not reached out to me. Sure. But it's not
• 16:49
  kind of like bad blood. It's just that, well, maybe our friendship was because I was in England
• 16:55
  and because we maybe went to the similar places. And now that we're not going to those places,
• 16:59
  we just don't have the connection. But I think it's really important to try and have that solid
• 17:06
  friendship circle. When you're on the other side of the world, you still want to main that
• 17:10
  familiarity. Yeah. And I have strong connections. I speak to my mom every day. I speak to my grandmother
• 17:15
  every day. So I do make sure that I put an effort into speak to friends and family. And I think
• 17:22
  that that's what's really important is that if you are on the other side of the world and you're on
• 17:26
  your own and then you're also not connected with friends and family, you are really going to feel it.
• 17:30
  I saluted. Yeah. I guess that leads quite nicely into people do have an idea, I think, from seeing
• 17:38
  online seeing images and videos about what life is like abroad. And I guess isolation, especially
• 17:45
  in business, right? Because it's another thing to move abroad and like go into a corporate
• 17:49
  environment where you're then having colleagues. They don't need to be a bestie, but it's still human
• 17:53
  interaction. And you're doing a lot of work by yourself by growing your business. How do you manage
• 17:59
  those not so joyous moments? I'll be totally honest. Okay. So I always have one of those moments
• 18:06
  yesterday. So yesterday was a day where I was like, this is a lot, it's a lot of pressure.
• 18:12
  No one's coming to help me, you know, this and I think that when you have that realization
• 18:17
  that nobody's going to save you. If you want this life, it is on you and the pressure's on.
• 18:23
  You know, nobody's going to get up and do the work for you. And I didn't use to allow myself
• 18:29
  to feel like that because I'm like, no, back to it, get going. And now I think the past six
• 18:35
  months, especially like the time that I've been here, I've really just allowed myself to,
• 18:40
  it's cool to feel like that, you know, it's fine to sometimes like have low mood and feel a little
• 18:44
  bit sad. But then today I get up, I do my hair, I do my makeup and I'm back to it because you can't
• 18:50
  wallow in self-pity because that does not pay you, unfortunately not. So I think that just on
• 18:56
  yourself and know that not every day is going to be this Instagram highlight. Some days are like,
• 19:01
  actually, you might just have a little cry or you might just be a little bit sad. But it's also
• 19:06
  like knowing that you can have those moments, but keeping it a moment. I can't drag that out for a
• 19:12
  week. Yeah. Like that's of course there's something that's too good yesterday. Um, I think it was
• 19:17
  probably just the car crash. Yeah. Losing a club, you know, it's been, you know, sometimes life
• 19:23
  just comes at you. Yeah. One thing after another. Yeah. And I was just like, I am exhausted. Yeah.
• 19:28
  And this is a lot for push appeals diamonds and that you just have to be like, okay, this may
• 19:35
  have been like, you just turned 30. Mm hmm. Make me feel old, baby.
• 19:42
  But for women, especially, right? We always hear about these milestones. We hear about ages. We
• 19:47
  hear about things that we're supposed to be doing should have done all of the things. I think
• 19:51
  probably it's fair to say that we hear these things more so than men. And I get it from a biological
• 19:56
  perspective. Um, but I just wondered what does being 30 mean for you? Being 30 means that I am now
• 20:06
  laying. No, not laying. I would say really building now. I think my 20s were discovering and figuring
• 20:13
  out what I wanted to do. I spent a lot of time. Yeah. I've done lots of different things. I had 15
• 20:20
  jobs before 2019. Literally or figuratively? No, 15. I counted. I had 15 jobs. Oh, tell me
• 20:25
  a few. I've done everything. Um, I've been a waitress. I've worked. I've, I've taught, uh, in
• 20:31
  schools as a TA. Um, I've been an events manager. I've been within marketing. Um, I actually did
• 20:38
  door to door sales for two days. Um, I've done lots of things. Cool. A lot of bar work. Yeah. Um,
• 20:45
  I've been a PA. Oh, honestly, I've done everything possible. But my 20s was the time that allowed
• 20:51
  myself to really discover what I, what I wanted to do. Um, aside from all of this, I'm also a DJ. So
• 20:55
  okay. Yeah. Very creative person. But also my 20s, I was lost. I was like, well, what is it that
• 21:01
  I really want to do? And then when I figured it out, that actually, it's lots of things that I want
• 21:04
  to do. I think now turning 30 means being able to build. Now I know where I want to be. Now I know
• 21:12
  what I want to do. 30 means building. Um, and I also think that there is pressure on society for
• 21:19
  women to, well, are you going to find a husband? Are you going to get, you know, are you going to
• 21:23
  have children and all of these things? And yes, I would love all of those things. But actually,
• 21:29
  I think that being 30 at the minute is, uh, making good decisions. Yeah. Do you think that having
• 21:38
  given yourself the freedom to do all of these different jobs in your 20s and you say that you
• 21:43
  kind of know what you want to know, but it still feels like there's a few things, right? That you
• 21:48
  that you want to do. Do you think that having too many passions? Because it's something that I
• 21:52
  struggle with, right? Like everybody's like, even social media, when they're like niche, don't,
• 21:56
  and I'm like, oh, no, but I don't want to talk about that today. I want to like talk about this
• 21:59
  today. Do you think that in your life, having to have too many things that could perhaps not
• 22:06
  distract you, but pull you in different directions? Has that been challenging? Yes, definitely.
