Matt Bowles: My guest today is Kameko Rooks. She is a lifestyle blogger, world traveler, remote entrepreneur, and social influencer with nearly 200, 000 followers across her social media platforms. She travels the world with a passion for trying new foods, discovering underwater life, and learning new cultures. As a mother of two, her motto is ‘motherhood without limits’. And she is the founder of Let’s Just Bring the Kids, a travel company that organizes group trips specifically for moms to bring their kids. Her website, Travel with Miko, gives inspiration to young families and mothers and shares tips and hacks to make world travel affordable for the whole family. Originally from Yonkers, New York, she has now traveled to over 50 countries.

Miko, welcome to the show.

Kameko Rooks: Hey, thanks for having me. I’m so excited.

Matt Bowles: I am so excited to have you here. You and I know so many people in common. It’s pretty crazy. And this interview was bound to happen at some point. So super excited. We are doing this tonight. Let’s just start off though, by setting the scene, unfortunately, we are not in person this evening, but we have agreed to make this a virtual wine night.

So, let’s also talk about what we are drinking. I am actually in Asheville, North Carolina this evening, and I have opened a bottle of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Italy. So, I will be drinking through that this evening. Where are you, Miko? And what are you drinking?

Kameko Rooks: So I am in the Bronx, New York. And I’m a white wine lover and I am drinking some Chardonnay from Casa Grande. I’ve never actually really drank it before, but I’m drinking it today. I’m normally like a Pinot Grigio type person, but this is what the store had. So, this is what I’m drinking tonight.

Matt Bowles: I love that. I love that you are representing the Boogie Down Bronx. And I want to just start actually with that. Let’s go all the way back.

You and I are both hip hop fans, New York City, East Coast hip hop in particular, you actually came up in Yonkers and a lot of people don’t know about Yonkers and about the significance of the hip hop culture in Yonkers. Can you share a little bit about that? First of all, just sort of the hip hop background and context of Yonkers and then what it was like for you coming up there.

Kameko Rooks: Yes, of course. So, we actually have a lot of people that came out of Yonkers. So, we had Mary J., we had DMX, and also Jadakiss. He’s one of my favorites. I actually went to school with a few of his cousins growing up. We would see him at like baseball games and everything growing up in Yonkers. DMX always had his dogs, and everything like on the streets, so we would always see them.

So, it was a cool little era for me growing up.

Matt Bowles: And as you were coming up, how did your interest in world travel initially start to develop? Like when you think all the way back.

Kameko Rooks: I never actually traveled until after the age of 18, I got my passport on my own. So, my family never really took us anywhere. We only traveled locally. So, we did do a little staycation like upstate New York and just places close. Never on a plane or anything, the farthest we ever went was Texas. I had some family down south and that was it.

Matt Bowles: So, can you talk about why you decided to start traveling and what your first international trip was like?

Kameko Rooks: Like I said, I got my passport at 18. And I only went to Italy once and then I actually got pregnant with my daughter. So, I stopped traveling because I didn’t think travel was possible when I was pregnant. And I was just a little nervous. I was still a first-time traveler. And then after I had my daughter, I went through postpartum depression and didn’t really know who I was anymore.

I was a young mom and also so many people were telling me that my life was over, and I actually believed them for a moment. And then I was just scrolling on Instagram one day and I also saw other people traveling with their kids and I was like, wait, why can’t that be me too? So, I just had this crazy idea just to take a solo trip without my daughter.

She was probably. three months at the time when I decided to take this solo trip because I just felt like I needed it. I didn’t know what else to do just because I was going through this depression. So, I decided to write a list down and face all my fears. I didn’t know Spanish. I decided to go on a trip to Costa Rica by myself as a female. I was definitely nervous. And I added on ziplining because I’m afraid of heights, and I also learned how to scuba dive. I’m an ocean person. I love the water, but I’ve never scuba-dived, so I was actually scared, which now I’m an advanced diver. So, it kind of turned into a hobby after, but I did that. And it was just really empowering because I was in a box before I had my daughter.

