Changing the course of your life is never easy – and if you’re middle-aged, it becomes even harder to start over from scratch. But a 51-year-old decided to do just that, adding an extra layer of difficulty by moving to a new country and adapting to a completely different landscape and culture.
Len Cook, who lived in the US until the end of 2025, has spent the last three months in Bengaluru, India, where he has settled and is now “rebuilding his life” after “selling everything to start over.”
Cook recently went viral on Instagram for sharing videos debunking myths about India. When asked what the biggest misconception is among people in the US, he said, “There’s a general perception that all of India is very poor, very dirty, very chaotic all the time everywhere, and it’s just simply not the case.”
In an exclusive interaction with indianexpress.com, Cook said that the US media plays a big role in shaping this perception. “If you look, some YouTubers often come to India because they know they’re going to get views, especially if they say something negative. They’ll go to the poorest part or show the dirtiest place to eat and make it seem like that’s all of India. But it is a part of India, not all of India. When I came here, I already knew it wasn’t quite as bad as that, but I’ve been very impressed with Bangalore.”
He added, “Wherever I go, it’s pretty clean. The traffic does get crazy at certain places and certain times of the day, but that can be said for anywhere in the world. But if you just watch Western social media, it’s horrible. And then AI is really going off and making food and food vendors look absolutely horrible – it’s just not the way things really are.”
‘I’d rather die living’
Cook was born and raised in the US, where he worked as a national sales manager for a hot tub company and later as a regional manager, eventually going on to own his own pool and spa construction business. “In eight years, we sold around $50 million in pools,” said Cook. But according to him, “the stress and anxiety of business was killing me.”
“A doctor told me if I was going to continue this path, it is going to eventually take me down,” said Cook. That’s when he realised he needed to do something different in life. He had always wanted to pursue YouTube, so he wrapped up everything in the US and moved to India with his wife and dog, Marley.
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When asked why he chose India, Cook said he has been married to an Indian woman for the past 15 years and has always been fascinated by the country and its culture. He had visited the subcontinent several times before and initially planned to retire here. However, after his diagnosis with anxiety, he felt, “it’s the right time, right scenario, and a lot of people would dream to do what I’m doing.”
“It seemed like a good time to shift here, and I am still young enough to go and explore. I want to travel around India, find interesting people, interesting places, and tell interesting stories,” he said.
Explaining his decision to start over, Cook added, “I may end up dead in a ditch in Nepal, but I would rather die living than simply waiting to die.”
When asked why he chose Bengaluru specifically, Cook said one reason was that his wife’s family lives there. But he also described the city as a “softer landing” for someone coming from the West. “It’s a little more comfortable, I have more access to food I am familiar with, the temperature is better,” he said.
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Though he has only been in India for three months, Cook drew comparisons between life in the US and India. “I love being an American, but it’s been a little difficult to be proud to be an American recently, with what’s going on in the world. The cost of living and everything there is getting so far out of control that it’s simply not sustainable. In India, it’s just so interesting every time I walk out the door. I have ADHD, and India is literally like a dopamine injection – an IV dopamine injection.”
Cook added that India has already started to feel like home. “I don’t feel like a stranger now. I feel India and Bangalore is my home, and that’s a really awesome feeling. In the US, when you walk around, it’s very quiet and very boring.”
Cook also spoke about the aspects he is still adjusting to. “Everyone says that India teaches you patience – I am just learning to be patient here.” He added that food is another area he is still getting used to, although he said he loves Indian cuisine.