• 22:11
  And I have always felt I used to always be called jack of all trades. Okay. And that used to really
• 22:17
  offend me and I used to get quite upset by it because I'm like, well, I don't know. Because the next
• 22:22
  line is master of none. Right. Yeah. And it's like, and sometimes it feels like, yes, I'm doing all
• 22:27
  of these things, but am I doing all of them well? I like, would it be better for me to just be amazing
• 22:32
  at this thing? And that's what people tell you. But then no, because if I didn't do all of these
• 22:36
  things, I wouldn't be here now. Imagine if I had a state as a waitress because that's what society
• 22:42
  says. Or maybe I didn't quit my corporate job that paid me a lot of money when I was 23.
• 22:47
  Sure. Because society says, be really good at this. I would not be here now. Nation down.
• 22:53
  Okay. If you are somebody that enjoys doing one thing. Sure. Great. I might actually not
• 22:58
  built that way. There's something called human design. And it kind of tells you like,
• 23:03
  kind of like about yourself, if you're into all of like astrology and that kind of stuff,
• 23:06
  it's really good to look into. Mine said manifest in generator. And it literally says, you
• 23:11
  was somebody that in this life, you were meant to do lots of different things. Okay. Yes.
• 23:16
  Free. Because now I can. And who says that you have to be a master or everything? Am I a
• 23:21
  master at marketing? No. Do I make money from it? Yes. Amazing. You know, am I a millionaire?
• 23:28
  No. But can I teach other people how to do the things that I do? Yes. And I think there's
• 23:34
  definitely a fine line because if you are doing everything, how do you concentrate? Sure.
• 23:40
  But I think that I have kind of blended them seamlessly together. So when did you think of
• 23:47
  Thailand now? Do you think of it as the place that you will reside for the next five years?
• 23:51
  I don't know. Okay. I don't know. I love Thailand. I do see it as like a base. I mean, I literally
• 23:58
  don't live in England. I don't have a house in England. So I live here. But will it be somewhere
• 24:04
  that I live for the next five years? I'm not sure. And I think I've got a lot of backlash online
• 24:08
  when I post videos saying, well, be here for two years and then see how it is. I don't know where
• 24:14
  I want to be in two years. Why are you bothered first of all? That's another thing that I'd love
• 24:18
  to talk about, by the way, which is being online and like, what that takes. But I really don't know,
• 24:25
  for the moment, yes. But my life changes constantly. I didn't know in December that I'd be living in
• 24:30
  Thailand. Sure. You know, so I think who knows what would happen by this December? Are there
• 24:35
  particular considerations or is it literally, wait till the universe speaks to me? Wait till the
• 24:39
  universe speaks to me, you know, at the moment, I'm a single woman living a solo life. If I were
• 24:44
  to meet somebody or, you know, circumstances change, then, and I think that's a part of also,
• 24:52
  you know, having an online business and being a traveler is just be open. The open to the changes,
• 24:58
  don't kind of say, okay, well, I'm going to be in Thailand for a year because you never know
• 25:01
  what's going to happen. And then if something just happened and then you've got to change,
• 25:04
  if you're not open minded, it's going to be really hard to adapt to change. How is dating?
• 25:11
  I am not dating. Oh, no, I'm not dating. I don't, I don't use dating apps. I've never used
• 25:19
  dating apps. It's just not for me. Personally, and my friends that have had terrible experiences,
• 25:24
  it's not advertised towards me. There are people that you meet here that you may seem interested in.
• 25:32
  But I know like from my friends' experiences, they have met people who are then leaving in two
• 25:37
  weeks and they had like a great holiday romance, but then it doesn't work. And then there are people
• 25:41
  that live here who you think, well, you live here, like we should date, but then it's not the right
• 25:46
  person. So, dating is definitely harder. It's harder than the New England. Yeah, yeah, I would say
• 25:52
  it's harder than England because people are constantly moving. And another part is you don't know
• 25:57
  people. People can come here and make a whole persona. And that's scary. Like in England,
• 26:03
  I'll be honest with you. I always like to meet people in person to kind of see who they are,
• 26:07
  but also you can do like a bit of background research and like get to know them. I'm very,
• 26:12
  very, I'm not a free data in a sense of like, I like to know you. I'd love to like me,
• 26:18
  your family and your friends and like, are you okay? Mentally. So yeah, dating is a little bit
• 26:25
  scary for me, because I'm just like, I don't know who you are. And in a different country,
• 26:28
  people can make up your name. Which is a little bit deep. And it's probably not the answer
• 26:32
  that people was like, oh, yeah, it's great to date out here. I don't think it is.
• 26:38
  Speaking of people being able to create their own identity on here, not necessarily in a cynical
• 26:42
  way, but do you think that being away from your comfort zone does give you the freedom to kind of
• 26:49
  manifest your new self in a way that you wouldn't be able to with even when you said you came here,
• 26:54
  you didn't tell people, right? Because you didn't want them to plant those seeds. But I wonder if
• 26:58
  on a like bigger scale, not because you're trying to like, catfish someone, but you get to create
• 27:04
  whoever you want to be in a foreign country. Yes. And I love that. You do, okay? I love the fact
• 27:10
  that you are literally in a different world. You get on that plane, you go from one world to another.
• 27:15
  And in this world, you can be whoever you want to be. I mean, in that world, you can also be
• 27:18
  whoever you want to be. I do a lot of work around identity and it's something that I'm really
• 27:23
  big on at the moment. I'm really just, you can be whoever you want to be, right? But I literally
• 27:28
  have completely changed who I am since being here. I wasn't a content creator before I came here.
• 27:33
  I got its content creation in January. Okay. I was always behind the scenes for all the businesses.
• 27:39
  I made a few videos on TikTok, nothing important. But I've changed my identity because now I'm
• 27:44
  a content creator. Okay. Now I work with brands. Now I do, you know, now I've got a Martin Agency
• 27:50
  and now I'm a coach. I wasn't a coach for I came here either. So I think that you really can create,
• 27:54
  but I think what it does is it allows you to create who you want to be because you don't have
• 28:00
  people telling you who you are. So in England, I'm very much known as a DJ, you know, what you know,
• 28:05
  that's the DJ. And I came here and I don't even tell people that I'm a DJ anymore because it is a
• 28:10
  part of me, but that's not what's leading the way over this side of the world. Right. So you get to
• 28:14
  choose what part you're presenting. Yes. And then that's led you in these different spaces.
• 28:19
  What do you think are some of the misconceptions about being here in Thailand?
• 28:27
  I don't think Puket is that cheap. I was about to say. Yeah. I don't. Yeah. I even compared to
• 28:32
  like other parts of Thailand. Yeah. I'm like, Puket. I mean, there's certain things that are cheap
• 28:37
  like this morning. I ordered eggs because I forgot that I didn't have any more eggs. I'm
• 28:40
  going to eat eggs every morning. And it was like, I think three pound for like 24 eggs. Okay,
• 28:45
  that was cheap. Right. And the fact that it came to our horse. Great. But then like, I went to
• 28:49
  dinner and with my kids and it's not cheap compared to like other parts Bangkok, which I expected
• 28:54
  to be more expensive because I'm thinking city life. I actually think I find deals clothing,
• 29:00
  not cheap in Puket. Yes. Right. Like those are really pretty dress. I'm still figuring out
• 29:04
  do I go back for it. But it was like fart upon. I'm like, the material wasn't even fart upon
• 29:09
  material. Yes. And then I go to Bangkok and I get a dress similar for like 11, 100%. Yeah.
