Speaker 1: I want the fairy tale. I want the prince charming.
Speaker 2: She how do I put?
Speaker 3: This?
Speaker 4: Isn't a fan of my kissing style.
Speaker 1: We would a boyfriend and girlfriend for about twelve hours.
Speaker 1: He's in a trash bin, he's non recyclable.
Speaker 3: Catching them mu.
Speaker 4: I love being in love. I love love. On today's
Speaker 4: episode of Where's your Head At, we're sitting down with
Speaker 4: Marie and Jake, the stunning blogging couple who have traveled
Speaker 4: the world doing exactly what they love.
Speaker 1: This beautiful couple also run two Bali hotels, have their
Speaker 1: own online academy, have an Instagram, reels masterclass, and a
Speaker 1: clothing label too.
Speaker 4: We get the chance to hear how they met and
Speaker 4: why they started a traveling blog, and what they have
Speaker 4: planned for the future.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned to hear how you could create a living
Speaker 1: doing what you love. Also, Where's your Head At is
Speaker 1: a podcast that talks all things relationships, breakups, reality TV,
Speaker 1: trending shows, and everything in between.
Speaker 4: This is your new go to destination for laughs, gossip,
Speaker 4: intimate detail, advice, and much more. Hey guys, Hello, welcome
Speaker 4: to Where's your Head At?
Speaker 2: Thanks for having it you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, great to see you guys.
Speaker 3: Look at them.
Speaker 1: You guys are living the dream, but you also look
Speaker 1: like the most stunning couple ever. There's palm trees in
Speaker 1: the background. We thought that was We thought those were real,
Speaker 1: but it's actually a picture, but it just suits the vibe.
Speaker 4: We genuinely thought that was them on the balcony Enviviron.
Speaker 4: It looks amazing. It is.
Speaker 2: We are environ but we were inside and it's a
Speaker 2: painting and we thought it would look cool. But it's
Speaker 2: very great to be here to actually chat because I
Speaker 2: think a big part of what we do online is
Speaker 2: to show this dream life and to inspire couples and
Speaker 2: people to go after what they really want. And you know,
Speaker 2: if you love somebody, tell them go after it. But
Speaker 2: also in the long form context, we can probably talk
Speaker 2: more about how it's not always the dream and it's
Speaker 2: a lot of the times hard and there's a lot
Speaker 2: of tension sometimes, so that would be cool to get into.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's literally, that's literally what we wanted to chat about.
Speaker 4: Those exactly that stuff right there.
Speaker 1: Because I mean online I followed you guys for a while.
Speaker 1: You guys, the account that you've created, it's so wonder lost,
Speaker 1: it's so dreamy. I mean you guys are both gorgeous.
Speaker 1: You seem soul in love. It's just like it's very
Speaker 1: picture perfect and amazing, and I as like an Instagram
Speaker 1: like viewer of you guys, am totally hooked. So like, congrats,
Speaker 1: double tick. But there's so much work that goes into this,
Speaker 1: Like I look at the content you guys create on
Speaker 1: a daily basis and I'm like, these guys are working overtime.
Speaker 4: Like this is busy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you guys are entrepreneurs, like you have your
Speaker 1: like feet in every single pie. So tell us about that.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, we didn't plan for any of
Speaker 2: this in the beginning. It kind of just evolved. We
Speaker 2: met on a beach in Thailand and it's a long,
Speaker 2: crazy story and we could tell it if you guys
Speaker 2: want to hear it lately, it really evolved.
Speaker 5: You can start, Well, that's probably long now, okay, but yeah, okay,
Speaker 5: let's start from the beginning. I'm from Germany and I
Speaker 5: quit my job in twenty sixteen. I wanted to move
Speaker 5: to Spain because originally I grew up in Spain with
Speaker 5: my family. It was always my dream to move back,
Speaker 5: and at that time I hadn't traveled that much, so
Speaker 5: I was like, Okay, before I'm going to get into that,
Speaker 5: I'm going to go to Asia.
Speaker 3: I'd never been to Asia.
Speaker 5: Just got a ticket to Thailand and they wanted to
Speaker 5: see Thailand, Vietnam and Bali.
Speaker 3: And at that time, I just came out.
Speaker 5: Of a six year relationship. I was like single for
Speaker 5: six months. I didn't I wasn't interested in meeting any
Speaker 5: guys at all. And then there was this one day,
Speaker 5: it was actually only five days into my trip, where
Speaker 5: I went to the beach with a few friends and
Speaker 5: Jake was sing as well, and yeah, we hit it
Speaker 5: up super quickly.
Speaker 3: Jake was a bit of a this.
Speaker 2: Is this was kind of like this stage of the
Speaker 2: last stages where people weren't sharing everything online, so we
Speaker 2: met really organically.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we never Instagram accounts or anything.
Speaker 2: I was on the on the beach with my mates
Speaker 2: and Marie and a couple of her friends, and she
Speaker 2: walked to the water and I like looked dark and
Speaker 2: I was like, all right, how am I going to
Speaker 2: bag this? You know already?
Speaker 3: And it was a bit of a hobby of Jake
Speaker 3: as well, let's be honest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, back then, but me and my mates were sitting there.
Speaker 2: We looked down and said, Okay, how are we going
Speaker 2: to do this? My mate actually broke the ice and
Speaker 2: he went over and started to talk to them first,
Speaker 2: and he was speaking with Marie and we're sitting in
Speaker 2: this big circle in the water, and he went to
Speaker 2: get some drinks and then I was like, cham slipping
Speaker 2: in here. And then Marie and I just we just
Speaker 2: we hit it off like crazy. That day. We were
Speaker 2: playing games, drinking games, and just really enjoying each other's company.
Speaker 2: And the next day we met up again. I was
Speaker 2: just kind of head over here straight away, which was
Speaker 2: rare for me because usually it was just like a
Speaker 2: fun thing. I would always mention to the girl in
Speaker 2: the beginning, this is not going to be serious. I
Speaker 2: just want to put it out there to begin with.
