We’ve come in contact with numerous inspirational, influential people who have amazing travel jobs. We met Darryl when we were living in Grenada and he’s because become a terrific friend. He’s a successful company owner living in paradise, but much more importantly, he’s created the lifestyle of his dreams.
While he may not have the freedom as those who know how to make money from home, he gets to live in the Caribbean with his family and as a side job, he learned how to make money online and how to get paid to write online.
We think his story is so amazing, read on to get inspired!
If you’re searching for other amazing online jobs, check out our messages about paid online surveys and our epic guide on how to get paid to travel.
Hey Darryl, thanks for taking the time to chat with us! We’re good pals with you, but for our readers who maybe don’t know who you are, can you please tell them a little about yourself?
Yeah, I’m Darryl Kotyk….sometimes known as Coco Darillo. I’m a Canadian who just never felt comfortable in that country so I’ve done all I can to create my own culture that fits better.
There are two things that I’m passionate about, my family and Bicycles. I’ve created a life that let’s me to maximize my enjoyment of these things each and every day.
For a summary of my life in 500 words or less, check out “A Beachbum looks at 45“.
We think that your story is incredibly inspirational! What made you decide to pack up your family, leave Canada and travel / live overseas?
I can still remember the summer after I graduated from University. I wanted to go work in the Caribbean so bad, but wasn’t exactly sure how to make it happen. I knew of a Canadian man who was working in the Cayman Islands and somehow managed to get in touch with him. This was before the days of Facebook and Google so it wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do.
I spoke with him about life on the island and how he got a job. I don’t remember all he had to say, but following that call I should have sent out my resume to every single hotel in Cayman…..and got absolutely no reaction back.
I wasn’t able to relocate myself, but the Caribbean dream still lingered. About 8 years later I became online pals with someone who was living in Barbados. She knew of my dream and while on a getaway in St. Kitts she met a man who was searching for someone just like me to help run his business.
Six months later I was working at Mr. X Watersports. During my time there, St. Kitts became my second home. It felt so comfortable and right, but after less than a year I found myself back in Canada.
I made a few short trips back to St. Kitts in the years to follow and then one winter season I chose that it was time to relocation back. At this point in my life, I was with a girl who would be my future partner and her young daughter. I left for St. Kitts with no clue of what I would do for work but felt that I had enough contacts there to make things happen. Five months later, I was still without a real job and didn’t want the girls to come before I had things set up.
“But then the magic happened.”
They chose to book their tickets anyway, and a couple of days later I landed a wonderful job at the Marriott Resort. We stayed in St. Kitts for a total of 3 years.
At this point our family grew as we welcomed our baby boy. Three weeks later we moved to Austin, Texas for a job I had set up while living in the Caribbean.
Without getting into too much detail, we ended up back in Canada after a couple of years and had another baby young boy in February 2010. During our time in Canada we knew we needed to go somewhere else, but didn’t know where it would zijn.
We looked at Belize, Grenada, and a few other spots but couldn’t figure out the best spot. So we chose we would head back to Austin and figure things out from there. Again, I felt I had enough contacts in Austin to keep us going until we could figure out our much more permanent move. Along with Belize, we spent some time in Bonaire….and at one point were convinced that Bonaire would be the place.
Then the magic happened again. Just as I was starting to get frustrated with all the hoops we had to jump through to get things set up over there, a long time contact from Grenada sent me “the message”. My partner and I had chose that a company that combined coffee and bicycles was the way to go and when Marc DeCaul e-mailed to say that this exact sort of company could do well in Grenada…we knew best away that fate was talking.
Within just a few months we had packed up our life in Texas and were ready to relocationOnze hele familie (3 kinderen en 2 honden) naar Grenada.
Dat was erg langdradig, maar om deze vraag gewoon te beantwoorden … het was mijn sterke verlangen naar een ander leven en om trouw te blijven aan mijn geloof om in mijn eigen persoonlijke cultuur te leven waardoor we ons Canadese leven verlieten en naar iets anders zoeken .