I didn’t really have much confidence at all. So, taking a solo trip really just kind of opened my eyes to the world. And it also made me realize that if I can do this by myself, I can definitely bring my daughter along. And also, kids are free as lap children when they’re under two. So, I just had the idea, let me go to as many places as I can with my daughter or on maternity leave.

So that’s how I started my blog, Travel with Miko because I was like. Let’s just go to as many places. It’s free. I don’t have to pay for an extra ticket for her. So, let’s just go. That’s how we kind of started.

Matt Bowles: That is amazing because I feel like a lot of parents that I talked to that have young kids say, oh, when the kids get older and they get to a certain age, then we really want to take them traveling, but they’re too young now. You did exactly the opposite. You’re like, let me take these kids to as many places as possible before they turn two so that I can get, I can get their free laugh child. That is amazing. Can you talk a little bit then about as they started to get older, some of the places that you took them. I know that you took them all the way to Sri Lanka.

Can you share a little bit about that trip? Because I was in Sri Lanka in probably about, geez, 2014. I was there, but I still remember it really vividly. It was an amazing place, made a big impact on me. But how old were your kids when you took them there? And what was that experience like for them?

Kameko Rooks: So, my daughter was almost two when we went to Sri Lanka. And that was one of the first countries that we traveled to that was on the undeveloped side. So, it was a very memorable experience for me because we stayed at the resort originally, and then we were like, let’s venture out a little bit. I’m such a local person. I don’t really like resorts. I want to get to know the locals.

So, we went to go get some local food. And we have seen some kids playing with no shoes on. And my daughter, she didn’t see poverty at all. She just said, kid’s having fun playing with some marbles. So, she threw down her iPad on the table and she’s like, I want to go play with them. And I’m just like, okay. So, it really opened up my eyes because.

I feel like my daughter, when I travel with her, is such an icebreaker because they’re so open-minded instead of us adults. In my head, I just saw, wow, these kids don’t have anything at all. And she was like, no, they’re having the time of their lives. Let me go play with them. So, it just really opened up my eyes to actually be open and get to know people. And you don’t have to have all these luxury items to be happy. You can find happiness wherever you are.

Matt Bowles: I mean, that’s one of the most amazing things about kids, right? Is that they haven’t been socialized into all the stuff that we’ve been socialized in, and they just roll up somewhere. These are other local kids and I just want to go play with them and hang out with them and all of that kind of stuff.

So, I think that’s so amazing to be able to travel with kids and then see the places through your own eyes, but then also see the places through the eyes of your kids and how they’re experiencing it. Because I think we as adults can learn a lot from that.

Kameko Rooks: Yeah, for sure. Definitely.

Matt Bowles: So, I want to ask you a little bit more about the scuba diving journey.

Can you take us back to Costa Rica? And what initially inspired you to do the diving and then can you talk about your scuba diving journey and progression from there?

Kameko Rooks: I don’t know. I just made up a bucket list. I was just like; I just want to do these things. Like I said, I had my daughter at a young age, so I really didn’t get to live life as much.

So, I was just like, let me just try it. Let’s see if I like it. And obviously, I fell in love with it. When I first went to Costa Rica, I just only did two dives, and the visibility was actually horrible. So, I didn’t really see much. I have seen one shark from a distance, but it was such a thrilling feeling. I was like, oh my gosh, I want more.

Even though I didn’t see that much in Costa Rica, because it’s on the Pacific side, there are not much coral reefs there or anything. I was just like I want to do it again. Maybe my next dive is going to be even better, and it was. I went to Mexico. I actually went to go live in Mexico for a month and a half to get certified as an advanced diver because once you move up in levels you can do deep dives, you can do shark dives.

And I wanted to do shark dives. I wanted to see more sharks. And it was on my bucket list to go to the Bahamas because they have shark week there and they have a bunch of shark dives there. So that’s what I did. I ended up getting my advanced certification, went to the Bahamas and I did a shark dive there and they had literally hundreds of sharks and I’m only like five foot three and 120 pounds and I was getting knocked around by all these sharks around me, but it was so cool.

And I’m a thrill seeker. So that was like one of my favorite dives ever, but anytime I’m in the Caribbean, I’m always diving. If I have a sitter or if my kids aren’t with me.