Speaker 2: And I was young. I think I was twenty four
Speaker 2: when we met. But then I bought Maria bracelet the
Speaker 2: next day because she told me the favorite color and
Speaker 2: I saw it as her favorite color, and I gave
Speaker 2: it to her and the next day we had a
Speaker 2: really deep conversation. The next day, Marie told me about
Speaker 2: her background and some of the difficult things she had
Speaker 2: to go through and her dad passing away and things
Speaker 2: like that, and I really just felt like this deep
Speaker 2: connection and then I just we kissed on the second night.
Speaker 2: And then Marie was going to Copanyan, the next island,
Speaker 2: and I said to my mates, we got it where
Speaker 2: they were going to meet up with these girls. We
Speaker 2: went to Copagnan and then we were there for four
Speaker 2: days together. And I already had a flight with my
Speaker 2: mate book to Cambodia. So we left on the ferry
Speaker 2: and like you know, the girls were waving because Maria
Speaker 2: was with a friend of hers, they were waving goodbye,
Speaker 2: and I was on the ferry, and I was just
Speaker 2: like what am I doing? Like why am I leaving her?
Speaker 2: This is the stupid This doesn't make any sense, just
Speaker 2: because I have to go to Cambodia. And so we
Speaker 2: were flying to Cambodia with my mate and I told
Speaker 2: him on the plane, as soon as we land, I'm
Speaker 2: going directly to Vietnam because that's where Marie is. And
Speaker 2: so we got there. I had to get a visa,
Speaker 2: and it usually takes a week or so to get
Speaker 2: this visa, and I just paid some random guy to
Speaker 2: take my passport and go and get it, and I
Speaker 2: forced my mate to do the same thing, and he
Speaker 2: was just like, this is insane. I had two passports,
Speaker 2: he only had one, so he was he wasn't super happy,
Speaker 2: but I just told him, I think I'm in love.
Speaker 2: I don't even know what that feels like, but I'm
Speaker 2: pretty sure like there's something different here. And then so
Speaker 2: Marie went to Vietnam and we met at the hotel,
Speaker 2: and I think she was kind of pretty impressed by
Speaker 2: the effort that I was putting in.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I was going to say, have you ever had
Speaker 4: a guy put that much effort in before?
Speaker 6: No?
Speaker 3: And you got even crazy afterwards.
Speaker 5: Because we spent two weeks together, it was super intense.
Speaker 5: I think it was like we actually fell in love
Speaker 5: within like two and a half weeks. And then Jake
Speaker 5: had to go back because he was playing Izzie football
Speaker 5: in Australia and he had a job in the winery
Speaker 5: in the Barossa Valley in the essay and yeah, and
Speaker 5: he was like, look, my season will enter in six
Speaker 5: to eight weeks and then let's catch up wherever you
Speaker 5: want to, maybe Spain or whatever you think.
Speaker 3: And I was like, okay, sounds good.
Speaker 5: And then we went to Bali and I have to
Speaker 5: say this, Jake was the first Australian I ever met.
Speaker 3: Coming from Europe.
Speaker 5: You guys are like so easy going, so happy, positive vibes.
Speaker 5: So I was like hooked right away.
Speaker 2: I was lucky because like, if another Aussie come in first,
Speaker 2: I would have had no chance to know Jake.
Speaker 5: Though I was going to Bali and I didn't know
Speaker 5: Bali is like, you're travel destination number one.
Speaker 3: So he's like, okay, she's going to go to Bali.
Speaker 6: She's going to be so many other Aussie guys that
Speaker 6: have long hair that can actually serve, and she might
Speaker 6: just pick another one, you know, not just.
Speaker 2: Fake surf, you know, can actually serve.
Speaker 5: So yeah, and my friend who actually wanted to meet
Speaker 5: a guy, she's like, we're going to party every day,
Speaker 5: like I don't care what you say that Jake's not here,
Speaker 5: and I was like okay. And then three days the
Speaker 5: end of partying, Jake's calls me and he's like, I
Speaker 5: talked to my boss and I told him I really
Speaker 5: like you and I would come over in two days
Speaker 5: if you want to.
Speaker 3: And I was like what, So his give two games,
Speaker 3: came over to Bali, spent two weeks with us.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 2: The brutal part was I had to miss these two games,
Speaker 2: so I had to talk. I had to have a
Speaker 2: meeting with the captain of my because I was on
Speaker 2: a contract. I was playing country football, but it was
Speaker 2: just a contract and I was getting paid a small
Speaker 2: amount to play. I had to have a meeting with
Speaker 2: my coach and my captain and tell them why I
Speaker 2: was leaving and I couldn't play the next two games.
Speaker 2: And I just said to them, I don't know what
Speaker 2: to tell you. I'm in love, it's like, and they're
Speaker 2: just like, what is wrong with you? They literally thought
Speaker 2: there was something wrong with me, because.
Speaker 4: Well they would have been like, yeah, this comes first
Speaker 4: before everything our so it's.
Speaker 2: True, like I think they credit to them. They were
Speaker 2: just like, you're you're crazy, but okay, if you know
Speaker 2: this is what it is, and I think I was.
Speaker 2: That's when I knew feeling something, what it was with
Speaker 2: her was real because I was willing to make myself
Speaker 2: look like the biggest idiot in front of all my teammates,
Speaker 2: my coach, whatever, and I didn't care. I just didn't
Speaker 2: care because I wanted to see her so bad, and
Speaker 2: I had this empty feeling in my stomach, knowing she
Speaker 2: was in Bali with other long haired Aussie guys and
Speaker 2: she would like forget about me, and so I flew
Speaker 2: back the We spent twelve days together and that's when
Speaker 2: we became like boyfriend and girlfriend. And it was also
Speaker 2: a period of time where we fell in love with
Speaker 2: Bali and we started like really imagining what our life
Speaker 2: could look like together and imagine if we could be
Speaker 2: in Bali and have our own place here and do
Speaker 2: you know, just live a free life, like we were
Speaker 2: truly thinking about it. I flew back home to Australia
Speaker 2: and that's.