Waar ter wereld hebben u en uw gezin tot nu toe kortetermijnwortels neergezet?
Oké, hier is de lijst in chronologische aankoop (denk ik):
St. Kitts (2003 tot 2005) Darryl, Amanda en Kassi
Austin, Texas (2005 tot 2007) Darryl, Amanda, Kassi en Indie
Campbell River, BC (3 maanden in 2007) Darryl, Amanda, Kassi en Indie
Barbados (2 maanden in 2008) Darryl, Amanda, Kassi en Indie
Austin, Texas (2010 tot 2012) ons allemaal
Belize (1 maand in 2011)
Grenada (2 jaar te heden)
Kun je ons iets vertellen over “door kinderen geleid leren”? Wat houdt dat in en waarom koos u voor uw onderwijs voor uw kinderen?
We begonnen met homeschooling met onze dochter toen ze rond de 8 was en we woonden in Canada. Ik denk dat de belangrijkste reden was omdat we wat langdurige reizen wilden doen en dit leek de beste manier om voor onderwijs te kiezen.
We begonnen veel formeler en het werd langzaam veel meer een niet-schoolsituatie. Ik hou van de term “door kinderen geleide leren” en had er tot iets meer dan een jaar geleden echt niet aan gedacht.
We hebben ons middelste kind homeschooling/niet-school geschoold omdat hij ongeveer 5 was en van plan is dit volgend jaar ook met ons jongste kind te doen.
Mijn partner is echt de leider van onze kinderopleiding en ik reken op haar beslissingen en richting … hoewel af en toe de conventionele kant van mij het gevoel heeft dat ze veel meer een gewone schoolvaring nodig hebben. Maar ik ben dol op het idee dat onze kinderen leren over waar ze velen in geïnteresseerd zijn en de vrijheid hebben om dingen te ervaren die ze nooit op school zouden doen.
Onze dochter is praktisch 16 en ze is een belangrijk succesverhaal van niet-schoolonderwijs. Ze heeft een paar geweldige boeken geschreven, zelf gemotiveert om geweldige dingen te leren, is een lees-aholic en weet al precies hoe ze haar leven wil leiden. Het verbaast me.
Welke begeleiding zou je geven aan mensen die denken dat ze niet kunnen reizen omdat ze kinderen hebben?
Je kunt niets doen wat je niet denkt dat je kunt doen … en je kunt alles doen wat je denkt dat je kunt doen. Ik zou het daar het beste kunnen laten en dat zou voldoende advies zijn, maar laat me wat meer toevoegen.
Kinderen zijn zoveel veerkrachtiger dan mensen geven ze kredietrapport voor. In feite zijn ze waarschijnlijk veel veel meer ontwikkeld voor avontuur dan volwassenen. Als je kinderen gebruikt als de reden om niet iets te doen, dan heb je niet echt een passie om het te doen.
Je runt een heel apart gezelschap hier op het eiland Grenada! Kun je ons vertellen waar je winkel om draait en wat je daar aanbiedt?
Uniek klopt … In feite zijn we het enige fietscafé in het hele Caribisch gebied. Hier in Grenada bieden we dingen die absoluut niemand anders doet.
Mocha Spoke is in wezen twee bedrijven in één. De café -kant biedt alle goedheid die je zou verwachten in je favoriete café … en meer. We verkopen alle verschillende koffie- en espresso -drankjes samen met frappes, smoothies en candybar milkshakes (wat veel zeker uniek is … en lekker). We verkopen ook panini’s, salades, Belgische wafels, havermout en heel veel geweldige bakproducten.
