The Islands
The Cocos Keeling Islands, a remote Australian territory of coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, closer to Java than to the Australian mainland. This is the largest part of the archive by a wide margin. He says he spent eight years here growing up before the posts begin, moved back in early 2017, and returned again in 2018, 2019 and 2020, so the dates below are when he was posting rather than the whole of the relationship. Lagoons, empty beaches, the jetty, the boats, and a community of a few hundred people.
Part of Jai's journey
104 moments in this segment.
- - The now local surf spot. "Nice day out at the now local surf spot." One of his first posts tagged to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands after the family moved there in January 2017.
- - Island adventures. " He points to the full video on YouTube and credits the music to Randobeats.
- - Climbing for non-existent coconuts. "
- - SUP boarding shot from the Phantom 4. "SUP boarding on Cocos Island. Captured with the DJI Phantom 4." He lists the friends who appear in the accompanying vlog.
- - Falling from heaven. " Tagged to Cocos Island, February 2017.
- - Thumbs up for the island lifestyle. "
- - A snippet of the first month on Cocos. "Here's a snippet of our first month on Cocos. Full edit will be coming soon to Youtube."
- - One month recap, and a morning on the lagoon. The one-month recap of life on Cocos went up on YouTube. "Here is a photo of my mother and I cruising down the lagoon on an average morning in paradise."
- - Another frame from the recent edit. "Incase you missed it, here's another snippet from my most recent Youtube edit."
- - Living in an endless music video. "I feel like i'm living in an endless music video."
- - Eleven year old shredding the local. "We surf everyday yet i barely have any footage because i'm always so keen to get out in the water, and i put filming aside. Today i finally took the drone up and scored some sick videos. Here's a screenshot from one of them; 11 year old Toby shredding the local."
- - A video that sums up daily life. "This video pretty much sums up my life on a daily basis." Music by Cody Lovaas.
- - Free your mind. " A watch brand is tagged, one of several small sponsorships he was picking up in 2017.
- - Cutting through glass. "@flynn_howitt cutting through glass." His brother surfing a clean morning.
- - Always a rad time on Direction Island. " Direction Island is the uninhabited island across the lagoon from West Island.
- - Shooting on a no-surf day. "Shooting w/ @melaniefraser_." He tags it as a beach day with no surf.
- - An island to ourselves for his nineteenth. "We had an island to ourselves for my 19th birthday. Check out the footage." 1 April 2017.
- - Photographed by a German tourist named Frederick. "About to smack the lip, or snag a barrel, or both?" The photo was taken by a passing tourist he names as Frederick.
- - A rope swing on Home Island. "Made a cool discovery on Home Island yesterday." Home Island is the Cocos Malay settlement across the lagoon.
- - Keeping it simple. " A watch sponsorship post, one of a run he did through 2017.
- - Cocos as a place to let creativity flow. "Cocos has been such an amazing to let my creativity flow. It constantly fuels my passion to create the life i want, and it's a great feeling. If you're someone with a creative mind and big dreams, DM me."
- - Not impressed with the lack of waves. " He notes the photo was taken a while earlier and the swell had since picked up.
- - Motorised canoes to the nearby islands. "A days' adventures out visiting nearby islands on the motorised canoes again. Can't get enough."
- - Weekend vibes. " Another of the 2017 watch-brand posts.
- - Cotton candy on the horizon. " A sunset frame from May 2017.
- - The closest thing to a tunnel on Cocos. "The closest thing you'll get to a tunnel on Cocos. Remote living at it's finest." A drone shot down a road through the palms.
- - A twenty dollar second hand surfboard. "Frame grab from one of my surf edits a while back. I bought my board second hand for $20 and it's done me well, but it's time for a new one i think." The board he envies was shaped by a local surfer on Cocos.
- - Filming Direction Island for the tourism awards. "Spent the day filming on Direction Island for this years Australian Tourism Awards. Getting paid to hang out at the beach all day is pretty hard to beat." One of his first paid jobs on the islands.
