From Food Delivery in Austin to Full-Time Youtuber in Koh Samui: How Mike Holp Built a Remote Life in Thailand | EP 28

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What happens if you ditched your job, bought a one-way ticket to paradise, and never looked back?

Ryan Mellon talks to successful content creator Mike Holp, who transformed from an Austin food delivery cyclist to a thriving digital nomad in Thailand. Mike shares his remarkable journey that began with pure frustration at rising living costs and a dead-end gig economy job. 

With minimal savings and zero preparation, he purchased a one-way ticket to Bali in 2019, eventually finding his way to Thailand just as the pandemic hit. Rather than retreating home, Mike doubled down on building his new life abroad, developing multiple income streams through content creation, photography, and consulting.

Chapters:
08:35 – Running out of money in asia
12:21 – Moved to Koh Samui for love
20:15 – How Mike built a business abroad
32:35 – Advice for aspiring content creators

Mike brings a refreshingly honest perspective about the challenges and rewards of digital nomad life. Unlike those who carefully plan their escape from conventional careers, Mike's story showcases the "figure it out as you go" approach.

He addresses how to handle accommodation when leaving, travel with minimal possessions, survive financially during the transition period, and build sustainable income streams that support a tropical lifestyle. 

Listen and discover how someone with limited resources and no safety net managed to build a life of freedom on one of Thailand's most beautiful islands and how you might be closer to doing the same than you realize.

Connect with Mike: https://www.youtube.com/@AbroadInThailand

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DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical coworking spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Chapters

• 8:35 Running out of money in Asia
• 12:21 Moved to Koh Samui for love
• 20:15 How Mike built a business abroad
• 32:35 Advice for aspiring content creators

Transcript

 
[00:00:00] 
Ryan Mellon: How do you go from food delivery driver in Austin to building a thriving online business on a tropical island? Today I sit down with Mike Holp, who swapped delivery route for Paradise, and now calls Thailand stunning Koh Samui home. Mike shares exactly how he made the leap with minimal savings, built his online business from scratch and created a lifestyle he once only dreamt about.
You'll hear how he found clients in unexpected ways, why consistency beats perfection, and how he turned content creation into a thriving income stream. Mike's story proves that the life you've been imagining might just be one plane ticket away, stay until the end to learn a simple move that could have made his journey 10 times easier, and the AI tool that now saves him hours every day.
 
Ryan Mellon: Welcome to another episode of Digital Nomad Nation. Today I have Mike Holp. Welcome, Mike.
Mike Holp: Hey, glad to be here.
Ryan Mellon: so [00:01:00] you're in Thailand and I saw a recent YouTube video of yours about Song Kron how was it? and tell us what is Son Kron.
Mike Holp: Song Kron is a, traditional holiday that takes place basically to celebrate the new year here in Thailand, and it's a water festival. And this, this water festival basically takes over the entire, the country. Everybody is celebrating, throwing water. They buy squirt guns and dress in colorful outfits.
And, it just, it's basically like my favorite holiday anywhere I've been so far, and in Oui, where I'm based on the island, they only celebrate one day on April 13th, but rest of the part parts of Thailand and they celebrate for like up to a week.
Ryan Mellon: Awesome. Yeah, and I remember very clearly the very first time I ever was in Thailand was in Koh Lipe. I took the boat from Longkawi and I had no idea about sr. And it was that very first weekend that I experienced Sr. Just an all out water fight in [00:02:00] the streets with. just packs of rogue eight year olds with squirt guns and grandmas hitting you with the water hose and people dumping buckets out of windows and just absolute war in the streets.
and I just remember some, some of the unsuspecting tourists who. Were on moving lo, you know, in between accommodations that day in the streets with all their luggage. Had no idea and there was no mercy. They were getting annihilated 
Mike Holp: That's the way it goes.
Ryan Mellon:  One of the best experiences of all times, no, if you're in public, you're outside, you are not safe.
Mike Holp: Be prepared to get wet.