Speaker 5: When I decided to change my plans. So I was
Speaker 5: already deep into my Spain plans. My entire family was
Speaker 5: going to come in December. We met in July. My
Speaker 5: family was going to come in December for Christmas to Spain,
Speaker 5: and they'd already booked flights. Everyone gave me like goodbye
Speaker 5: presents to move to Spain. I'd organized an apartment, I've
Speaker 5: spent like seven thousand Ausie dollars to like go to
Speaker 5: a UNI there and do my master because I'd only
Speaker 5: done my Bechlan in Germany. So it was like really
Speaker 5: committed and I was like, oh my god, what am
Speaker 5: I doing? And I told my friends. One of my
Speaker 5: friends actually flew out, but she's like, Marie, you're out
Speaker 5: of her mind. You just quit your job after six years.
Speaker 5: Now you met like this random dude, Like have you
Speaker 5: seen his Facebook account?
Speaker 3: Like it's crazy, he's just drunk all the time and like,
Speaker 3: and I was like, no, he's amazing.
Speaker 5: And she's like, I'm going to come over and check
Speaker 5: him out and tell you whether you should really go
Speaker 5: for him. And she really liked him and she could
Speaker 5: see the energy we had together. But yeah, so I
Speaker 5: quit everything. I decided to call my mom and I
Speaker 5: was like, I'm not going to Spain anymore. I'm not
Speaker 5: coming back.
Speaker 3: And that's when we decided to start traveling together.
Speaker 5: We both had saved some money, so I think at
Speaker 5: that time we had like four or five weeks left.
Speaker 3: Jake went back to Australia.
Speaker 5: I was still in Bali, and then I think a
Speaker 5: few days later he called me again and he's like, look, Marie,
Speaker 5: I've got four days off in between my game and
Speaker 5: the next training or like practice or whatever, and I'm
Speaker 5: going to come over for three days to Bali. And
Speaker 5: I was like okay, like he's really committed, so I
Speaker 5: could commit as well. And I know this is what
Speaker 5: made me then quit my dreams.
Speaker 1: It's pretty crazy that you guys obviously have met, one
Speaker 1: from Australia, one from Germany, and it's almost like against
Speaker 1: all the odds, you've chosen each other. And I feel
Speaker 1: like that's just so special to hear, because I'm sure
Speaker 1: there's lots of people who meet from different countries and
Speaker 1: they just think put that in the too hard basket.
Speaker 1: But I guess you guys do have something special, and
Speaker 1: I feel like I think that's why your account has
Speaker 1: done so well, because you can feel that energy through
Speaker 1: the screen, like it's not put on. You can feel
Speaker 1: the love and that's I mean, it's beautiful to see.
Speaker 1: And you guys are obviously super authentic. But obviously, as
Speaker 1: with all relationships, there's hard times, and I guess you
Speaker 1: guys probably I don't know, but I'm assuming that you
Speaker 1: don't speak too much about the hard times, just based
Speaker 1: on your account, like I have heard some things. But
Speaker 1: obviously you guys are a normal couple. I'm sure you fight.
Speaker 1: Can we delve into that a little bit for sure?
Speaker 5: It's actually interesting because we've just sit an update on YouTube.
Speaker 5: We used to do YouTube, and we stopped for three
Speaker 5: years when we stopped traveling during the pandemic and stuff,
Speaker 5: and we just started again and did like a bit
Speaker 5: of an update what has happened in the last three years,
Speaker 5: and we also mentioned it there. So if you look
Speaker 5: at our account, if you first get there and you
Speaker 5: just see the reels, the reels are like an outlet
Speaker 5: of like our niche, which is travel couples and like
Speaker 5: travel like destinations. So it's it looks very perfect and inspirational.
Speaker 5: But if you dive into our stories a lot of
Speaker 5: times there, I especially am very vulnerable because I just realized,
Speaker 5: like a lot of people can relate to it. And
Speaker 5: Instagram is not only about being perfect anymore. It's more
Speaker 5: about being relatable sharing the things you go through. So
Speaker 5: whether it was like I had really really bad skin
Speaker 5: issues when I came up my pill like a few
Speaker 5: years ago when we were traveling and we did a
Speaker 5: lot of adventure travel, so it was always dirty and
Speaker 5: I just couldn't handle it, like even being in front
Speaker 5: of the camera holding my phone in my face.
Speaker 3: It was like a big issue for me.
Speaker 5: But yeah, the community is really interested in hearing those
Speaker 5: things as well, because obviously it's also relatable and then
Speaker 5: also like my past, that my yeah that my dad
Speaker 5: passed away, or like I'm still trying to go through
Speaker 5: some mental issues because of that, and how Jake acts
Speaker 5: with it and stuff. I'm always trying to share these
Speaker 5: things in terms of like having arguments whenever.
Speaker 3: We do Q and as we do mention it.
Speaker 5: But obviously it's not the first thing you do that
Speaker 5: you grab your point and like record it when you're
Speaker 5: in an argument. We're trying to Yeah, I use the
Speaker 5: Instagram now in the stories, as I said, to just
Speaker 5: give a bit more content and authenticity.
Speaker 2: But I think the hardest part in our relationship, it's
Speaker 2: our strength, and it's also our biggest weakness, is that
Speaker 2: coming from Australia, I'm very laid back. Things don't really
Speaker 2: bother me too much. And when I'm too much like that,
Speaker 2: it leaves a lot of the stress and and everything
Speaker 2: up to Marie to deal with because I'm just not
Speaker 2: caring about it. I'm like, yeah, whatever it will help,
Speaker 2: it'll deal with itself. And then because Marie is not
Speaker 2: like that, she will have to jump in and try
Speaker 2: to fit you know, deal with whatever's giving her anxiety
Speaker 2: and so and especially once we started working together, we've
Speaker 2: never had fights just based around our relationship, our relationship,
Speaker 2: what we like, the things we want to do. It's
Speaker 2: all about work where we've really hit some really hard hurdles.