- - Flying the drone for an SBS documentary. "Last week shooting on Direction Island, this week flying the drone on Home Island for an SBS documentary. These islands may be remote, but man there is so much opportunity."
- - Flooded out, and the wi-fi cannot handle it. "I haven't posted for a couple days because we've been flooded with rain, and the wi-fi can't handle it. Just another one of those remote living at its finest moments. We've played so many games of Settlers of Catan i've lost count."
- - Days like these. " End of June 2017.
- - One of the most incredible beaches. 've ever come across. Keep an eye out for some aerial shots coming soon."
- - Grateful to be surrounded by places like this. "So grateful to be surrounded by places like this." Tagged to the Cocos Islands, July 2017.
- - When mini mals were the transport. "Throw back to when the swell was smaller and mini mals were the preferred method of transportation out on the water."
- - What a scorcher last night was. " A sunset frame from July 2017.
- - Chasing vibes like this. " He promises the full video on YouTube soon.
- - A place only a photo from the air can do justice. "There are some places so beautiful that only a photo from the air can do them justice. This is one of those places."
- - Guiding tourists through the Southern Islands at sunrise. "Guiding a fleet of tourists through a few of the Southern Islands as the sun rose this morning. I've visited this place so many times and it never gets old. Nothing beats champagne on the water at 6am on a Monday."
- - Dinner with baby reef sharks for the scraps. "Eating dinner in true island style, complete with a few baby reef sharks to pick up the food scraps."
- - The yachties who stop at Cocos. "The yachties who visit Cocos come from every corner of the globe, and they all have such fascinating stories to tell. I'm pretty tempted to jump on a yacht as a deck hand and sail off to Africa."
- - A road trip that took five minutes. "Throw back to the time we went on a road trip. Took about 5 minutes to reach the end of the island and set up camp, what a mission it was." West Island is about ten kilometres long.
- - A quest for decent wifi. "Just a lost boy on a quest to find some decent wifi."
- - Pastel skies and balmy nights. 'm really starting to appreciate these epic sunsets."
- - Kick push, kick push. He quotes Lupe Fiasco: "So he kick push kick push kick push coast, and away he rolled jus' a rebel to the world with no place to go." Photo by his sister Amber.
- - Only 120 people live on West Island. "The closest thing we'll ever get to a beach party. Most of you probably don't realise just how remote the Cocos Keeling Islands are. Only 120 people live on West Island, and most of the 26 other islands are deserted. When we set up camp like this, we really are in our own little world."
- - A bamboo shelter, and two people left to survive a week. "Somewhere in this jungle is a bamboo shelter we spent 6 hours constructing today, before leaving two mates to survive for a week with no food, no boat and no communication with the rest of the world. I'm headed back here on Saturday to see if these guys are still alive."
- - A bush shack that cost two days of chopping palm fronds. "Believe it or not, this 5 star luxury bush shack managed to fit 6 of us for the night and only cost 2 full days of palm-frond choppin'."
- - Living in another dimension. " Tagged to the Cocos Islands, September 2017.
- - Happy with the direction. "Looking back to see how far i've come, i couldn't be happier with the direction i'm heading. I'm attracting so many sweet opportunities into my life."
- - A one-way ticket off the island. "Appreciating every moment i have left in this beautiful place. A one-way ticket off the island has been booked. It's time to see the rest of the world. Heading to Indo in a few weeks."
- - The Australian Tourism Awards entry. "Here's a snippet of the video we entered into the Australian Tourism Awards for the Cocos Keeling Islands. It's been a pleasure working alongside the tourism association over here and i'm super grateful to be a part of projects like this."
- - The fiftieth Cocos Olympics. "Every couple of years the island is split into two teams for a gruelling week-long Cocos Olympics. This year marks the 50th Olympics. Empty houses as parents and kids alike are up until 2am every morning running the streets and booby trapping anything and everything they can get their hands on. A week with no rules, except to cause as much havoc as possible."
- - Into the unknown. " Tagged to West Island, October 2017, two weeks before he left.
