Malakai on horseback with an eagle landing on his arm, wings spread

2004 → 2027

How I got here.

From countless failed side hustles to traveling the world full-time with my wife.

2004–2020 · Growing up

Growing up.

Growing up, I always had a side hustle. Lemonade stands, garage sales, buying sneakers and selling them for a profit on eBay.

My dream was the NBA, and I chased it with everything I had. I just knew I didn’t fit the normal box.

At 16, I started a clothing brand, Detached Apparel. It never really took off. It was just the next side hustle.

  1. Playing professional basketball.

    I chased it with everything I had.

    Young Malakai in a blue basketball kit holding a ball in a school gym

  2. Selling anything I could find.

    Kids running a table at a garage sale

  3. Flipping shoes.

    Buying sneakers and selling them for a profit on eBay.

    A hand holding up a white sneaker

  4. At 16

    Detached Apparel.

    My first real product.

    A Detached Apparel poster with teenage Malakai on a boardwalk
    A rack of pink and black Detached Apparel t-shirts in a parking lot
    Detached Apparel hoodies and sweatpants laid out on grass

July 4, 2021 · I was 16

Then I met Maddie.

At the beginning, nobody believed in me except her. She still travels the world with me, and now we run the business together.

Malakai and Maddie smiling in a selfie beneath the cliffs of Bamiyan
Us, a few years later Bamiyan, Afghanistan

Chapter 02 · 2022 into 2023

I dropped out of college.

I went for one semester and knew straight away it wasn’t for me. Everyone told me I was making a huge mistake by dropping out.

So I started to make content instead. At the beginning, it was fitness content, every single day for two years, and it never took off. Then lifestyle content, then filmmaking.

I paid for it by shooting for other creators and any other side hustle I could find. Every month I flew to a gym in Houston to shoot photos and videos for some of the biggest fitness creators in the world.

Malakai showing Maddie a shot on his camera in a gym
Malakai with a camera on the gym floor next to a fitness creator after a shoot
Malakai checking footage on a camera in the middle of a gym

All the things that didn’t work

  1. 01Next Level Basketball
  2. 02Clothing brand
  3. 03Fitness content
  4. 04Lifestyle content
  5. 05Filmmaking content
  6. 06Commercial film production

What did work

Travel content.

That’s the rest of this story.

Chapter 03 · 2023

The camera got serious.

By 2023, filmmaking wasn’t a phase anymore. I was out creating videos and learning how to make premium content every chance I got.

Malakai filming from the deck of a ferry, misty mountains across the water
Malakai filming in a field of long grass
Malakai at a ferry rail with a camera on a tripod beside him, a fjord-like shoreline behind

August 23, 2023

Then I asked Maddie to be my wife.

Even though I had just taken the biggest risk of my life, I knew exactly what I wanted my future to look like. So I didn’t wait any longer.

Malakai proposing to Maddie on a viewpoint above Seattle
The proposal from far away: two small figures on a sandy hilltop with the city skyline behind

Chapter 04 · February 2024

Married at 19.

In February 2024, I married Maddie. We were both only 19 years old. This was the best decision of my entire life.

Malakai and Maddie kissing on the harbour wall in her wedding dress, the Sydney Harbour Bridge behind them
The two of them on the harbour at dusk with the bridge in the distance
Malakai and Maddie walking up old stone steps in their wedding clothes
Maddie smiling up at Malakai by the water
A close kiss with the city skyline and a smiling guest behind them
Maddie in her dress walking between rows of white chairs
Flash photo of Malakai and Maddie sitting together, her bouquet in her lap

May 2024 — Ecuador trip

Our first trip and the one that changed everything — Ecuador.

Three months later, we looked up the cheapest flight out of the country. It was Ecuador, and we left three days later.