Ryan Mellon: Yes. Yeah. Just wear your swimsuit at the, at the very most and just get out there and, get into battle. Yeah. Awesome. Cool. I'm glad you get to, how, how, how, what number Song Kron was that for you?
Mike Holp: I think that was four. Number four last year. I was actually in Da Nang and they have, in [00:03:00] Vietnam, they have a, a small celebration there too. But it's nothing like what you get over here in Thailand,
Ryan Mellon: That's awesome. Yeah, it's definitely, definitely a lot of an adventure and a lot of fun and, hope to be back for another one soon.
Mike Holp: Next year, baby.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah, why not? 
So you're living on Koh Samui tell us what made you make that decision and, and why? Over someplace like Bali or Danang, which are also in Southeast Asia.
Also a very big digital nomad hotspots.
Mike Holp: Well, funny you mentioned Bali. That was actually the first place that I visited, from the States. I basically, I just bought a one-way ticket to Bali. That was back in November, 2019, and I still remember clearly just sitting at my table in Austin, Texas, where I lived for many years, and I was just completely fed up with the whole situation.
And, back then I was essentially, I was delivering food to people on my bike. So I was part of the gig economy and that was pretty much the only thing that I could [00:04:00] do. The, the only thing that I could do to pay my expenses. I just saw the cost of living in Austin creeping up and up and up, and I had to ask myself the serious question, like, do I wanna stay here?
And just basically keep doing more of the same, essentially in the rat race, or go to a, a popular destination for digital nomads like Bali. And I've been wanting to visit for years, so I decided to just buy that one way ticket to Freedom. And, uh, that was, uh, about five years ago now. I haven't returned since, actually, I haven't been back to Bali for quite some time.
Probably time for another visit soon,
Ryan Mellon: So tell us how were you feeling at that, at that inflection moment? Were you kind of fed up with Austin and the rising costs? I know it's one of the most expensive cities in the states, um, at least constantly getting more and more expensive. how were you feeling and like how did you prepare for that?
Mike Holp: I didn't do much preparation to be honest. I basically just, at the time, I got a few photography [00:05:00] clients in Austin and I built up my savings a bit, and then I just bought that ticket to Bali. So I didn't really do a lot of preparation. I didn't have like a remote job or anything like that lined up ahead of time.
just. Flying by the seat of my pants basically. and took the risk and haven't been back to the states since then.
Ryan Mellon: Okay, so did you have to get rid of your apartment? Did you have a house? Did you have any of those things that you had to figure out? Like,
Mike Holp: I did have a house that I was renting at the time, not too far outside of downtown, the city, city center. I was basically living with some roommates. I just told my landlord, look, I'm, I'm, I'm taking off. And I paid my last month of rent and that was it. So I didn't, it's not like I was renting a place long term. Uh, didn't have to break the lease or nothing like that?
Ryan Mellon: Okay. Did you have to put anything in storage or figure, get, get rid of a bunch of stuff.
Mike Holp: No, I didn't really have that much stuff that I was, I [00:06:00] basically just had one backpack, like a hiking bag.
Ryan Mellon: That's one of the things that I think holds a lot of people back is like just, you know, having, having a house or having an apartment and it's just packed to the gills with things and like, it's just overwhelming to make that leap and, and make that jump. So when you went to, when you booked that one way flight, like, did you, like what, what were you thinking?
Were you thinking like, I'm gonna be gone for a month or a couple weeks, or, or I'm gonna be gone for five years?
Mike Holp: I was thinking maybe a month or two months tops. And basically I did stay in Bali for around two months. My visa ended up expiring as you know how it goes. And then after that I bought another ticket to Singapore. And, uh, basically there I was. At that point I was pretty much outta money, right? I had blown through my savings over those two months, and I didn't have much to begin with.
So at that time, I, I arranged [00:07:00] media collaborations with some hotels in Singapore because if you don't know already, Singapore is very expensive cost of living. And so basically I did some collaborations with about three hotels. That was just through lead generation and marketing, reaching out to managers and that's something I've been doing for years as well, when, when the opportunities arise.so that was basically, yeah, Singapore and then there for about two weeks. And then I flew into pcat, Thailand and that was like right around early 20, 20 January.
