Marie Walker (00:00)

There's such a difference between backpacking and being a digital nomad. Like your business should always come first before your travels. Like, I'm sorry. That gives your lifestyle. So I invest a lot of money. Most of my budget goes towards where I live because I'm like, I need to make sure it's safe. It's nice. It's good sleep and there's good internet. Like, so that's where my budget goes too. Most places have good internet, honestly. And you can always go to coworking. Co-living.com is a great resource if you're looking for co-livings. The best one I stayed at was in Thailand where you have your own digital nomad, like community neighborhood.

So you have your own home on stilts and a porch and like a little fun chair, like an egg chair. And then all the homes are surrounded by a pool, a coworking and a cafe. And you're like a 15 minute walk to the beach. You know, I have to check myself a lot, make sure, okay, am I going to this country? For what reason? Like, what's the real purpose? Am I actually going because I like that there's a digital nomad community or do I like it because I actually like the culture? Yes. So it's just like, check yourself. You're not part of the problem.

What is my day-to-day activities? Who am I talking to? What am I doing here? None of that has anything to do with the country. Then yes, you are using that country. And like, it's okay. Just check yourself. Like when I go to Mexico, I'm like, okay, I'm taking language classes. I'm renting from someone from Oaxaca. I'm like, okay, I want to make sure I'm doing some cultural stuff. I'm not just here because I'm like, it's cheap. Cause that's never, that's not good.

James Hammond (01:18)

to the Winging It Travel Podcast, your weekly ticket to the world. Dropping every Monday and hosted by me, James Hammond, proudly part of the Boy Escape Network. This is a travel podcast that throws out the itinerary and dove straight into the raw, real, and unpredictable essence of global exploration. Chasing moments over milestones, those spontaneous encounters, immersive sounds, and unforgettable stories. Whether I'm hiking up volcanoes in Guatemala,

or camping under the stars in British Columbia.

met incredible people, seen breath taking places and collected unforgettable stories. I now get to share them with you, alongside some of the most diverse and well travelled guests from around the world. Expect engaging conversations that bring fresh perspectives and inspiring travel tales. There are also raw, reflective solo episodes where I share personal insights, practical tips and honest stories from the road. This is a podcast for travellers, dreamers, backpackers and anyone who's ever thought, what if I just went for it and travelled. If you're looking for stories to tell, tips to share,

and experiences to inspire, then you're in the right place. There's so much travel content coming your way, it might just spark that trip you've been dreaming about for years. You can find Winging It and more fantastic travel podcasts from around the world at voyescape.com. The link is in the show notes. Let's go and explore the world. Hello and welcome to this week's episode. I'm rejoined by Marie Walker from the fantastic Culture Cult Travel Show and Your Girl Media.

Maria is a friend of mine in the podcasting industry, probably the oldest friend naturally that I made early doors on Winging It and has been a great supporter of the podcast since 2021. So I value her time, her input and her stories. Today she's talking about her journey as a digital nomad. She left USA with a game plan and a bit of travel into Asia and other parts of the world, including Europe as a digital nomad with her own business. So this conversation is very, very honest, raw.

will showcase the ups and downs, tips and tricks and things that she has learned on the road and why she's come back to USA to rescale her business. It's not all plain sailing. The first part is her going off on her venture and coming back because she felt like she had to regroup. Then she went back out into the world as Digital Nomad and then came back again to rescale her business. So there's lots of troughs like this up and down. It's a real honest conversation, a lot of cussing.

lot of conversations and lot of stories. But honestly, if you're looking to go out into the world as additional Nomad, this is a great and honest, raw story to get stuck into. So thanks to Marie for coming on. It's a great episode. And before we get into the episode, don't forget to rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. A follow and subscribe is greatly appreciated and five stars, of course, for the rating is also appreciated. And if you have time to write a written one, that's great too.

If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com That is an easy way to spend $5 to support the production costs of this podcast. And finally, tell your friends about Winging It. Hopefully there's enough stories, travel content for them to come back. And I've got loads more coming into the end of the year 2025 going into 2026. And finally, finally, finally, finally, if you want to travel with me to El Salvador, there is a link in the show notes with a booking page and all the information is there. If you fancy 10 days.

in this great emerging country in Central America that I went to in 2024 as a sort of backpacker. And honestly, we will have the best time as a group traveling around the country for 10 days. That's all for me. Let's get stuck into the episode with Marie. Marie, welcome to the show. How are doing?

Marie Walker (05:00)

I am doing so good. I'm very excited to be here.

James Hammond (05:04)

Great to see you and it's great to see you back on the podcast as well.

Marie Walker (05:08)

Yes, it's been like five years, think, so shit's changed. I forgot, I forgot. I was like, I probably should go if I can't cuss.

James Hammond (05:13)

Yeah,

I'll keep that in. Yeah, it's been quite a few years and there's been a journey since then. So we're going to delve into maybe bit of a recap of who you are. Travel-based stuff and bit of history. Then we're to delve into your digital nomad journey. I've got a load of questions about that. Then we'll finish with your business, your podcast and any other business. Good. Do you like that? Cool. Right. So first of all, tell the listeners where you're based right now.

Marie Walker (05:44)

LOL, what a funny question. I don't actually have like a full base. I am right now at my like mom's house in Alabama. And we'll probably get into it, but I got burnt out from a trip last, what's it called? Last year. I was like, ⁓ to come home and like just, and just, I actually wanted to work on my business. So I was like, I'm sure if anyone's listening, I'm realizing I need a light while you're doing this.

James Hammond (06:01)

That's what's called, yeah.

Marie Walker (06:12)

⁓ I'm realizing it for anyone who's listening that like building your own business while traveling or work like scaling or building a business while traveling is hard. Not impossible, but hard.

James Hammond (06:24)

hard. And I think to add to Marie's statement there, I did the same thing in 2023, right? Went for a year traveling and I thought I could do the podcast, maybe some YouTube full time and some podcast editing management stuff. Absolutely not. Impossible. So what happened is the same as you came back in 2024 at the start, I was like, no, this has got to be the business phase where I work on my business. So a bit like you got to get things going and then work to the next phase, which hopefully is a combination of the both business and travel, right?

Marie Walker (06:38)

That's a lot.

James Hammond (06:54)

So we both had a similar experience, but you've been on this experience and journey sooner than I have because I'm still building up to going to that phase, right? So I still got maybe a year to go, not sure.

Marie Walker (07:05)

Yeah, building takes time. ⁓ And that's the thing about like, you can go abroad and build your business, just go really slow. Like maybe like go pick one country and just chill in that country. And you can even maybe save money if you live in an expensive country. But like to travel how I was, which was every three months. God, no way. No way could you do that and like build your business or scale or if you're trying to make a big change. It's too much of your energy.

James Hammond (07:32)

Okay, so before we delve into the details, tell the listeners a brief history about you. So where you initially from, where did you grow up and also was travel like an early thing for you?

Marie Walker (07:43)

Yeah, I'm from Alabama. Everyone knows the song Sweet Home Alabama. Like, no matter where you travel, you'll get like people from like Croatia singing it to you. And you're like, what the hell? Like, so I'm from Alabama and like, some of my earliest memories are Get Me the Fuck Outta Here. Like, my earliest memories are like, this can't be it. There has to be more. And it was when I moved, when I went, not moved, when I went to New York, when I was like in sixth grade, my eyes were like, everything opened up for me. I was like,

This is real life. There's cultures. There's busyness. There's craziness. And so I don't know that was your question, but it was a, I spent most of my childhood very frustrated. And then I went to New York and then I went to Austria when I was in ninth grade. And that's really when I got my first international taste. And I was like, ⁓ my God, this is so much better. Like this is, it was just so, one of my first things I saw in Austria was like how many sex shops they had.

Alabama where there's only churches so like to see sex shops and like cigarette butts everywhere and like I mean Austria is actually really clean but like that's what I remember because I was like It's so opposite from Alabama and obviously Austria is stunning

James Hammond (08:55)

So that's weird. You're out that people don't have that feeling of thinking what else is out there. Like the people who just, I can't get ahead around this. And this is a thing I've been trying to battle with for years is how do people think where they are is enough. that's good enough for them without actually trying to go somewhere else like Austria and see these sex shops. Right. The first thing I saw was Germany. Same thing. We went to the shop. This is not the way this is like different world. It's only like two hour flight, right? But this is like on the street, can walk in.

We got told to get out because we're younger than 18, but we gave it a go. But yeah, that's kind of a different world, isn't it?

Marie Walker (09:31)

Yeah, I do. I am curious about people who don't want to experience other things. That's a lot of people from the South. I think, at least from like the American perspective, I think a lot of it is fear. They watch too much news. They are very comfortable. And then I have people like my mom, where I think she was just born exactly where she was supposed to be born. Like she likes it. She loves her family. I think people who are very, very family oriented.

don't see a reason to like travel, because they kind of have all their net needs met. guess I'm thinking it's fear or like they're just lucky they were born where they're born, that they liked it. I don't know.