- - The best visual representation of my life currently. "This photo is probably the best visual representation of my life currently. So full of stoke and so many good things to look forward to."
- - Farewell Cocos. Posted at the Cocos Islands airport as he left after a year. "I've learnt more about myself in this last year than i can even put into words. It's as if the creative part of my brain had been left on idle for the first 18 years of my life, until we arrived on this Island and it was set free. Being isolated from the real world was such a blessing in disguise, a chance to really stop caring what people thought and just be me."
- - The simple life. " A Cocos frame posted at the end of December 2017, two months after he left the islands.
- - No plan, and a room shared with five siblings. "I've had so many people ask me what my plan is now, but the truth is, I don't even know what I'm having for dinner let alone where I'll be next month." He describes sharing a room with five siblings and his parents while renovating a house, and says the family flies back to Cocos at the end of the month while he stays and looks at buying a van.
- - Wandering empty islands, from away. "Wandering aimlessly around empty Islands was up there with my favourite pastimes back home. Missing all the Cocos crew, I'll be back one day."
- - Hitch your wagon to something larger. He quotes Barack Obama: "Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential."
- - Nineteen suitcases, and staying behind. "Mixed emotions. Running on 2 hours sleep, we left the house at 1.30am bound for the airport. After an hour of lines and 19 suitcases finally checked in, it was time for the family to head back to tropical paradise. Without me." He stayed in Western Australia to live in a van.
- - Island ball with the Cocos crew. "Bitta island ball action with the Cocos crew last year. My birthday is on Monday incase anyone is willing to pitch in for a ticket back home. I miss you Cocos."
- - Where it all started. "Throwback to where it all started. Cocos, you are the reason I do what I do. I'll be back one day." Direction Island.
- - Flying home unannounced after ten months. "Yesterday I flew home to the islands after nearly 10 months away, to take a step back and re-connect with the place that started it all. I arrived without a plan, without even telling my family I was coming back."
- - It is the little things. "It's the little things." A hermit crab, Cocos, August 2018.
- - A yin yang and nothing else. The caption is a single yin yang character. Posted from the Cocos Islands in August 2018.
- - Daily commute to the beach. " Cocos, August 2018.
- - Vibes. " August 2018, back on the islands.
- - 365 days of summer. " Cocos, August 2018.
- - Go do that. "Take a moment to stop and think about what you really want to be doing right now, in your life. Go do that." West Island.
- - Stranded in the middle of the Indian Ocean. "Stranded on an island somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean."
- - Thoughts create feelings. 's something in your life that you don't like, trace it back to where it starts and change it."
- - No mobile reception at all. "Yo, where's the reception at? Plot twist, mobile phones don't get reception here. At all. Just a daily reminder that there are bigger things in life than sitting behind a screen all day, scrolling." He adds that constructive screen time matters for anyone building an online business, but within moderation.
- - Where do you call home. "Blessed to have spent a good chunk of my life here. I'm curious, where do you call home?" Posted at the Cocos Keeling Islands Visitor Centre.
- - On some sorta vibe. " West Island, September 2018.
- - Shout out to the dreamers. "Shout out to all the dreamers, hustling behind closed doors and seeking a life that's a little different from the norm."
- - Shoeless, shirtless and plan-less. "Shoe-less, shirt-less and most importantly, plan-less. How it should be."
- - Blur the line between dreams and reality. "
- - Barefoot in the palm jungles. "Navigating the palm jungles, barefoot, salty and not a care in the world." West Island.
- - Time you enjoy wasting. " Cocos, September 2018.
- - When he stopped caring what people thought. "It wasn't until I stopped caring, that I really started to see a shift in my life. I stopped caring about people's opinions of me. Perhaps the biggest thing holding me back from growing into the person I wanted to be."
- - Not ready to head back to civilisation. "Running away from the real world. Not sure I'm ready to head back to civilisation in a couple months."
- - Outside the comfort zone. "The unknown, outside of the comfort zone. That's where all the magic happens."
