Thailand & Digital Nomad Life: Travel with Rocko of duoUwander

Imagine leaving everything you know behind to embrace the life of a digital nomad. That's exactly what Rocko did, and he's here to share the exhilarating chronicle of his transformation from a Memphis local to a globetrotting adventurer. You'll journey with us through his tales of discovery, from his initial trip to Belize to his appearance on HGTV's House Hunters International in Costa Rica, and learn how he's woven travel into the fabric of his life over the past three years. His story isn't just about the places he's visited—it's a profound look at the choices that have led him to a life without borders.

Now, let's talk money, but not in the way you'd think. Rocko pulls back the curtain on the financial realities of a YouTuber's life and the myth of easy earnings from online stardom. We'll compare the cost of living in Thailand, to the steep prices of cities like San Francisco, and Rocco will share how an online job can sustain a nomadic lifestyle. From managing expenses to navigating local transportation, his practical tips will prove invaluable whether you're considering a move abroad or just curious about the cost benefits of such an adventurous life.

Our final leg of the episode takes us to Thailand, where Rocko talks about riding the waves of tourist seasons and offers sage advice for dealing with the tropical climate. We also tackle common misconceptions about beach life and give you the inside scoop on currency exchange and ATMs. You won't want to miss these life hacks for making the most out of your travels, and be sure to catch Rocko's escapades on his YouTube channel, duoUwander, as well as on Facebook and Instagram for a daily dose of adventure.

Map of Angkor Wat
Map of Thailand

You can find Rocko here:

YouTube
duoUwander?
Instagram
instagram.com/duouwander
Facebook
facebook.com/RockoduoUwander

Transcript

Kristen: 0:15

Hi, welcome to our podcast when Next Travel with Kristen and Carol.

Carol: 0:19

I am Kristen and I am Carol.

Kristen: 0:22

And we're two long-term friends with a passion for travel and adventure.

Carol: 0:27

Each episode, we interview people around the globe to help us decide where to go next. Thanks, Rocko, for joining us on when Next, and you are calling in from Thailand today. Is that correct?

Rocko: 0:40

Yes, I am in Thailand currently.

Carol: 0:43

Nice, ok, and so we would love to hear kind of a you know obviously a little backstory. I had originally saw you on HGTV Very cool, kristen, I don't know if you knew that it's on House Hunters International in Costa Rica and then I looked you up and I started following you on YouTube and then just been kind of watching some of your stuff.

Kristen: 1:03

And I don't do a lot of social media or I'm learning. So nice to meet you.

Rocko: 1:08

And nice to meet you too.

Kristen: 1:10

Yeah, you're in Cambodia right now.

Rocko: 1:12

I am in Thailand right now, oh in.

Kristen: 1:13

Thailand OK, got it. Oh, very cool, and I hear an accent, so where are you from originally?

Rocko: 1:18

Tennessee, born and raised Memphis, to be exact.

Kristen: 1:21

Oh great. So do you spend time here in the US as well?

Rocko: 1:25

Yes, I do. It has been a very up and down journey as of the past year or so, but I try not to spend too much time back home in America. So if there is any possibility for me to get out and travel, I take it.

Kristen: 1:46

So oh, that's great. Fanta, how long have you been traveling, would you say?

Rocko: 1:51

As a whole, I'll say about 10 years, but as my main thing, what I do consistently, I'll say for three years.

Kristen: 2:01

And is it like your career? You do this through well, I guess you're going to share with us.

Rocko: 2:08

Yes, I will share. I'll look that with you in a second.

Kristen: 2:13

Yeah, yeah, absolutely no. It's so nice to meet you, and growing up did you travel, or how was it for you growing up?

Rocko: 2:22

Amazingly no. I grew up in a very modest family, Memphis, tennessee, back in the early 80s. You can only imagine oh, that was me.

Kristen: 2:32

We did the same in LA.

Rocko: 2:35

Well, I'm a bit older. So yeah, there was no internet.

Kristen: 2:40

I don't think so. Actually, I went from the 70s.

Rocko: 2:44

really, if we're talking, I grew up like a real kid. So riding bikes, jumping fences I didn't go seek all of that. That is how I grew up. And traveling to us was going over to an uncle's or auntie's house on the weekend and celebrating that way, and we did it a lot almost every weekend. But traveling out of the country or traveling out of Tennessee, that was not a thing for me or my family.

Carol: 3:17

Yeah, so what was your first introduction to travel? What was your first opportunity?

Rocko: 3:23

My first introduction to true travel was with my ex-girlfriend, who I started my blog with. Do All you Wonder? Yes, she introduced me to travel for the first time, and my first flight out of the country, my first time going anywhere, was to Belize San Pedro, belize to be exact and it changed my life. It changed my world, it changed my outlook, it changed the way. I think it just changed me internally and externally, because for the first 30 years of my life I only saw Tennessee, I only saw certain parts of America, and once I actually left and saw how things were outside of America, it just blew my mind. So I caught the book and I haven't stopped since, and that was over 10 years ago.

Carol: 4:23

Oh, wow, that's awesome. I love it.