James Hammond (10:12)

Yeah, it's a one, isn't it? I think privileges are here, isn't it? Like if you're from a country that has obviously not got a safe home, drinking water, then obviously there could be a big urge to leave just to make it easier for yourself, right? But I guess in the Western society, yeah, like what drives people to go and then what drives people to stay, they're both completely different. have no idea why we are different, why we want to go and then why people are just absolutely fine in their hometown, home city forever.

Marie Walker (10:39)

Wow. And also, like, I just love how when you meet a traveler, all these travelers you meet on these trips, you're like, whoa, we all booked a ticket to this one spot, and we all have different reasons. We all had separate lives before we all got on that plane. And, who were we and how have we changed? And, like, everyone's traveling for such different reasons. Maybe a breakup, maybe hates their job, maybe, like, I don't know, like, you're curious about India. Like, I don't know. Just, it's so cool how everyone travels for different reasons. And each time you travel, so, for different reasons.

James Hammond (11:07)

Yeah, I remember the first time was I just need to get out. And I know people will talk about this like nervous journey from maybe thinking about it, booking it to going. Mine was the opposite. I was like, I booked it a year in advance. was counting down the days. I couldn't wait to leave. I had to finish my degree, save some more money, then go, right? So I had a year to do it. But the overwhelming feeling was excitement and relief. That was what I remember.

Marie Walker (11:29)

people do get that feeling though. They're like, oh, I'd like to go to Mexico, but I don't know. And then they'll never book the ticket. I think you literally have to book the ticket and then figure it out later. That's how was with Australia. It took me years to get to Australia because I mentally wasn't excited about the flight. And it was so chill. It was literally fine. It was so fine. I booked it.

I just like, I need to shut the fuck up and go. Like, because my friend's visa was ending and she wanted me to visit her. And I was like, this is ridiculous. Like it's been three years of me saying I'm going to go. So I booked it and then figure it out later. Like you'll love it once you get there.

James Hammond (12:08)

Absolutely, best way to do it. Australia for me was like what you said earlier about, it's like home, but much better.

Marie Walker (12:14)

Yeah, Australia, it's like if America had their shit together. Both have beautiful nature, both have really nice people, but Australia's government is so much more calm and better. I'm sure there's some Aussies that are like, what are you talking about? But like, listen, hello, I'm from America. Like I'm coming from that perspective. And like safe, it's beautiful. I'm like, is guys, this is who we should be looking at. It's very similar, at least like the country size and nature.

James Hammond (12:42)

interesting

relationship between you two, Australian, USA. Got a similar background, maybe Australia is slightly newer, but both broke away sort of from the British Empire, but gone slightly different directions.

Marie Walker (12:55)

Yeah, well, they had convicts and we had religious freaks. So I think that's actually what defined the difference between the two countries is like we had religious freaks that were like, my God, these pilgrims are crazy. And then burning people at the stake and stuff. And then like, my God, just their clothing. And then you have the ⁓ Aussies were just like, well, we were shipped here.

James Hammond (13:20)

Yeah.

Marie Walker (13:22)

So I do think that like comes with the temperament. Like the temperament is a bit different. We're kind of like religiously zealous over here and I don't think that's like as crazy over there.

James Hammond (13:30)

Yeah, because they both had a chance to create their own society. And I guess the prisoners were banned from UK because they're prisoners, they're criminals. But in Australia, new country, a new set of laws, they could probably go, do you know what? This is a chance for us to be free again from the law and start again and create a country maybe different to what UK is. Because UK is dominated by class, the aristocracy and that sort of stuff. Right. So this is a new chance to go the new way and they've done all right.

Marie Walker (13:56)

Yeah, and I feel like that comes with that attitude of like they're just so cool and chill and everything. Like, when I was in Australia, I feel like I was being gaslit the whole time because I was freaking out about the spiders and the poisonous snakes. And they're like, oh, you all right? I can't do that accent. I mean, stop, actually. That's actually so embarrassing. Cut that.

James Hammond (14:14)

Was that Cockney or was that London?

Marie Walker (14:16)

I know, I can only do British accents, but even not really. All right, let's Australian accent here that they're like, you're fine, chill out. And I'm like, I'm being gaslit. But I think that's just their energy. Like everything's be all right, you'll be fine. I think that comes from being the ancestors of convicts.

James Hammond (14:33)

Yeah. I keep thinking about Jim Jefferies skit about the constitution. Love him. Because I think he had some line about US constitution that they think they've the best one in the world. He's like, don't worry America, everyone else has got one. Australia's got a great one. I don't know what it says, but we're doing all right. If something's bad or something needs to be changed, we'll have a discussion about it. We'll make a few changes and that's it.

Marie Walker (14:58)

It's so funny. know. think the thing is with America that I think is incredible is we were the first to be this like guinea pig for democracy. So of course we're the shit show because we're the first. We're the guinea pig. And then like Europe and Australia got to watch us make mistakes and be like, let's not do that. So I think that's why we are such like a spicy country topic. Because like we were the first. So we're making all the mistakes like in front of everyone.

James Hammond (15:25)

Yeah, spicy, good word. Yeah.

Marie Walker (15:27)

Spicy. ⁓

James Hammond (15:29)

Right, last question before we delve into some questions about digital nomad is what type of traveler are you? Imagine no digital nomad, you're traveling, you're seeing places, what type are you?

Marie Walker (15:38)

I like that question. Like I'm not bringing my work with me. No. Hmm. Okay. love... I'm trying to think of like... Okay, I still am bougie. I'm not into hostels because I like my own space. Like my sleep is king. It's very important to me. But I think I'm like into co-livings. I'm really into camping. My ideal trip is to like walk across like a continent. Like I would like to do like... I like traveling for long periods of time, at least three months.

to really like see the changes in myself and like really get in depth in the travel. But I am a little bit bougie. Like I'm not into, I don't wanna share a room with 12 people. Like that's ridiculous. But other than that, I can be spontaneous, but I also, I'm a mix between type A and type B, I think.

James Hammond (16:26)

Okay. That's actually what you said there. Really quite interesting. That's on my list of things to do in the future is that yeah, three month trip where you just walk from one, it could be an area, a continent, not a continent, but like a part of a continent or one country, just walk. And that's your trip. I love to do that. That'd be amazing.

Marie Walker (16:42)

Yeah, just to see like make it actually I guess I'm more into like journeys than like trips like I want to have a see a change in myself ⁓ at the end of the trip and like have really in-depth relationships with people so

James Hammond (16:56)

So off the top of your head, if you used do that right, where'd you go? Like that three month walking trip, what area of the world or country or place, where you going to choose?

Marie Walker (17:05)

That's such a good question, because it really depends on which terrain can I handle. I can't do America because it could be 100 miles before you get help. That would be like, no, that's level 10. I think Europe would be the easiest to start, I think because the towns are not that far and you can pop into a pub. I think level one. I'd like to start there, but I eventually would like to do, I like to do the Himalayas in India.

James Hammond (17:13)

Yeah, yeah,

Marie Walker (17:31)

Because my uncle did that and he said like, go and camp and there's like little tiny tents where you can get like chai tea and stuff and like little stops along the way. So I'll say right now the Himalayas in India.

James Hammond (17:42)

I think the Himalayas, Nepal, India. Yes. I think if you just walk and just whatever tea house you come to where you just feel like you've done, that's such a dreamy way to see the mountains and the local villages. Cause there's so many of them, right? You can literally wing it a little bit if you're following like major paths and major routes. And there'd be so many options like, do know what? I only want to walk five miles today and I'll just stop here and stay here. We done that in Nepal when we finished our trek and we were on the way back, but the guide took us a different route.

It's the main route and we're going through these back villages and he said, Oh, do you want to stop here and sleep here? And it's perched on this hill. This is the guest house. The view was incredible. We're like, yeah, we're having tea and we're having del bat. This is it. It's us. Unbelievable.

Marie Walker (18:25)

Yeah. That's so good. Also Japan. Japan and Korea both have like extensive biking trails. So I would love to, I loved Korea by the way, like I would love to go back and actually do a biking trail. But I think for friendliness, ⁓ you would have a little bit more help in Japan.

James Hammond (18:41)

Yes, even Taiwan got good biking routes as well.