- - Prison Island, shrinking. "15 years ago when my family first moved here Prison Island was more than double this size. It used to house prisoners and slaves back in the early settlement of Cocos. Crazy how things change, few years from now and it'll be an underwater dive site." Photo by his brother Flynn.
- - A mind as clear as this water. "My life goal is to wake up each morning with a mind as clear as this water."
- - Chess on the beach. "Quality antics and company. Lazy Chess games on the beach because, why not?" West Island.
- - New crew, sharks and freediving. "Stoked to have some new crew out here exploring for the last week or so. Creative juices have been flowing, sharks a plenty and vibes just as good as this island paradise I get to call home."
- - Flying to Christmas Island for the sports comp. "Peace out Cocos. Flying over to Christmas Island tomorrow morning for the annual inter-island sports comp. I'll be missing out on these waves but I'm looking forward to getting back into some serious volleyball and exploring new landscapes."
- - A month left in the tropics. "Lazy days in the tropics. Appreciating every moment before we are outta here in a month, this year is flying by."
- - A story about green and twelve, then retracted. He tells a story about his favourite colour and number matching his partner's, then takes it back in the last line: "Moral of the story? Don't believe everything you read on Social Media. Her favourite colour is actually red and her favourite number is 4, and you just wasted 30 seconds of your life."
- - Bonfires at golden hour. 've hit an all time high folks."
- - Two weeks before the big smoke. "Back to the big smoke in two weeks. Gonna miss nights like this." He plugs a friend's Cocos film screening in Perth. "It's gonna be a struggle leaving this place again, not knowing when I'll be back."
- - A couple of salty groms. "Coupla salty groms living our best lives. Anyone wanna come hang out here for a day?"
- - To the place that shaped me. 't thank you enough. Saying goodbye gets harder every time." Posted from West Island as he left in December 2018.
- - Island time. 't exist, peak hour traffic is unheard of and early mornings become a thing because it's liberating, not because you're getting up to go to a job. It's on island time that I operate at my highest level, unconstrained from the pressure of deadlines and stress."
- - Where dreams are made. " A West Island frame posted in January 2019.
- - People get attached to the old version of you. "It fascinates me how attached people get to the old version of you. As if assuming that you're never going to change or grow. Humans are constantly evolving, just some are changing faster than others."
- - Which scooter would make it to the surf. "Back when the only decision I had to make in the morning was which scooter had more chance of getting to the surf and back without blowing up. No phones, no concept of time, simply living."
- - Nostalgia, defined. He opens with the dictionary definition: "Nostalgia: a wistful desire to return in thought to a former time in one's life, to one's homeland." Then: "Forever grateful for this place and the impact it's had on my life."
- - A WA beach that brings Cocos back. "This beach had me reminiscing about my days back on the Cocos Islands. Whites and blues alllll day." He hints at a ticket booked back to the islands at the end of the year for a project he does not name.
- - Dreamscaping. " West Island, January 2020.
- - A favourite spot, a week after leaving. "Ahh nostalgia (and it's only been a week). This was one of my favourite spots to get lost in my thoughts over a blazing sunset and a cold beer. One of those places you reaaally don't want to leave. Almost too comfortable. Cheers to recognising when it's time to step back into that uncomfortable zone."
- - Creating content was easy, running a business was hard. "Cocos is always a treat but by the end of this trip I was pretty ready to get back to the real world and into a routine again. Creating content was easy but running a business was hard. Waking up late and beaching it all day was easy but maintaining motivation was hard. Somehow those two months on the islands were some of the busiest of my life."
- - Letting go of the travel content creator persona. "One from the Cocos archives. Things are changing and so is my feed. I've been holding onto the travel content creator persona for far too long and the reality is, that's not really an accurate representation of my life anymore. Right now it's head down putting in work, and pretty pictures just aren't gonna cut it." This is the post where the account changes subject.
- - Thanks Cocos for humbling me once again. 've been my main source of inspiration, in life, in business, in family. I'm a different person each time I come back and this year was no exception." Posted at Christmas 2020. It is the last post from the islands in this archive.