Priced out of Austin, he bought a one-way ticket out of the US. Now, he lives on a Thai island for a fraction of the cost.

Business Insider

2 days ago

Mike Holp, now 38, left Austin in 2019 due to the high cost of living.
He bought a one-way ticket to Asia and eventually settled in Koh Samui, Thailand.
Island life is slower and much more affordable; his monthly expenses rarely exceed $1,800.
Seven years ago, Mike Holp was riding through the streets of Austin as a food delivery worker, earning between $15 and $20 an hour.
He lived just outside downtown in a shared rental with three roommates. Even with a computer science degree, the tough competition made it hard for him to get the tech job he'd hoped for.
"Basically, the only thing that I could find to do to pay expenses was to deliver food on my bike," Mike Holp, now 38, a digital creator, told Business Insider.
Each day blurred into the next as he worked long hours just to cover rent, only to repeat the same grind the following month. It was a relentless cycle, and the lifestyle started to wear him down.
He felt disillusioned, and the rising cost of living wasn't helping his situation.
"At that point, I was like 'What am I doing all this for? Just to get by?'" Holp said.
His life in Austin didn't feel sustainable, and he knew he had to get out.
In 2019, with money saved from delivering food and working real estate photography gigs on the side, Holp bought a one-way ticket to Asia.
Finding home in Thailand
After a brief stint in Bali and then Singapore, Holp decided to make Thailand his next stop.
He spent time living in different parts of Thailand, including Chiang Mai — where he met his now-fiancée, Mary. She was on vacation at that time but was based in both Bangkok and Koh Samui for work.
Wanting to be closer to her, Holp decided to move to Samui because he preferred its slower pace over the bustle of the Thai capital.
House-hunting was fairly easy: He found their first home on Facebook Marketplace. It was a one-bedroom house located in Lamai, a laid-back area along the southeastern coast of the island. Rent was 9,000 Thai baht a month.
After three years in that house, it was time for a change. His fianceé had left her previous job and now works at a school, and they wanted to live close by. They're still in Lamai, but in a bigger one-bedroom property that costs 20,000 Thai baht, or about $600, each month.
"It's a modern village-style home. It's on a raised platform, about 12 feet off the ground, so if there's any flooding, we don't have to worry about that," Holp said.
Although Holp has learned a little bit of Thai, the good thing about Samui, being a tourist destination, is that many locals can speak and understand basic English, he said.
It was also fairly easy for him to connect with new people.
"There's a large Facebook group called Koh Samui Expats — they've got about 40,000 people in there," Holp said. "And I'm actually a moderator in that group, so that helps to meet people."
Escaping the rat race
Holp says his life in Samui is "completely different" from that in Austin.
He starts his mornings by dropping off his fiancée at work. After that, it's time for a walk along the beach and a quick workout session at an outdoor gym situated on a tiny islet linked to the Samui mainland by a wooden bridge.
Post-workout, it's time for a coffee at a nearby café before he heads home to start work for the day. Apart from creating content for his own social pages, Holp also runs a photography business and a consulting business that helps others relocate to Thailand.
"I have a flexible schedule," he said. "It's just a much more carefree, relaxed lifestyle compared to Austin."
The fact that he's no longer in the rat race also means he has the time and energy to spend on his hobbies, such as exploring the island on his bike and meeting with friends.
The lower cost of living in Thailand helps, he said.
"It frees up my time so that I can focus on passion projects like the YouTube channel, and I don't have to worry about just paying rent all the time and stressing out," he said.
Holp says he and his fiancée typically spend between 50,000 and 60,000 Thai baht, or about $1,500 and $1,800, a month.
"We sometimes cook at home, but the meals are usually very affordable here, so going out to eat is very easy," Holp said.
Their weekly grocery run costs about 2,000 Thai baht, and it's also fairly easy to find international brands and products at the larger stores, he said.
"Even going to the grocery store, you can get 30 eggs for 5 bucks," he added.
Holp estimates a comparable lifestyle for two in Austin would cost about five times as much.
A single person needs to earn at least $101,587 annually to live comfortably in Austin, per a 2025 SmartAsset analysis based on data from MIT's Living Wage Calculator.
The average rent in Austin was $2,000, per the latest May data from Zillow Rentals.
Not missing the lifestyle in the US
Holp says he loves the warm weather and the friendliness of the locals. He also feels very safe living in Samui.
"I don't even really have to worry about locking the door, whereas back in Austin, I probably have to worry about how somebody might break in and rob me," he said.
He hasn't been back to the US in five years, not even to visit. There isn't much that he misses anyway.
"There's a big car culture in the US. I do kind of miss driving a car around here. I just use the motorbike for everything since it's really easy to get around the little roads and stuff," he said.
"But I can't think of much that I really miss about the US other than my family, obviously, and friends. That's about it," he added.