Kristen: 4:25

That is Was there anything in particular with Belize that stood out, that was like oh my gosh I mean, I know the beaches right compared to Tennessee or other.

Rocko: 4:35

It was. We went in the low season, which basically means no one was on the island with us, and it was a very good starter country for me because they spoke mainly not mainly, but English was one of their top languages. It was Spanish, if I'm not mistaken, and English. So everyone spoke English. Everyone was so nice and accommodating, but at the same time we still had the Caribbean vibe. I can't explain it with my small words how it changed me internally and externally. It just changed me. So my first experience is what got me traveling and I can't see myself ever stopping. So very, very good first experience and I will always give credit to my ex-girlfriend for introducing me to travel.

Kristen: 5:32

So oh, that's fantastic. So right, when you get back and you come back to the US, then what was the first after coming back to the US, what was your next place and when did that kind of you got back and you were like I'm off.

Rocko: 5:49

After that I mean I'm just a regular guy I started working again, like when I first started travel, it was mainly just taking trips. You know what I mean.

Kristen: 6:00

Yeah, yeah.

Rocko: 6:02

Yeah. So once we got back, life started as normal, but I always had that itch and that fire inside me to keep on going. So we made a deal with each other to go somewhere else within the next six months, and that's what we did, and we ended up going to Cancun, mexico.

Carol: 6:23

Oh OK.

Rocko: 6:24

And that was another amazing experience, Because you know, of course they are a very touristy place and but at the same time you still get the exoticness of it all. It was an amazing experience. After that, I think it was over with for me. I don't know about my ex, but I knew once we got back from Cancun that I would never live in the States on a continuous basis, ever again.

Carol: 6:54

Wow, ok, that's great, and so how did you get the gig with the HGTV then?

Rocko: 7:02

We moving on. That's some years on pass, but, like I was saying, we both caught the bug maybe me more so than her, but we made a pact to move somewhere out of the country and we ended up moving to Costa Rica. We had never been. We had never like, we didn't have any friends there. We only did research online, which is the most you can do when traveling to places that you've never been before. But, yeah, we both had no fear at that point because the lives we were living weren't great. Like we both were working like dogs.

Kristen: 7:44

Like they.

Rocko: 7:46

I'm pretty sure you both can relate we all have been there. Just the nine to five grind, it was just I don't know. It was breaking us up. It was tearing us apart internally as well as our relationship. So, yeah, we decided to move to Costa Rica and that's what we did, and we made it for three years. And yeah, and in that time that's when the HGTV opportunity came. My ex reached out to them through Facebook, if I'm not mistaken.

Carol: 8:17

Oh, wow.

Rocko: 8:18

And they, yeah, and they actually reached back to us. I guess it was not a lot of people moving to Costa Rica at that time.

Kristen: 8:25

What year was it? And I?

Rocko: 8:26

guess it was 2020 when we filmed and 2021 when it actually came out.

Kristen: 8:34

Oh, I went to Costa Rica in 2002 for a month and I was in heaven. I loved it. I went to the Osa Peninsula.

Rocko: 8:42

Which part did you go to?

Kristen: 8:43

The Osa, the Osa Peninsula.

Rocko: 8:46

Oh, it is so nice. Yes, it's nice over there. Oh, my goodness, I know you did enjoy it.

Kristen: 8:53

I did that for a while I went to Monteverde, the Cloud Forest, the you know. Art of Wall Watched it erupt. I don't know if it's erupting, but it was erupting in 2002. It was pretty awesome.

Rocko: 9:03

It always erupts. It's crazy. Yeah, it's not. It always is erupting.

Kristen: 9:10

Oh my goodness, yeah, totally, I love that, and it was like gurgling.

Rocko: 9:14

It sounded like it was like scary, yes, yes, yes, always, we would see it on the news sometime. And it was like it's no big deal, because it always gurgles and shoots up a little ash and smoke every now and then and the locals are just like yeah. It'll be okay.

Kristen: 9:33

So the two highlights and then we'll switch. I'll go real fast. There was, it erupted and then it was oozing down, and then the whole valley, because we were across the way with like I don't know if I was with the tour group, I know it was with some people, but the whole that up with fireflies, like it was fireflies and that, and I was like, huh, this is like surreal. That's what my recollection was and I thought, wow, very cool. So yeah, very cool.

Kristen: 10:04

Yeah, yeah, so you did. So you did HGTV with Costa Rica. Where were you in that area?

Rocko: 10:10

Oh, where were we at? We were in Portrero, portrero, okay, so everybody can understand me Portrero, costa Rica. And it was. Yeah, it was an amazing experience. Filming was nothing like I thought it was going to be, but it was an amazing experience. I had a lot of fun with the crew and director. They were all very, very funny guys. Oh, really, that's so nice. Yeah, they were good guys, man, good guys.

Kristen: 10:46

Oh, that's great, and you just filmed about life in Costa Rica.

Rocko: 10:51

No, the episode was actually like House Hunters, that's what it was House Hunters International, so it was. I mean, yeah, we were basically being filmed going and looking around for houses or whatever.