Matt Bowles: And have you done scuba diving outside of the Caribbean and other parts of the world? Have you done scuba diving in Asia and the Indian ocean and those kinds of spots as well?

Kameko Rooks: I went to Thailand, and I also went to Australia, so I wanted to go to the Great Barrier Reef. That was on my list forever. So, I made sure I did that, and I was so happy I did that because I actually saw a lot more colors than the Caribbean.

Matt Bowles: So, for people who are interested in doing more scuba diving and maybe planning some travel around scuba diving, what would be your top recommendations that you’ve experienced anywhere in the world for scuba diving sites?

Kameko Rooks: When I originally first got certified, I actually did an online course here in New York, so I didn’t want to have to study on vacation. And I wanted to make sure I really understood everything before I got in that ocean. So, I would say, if you don’t have time on vacation, try to start your studying before you even go on vacation.

So don’t rush it. You want to make sure you feel comfortable in the water. So, get your certification online if you can, and then you can take your certification on vacation, which I went to Mexico and I did that. So, the Caribbean is always beautiful. You’re always going to see a coral reef, so you’re always going to see something there.

And also, the water is warm. So highly recommend the Caribbean for a first dive. It’s going to be more memorable. I actually got certified in a quarry in Pennsylvania. It was freezing and the visibility was horrible. You can’t see anything.

Matt Bowles: So, I want to also now ask you about some of your tips for traveling with kids. As I mentioned, I know a lot of parents and they have kids of different ages and a lot of them are like the kids are either too young or how would I do this or how would I do that or such and such. So, you have been traveling very extensively with your kids for quite some time now. So, I think I want to break this question into two parts.

And the first part is I want to ask you for tips about traveling with young kids. Let’s say under two, when you have the free lap child situation on the plane, where you did a lot of traveling with kids at that age, what tips do you have for parents that have kids at that age?

Kameko Rooks: When you’re traveling with kids under two, there’s actually a lot of advantages. You can take bottles of water on the plane through TSA. So, I always take extra bottles of water for me to drink on the plane. Also, you can ask for the bassinet seat, which is the extra legroom seat. It’s totally complimentary. So, try to come to the airport early.

Check-in, ask for the bassinet seat, or call the airline ahead of time. And you can ask for that bassinet seat, that’s going to give you time to stretch out. And also, you can put your baby in the bassinet seat while they’re sleeping. And it also gives you a break as a mom. So, they’re not on your lap the whole entire flight.

Matt Bowles: And then for kids that are a little bit older than that, let’s say like the four-year-old to eight-year-old range, and you’re trying to plan travel for kids at that age. Can you give some tips for doing that?

Kameko Rooks: One big thing is I always tell people to take it slow because mistakes always happen with kids. You know, they need to use the bathroom. They always need extra time going through TSA. They may drop something. And when you’re in a rush, everything just gets so frustrating, and you lose your patience. So, I always tell people to take their time, and give themselves enough time. So, you’re not frustrated, and things go a lot smoother and also make them a part of your planning because then it gets the kids excited for the actual vacation.

So, we always watch YouTube videos on the destination that we’re traveling to. I’m like, hey, look, this is what we can do. Like, are you into this? Do you want to do this? So, it just kind of opens up their mind to what to actually expect on the trip. And they know what they’re going to get themselves into on the trip.

Matt Bowles: Well, you have helped a lot of parents with traveling with their kids by founding a company that helps them to do that. It’s called Let’s Just Bring the Kids. Can you talk a little bit about the origin story, why you founded that company, and what it offers?

Kameko Rooks: I decided to bring my follow along with me to travel with me because so many people were just asking, hey, can I travel with you?

I’m so scared to bring my kids on a plane or just like anywhere. And I don’t know where to start. I don’t know where to even plan a vacation. Can you help me? And I just had the idea. I was like, well, why don’t you guys just come along with me so I can actually help you? Yeah. I just started setting up group trips.

We just actually went to the Dominican Republic, and it was my largest group trip yet and it actually sold out in only four days once I dropped this one.