Marie Walker (18:43)

⁓

can see that. my god. See something in Asia. I'm thinking Asia for like a long a long trip maybe solo But I think Europe would be the easiest to try

James Hammond (18:53)

Imagine walking Japan. ⁓

Marie Walker (18:55)

And like little sheebas everywhere, maybe following you. There's this one guy, he did that, he's doing that. And he has a sheeba, a sheeba inu following him, sleeping with him in his tent. I'm like, you stole my dream. That's my dream. ⁓

James Hammond (19:09)

Wow. Oh, one day, one day. Yeah. Okay. Let's go to business. Yes. Right. So tell us a brief backstory of leading up to going to be a digital nomad. So you mentioned earlier that you were in Alabama. You were kind of not having your own business and I guess you might be traveling here and there, but what was the journey from like, do you know what I need to knuckle down, getting business sorted?

Marie Walker (19:12)

One day.

You

James Hammond (19:38)

so I can leave to go to be a digital nomad. How long was that and how difficult was it to plan for that?

Marie Walker (19:44)

It actually didn't start like that. No, but I mean, that's how you'd assume. It started off with me coming home from a late night work shift and a homeless man being in my house asleep. Yeah. And I'll explain. the week, that year, like I really was like, I really want to go travel, but I didn't want to leave my home in LA because that was epic home. Like I lived on top of a roof. They made a unit on a rooftop.

And I was the only one that should have access to that roof. And so I had through parties, music videos. Like I had the coolest, dopest spot, but it was in really bad neighborhood. And so I couldn't, I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave. ⁓ But then somehow I got bed bugs. And I was like, now how do I have bed bugs with no neighbors? That doesn't make any sense. Cause I don't hang out with that have bed bugs. So when I came home and there was a homeless man in my house, I realized that man has been sleeping on my couch outside. That's why I had bed bugs.

James Hammond (20:40)

for like weeks, months.

Marie Walker (20:42)

Probably three weeks. And he didn't attack me. I think he was confused. Like he genuinely was confused as if like he lived there. I was like, bro, get up. No, that's not what happened. I actually screamed. ⁓ But that was the catalyst of like, okay, I think I need to leave LA. And at that point I was like, I'll just go. My friend had a place in Nashville. She's like, here's a free room. You can, you know, work at a restaurant and do whatever. So was like, okay, fine. I'll go to Nashville. And I was like, I'll just go to Nashville for six months and then Australia. Because Australia has so many jobs.

But then I found our friend Deani Hall from the Wall Street Podcast and she was posting how she was traveling and working and I was like, what? And she was like, oh, I'm in a program called the Digital Nomad Life Academy. And that is my now business coach, Krista Romano. And that woman single-handedly changed my life. don't even, I don't want to think about if I hadn't joined her program, it would freak me out. Like I'd probably be like still working in restaurants and like.

That's not bad, but guys, I've working in restaurants like 15 years. Like I was done. So yeah, I joined her business program. It was more about building a business than traveling. And I built my podcast production business. And from there, I just started traveling. It took me about six months to get it going. And then in the sixth month, I booked my trip to Europe. And for past three years, I've been beat bopping, backpacking, doing all that shit. So it was more like I wanted to build a business. And then because the business gives me freedom, I'm traveling.

James Hammond (22:08)

So how did you see the next phase? Was it sort of like half travel, half working or were you like, how are you marrying up just working in a different place like Europe as opposed to actually traveling and seeing it.

Marie Walker (22:20)

Yeah, so like I think when you have your when you're starting a business, it's kind of like revving a car like you'll you'll rev the car and you'll go a little bit and then the gas will break and stop and then you rev the car and you go a little bit and it'll break and stop. So when I've had the harder months, the more stale months, I come home to Alabama because here I just go to the gym and work. This is where I scale. So I come here and I scale a shit on my business and then it's going well. I go travel. I traveled for 10 months and the business is going well. But I was like, I want to be hitting certain numbers. And so I came back here.

So I've just been using my mom's house for like two to three months whenever I'm like, I need to sit down and work on my business. And the other times I've been abroad.

James Hammond (22:57)

And how much did you think you need to get in your business per month to think, do you know what, this is enough money I can earn on my own to then go and be the show nomad? Was there a figure in mind?

Marie Walker (23:08)

⁓ no, I think that comes down to your comfortability. If you're down for like hostels and you're down for like, you know, staying in, you can stay in cheap countries and like live really, really well. ⁓ I actually, my first year I actually like traveled and just stayed with friends. That was too fast to travel. Cause I would, I didn't want to be rude. So I'd stay there for like a week and a half. And so I was traveling really fast. ⁓ and staying on friends' couches. ⁓ but again, that was too fast for me and I don't really recommend that, but I think.

whatever, I think you should budget out your trip and be like, okay, I'm gonna pick Thailand. I think that's a great place to start. And then like bring up the, like look at the cost, like a realistic cost and be like, okay, what do I actually need to make? And just go from there, you know? But you can definitely start traveling on a low budget. Like I don't think you need to wait until a certain number. Now the lifestyle might change. Now that I'm a like co-living Airbnb person, I like want to make a certain amount of money.

James Hammond (24:04)

Yes, but you need it. Yeah. Yeah. Am I right in thinking actually you had, and tell me if I'm wrong, you had the first time going, then you came back to Alabama, then you went again. Yeah. So what am I, I'm maybe remembering the second time you went because I know I saw on social media you're out like in Asia and co-living there and went to Australia and all that sort of stuff, right?

Marie Walker (24:29)

Yeah, now I'm I'm confused about my journey. feel like I went to, yeah, I went to, okay, so I did Chris's program, graduated, got clients, went to Europe for three months, traveled too fast. Yes. Then I lost three of my five clients that November in the same week. And I was like, what's going on here? And so then I, I didn't do anything wrong. It's just more like, I realized I need to be working with clients who have businesses, not like passion projects. So now I only work with six to seven figure coaches, blah, blah. But it took me about six months to like,

gain a couple more clients. Then what did I do after that? I think I went back to Europe? I'm like confused. ⁓ no, that was this past trip. then, yeah, and then I went to, my business was doing very well. I went to Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and I traveled for 10 months. And now my business doing well. I just wanted to learn about the skill of high ticket closing. I invested in a program, you know, I'm scaling my business. So I came back here again.

James Hammond (25:24)

Okay. So let's go to the 10 month trip. think that's what had in my mind. Um, first of all, I don't know what to start with this. Let's go with, actually want to know planning for that 10 month trip. Is there things that are quite underrated in terms of planning? Like is there stuff that come up that you think, I should have thought about that. Could be travel insurance could be, I'm just making things up. Was there things that came up before you went like, Oh yeah, I need to sort this out.

to go somewhere with good internet, like all these things, or did you just kind of wing it and see how you went? Because I'm guessing you need good internet to work and you need probably a safe, not safe, probably a good place to work that's quiet, maybe a community there as well. So how did you start planning this?

Marie Walker (26:07)

Yeah, I I winged it, but I have my non-negotiables. There's such a difference between backpacking and being a digital nomad. Yeah, like, I know, I'll get into that, being a digital nomad, you do need things. Your business should always come first before your travels. I'm sorry. That's what gives your lifestyle. So I invest a lot of money. Most of my budget goes towards where I live, because I need to make sure it's safe, it's nice, it's ⁓ good sleep, and there's good internet.

James Hammond (26:14)

that's coming. That question's coming.

Marie Walker (26:35)

Like, so that's where my budget goes too. Most places have good internet, honestly. And you can always go to coworking. Co-living.com is a great resource if you're looking for co-livings. The best one I stayed at was in Thailand where you have your own digital nomad like community neighborhood. So you have your own home on stilts and a porch and like a little fun chair, like an egg chair. And then all the homes are surrounded by a pool of coworking.

and a cafe and you're like a 15 minute walk to the beach. And I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna share what it is because this part of the island is so, this island is very special and I don't wanna overrun. So if you want it, you can message James or me, but like, don't feel like, I don't really like the over tourism that I've seen while traveling. So I don't wanna, I don't know how big your podcast is gonna get. It's already doing well. I don't want you to blow up and then I overrun this island. know? So if you're actually interested in.

James Hammond (27:31)

I sit on the island, you know? Yeah!

Marie Walker (27:33)

I the island because of James's successful podcast. So just message James or me and I'll actually send you the details on that co-living. But co-living.com is a great resource. And I think there's one called like Surf and I use co-living.com. Yeah.

James Hammond (27:47)

Okay, and let's go to the question of the difference between backpacking and digital nomad. People might think they're the same, but I can imagine they're completely different. And can you even marry the two? Can you do one month digital nomad on the same trips? Let's say you left USA, you're not coming back for a year. Could you do like one month digital nomad, one month backpacking? Or is that just unrealistic because your business needs you to be concentrating on the work for at least two or three months at a time?

