Travis Barker Opens Up in Rare Interview About Becoming a Dad Again at 48: ‘Just as Good as I Remembered’ (Exclusive)

Nothing gives Travis Barker more pride than being a dad.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the Blink-182 drummer, 48, opened up about adjusting to parenthood with his 8-month-old son Rocky, whom he welcomed last year with wife Kourtney Kardashian Barker.

“The most wonderful thing you could do at any time in your life is have a baby or bring a human being into this world,” says Barker, explaining that he got a “crash course” with his stepdaughter, Atiana De La Hoya, 25, who came into his life when she was an infant.

He adds that he “learned so much” with the births of his daughter, Alabama Luella Barker, 18, and son, Landon Barker, 20, “because they were born really close to each other.”

Barker says that with Rocky, “it’s just as good as I remembered it.”

“I love being a dad,” the Barker Wellness founder says. “That’s my favorite accomplishment, it’s my favorite thing I get to do every day.”

Barker, who will host his Run Travis Run events in Los Angeles on Saturday, July 6, and another in Queens, New York, on Sunday, July 21, even recalled what happened when he found out he was having Landon.

“The day I found out, I left my house and I ran to the freeway,” he says. “It was four miles, and then I ran four miles back, too.”

He continues, “I had this urge to just be the best version of myself, be healthy and take care of myself more — and I think that’s never gone away.”

Back in November, Kourtney and Travis welcomed Rocky, with an insider telling PEOPLE at the time that the reality TV star was “over the moon about her son’s arrival.”

“Her pregnancy took a stressful turn towards the end,” said the source. “She is happy to be able to snuggle her baby boy now. She feels so blessed.”

Prior to giving birth, Kourtney, 45, had to undergo emergency fetal surgery.

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“A couple months ago, we had a terrifying scare where I had to have emergency fetal surgery,” she said in a confessional on The Kardashians.

After showing Kourtney recovering from the surgery, she said, “Baby Rocky had to have fetal surgery for fluid in his lung.”

Kourtney continued: “And it’s super rare, that this [is] the condition that he had but it’s also super rare and lucky that we caught it. And thank you, God, for this successful surgery. I’m honestly just so grateful, I have no words.”