Matt Bowles: I was watching the Dominican Republic Trip Unfold on social media because of course I follow you and you were posting all of these unbelievable pictures and scenes from that trip.

Can you share with folks a little bit about what the trip was like? For example, what type of itinerary did you plan for moms and kids that went on the trip. And then what was the experience like on the ground?

Kameko Rooks: So, we booked an all-inclusive resort, which was amazing because we didn’t have to worry about anything.

Everything included food. So, you didn’t have to even think about how much money I bring per day? And also, what am I going to eat? What restaurants to eat at, everything was there. So, we didn’t even have to leave the resort. Um, I set up some outside activities so we can still actually experience the country and just have bonding experiences with our kids and give them a different experience that they won’t get back at home.

So, we actually went zip lining, we went bugging and we went horseback riding as well, and we took a Catamaran tour. We got to go around the Dominican Republic, and we had a lot of fun, and it was a really great experience for us to bond with our kids and also the moms also got a break too, because we act as a family when we travel together.

So, if a mom needs a break, then one mom takes a turn watching other kids. And also, the kids also entertain themselves as well. So, we don’t have to do much entertaining while we’re on vacation because they’re playing with themselves. And everyone got along. We had moments where we were just opening up to each other. We cried together. We laughed together. It was, it was fun. It’s a really amazing experience because most of us, we’re all going through the same thing. Whether we’re a single mom or they have a husband or they’re in a relationship, whatever it is, we all go through the same thing and we all have the same struggles. So, it was just an amazing experience that we can all bond together.

Matt Bowles: That’s so awesome. Can you talk about your kids a little bit? How old are they now? How many countries have they been to? And what are some of their favorite things about travel at this point in their travel journeys?

Kameko Rooks: Amaya, she is eight years old, and she’s been to 24 countries so far. And Cameron, he’s our little one. He’s four years old and he’s been to probably 12 countries. So, half that. And they love the beach. They’re water kids as well. So, anything that involves a pool and beach and nice weather they’re down for.

Matt Bowles: So, when you think back on all of the travel experiences that they have had, everything from Sri Lanka onwards, what impact do you think all of that travel has had on them up to this point in their life versus most kids at that age that have never been outside of the country.

I certainly had never been outside of the country when I was eight years old and you’re eight years old. It’s been to 24 countries. So, what impact do you think travel has had on the kids?

Kameko Rooks: They’re very adaptable to any situation. They’re, they’re, they’re able to make friends pretty much anywhere. And they’ve also picked up a bunch of languages, like a few words here and there from other kids that they play with, whether we meet them at a playground or a hotel, they know how to count in many different languages, because that’s always their first question.

Like, oh, how do you count one through 10, you know, wherever you’re from? So, they know a bunch of different languages. They go back to school and if they’re learning something, they’re like, hey, I’ve been there, or, oh, I know how to do this. So, it’s really opened them up a lot from just traveling everywhere.

Matt Bowles: Well, I also want to talk to you a little bit about your website, Traveling with Miko. Can you share a little bit about the site, what people can find on your website and what it’s all about?

Kameko Rooks: So, on my website, you can find a bunch of travel tips. And you can also find some webinars that I have on there on how to become a content creator, and how to travel with your kids. And also, I have publications of any freelance writings that I’ve written on there, which is just more extended information on how to travel with your kids.

Matt Bowles: All right. So, I want to try to pull out some tips here for The Maverick Show listeners from your incredible experience and wealth of knowledge. Can you share some tips and some travel hacks for being able to fly and being able to travel less expensively? One of the things that I hear from people a lot, especially families with kids, is that traveling is just too expensive, especially if you have kids. And one of the things that you’ve done to spend a lot of time figuring out how it doesn’t have to be, and it can be affordable. Even international world travel trips to other continents can be affordable for the entire family. Can you give some tips and hacks on how to do that?

Kameko Rooks: One of my favorite hacks is to go on Skyscanner. It’s a website to find cheap flights. And instead of being picky about my destination, I searched for the origin where I was trying to leave from New York and then I pressed the button everywhere.

