The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders

Learn how minimalist packing, work-first discipline, and remote culture can sustain a business while moving every week.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

Zach Boyette tells his story growing up in Tennessee, teaching himself to code, working for Google, finding his first location independent job and embarking on a life as a full time itinerant nomad.  He shares his travel experiences, favorite destinations, and why he chooses to move locations every week. Zach also talks about his passion for minimalist packing and his top tips on traveling the world with carry-on luggage only.  Zach then shares his tips on balancing work with lifestyle design as a full-time traveler.  He shares some of his most memorable locations where he has had to take business calls around the world, and how he puts work first while having epic travel adventures.  Zach then talks about co-founding his growth marketing agency, Galactic Fed. He shares the suite of services offered to businesses by Galactic Fed, and explains the biggest mistakes most companies are making with paid media and SEO today.  He then explains how Galactic Fed has differentiated itself from other digital agencies, and describes his ideal client.  Zach then takes us inside his company and shares how he and his co-founder bootstrapped Galactic Fed to nearly 100 staff people in less than 3 years.  He gives his tips on hiring, cash-flow management, and building company culture in a fully remote company during rapid growth. 

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

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FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

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Learn how travel can shape parenting, expand kids’ education, and build meaningful spaces for Black families worldwide.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

Librya Jones shares her experience traveling to Ghana with her daughter in 2019 for “The Year of Return” and discusses her (and her daughter’s) reflections on Ghanaian culture, learning the history of the West African slave trade, and the feeling of being in a Black-majority country.  Libryia then opens up about her upbringing in Tallahassee, Florida, dreaming of world travel as a kid, and saving up for her first international trip at age 25.  She then talks about traveling to 40 countries, co-founding Wandering Moms, and organizing a 12-month trip around the world with her daughter and other families.  Libryia talks about the value of world travel for kids, the unparalleled educational opportunities that travel provides, and the adaptability of kids to an itinerant travel lifestyle.  She emphasizes that kids can be a catalyst to travel, not an excuse to avoid travel, and that you should never let other people dictate the terms of your life.  She discusses travel as a parenting strategy, and the opportunities for alternative education through travel.  She then talks about the moms-only trips that she organizes, and discusses the importance of female-only travel spaces.  Libryia then talks about the importance of cultivating Black travel spaces, and share her perspective as a Black traveler on ‘safety’, ‘comfort’, and ‘belonging’ abroad vs. in the U.S. Libryia then shares her top 3 favorite travel destinations and names her Top 5 hip hop artists of all time.

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

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ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Hear how a move to Tokyo became a 12-year chapter and what decades of travel taught her about solo adventure and home.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

In this episode, Becky Gillespie talks about her experience growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, studying abroad in Europe, and then deciding to move to Tokyo at age 22.  She shares her experience upon arrival and her subsequent choice to stay in Tokyo for 12 years before becoming a full-time digital nomad.  Matt and Becky discuss the food scene in Tokyo and also talk about their experiences in Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima, and Naoshima.  Becky then shares some of her most epic travel experiences including trekking Everest Basecamp, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and repelling down into Hang Son Doong—the world’s largest cave—in Vietnam.  After traveling to 69 countries, she shares her top tips for female solo travelers. Becky then talks about her podcast, The School of Travels. And finally, she discusses her new book:  Shimokitazawa: A Tokyo Beginner's Guide to the World's Most Walkable Neighborhood. Becky explains why Shimokitazawa is her favorite neighborhood, why this one small section of Tokyo deserves its own 200+ page book, and what made her fall in love with the neighborhood and choose to live there for 9 years.

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

============================

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Hear how hip hop, conflict-zone travel, and advocacy shaped the values Matt later carried into his digital nomad life.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

On this episode, the tables are turned and Matt Bowles is interviewed by Becky Gillespie about his activism, social justice background and nomadic lifestyle.  This wine-induced conversation off the coast of Dubai starts off talking about Matt’s path getting fired from his job, transitioning to become a location independent entrepreneur, building Maverick Investor Group, and traveling the world full time.   It then goes back to trace his history of social justice activism, starting with how his initial awareness of the African-American struggle was raised through politically consciousness hip hop music and how that shaped his academic trajectory to study race, class and gender inequality as well as the colonial processes over Native Nations.  He then explains his decision to do a Master’s Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution, and reflects on his initial travel to conflict regions like Palestine and the north of Ireland, sharing his reflections on those trips, and his subsequent solidarity activism.  He then shares his experience working professionally in the non-profit advocacy space up until the age of 30, and then making a major life transition to build a location-independent business, but being intentional to ground it in his activist values.  He gives tips on how to make a transition in a way that enshrines your values into the business so you can continue to affect positive change in the world as you grow your company.  And, finally, Matt talks about his current nomad lifestyle, his experiences on programs like Remote Year and Nomad Train, and how he curates the social groups with whom he has epic travel adventures on an ongoing basis.