Carol: 11:06

Okay, so it's great. I watch this show a lot and then they always have three. And how many houses did you actually look? And they just demonstrate the top three, I would assume. Or do they only bring you to three?

Rocko: 11:17

Oh, we only saw three and I can only say so much because I had to sign. Oh and Andy.

Carol: 11:25

Okay, no, that's fair, right, it's so funny, I love it. I always just like oh, he wants this.

Rocko: 11:32

Yeah, we actually did go to three different locations. So yes, that part is real. We went to three different locations.

Carol: 11:39

Okay and I always love. It's like he wants to be in the country and she wants to be in the middle of everything, and how are we going to make them both happy? You know they want to stay on budget. It's like the same conflict every time.

Rocko: 11:52

Every time I mean it is television. You know what I'm saying. So it is what it is, but a good majority of what you saw was real. So, yes, we had awesome time.

Kristen: 12:04

Oh, that's great, Very cool. So you stayed there for three years in Costa Rica.

Rocko: 12:09

Yes, we did three years and it was amazing.

Kristen: 12:13

So did you went there in 2020? So did you just leave Costa Rica?

Rocko: 12:18

No, actually we went there in March of 2019 before the pandemic hit, Literally a week before the pandemic hit. So once we were actually in Costa Rica for a week, that's when everything went on Lockdown.

Kristen: 12:35

So that was March 2020. That was March 2020.

Rocko: 12:39

Say what.

Kristen: 12:39

That was 2020, not 2019. March 2020 was when it locked, everything locked down.

Rocko: 12:46

Yes, yes, March 20, March 20. Yes, yes, yes.

Kristen: 12:52

It's crazy.

Rocko: 12:53

Literally. I just woke up from a nap, so forgive me.

Kristen: 12:56

You're all good, this is awesome. Let me hurry it.

Rocko: 12:59

Yes, March 20. We moved to Costa Rica before the pandemic so, like I was saying before, like a week after we were there, that's when everything went on lockdown. So it was pretty surreal to move to another country and then go on lockdown while we were there. So it was a freaky. First six months I would say so wow, but oh yeah. But we made it another three years after that, but it was, it was. I cannot explain how weird it was to move to a country we had never been to, but then everything was on lockdown. No people were out on the street, we could only go to the store for like essentials and all of it. It was, it was. It was freaky, to say the least.

Kristen: 13:51

Oh, yeah, yeah, same here with going into the grocery stores and there was no TP. No, I took pictures of it because it's like, oh, full on aisles, just empty. I was like, wow, that's just crazy, you know, like stores, yeah, so you left Costa Rica and now you're in Thailand. Did you just recently, because it's been? How long have you been away from Costa Rica?

Rocko: 14:19

Okay, after me and my ex split up, I decided to come back to Tennessee for, or go back to Tennessee, rather, for a while. And then after that, after I regrouped mentally, my friend reached out to me that is also from Memphis, tennessee, which we had never met before, but he had saw some of my travels in Costa Rica. And he reached out to me and told me that I should visit Thailand. Keep in mind I had never met this man before, so it was a bit of pudding like, because I have people to message me all the time about my videos, whether negative or positive. But, yeah, he reached out to me and told me I should visit Thailand.

Rocko: 15:07

So I don't know, I just thought about it for a second and I just said, hey, what do I have to lose? I've been back home for a while. I just broke up with my ex and I think I need a change of scenery. I need something to like get me going again. So, yeah, I bought my ticket and I came out here and I have been out here ever since. I have been out here for nine months.

Kristen: 15:33

It's been nine months.

Carol: 15:35

Wow, oh my gosh so interesting and do you work out there that are just your YouTube channel, or how do you think?

Rocko: 15:44

Once again, this has been a crazy journey.

Kristen: 15:47

Yeah.

Rocko: 15:48

Once I know I brought up my ex for a while. I don't know if y'all are going to keep all of it. It's just a part of my story, so.

Kristen: 15:56

I have to bring her into this. This is your story. Yeah, absolutely.

Rocko: 15:59

Yes, okay, after I broke up with my ex and I had a viewer reach out to me and told me that he liked my he liked my videos and he offered me a job editing videos online. And all of this happened right after I got back to Tennessee after leaving Costa Rica. So it was just a blessing. Everything worked how it was supposed to work. I guess at the time I maybe didn't see it at that time, but now the time has passed, I can look back and honestly say everything worked out for the best. But, like I said, one of my viewers reached out and offered me an online job editing videos.

Rocko: 16:42

Oh, fantastic, so that is how I'm able to afford to be out here. Oh, that's cool, because YouTube does not afford me to travel down the street, let alone to Thailand.

Carol: 16:55

Right, and I think that's something I think needs to get exposed. I think there's so many like YouTubers out there, like here, make money online and all this, and I think that they sell this dream that if you create this big channel, you're going to have all this like passive income. But what I've heard from many people that have hundreds of thousands of followers they said it's still just a tiny little bit of money that comes in. So you really got to do it if you're passionate about it, but you obviously are.

Rocko: 17:21

Yeah, I've been going for over three years now, as you can tell by the name. Do you wonder?

Kristen: 17:33

It was so no I wonder I love the name.

Carol: 17:39

That was great.