So, New York to everywhere. And I find the cheapest flight out of New York, and I just go there, whether it’s a state or a country. And especially if you haven’t traveled to so many places like you’re going to have a bunch of options. So, when I first started, I was like, there’s a, over 180 countries to go to.

So even if I can’t make it to Jamaica right now because these tickets are 1, 000 per person, I’m going to go to Guadalupe for only 150 round trip and literally, I paid 150 to go to Guadalupe with me and my daughter once before. So, I just took that flight and try not to be picky about my destination and just do extensive research wherever you’re trying to go and just take that flight.

Matt Bowles: I love that hack and Skyscanner is amazing like that because that feature is one that not a lot of people know about and most travel planning sites do not have that feature so you can just put in your airport where you’re leaving from and then just say you’re willing to go anywhere in the world and it will rank the countries by price cheapest to most expensive.

And you can just go to the cheapest one. I do that all the time and you’re just continually getting flights for unbelievably inexpensive prices, international flights to other countries, incredibly inexpensively. And then I do want to just reiterate how much I love that hack of travel with your kids when they’re under two because they can just sit on your lap for free and it costs no money to bring them.

Kameko Rooks: Exactly. Take advantage. I actually found it so much easier to actually travel with an infant rather than kids over two because once they get to two, they like to move around a lot. Most times my kids just slept on the flight under two, so it was fairly easy for me to travel with them at that age.

Matt Bowles: Well, I also want to talk to you a little bit about your travel influencer journey and how you have monetized your travel, how you have grown your audience to around 200, 000 followers on social media, and how you’re getting brand deals and all sorts of things like this.

Now, can you take us a little bit on your travel influencer journey, getting to where you are today, and just share with folks a little bit about how you have been able to take your passion for travel and actually monetize that?

Kameko Rooks: Starting out, I invested a lot into myself, so I didn’t get any brand deals, or hotel deals, like reaching out to me. I basically paid for my own hotel stays when I first started. And I just took my own pictures just to kind of show your worth, like what you can actually do when a brand is actually looking for you. So, make sure you’re investing in yourself first and then just stay consistent as well. So just keep on posting and eventually, brands will definitely reach out to you and just be consistent.

Matt Bowles: Can you talk a little bit about how you built your website? And got the traffic to the place that it is today. Any tactical or business tips for how to do that?

Kameko Rooks: Well, definitely giving out free tips on my website that would bring more traffic to my website. And I also built a subscriber list. When I did travel to countries, when I first started out, I literally broke down the whole entire country, like where to stay and things to do.

So, it was kind of like a one-stop post where you didn’t have to go anywhere. So. I really try to break down the whole country. So, a lot of people would go to my website. They’d be like, oh, she has all the information I need right here. What language they speak, where to eat, and everything. So that’s how I built up my following for that too.

Matt Bowles: Well, I also want to ask you about social media because you have now over a hundred thousand followers on Instagram. You have almost a hundred thousand on TikTok. Can you talk a little bit about social media? audience growth strategies and give folks any tips on that.

Kameko Rooks: One, I would say stay engaged with your audience and also do collaborations with other content creators with the same niche because that’s going to help you grow together because you can steal their following and they can steal your following and that’s how you can grow as well.

Matt Bowles: Miko, I want to ask you just for some personal reflections on all of the travel that you’ve done at this point. You’ve been to over 50 countries now, how has all of this travel impacted you as a person versus if you had never left the United States?

Kameko Rooks: So, one I’m more open-minded to basically everything, meeting new people, connecting with new people, new experiences, and also just discovering new things. I like to research things now, like what’s there to do in this country. What is it famous for? Do they make chocolate? I love chocolate and it tastes so much different outside of the country than in America. So those are the things I’m always looking for when I’m traveling.

Matt Bowles: And why do you continue to travel? You’ve been to 50 countries. You’ve seen a lot of stuff. What does travel mean to you today?

Kameko Rooks: I love building connections with people from all over the world and just experiences. And it also helped me learn about myself and especially solo travel. It builds up my confidence. I’m able to do stuff for myself that I’ve never thought I would be able to do before. So. That’s why I love solo travel so much.

