Here at Monkey Abroad, you can find videos, advice, and stories about the life abroad. I created this blog with the hope that I can inspire you to pursue your own dream of overseas traveling and living! [Last updated: December 14, 2016]
My name is Kevin Cook
After graduating from university in 2011 and working a few unfulfilling jobs, I saved enough money to enroll in a 3-week TESOL training course in Phuket, Thailand in April 2013 so I could teach English in Thailand. After that, I taught English in the remote northern mountains of Thailand for half a year.
When my job in Thailand was finished, I packed up and migrated to China to continue teaching and traveling. Here I taught English at a college in Rizhao, Shandong for ten months and began studying Chinese. Then I moved to Shanghai, where I lived and worked in an international high school for two years and saved enough money to travel around Asia.
While living in China, I got into some pretty AMAZING adventures…
…Like playing in the (AFLC) American Football League of China. (Click here to watch a video of the AFLC championship game)…
Traveling for 20 Dollars a Day
I just finished filming an original YouTube series called Traveling for 20 Dollars a Day to show YOU what life is like on the road, living with only 20 dollars a day. I posted a new video every week (18 episodes) for five months.
Did you actually live on only 20 dollars a day?
No, I didn’t. In fact, on many days I went over the budget. The point of this Traveling for 20 Dollars a Day series isn’t to realistically chronicle my lifestyle of getting by with only 20 bucks a day. This series is for newbie travelers who’ve never visited these cities to help them determine whether they are getting a fair price on meals, transportation, and accommodation. Plus, I tried to make these videos as entertaining as I could by inserting lame jokes whenever possible.
Why Monkey Abroad instead of Human Abroad?
Drawing monkeys is a relaxing hobby of mine. I worked as a cartoonist in university and published a comic strip about a strong yet naïve gorilla called MONKEYZILLA for the University Daily Kansan.