Speaker 2: And the hardest thing I think for both of us
Speaker 2: is to try to balance the work, the social media,
Speaker 2: the fun, the relationship, the love. And we've found in
Speaker 2: the past we've maybe gone too far into the work
Speaker 2: side of things, and then with social media, it's just
Speaker 2: all encompassing. So Marie is online on her phone a lot,
Speaker 2: and then in the past I've sometimes started to like
Speaker 2: look at social media as the enemy because I'm like,
Speaker 2: I'm like, social media has taken my partner away from me,
Speaker 2: and Instagram is toxic, and you know, because there's so
Speaker 2: many good things about it, but of course there's also
Speaker 2: so much bad and communicating those things has been the
Speaker 2: biggest part of our relationship. It's me trying to understand
Speaker 2: where Marie's coming from, and even though it doesn't make
Speaker 2: sense to me, it is her truth. And I think
Speaker 2: that's I heard I heard once a metaphor which made
Speaker 2: so much sense to me. And made me realize that
Speaker 2: I have to like listen to Marie and how she's feeling,
Speaker 2: even if it sounds like insanity to me. And it
Speaker 2: was like, you know, if you have a young you
Speaker 2: have a young child and they are you know, coming
Speaker 2: into your room and they're two years old and they're saying,
Speaker 2: d dad, there's a monster under my bed, and like,
Speaker 2: I'm really scared. As a parent, you wouldn't tell the kid,
Speaker 2: you know, just go to bed, like stop thinking about it,
Speaker 2: You're fine, Like there's not a stupid monster. What are
Speaker 2: you thinking? You're you're crazy, like you're seeing things. You
Speaker 2: would just give them a hug and say, hey, look,
Speaker 2: I'm going to come in there with you and I'm
Speaker 2: going to show you that there's nothing there. It's all good.
Speaker 2: I'm here for you, hug them, be there for them
Speaker 2: until they go to sleep again. And that's how you
Speaker 2: need to treat your partner. So if they're feeling something
Speaker 2: and it doesn't make sense to you, they're still feeling it,
Speaker 2: that doesn't change the fact that they're feeling it. So
Speaker 2: you just got to hug them, say I'm supporting you,
Speaker 2: I'm going to be there, and you know, over a
Speaker 2: bit of time, they will calm down and it will
Speaker 2: all be okay.
Speaker 5: I think a general man and women are quite different already,
Speaker 5: like in terms of how they act, but then being
Speaker 5: from two different countries or even continents, it just shows
Speaker 5: a lot of times the way we grew up.
Speaker 3: It's just very different. Jake was always like very protected.
Speaker 5: To make money in Australia so easy, like what you
Speaker 5: make even twenty six dollars an hour when you work
Speaker 5: at McDonald's or something, so like for you.
Speaker 6: Like.
Speaker 5: Everything just seems a bit easier, and I just, yeah,
Speaker 5: I have to. I think I've already grown a lot before.
Speaker 2: Also, I haven't really experienced really intense loss like Marie
Speaker 2: with her with her father, so that's also something that
Speaker 2: we're working through. It's like Marie has experienced that life
Speaker 2: can be amazing and then just completely change in an instant,
Speaker 2: and so that that fear is still there for her.
Speaker 2: For me, I've never had anything like that. Everything has
Speaker 2: been okay, it will be okay. So just dealing with
Speaker 2: that as well is something that we try to communicate
Speaker 2: about a lot. And it's not perfect. Like we fight,
Speaker 2: I think just as much as any other couple. But
Speaker 2: what we're really good at is quickly turning it around,
Speaker 2: coming together, saying sorry, talking about it. We kind of
Speaker 2: have to because we're so close and we spent every
Speaker 2: single day together.
Speaker 3: Last we're online every day.
Speaker 5: But I've already started to choose this show and say, guys,
Speaker 5: today we're not feeling it or like it's not a
Speaker 5: good day.
Speaker 3: And people are also really supportive.
Speaker 5: Like I've never tried to pretend I'm okay and then
Speaker 5: put a face on and do it.
Speaker 3: I think it would just make me sick from the inside.
Speaker 3: I couldn't be I couldn't be late.
Speaker 4: I agree with that. I feel like though, as well,
Speaker 4: if you're honest with your audience about you guys, and
Speaker 4: that you're like having an off day and you're arguing
Speaker 4: in that, I feel like your audience would come more
Speaker 4: invested because nobody wants to be honest. Nobody wants to
Speaker 4: see this couple that are like posting like all this glamorous.
Speaker 1: Times, like yeah, nice to see the back end.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: If you think about it, like any TV show or
Speaker 4: anything you watch, you always get invested in the couple
Speaker 4: that has like trials, yeah, trials and tribulation. So I'm
Speaker 4: the same I say with my girlfriend, like I don't
Speaker 4: want to be fake and post us like having a
Speaker 4: glamorous time all the time, Like that's not it's not real,
Speaker 4: Like it's just yeah, I had that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1: Do you guys find that? Like, I don't know, this
Speaker 1: is just personal for me. So I was wondering if
Speaker 1: you guys feel like this. But I feel like the
Speaker 1: more engaged my account becomes, the more anxious. I guess, like,
Speaker 1: do you guys feel anxiety from like that high engagement?
Speaker 5: Absolutely, I have openly spoken about it. But I had
Speaker 5: my first like really mental breakdown during the time when
Speaker 5: COVID hit and it was like Black Lives Matters and
Speaker 5: the bushfires in Australia. We did a big campaign for
Speaker 5: that where a few influences in Australia came together, like
Speaker 5: Jake had this idea and I think all up. We
Speaker 5: donated half a million dollars, which was great, but then
Speaker 5: on the opposite side we were graced. Yeah exactly, but
Speaker 5: then people were like you you were the reason why
Speaker 5: those bushfires happened because you travel and during COVID a
Speaker 5: lot of people just felt super negative. So I don't
Speaker 5: know if you felt it, but like the negativity just
Speaker 5: gets put on you.
Speaker 3: And then we were in Bali where it wasn't that bad.