Matt Bowles: So, I want to ask you a little bit more about that. If you can talk about the impact that travel has had on you just from a confidence-building perspective because you mentioned initially that the Costa Rica trip was really pivotal. Can you talk about that a little bit, go a little bit deeper on that in terms of what the Costa Rica trip did and then what all of these subsequent trips have done since for you?

Kameko Rooks: So, my solo trip helped me figure out what I kind of wanted to do with myself and things that I liked and disliked versus traveling with somebody. Cause when you’re traveling with somebody, you kind of have to be like, oh, do you want to do this? But when you’re by yourself, you kind of figure out, okay, this is what I like. And these are my limits.

So, when I travel by myself, I’m just discovering things, what I like, and what I don’t like. And if I don’t want to do it, I don’t have to do it. Or I can wake up at a certain time. I could sleep in and wake up early. Yeah, I figured out a bunch of things about myself. So even when I am booking future travel now, I’m always looking up destinations and what there is to actually do at that destination. I’m like, okay, this is what I like. This is what I want to do. You know, so it really gave me a sense of direction of who I am and what my limits are when I am traveling and what I am capable of doing.

So, I’m always trying to find like an activity when I first land, whether it’s a Catamaran tour, I’m scuba diving so I can actually meet people so I can kind of feel safe because then I actually will have friends when I’m on my trip. So, it just opened me up to go meet people and push myself.

Matt Bowles: And what tips would you have for women who are considering solo female travel? They might be at the earlier part of their journey. They might be concerned, or apprehensive about certain aspects of doing that. What tips would you have for women in your, for your solo travel?

Kameko Rooks: First, I would do intensive research, whether it’s YouTube vlogs, look through Instagram. I always go through Instagram hashtags, and I find actual real people there. And I ask questions like, hey, is this safe? Is this area safe? You know, there’s a bunch of travel bloggers out here, so options are endless, and you can get your question answered by a million people out there.

And also, when you are solo traveling, book an excursion. That’s how I meet people all the time. There are free walking tours, so you don’t even have to spend money. And most of these free walking tours are all for solo people. You can stay at a hostel. And if you’re not too fond of hostels, you can actually go to a hostel bar and meet solo travelers.

Because I’m not like a hostel person. I don’t like to stay at hostels. I like hotel rooms. Just because I like my own space, but I do go to hostel bars to meet solo people there. And I meet friends there and I meet people on excursions. So, you’re always bound to meet new people. So, you’re never really traveling alone. It’s just kind of getting there and then pushing yourself to go meet people.

Matt Bowles: So, at this point in your travel journey and your kids’ travel journey with the age that they are, can you talk about your travel destination selection process? Are your kids involved with the destination selection process? And if so, what are some of their priorities and contributions to the family travel choices?

Kameko Rooks: Most of the time, we are always doing my number one hack is we chase the deal, not the destination. So, we’re always trying to look for the cheapest deal out of New York, but we’re always trying to look for warm destinations. And my kids do have little choice selection. Sometimes we’re just like, oh, we want to go to the beach, or we want to do a city destination.

So, we’ll put on YouTube, and we’ll watch what there’s to do at the destination and whatever is appealing to them. I’m like, all right, we’ll go here instead of here. And that’s how we kind of figure out where we want to go.

Matt Bowles: And how do you integrate education into the travel for the kids? Like, even if it’s not like officially homeschooling, you know, you as a parent taking them in this amazing extracurricular experience, what type of educational value do you try to have them get out of the trips?

Kameko Rooks: I’m actually like a history person. I loved history going to school. So, um, if we’re going to a historical place, I’m going to make sure we’re on a tour, and they’re going to learn some history about the place. Also too, I feel like my kids are actually excited. They get to go back to school and be like, hey, I’ve been here.

Sometimes I think their teachers probably think like, are they lying or like, you know, because they’ve been to so many places, but I always try to do a little history tour with them if we could. I think education is really important. And like I said, we always try to meet somebody that knows the actual language where we’re traveling.

So, we try to really get them educated wherever we go. So, they know the country and remember the actual country.