Marie Walker (28:14)

I except it's really down to your business. know, like my friend Andrea, she has a website business and she has people on payment plans. So she just took two months off to Peru because she knew she was getting payment plans and she didn't do any work on her business. But now it's September and she's like, I have no leads. I have no marketing. I'm like, yeah, because it is something you do need to constantly be working on if you want cash in her business. I retain her clients. So I did a month in Korea and I didn't work. OK, so you can like turn it off and on. But I think the difference within backpacking digital nomads is like

with backpacking, like there's so much spontaneity and there's so much like risk and like, don't, you don't care if you end up sleeping like on a bus for 12 hours or you don't care if like, you kind of want, not stuff to go bad, but you want that story. And I think with digital being a digital nomad, I can't take the risk of getting a crazy story because I'm like, I got clients. Like I can't be having crazy, too crazy shit. And that's why it does lose that thing in travel that

Like, I didn't have as much crazy stories in that 10 months of trips versus like when I did three months of backpacking in the first time. You're just so much more open to like the chaos of travel.

James Hammond (29:24)

So when you went that month for that 10 month trip, did you think actually Moses is going to be just working, but in a different location or did you ever like a, a time scale in mind where maybe at the 10 months, I do want to do two months of travel as a backpacker. Did you have that sort of thing in mind or were you literally going to go month to month and see how busy you were?

Marie Walker (29:43)

I think my job is so chill. Like I don't need to take a break from it. Like it doesn't exhaust me. highly recommend, I mean, James is doing it now. Like podcast editing is I think a great job to break into. It's really your business. It's really easy. You literally get on no meetings. You can be on any time zone. It's literally, you're getting paid to edit incredible podcasts. That's it. So I'm not, I'm not like, fuck, I need a month off. I'm exhausted.

I just kind of just kept going until Korea. And Korea is like a bucket list for me. And I was like, I want the whole trip to just be about food and spas.

James Hammond (30:19)

And was it?

Marie Walker (30:20)

Yeah, it was. I literally was just like every other day. I was like, this is getting crazy. Yeah, I love Korea. It's a crazy place though.

James Hammond (30:28)

How did the first three months of the second trip, the 10-month trip, compare to the first three months of the previous trip where you're in Europe? Was there any significant changes or ways that you're doing things or was it quite similar but you just had a more regular income?

Marie Walker (30:42)

Totally different. My first time, again, I was sleeping at friends' houses, so I didn't want be rude, so I'd stay there for like a week and then like fuck off. That was a lot. By the end of the trip, I felt sober out and so like sad. I was like, my God, I'm just zipping into people's lives and they have their jock-ups, their boyfriends, their routines, and I'm just zipping in and out. And I felt like a ghost. I was like in and out, in and out, in and out. And I was like, I don't like that. ⁓ And then now I did two to three months per country.

Like I just maxed out the visas. this time, like I stayed two months in Lisbon and I, ⁓ man, I just had to a whole group of friends. Everywhere I went, everywhere I went, I had a group of friends. I maybe was actually able to date someone, truly date someone and like have my gym, have my routines. And I just went as slow as possible. Essentially, yeah, the slower you travel, just the more, like just the deeper relationships you can have. So I think if you're traveling for a long time, would go slow.

Because I think you will start to feel lonely and burnt out because I mean, feel like travel is all about the people you meet. I think that's a big part of it.

James Hammond (31:47)

Yeah. And also I think as a digital nomad, my next question is, did you have like a little community of people that you routinely lived with for like one or two months at a time or was it always different people because you're moving to different places?

Marie Walker (32:02)

It was different. Like in Lisbon, so there's something called Fladio, F-L-A-T-I-O. And it's better than Airbnb because it's called Fladio because there's flat fees. It gets just flat. The price is flat. So I used Fladio and I got teamed up with like, I was in this random guy's apartment. No, I was in a random apartment and I got teamed up with this person named Tom. I was like, was Tom and he was British. And I was like, okay, cool. And we met and we were instantly.

instantly best friends. And then they had, there was a third room open and I asked the landlord, was like, can my friend Andrea, who's also my client, I was like, can she come and stay in the other room and pay rent for that? And he was like, okay. So it me, Andrea and Tom for two months in Lisbon and our house became like the house to come to, like the party house. like, it was epic. Like, so I recommend Fladio cause you won't usually get your own space. She'll kind of be assigned like a roommate, but.

My first roommate wasn't that great, but the second one was great. So like anything, you never know. But I thought Fladia was good. then the co-living, after that, I lived on my own. Like I I had my own spaces.

James Hammond (33:10)

And then the second month, sorry, the second trip, 10-month trip, you were living in like specific co-living, co-working spaces.

Marie Walker (33:18)

⁓ what did I do? Yeah. So the one in Thailand is a co-living technically, but you have your own house. You just share the pool, the cafe and the coworking. And then after that I did, well, after that, my friend in Australia was like, come to Australia. Like, and we, I pretty much lived in like an ant infested fucking whatever the hell, what was it? Like a camper. then it's. Yeah. I there was like no wifi and I was working.

James Hammond (33:42)

like a RV?

Marie Walker (33:47)

And it was, oh my God, the car she gave me was actually ant infested. The ants had created a a colony in the engine. And so I'm driving it and there's ants crawling everywhere. oh, it was Australia. I need to read you Australia. Australia was not fun. Honestly, it was really stressful. And I think it's because that was the one time I was like very type B about my accommodation. I was like, I can live in an ant infested camper while working. No.

If I was backpacking, I would have thought it was fun. But when you need Wi-Fi and no bugs when you work, it was not great. ⁓

James Hammond (34:26)

Is that because of like cost? The money is a thing not traded or that's not really a?

Marie Walker (34:31)

should have set up my own accommodation. She just really wanted me to like come visit her and then she made it sound kind of fun. And then I got there and I was like, why are there like massive spiders and poisonous snakes everywhere? And oh, by the way, there's no toilet. No toilet. For a month, there was a pot. And I found a spider in the pot one time. So then I didn't go to the bathroom for like a week. I would drive into town, which was 45 minutes to go to the bathroom at the public bath.

James Hammond (34:48)

so earthy.

No, not for me.

Marie Walker (34:59)

So Australia was, that was the one time I was very type B about my accommodation and I regret that. So I think I am a bit type A about accommodation while working, while working, while having a business.

James Hammond (35:09)

And was there a moment in time, this could be it, what you just described, where the expectation is not quite matching the reality of your digital nomad?

Marie Walker (35:20)

⁓

I wouldn't say like I don't go into any I try to not go into any country with any expectation because what you think about the place is Actually, give me not the experience you have you always have like it always will surprise you. Yeah, I think the expectation about being a digital mad that I think people aren't telling you on the internet. Yes You it's lonely like it is you're like I'm I Like having a home. I like having a routine. I like having my group of friends. So that's why I travel slow

so I can get a taste of that. ⁓ yeah, I don't really recommend doing it for like ever. Like I can't wait to have a home again, like a home base again. So I don't think people, people make it all like come to Bali and like be a fucking digital nomad. And it's like, you first of need to build a business. That's going to take a lot of hard blood, sweat and sacrifice. And obviously if you have a remote job, like that's cool. But I'm talking if you're having a business and then also it gets...

James Hammond (36:06)

S

Marie Walker (36:17)

Lonely like I remember I was in Korea. I actually went home because I was like so I just I hit this wave of loneliness and I I Just drove me crazy. I was like I need to go I need to like just go somewhere familiar So I came back to Alabama to like scale my business, but in out in Korea though. I loved it it was after like after going to Lisbon and then building a community in Thailand and then building a community in Australia and then building community in Indonesia and then repeating the same thing in Vietnam and then going to Korea

I was like, I don't have it in me to like make a whole new group of friends, find a whole new gym, find a... I was so done. And I actually canceled my trip to Japan and while the Uber was on the way to come pick me up, I was like, I actually can't do it.

James Hammond (37:00)

so you finish your trip early.

Marie Walker (37:03)

I did, yeah. And I'll go to Japan. I wanted to go to Japan on a high. I didn't want to go burnt out.

James Hammond (37:08)

So what was the main, you mentioned loneliness, but I don't know, sometimes you stick it out. So must've been really bad if you're like, do you know what? I'm just gonna quit it here and recalibrate.

Marie Walker (37:17)

It was, yeah. I just, having to rebuild your whole life over and over, cause that's the thing when you do these long, these long-term trips, like do you make these genuine relationships and genuine connections with these countries? And then to repeat that over and over, like your body's like burnt. So it was nothing against Korea. I actually really love Korea, but actually that added to it. think Koreans like to stick with themselves. Of course. So, there was, it wasn't like a big community, digital nomad community. So I really did just.

spa it out. You can only have so much reflection in the hot sauna before you're like, I would like some normalcy. ⁓ yeah, think I'm glad I ended it when I ended it. Yeah.

James Hammond (37:49)

Which

Gee, why you not tempted to stick to one of your favorite countries for longer? Like Thailand or...