Rocko: 17:40

But yeah.

Carol: 17:41

Okay, so where in Thailand are you what? What town are you near? Are you near Bangkok or?

Rocko: 17:46

I'm in Pattaya, but I'm a little outside of Pattaya. I'm in a city called Nong Prue right now, but basically Pattaya.

Carol: 17:55

Okay, I don't know where that is.

Kristen: 17:57

I'm gonna pick it up, I know, yeah, I'm gonna have to look it up on the calendar.

Carol: 18:00

Have you been to? I always hear a lot of X paths go to Chiang Mai. Have you been up there?

Rocko: 18:05

Yes, I have been to Chiang Mai. It is also beautiful up there. It's beautiful everywhere. I've been Chiang Mai. It was no different. The people are so amazing. The food is delicious, I don't. What else do you want to know about it? It's amazing.

Kristen: 18:26

I'm looking at the beaches and it's pretty sweet. How do you spell?

Carol: 18:30

that town, patia patia.

Rocko: 18:33

P-A-T-T-A-Y-A.

Kristen: 18:36

Yeah that's what I'm seeing it, so you're close to the beach, which I mean in Thailand, I'm sure it's all lots of beautiful beaches and things.

Rocko: 18:45

Lots of beaches. I'm near a few beaches.

Kristen: 18:48

Yeah, you surf.

Rocko: 18:49

I have surfed before, but I am not a surfer. Surfers get very offended when you say that you Got a lot of surfers. Surfers get very offended when you say, hey, man, I surfed and like you, don't really surf.

Kristen: 19:03

So I have surfed, I say it's all good, it's just.

Carol: 19:09

Oh my gosh, I have surfers, I think you're very close to where. One of my employees is out there, I think, in Thailand, been working there for several months now and I think he's kind of near you right now. That's so funny. I remember it was just he's on that coast south of Bangkok, like two hours. I wonder if it's the same town, so funny.

Rocko: 19:31

Yeah, Bangkok is only an hour away from me by bus.

Carol: 19:36

Oh, nice. And how is it with transportation or buses? Pretty friendly, are they run pretty often? Do you recommend it? Do you have a car? Do you have a moped?

Rocko: 19:46

Okay, yeah, while I'm out here, mostly I catch taxis, we call them. They have two services down here. One is called boat B-O-L-T and the other is called grab, and they basically are a taxi service. But you can also rent motorbikes and it is so cheap and affordable, like most rides from here across town only cost like 45, 50 cents a pop, so you can't beat it. Yes, and the traffic is so horrible and crazy that I dare not rent a motorbike while I'm out here for fear of your life.

Kristen: 20:30

Yeah, no, totally.

Carol: 20:31

And it looks like the traffic is crazy.

Kristen: 20:33

Yeah. So the cost of living there you're saying is super cheap, like renting. How much is it typically to rent a place and live for a month if someone wanted to do what you're doing?

Rocko: 20:44

It is. First of all, I tell anybody I talk to that it depends on how you want to live when you go outside of the country. Most anyplace can be cheap. If you decide to live minimalistically, if you want to live the same way you live back in your own home country, then yes, it's going to be expensive. But if you plan on dialing it down some and budgeting, I think you can just about live anywhere you would want to live in this world. Okay, after saying that it is very cheap here, it is very, very cheap. Your money goes a long way here. I will say that, for example, I woke up from a nap earlier and I went down to the night market and I got a big bag of vegetables and a big fish and two or three different orange juices and watermelon juices, and all of that for three bucks. It's mind blowing. Things we would pay 20 bucks for back home literally cost three to four bucks here.

Kristen: 21:59

So it's $60. Let's say, literally, I bought lettuce last night and it was $3.99 or something, and the intro was like two something first organic, whatever, and then yeah, yeah, where are you in? I'm near San Francisco, concord.

Rocko: 22:17

Oh yeah, that's the most expensive I'm surprised you didn't say $10.99 for the lettuce.

Kristen: 22:22

No, I know actually right. Yeah, I went up to the 60 bucks, woo-hoo.

Rocko: 22:28

Oh my God yes.

Carol: 22:30

Woo.

Rocko: 22:30

Yeah, she's in the opposite extreme.

Carol: 22:32

What can be more expensive? I don't know. Switzerland maybe? Yeah, man, baby Swikis.

Kristen: 22:39

A piece of fish right now, oh my God, it's like three bucks for a big salmon, for just half of them, like a little salmon right.

Rocko: 22:47

Yeah, a little slit. It's crazy, I know that's one of the reasons why I don't want to come back to America, because I know it's not meant to be like that. It's the richest, most powerful country in the world are like squeezing us. They're squeezing us for health care. They're squeezing us for food. They're squeezing us for education. But in some of these so-called third world countries the education is free. Good education, high school, college, all of it is free. Health care is free, like so I don't get it, I don't understand it, so I just choose to spend most of my time outside of the states.

Kristen: 23:29

Well, I think it's your time right now to spend that time and travel and enjoy, and if time comes, or when it comes, then you'll want to go back, and if not, then you don't, and it's just awesome.

Rocko: 23:40

We shall see.