Malakai filming beside a huge waterfall in a misty canyon
Malakai on a viewing platform above clouds and mountains
Maddie and Malakai pulling faces in a selfie at the waterfall
Malakai on a boardwalk looking toward a volcano
Malakai and Maddie on a ledge of a gothic basilica
Malakai in a rain jacket on a mountain slope with trekking poles
Malakai filming on a foggy hillside by a cable car

Later in 2024 — Japan, Italy, Egypt, Iceland, Thailand, Vietnam

Malakai and Maddie holding each other above the sea, a cliffside town behind them
The two of them with their arms up in a wildflower meadow, a huge rock peak ahead
Malakai on a decorated camel in front of the pyramids
Malakai on a balcony with the Great Pyramid rising behind the city
Malakai standing on the edge of a cliff above the clouds
Malakai and Maddie at a railing looking at the Colosseum
Maddie leading Malakai by the hand through rows of purple and red flowers
Malakai at a railing above a bay of green limestone islands

Chapter 05 · Our first year on the road

I nearly quit.

We put everything into it. In our first year traveling, we spent $50K, and I was over $10K in credit card debt. I was so happy, but I couldn’t keep paying for it.

I was on the edge of quitting when one brand took a chance on me and started paying me every month. That led me to build a real portfolio, and now I’ve worked with dozens of the biggest brands in the world.

2025 on the road

This was our first year of full-time travel.

  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • Bahamas
  • Jamaica
  • New Zealand
  • USA
  • Honduras
  • Switzerland
  • South Korea
  • Taiwan
  • Okinawa
  • UAE
  • Costa Rica
  • French Polynesia
  • Philippines
  • Indonesia
  • Singapore
  • India
  • Nepal
  • China
  • Hong Kong
  • Pakistan
Malakai working on a laptop on a terrace, a skyline behind him
Malakai and Maddie arm in arm on the Great Wall
Malakai in an infinity pool looking out over islands
Malakai standing at the long pool in front of the Taj Mahal
Malakai at dusk with lit towers behind him
Malakai and Maddie side by side, a jagged green mountain ahead of them
The two of them at a sea wall on a snowy coast
Malakai on a viewpoint above a city of towers
Malakai riding at the front of a small boat on clear blue water

Chapter 06 · January 2026 · Ethiopia

One trip changed how I create content.

I went to Ethiopia with some of the biggest creators in the travel industry. They showed me how to be personable and how to make content that genuinely connects with people.

It completely changed my content. I grew more from that one trip than from almost anything before it. What I learned there is the foundation of a lot of what I’ll teach, mixed in with everything I’ve learned along the way.

Malakai's silhouette and reflection on the Danakil salt flats at sunset
Malakai standing among yellow-green geothermal pools at Dallol
Malakai silhouetted on a cliff among rock spires in the Gheralta mountains
Malakai walking across sculpted lava fields

Later in 2026

This was our biggest year of travel ever. We visited almost 30 countries this year.

  • Djibouti
  • Ethiopia
  • UAE
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Qatar
  • Afghanistan
  • Vietnam
  • Cambodia
  • Laos
  • China
  • Uzbekistan
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Türkiye
  • Namibia
  • Botswana
  • Ukraine
  • Moldova
  • Transnistria
  • Poland
  • Slovakia
  • South Africa
  • UK
  • France
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • USA
Malakai and Maddie holding hands in the desert in front of a carved rock tomb
Malakai standing on a road below tall sandstone cliffs
Malakai in a tiled doorway covered in blue mosaic
Malakai and Maddie together in an alpine valley under snowy peaks
Malakai holding up a golden eagle with its wings spread
Malakai on a wooden bridge in front of turquoise waterfall pools
Malakai alone on a ridge of pink and white striped hills
Malakai standing on an empty street in front of an abandoned hotel
countries so far

And now · Bali

We just moved to Bali, Indonesia.

We moved here to focus on helping other people do what we’ve done. I never wanted to sell a course. I’ve watched too many people in this space promise things they can’t deliver.

But this changed my life so much that it would be selfish not to share it. I have so many lessons I’ve learned along the way, and because of how valuable they’ve been in my life, I want to share them with other people so badly.

The thing I wish someone had handed me when I first started: everything I learned the hard way, in six weeks, with two people who won’t let you quit.

Malakai standing in the pool in front of a jungle waterfall
Malakai on the beach at sunset, the tide out
Malakai looking over green rice terraces
Malakai riding a scooter down a palm-lined road between rice fields

Chapter 07 · January 4, 2027

Your turn.

Week 0 begins January 4. 20 creators, 6 weeks, and me and Maddie on every step. Doors close December 20.

Apply now
2004–2020 Growing up 00 countries