Marie Walker (38:08)

I was done and I just knew like I'm not so I was new I was gonna do a lot of hard stuff my business to hit certain numbers so I needed to I needed to just go home or like home as in Alabama and just Scale and go to the gym and just scale and go to the gym

James Hammond (38:24)

So if you scaled enough where you think, do you know what, this is a nice little place I'm at, you could have stayed in those places longer, guess, on that trip then, because you don't need to go home to scale. Or do you think you always would go back to your home base, maybe in LA? just a...

Marie Walker (38:40)

The ⁓

is like next year I want to go back to LA like next summer. now the plan is I'm going to Mexico and I'm going to see if I like it there to use it as a home base till I go to LA. ⁓ But no, I'm on that, I'm specifically that trip, that 10 month trip, like I was pretty done. Like I didn't even want to go to another country. Like I was like, I just need to not think like, you know, when you're abroad, your brain is kind of on overdrive a lot.

Like, thinking about like the language, the customs, make sure you're polite, like making sure you're not like, you know, the money exchanges, like your brain is subconsciously working. So I think I was just mentally done. So.

James Hammond (39:21)

So what else contributed towards that? You mentioned loneliness, mentioned trying to create new groups of friends. What else is part of the digital nomad life that you learned that maybe, do you know what, that's actually quite hard to deal with?

Marie Walker (39:32)

Mm-hmm. The one thing I I noticed is ⁓ it's not like it's hard I I get went back to that backtracking versus travel like when I'm backpacking like I don't care to plan and I don't care to have everything perfect But when you're when this is your lifestyle like I my standards go up like of where I live in my gym And so I'm not traveling to these like really cool exotic like places I'm going to places that I know have these things and then

In exchange for that, those are places that are probably gentrified. And I don't love that. don't love... And Bali was the voice I saw that. was like, whoa, this is wrong. Like, this is the worst part of digital nomadism is Bali. What's happened to Bali? Not the country, not the people. We shouldn't be using countries as our, like, make a life, build a life, you know? And, ⁓ like, people, I feel like people are just going to Bali because it's cheap.

You can build villas, which I don't agree with, and you can ⁓ just, yeah, build a better life than you get in your home country. And I'm part of that. I'm not fucking shitting on it. But think Bali is the catalyst of the worst thing that's happening in digital nomadism, for sure. For sure.

James Hammond (40:50)

Yeah, I guess a lot of people might be asking, well, why not just be a digital nomad at home? So why do you think people do live in somewhere like Bali or Thailand for longer than maybe like staying at home? So let's say that they go to Thailand, get a six month tourist visa, dip out for a weekend, back in for another six months and stuff. Why do you think people do that in places like that? Because I imagine I heard like for Bali, for example, it's not actually that cheap in that gentrified area. Like the gyms are the same price as Western areas and all this sort of stuff. So what's point doing it?

in a different country.

Marie Walker (41:22)

I'd to talk about my business coach Krista, because she loves Bali and that's where she finds all of her community. I think that's what it is, is most digital nomads, not all of them, majority have their own business. And it is awesome. The digital nomad community is awesome because we are mostly business owners. So if you can surround yourself around other business owners, your mindset, your business will only scale further. So I think that's why people like Medellin, Lisbon, these hubs, Bali.

And like, that's the beautiful thing about being a digital nomad. that is, we're making our own world. We're making our own communities. I think that's what's attractive. I just think it could, we just could need to make sure we're not only using a country for those reasons. You know, I have to check myself a lot, make sure, okay, am I going to this country for what reason? Like, what's the real purpose? Am I actually going because I like that there's a digital nomad community or do I like it? Cause I actually like the culture.

James Hammond (42:02)

Yes.

Marie Walker (42:17)

Yes. So it's just like check yourself. Like make sure you're checking yourself. You're not part of the problem.

James Hammond (42:22)

I think I'd be really uncomfortable if I was going somewhere, I don't like Bali at all, but let's use that as an example. If I was just going there just to be in a community that's for the Westerners and not for the Balinese, or at least I'm not even interacting with Balinese, I'm like, what am I doing here? I have to interact and contribute to the local economy because otherwise you're literally taking the piss.

Marie Walker (42:41)

Yes, yes. That's the thing is like, that's how you need to check yourself. Be like, what is my day to day activities? Who am I talking to? Like, what am I doing here? And if like none of that has anything to do with the country, then yes, you are using that country. And like, it's okay. Just check yourself. Like I do it too. I need to check myself. Like when I go to Mexico, I'm like, okay, I really want to make sure I'm taking language classes. I'm renting from someone from Oaxaca. I'm like...

I'm like, okay, I want to make sure I'm doing some cultural stuff. I'm not just here because I'm like, it's cheap. Because that's never, that's not good.

James Hammond (43:15)

Yeah, cheap is not a good word to use. I've actually learned probably this year actually in my own social media posts and Instagram and even podcasts. Like you can't say cheap because being cheap is not great. Like good value is a good sentence to use or phrase, but like cheap.

Marie Walker (43:32)

Yeah, yeah, but I I don't want to like knock on anyone if they like do like Bali and all these places. It wasn't for me I think it's like if you don't travel as much. ⁓ my gosh, is the internet bad? You're frozen. Okay. so nervous now ⁓ But I think if you don't travel as much I think there's certain countries that are a great starter like I think it's great starter pack, you know Thailand's Bali. It's that's fine. I think that's people resonate with it, but

James Hammond (43:43)

No, it's good. Okay.

Marie Walker (43:58)

just if you're traveling a lot, see the patterns of overtourism and you're like, God, am I part of this?

James Hammond (44:05)

Because I this is going to come to my next question and comment is, if I was going to be digital now and tomorrow and I was going to Indonesia, let's take Indonesia the country, there is no way I'm going to Bali. I'm like, what's the point? There's like 600 other islands. As long as it's got good internet, you've got to make sure you can work. Why not just go and house yourself or sift yourself into a culture where there'd be very little tourists and just soak up that local culture rather than going somewhere where there's loads of the similar kind of people. That could be for any country.

You can mention Vietnam, for example. There's a whole host of towns in Vietnam that we don't travel to, that locals travel to because we all go to the same places. Go and put yourself in those towns and see what it's like.

Marie Walker (44:47)

so guilty of that. Like I actually don't think I would give myself a great rating as a tourist last year. Like, for example, I went to Portugal. I did not leave Lisbon. I had so much fun in Lisbon. I didn't leave. So I couldn't tell you shit about Portugal. Bad rating. But I had a great time. So I don't know what that means. Actually, all the plays, I think it is goes back to like I'm not backpacking. I'm doing it as a digital nomad. So I'm already kind of exhausted. So like

I don't feel like adding more travel on top of more travel versus when I was a backpacker, I like moved around quickly and I was like, oh, what's this random town? Let's go here. I was just more curious, more adventurous. And I can't wait to get back to that. I can't wait till I have like a home base and I'm like, I'm gonna go to this random country in Africa and have zero plans. I do think like that added onto why I wasn't as good of a traveler because I was exhausted.

James Hammond (45:43)

Yeah. I think for me, it literally be next time I'm going to go, I mean, work somewhere for a month. I'm going to go somewhere in a country that I've never heard of. I just do it there. Yeah. Because I'd feel comfortable in that. And I see it as a challenge as well. I guess a lot of people don't want that or don't need that because they're trying to scale the business, whatever. So they have to go to communities that as big as Bali, right? I can imagine that. But why not just, yeah, I guess live like a local property for once. I don't know.

Marie Walker (46:10)

Yeah,

I think that's the best way to do it. yeah, I'm guilty. Yeah, I think at this time in my life, I'm pretty burnt out from travel a little bit. I'm not as being adventurous. I really can't wait to like, I reverse all this and I have a home base and I can actually just like go travel to just travel and not bring my laptop. That would be ideal. But at the same time, being a digital man has brought me the...

James Hammond (46:13)

It'll easier said than done, not sure.

Marie Walker (46:38)

coolest fucking experiences. Everything's for a season, really.

James Hammond (46:43)

So do you think you'll ever be a digital nomad in the sense like you were? Do you think you would ever go again to Asia, for example, and just plot yourself in different countries for six months? Or do think that phase is over?

Marie Walker (46:54)

Yeah, I totally would do that again.

James Hammond (46:56)

Even if you had your home base in LA.

Marie Walker (46:58)

yeah, I would totally do that again. It's just, would I go for 10 months? No. I think six months is my max. I think that is like, I think I pushed it too much actually after six months for me. But everyone's so different. Like everyone would be like, I've been traveling for three years straight and I'm fine. And some people can't do even a month.

