Travel Wisdom Podcast -travel and learn languages for success and money

Ryan Williams is the host of the Influencer Economy which is about the changing world of media. Where before, it would take a media company to give the green light to something, now this is done by the audience instead. What this means is that some things end up being wildly successful yet is very strange. A good example of this is something called machinima which uses existing video games in order to act out a story. What he shows is that the future is changing and that we need to be successful. Ryan talks about what happens when the niches become mainstream

In this episode we talk about the the power of this new community and their relationship with their audience. People who supply content or somehow are an influencer online are following a whole new set of rules than before. Collaboration is the new name of the game with the bigger person giving social proof and credibility to the little person. This is the new way the games are being played which will influence the way media will be done. These people are able to crowdfund over $2 million from fans by allowing access in a way not possible before. Although it looks like an overnight success, all of the people he profiled had done their craft for many years before being 'discovered.'

I believe that it is important to become a wiser person. I think that experiences are important in life and that to experience more is to live a fuller life. That is why I thought that trying different types of drugs was important for my quest for wisdom.

• It started picking the brain of a colleague working at UPS who, although young, had tried many things

• Then when I was living on my own I made friends that could give access to the things I wanted to try

• I was told that there were a few drugs you should never try because the risk was too high, heroin, crack, and meth.

• I think drugs can be an eye opening experience, it can completely reset your way of thinking

• I eventually found that most drugs were kind of useless and a waste of time but that psychadelics had a use

• You should be mature enough to understand and interpret what you are seeing and what it means

• I then moved to the opinion that especially psychadelics could have beneficial effects just like a spirit quest

• You can ask a question or somehow focus on a problem to get it resolved. For example, on a mushroom trip I realized that I already had all the power within me to do the things that I wanted. Only I was holding myself back and that I needed to stop stopping the things I knew would lead to success

• I think that psychadelics should be done in a good environment. Going to the amusement park is dangerous but being with trusted friends can be beneficial

• Once or twice per year is probably the upper limit because more than that might be damaging

• Psychadelics are like heat applied to plastic. It can help soften it to mold it easier. The plastic is like your psyche and ways of thinking. Over time it can become deformed or rough and has to be smoothened

• Trying to shape plastic without heat can work but it can take time or break it. Also, applying too much heat can cause a mess

• The plastic can be smoothened if done correctly but if done incorrectly it can make it even more deformed or rough. The plastic would then cool and it would be stuck like that for a very long time

• One needs to be extremely careful and be mindful with any drug. Know why you are taking it and what outcome you are trying to achieve by doing it

• Dislcaimer: Of course don't do illegal things and make sure that you are in a place that these things are allowed

• With great power comes great responsibility

Special thanks to Diana Dell for getting in contact with your unique story. She is finishing up her Masters degree in environmental science and is moving to Armenia. Its a crazy idea but as far as I know she has never done drugs :P Good luck! :P

The Hicks family of Grady, Mason and Brianna have all gone through a pretty amazing trip. Starting out as a fun graduation present for the oldest, now the father Grady has taken all his children on a month-long trip around the world. During this time they decided to make things more fun and they gave themselves a checklist of things they had to do and see everyday. They have since turned it into a series of books for the adventure with each child. Grady's hard work pays off with his planning of hundreds of things to see and why to see them for each trip.

In this four way episode we talk about how the idea for a Amazing Race themed trip around the world. We talk about how he was able to plan the trips and the amount of time it took for each trip to be planned. We discuss the ability for the children to remember the places versus the father and how things were forgotten. We also talk about the power of travel to make the world smaller. Finally, the show turns into a bit of a therapy session on how this travel experience can be used to enhance the rest of life. By not only keeping some experiences segmented in one part of your life but allowing it to become who you are, you can take in even more of the experiences.

Exercise has been an interest of mine for over a decade and I have always wanted to be fit and have a sexy body. Over that decade I have learned more about the body and experimented with many things myself. Now I feel that my exercises are much more effective than they used to be

• I was interested in working out and exercise ever since hitting puberty. It was my surefire way of getting laid! Unfortunately I found it is just a multiplier and that if you are starting from zero, anything times zero is still zero

• As I mentioned in the previous episode, exercise is not the best way to lose weight but nutrition is. Exercise can activate some things in your body to make weight loss even faster and not to mention you look more sexy when fit no matter if you are a man or a woman

• I was always pretty fit but never a meat head and even if I had muscles it could be hidden by the right shirt. But I was never able to keep it due to my travels since I was 18. I would go on a multi month trip at least once per year and it would screw up my workout plans

• Many times I would lose lots of weight on a trip and it would take many months to get it back to how it was. This would mean with the length of the trip and the recovery I would lose about 6 months. Any gains during the rest of the year were then later wiped out by lack of good nutrition while travelling

• I have never really maintained an exercise regimen while travelling although I know theoretically what should be done. Some elastic bands are often useful which allow you to train almost anything with about 10-45 pounds (5-20kg) resistance. Also bodyweight exercises are useful like pushups, pull ups, squats, or even running up and down stairs

• I have never wanted to do these exercises so much because it always got in the way with activities that I was doing throughout the day. I think I also really liked the weights at the gym and jumping up and down didn't feel like a good substitute

• Anyways, what I have found out is that shorter and more intense workouts are more effective. I used to do jogging for an hour or be on a cycle for that long but then some people I follow and personal experience showed that doing 4 minutes of intense exercise and 1 minute of rest was much better. Repeating this a few times would give much better results than an hour long run ever could

• This is something I recommend (although I will only start doing it again this week) is to do sprints and to run about 5 times longer or further than your walks in between these runs. If you repeat it 2 to 5 times this is about the best workout you can do

• I believe that lifting weights is also essential, even for girls. Girls look sexy when they are strong and don't worry, your hormones will not allow you to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Those women you see in the muscle magazines have loaded themselves with Testosterone and have devoted many years of their lives to this, so its not just going to sneak up on you!

• Woman who are surprisingly strong yet sexy are pole dancers / strippers. They have to hold themselves up using only their grip and move their legs and body around. It is very hard and it requires lots of strength (try it!). So if you are a girl worried about gaining to much muscle, just remember if you try hard then you will probably end up just as muscly as a stripper. Said another way, you will have a strippers body

• Men, of course, do not need much convincing to go lift weight because it is what makes us look good. But it is also important to not get lost in numbers competitions trying to outdo the next person which could lead to bad form while lifting or focusing on it too much at the expense of your other muscle groups. This can lead to an imbalanced body which is also not sexy, the opposite of what you were going for!

• Besides simply looking sexy, exercise gives you energy in the long run because your body learns to handle using so much energy. That means that you then have more energy for the other things in your life like career, family or other projects. It gives you strength for those times or tasks where you need it. I find it can also triple your sex drive, perfect if you have a partner. It improves your posture. Also it can become addictive and refreshing. After about two months of exercise your body starts to get used to it and craves some sort of physical activity. How is that for a healthy addiction?!

• So what kind of weightlifting regimen is the best? I find that the most essential movements are squats, deadlift, pull ups, incline bench press, clean and press and the row. If you don't understand what all those mean, just click through to the links here or google it yourself.

• If these 6 exercises formed 70% of your exercises you would be quite successful in becoming much stronger. These 6 will hit every part muscle in your body and you will end up looking great. Doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman.

• Another key thing to remember is how much to lift. Some have said that you need to do each movement 20-50 times but I disagree. I have seen that when you use the maximum amount of weight, so that you can only do the movement 2-5 times it is the most effective. This means you do 2-5 repetitions, rest some time, and do it again. This is generally enough, more is not always better.

• This also goes for women. Although it might not seem like a feminine or girly thing to do, you want results, not to look girly at the gym. Also, the men are naturally going to be stronger so even your heavy weights will be small by comparison, so still girly

• An important thing to do is to cycle through those 6 exercises. Otherwise you could get what I had for a long time, muscular imbalance. It can come from many things but it can be quite damaging to your health. It can change your posture for the worse, cause some muscles to be strangely larger than others, or even put stress on your body in ways it was not designed to handle. Watch out for this and this should be your highest goal, balance

• It is also important not to overtrain. For me, I find going to the gym or generally exercising 2 or 3 times per week for about 45 minutes each time is perfect. Do you have an hour and a half each week to spare in order to look great? This is less than 2% of your waking hours of the week. Seems like such a small thing to ask huh?

• Finally, the most important thing to do for exercise is to find a sport or activity which you love. This should be a physical activity where you lose track of time. For my gf this is salsa dancing, and for me it would be surfing or snorkeling. When you have something like this then the exercise is automatic and integrated into your life, just the way you want it.

• Travel can be great as you can find new activities that attract you more. I didn't really have any activities where I would lose track of time except snorkeling and surfing where you couldn't get me out of the water (no, I was not drowning). Although I have only done it a handful of times I recently realized this was my favorite activity and will make sure to do it as often as possible. But my activities depend on travel

Let me know what you thought of this. It is a bit difficult to put everything I have experienced in this field into a short bite sized clip which can be useful as well. I have tried to only put in the essential things and I hope that it is helpful for you

Tijana Momirov of Follow the Elements has been an independent Software Engineer since 2010. Before being a digital Nomad was a thing, she was earning money while travelling. She especially loves Kitesurfing, letting it take her take her all over the world. Now she teaches how it is possible to

In this episode we talk about how she has been able to be a freelance software engineer for the last 5 years. She has not been in a set location since then and has been living from her suitcase ever since. It all started during a job in Greece where she realized that being in the office was not necessary and the clients did not even know where she was. She now is a freelancer and generally works about 20 hours per week in order to make more money. We then talks about the first steps in setting up a freelancing job. She recommends going through some of the largest freelancer sites in order to gain more visibility. Then we talk about the benefits of living on the beach and how to get into Kitesurfing. I love the water so I am sure that I would love it, if it only wasn't so expensive that would be great!

Losing weight and staying fit seems like an impossible thing to many people. It can feel like you are desperately flipping switches and pulling levers on the inputs of your body with no response. Of course it is no surprise that many have given up on staying fit because what we know we should do is not as powerful as they say. I will talk about my struggle with weight and how I now have been able to keep off 45lbs (20kg)

• I was raised in a health conscious family so health and weight were always at the forefront of my mind

• I was chubby between the ages of about 12-15 and being made fun of for it. In our group of friends I was the fat one. Then when puberty hit, the weight came off very quickly

• I was a normal weight for a long time until I started dating my first gf which caused me to become lazy and I ended up gaining about 40 pounds (~20kg) in 8 months. At first I was hopeful that it was muscle because it was being put on in the right places, but then I realized it was actually just fat.

• Then after doing my study abroad a year later in Germany and again being separated from that gf I was able to first lose 20 pounds (~10kg) in 3 months and later the final 20 pounds (~10kg) over about 6 months.

• I have been able to keep it at that level now for 2 years with some more minor 10 pound fluctuations but when I notice that happening I take care of it and can have it fixed within a month.

• I am a big guy at 6'3” (193cm) and my 'thin weight' is about 175 pounds (80kg) so for some of you smaller people it would be like a 5 pound (~2kg) fluctuation

• In the end, all that I had learned during my minor in Nutrition during my Bachelors degree proved to be useless or completely wrong. The US government's recommendations was actually part of what kept me fat and when I broke from that I was able to control my weight the way I wanted

• I realized that nutrition was the most important factor in weight management and health. Exercise is important also but it is almost impossible to make up for bad eating decisions by exercising more (you would need to chop wood for 2 hours a day). I find the impact on weight is about 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. I will talk about exercise in the next episode

• So, now for the most important part. I found through my experience that sugars (also carbohydrates) are pretty much to blame for gaining weight. This is of course found in anything sweet or starchy: bread, rice, potatoes, many sauces, sweets, sugar, soft drinks, and anything along these lines was the biggest contributor to fat creation.

• This means eating fried chicken with extra oil is nowhere near as fat generating as eating a bowl of pasta. Crazy, isn't it?

• Actually, it could be healthier as well. Science is finding out that the rate you create insulin, or the hormone that is secreted when you eat sugars, is the rate that you age. Creating insulin along with the spikes in blood sugar are very stressful for your cells and contribute to aging. Cutting down on sugar or at least eating more slowly digestible sugars could help you live longer

• If you are able to minimize carbs, then you can pretty much eat as much of the other stuff as you like. It is just not possible to eat enough of the other stuff to gain weight and you will be full and not be able to eat anymore first

• It is impossible and unwise to completely eliminate carbs as they are everywhere and some baseline is essential for human function. But for me, I went from carbs being about 75% of my diet to about 25% of my diet and now I can eat what I want

• Generally, you want to eat lots of veggies which is good for your digestion. Fruits however, are not very good because they contain so much sugar and all of the vitamins can also be found in veggies. That is why you should limit fruits or fruit smoothies.

• High quality fats are also very essential. Because your entire brain is pretty much made of fat, you need to keep it healthy. Coconut butter, quality milk butter or ghee are very good sources of oil. Since you have also cut down on your carbs you can add more butter so your food tastes even more amazing!

• Good protein is also very important. This is the type of food that will keep you full the longest. I have sometimes eaten a whole chicken and then not been hungry for about 36 hours following that. If you eat more protein like meat, fish, eggs, or beans, you won't be like a yoyo to the refrigerator every two hours.

• You should be able to easily manage going 5 hours between meals and if you are getting hungry after less than 2 hours your body is telling you that your last meal was not very nutritious

• This now becomes a more expensive way of eating, because you are trading cheap food for expensive ones. You trade rice for beans, vegetable oil for ghee, and a plate full of pasta to one full of meat. Since there are no more 'filler' foods, you need to eat more of the expensive 'good stuff'

• Finally, an advanced thing I follow is something called 'Intermittent fasting.' This basically says you eat for 8 hours during the day and fast, or eat nothing, for the remaining 16 hours. This is supposedly good for cellular repair but I do it because I feel great

• Instead of eating throughout the day, I have one mega size meal and one small meal. This is enough for me to last through the day and I am full for the whole day. I love that I don't think about food, I can eat like a king, I spend less, and I lose weight. It may take a while to get used to it but I recommend it. But it is not necessary and girls may not need it at all

• The key is to try everything yourself out. It is not good to blindly follow diets, food research, or the latest fad in cutting weight. It is important to try it out for a few weeks and watch what your results are. The good diet you follow is better than the perfect diet you don't follow

• I have started with a few diets ideas and then tweaked some small things as I learned what my body did and did not like. Some good places to start are the Slow Carb Diet, the Bulletproof Diet, the Paleo Diet, and even the Atkin's Diet. Check out each one, which one sounds most appealing, and try it out

• My personal guideline is also not to be 'that guy.' Some diets advocate eating every 2 hours which can ruin going to the movie theater if the guy next to you starts eating chicken and broccoli and stinking up the place halfway through your chickflick. I try to remain flexible and especially when you are a guest it is good not to reject their food but to eat it, even if it doesn't follow your diet

• Now travelling has played a role in all this diet as it has been a great way to wipe the slate clean. Whenever I travel I usually eat less and generally lose fat and muscle. This can be good depending on what I am doing.

• Travelling for a few months many times cut my weight. Ethiopia is the most drastic example as I lost 15 pounds (7kg) and my travel companion Conner lost 25 pounds (12kg) all in 2 weeks!! It was because eating the local food 3 meals a day was very unpalatable to us so we would rather not eat. After we realized this we started to also eat Western food to stop the unhealthy weight loss

• Japan was also quite difficult for me as they have small portion sizes and they are expensive. I lost about 10 pounds (4kg) in 2 weeks. I felt that most of that weight was muscle and it took me almost 6 months to get it back to something I liked

• So travelling can be good for resetting your system or your habits. Because it forces you to change your habits and your favorite restaurant may not be available, you have to adapt and your body will also. This is of course when you eat like locals and you need to go for enough time, usually at least 10 days

• Finally it can give you perspective on if your daily eating habits are normal or even healthy. It can again give you perspective on the things you want to find out about

What do you think about all this? I want to hear your opinion! Send mail at [email protected]

Aprille Janes of the Bolder Biz Community and Podcast talks about how to make a difference in your business. Aprille is a former corporate business consultant formerly working for companies like Coca-Cola and Minute Maid, something most other business coaches cannot claim. Because of this she is able to better give the outcome of everything that is possible. That is why she focuses on entrepreneurial soloprenenuers who want to better manage their work rather than those trying to double their business every month.

In this episode we talk about a trip to the Yukon in Alaska which changed her life. She was originally in corporate business consulting and after a long overnight drive she realized that she wanted to help people on a personal level. Since she believes that business is personal and it is impossible separate those, she has tried to give people the ability to create that for themselves. From this she has also created a meeting for women that were interested in business networking. She has been quite successful in this and has had many sold out events. We then talk about how to maintain these kinds of events and prevent them from being filled with bad people.

It feels great to have 100 episodes and 1 year of podcasting behind me. Things have gotten even better now that I am hearing more from you. It is finally starting to pay off! :)

Thanks so much for listening and here's to another 400 episodes!

Callum Laing has been called the most networked man in Asia. He is a New Zealander that has started built, bought and sold half a dozen businesses in a range of industries across two continents. He is the owner of Fitness-Buffet a company delivering employee wellness solutions in 11 countries and he is also the CEO of Entrevo Asia, a company that runs 40 week Growth Accelerator programs allowing executives and business owners to become a ‘Key Person of Influence’ in their industry.

In this episode we talk about Callum's move from working in technology in Netherlands during the tech bubble to Asia. He talks about how markets do not like profits and that only during times of large change is it possible to take advantage of massive opportunities. We talk about how when he moved he had to create a new network that was no longer based on convenience and location. He ended up starting some networking events which brought people together. During his meetings he might be personally connected to about 1000 people and tens of thousands went through his networking groups in Asia. He also shares the story of how he was able to make $50k by putting a group together within a few months.

I think that Western society's way of looking at sexuality is wrong. I think it can be extremely damaging and I believe that other parts of the world may have solutions. By suggesting that only gay or not gay exist, it pidgeonholes people into only these two possibilities and limits what might actually be happening in development. I also think that gender reassignment surgery is not a good idea

• First of all I recognize that it is a privilege brought by wealth that you could choose anything except a heterosexual marriage

• Money and technology have made the unimaginable a reality. Transgender people are extremely common in Thailand which would not have been possible a few decades ago

• I am a bit worried about these kinds of surgeries especially the fact that they are irreversible

• Since people don't know what they want even 10 years from now it should not be allowed or at least heavily regulated to allow something that is not reversible

• Being done at a young age is even worse. Imagine a child who is in love with Tennis and wants to get a tennis racket implanted in their hand to improve their game. Should this be allowed? What if the child REALLY loves tennis and has so since they were young?

• I am a scientist and understand the arguments that being gay or wanting to be transgender is genetic and rooted in biology. I don't buy it. I think that the same forces that make somebody love tennis and think about it all the time are the same ones involved in homosexuality

• Just because sex, and sexual organs are involved does not make it any different. It is only our sex averse culture that doesn't want to touch or discuss it because it involves stuff 'down there'

• So if we would not allow that tennis surgery because the possibility of changing your mind is too high, why allow it with something else? We live in an age now where our careers are expected to change every 10 years and we will completely have to reinvent ourselves. The world will change so much so why do we think that we will love the same thing 60 years from now? I think this is a ridiculous idea no matter what the subject is, tennis, becoming a woman, or knowing what you want to do with your life

• I am friends with some transgender people but I still question their motivations. Maybe it is just too different from my reality and I won't be able to understand it.

• My opinion is that homosexuality is too common and that it is an excuse for merely being different, more effeminate, or scared to do anything with women

• The irreversibly of coming out of the closet is also apparent to me. Many voices on the media promote being gay but I have not heard much about the trouble of being stuck one way.

• If you did a big show to 'come out of the closet' is it possible to change your mind a few years later or is it irreversible?

• I have had these questions based on my travels especially in Thailand. I saw this place as one of the most interesting places I had been especially in terms of sexuality. I definitely think that a documentary should be done especially of the ladyboys in Pattaya just because it is so different than anything else. I think there is much to learn there. But the question of permanence of your choice is still troubling to me

• I also have struggled with these questions at a personal level. Although I am in a happy relationship with an awesome girl, I remember a time many years ago when I was struggling to get laid. I had made a semi serious commitment that I would turn to men if that drought would go on longer

• This is why I see the possibility that announcing that you are gay is a way to get rid of responsibility. It prevents you from doing the hard thing of getting with a girl and instead going the easy route. Its like trying to feed a baby versus trying to feed a hungry dog. One takes much less effort to get them fed

• I also think that entering the gay scene could also be a blunt way of saying you reject traditional masculine roles. Being ostracized from a young age could leave you with resentments which could manifest them as joining this community. It may not be completely correct that is why I think there should be more emphasis on the fluidity of sexuality

• Sexuality should be taken as a fluid thing and that it can change over time. Depending on your environment or your social group it can be different.

• I can't think of any other decision that has such a permanent impact. Whether it be a choice in a career, to have children, or to devote your life to a sport, none have such long lasting impacts as declaring your sexuality. This is expected at a time when you are too uncertain to make the small decisions let alone the permanent ones

• Although I like to try new things, and have done some things with guys I have done enough to know I don't want to do everything. I'll let you decide what that means

• So many of the opinions I've shared are either based on myself, people I met, or things I had observed. They are just opinions and theories that can be changed in light of new evidence. My aim is not to judge or criticize, but rather offer an opinion for something I have not heard much about.

• Here is a thought experiment: in a hypothetical world which is completely made up, what if there was some chemical in certain plastics which would change the hormones in a human body and increase their chances of being gay? Would we want to ban this chemical from our plastic supply or would we keep it? Would it be homophobic to neutralize this compound within the body to bring people back to normal or would we keep it the way it is? I am very curious to hear your responses as I don't think it has a correct answer. Please send me your ideas! :)

Special thanks to Heavy Driver for leaving a review on iTunes “if you are a regular traveller or about to take that long awaited trip, this podcast is for you”. Thanks so much Heavy Driver and I hope that there were some takeaways from some of my shows that helped you. If you want a shoutout on the podcast, leave a review on iTunes. This helps more people discover the show and also you will become famous! :P