Speaker 5: So people hated us because we could go out, but
Speaker 5: if we didn't go out, they're like, oh, now you're
Speaker 5: pretending you're also not in a good place even though
Speaker 5: you are. So it was like you could you I
Speaker 5: can't please everyone.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I was going to say that you can't please everyone.
Speaker 4: They're always going to find a way and they try
Speaker 4: to take it out on people in your position.
Speaker 1: Delete or block the best two buttons on sexual media.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so do you get much hate?
Speaker 5: Then?
Speaker 4: On a daily.
Speaker 3: Basis, we're really lucky. We're also very.
Speaker 5: I think over the years we've been doing this now
Speaker 5: for six years, we think about how we communicate things
Speaker 5: and what to say. Sometimes in some like sensitive topics
Speaker 5: we're not even like talking about anymore, or like if
Speaker 5: something political comes up, we're like, look, we're not journalists,
Speaker 5: like we are doing something to inspire you guys.
Speaker 3: We travel a couple. We don't know what.
Speaker 5: Is true about this war or this whatever it is,
Speaker 5: so we're just trying to stay off it, which has
Speaker 5: made it a bit nicer for us.
Speaker 2: But I would say in general, compared to the rest,
Speaker 2: we get very little, very little compared to other people.
Speaker 4: I think the trol those over anyway, Like if like
Speaker 4: control now, it's just like, come on, you fucking lose
Speaker 4: like I had on the other day, and I was
Speaker 4: just really I was like, what come on, Yeah, how.
Speaker 1: Do you guys go being away from family and friends?
Speaker 1: Because obviously, I mean, you're in Australia now, but you
Speaker 1: are based in Bali, So how do you go being away.
Speaker 3: For the longest time?
Speaker 5: To be honest, we were traveling NonStop, so we wouldn't
Speaker 5: be in a place longer than ten to fourteen days,
Speaker 5: which meant we had zero connection to anyone really except
Speaker 5: of ourselves and maybe people that would travel with us
Speaker 5: for a bit. In the beginning, it wasn't a problem
Speaker 5: during the pandemic. It was the first time that I
Speaker 5: really struggled with it because there were people left in Bali,
Speaker 5: but also quite a lot of people left the island
Speaker 5: and everything was so you didn't know what would happen
Speaker 5: in the future, and like I needed someone to talk
Speaker 5: to and also like a bit of female energy to
Speaker 5: have by my side, just being with your your man,
Speaker 5: you know, and talking on the phone. It's different. You
Speaker 5: have different time zones, so like it's just not never
Speaker 5: the same. So I really struggled.
Speaker 2: I think have them. What changed was that we had
Speaker 2: the choice to be able to see our family whenever
Speaker 2: we wanted. So all of a sudden, like hey, even
Speaker 2: if we wanted to, if we wanted to fly to
Speaker 2: Australia right now, we cannot.
Speaker 5: That's crazy because Australia was close for two two and
Speaker 5: a half years and we tried to get a visa
Speaker 5: for me.
Speaker 3: They denied it. They were like, no, not enough proof
Speaker 3: that you were a couple, and we're like, okay, wow.
Speaker 2: We got denied. It was like, yeah, we've been We've
Speaker 2: been planning this elaborate scam for five years. We can
Speaker 2: get a fake visa. What we got denied denied? We
Speaker 2: now are setting up more of a lifestyle where we
Speaker 2: can spend a bit more time in Australia to visit
Speaker 2: my family, We can go back to Europe to visit
Speaker 2: Marie's family, and then we can be in Bali for
Speaker 2: a few months to have our own little family with
Speaker 2: our dogs there as well. So now we are planning
Speaker 2: a life where it's maybe like four months four months here,
Speaker 2: four months here and we just kind of rotate with
Speaker 2: a couple of like cool trips in between for now.
Speaker 3: Because we've realized, like how how much can change, Like.
Speaker 5: Within the six six years, it feels like a lifetime already,
Speaker 5: so we're like, you know, the next few years, we
Speaker 5: can really imagine ourselves. We're looking for a base in
Speaker 5: Spain right now, actually to have a base in Europe,
Speaker 5: have a base in Bali, and then see our friends
Speaker 5: and family at home and they can visit us because
Speaker 5: now your friends are coming over from Bali, and then
Speaker 5: they can visit us in Spain from Germany, so that's nice.
Speaker 3: And then who knows in the future.
Speaker 2: It's hard to imagine. It's hard to think about that
Speaker 2: this is actually a reality for us. And it was
Speaker 2: kind of what we were planning in the beginning when
Speaker 2: we came together, because, like you said, we said, we
Speaker 2: love each other, we will make it work no matter what,
Speaker 2: and life will figure itself out. And it was that
Speaker 2: true belief and it sounds cheesy as anything, but we
Speaker 2: followed our hearts. We said, let's just go with this
Speaker 2: feeling and figure it out along the way. Nothing else matters.
Speaker 2: And about a year into our relationship. It was pretty
Speaker 2: clear that if we were going to be able to
Speaker 2: see both of our families and live this life together,
Speaker 2: either I would have to go to Germany and live
Speaker 2: there or Marie would have to come to Australia, and
Speaker 2: neither of those things were really an option. So we realized,
Speaker 2: we have to be online. We have to do something
Speaker 2: where we can work remotely from anywhere and earn an income.
Speaker 2: And the first goal that we had was how do
Speaker 2: we make enough money, like eight hundred dollars a month
Speaker 2: so that we can pay for some flights and live
Speaker 2: in Bali and be a little bit in the middle.
Speaker 2: And so that was kind of the goal that we had.
Speaker 2: And now it's become a reality and it's so cool
Speaker 2: now and I think it's much more possible for anybody
Speaker 2: than what a lot of people think. Remote work has
Speaker 2: become huge. There's so many digital nomads working in Bali
Speaker 2: right now. Everyone kind of realized a little bit over
Speaker 2: the last two and a half years that you don't
Speaker 2: have to be in the office. You can find a
Speaker 2: way to work from anywhere, and so it's really cool
Speaker 2: now to see this new generation of people like us
Speaker 2: figuring out what their dream life is and realizing, hey,
Speaker 2: it might not be in Australia, or it might be
Speaker 2: a little bit of Australia and a bit of Balley,
Speaker 2: or it might be a little bit of Europe as well,
Speaker 2: and working on how they can make that actually happen
Speaker 2: by figuring out how they can earn an income online.