James Hammond (47:19)

think the for us though, being creators and doing podcast stuff is I really put emphasis on the home base for that quiet studio time or at least a room where can literally work and do creative stuff because I think it's quite hard to do on the road. You've got to maybe find somewhere quiet, maybe a good table and a good chair. I just need that home base to go and do my podcast or YouTube, whatever.

Marie Walker (47:42)

Yeah, no, mean, that's pretty important too. And I also feel like my podcast has been put on the side between travel and building my business. Like my podcast has become like the step baby. And I'm like, I'm so sorry. I don't want it to be, but like it's hard to, how you were saying, how you were traveling and then you were trying to do your podcast, build a community, build your business. yeah, there's only so, you're only a person like at the end of the day. So it does take a lot out of you, but then the experiences you have.

you just get to have more experiences because you are like, have the money to like live somewhere longer versus backpackers. I think they go till their money runs out. And then actually now you literally need to go home. ⁓

James Hammond (48:24)

and that is a tough place to be.

Marie Walker (48:26)

Yeah, that's also exciting if you'll get that rush from it. like as a nomad, like, yeah, you can be like, can, where's the next country? Let's go, you know.

James Hammond (48:35)

Yeah, yeah. I don't think I can do the long-term travel without an income anymore. I think I'm done with that phase. I've done it for 10, 12 years. I think I'm done.

Marie Walker (48:43)

Yeah. Okay. Interesting. Can ask you why? Because we're on different spectrums right now.

James Hammond (48:47)

Yeah, because I can't deal with the stress of running out of money, trying to find myself a job I'm not going to like in a place that's going to be fairly expensive, like a Western country. It's too stressful. Can't deal with it. I'm like you, I need a home base and I need an income, business income. That's the big aim.

Marie Walker (48:59)

Yes

Because that's another version of exhausting part of travel is like you go on this trip and then you have to reset your life, go find a new job, go find all this stuff. It's like, that's also just as hard. So really it's choose your heart, choose which one you want to do. I would choose my business any day over that because I think it's just you're building a life of freedom. And that way I could go fuck off and go to Thailand again.

James Hammond (49:31)

Freedom.

Marie Walker (49:36)

Or I could just stay in LA for a whole year. I can, you know, I can do all of that. So you have a choice versus what the situation you're in now. You really don't have an option. You have to just kind of go where the money goes. So can I shout out my, my coach? I really want to emphasize, like if, if you are wanting like a freedom filled life and like to your own business and like the thing with my coach, doesn't just tell you to build a business so you can make cash. She finds out what your passion is and how you can monetize it.

So her name is Krista Romano. Her podcast is called the Digital Nomad Life Podcast. And I highly, highly recommend. If that's something like that you're itching towards.

James Hammond (50:16)

That's great. I'm going to check that out. Good resource for me. 100%.

Marie Walker (50:19)

You

know James for real, you need to be listening to our podcast. I'll you some episodes. There's a lot of mindset stuff that she talks about too.

James Hammond (50:24)

It's

I think, interestingly, I meant as like weird piece at a minute, because I'm accepting that I'm just not traveling as much because I've done that for a year in 2023. And now it's the odd bit of travel, but I'm trying to scale the business, trying to do the podcast and YouTube thing, right? So I kind of accept that this phase is that, and it needs work and it needs time and it needs effort. So I'm happy with that. The downside is, can I say it? I'm not sure. The downside is it's not where I want to be. So it's quite frustrating to be...

trying to do that alongside my actual job and not having much time left over. And add to that, if I'm doing YouTube or podcasts, I don't need stories. I need go and see some places. So I'm like, my God, how do I do all this?

Marie Walker (51:10)

Like you actually like it's part of your job to go experience stories. Yeah, yeah, no that that these we need to talk about that like when you're building your digital know my business like you probably will be working while doing that so you need to like You're gonna have to sacrifice things like Yeah, I've sacrificed a lot to build my business. So but then it's so fucking worth it. It's so worth it That's why but that's why I hired a coach because I'm gonna see people like I want to expedite the process as long as

James Hammond (51:34)

Yeah,

Marie Walker (51:40)

short as possible. So I hire coaches for things. So I wanted to like learn about sales. I hired a sales coach, you know, I got business coach because I'm like, it's not if it's a win and I want to make sure the win is now. Yes. as soon as possible. But that if, yeah, if you're in that position where you're like, like I want to be a digital nomad, but I'm still working my job. Like, yeah, you're going to have to do both for a little bit.

James Hammond (51:54)

Yeah,

And how did you learn about yourself on this journey about how you work as digital nomad? Do you work better in the mornings? How do you structure your day?

Marie Walker (52:13)

It depends on like the place. So in Lisbon, I was going out to like, should I say it, 5 a.m.? I partied every single day of the week. That was the most I've ever partied in my life. And so I was waking up at 2 p.m. getting work done. My clients would wake up in New York and I'd be like, hey, you know, just so hungover. But I'm friends with all my clients. So like, that's another thing that adds that relaxed thing in my business.

But then, you know, in Thailand, like, the day is so beautiful. So you might want to be out at the pool all day and then get your work done. And like, it depends on the country. I do work better in the mornings. I do work well. I actually, now my schedule is like 10 to three, 10 to four. Oh yeah. Cool hours. Yeah. Sometimes I work like a full eight hour day, like, or nine.

James Hammond (53:04)

corporate time.

Marie Walker (53:08)

But I like to have really long mornings. I'm going to the gym, I'm going on walks, like chilling, and then get my day started. But that's cool thing when you have your own business, like it can just be whatever you want. You can claim, like you can have whatever client you want, you can have whatever boundaries you want with your time. It's all up to you.

James Hammond (53:20)

Yeah, that's the thing, innit?

It's the freedom though. Like you're not bound by having to be on a laptop for eight or nine hours a day at a certain time. Freedom.

Marie Walker (53:36)

No,

today it's a like I went to the gym and then I got on the call this call

James Hammond (53:43)

Hang on,

Marie Walker (53:45)

gonna the

poll after this. But then, like, there's some days where I'm like, okay, we gotta fuckin' work. Like, last weekend I worked because I wanted, I'm going to Mexico and I was like, I wanna make sure when I go to Mexico, I don't do a lot of work in Mexico, so I'm work on the weekends. So it all comes down to you. And it's not for everyone. I think you need the right mindset to have your own business. I think remote work is also a great option. If you can do it and you don't like, you like working for someone, totally.

remote work. I don't have any suggestions on how to find a remote job because I never had that knack of like resumes. I just I never had that knack.

James Hammond (54:21)

⁓

Yeah, I that's the next step. If you can't do the big jump from, I guess, like an employee to a digital nomad with your own business, I think the step in between would be, well, let me get a remote job and see how that works. That's a good step into the next part, I think.

Marie Walker (54:41)

Yeah, I think that's great. I found finding a remote job harder than building my own business. So I built my business, but some people have a, like they get corporate. And so I'm like, if you get LinkedIn, if you get corporate, the biggest thing I would say is like lean on your strengths. how do you find jobs in general? Like how do you, if whatever that is, lean on that strength. I'm big into networking. I've never been into LinkedIn. So I find all my clients through networking. If you're really good at LinkedIn, that's how you'll find your remote job, I think.

James Hammond (55:09)

I'm not very good at that.

Marie Walker (55:10)

meter. It's so hard. It's very hard.

James Hammond (55:14)

think that's another discussion maybe offline about my thoughts on LinkedIn. I don't want to hurt myself and Adi Daw is trying to get some businesses and clients on the So if you had to do it again, your 10 month trip, looking back, what would you do differently? Yeah.

Marie Walker (55:30)

than my last trip.

Honestly, nothing. I loved everything. Besides, in Australia, I would have just gotten my own place. That added a level of stress that did not need to be there. And it made Australia stressful. And I don't think I got to really dive into the country as I would have if I had just had paid for a nice place. ⁓ Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if I would have done anything.

different even though I got burnt out at the end. Like I got to still experience Korea and I don't regret not going to Japan because I want to go to Japan on a high. I regret not seeing more of Portugal. That was a big fuck up. Like what an idiot. Like I just stayed in Lisbon and drank. an idiot.

James Hammond (56:16)

It's a small country as well.

Marie Walker (56:18)

can talk to Portugal about people. They're like, how is Portugal? like, I literally don't know. I went to the beach, which was like a 30 minute drive. That's actually such a loss. I'm upset about myself, but you know what? Sometimes we have to be a bad tourist.

James Hammond (56:33)

Of course, and you can always go back.

Marie Walker (56:35)

I can

always be a good tourist and I can always go back and be a better tourist. ⁓ And so telling me better tourists this time is again, I'm going to like learn more of the language, like take classes and like make sure I'm actually seeing more of where I'm staying. That's why I regret.

James Hammond (56:51)

And did you learn anything new about yourself?