Ryan Mellon: Okay.
Mike Holp: And we all know what happens next. Covid hits. And at that point I'm like, oh shit. Now it's, you know, make or break time. Do I stay here? Do I go back to the States?
And at, at that point, I was just like, I was completely fed up with, living in Austin. So I said, I'm gonna do whatever the hell it takes to stay in Thailand. And then five years later, still here.
Ryan Mellon: That's amazing. So what was it like being [00:08:00] in Thailand during. Like Covid.
Mike Holp: It was surreal, as you can imagine. I mean, walking around Chinatown. In Bangkok, there's just, the streets are completely empty, and I still remember at the, I was under quarantine essentially at a host for about two months, and
Ryan Mellon: Oh, wow.
Mike Holp: they would cater meals, so they bring in meals every day. I kind of felt like a prisoner in the hostel.
So, but it was, I was meeting people that were coming through and then I was also building my online business at the time as well, so just trying to stay productive. And I was there for like two months in Chinatown, Bangkok.
Ryan Mellon: Okay. Nice. And then was it, were you able, did it free up a little bit where you, you were able to move around a little bit, as it progressed or
Mike Holp: Yeah, I still remember I, I did get a taxi to Khan Bury, which is not too far outside Bangkok 'cause I would just wanted to travel around a bit. And luckily I had [00:09:00] done my research ahead of time. Turns out all of the hostels were closed in that area. So then I just went back. So it was very, very restrictive, for about, I wanna say around six months, especially in the islands, there was more, more freedom to move around.
Ryan Mellon: I gotcha. So you made it through co you made it through
Mike Holp: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Mellon: And so how did you end up, I guess it seems like falling in love with Koh Samui and, now that's your spot.
Mike Holp: Well, I did just fall in love with Samui. I also met a woman, so there's always that, that element as well. 
We met up in, uh, Chang Mai on, through a dating app
and we connected there. And then she was actually working in Samui for, boat company. The boats that take people back and forth to the island.
And then I just kept traveling back and forth between Bangkok and Samui. I decided, why don't I just move here basically, long story short and yeah, she ended up quitting her job and now she's, [00:10:00] she's a school teacher, which is something she enjoys a lot more. so yeah, and though we've been together ever since.
Ryan Mellon: That's great. yeah, so dating on the road is always interesting and yeah, it's, it's cool that you were able to turn something that could have been possibly and oftentimes is short term when you're traveling into, you know, actually long-term relationship and now living together on one of the most beautiful islands in
Mike Holp: It sure is.
Ryan Mellon: I really love KO Samui. It's not as, you don't have this huge party scene as much. It's the, as Koh phangan and it's a little bit more quiet, much more bigger, a little bit. it's really fun to just get around on the, on the scooter or the motorbike and just see the amazing views from top of the island.
It's just stunning.
Mike Holp: Yeah, it sure is. And there's always something new to discover. There's been a lot of construction here recently as well. It's, it's really growing fast.
Ryan Mellon: I
Mike Holp: So tell us like what's a typical day look like for you there, like working a living on the [00:11:00] island? I.
Yeah, I actually just made a video about this on my YouTube channel, which we can reference later But, typically what I'll do, part of my daily schedule is I'll wake up in the morning, I have to drop off. Mary at the school where she works, and that's usually like around, you know, eight, 8:00 AM in the morning.
So it kind of forces me to wake up and start my morning routine.so then after that I'll usually go for like a walk on the beach. So we're only about eight minutes to La Ma Beach, which is, if you don't know already, like one of the most beautiful beaches on the island in my opinion. So I'll just, you know, go over there, maybe get like a morning coffee as well.
Then I go to this gym on a little fishing island. So there's
Ryan Mellon: you need to switch island? Like
Mike Holp: no, it's just, it's basically like a, sort of like a little island that's, you walk across a bridge
Ryan Mellon: Okay.