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

============================

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

hear how traveling with her daughter inspired a book series designed to give more kids a window into the wider world.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

Shambrekia Wise tells her story of growing up in a small, low-income Arkansas town with less than 1,000 residents, but having a loving community and developing her passions for science, adventure and learning about the world through books. After getting her Master’s Degree in Public Health, she opens up about being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, turning to write as a healing process, and publishing her first book. She then tells the story of traveling with her 6-year old daughter, Sandy, and experiencing new adventures together but also coming to terms with racial and class inequality. She explains how it was Sandy’s desire to help other kids to travel that led to the creation of the “Sightseeing with Sandy” children’s book series. Shambrekia shares how she and Sandy co-created the series as a way to empower kids to explore the world without the financial burden of travel and to inspire kids to learn about other cultures until they are able to visit those places in person. Shambrekia breaks down the statistical benefits of child travel on improving educational performance and explains the boost in curiosity and confidence kids get from traveling. She then talks about Sandy’s empowering experience co-creating the book series and helping to market the books. She concludes by sharing her top overall parenting tips, her favorite travel destinations, and her Top 5 Hip Hop MCs of all time.

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

============================

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Learn how toxic stress and racial trauma affect individuals and communities and what restorative approaches can offer.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

Dr. Dina Cuervo shares her personal upbringing in a Los Angeles immigrant community, plagued by violence and institutional racism.  She shares her path to becoming a clinical psychologist and her passion for supporting under-served communities of color that have been victimized by trauma. Dina then explains the psychological trauma caused by systemic racism and how racism is literally a public health crisis.  She talks about the concept of “toxic stress” that is created through institutionalized racism.  She then explains how racism functions as a form of dehumanization and emotional abuse that has caused ongoing individual and collective injury. She then examines racial trauma in the educational system, the pathologizing of Black children, the replacement of school counselors and social workers with police, and its impact on Black youth.  She then talks about the traumatic effects of police interaction with the Black community and explains some of the trauma triggers and stress responses to police encounters.  She then discusses inter-generational racism, epigenetics, adverse childhood experiences, and the culmination of the “cradle-to-prison pipeline.”  Dina then recommends transformative changes such as the re-allocation of resources back into education and social services as well as a trauma-sensitive approach to conflict resolution centering on restorative justice.  She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging white privilege, validating Black experiences, and actively diversifying Universities.  She also emphasizes the vital importance of increased police training around mental health and trauma.  Dina then discusses her location independent therapy practice, answers the lightning round questions, and names her Top 5 Hip Hop MCs of all time.

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

============================

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Learn how policing expanded alongside mass incarceration and what reallocating resources could mean for public safety.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

In this episode, Matt Bowles contextualizes the U.S. movement to defund and dismantle police departments in the history of institutionalized white supremacy and police violence in the United States.  He talks about the consistency of police violence and repression of the Black community for hundreds of years without pause, from slavery to the convict-lease system to Jim Crow to the “war on drugs” and the explosion of prison-industrial-complex.   He shares how the trend for the last 4 decades has been to cut social services, criminalize social problems, and expand the role of the police to handle them.  He talks about the school-to-prison pipeline, the privatization of prisons, the financial incentives to keep people incarcerated, and the rise of mass incarceration.  He also shares how the police have been increasingly militarized over the last few decades, receiving billions of dollars of military hardware from the Pentagon as well as training from the Israeli military.  He then reviews the extensive attempts at “police reform” by the Minneapolis police department over the past 5 years and how they have all failed. He clarifies that policies of both Republican and Democratic Administrations have contributed to the problem.  The movement currently underway is people taking matters into their own hands at the grassroots level and working with City Councils to defund police departments and re-allocate those resources back into communities of color, social services, education, and needs.  And the commitment to dismantle the Minneapolis police department opens up opportunities to explore new models of public safety that can be used to build communities that, for the first time in American history, are safe for Black people. 