Marie Walker (56:53)

God, I love that question. Whoa. my God, I just feel like everyone I met was like a reflection of me. Like everyone I've met was like, I just had the, I just met some incredible people, incredible people. I dated some incredible people. think this year, traveling abroad, I dated some awesome people and I think that changed me. That really changed me, the people I dated and the people I was friends with. ⁓ yeah, I think I changed a lot. I just don't know.

It's hard. I haven't reflected on it actually. Why? No, it's good. was just like, it's a long, it's like reflecting over whole year. It's hard to process.

James Hammond (57:25)

okay, it's a raw.

Yeah, yeah. Like for the dating aspect actually, we'll touch on it. Must be quite hard being a digital nomad to date, right? Unless you're with someone already. Is it always like fairly casual? Because how do know where you're both going in two months' time? How does that work?

Marie Walker (57:46)

I'm actually like the opposite when I'm dating abroad, because I'm like, I don't think you have to do it casually. Like I still had my same like boundaries and same like rules, I guess. Like we just started, like you date more intensely. It's like more passionate. Because you're like, okay, technically we have three months together, but that doesn't mean we need to be acting like we're in a situationship. Like why don't we spend these three months truly as a boyfriend and girlfriend and like really be the most romantic, like deep, let's see how deep we can go.

I think you can do that. You just need to communicate that. think because there's a lot of, I think with the digital nomads versus backpackers, especially in places like Thailand, you get to these places and there's a bunch of these British boys who are just there to party for three days and have sex with as many people as possible. And that's fine, but I think if you're actually dating, you just need to get, I think you need to be around digital nomads and you need to just communicate. Like, no, I'm only here for three months, but I actually like you and I want to actually just date you while I'm here.

And I had a boyfriend and we traveled together. Yeah, we were together for like six or seven months and we bumped around countries together. But then at the end, he realized he wants to live in Wales and only live there and he doesn't want a long-term relationship. So I was like, okay, well, then it must end. It sucks.

James Hammond (59:07)

pretty savage in it. It's interesting that he wants to go back to Wales. Was he in the same situation as you where he was like dotting around countries, doing that thing and just seeing maybe someone new to live or just seeing how that lifestyle works? Or was he always thinking Wales, do you think?

Marie Walker (59:20)

He got like laid off, like his whole company like collapsed, like everyone got laid off. So he was like, well, might as well go travel. And he was also building his business while he was abroad. But then I think he realized like, he's like, he and I both realized he's an extreme homebody. Like he actually isn't that much of a traveler. So yeah, it was just like, I think I just want to hang out and be in England. And I'm like, I want to go to California. I want to go to New York. I want to go here. And he was like, I don't know this is aligning anymore. And I was like, yeah.

It isn't, but we had so much fun together and I only have good things to say about him. ⁓ So I guess that's what changed me. I think the people I met, my God, like Jim Winley changed me a lot. I met so many different kinds of personalities and everyone I met was just so wise and like, I just learned a lot. think people who travel, we're just, we're very wise. Like I think more than other people. ⁓

James Hammond (1:00:13)

No, no, I do love it. I love meeting those people. Yeah. They're like, they're like your true friends because they have the same interests and passion. True is probably a bit of wrong word really actually. Probably more aligned with what you think in this day and age. Whereas like we've all got school friends maybe that from, from a very different time where like you've grown as a person and they, and they just gone a different way. So it's like that relationship does change. But yeah, I found actually that the last year or so or two years going to events, meeting travelers, digital nomads.

I'm like, yeah, these are my people. So I do like that.

Marie Walker (1:00:46)

I think the values that we have are similar. We're all into growth mindset and we're all into curiosity, being curious. ⁓ I think that's what makes it special. And we all know, okay, we may only be together for a few months, so we need to do everything together. And it's just so heightened. It's so heightened. I would never move in with a man in less than a year, but we're traveling. So we live together in Vietnam. And I was like, this is something I would just never do back home, ever.

James Hammond (1:01:15)

Yeah,

Marie Walker (1:01:15)

I would be like, I would judge that person. I'd like, you're moving fast. You're traveling. So like, what are you going to do?

James Hammond (1:01:18)

Very fast.

⁓

People at home, move like lightning after three or four months they're in. It's like,

Marie Walker (1:01:28)

Yeah, so I think the people I met changed me. my gosh, they have such a place in my heart that people I met in Australia, Lisbon, Thailand, all these places. And even the locals, my god, some of the locals I just will never forget. Especially in Vietnam, yeah, just the certain connections you make and you're like, ⁓ I hate that I have to leave you.

James Hammond (1:01:48)

Yeah, think Vietnam's interesting. They've got such a young population. think half of it is under 35 or 40. So I think there's a big youthful population there. And as we all know, the youth and the older population is there's a difference because of just what happens going through time. So yeah, it's quite an interesting country to be based. Like people might, if you're older, think, oh, that's still like the Vietnam war in the sixties. No, this is like a proper, not Westernized, proper going country. They are totally on it. It's like going home, Vietnam.

Marie Walker (1:02:18)

Like they're doing so well and the country's like, it's getting so advanced and they run it well. I know, I'm just very impressed by Vietnam and the people are so sweet. Well, not everywhere in the country. I would say like certain parts of the country. Vietnamese can either be hot or cold. think, I'll talk about that, maybe it has to do with the older generation. Like if you go into these small towns, they might not smile. They might be like, what are you doing here? Like they're very blunt, but then the younger population is very,

Very sweet. my gosh.

James Hammond (1:02:50)

Yeah.

Yeah. Love it. I think my biggest problem going into that world, I don't know if you have this or not, is I would always feel the itch to go somewhere new. So it'd be a new experience. Let's say I have a month in an island in Thailand, which I love. I still think even if I'd love it after the month, I'm like, oh, I need to change it up. That's going to be my biggest problem, I think.

Marie Walker (1:03:10)

No, that's fine. Do it. feel like your first trip as a digital nomad, you're gonna be like kid in a candy shop. You're gonna go crazy. You're gonna go crazy and go to all these places. And then second trip, figure out the next one. what's your dream for when you finally get your business to the level you want?

James Hammond (1:03:30)

Yeah, I'll give you top five countries if you want. Yeah. Spain.

Marie Walker (1:03:35)

Okay. Why Spain?

James Hammond (1:03:37)

Do you know what? absolutely love that country and I've just not done enough of it. love the culture. love the different parts of the country. So if you want a bit of coolness, go to the Northwest, Galicia, really nice green. But if you want that sun and just like to chill out, but maybe more in the winter time, go south. I just love the thought of being in Spain. Love it. Oh my God. A bit cliche, but hey, Thailand, I've named the two.

Marie Walker (1:03:41)

I love it.

Thank you.

James Hammond (1:04:03)

And number two is Thailand. It's the two biggest places we go to as holidays.

Marie Walker (1:04:07)

Hot five British people places continue.

James Hammond (1:04:11)

So I'm going to get the details of your place that you say that in Thailand. I will tell you. Yes. Because I have this idyllic mind of not going to Koh Phi Phi or Phinang or whatever, but there's like little islands like Koh Lipe and other ones that just not as sort of traveled as much. So I want to pump myself on those islands. So yeah, Thailand is there. I think I'd like to do somewhere like Uruguay. It'd be quite cool.

Marie Walker (1:04:17)

I you.

I just met someone on the plane from Uruguay.

James Hammond (1:04:41)

aggressive.

No one goes there. Speak a little bit of Spanish, so like go learn Spanish there. That'd be pretty cool. What else am I thinking? I think somewhere idyllic, like an island, but that's depend on internet, isn't it? But I've got this weird obsession with paradise, so maybe something like French Polynesia or...

Marie Walker (1:05:01)

my gosh.

Yeah, totally. That would be so good.

James Hammond (1:05:05)

And then the fifth place is East Asia, so it'd be somewhere like Taiwan, Japan, Korea, one of those three.

Marie Walker (1:05:12)

would totally go back to Korea. I want to go with someone next time. I think again, the culture isn't super like, hey, how are you? ⁓ Korea, I would totally go back there. Easily. Those are great countries. It's like a mix of some nomad hubs and some that are not more adventurous.

James Hammond (1:05:33)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think also what's underrated with travel and with digital nomad stuff is the weather, Can we touch on this for a bit? Because if you're going to Southeast Asia, I don't think you want to be there when it's rainy season,

Marie Walker (1:05:44)

⁓ so now like I have a secret about the rainy season in Thailand, but I'm like I don't Know hey, I won't get keeps hope too much. Okay, so apparently in Thailand The there's the rainy seasons don't go They don't go like north to south they go east to west So when I got to Thailand in on in September like probably September 15th like very close to now I was in Phuket fucking pouring Every day I I didn't see the Sun for seven days and I was like

I'm gonna get depressed in Thailand. That's crazy. And then I took, okay, I'll say the island I went to. ⁓ I flew to Koh Samui, famous island, but where the co-living is isn't in the main area. It's in like part of a smaller town. I flew to Koh Samui, two months straight of perfection. But then November, the rain started heading to Koh Samui and then Phuket gets sunny.