Mike Holp: the beach and then you get to this fishing island with, exercise equipment on it. So
Ryan Mellon: Awesome.
Mike Holp: like a little every, everything outdoors?
outdoors. It's [00:12:00] open air.
It's got a view of the beach. and it's basically free or you leave a donation so you can leave like 20, 40 bot if you want
to.
so that's, that's typically how I start the day. Just get in some exercise, walk on the beach, get a coffee, and then I'll, I'll come back home and basically just start working on my laptop, which usually entails like putting up a YouTube video or making some posts on Facebook.
These sorts of things.
Ryan Mellon: Okay.
Mike Holp: just doing this continuously over years has I become sort of like an influencer really
just by creating content on a regular basis.
Ryan Mellon: So yeah, I've seen that you have a lot of, content on YouTube and, you're getting a good amount of follow followers. So could you talk us, talk us through that, like how was it building it? Do you get income from it?
Mike Holp: Yep. Yeah, I mean, it's, so on the YouTube side of things, I've been doing the YouTube channel since 2020. So I launched it shortly after I arrived in Thailand. [00:13:00] and that's, that's taken years, right? It took me two years to make my first dollar on YouTube. So, yeah, definitely not an overnight success by any means.
but yeah, so YouTube and then on the Facebook side, I've been growing that page for like nine years roughly,
Ryan Mellon: Okay.
Mike Holp: even when I was back in Austin. So it really started gaining momentum when I was in Austin. And, ever since I arrived in Thailand, it's really taken off since then. 'cause I'm just pretty much just posting content, showing around samil.
Different places I travel to and it's, it's doing quite well. So last month I got, or this month, about 10 million views on Facebook. And that's with zero ads? Zero ads.
Ryan Mellon: That's amazing. Okay, so this is all, organic views.
Mike Holp: A hundred percent.
Ryan Mellon: it means that you're, you're, you're putting out some good content. 'cause people are definitely interested.
And so is, is it like a, a fan page or a personal page on [00:14:00] Facebook or a group? Like tell us a little bit more about it and how, how, how does, like the income, side of that work.
Mike Holp: Yeah. A lot of people don't even know that it's possible to get payouts from Facebook every month. But basically, once you reach a certain number of followers and watch hours similar to YouTube, then you can start getting monetized, monetizing your content, essentially. So they've got different features like ads on reels.
So basically you get paid based on how many views your videos are getting, performance bonuses. So that's based on the amount of reach a post is getting and some other ones as well, like subscriptions and stars.and if you're getting, if your videos are getting, you know, hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of views, then the ads are just running on your videos.
Same as YouTube. You just get paid basically, as long as it's over a hundred dollars a month, you will get payouts every month.
Essentially. That's how it works, but it, it takes a while to reach that [00:15:00] level.
Ryan Mellon: It's just like anything, right? Like you start a new business, you start being a freelancer. mostly it takes years
Mike Holp: It sure does. You're telling me.
Ryan Mellon: and, and most people give up just right before they hit gold, you know? That's, so it's just that perseverance and keeping at it until you, you get paid.
So that's awesome.
Mike Holp: Yeah. And sometimes it's just like an extra 5% and you're gonna be closer to where you're looking to get.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah. So it sounds like you've got income from YouTube, you've got income from Facebook. Do you still do, like freelance work as a photographer? And I've seen some of your Instagram with some pretty cool drone, videos and stuff like that. So tell us about that part of your 
Mike Holp: Yeah, 
it's as a matter of fact, I'm actually doing a villa shoot. Later this, and next week actually it's a villa shoot, some villas that are for sale over here. And I'm gonna come in and create the YouTube videos and face on the Facebook and all this stuff. So [00:16:00] that's here in il. So I do occasionally this, this sort of thing.
that's basically, yeah, paid, paid work, clients. And then also on the online side of things, I have the consulting business. And the company is set up in the us So I've got the LLC, which I actually had to set up for, a visa that I was applying for over here. Maybe we could talk about this later.
but yeah, so that's on that side of things. That's the consulting. And then I have a six week coaching program, basically, high ticket teaching people how to put the systems in place to start generating income online and move abroad to Asia.
