They built a small house in rural Thailand for $22,500. They don't have debt, but that doesn't mean the lifestyle is easy.

For Ryan and his wife, Damo, the pandemic was a catalyst for a lifestyle change.

Ryan had been working in the hotel industry in Bali, Indonesia, for two years when COVID-19 hit. As tourism on the island came to a standstill, the couple decided to return to Thailand to be closer to their relatives.

They headed to Damo's village in Buri Ram in east Thailand, where Damo's family had given them a plot of land.

"We already had this land, and we had planned to develop it in the future for our retirement," Ryan, 35, told Insider. "But since we had time on our hands, we ended up starting work on it during COVID-19."

The couple, who have two young sons, asked to be identified by only their first names in order to protect their privacy. The couple provided Insider with a breakdown of their monthly expenses, as well as all the costs involved in building their home and outdoor kitchen.

As the pandemic dragged on, the couple ended up falling in love with the rural lifestyle and even started a YouTube channel documenting their lives on the farm.

(The couple lived in Thailand for 10 years before moving to Bali because of Ryan's job. When the pandemic hit, they moved back to Thailand. Ryan and Damo/Life in Rural Thailand)

But far from using their YouTube channel to paint the picture of a romanticized countryside life, they're open about the struggles they face adapting to life in the countryside. Hardly any topic is off-limits: They've spoken about things as varied as the cost of living and the difficulties of farming in their videos.

As their audience grew, Ryan realized he didn't want to go back to corporate life, he said.

"We saw that we could actually do this on a budget, living a very simple lifestyle while growing our own food and having our own animals," he said.

(Phase one: simple bamboo huts)

The family arrived in the village — which is home to about 150 people — in the early days of the pandemic. At the time, their parcel of land was nothing more than "a big flat area of mud," Ryan said.

With so much uncertainty due to the pandemic, the couple decided to live carefully.

"We wanted to save everything we got because the pandemic could have gone on for years — we didn't know," Ryan said.

(The family was living in a bamboo hut before. Ryan and Damo/Life in Rural Thailand)

((Phase two: building a small house with an outdoor kitchen))

(The house has distinctive wooden beams holding up the roof. Ryan and Damo/Life in Rural Thailand)

With an eye on permanence, the couple designed a plan for a small home and a freestanding kitchen.

They hired a local team of builders to bring their vision to life. They spent 821,593 Thai baht, or about $22,500, on both structures.

(The house has a loft. Ryan and Damo/Life in Rural Thailand)

(The outdoor kitchen. Ryan and Damo/Life in Rural Thailand)

Ryan said he realized that in the countryside, some people turn their homes into small businesses to supplement their incomes.

It could be a little convenience store or even a kiosk selling petrol, he said. "Maybe it doesn't make a lot, but for an old couple, a few people coming in the shop every day and spending — it gives them a little cashflow."

With the addition of a few tables and a cash register, they could easily turn it into a small café, he said.

Ref: They built a small house in rural Thailand for $22,500. They don't have debt, but that doesn't mean the lifestyle is easy. (businessinsider)