Kristen: 23:42

We shall see.

Carol: 23:44

So have you had to go to the doctor at all? Are the dentists in either Costa Rica or Thailand, and how did that work out for you? Like price-wise?

Rocko: 23:52

Yes, back in Costa Rica I went to the doctor just for a checkup and it was easiest pie. You don't need insurance, you don't have to go through all of these hoops. You walk in and they give you paperwork, of course, because they want to know if you are allergic to anything, just like any other hospital or doctor's office. But other than that, they see you right away, they see what's wrong with you and they take care of you right then and there. You don't have to make an appointment, you don't have to come in and see them and come back, and all of that. They see you right then and there and you pay them and you leave.

Rocko: 24:37

Like it's that simple and it's half of the cost, maybe even cheaper than it is back in the states. It's literally mind-blowing and I never would have knew these things if I never had to live the country and went to Belize. Because once I lived Belize, I started just researching how it was in different countries and once I actually moved to Costa Rica, everything was confirmed Like, oh my god, I don't have to sit in this huge waiting room, I don't have to make an appointment, I don't have to.

Kristen: 25:11

So I am the daughter of a dentist and I have to ask are you going to the dentist and how is that experienced? Because actually and I'm asking also because I was in Bali last year I was in South Korea, in Bali I had this guy it was a friend of my friend who knew him and he drove us all around and he's from there and he's like we didn't go to the dentist and I was like oh wow.

Carol: 25:32

But here is another guy.

Kristen: 25:34

So do you go to the dentist, and how has that experience been?

Rocko: 25:39

Before I left I actually went to the dentist, so I have not been to the dentist out here, but I definitely take care of my teeth.

Kristen: 25:49

Yeah, every year, though still every year. Know that every six months? I'm just like well, because they yeah anyway.

Carol: 25:56

I worked at Wife's Mime.

Kristen: 25:57

I worked at Chereside Junior High and my dad is. He still teaches here and there. But, yes, I'm a dentist daughter, so of course I never wanted to be one and my dad wanted me to be one, but that didn't happen. So so that's so great.

Carol: 26:15

Oh, and it's interesting.

Rocko: 26:16

You're anti.

Kristen: 26:18

What's that?

Rocko: 26:19

I said you're anti. You know he wanted you to be a daughter of a dentist daughter.

Kristen: 26:26

You said no, no. I was working Chereside and Junior High doing root canals and distractions and I wasn't doing them. I was helping my dad as, handing him in the mail and stuff, but yeah.

Rocko: 26:38

I couldn't imagine. That.

Kristen: 26:39

So going to Thailand and I'm looking, of course it's landlocked mostly, and then, just like I don't know, 10% of it is beach, which is what we mostly know, and you're on the beaches. Have you spent mostly just the time on the beaches? Have you gone inland to the other places and the jungles and things which I could only imagine is amazing, but I was curious what your time in Thailand has been like.

Rocko: 27:06

I have done a mix of some of everything, mostly temples, a lot of food. I have not been to the jungle per se because I'm a little scared and I would. I haven't come across the right person or people I feel comfortable going out like into the jungle part with. So I haven't really done that. As far as all the city life and all of that, yeah, I've done pretty much all of that. I've been to Bangkok, I've been to Chiang Mai, I've been to Pai.

Carol: 27:43

Is that always by bus or trains?

Rocko: 27:47

I had to. Actually, we flew in from Cambodia to Bangkok and we had to take another flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. From Chiang Mai we had to take like a two and a half hour drive through the Wiggly Mountains to make it to Pai. Mostly it has been through airplane. Most of the trips have.

Kristen: 28:16

I stand corrected because the way I pan too far out and when I go in Thailand actually follows all the way down the Gulf right. So you've got that strip and that's a lot of beach there's a lot of beaches which I didn't know.

Rocko: 28:33

It was so many like Phuket, which I have not been to yet, has like one of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand. So I have yet to make it to Phuket, but it is definitely on the list before I leave. Hopefully we shall see though.

Carol: 28:49

And how do you handle the visas and that you have to leave the country every 30 or 60 days? Or did you get one of those like six months visas or something? How does that work?

Rocko: 29:01

I actually just did a video. Literally my last video on YouTube was about visa extensions. Once I was actually in the immigration office, I saw that you can apply for a 90 day visa, like in Costa Rica, which I had no idea but when you actually fly into Thailand, they give you the first 30 days automatically. You don't have to do anything with your visa, anything with your passport, you can just fly in like normal. But after the first 30 days you have to apply for an extension for another 30 days, which is what I just did, and it costs basically like $55 US to get an extension and then after that you can stay another month. I'm not sure if I have to like make a border run, like leave the country, go to Cambodia for an hour or two and then come back, or I can apply for another extension. I'm not really sure. I'll check in.

Carol: 30:04

Oh, I should put you in touch with my guy. He's been doing a little bit of that. I don't know how he does it exactly, but he's been there for several months now. Okay, cool, and then tell us about Cambodia. Did you spend much time there, or is it really just to break it up, or what did you like about Cambodia? Where did you stay?