Speaker 2: Are we seeing so many people doing it?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And I reckon, like so many people would look at
Speaker 1: you guys and be like, it is possible, and these
Speaker 1: guys are living proof that this can be done. And
Speaker 1: I mean it's awesome that so many people look up
Speaker 1: to you guys, and it's such a great quality of
Speaker 1: life that you guys are almost promoting. And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, people would be silly not to try, right.
Speaker 4: I mean, if you have like an idea, if you
Speaker 4: have an.
Speaker 1: Idea about the business, go do it.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 1: What would you say to people who are thinking about
Speaker 1: taking the leap?
Speaker 2: That's it's a perfect start. I would say that first
Speaker 2: of all, if you really feel like it's something that
Speaker 2: you want, don't do it because it looks cool that
Speaker 2: other people are doing it. That's a big mistake that
Speaker 2: a lot of people make. It's like they see us
Speaker 2: and they go, Ah, that looks really cool that Marie
Speaker 2: and Jay can just live anywhere and work anywhere. But
Speaker 2: I'm a homebody and I actually like being at home.
Speaker 2: It doesn't make sense because Marie and I we travel
Speaker 2: a lot, and that's actually one of the hardest things
Speaker 2: is that we're constantly moving. It's really hard for us
Speaker 2: to have a routine. And some people just like routine.
Speaker 2: So it looks cool what we're doing. But if it's
Speaker 2: not you, then don't go for that. So go for
Speaker 2: something that's truly important to you and it's who you
Speaker 2: really are, and that if that is what you feel
Speaker 2: and you know it to be true, then you really
Speaker 2: just got to dive in. I think the most important
Speaker 2: thing for people nowadays is to figure out what skills
Speaker 2: are going to be useful in the future.
Speaker 3: And what do you also love doing and.
Speaker 2: What you love doing. Don't just learn it because it
Speaker 2: looks cool. And what's coming is all of this kind
Speaker 2: of stuff like how to create content, how to tell
Speaker 2: a story, how to manage a social media channel, how
Speaker 2: to market, how to do Facebook ads, how to do
Speaker 2: graphic design. So many people are starting up little of
Speaker 2: freelance businesses because they have skills that other people don't have.
Speaker 2: And so if you have something like that, if you
Speaker 2: committed to it for six months, you can get so
Speaker 2: far ahead. But a lot of people give up in
Speaker 2: the first couple of weeks. But if you say, if
Speaker 2: Marie and I, it was like two years of posting
Speaker 2: every single day before we really realized, wow, this is
Speaker 2: a real thing. This could actually set us up to
Speaker 2: do as a career. And so it does just take
Speaker 2: time and anyone wanting to do what we do. Specifically, yeah,
Speaker 2: get a camera or your phone, start to record as
Speaker 2: much as you can, start to figure out what captivates
Speaker 2: people like to tell a story, and then just post, post, post,
Speaker 2: post post post, do it every single day for two
Speaker 2: years and where you will be into. Like, guys, when
Speaker 2: you first started the podcast, I bet you were like,
Speaker 2: we have no idea, what is going on right now?
Speaker 2: This is crazy, this is scary, And now you're so
Speaker 2: confident with it and it feels normal to you, guys,
Speaker 2: But it takes time.
Speaker 1: I have a question for you, guys. So you said
Speaker 1: you got engaged in Turkey. Are you married yet?
Speaker 3: No? Okay, we planned our.
Speaker 5: Wedding in twenty eighteen, which is five years ago, and
Speaker 5: we were going to get married in June twenty twenty
Speaker 5: in Bali. We'd organized everything, everyone had booked flights at
Speaker 5: my wedding dress and everything was organized. And then in
Speaker 5: mid March COVID hit Obviously no one could travel anymore.
Speaker 3: We had to cancel the entire wedding, and we were thinking,
Speaker 3: we actually were thinking to do a.
Speaker 5: Little wedding in Greece in twenty twenty two, twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: One, twenty twenty one, I think, but.
Speaker 5: Then COVID had like another spike, so we canceled it again.
Speaker 5: And now we're getting it this year, this year in Bali.
Speaker 3: And no we haven't mentioned.
Speaker 2: We're getting married in August in Bali. And this is
Speaker 2: a bit of a stupid but we're we're going to
Speaker 2: have the ceremony and at our own place, at our
Speaker 2: own boutique hotel, which is like really cool. So we're
Speaker 2: planning out how that's going to work.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's pretty it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: Amazing, Gras, that's so awesome. I'm so happy that you
Speaker 1: guys finally get to tie the KNA. That's awful that
Speaker 1: you've had to cancel two weddings.
Speaker 2: It's been a roller coaster, and that's like what you
Speaker 2: were saying. It looks perfect on the outside, but having
Speaker 2: to do that twice, it's like a real life it's
Speaker 2: a movie, the ups and downs, the roller coasters. But
Speaker 2: in the end, hopefully the wedding will be magical and
Speaker 2: it can kind of seal the notot on this fairy
Speaker 2: tale that we've been living for the last six years.
Speaker 5: But I have to be honest, I'm not really excited
Speaker 5: about planning the wedding neither.
Speaker 4: Well, if you've planned it twice before, I'm sure you're
Speaker 4: going to have it down part you know exactly.
Speaker 5: Not to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it might even put more pressure on it, you know.
Speaker 2: Now it's like we've had so much time to plan
Speaker 2: it needs.
