What I Do When I Don’t Travel

Years ago, I wrote a post about things I like to do beyond just travel. In fact, this post is an updated post from years ago. Why? Because what I do when I don’t travel changes a lot because we change as people. So my interests from years ago are different than my interests now. (I mean I am Gemini.)

While I drop hints here and there about the “non-Nomadic Matt” me (especially on social media so follow me there), today, I thought I’d share some more about me and my non-travel interests.

Here’s why I’m up too when I’m not on the road:

1. I love movies. I probably watch two or three a week, either in the theater or at home on Netflix.

2. When I’m on a plane, I only watch bad movies — the cheesy Hollywood movies I’d never spend money to see. They’re terrible but they are the kind of mindless entertainment I want while I’m relaxing over an ocean. It’s my way to turn my brain off for a bit.

3. I consume an unhealthy amount of news, especially as it pertains to politics. Not just US politics — I follow the political situation in a lot of countries. While it impresses locals that I can name their prime minister and discuss recent changes to farm bills, it’s not healthy reading so much news. I’ve had to delete news apps from my phone so I would stop thinking the sky was always falling.

But I love it and I’m addicted. My Twitter feed is either travelers or political journalists.

4. An Old Fashioned is the way to my heart. It is hands down my favorite drink.

5. My favorite liquor? Scotch, specifically peaty Scotch from Islay. (My favorite brand is Ardbeg.)

6. I am terrible at sports. I can’t play any, and I barely know how they work. Don’t ask me about players either. I couldn’t name one on any major sports team. (Though I do enjoy a good soccer match!)

7. That said, I just really got into pickleball because I’m basic like that. I play weekly with a friend of mine and am looking to join a league here in Austin.

8. I love to swing dance, though I don’t do it as often as I’d like. I learned how when I threw a Gatsby-themed birthday party for myself a few years ago and have been hooked ever since. There’s not a lot of swing dancing in Austin but, now that COVID and my summer travels are over, I am going to try to take lessons again.

9. I love Taylor Swift. Her cheesy songs are awesome, her show production is out of this world, and I think she’s a marketing genius. (And your “Really? Come on, Matt!” will do nothing to change that. I see ya over there!)

10. When I write, I listen to one song on repeat over and over again. Doing so helps me focus better. The song helps me tune out the world, and then, when I’m bored with the song, I tune it out and focus on what is in front of me: my writing. I’m way more productive this way!

11. I don’t have any plants because they all die. I could say it’s because I travel so much but when I was a college graduate, I bought a ton of bonsai trees and even those died.

12. I want to learn how to shoot a gun. Not because I’m some gun nut — I strongly dislike them, want really strict gun control, and am a regular donor to Everytown for Gun Safety — but because I am one of those crazy “preppers.”

I think the world is pretty much f*cked, and I’d like to know how to shoot a gun to (a) protect myself in case civilization ends and (b) hunt (another thing I want to learn how to do) for food when that happens or (c) the zombies come.

Having a Plan B never hurt anyone, right?

To that end, I’d also like to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. I think that would be really fun — and useful.

13. I spend an hour a day reading. I’m a big fan of biographies and travel, history, and business books. I think reading and educating yourself is one of the most important things you can do in your life, and I cannot understand people who don’t read books. In your typical year, I’ll read around 70 books.

14. I’m a morning person. I tend to wake up around 7am and do my best work before lunchtime. On a good day, I’ll get up at 6am.

15. I don’t drink coffee. I do drink a lot of tea, my favorite being anything in the green tea family, though I have a special love for jasmine and sencha. I would really love to take a tea class and learn more about it.

16. I’ve gotten way more into the gym and cooking in the last year and consider myself a really good cook. I try to go to the gym five times a week (every other day) and cook most of my meals. Going to the gym often has a positive habit knock on effect: once you start going to the gym, you end up eating better and drinking less because you don’t want to ruin your workouts. I’ve gotten into a lot better shape the last few months.

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So there you have it! Some more interesting facts about me. Well, things I think are interesting at least.