Ryan Mellon: Okay. Very cool. So it's specifically, geared towards helping people move to Asia. Why Asia?
Mike Holp: many reasons. I just, I just love it over here. I mean, I was in Vietnam a couple weeks ago, which I really like Da Nang, and the cost of living is much lower compared to, let's say the States or Canada or Australia, uk, many [00:17:00] places and. The people are super friendly. You've got a better quality of life in a lot of ways, especially here in Thailand.
Very good food yeah, so there's a lot to love about Thailand and Asia in general.
Ryan Mellon: yeah.
Plus, um, if you love, if you love beautiful sunny weather and beaches and, and all that comes with that all year round, like it's a great place to be.
Mike Holp: Pretty easy to be happy over here too.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah, exactly. So you mentioned having an LLC in the states. So you know, taxes were just due seven days ago.
How do you manage that? Do you, do you, run your company through your US LLC and pay taxes back in the States?
Mike Holp: Yeah, so the company I just recently registered, that was about a month ago. I've been kind of putting it off for a long time. But then. So now that, that's registered in Wyoming, which is one of the best states for like, if you have an online business and they have low, low fees, state fees and all that stuff.[00:18:00] 
So I just chose to set up the LLC there. And, I haven't actually opened a business bank account or anything 'cause I, I'm really just trying to keep it through wise.
Ryan Mellon: Okay.
Mike Holp: I mostly just use wise for payments and stuff.
And the taxes. I just pay my taxes in the states and for the most part, like you're not really taxed on, in Thailand, the people don't really know how it's working all that well so far.
But starting at the beginning of this year, it's looking like you're gonna get taxed on the foreign earned income that you're basically bringing into dial in. 
Ryan Mellon: Okay, 
Mike Holp: kind of, there's some gray,
Ryan Mellon: like some kind of income tax because you are living in Thailand in addition to the long reach of the US tax system, which will tax you anywhere. Now you do because you're gone more than 330 days a year. You do actually, Are eligible for the, for the reduced taxes.
 I'm only gone usually about [00:19:00] 180 days a year, so
Ryan Mellon: I don't. 
Apply, but 
it's not necessary, but I'd just like to bring it up for the listeners that might, might, be thinking about taxes, in that way.
Because I also have a Virginia LLC where I pay all my US taxes back in Virginia, even though I'm here in Bali. So,
Mike Holp: okay. Good to know for the future.
Ryan Mellon: It's, it's something, and it's simple because I know how it works and it's just the way it is. And as far as the digital nomad visa here in Bali, you do, you do need to pay fees to keep up that visa. of course, you're paying taxes every time you. Buy a place or rent a place. and every, every time you buy something, in the stores and stuff like that, but they, they're, they're not taxing you on the income because it is earned in taxed somewhere else.
So it is a little bit different. 
Mike Holp: there's also a way that's only for Americans where you can actually buy and own land in Thailand,
Ryan Mellon: Okay.
Mike Holp: think it's called an Amity company. But that's for, that's for if [00:20:00] you're a very high earner. So, but it's only for US citizens. It's like an amate company, but.
Ryan Mellon: So it's like a company that you can set up and, and buy land or property and own it in the company outright
Mike Holp: So when you have a hundred percent ownership versus like setting up the company and then you have Thai shareholders and all this, it's the, treaty of Amity Company.
Ryan Mellon: Okay. Interesting. And so it also probably comes with, with you being, having that company and owning that property, you get some benefits as far as like visas and stuff
Mike Holp: I would think so,
and probably if you're able to set up one of these companies, you can easily afford the elite visa or, you know, one of those long term, expensive visas 
Ryan Mellon: Right, right. Or a path or some type of path to re residency, I
Mike Holp: Sure, sure. I would think so.
Ryan Mellon: So since you're living in Thailand, can you talk about like your circle of friends? Are they living there full time? Are you meeting with [00:21:00] other like nomads, other travelers, or is it more like locals and people that are living there?