Rocko: 30:29

I've been to a few places over these past nine months and, yes, cambodia was one of them. We were in Siem Reap. It is where the famous temple, the Angkor Wat Temple, is. I had a chance to visit that while I was out there and it's real chill, very laid back. It's not much to do if you are an adventure, secret type of person, but if you just go in and have a chill, laid back time, siem Reap is awesome.

Carol: 31:03

And how do you spell that?

Rocko: 31:07

S-I-E-M.

Carol: 31:09

Siem Reap.

Kristen: 31:11

R-E-A-M.

Carol: 31:13

And then how about flying there? Originally Did you just buy a one-way ticket.

Rocko: 31:18

You mean like nine months ago originally, yeah, like nine months ago.

Carol: 31:21

Yeah, to Bangkok or Cambodia, that's an amazing question.

Rocko: 31:25

Had I known that I was going to be here for so long, I would have bought a one-way ticket, but I literally thought I was coming out here for a month. That was the plan. That is what I packed for. I literally packed clothes for a month's stay and I have been out here for nine months, so you can only imagine. But yes, initially I bought a round-trip ticket. Basically I had to eat it. They would not refund me my money because of some stipulation. You know how airlines are.

Rocko: 32:03

Even though in my mind, I did everything they asked me to do in order to get my refund, but it never happened. So I ate that money, but it has all been worth it. I wouldn't take it back for anything.

Carol: 32:15

Right. Yeah, I've heard one of our guests, I think was in Turkey. They said they always buy round-trip even though you don't know when you're coming back and you just kept extending the return date Because he said a one-way flight coming back would have been like $1,200 when he bought the round-trip. So it was like $1,200 at the round-trip. But I think a lot of these airlines have these change fees, so that's probably it. Oh yeah, you can extend the date, but it's going to cost you $500 or something.

Rocko: 32:43

And that's what they did to me. My airline guy was like no, it's okay, James, it's okay Rocko, you can just change the date on your flight and you don't have to cancel anything. You can change it to any date you would like, but it's going to be a fee every time you change the date, you change it right, and you don't know what date to change to right.

Rocko: 33:08

Exactly. So basically I can end up spending like $3,000 or $4,000 just on like changing my flight. So they were very slick and very smart when they did then. So I was just like no buddy, it's okay, I'll cancel it and y'all can keep that money.

Carol: 33:25

Yeah, okay, so okay, so maybe for Thailand one-way flights okay.

Kristen: 33:32

If you plan on staying on that flight. It depends on how long you want to stay.

Rocko: 33:36

If you know how long you want to stay, then, yes, make the return flight. But if you have no clue when you want to come back, yeah, it's always best to book that one way.

Kristen: 33:47

Yeah, and then so you're staying for a month and you've been there nine months. How many times have you had to go in to change it? And then how many times have you had to go to I don't know if it's the US Embassy or something a place to get the extension.

Rocko: 34:03

So far that you're, yeah, it's just the immigration office, and I've had to extend I think if I'm not mistaken, it's either three or four times. But keep in mind I have left the country four different times I've been to Cambodia, I've been to Bali, indonesia, and I've been to Vietnam.

Carol: 34:25

Oh, you're really exploring yeah.

Kristen: 34:28

How long were you in each place of those?

Rocko: 34:31

A month, each, a month and each.

Kristen: 34:34

Oh wow, how was that? That sounds incredible, so I would assume.

Rocko: 34:40

Thailand's your favorite. All of this is on YouTube. I film everything I do in every country I go. It's all on YouTube.

Kristen: 34:48

Awesome, would you say. Thailand's your favorite.

Rocko: 34:52

By far. Yeah, by far. Hands down. Thailand is my favorite, and why? For a lot of reasons, but mainly it's they are used to seeing people like me, if you know what I mean. They are used to seeing people from all over the world, so it's not like such a big culture shot for them to see me. Now in some of the other places it's literally like people will stop what they're doing literally in the middle of the street and just stop and stare, just like with their mouths wide open. Sometimes it's flattering and sometimes it is out of putting. So they don't do that here in Thailand. And besides that, it's so cheap here and the food is like some of the best food I've had in my entire life.

Kristen: 35:53

So Thailand is my favorite. What's your favorite meal, although I know you had vegetables and fish, which sounds incredible, but I don't know if there's a favorite meal that you really enjoy in Thailand.

Rocko: 36:04

It's so many, but I would have to say the soup, the vegetable soup. I don't know what they make. I don't know how they make the broth, I don't know what they do, but the soup here is the noodle soup. Oh my God, is it the ramen?

Carol: 36:24

Is that what they call it, or is that something different?

Rocko: 36:28

It is. It's ramen technically, but they have instant noodles, but then they also make their noodles, so it just depends. The instant noodles are okay, but whenever I go to the night markets and all of that, all the noodles are fresh and they make it right there in front of you. It's amazing. So the noodle soup is vegetable noodle soup. It's, hands down, my favorite dish here.

Kristen: 36:54

Oh, that's awesome, Fantastic. And then what about a typical day? What do you typically do? What do people typically? I mean, I guess it's if you're on vacation or you're working, right, it's probably. But what's your typical day look like?