Aan de fietskant van dingen bieden we fietsverhuur en -tochten die vooral geschikt zijn voor het toeristische publiek. Daarnaast doen we fietsherstelwerk en verkopen we een verscheidenheid aan fietsaccessoires. We zijn ook net begonnen met het bouwen van ons eigen merk fietsen. We noemen het Concepcion die werd ontleend aan de naam Christopher Columbus genaamd Grenada toen hij hier voor het eerst kwam.
Net als het enige fietscafé in het Caribisch gebied, zijn we ook de enige fietsaannemers in de regio. Fietsen binnenbrengen van de staten is erg duur vanwege verzending en taken, dus door ze hier in Grenada te produceren, kunnen we de betaalde hoeveelheid verantwoordelijkheid verlagen.
Tot nu toe hebben we high-end carbon road-fietsen gebouwd, maar zullen we verhuizen naar goedkopere racefietsen, mountainbikes, cross-fietsen en meer. Dit is heel opwindend en ik had nooit gedacht dat ik mijn eigen fietsmerk zou bezitten. Voor elke fietsliefhebber is het een van de meest opperste dromen om op je eigen merk fietsen te rijden.
Kun je met onze lezers enkele dingen delen die je hebt geleerd over het opzetten van een bedrijf overseas? (ie: challenges, laws, partnerships, positive things, tax, etc.)
Setting up a company anywhere in the world can be a major challenge, let alone in a foreign country with less than conventional guidelines and regulations. Grenada is actually one of the simpler places in the world for a foreigner to set up a business. Having a local partner is not a requirement, but in my experience I would say that it sure does help a lot.
People always say that partnerships are difficult, but that hasn’t been my experience so far. I think it’s mostly because Marc and I are laid back and agreeable people. We might have different opinions sometimes, but things have never become an argument.
Marc’s family has a very strong background in company on the island and have been successful and well-respected. having this ingredient has considerably helped get Mocha spoke going. There has been much more than a few instances where a minor bump in the road was smoothed out rapidly by Marc or his family. I am so thankful to be in company with Marc.
There are a lot much more procedures and paperwork required than you would think for a Caribbean island. It’s a good thing we have Marc’s mother who takes care of all the accounting and other documents. That part of the company would have been a nightmare if I was in this alone.
Your lifestyle here in paradise seems very chilled out, totally free and fun. how do you keep a balance between work, life and family?
I’ve always said that I am lifestyle Motivated, so it’s always been what I chase after the most.
“I’d much rather have the Million dollar lifestyle than to have millions in the bank from working hard.”
It all comes down to priorities and core values. I know what is many essential to me each day and I know what I’m alright with doing and not doing. I essentially spend many days doing the things many essential to me first, and then making time for the other stuff after that.
Like I said before, I have created my own culture so that implies I get to combine work, life, and family all in one. My family is always hanging out with me at Mocha Spoke, and my love for bicycles is a part of each and every day. So I guess I don’t really have to balance, I’ve just mixed them all together instead.
You also find time to run a lifestyle/health website, can you tell us what the site is all about and how people can get in touch with you there?
I’ve been running Loving the Bike because February 2010. I had always wanted some sort of thing that I could run online to fit with my mobile lifestyle, and on the guidance of a man named Gary Vaynerchuk, I chose to start a cycling lifestyle website.
The site is Lovingthebike.com (check it out in the Bio below) and it’s a place where we offer motivational content on living life to the fullest….on and off the bike. You don’t have to be a cycling enthusiast to get something out of the site. Each Monday we put up a Make it happen post that is mostly about living your dreams and living life. We tend to mix in lifestyle even much more than cycling, but always are sure to keep the bicycle theme.
I love the site because I’m passionate about the topic and love being in full control. It has allowed me to meet amazing people from all over the world, and to make an impact on a sport and industry that I love.
Do you see yourselves living in Grenada full-time now, or do you think you’ll continue to relocation around in the future?
Yeah, Grenada is home. We just purchased a small house with two acres of amazing fruit and vegetation. We do still want to travel and certainly have several locations on our list of places to experi