I've often wondered what would it be like to be a nomad and travel the world. I did this for a brief time in my early 20s and then stopped, and recently I've been falling back in love with travel.

I’ve bumped into some really interesting people who have traveled the world. I've learned that travel is not so much about the places you go or the people you meet, but instead, it's about the person you become.

In this episode of The Portfolio Life, I talk with Matt Kepnes, aka Nomadic Matt. Matt spent 10 years of his life traveling the world. He's the New York Times bestselling author of How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, as well as a follow-up book he just published called Ten Years a Nomad.

In this interview, Matt and I discuss:

• How a movie changed Matt’s trajectory and a vacation led to a new career
• What is means to like the “art” but not the “job” of being a creative professional as well as the difference between a hobby and a profession
• How travel and a change of environment makes you uncomfortable and why you should lean into that
• Why you should travel alone at least once
• How familiarity leads to complacency
• Why one of the greatest gifts of travel is learning to be your own best friend