Rocko: 37:09

I literally just made a video about that last week. It's crazy to be asking me questions. I literally just made a video about what I do on a daily basis.

Carol: 37:18

Okay, we're going to put all these videos in our show notes, so people can just hit you on YouTube. Yay.

Rocko: 37:26

You would be amazed how often I get asked how I'm able to do what I do. I don't know if it's because of my look or I don't know what it is.

Kristen: 37:38

I think it's just an interesting thing to be able to do that, just in general right To be able to. Yeah, just when you're talking, I'm like, oh my God, you're giving me ideas about like go to Thailand and then go to Vietnam, cambodia, you know, laos, like there's. I'm just looking at the map right now like, wow, that sounds amazing. Definitely want to go to Bali again. I need to go longer, for sure.

Rocko: 38:03

It was beautiful, yeah, it was amazing in Bali.

Carol: 38:06

Yeah, cause when I was traveling when I was younger, I was traveling all over Europe and I couldn't figure out how to work and I wanted to stay longer. But I was just so antsy to like accomplish something. I have to be busy and doing something. And I'm, like you know, every country's kind of started looking the same and kind of do the same thing go to the churches, go to the museums and go to, you know, see the sites. But like I want to do something, so like I could not figure out how to work. So I think that's what a lot of people are like how do you do this and actually work and make money? Do you work full time or is it like 20 hours a week or like half the time getting paid and half the time for your YouTube channel? How could you break that down?

Rocko: 38:44

Okay, I try to keep my viewers informed about everything I do, because I literally film everything. I film my life. I tell everyone all the time it's not just the blog, it's my life. So while I'm out here, I'm on a very, very tight budget. It's not like I'm out here just living in the lap of luxury and like, oh, it's not like that at all.

Rocko: 39:13

I have to be very careful with the money that I get because while I do work online, it's not guaranteed money. I only work when there is work to be worked. It makes any sense. I can only work when there is work to be had. So sometimes I can go a few weeks without working. Sometimes I can go a month without working. So I have to be very, very careful.

Rocko: 39:40

But the bulk of my money comes from working online and I tell people all the time it's literally only because I made the move to go to Costa Rica and still we literally had never been to Costa Rica and we sold everything we own I mean cars, jewelry, clothes, shoes, everything and we took our dog to Costa Rica and through that is how I made the connections to be able to do what I'm doing now, three years later.

Rocko: 40:15

So none of this came easy. None of this fell in my lap and it has not been easy to do any of this and I don't wanna give the portrayal on my videos that it has been easy or that it is easy. So I try to tell people all the time in my videos this has not been easy and it may be not be easy for you, but if you're willing to put the time and the work and the energy and effort in, you can do it too. There is more than one way to travel the world. You may not be able to do it the way I'm doing it. I mean, come on, now you just gotta put the work in. Nothing is going, nothing is free and nothing will fall in your lap and nothing has been free for me and nothing is fell in my lap. So I'm very grateful and blessed to be able to do what I'm doing.

Carol: 41:05

Yeah, that's awesome. Okay, so I would like to move it to our rapid fire questions, unless Kristen has any other questions. No, thank you, this is super fun and really informative.

Kristen: 41:17

I really appreciate it, and it's a big note to say that at the end, because, yeah, it's just like anything, you have to put the work in.

Carol: 41:25

Okay, so some of our questions are is there any popular holiday traditions that you got to experience in Thailand or Cambodia or Costa Rica, since you spent three years?

Rocko: 41:35

Well, it was a lot in Costa Rica, because we were there for so long. I experienced Easter in Costa Rica, which it is called Samana Santa, and basically all the locals get off of work and they hit the beach. They hit all the local beaches and they drink beer and they enjoy family time and they swim in the water and they listen to music and it was some of the best times in my life. I cannot lie. It was an amazing experience to experience Easter in Costa Rica.

Carol: 42:16

Oh, wow, I never would have guessed that.

Kristen: 42:17

Okay very good.

Carol: 42:19

Okay, what about? We talked about your favorite foods, so how about breakfast? What did you have for breakfast today? What's a typical breakfast in Thailand?

Rocko: 42:28

I'm a weird eater. I don't eat breakfast. Okay, or how about that, or what do people have?

Carol: 42:34

for breakfast? Is it marinated smoothies or a lot of good fresh fruit there, I would assume?

Rocko: 42:40

Most of the locals eat rice and eggs in the morning. It might not sound delicious to you or me, because I don't eat eggs whatsoever, but that's typically what they eat.

Carol: 42:53

Rice and eggs. Okay, so you do have eggs, all right.

Rocko: 42:56

They love eggs here.

Carol: 42:58

How do they make them? Just put them in everything or just classic scrambled?

Rocko: 43:04

Either scrumble or over easy sun is set up however. They eat it however they love them, I'm telling you.

Carol: 43:12

Yeah, right, okay, how about the music? Do you see any learn about any kind of local music in Thailand that you appreciate, or is it just kind of world music everywhere?

Rocko: 43:25

The locals here enjoy. They're a type of music. The only time I really hear music is at night, when I'm trying to go to sleep and the locals are like in their little neighborhoods next to me and you can hear it.