• 29:15
  Puket is not that cheap. Puket is not that cheap. And tight. What's happening as well is of course
• 29:20
  everybody's moving over here. So the same thing that happens, gentrification, right? So everything's
• 29:25
  going up now. And that is another part where people are like, oh, you know, you're ruin in Thailand.
• 29:29
  Babes, we can say the same thing about Londoners moving to Nottingham. You guys are running
• 29:33
  Nottingham because the prices are going up. Okay. You know, we could always say that. Yeah.
• 29:36
  I think Puket is not as cheap. And I think Thailand in general, it is cheap compared to the UK.
• 29:42
  Sure. But don't, I mean, if you want to live like a backpacker and you want to just eat
• 29:48
  Thai food every single day, great. That's fine. You can live on a budget. But if you want to have
• 29:53
  a nice, a particular lifestyle. Okay. Because everybody has a different type of lifestyle.
• 29:58
  I don't always like to eat Thai food. I like to go to fancy restaurants and I like to go to
• 30:03
  beach clubs and stuff like that, which means that my living expenses are way more than other people.
• 30:09
  And I also think a misconception would be, oh, that it's easy. You know, it's easy to live here.
• 30:18
  It's not. It's actually harder than what it is to live in the UK. Do you think so? Yeah.
• 30:23
  In what ways? Not in financially, but in ways that like, there's a language barrier.
• 30:27
  Because she speaks Thai. You're going to come across problems all the time, which I am learning,
• 30:32
  but it's, you know, it's not the easiest language to learn. And you can have a few phrases.
• 30:35
  Thai people are amazing. They will, they will like help you to understand, like even if there's a
• 30:40
  language barrier, you've got Google translate. But it's like, what happens if you're in, you're not
• 30:47
  in pocket and you're like, oh, you're somewhere where you've got no signal and you've got no Google
• 30:51
  translate. You know, those are the things that make it a little bit harder than living in England.
• 30:56
  I think gentrification is such a complex issue for all the reasons you said, right? Like,
• 31:00
  I think about myself, I opened my first restaurant in Brixton and again, anyone who knows Brixton
• 31:05
  knows that it's gone through a lot of changes. I'm even more so post-COVID, but that's a whole
• 31:09
  other topic. And I think a lot of people talk about gentrification in a really negative sense.
• 31:14
  But ultimately as a business person, my restaurant wouldn't have been able to be in Brixton,
• 31:18
  had it not have been gentrified to some extent. And I think just because I'm black, I got away with
• 31:23
  it, right? Like the fact that I wasn't from the UK didn't bother anyone because it was just
• 31:28
  most of the businesses owned in Brixton became white owned and you're a black person,
• 31:32
  so it's okay for you to be here. And I find that really interesting about who we think is
• 31:37
  allowed to claim space, you know, based off of race versus nationality. But I think you make a
• 31:44
  really good point about respect. It does seem like there's a particular type of traveller, not
• 31:49
  necessarily someone who's living here, but a particular type of person who comes to Thailand
• 31:54
  with almost entitlement and not this idea that they should respect the land first. And then
• 32:01
  I saw someone complaining about people speaking Thai and not English. And I was just like,
• 32:06
  Bosman, like Bosman, how many languages do you speak? You know? And even when you have someone
• 32:14
  criticised the accent that someone's speaking, I'm like, are you mental? It's very bizarre.