Speaker 1: To be but yeah, this is your third wedding essentially. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Leaning we're just happy that it's finally going to happen,
Speaker 2: and it feels more organic now because we've lived in
Speaker 2: Bali for three years now and we were going to
Speaker 2: have it in Bali in twenty twenty, and I don't
Speaker 2: think we really understood how everything worked there. We didn't
Speaker 2: have a team, we didn't really know who to trust,
Speaker 2: and so now we have our own places we've got
Speaker 2: businesses there, we've got a community there. We feel much
Speaker 2: more comfortable now that the whole operation of it will
Speaker 2: be awesome because we've been there for three years.
Speaker 5: I'm so a bit borried because half of the whole
Speaker 5: family hasn't been to the island and I'm like, oh
Speaker 5: my god, I hope it's going to be and.
Speaker 2: Our family's never met before as well.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank gosh, it's going to be super exciting. Hopefully
Speaker 1: they don't get Bali Bali. I've got couple of times
Speaker 1: during a wedding.
Speaker 3: Great.
Speaker 2: I got Bali belly last time as well, and that's
Speaker 2: crazy for me because my gut is pretty good and
Speaker 2: we've lived in Bali for a while. But last time
Speaker 2: going back, everyone got hit. So I'm sure some people
Speaker 2: in our family will get it. Just got to get
Speaker 2: the charcoal tablets. Put those down and then six hours,
Speaker 2: eight hours you should be good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, charcoal tablets. That's a good little tip for anyone
Speaker 1: going to Bali. Is it parts of your I guess
Speaker 1: relationship that you keep private, like certain things that are
Speaker 1: going on, or are you kind of like very transparent
Speaker 1: with everything.
Speaker 2: I think I think we're pretty open. It's more like
Speaker 2: the intricacies of how we worked together. I think Marie
Speaker 2: and I are seeing a therapist at the moment, actually
Speaker 2: like a couple's therapists, because it was one of those
Speaker 2: things we listened to so many podcasts. Everyone says, you
Speaker 2: go to the gym for your body, why don't you
Speaker 2: see a therapist for your mind, so that you can
Speaker 2: control how you think and how you act. And so
Speaker 2: we started seeing a couple therapists and then she really
Speaker 2: like dug deep into why we are the way we
Speaker 2: are in some respects, and.
Speaker 5: It's really interesting because some things you don't even notice
Speaker 5: until she points them up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And so we are doing that at the moment.
Speaker 2: We only started it a few months ago, and we're
Speaker 2: really looking forward to actually sharing that because I think
Speaker 2: it will help people. I have a real issue with control,
Speaker 2: and if I'm not in control of something, I have
Speaker 2: this inner fear of it not turning out the way
Speaker 2: I want. And so then I was kind of in
Speaker 2: the beginning controlling all of the decisions, and then Marie
Speaker 2: has this fear of loss, and we're trying to figure
Speaker 2: out exactly how to handle those things, and we're excited
Speaker 2: to share more about that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's super interesting and a lot of times when
Speaker 5: you communicate with each other, it's like you never have
Speaker 5: someone who can truly tell you why you feel the
Speaker 5: way you feel or what.
Speaker 3: Has caused certain trades your house, and then.
Speaker 2: When you fired, you definitely don't. You're not your best
Speaker 2: self in those moments, so you're not communicating clearly about
Speaker 2: why you feel a certain way.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and we don't have like a business coo in
Speaker 5: between us, so she's like, really everything, like it's great, Yeah.
Speaker 2: But I think we do. We're pretty open about almost everything.
Speaker 2: We've written a lot of captures in the past about
Speaker 2: experiences we've had. I think mainly the only thing that
Speaker 2: a lot of people probably wouldn't know the full detail
Speaker 2: of is exactly how we work together and how that
Speaker 2: has changed over the years because now Marie is mostly
Speaker 2: doing the Instagram. I kind of a bout out of that.
Speaker 2: At one point I started to just feel, like, like
Speaker 2: I told you before, negative about it, and I didn't
Speaker 2: like the way it was, you know, harming Marie and
Speaker 2: how she was getting caught up in it. So I said,
Speaker 2: you know, I don't want to be involved in this anymore.
Speaker 2: And then we realized pretty recently that it's not about
Speaker 2: the Instagram itself that Marie really is passionate about. It's
Speaker 2: like she actually really enjoys creating and sharing and doing that.
Speaker 2: And so I got that mixed up with she's just
Speaker 2: doing it for the likes or whatever, or we don't
Speaker 2: need this anymore because we've got enough money, we've got
Speaker 2: enough businesses. And I was always thinking about what's the outcome?
Speaker 2: Why am I I'm not going to do this if
Speaker 2: there's no outcome, And I think that's a male thing,
Speaker 2: but we're always like ready to do the work if
Speaker 2: there's a reward at the end of it or there's
Speaker 2: a specific outcome that we're aware of, whereas Marie is
Speaker 2: so that I just want to do it because I
Speaker 2: like it. It's a journey. I could do it every day
Speaker 2: for the rest of my life. And that kind of
Speaker 2: getting that clear on both of our sides was like
Speaker 2: I have to support Marie every day that because that's
Speaker 2: who she is, that's what she likes. And then Marie
Speaker 2: has to understand that I need some kind of guidance.
Speaker 2: I need to know what the plan is, why are
Speaker 2: we shooting this, what reels do we have this week
Speaker 2: and have a structure around that and not just rock
Speaker 2: up at a place and be like, Okay, what are
Speaker 2: we going to create pressures on us? I have got
Speaker 2: nothing to post tonight, and then what Isid's ideas do
Speaker 2: you have? And I'll be like nothing, I've got nothing,
Speaker 2: and then Marie will then, you know, get upset because
Speaker 2: now she's under pressure because she has to post something.
Speaker 2: And so this is something that we're really working on
Speaker 2: and just trying to get back to the point where
Speaker 2: it's really fun just to create, just just enjoy that
Speaker 2: creation and not put too much pressure on how well
Speaker 2: it does or Yeah. I think.
Speaker 5: I think like the first few years of US was
Speaker 5: like pure growth, like growing the community and everything.
Speaker 3: Then it was how do I do businesses?
