Rozz gets real: "I don't want to be pigeonholed"

When Rosalyn Lee, more commonly known by her moniker Rozz, discovered that Syria was open for tourism post-pandemic, the intrepid traveller immediately made plans to visit the country. “I’ve always been very interested in visiting the Middle East,” the 44-year-old says of her decision. “It’s sad that they always get so much bad press for being unsafe. These countries have such rich histories, stunning landscapes, and the most hospitable people.”

However, after a trip to Iran in 2018, she realised that some countries in the Middle East are not accessible for a solo female traveller. When her friend Shane Horan, who runs travel company Rocky Road Travel, announced that he was organising a tour in Syria, she promptly reached out to him. He specialises in arranging tours to some of the least visited and misunderstood countries around the world, and he had previously organised her trip to North Korea in 2019.

Rozz, who also enjoys exploring destinations that are “not quite on the beaten path”, had no qualms booking the trip. “I’ve always been fascinated by Syria because it’s the birthplace of so many things,” she says. Syria is home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world. “Syria’s history is storied and colourful,” she enthuses. “It’s a rich country in terms of natural resources, and was thriving at one point in time.”

She spent 10 days in September 2022 travelling through the country, entering by car through the Jordan-Syria land border (flights to Syria are not recommended, as the airport often halts active operations due to air missile strikes) and leaving through the Lebanon-Syria land border.

The trip stirred up a lot of emotion. On one hand, the ancient sites had such a beautiful and rich history. On the other, she was witnessing first-hand what some pundits call one of the worst humanitarian crises in the 21st century. “The first time I saw [the ruins], I cried. I couldn’t believe the extent of destruction. But by the third day? I was desensitised. It felt like a coping mechanism, which was scary,” she says.

“I can’t imagine what it must be like for the people living there, and how desensitised they must be to live through [such trauma].” When she was in Damascus, the capital of Syria, an air strike happened at the airport one night. She shares: “It was about 25km from where I slept [at the hotel],” she recalls. “It happened in the middle of the night, and I woke up in the morning to some of my friends texting me and asking if I was okay. But for the people there? Life went on as usual.”

The adventurer recalls meeting some students in Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, which had many areas destroyed by bombing and shelling during the Syrian war. The youths approached her because they thought she could speak Japanese; they had studied the language and loved the culture. “They spoke perfect English,” she recalls. “And they were telling me about their hopes and dreams, which felt so unattainable, because they are unable to leave Syria due to sanctions. I felt so frustrated for them.”

This feeling carried over to her next trip to the autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, which she embarked on immediately after Syria. She spent a week and a half in the city hosting a programme for a broadcast channel, and a large part of her visit was spent at a refugee camp for Yazidi refugees.

“When I was in the refugee camps and saw how bleak the situation was, and yet how [the people] remain so hopeful…” she trails off. “To have so many aspirations only to be by held back by one of the weakest passports in the world, it must be so frustrating for them.”

Unlike her Syrian trip, which she detailed extensively on Instagram (@heyrozz), she has not posted anything about Kurdistan on her social media. She explains that she has yet to “process” the sights that she saw in Iraq. Processing helps her decide how she wants to tell their story, beyond the documentary that has since aired in December 2022.

She explains: “Essentially, I want to tell the stories of such places, but I need to figure out how I would angle it. What do I want to cover from the destruction? Do I want to cover hope? Do I want to cover the people? What’s most important and most beneficial to them?”

Seeing the world

What first inspired Rozz to start travelling so extensively was the fear that “[she] would not be able to see and explore the expanse and entirety of the world”. She had been a radio presenter for 14 years, and during her tenure, she was unable to take leave for more than two weeks each time.

“I just got gripped by this fear that the clockwork lifestyle of being on radio was going to be with me until I die. I couldn’t stand the thought of that,” she reflects.

At the same time, radio wasn’t fulfilling her anymore. “I mostly stuck to the job because it paid me a salary. I kept asking myself if I loved radio as a medium, or is it what I do that I love? When I broke it down, I realised that what I enjoyed was sharing music, talking to people, learning their stories, and exploring. And I can do all of the above via a different medium.”

When she made the decision to depart from radio in 2017, Lush 99.5FM, the station that she was then working at, ceased operations as well, which “felt like a sign”.

It might be tempting to call Rozz a travel content creator, but this oversimplified label would not do justice to the many hats that the multi-hyphenate wears. “I think we attach a lot of self-worth to our job titles. I get it. It defines who we are, to a certain extent,” she explains. “But I don’t want to be pigeonholed, because I don’t want to let what I do for money define who I am as a person. I’m not someone who is a noun. I’m not a writer. I’m not a photographer. I write. I take photographs.”

Plus, as she quips: “I’ve not travelled for a couple of months now, so can I really be called a traveller?”

Labels notwithstanding, she has travelled to more than 65 countries, which is about a third of the nations in the world. She chronicles her adventures with stunning photos taken on her iPhone and detailed heartfelt captions.

She rarely pre-plans her shots, and framing the photos and videos comes easily to her. Telling the story through the captions is “where the pressure comes in”, she says. “I want to do justice to the place, and so I would put a lot of thought into how to word everything. I don’t want to regurgitate what’s on Wikipedia, so everything needs to be from a personal perspective.”

Rozz’s brand of authenticity has become the cornerstone of who she is. She has a keen awareness that social media might not last forever, and that “[she] cannot depend on platforms like Instagram because at the end of the day, it doesn’t belong to [her]”.