Kristen: 43:41

Bad stuff, bad stuff, bad stuff.

Carol: 43:43

Bad stuff, bad stuff, bad stuff.

Rocko: 43:46

So that's pretty much the amount of music I've got to experience it. But they play it pretty loudly here at one two in the morning.

Carol: 43:56

So oh, wow, so that's a big city that you're in, huh.

Rocko: 44:01

Yes, it is. Pattaya is a city that never sleeps. I know that title is meant for Las Vegas, but until you come here, you have not experienced a city that does not sleep, because it literally does not sleep.

Carol: 44:17

Is there a lot of tourists there?

Rocko: 44:19

It's always tourists here, but there are tourists here at different times, like there will be more tourists in the high season than in the low season, like in the rainy season the tourists seem to stay away, but in the dry season, yes, it's tons of tourists Indian, a lot of Europeans, a lot of Americans as well. So, yeah, pattaya is a very touristic place.

Carol: 44:44

So when's the dry season?

Rocko: 44:47

We just got out of the dry season. It was raining like cats and dogs, like two weeks ago, but for the past I'll say week and a half it has been totally dry and totally hot.

Kristen: 45:02

Nice, what's hot?

Rocko: 45:04

Hot, hot. And when I say hot, I mean hot, I mean a humid hot. Yeah, not a dry heat, not like a California dry heat where the sun is just hot and it's still like a breeze. Oh no, I'm talking about as soon as you step outside, you just start just drenched in sweat. So like a sauna. If you come here, I'm gonna give everybody a tip that's listening If you come out here, be prepared to take three or more showers a day.

Carol: 45:39

Do they have outdoor showers at all? I'm sorry, what? Oh, I was gonna say do they have outdoor showers at all? I think that's really cool.

Rocko: 45:48

Yeah, of course they do. This is Thailand, of course they have outdoor showers everywhere. They have them at the beach, they have them at the hotels. I actually, in Vietnam, I actually saw an outdoor shower, just like not necessarily on the side of the road because it wasn't a main road, it was kind of off a little bit but it was still on a road. But it was a functioning outdoor shower. So I have no clue why it was there because it wasn't next to a beach. So I'm thinking it may have been for the locals that may be down and out on their look and can afford like indoor plumbing, so that was a little too big.

Carol: 46:31

Interesting. All right, cool, wow. And where's the closest place to surf? Is there a surfing near you or is the Water 2 calm there?

Rocko: 46:40

Yeah, I don't think Thailand is a big surfing place. All the beaches that I've been to, all the water has been calm.

Carol: 46:47

Okay.

Rocko: 46:50

All the water has been calm.

Carol: 46:52

Okay, how about in Phuket as well?

Rocko: 46:54

Because Phuket seems like it's facing a little bit more Even though I have never been, I don't think Phuket is known for surfing either.

Carol: 47:02

All right, okay, good, and the last question what's the money called and how would you BOT the BOT? Okay, and do you B-A-H-T BOT B-A-H-T? Okay, and do you typically exchange your money at the banks on the street you prefer, like recommend using your credit card? What's the best way to like get the best exchange? I just use.

Rocko: 47:26

First of all, like I said earlier, I am very cautious and careful with my little money, so when I do decide to like go out and I need money, I just use the ATM. I find it's the quickest and easiest way as opposed to going into the bank and doing all of that, because the ATMs here give you an option for the exchange rate. You can either accept the exchange rate or you can decline, which I always decline because they always add more money on when you do the exchange rate. So I found that just going to the ATM and declining the exchange rate will save you more money in the end. So I just do it like that.

Carol: 48:10

How do you decline the exchange rate? I don't understand.

Rocko: 48:15

Exactly, this is all new to me too, and I didn't understand it at first either. But you go to the ATM and they give you an option Would you like to decline the exchange rate or would you like to accept the exchange rate? And it was crazy to me too.

Carol: 48:33

Yeah, you say no and they still give you money right, exactly. And if you said no, then you don't get anything.

Rocko: 48:39

No, I don't decline. No, thank you. I would not like for you to take like 2.5% of my money. No, thank you.

Carol: 48:47

Oh, that's hilarious, Okay cool, and where can people find you? What's the name of your YouTube channel?

Rocko: 48:53

The name of the YouTube channel is Duo you Wonder D-U-O-U-W-A-N-D-E-R, and you can follow me on Facebook and Instagram on the same name. Everything is Duo you Wonder.

Carol: 49:09

Yeah, it sounds like you reply to people if they DM. You Sounds like you engage. Yes, of course, if you have any questions about, of course.

Kristen: 49:17

Okay, very good, thank you so much, very inspiring. I appreciate your time, thank you.

Rocko: 49:21

It was my pleasure. Thank you for having me. I'm so grateful. Thank you so much, absolutely.

Carol: 49:26

Thank you have a great day Bye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the podcast, can you please take a second and do a quick follow of the show and rate us in your podcast app, and, if you have a minute, we would really appreciate a review. Following and rating is the best way to support us. If you're on Instagram, let's connect. We're at when Next Podcast. Thanks again.