Matt Bowles: And now that they are in school, how do you structure your trips in terms of timing? How frequently are you attempting to travel with your kids on a yearly basis at this point?

Kameko Rooks: They’re in school full time now, so I try to take them mostly during holidays if I can. Sometimes we’ll do a four-day long weekend, so they’re missing just one day of school, so it’s not that bad. And I let their teachers know ahead of time, like, hey, we’re leaving. Is there anything they could make up? Normally we leave on a Friday, so they’re not really missing much. It’s pretty easy to take them out of school during those times.

And we also travel, all summer long. So, we always take the month of August off and we try to travel at least for a month or more.

Matt Bowles: And how do your kids perceive the travel? Like if I was to ask them, I mean, are they excited about each new trip and what they’re going to see there, and who they’re going to meet there?

Or is it ever like, I don’t really want to leave? I’d rather stay with my friends from school and hang out here and play with them. Or like, or are they just super excited to like to go to new places? Like how, how do they feel about it?

Kameko Rooks: I think they love it as much as me because they’re always asking like, oh, when can we go on a plane? If it’s been too long, they’re like, so when are we going to go on a plane? I’m just like, are you paying for these plane tickets? Like what’s going on? So, they’re just as excited. I feel like they don’t miss much here in New York because I still do things in New York when We are here. So, they do get to meet their friends. They get to see their family when we’re not traveling. So, they get the best of both worlds.

Matt Bowles: So, what is your vision? If you have thought about it from now this age, all the way up through high school and everything else, like as they get older, what’s your vision for travel with family?

Kameko Rooks: I have thoughts of taking them out for a year and just traveling full time, but I really kind of want to give that choice to my kids because they do enjoy school.

They enjoy their activities. They’re into sports now. So, if they were open to that, I would be open to homeschooling them for a year and then going back, but it would be entirely up to them. I would give him that, that choice, but I couldn’t leave one and the other stay, they would both have to come with me.

They are inseparable, so it would have to be a decision for both of them. But if not, we’re just probably going to keep the same schedule, just travel as much as we can here or there and just keep going.

Matt Bowles: And there’s so many people, like you said, that are doing this. I mean, I loved your recommendations for people to just join communities, and follow influences that are doing that, like yourself. Our mutual friend, Libryia Jones, who runs the Wandering Moms community, who actually did, she was on The Maverick show. And she talked about exactly what you just said. She took her daughter out of school for a year. They traveled the world together for a year.

It was entirely life-changing and all that kind of stuff. So, there are people who do this, they have a model for how they did it. And there are a lot of great resources and great communities out there that you can just join online and just learn from people who are doing this. So, I think that’s super amazing.

All right, Miko, at this point, I think that is a great place to end the main portion of this interview. And are you ready to move into the lightning round?

Kameko Rooks: Yeah.

Matt Bowles: Let’s Do it. All right, what is one book maybe that’s significantly impacted you over the years you would most recommend that people should read?

Kameko Rooks: I’m a Tupac fan, so I love his poem book, The Rose That Grew from Concrete, so I love that book.

Matt Bowles: That is an amazing pick. I actually had a really extensive discussion about that book, and there’s a Maverick Show episode that actually has that in the title of the episode, which I’m going to have to put you on to, but what a wonderful selection.

All right, Miko, who is one person that’s currently alive today that you’ve never met that you would most love to have dinner with just you and that person for an evening of dinner and conversation?

Kameko Rooks: It would have to be Rihanna. I love Rihanna. I don’t know. I just love her. I love her music and everything.

Matt Bowles: What would you talk to her about? What would you ask her?

Kameko Rooks: I don’t know. I just think we would be friends. We can just hang out, and have fun.

Matt Bowles: I love it.

Kameko Rooks: I don’t think I would even have an actual question to ask her. I’ll just be like, Hey girl, like, what’s up? Like, I think she’s a boss. Like, she’s a good music artist and now she has her makeup line and also her lingerie line. She’s just like killing the game out here.

Matt Bowles: I could definitely see you kicking it with Rihanna for sure. I see that.