• 32:19
  The world we're living in is very bizarre. Yeah, English people in particular, who we go,
• 32:26
  I'm saying we, because I'm from England, this is not me, it's not my experience, but they'll
• 32:30
  go to Spain or go to Thailand and complain that people don't speak English, but you should speak
• 32:34
  English. And I even had this conversation with someone earlier this year. And they were like,
• 32:40
  so rude, just some guys, I was at a restaurant that were having a conversation, maybe in May
• 32:44
  to interrupt, because I was like, don't, don't come to my home and talk about my people because
• 32:49
  now I'm Thai. And they were like, oh, I just couldn't understand. He was an idiot. And I was like,
• 32:56
  so excuse me, who's an idiot? I was like, you have come to Thailand and you don't speak any
• 33:01
  English. So rather than you learn in time, respecting people because you're the same person that says,
• 33:05
  don't come to England and you can't speak English, you know? So I think there is a real big thing
• 33:11
  about at least learn the basic phrases. And if you can't do everything, you can't make them
• 33:16
  understand you. I mean, people do this thing. They'll go, how much, and the person don't, how much?
• 33:24
  I'm like, that just increasing your volume does not improve the chances of comprehension.
• 33:30
  Like, it's really annoying. That has to be like, like, if there's a tourism guide, like, there
• 33:35
  has to be the first part of it, because I don't think it's just Thailand, I think that happens everywhere.
• 33:40
  I do think that there are people that give it a bad reputation. Like, on people online,
• 33:45
  they're saying that Puket is now Benadorm. I've not been to Benadorm. Benadorm is a part of Spain
• 33:51
  that is basically English. Everybody who's there is English. There's a lot of English food,
• 33:55
  a lot of English people and they're saying, oh, it's now Benadorm. I don't get them. No, it's not.
• 33:59
  It's just definitely not. I think they just go into the extreme of saying, like, people are
• 34:03
  coming here and ruining it with tourism. And, you know, it wasn't like this years ago. And
• 34:08
  yes, unfortunately, Thailand has become a very popular online, which means certain people are
• 34:12
  going to come here. And you can't control what people do or you can do is when you go to these
• 34:19
  different countries, you give these people a great experience. They think, oh, English people
• 34:24
  are really nice. You know, I get told that all the time, oh, English people, you're lovely,
• 34:28
  and I think I'm going to give you my experience. So, do you think that there is anything that you
• 34:35
  would want someone to know that we haven't necessarily touched on if they are considering,
• 34:39
  not necessarily moving here, but anywhere in the world? Yes, I would say don't start a business
• 34:49
  and then move very quickly. Okay. You know, have a long-term plan. I understand and you can do
• 34:56
  it. You can create this online business and move free ones later and wing it. I did that the
• 35:01
  first time and I've done it many times. If you are a risk-taker and you're very positive and
• 35:06
  just think, everything's going to work out in my favour. Great. But if not, build yourself a solid
• 35:11
  foundation, have your solid clients have a set income, do a little bit of research. Oh, and the
• 35:18
  most important thing, most important thing, do not move to a country you've never been to before.
• 35:24
  You know, I think people are like, oh, I'm just going to move to Vietnam. And they're like,
• 35:29
  have you been to Vietnam? No. I'm like, okay. But you know, don't like for me, I was never moving to
• 35:35
  picket in 2023. I came here. I just booked a one-way ticket. I wasn't moving here. But because I
• 35:41
  had a great experience and I loved it, then I came back, but I think moving to a country that you've
• 35:46
  never been to before is a big thing because there's going to be bits about that country that you're
• 35:50
  not going to like and then it might make you them want to go home. So I would say go and experience it
• 35:55
  for a couple of months first and then you can make the decision. Is there something about being
• 35:59
  a tourist here versus living here that really strikes you as very different? Or was your experience
• 36:07
  in 2023 a complete reflection of how you live now? Yeah, it was the reason that I moved here now.
• 36:11
  So being a tourist and living here for me is the, I mean, the only difference is that you're
• 36:17
  going to incur problems like, well, no, you could have had a car crash as a tourist. I just thought
• 36:21
  about you could have a car crash as a tourist. I think it's the same situation. Yeah, I think the
• 36:25
  only difference is that a tourist, you know, you're going home. Whereas being here, you don't know
• 36:28
  what's going to happen. What are you going to leave? Yeah. If your life was a postcard, describe the picture to
• 36:33
  me. Oh, there's definitely a beach. It's definitely a beach and it's sunset. It's sunset and there's
• 36:46
  a beach and then there's a woman sat on the sand looking out towards the sea. That's what I'm
• 36:51
  going to say. Thank you very much. Thank you.