Speaker 5: Setting up the businesses, And now the businesses are running
Speaker 5: and we have teams around it and stuff, and now
Speaker 5: it's like, I think this year we just want to
Speaker 5: improve ourselves as well, and like find a place where
Speaker 5: we feel like we can settle a.
Speaker 3: Bit and get a bit out of the growth.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and find a balance that is kind of smooth,
Speaker 2: not like let's go crazy right now and doing this
Speaker 2: it's like it becomes more of like our daily a habit,
Speaker 2: like Okay, this is the photo that we're going to
Speaker 2: create today, or the posts that we're going to create.
Speaker 2: And for me, it's like I'm going to go to
Speaker 2: my gym because that's what makes me happy. Marie is
Speaker 2: going to do her creating because that makes her happy.
Speaker 2: And understanding each other and supporting each other and what
Speaker 2: we like so that we can be better for each other,
Speaker 2: because in the beginning it was just all in both
Speaker 2: of us going crazy. You're forgetting about everything else, just
Speaker 2: constant post post post post posts.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you for sharing those intricacies, because I just
Speaker 1: think like when people see social media, it's very like
Speaker 1: black and white. They don't see like the many layers
Speaker 1: of what it takes to create. And you know, being
Speaker 1: a creator, there's yeah, there's so many different levels of
Speaker 1: things that you have to think about and do, and
Speaker 1: it's it's very full lot. It's exhausted.
Speaker 4: It's a full time Yeah, people forget it's a full
Speaker 4: time job. And yeah, do you.
Speaker 1: Guys think that once you get married that you want
Speaker 1: to potentially expand your family?
Speaker 5: We absolutely love kids, and I think, yeah, I mentioned
Speaker 5: it in the beginning of Decks like, I don't even
Speaker 5: know if I need a kid, because sometimes he feels
Speaker 5: like it's just like a natural next step that people do,
Speaker 5: and it's like you don't even think about it.
Speaker 3: Is this actually something that I want in my.
Speaker 5: Life or is it just to feel, you know, like
Speaker 5: get the next step, you get married, get the house,
Speaker 5: and then you have kids. But yeah, we truly love kids.
Speaker 5: Some of our close friends now have kids and we
Speaker 5: just yeah, we just love it.
Speaker 3: So definitely at one point I.
Speaker 2: Had a big change of opinion just recently because my brother,
Speaker 2: my younger brother, had a kid and he now the
Speaker 2: boy Kelly, his name is. He's five months old. And
Speaker 2: when my brother went through the whole process and the
Speaker 2: Kelly was born, and I met Kelly, and like, I
Speaker 2: felt like this is my blood. This is I felt
Speaker 2: when friends and that have kids, I was always like, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, good for you, awesome. But then when it
Speaker 2: was like my brother's kid, I was like, WHOA, Like
Speaker 2: this is different, Like this feels like a part of me.
Speaker 2: And my brother went through it and did an amazing
Speaker 2: job with his partner and they just became awesome parents.
Speaker 2: Just like this just adapted. That kind of made me
Speaker 2: not scared of the of it anymore, because before I
Speaker 2: was kind of like, I don't know, am I are
Speaker 2: we going to be good at this? What's it going
Speaker 2: to be like for the rest of our work and
Speaker 2: our life and all of that. But now seeing how
Speaker 2: how my brother adapted to it, now I'm really just
Speaker 2: not afraid. And Marie and I both talked about it
Speaker 2: is it is something we definitely would love to do.
Speaker 2: There's so many cool experiences we would love to give them,
Speaker 2: and another something that would also bring us even closer.
Speaker 2: And yeah, we definitely I would say we definitely will
Speaker 2: expand for sure. If we can't.
Speaker 1: Explain you guys would be awesome parents. Would you even
Speaker 1: Bali with kids if you had kids?
Speaker 5: I think the way I picture it right now we've
Speaker 5: talked about it, we would definitely have two bases, so
Speaker 5: probably one in Europe and one over here, like let's
Speaker 5: say Bali and go in between. We meet actually quite
Speaker 5: a lot of young families and learn so much about
Speaker 5: how it can happen nowadays to not be in one location.
Speaker 5: So people tell us about online work. We recently did
Speaker 5: an interview in Bali weheb. We did an interview with
Speaker 5: a girl who used to be a teacher, and she said,
Speaker 5: I calculated the time that kids actually learn in school,
Speaker 5: and if they go to school from morning until after lunch,
Speaker 5: it's just one and a half hours of actual learning time.
Speaker 5: And now I'm doing which our kids do online learning.
Speaker 5: They're so productive and then they can go and do
Speaker 5: their surf lessons or meet their friends at the skateboard
Speaker 5: park or whatever.
Speaker 3: So I think we're definitely going to.
Speaker 5: Be a bit more like kind of new parents, trying
Speaker 5: out different things, but not be stuck in one place.
Speaker 3: So BALI and maybe I don't know, somewhere you're I
Speaker 3: could imagine.
Speaker 2: Well, I feel like the yeah, when we do have kids,
Speaker 2: they will kind of maybe have to adapt to our
Speaker 2: lifestyle and we're just going to have to figure it
Speaker 2: out as we go and see how it feels like.
Speaker 3: Meeting families with young kids that travel.
Speaker 5: You could just see how open minded those kids are,
Speaker 5: and I think it can be great obviously, probably also challenging,
Speaker 5: but very challenging.
Speaker 1: Well I don't know if you guys know this about me,
Speaker 1: but I actually grew up traveling around the world with
Speaker 1: my family and I turned out okay.
Speaker 7: So I mean, wow, who's charging okay, guys, thank you
Speaker 7: so much for coming on our podcast.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a pleasure just getting to know you guys.
Speaker 1: Thank you for being so open with us, and we're
Speaker 1: so excited for your wedding in August. So excited to
Speaker 1: see that all unfold on socials. Thank you for sharing
Speaker 1: your life on socials with us and we can't wait
Speaker 1: to talk to you soon.
Speaker 4: Thanks, guys, Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having us guys. It was awesome.
Speaker 5: Thank you.