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

I met Tetsu last year at the Polyglot conference in Iceland and I loved his talk about how he was able to teach his children 5 languages. Through a combination fo OPOL (One Person One Language), living in foreign countries, and having au pairs (live in nannies) in the target language the children were able to effortlessly learn all those languages.

In this episode, we talk about his Pampers to Polyglots Facebook page and his book which helps supports parents or parents to be to have the most multilingual children ever!

I talked to Tofe about his dip into depression and mental health issues. Then one day he decided to run a marathon and then within about 6 months of doing these kinds of events he had pulled himself out of depression.

We talk about how travel and doing races are actually very similar things, they both help you get out of the environment causing the depression. Both of us had the experience of getting better after about 6 months of moving our ass!

So whatever you do, if you feel the pull of depression or mental health issues the first thing you should do is get out of the environment that is causing it. Whether it is running a marathon, going out to travel, or anything else you might want to do - move your ass!

So if you like what he talks about then check out his book "Everyone has a plan until Sh!t hits the fan"

I talk to the founder of Bolt Collective, Dan Pierson, about how their community is redefining group travel. Using collective purchasing power, they're making other inaccessbile trips like boat charters, National Park treasure hunts, and private island takeovers happen. They do about a dozen trips all around the world per year, focused on giving you the freedom to explore on your own, with just the right amount of structure from a group. It's a curated group that's designed to attract curious, adventurous, adaptable, really nice people.

Since I last gave updates on things in my life it has been about 6 months (since I recorded the episode, not since I published it).

Lots has happened!

I have now gotten a job and moved to Gainesville, Florida. It is a cool project designing injectable brain implants and I am very happy. It was almost 2 years since I finished my Masters in Germany and it has been a hell of a time finding a job I would be happy in. I am already thinking that I could spend a few years here even though I was skeptical at first.

I had broken up with my girlfriend and that has weighed heavily on my heart. I had never been so heartbroken and am hoping that we will get back together someday. I think it may have been for the best because this way we can both follow our dreams before getting back together.

Otherwise it is a big transition going from being on the move all the time and living out of one backpack to settling down. I can now get 10 backpacks worth of stuff!!

Travel Wisdom friend Andrew Miles of Botanical Biohacking talks about how to keep healthy while travelling. Especially long flights can be quite harmful to your sleep, your gut microbiome, and ultimately your health. He infuses some Eastern wisdom explained in a Western way so that you don't become more unhealthy after travelling.

The key is to train your body and eat as little as possible before travelling. Then when you arrive you need to get on the same eating schedule (breakfast, lunch, dinner) as the local population as soon as possible. He also notes that there are more important things than health including maintaining strong social contacts.

I only had 2 hours to meet Graham while I was passing through London "ok, let's meet at a Chinese all you can eat buffet." We met and in between bites we talked about what Graham was working on, Orchestra of Samples. He and his music partner have travelled to over 30 countries and sampled over 200 musicians over the last few years to be able to put together some really interesting music. These people never met and may have even recorded on other sides of the planet a few years apart.

It's really cool stuff and I think if you are listening to this you should think about cool projects like this that you could take a part in!

Andrew Miles of Botanical Biohacking is a friend of the show and he is back to talk about language learning. He has learned Chinese and Szechuanese to a very high level over the many years of his travel there.

This is Travel Wisdom so it wouldn't be complete without a language episode! In this episode, Andrew gives some funny advice on how to make friends that think you speak fluently, which is better than actually speaking fluently!! Tips include speaking with lower class people due to their smaller vocabulary, learning colors early, and having a few really funny colloquial expressions to sprinkle in now and then.

Have you ever gone outside of your country only to return a few years later? Did some things that you used to do or see no longer seem normal to you?

This was my experience coming back to the US after 3 years. Everything felt so big and commercialized. It was really strange! There were many things that I didn't like and would ideally get rid of in the US. It is interesting because I had the exact opposite response a few years earlier. I wanted desperately to go back to the US (to eat Mexican food) after about a year of being away. But now when I came back I realized I like Europe better.

Have you had experiences like this? Write me at [email protected]

Andrew is on the show again because I loved what he talked about last time! I have listened to every episode of his Botanical Biohacking podcast because he has an ability to explain Eastern medicine with Western vocabulary.

Maybe you heard things like Chi from Tai Chi which means gas or energy which flows through the body. Turns out, there's something called gasotransmitters which send signals throughout the body. They just didn't have the Latin vocabulary for it!

Andrew talks about many philosophies behind his book EnlightenWeight, a book I absolutely loved! We talk about bringing your body back into balance based on the environment you are living in as well as the role of gasotransmitters in the body.

I really liked this episode which is the first in a series of 3 shows with different topics.

2017 was a very interesting year for me! After coming back from being deported to Russia in late 2016 I ended up moving in with an awesome girl. Actually, I only stayed with her half of the time to make sure that I wouldn't have visa problems. So I did odd jobs around Europe and bounced around to prevent border control from getting mad at me!

So during 2017 I lived in England, worked in France, Ukraine and Slovakia, and travelled to Norway, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Iceland, visiting family in the US before going to India! So many places but many were out of necessity!

Anyways, 2018 will probably have more nomadic times because my girlfriend had quit her job in late 2017 to follow her dream of travelling for 6 months in South Asia. I, of course, would accompany her since I had already been there. After that we might do a documentary in the US before settling there and working in a lab.

I hope the travel wisdom will continue and I will always be ready with a backpack in hand with many more interesting people to talk to!

Note, this episode was recorded in November, almost 3 months ago, but I think it is still pretty valid.