All right, Miko, if you could go back in time, knowing everything that you know now back before Costa Rica, and give one piece of advice to your 18-year-old self, what would you say to 18-year-old Miko?

Kameko Rooks: I would say just go for it and do what you love doing because you’re going to be judged no matter what. So, you might as well just do what you love doing because you’re going to be judged for good, or bad, no matter what.

Matt Bowles: All right, Miko, of all the places that you have now been. What are three of your favorite destinations that you would most recommend other people should definitely check out?

Kameko Rooks: Mexico. I love Mexico. I don’t know if it’s because I spent so much time there or what, but I love Mexico. Tulum, Italy, the food is amazing. You have to have authentic pasta. Tastes so much different than American pasta. And also, Belize. I love Belize. It’s just amazing and the food is good. All the people are super happy and it’s like the clearest water I’ve ever seen before.

Matt Bowles: Well, if you can believe it, I have not yet been to Belize. So, I am definitely going to hit you up when I go to Belize, go diving in the blue hole, and do all of that epic stuff, which is still on my bucket list, Miko. So, you will be my consultant for that.

Kameko Rooks: I got you.

Matt Bowles: I want to ask you, though, about your bucket list. Where are the top three places on it right now that you have not yet been, highest on your list and you’d most love to see?

Kameko Rooks: So, I want to go to the Maldives. I want to go to Peru. And I also want to go to the Galapagos Islands.

Matt Bowles: Amazing. As you know, I have been to the Galapagos Islands. I’ve also been to Peru. So, feel free to hit me up on that. The combination of those two is just going to hit so many of your travel boxes. I mean, the culinary scene and the food in Lima, Peru, it’s pretty objectively agreed upon that that is the best food on the continent of South America. There are couple of people who might try to argue with that a little bit, but Lima, Peru is pretty epic in terms of the food scene.

And then the Galapagos you and I have talked about is just absolutely bonkers and amazing. So, when you’re ready to go there, feel free to hit me up.

Kameko Rooks: I sure will.

Matt Bowles: And I will give you some tips on planning that trip. All right, Miko, we have now come to the most important question of this interview. I’m about to ask you to name your top five hip-hop emcees of all time. But before I do that, let me just ask you a little bit about hip-hop in general, what you love about hip-hop, and what hip-hop means to you.

Kameko Rooks: I love music. and their lyrics. When I listen to music, it normally has to relate to me or the type of mood I’m like going for. If I’m getting dressed up and ready to go out, I have to get pumped.

Matt Bowles: All right, Miko, who are your top five?

Kameko Rooks: So, my top five are Drake. He’s like my number one artist. Love Drake. Kanye West, Jadakiss, Rihanna, of course. And also, Biggie.

Matt Bowles: I am very happy that Biggie made your top five. You have just made my entire night. And now that Biggie is in your top five, we can officially conclude this interview on an amazing note.

Miko, I want you to let folks know how they can, first of all, find you, follow you on social media, check out your blog, and learn more about what you’re up to. And also, if they’re interested in learning more about your trips, if they have kids and they want to learn about family travel and all that stuff, how do you want people to come into your world?

Kameko Rooks: So, I am Travel with Miko across all platforms; so TikTok, Instagram. My website, travelwithmiko.com. My group trips, you can follow me on Instagram, Let’s just bring the kids. And if you do want to join our trips, I would say just follow our Instagram page. Let’s just bring the kids and also subscribe to travelwithmiko.com because my subscribers are always the first ones to know when the group trip actually drops. So, you guys got dibs on the trip before it even hit Instagram. And like I said, my last one sold out literally in less than four days. Um, just subscribe and our 2014 trips will be dropped soon by the end of this year.

Matt Bowles: Uh, amazing. We are going to link all of that up in the show notes. So, folks can just go to one place at themaverickshow.com. Go to the show notes for this episode there. You are going to find links to everything we have talked about in this episode, everything Miko recommended, as well as her social media handles, her website, and all of the other things that we have discussed.

Miko, this was amazing. Thank you so much for coming to the show.

Kameko Rooks: This is amazing. Thanks for having me. This is fun. All right.

Matt Bowles: Good night, everybody.