“I think that the only way to ensure longevity as a creator is to constantly find out what stokes my fire, and how I’m going to amplify that,” she reflects. “For me, that’s travel right now, but how do I want to travel? Am I just gonna take beautiful pictures of Instagrammable spots? Or do I want to go to off-the-beaten-path countries and tell their stories?”

Going solo

Most of Rozz’s trips are self-funded. When she first started travelling, she “made the decision to spend all [her] savings – every single cent”. It’s a matter of perspective, she says. “I think the key thing here is how much you are willing to sacrifice – it’s different for everyone. For example, if I’m left with $100 in my bank, I’ll spend the money on a good meal, because that’s what’s valuable to me.”

She continues with a grin: “My true courage lies in the fact that when you see my bank account, you’ll probably be like: F*** Rozz, how are you living like that?”

Occasionally, some of her trips are funded, especially when she takes on presenting jobs from broadcast channels. “I love meeting people and interviewing them, and I enjoy getting access to experiences that I wouldn’t be able to if I was just a tourist,” she says of her experience as a host. “I wouldn’t be able to explore the kitchen, or go behind a bar, or access behind-the-scenes places somewhere else [if I were not in front of the camera]… For me, I earn more through these [experiences] than what any amount can pay me.”

As a frequent solo female traveller, is she not afraid of travelling alone? “I actually feel the most free when I travel alone, albeit with some common sense when it comes to taking calculated risks, and of course, always making sure to stay vigilant,” she says.

When she was travelling alone in Brazil in April 2022, she had her phone snatched out of her hands. This was despite the fact that she “was in a posh neighbourhood” and had taken multiple precautions, including standing inside the mall to call for her Uber, and only stepping out when the car was almost pulling up to the curb.

Unfortunately for the thief, and thankfully for Rozz, he fumbled and dropped her phone, and she managed to run over and recover it. “It all happened in one or two minutes, but I was disturbed by [this incident] for days. These people are not like pickpockets; they are not skilled at all, but they are brazen. It’s almost like they have nothing left to lose,” she says. After the incident, she was on high alert. She memorised her routes so she didn’t have to take her phone out, kept all her belongings close to her body, and always kept track of her surroundings.

Her narrative in life

Rozz is a natural storyteller, and she’s both informative and entertaining when delivering her anecdotes. She’s also forthcoming about all aspects of her life, including her childhood. She’s candid about growing up in a single-parent household.

When her father left the family when she was 11, her mother single-handedly raised her and her brother. “She did her best so that we never felt needy,” Rozz says, sharing that her mother worked two jobs. “We couldn’t afford everything, but we were never left wanting for things.” Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when Rozz was 15, and passed away nine years later. By then, 24-year-old Rozz had legally changed her surname from Oliveiro to her mother's surname, Lee.

Today, Rozz sees family as “a very broad term that includes people not related to me by blood”. “I’ve had to find my ‘chosen’ family, which are very close friends, and people who have gone through hell and fire with me.”

Her father’s physical and emotional absence has had a ripple effect on her romantic relationships. “I think from the moment I had my first relationship up until the time when I was thirty, I never had a year or a moment when I was single,” she shares candidly. “It was always back-to-back relationships, and I always needed someone there.”

Things eventually changed when she went to therapy, and when she remained single for two years. “After that, my relationships were much healthier.”

And now? “I don’t want relationships.” On the 180 pivot in her decision, Rozz elaborates: “My last relationship was in 2016, and right now, I’m not actively seeking [a relationship]. It’s not like there’s a long line of people waiting to date me.”

But if the right one comes knocking? She takes a second to ponder. “I’ll be open to it. I did go on one blind date recently. Obviously, it would be nice to have a partner that I can travel around the world with, but I also realise that a lot of guys my age are looking to get married and have kids. That’s not what I want.”

“I love children very much,” she shares, before dropping another unexpected quip: “But I just want children that come with a strict return policy.”

She laughs, before explaining: “I think that you can love children and not want any of your own, because there are so many children in the world who have been abandoned at orphanages. If I truly, truly wanted to be a mother, I could always adopt. The thing is, however, I don’t truly, truly want to be a mother.”

She’s very close to her brother’s sons and lights up when she speaks about them: “Every moment with my nephews is a privilege, and I will not take that privilege for granted. I’m as close to them as their parents allow, for I respect the parent-child dynamics and relationship.”

She deems February a “no-travel month” as two of her nephews’ birthdays fall within the month. Her love for her nephews also stems from her childhood, where she had “a very good aunt and uncle growing up, and they felt like an extension of the family with their extended support”.

She’s forthcoming about her decision to not be a mother at this point in her life. “I think I still haven’t figured myself out. And growing up with parents who have not quite figured themselves out? I grew up with trauma – trauma that I had to spend time and money to undo, because I could see how I was treating those around me, and how I reacted in arguments and relationships. I don’t want to transfer that to a child.”

Right now, Rozz is content with where she is. She’s playing the game her way, in all aspects of her life. Next on her travel list is a month-long trip to Peru – her fourth time visiting the country – in May with a couple of friends. She also desires to go to Antarctica one day, and has bookmarked the trip to happen hopefully in December this year. “I hate extreme cold, but I’m making an exception. I have no choice; I have to go because it’s the seventh continent. I told myself that if I can’t visit Mars or the other planets, I’ll need to at least set foot on all seven continents.”

PHOTOGRAPHY Wee Khim, assisted by Ivan Teo
ART DIRECTION Ray Ticsay
STYLING Lena Kamarudin, assisted by Jeon Jae Won & Ng Hui Yu
HAIR Sean Ang
MAKEUP Manisa Tan, using Chanel