Like what's that look like as far as like your community?
Mike Holp: Yeah. So. To be honest, I mean the, the digital nomads are not quite as prevalent here as obviously they would be in a place like Bali and not as many coworking spaces either. So it's, it's not, we don't really have like the gathering spots to meet other nomads. and mostly they just work from their villas or from a home.
So it's a little bit different than like Bali. But, to be honest, like a lot of my friends are retired, so they're a little bit older and they've. They've, like, I just had a, I was taking some photos for a guy recently and he's, he's renting six rye of land in a beautiful, I don't know what that is in meters, but it's a big piece of land, like on a beautiful, beautiful area.
And he's just built like a little hut. So he has a hut with an extended, patio and he is living in that hut while they're building his house.
[00:22:00] Uh. Very interesting guy. He is also from the states and, it's just like meeting people like that actually inspires me a lot.more, more so than like the digital nomads who are just figuring out how to start online businesses and,
Ryan Mellon: I gotcha. Well, the, I do remember being in Koi and it being a little bit more of a retirement crowd there. I. and also Thailand, make it sit super easy, for retirees to get, be more long-term visas. But so there's income requirements and age requirements. You gotta be above a certain
age, so, 
Mike Holp: 50 years old for the retirement visa, and then you need to put money in a bank.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah, so much money coming in from your foreign bank account to the Thai bank account. But yeah, it's a good place to, to make your retirement money in the states, just really go a lot farther and live on, on a tropical island in a hut while you're
watching your house get
Mike Holp: That's so cool. Another one of my [00:23:00] friends, he bought a house over here and he is completely renovated. It. It's just, he's got an underground movie theater. It's, it's amazing. Right. and he's from Canada.
Ryan Mellon: amazing. 
Mike Holp: but travels a lot. And, yeah, just it's very inspiring to meet these kinds of people that are like much further along than I am in life.
so that's another reason I like Simil.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah, good crowd. A lot of people living there, so it's, you know, you still get quite a bit of tourists coming and going, but there is a significant amount of expat community there. So that, which
is nice because you're living there, you can kind of have more steady friends.
Mike Holp: it's not quite so much as like Copen gone, that's, that's the island that's really more popular for digital nomads and it's only about 45 minutes on the boat.the issue with that is it's just like almost all foreigners and it, there's not many Thai people there, so I kind of like to have a mix of both.
Ryan Mellon: no, I agree. Copen young's much different vibes. definitely the big, you know, full moon party and all that [00:24:00] and 
Mike Holp: It's fun to 
Ryan Mellon: is
So, so how do you handle like the different logistics of being in Thailand? Like maybe like healthcare, like finding a place to live?
Mike Holp: Yeah, for healthcare, I just use Safety Wing. I'm sure you've heard of it. It's,
Ryan Mellon: 
Mike Holp: a lot of YouTubers sponsor them in their videos and, uh, yeah. So I just, I just use Safety Wing and that's very affordable, especially since I'm relatively young, so I'm not much reliability. so yeah, I just, I just have safety wing and I.
That's every month. 
Ryan Mellon: is that like, can, can I ask more about that? Like, is that like more of a travel traveler's insurance per se, or is it like a, like a nomad insurance
Mike Holp: I have the nomad insurance and that's mostly you can apply while you're outside of your home country, which is nice. And um, so that's what I've done. And then it's, I think it's like 50 bucks a month, something like that. That covers all of the eventualities, like crashes or, the number one thing I'm afraid of is getting in a [00:25:00] motor serious motorbike accident.
Ryan Mellon: Sure.
Mike Holp: 'cause it's quite common here. 
And 
Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Southeast Asia, you see the tourists everywhere with bandages all over their legs and arms
Mike Holp: Samy tattoos,
Ryan Mellon: helmets. So movie tattoos, is that
Mike Holp: They're called like, il. You got the tattoo when you're over here crashed. But I've been very lucky over the years, I've still never been in a serious accident. So 
Ryan Mellon: same. I'm, I'm, I have a, a bike here in Bali and it gets a little crazy and I, I, I avoid the high, high traffic areas as, as much as I can,
but you always gotta be like a little worried of, you know, just that drunk 
tourist or that tourist that has no idea what they're doing on a motorcycle to begin with, whether they're sober or not.
And, that can be a little dangerous.
Mike Holp: definitely have to be a defensive driver and have your head onl.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah, most definitely. Well, what advice would you give for someone who might want to start being like an influencer and making money on YouTube and, and, and either traveling [00:26:00] or living somewhere else?
what advice would you have for
Mike Holp: It sounds overly simplistic, but I would say just get started.
Ryan Mellon: Okay. Okay.
Mike Holp: if you're looking to start a YouTube channel, just create the channel and hit record. Record yourself on a video and put it up there. Right. It doesn't have to be, you don't have to overthink this too much.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah.
Mike Holp: and it's doesn't have to be perfect.
Just get something up there. Right. And, that's what I would recommend. And you don't need all the fancy camera equipment. You can use your phone. that's just an excuse that people make.
Ryan Mellon: Sure. 
Mike Holp: so yeah, that's my
advice. 
Ryan Mellon: I know for me it's just a lot of times it's getting comfortable on camera. So, you know, I've told people that wanted to get into it, like, just record yourself and don't post it at all for 10, 20 times. Just get comfortable recording in front of the camera, looking at it yourself, maybe sending it to a couple friends or showing it to family, and then do that recording.
Once you get a little bit of the rust off
and [00:27:00] you're feeling more comfortable than, than start posting on YouTube. But how long would you say like how many videos. I know you said it took you about two years to start getting some money from YouTube. do you have any idea like how many videos that was or how often you were posting before you 
got to that point?
Mike Holp: good question. I think it was around, on average, I was posting about three to four times a week. So very, very consistent. And that's kind of a nice cadence to get into it, is just like try to get something up there at least two to three times a week. And for the most part, that was just long form videos.
I wasn't posting shorts back then. I don't even know if shorts was really a thing like four years ago. I don't think 
Ryan Mellon: Not really. 
Mike Holp: And I wanna say it took around 250 videos.
To hit the, the milestones that's like a thousand subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. And then once you hit that, you get into the YouTube partner program. so that, but that took quite a decent amount of [00:28:00] time. Two years roughly. Some people could do it a lot faster.
Ryan Mellon: yeah, like if you're posting daily or something like that, a lot of people say post every single day for a year.
Mike Holp: I think that's too much. know. I think it's gonna be exhausting. yeah, that's, that's
overkill. 
Ryan Mellon: Enough trouble getting one or two, videos up a week myself. But I'm, I'm a, a recovering introvert, so just that online presence for me is a little bit of a challenge.
And, you know, I've gotten better at being on camera than I used to. five years ago, if you said, I had like a podcast where I'm on video and I'm putting out like. Me talking online, I think you're crazy because it's just not something that I felt like I'd be aligned with, but something that you get more comfortable with as you do with time and gets a lot easier.
Mike Holp: Sure. I'm also introverted myself, but, uh, through enough practice and getting myself outta a comfort zone, uh, you can, you do amazing things.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah, absolutely. it just, [00:29:00] it takes pushing yourself out and travel helps with that. You know, being in just a completely different place where you, you need to figure things
out and you need to ask for help and, and, and you need that. to meet new people really does help with the introvert.
Thing. And then when you're just really, your social battery is drained, you can just go back to your place or hole up in a coffee shop with your earphones on in a book and not talk to anybody and recharge. You know? So,
Mike Holp: yeah, a delicate 
Ryan Mellon: sovery much so. Is, do you have any biggest lessons learned, or biggest mistakes that you've made while. Creating this life and, and or traveling.
Mike Holp: I would say maybe the first, the, the mistake that I made when I took off was I didn't have enough savings. So I, I wish I had waited a little bit longer to build up my savings or investments.other than that, I don't think I've made too many mistakes over the years, so can't think of too many
Ryan Mellon: [00:30:00] That's good. So it sounds like you only had maybe two or three months of savings in the bank when you left, right?
Mike Holp: Yeah, that was about it. I mean, I basically blew through those in about two months in Bali. It doesn't take long
Ryan Mellon: Yeah.
Mike Holp: and so I just have to find, as an entrepreneur, you know, I have to find ways to generate income. Just
figure it out as you go along. I find that's the best way, and it is risky, but. It's better than just staying someplace where you're not happy
Ryan Mellon: Well, and it's good advice. I always tell people to research first, really? Well, you know, like what's gonna be their cost of living while they're gone, the place that they plan to go so they know what to expect. And having ideally at least six months there, you know, 
Mike Holp: Yeah, that's definitely the safer option for 
Ryan Mellon: case scenario, you just book that ticket back home if you haven't figured it out. But ideally. six months savings in the bank and some income coming in before leaving is, is best. But it sounds like you really used that. Oh [00:31:00] shit. I've gotta like, make this work energy to, to make it work, which is
Mike Holp: yeah, that, that's pretty accurate. I mean, I've, it hasn't been easy. I've had to overcome a lot of challenges along the way. But, that's just what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
Ryan Mellon: Absolutely. And you, and you living, you learned and you know, you don't, you're probably not gonna have to do this transition again. So, but it's always good to be able to help other people, by giving some advice so that they don't have to deal with the same thing.
So 
thank you for that. 
Mike Holp: Walking my shoes.
Ryan Mellon: Yeah. Well, cool.
Mike Holp: So do you have a, a number one go-to app 
 or software 
Anything that's like really sticks out to you that you use every day in your business, maybe for YouTube or photography?
Chat GPT.
Ryan Mellon: Okay.
Mike Holp: it's, it's gotta be chat GPT. 'cause that's, I use it all the time and it's a huge time saver. 
Ryan Mellon: and what, like what type of tasks do you to, [00:32:00] does chat, GPT, do you use for,
Mike Holp: so I use it for copywriting, for emails basically. 'cause I've got a newsletter and I, I use it for writing emails quickly and I've even started just using it to reply to emails as well because it does a much better job than I would be able to.so yeah, I just put the email into chat GPT and say, type up, reply to this message, and then I can tweak it a little bit, but it, that's a huge time saver.
And then I've also billed out a chat bot for Facebook using chat GPT
Ryan Mellon: Oh, okay. 
Mike Holp: just basically sends dms all the time on my behalf, like a personal 
Ryan Mellon: saver. 
Yeah. I love that. what's your best money saving trick that you've learned As a, as a nomad?
Mike Holp: I would say, so you, I don't know if you're familiar with geo arbitrage.
Ryan Mellon: Mm-hmm.
Mike Holp: Yeah. So that's, that's the ultimate money hack is just,
Ryan Mellon: Which is earning, earning [00:33:00] income in a country that has high cost of living and spending it in a country that has low cost of living,
Mike Holp: Exactly. That's it. You got it?
Ryan Mellon: It's a, it's a super easy way to just make your dollars or euros go 10 times farther. Love it.
Mike Holp: Mm-hmm.
Ryan Mellon: and do you have a place in your opinion that has the best food?
Mike Holp: Best food? I would say Bangkok number one. I.
Ryan Mellon: Okay.
Mike Holp: Yeah, Thailand has amazing food. Well, awesome. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time out today, 
Ryan Mellon: man. Where can, where can people find you?
Mike Holp: So you can find me on YouTube. My channel name is just Mike abroad, so you can check me out on YouTube. And then I've also got the website, which is just be remote consulting.com,
and also Facebook Mike abroad on Facebook too. So those are the best ways to connect with me.
Ryan Mellon: Awesome. Well cool. Well it was very great hearing your story, and I hope you have an amazing [00:34:00] day there on the island and I'll look forward to talking with you soon.
Mike Holp: Sounds good. Thanks for having me on the podcast. Appreciate it.