It goes east to west. It doesn't go north to south. So that's how the rainy season works in Thailand. So if you go to Thailand in the quote rainy season, like if you're on like the Koh Samui, Koh Phan Yang side, you'll be fine in September. But go ahead and move to Phuket side in November, December. Yeah, well secret for y'all. yeah, there's so many islands in Thailand. my God. So good.

James Hammond (1:07:00)

Yeah, code leap A side. Or calanta.

This is what I mean, right? This is why...

Marie Walker (1:07:10)

I love Thailand. I generally, I think if the whole world was like Thailand, we would have peace. There's no way, Thailand is how the world should be, I think.

James Hammond (1:07:15)

⁓ hundred percent.

Apart from its border with Cambodia, that was a bit hairy, wasn't it? Start firing at each other. Okay. And lastly on this bit, any advice you'd give to someone who's maybe leading up to changing their lifestyle, to be a digital nomad, anything you would say.

Marie Walker (1:07:34)

⁓ I would say Jim Winley listen to that podcast the digital nomad life podcast you really yeah ⁓ if you have like already experience of having your own business then like Honestly, yeah, you should also just reach out to me if you have questions. I love talking about entrepreneurship stuff I'll shout out my stuff later like my Instagram, but you can come out to me, but I consuming The right podcast hiring a coach getting in those circles. You need to like you need a little bit of a crew

if you're about to change something in your life, whether it be fitness, whether it be mindset, whether it be your business, you need to have a support system. Because you're to have those days where you're like, is this worth it? And you need someone to be like, shut the fuck up. Yes, it is. But ⁓ I would start with the podcast, Digital Nomad Life podcast, and tell me that doesn't change your damn life. It's so good.

James Hammond (1:08:22)

And judging from this conversation, I think the three things I've learned, the keys to being a digital nomad are you need your own business or your own income, or at least work remotely.

Marie Walker (1:08:34)

Yeah, but remote jobs can sometimes limit you to where you can go. So it depends on how much freedom you want.

James Hammond (1:08:38)

Yeah, I actually think it's quite hard to find that freedom in that job.

Marie Walker (1:08:43)

think finding a job is actually just as hard, personally, unless that's something you already can do easily.

James Hammond (1:08:49)

I think I'd rather stay at home and have a normal job than work towards being a digital nomad. I think that'd be much easier.

Marie Walker (1:08:54)

because you get to have like lifetime freedom.

James Hammond (1:08:57)

Yeah. Okay. Number two, have a home base. Now, the reason I say this, because I know you learned this on your trip, but I've learned this on my backpacking trip in 2023, even before I'm anywhere near being a digital nomad, because I just think sometimes you just need to go home, don't you? And just like chill out for a month or see friends or just create stuff. And it's quite stressful if you just want to maybe find an Airbnb and it's not quite the right room or it's just the expense and it's like,

Marie Walker (1:09:24)

Yeah, it's like the exhaustion wears on you slowly, like to the point where, then you just are burnt out. So I absolutely agree on having a home base. I can't wait till I have one.

James Hammond (1:09:38)

And number three is there's difference between backpacking and being a digital nomad. So you need to work out for your year, for example, how you're going to marry the two if you really want to do both because you can't consistently do both intertwined one week here and there. Because I think let's be realistic. If you're going to have a business and you've got clients, I think you just need like a month to get stuff done, don't you? At least the first three weeks of the month to get your work done. Then you can maybe have a week, right? You need to figure that out.

Marie Walker (1:10:04)

Yeah, it depends on your business, like if it's a good business, then you do need to be working on it a lot. Like it's not just, I have clients. Like you need to be thinking about how can I market? How can I scale? You are going to be wearing all the hats in the business. This is what people don't talk about. Like you are all the hats. You need to be also learning how, just always learning, like reading, knowledge, you know, if you really want to have a successful business. So it's all give or take, both are hard. It's hard being a backpacker with $300 left.

It's hard being a remote worker knowing you can't go to Asia. And it's hard having your own business knowing like, it's a skill. You need to learn how to be a business man, woman. Choose your heart.

James Hammond (1:10:44)

Yeah, very hard. Okay. And talking business, let's go to the last part of episode. So tell us about your business, what is called, what you offer, and if people are interested, how they get in contact with you for that.

Marie Walker (1:10:54)

Yes, my business is called Your Girl Media. ⁓ It's pretty niche. I work with six to seven figure coaches. I have a boutique agency for coaches. like, my God, I can handle anything from like podcasting, YouTube, SEO, CRMs, funnels, I specialize also in high ticket sales. So if you have a high ticket offer in your coaching program, ⁓ I'm personally only going to work with one client closing them, but I have a matchmaking service so I can set you up and connect you to setters and closers. So why would you go anywhere else? I'm your girl.

essentially. Like if you're a coach, like literally, why would you go anywhere else? I have everything you need. And again, I need to work with coaches because I realized as a podcast producer working on passion projects, that shit gonna run dry. It gonna run dry at some point. like with coaches, they need me. I genuinely am bringing, like for example, my client Krista, actually the girl was talking about my coach. She's my client. I brought her a million dollars in sales from her podcast.

James Hammond (1:11:37)

Yeah, it does.

Marie Walker (1:11:53)

She needs me. She will keep me on her payroll. Yeah. That's why I specialize in coaches and because coaches have changed my life. So your girl media and my Instagram is at your girl media. Yeah.

James Hammond (1:11:56)

She will.

Okay.

And any like social media for that? ⁓

Marie Walker (1:12:11)

⁓

Yeah, the Instagram for that is your your girl media and then for the website. Yeah, I'll probably just send you that it's your girl media.com

James Hammond (1:12:17)

Yeah, put it in the show notes. Okay. And then your podcast, the Culture Cult Travel Show.

Marie Walker (1:12:23)

My stepchild I love. I really can't wait to get back to focusing on. ⁓ my God, yeah. So my podcast, like the reason I started it is because yeah, I grew up in Alabama and I grew up very ignorant. And I know a lot of Americans don't travel a lot and they can be quite ignorant. And I don't think that should stop you from learning about the world. It's nice maybe if you can't travel or like, yeah, like you still want to learn about different countries. I'm on the mission to learn about every country in the world.

And through that, I also tell the craziest fucking story you ever heard from that country. So, yeah, it's fun, not PG, but it's all about like, it's okay to ask questions. It's okay to learn about each other. And I do think if we learned about each other and lived in less fear-based world, then we could live in a better place. Like, for example, we learned about Zimbabwe. Instead of like judging someone, you could be like, oh my God, Zimbabwe, I actually know a weird fact about Zimbabwe. Boom, you disconnected. So.

It's really about learning about every country in the world and being less ignorant.

James Hammond (1:13:23)

Yeah, it's a great podcast. It mixes history and travel. So you get the both worlds of crazy stories, but also some historic content for the country that you talk about or place in the country. Right. So well, well recommend people checking that out and yeah, you need to do more. So

Marie Walker (1:13:38)

I know, I know. I'm actually covering, I'm gonna ask your audience actually, because I might need some help. So next season I'm covering Scotland, Australia, and Iran. I am struggling on covering a story for Iran. I don't want to cover what they cover. There's so much more to that country. So if any of y'all are Iranian, or you all have a good story, please hit me up, because I feel like I want to cover your country with justice. That doesn't sound right. I want to cover your country well. With justice.

No, I want to do your country justice. So yeah, my Instagram is at culture cult show and my podcast is the culture cult travel show. So if any of y'all are Iranian or if you want your country covered, like hit me up. Like I would love to cover your country.

James Hammond (1:14:11)

Yeah, yeah.

Awesome. So I'll put all those links in the show notes. So Marie, any lasting sentences about, I don't know, life or travel or different nomad anything you want to share before we close up?

Marie Walker (1:14:38)

I just want to say all of y'all are cool as fuck because if you're wanting to learn about other cultures and wanting to put yourself out of your comfort zone and like just actually live life at the fullest and you also are aware that we only have this life and you're gonna go for it and travel y'all are fucking cool like don't take that shit for granted y'all are everyone who listens to this podcast is very special

James Hammond (1:15:01)

amazing. Marie, thanks for coming on podcast. been a great chat, great laugh, and you're always welcome back at any time.

Marie Walker (1:15:07)

Yes, and you're coming on my show soon, so we'll hear your crazy travel story.

James Hammond (1:15:11)

Thanks for tuning in to the podcast episode today. If you've been inspired by today's chat and want to book some travel.

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and enjoy your travels.