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

============================

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Learn concrete ways to support racial justice efforts, from legal funds and petitions to direct action from anywhere.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

In this episode, Matt Bowles contextualizes the U.S. uprising in the history of institutionalized white supremacy in the United States.  He discusses the lynching of George Floyd in the context of systemic racialized state violence.  He then talks about how police are currently attacking nonviolent protesters and journalists, and how the situation is quickly becoming militarized as the US Military is deployed to occupy U.S. cities.  He contrasts the way the police have arrested over 4,000 protesters in the last 72 hours for nonviolent offenses, as well as members of the press, but have NOT arrested 3 of the police officers that lynched George Floyd.  He then shares specific ways that you can support the Black Lives Matter movement and help seek justice for George Floyd from anywhere in the world. He shares phone numbers to call, petitions to sign, ways to pay for bail and legal support for demonstrators, and ways to financially donate to support movement work against racism and police violence in the U.S.

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

============================

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Learn why shifting housing demand may favor single-family rentals and how investors can adapt to changing market trends.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

In this episode, Matt Bowles explains how to navigate the latest U.S. real estate trends and make smart real estate investing decisions during the COVID-19 Era. He begins by giving tips on optimizing your rent collection during the eviction moratorium.  He then moves on to talk about strategies for stabilizing your cash flow, including the option of getting tenant-default insurance. He proceeds to discuss the differences between the Great Recession of 2008 vs. The Great Shutdown of 2020.  He explains the COVID-19 era trends that are negatively impacting commercial real estate, but positively impacting single-family rental properties. Matt explains the “de-densification” trend of both home buyers and renters moving out of densely populated areas, communal living situations, and apartment buildings and migrating into detached single-family homes.  He also explains the supply and demand dynamics, and how there is an undersupply of affordable single-family homes amidst increasing demand for them, which could actually drive prices up in some areas.  Matt then explains how residential investment property is a multi-dimensional asset class that has 5 simultaneous profit centers.  He explains how to buy in the high-demand micro-markets within ‘recession resilient’ regions of the U.S. to position yourself on the supply side of the high demand trends for both buying and renting.  He explains the tax benefits that remain constant, and how the tenant pays down your mortgage principle so you are building equity regardless of home price fluctuations.  And finally, he breaks down the 3 ways you can profit from inflation when you take out a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

============================

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!

Learn how mortgage qualification and lender economics shape financing choices for investors building rental portfolios.

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Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds.

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ON THIS EPISODE

Caeli Ridge shares her entrepreneurial journey and her path to becoming the owner and CEO of Ridge Lending Group.  She talks about her own real estate investing experience buying over 40 rental properties of her own and also helping tens of thousands of real estate investors build their rental property portfolios with conventional mortgage financing.  Caeli takes us behind the scenes. explains the profit model of a mortgage lender and breaks down the various fee structures of how lenders make their money.  She then explains the larger eco-system of how mortgages are sold, closed, serviced, and then re-sold on the secondary market as mortgage-backed securities.  She then explains why the 30-year fixed mortgage is such a uniquely advantageous product and why it is not offered anywhere else in the world.  Caeli then gives historical context about the mortgage lending dynamics that contributed to The Great Recession of 2008 and why The Great Shutdown of 2020 is entirely different with respect to both lending and home price dynamics.  She also talks about the “mortgage forbearance” provision of the CARES Act and what to be cautious of when exercising it.  She then explains mortgage qualification guidelines and breaks down the criteria for a credit score, assets, and debt-to-income ratio.  She explains that qualified buyers can still get up to 10 mortgages (what she calls “10 Golden Tickets”) but shares which guidelines have tightened up during The Great Shutdown.  She then talks about how to transfer your properties into an LLC and the legal nuances of which you should be aware when doing so. And, finally, she explains how and why the 30-Year-Fixed Rate Mortgages could possibly disappear in 2021.

→ Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here.

============================

FIND YOUR NEXT EPISODE

Explore The Maverick Show Starter Packs — some of my favorite conversations curated by theme so you can easily find the episodes that match your interests.

============================

FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU

See my Top 10 Travel Apps

See my Top 10 Books that Shaped the Way I Travel

See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual)

Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn

See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend

See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use)

============================

ENJOYING THE SHOW?

Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation

Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally

Support the show by buying me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes!