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

Can you do things last minute? Does it always work out as well? In this episode I talk about why it is important to work ahead of yourself, dig your well before you are thirsty. Just like in a village, it's too late to start digging a well for water when everybody it already thirsty. You need to do this in advance, otherwise you could face the consequences. It is important to not be panicking later on.

I share the story of figuring out what to do for my Master's thesis, a 6 month exploration of a topic which could very well lead to a job and somewhat define your future. Although I arranged things many months in advance, some of my classmates waited until a month or only even weeks beforehand to figure out this large logistical problem.

I also talk about the importance of this in travel. It is great to be spontaneous and it really helps you grow as a person but it can be more expensive. Finally there are some things that you just can't be spontaneous with such as ordering a passport and getting visas for countries.

Chris Yager is the founder and executive director of Where there be Dragons, a education service that takes students around 17-24 years old to the developing world. The business was started after Chris was one of the first students to go to Communist China when it first opened in 1983. There he was able to see the sights that they wanted him to see but found much more value going off the beaten track to learn more about the people and culture.

The company now focuses on this using both local guides as well as Westerners having spent much time in the country to take a small group of students for anywhere from a few days to a few months. The service maintains the original idea of staying off the beaten path and keeps the itinerary open so that spontaneous (the best) moments can happen freely.

Today I am talking about how to make friends while travelling or anywhere. When travelling, things might get a bit lonely even if you are going with a friend. Talking to the same people for even as little as 3 days could become mind-numbing even if you are really good friends!That's why its important to make friends. The most common way is to simply hang out in the lobby of a hostel and wait for someone to talk to you. You can't look too busy and definitely can't have headphones. Also, feel free to talk to anybody at a hostel, they probably want social contact as well. The shared experience of travelling, going to the same places, and being in the same place is enough to start a conversation for a few minutes during which you can find more shared interests. That's why I find making friends while travelling so much easier!

The better way is to make friends through your Couchsurfing or AirBnB guests or hosts. Since these are people you have already chosen or have chosen you, you know you have some common interests. Then, when things again might get boring after some time, you can meet their friends which provides a much easier transition to meet more people! This is definitely a more natural way to meet people and I find it to be less stressful.

These are all great ways to meet friends while travelling or even at home. Events are a great way to meet lots of people, even a girlfriend or a boyfriend. My challenge is that you consistently meet 5-10 new people every week and have at least a 5 minute conversation with them. Once you do that you will find your social network expanding and you will not only make more friends, a significant other, business opportunities, good ideas, and people that can support you through what you are going through. Friends are just good people, remember that! It's not a very high bar to cross.

So go out there and meet some good people!

Chris Broholm from Denmark and has only felt alive and inspired when learning languages. He speaks Danish, English and German proficiently and is learning Esperanto and Russian. He started his 'Actual Fluency' podcast and blog in order to be accountable and to be inspired for the long task of learning new languages. Through this he has been able to talk to amazing guest such as Benny the Irish Polyglot, Steve Kaufmann, and Dave Mansaray.

Listen to this great podcast and learn how he has improved his Russian learning skills over the last year with the new things he has learned. Most importantly, by applying himself in this area he has been able to achieve success in other parts of his life. His schoolwork, family relations and generally his motivations have become better due to his successes in his language learning.

We all have felt unhappy in our lives or been stressed out. In this episode I talk about a method of relieving that stress and being able to see that its really not that bad. Of course we can simply tell ourselves that it is not that bad but sometimes you need more. For this I recommend travelling and going as minimalist as possible. It is only then that you realize that the only things you need in life can be fit into a small backpack. I have travelled many months with only 15lbs (8kg) of stuff, many times gifts for the next person I will meet.

This can truly be a resetting experience and can help you deal with stress down the line. I have gotten over some mental problems by using this, getting back to nature, and realizing what it is that I need.

Jesse Krieger is a bestselling author of the book Lifestyle Entrepreneur which is about living your dreams, igniting your passions and running your business from anywhere in the world. He has had an eclectic career starting out as a musician in Vienna, touring the US with an MTV backed band, starting half million dollar revenue online businesses and finally learning how to be location independent. In this interview we talk about how an eclectic mix of careers and vocations have led to the success he has had. He has been able to be location independent and has been able to travel around Asia, learning languages, exploring, and taking in the culture, all while running his online business and making money to be able to travel. So if you are interested in having more than the typical 2 weeks per year to travel and want to set up a lifestyle where you are able to travel and experience life, then take a listen to this episode!

We all have trouble getting off the couch and doing the things we need to do. Even at the time of this recording I was putting off going to the library to learn German for a few hours.

Since this is a travel podcast I try to focus on travelling and getting out to do a trip. I have met many people who always talk a big talk about wanting to travel but when it comes down to it they come up with excuses. In this episode we talk about some tricks to make sure that you go through with your goals. I find that buying the ticket to your destination is a great way to do it. You won't come up with excuses to not go through with a trip when you have paid $700 for a plane ticket and you will lose it if you don't go through with your plans.

Another way is to tell your friends and family and invest some social capitol into your trip. If you say you are going to do something and then don't go through with it, you might not lose any friends, but it could hurt the way people look at you. But if you consistently go through with your actions, your social standing can improve and your circle of friends might even improve as well. So do this if you are serious with what you want to do

This applies to anything in your life. Whether it be a business project, going to the gym, studying, learning a skill, or anything else that you find yourself putting off, do it right now!

Like seriously, this second

Steve Kaufmann is an incredible polyglot and the founder of LingQ.com. He speaks 10 languages well and has a knowledge of 15 languages. I tested him in Czech and he is reasonably good and I believe that he could hold a conversation as needed. We talk about the secrets to learning a lanugage and how the majority of his language learning accomplishments have been in the last 10 years, he is 69. We discuss the nuances of lanugage and the best ways to learn it. He has his learning program which focuses on listening and comprehension over translation and speaking. His results speak for themself. Listen to this funny and interesting interview with an amazing guy that we can all agree is notable.

Ladan wishes a happy 2015 for all in this spontaneous and quickly made recording while waiting for a bus on the way back from Poland. 2014 was a good year and 2015 should be even better! Better website, more great guests, and hopefully more great things related to the podcast. What's in store for you? What are you hoping for this year? Write at [email protected] to write in your plans for this year!

Chris Way is the founder of the Atinga Project. After a study abroad in Rwanda Chris came back and wanted to do more with the experiences he had in Africa. The tire sandal that was crafted for him was a constant reminder of how different the world was and the life he had there. Because of this, he founded the Atinga project which connects Rwandan artisan crafters with people in the West who want quality, environmentally friendly, supportive, long-lasting footwear that is interesting and unique I had actually done a very similar project for some time and therefore am very interested in this as well. Listen to how developed the project and raised over $13,000 on Kickstarter. We catch him 4 days before leaving for Rwanda to get this incredible project started. Let's wish him luck!