Today marks ten years I’ve been on the road. On July 26, 2006, I said goodbye to my dad, got in my car, and started my year-long journey around the world by heading off on a road trip across the United States. (That trip didn’t actually end until 18 months later.)
When I came home and sat back down in a cubicle again, I knew I was forever changed — office and corporate life was not for me.
My soul burned to be back on the road.
I was now a nomad. Travel was not done with me yet.
So I did what anyone with no money or responsibility would do — I went away again. I traveled to Europe, went back to Thailand, taught English, and started putting time and effort into this website.
The last ten years have been a long, winding road. It has been one happy accident after another: from the people I met who got me excited about traveling, to the Thai classes I took that led to living in Bangkok, to the cubicle that got me to start this website, to becoming a travel writer.
It has been one exciting and unplanned adventure.
But ten years is a long time and, in the last year, I’ve begun to (finally) wind down my nomadic ways. After many false starts, I planted roots in Austin. I no longer plan multi-month trips on the road, and I’m now focusing on the next chapter of my life — part-time traveler, hostel owner, hiker, and early riser (but still international man of mystery).
As one chapter comes to a close and another opens, I want to share my favorite stories from the last ten years on the road:
1. Making friends on the road trip
At the start of my first trip, I was very much a quiet introvert. I didn’t know how to meet people, and I spent a lot of time driving around the country and sightseeing by myself. Traveling wasn’t the social amazingness I thought it would be. I was mostly alone and often bored.
That is, until I entered a hostel in Tucson.
There I met a Brit (also named Matt) in my dorm. We realized we were both going to the Grand Canyon, and so we ended up hiking it together. Back at the hostel, we picked up another Brit named Jonathan, meet some cool people on trip to Sedona, and, in a hostel outside Albuquerque, an Austrian named Vera. Together we drove through New Mexico and Colorado before splitting up in Boulder.
I remember that road trip with great fondness — singing ’90s pop songs, sharing each other’s music collections, the night out where we convinced some college students I was Australian, the giant meals we cooked, and the explorations we had together.
It was this experience that finally helped me become comfortable saying hello to strangers and making friends.
2. Living on Ko Lipe
The month I spent living on the Thai island of Ko Lipe in 2006 is, out of all my travel memories, my favorite. If there’s a heaven for each of us, mine would look like Ko Lipe. While it’s a big tourist destination now, back then it was a sleepy little place with one nice resort, a few bungalows, and limited electricity. Though you could see the island was going to be the next Phi Phi (one massively overdeveloped place), in that moment, it was still paradise.
I went there to meet a friend. On the boat ride over, I bonded with Pat (an older Irish guy) and Paul and Jane (a British couple). I somehow managed to lose my flip-flops even before we got to the island and decided to go barefoot during my stay. “It will only be a couple of days,” I said.
Those couple of days turned into a month.
Pat, Paul, Jane, my friend Olivia, and I met a few other people who never seemed to leave the island too, and we formed a tight-knit group. During the day, we would lounge on the beach, play backgammon, snorkel, or head to one of the other islands in the national park. At night, we would dine on cheap seafood, drink beer, and make up beach games until the lights went out. We spent Christmas together, gave each other gifts, and bonded with the locals, who invited us into their homes and sparked my interest in learning the Thai language.
But, when my visa finally expired and I had to run to Malaysia to get a new one, I had to say goodbye. It was bittersweet, but all good things come to an end sometime. (I did end up running into all of them around Thailand in the months thereafter.)
This experience has remained with me forever and taught me that the best things on the road happen when you least expect them.
3. The Shit Story
While in Barcelona in 2013, I stayed in a hostel where a very drunk roommate decided to take a shit in our dorm room, and in the process of cleaning it up, locked himself out. When I woke up to let him in, I realized what happened (thanks to the shit on my hand), freaked out, yelled, and washed my hands like I’ve never washed them before. Out of thousands of nights in a hostel, it was the grossest thing that has ever happened to me.
Afterwards, I vowed to only stay in dorm rooms if I absolutely had no choice — and definitely not in a hostel with a reputation for partying.
You can read the story here.
4. Living in Amsterdam
In 2006, I visited Amsterdam for the first time. I ended up staying close to three months while playing poker (fun fact: I funded some of my original trip with poker winnings). During my stay, I met some wonderful, hospitable people, but none stick out like Greg.
Greg and I always seemed to be at the casino at the same time, and he kept inviting me to join him for private poker games he ran. When you have a lot of someone else’s money in front of you, you tend to have a suspicious eye when they invite you out later. But the more I learned about him and how people talked to him, the more I realized he was just a good guy and that this was his way of welcoming me to town. Eventually I said yes, and his social group became my social group while I was there. We would eat, drink, and play poker. They taught me Dutch, introduced me to Dutch food, and showed me the sights of Amsterdam.
Sadly, Greg was killed in a robbery a few months after I left Amsterdam, but my experiences with him taught me to be more open and welcoming of strangers and that people aren’t always ill intentioned.
5. La Tomatina
Back in 2010, I went to La Tomatina (a tomato food-fight festival) in Spain. Entering my hostel dorm, I met two Aussies, two Americans, and a guy from Malaysia. We were going to be my roommates for the next week, as the hostel required everyone to stay four nights during the festival.
In that time, we six just hit it off. All of us quickly bonded and spent the next week having the time of our lives, pelting tomatoes at each other, drinking sangria, nursing hangovers with gelato, and being led around by Quincy, our Malay friend with impeccable Spanish.
Deciding the fun shouldn’t end, we kept traveling together to Barcelona. There, I remember one girl joining our crew and mentioning how it was so weird that such a geographically diverse group was so close. “How did you all meet each other?” “We just met last week!” we replied. “Really? I thought you guys had known each other for years!”
In the years since, though we don’t see each other often due to the geographic distance between us, we’ve stayed connected. When we do visit each other, it’s like we’re back in Spain and no time has passed at all.
When you click with people, you click with people. No matter where I go, I carry that time with me.
6. Learning to Scuba Dive in Fiji
On a whim, I decided to fly to Fiji while I was in New Zealand. There, my friend pressured me into scuba diving. “You’ve always wanted to do it. It’s cheap to learn here. Stop being a wimp!”
He was right.
I had no excuse, so I signed up for a certification class. However, I was nervous. “What if I drown? Can you really breathe underwater?” During my first dive, I was hitting that oxygen tank like a stoner hits a bong! I went through the tank in under 30 minutes, when it should normally have lasted close to an hour.
And — though my dive partner kicked my regulator out of my mouth and I almost drowned — learning to scuba dive was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Seeing the ocean from below the surface was earth-shattering. I had never been surrounded by so much natural beauty and diversity. It was definitely one of those “wow!” moments in life.
After that experience, I decided I should be a little bit more adventurous. It’s led me to try rollercoasters more (I hate heights), helicopter rides (seriously, I hate heights), and canyon swings (fuck heights); attempt more adventure sports; and get outdoors more (nature is too wonderful not to).
(P.S. – Watch me scream like a baby in this video on my canyon swing.)
7. Safari in Africa
In 2012, I went on a safari through southern Africa, visiting South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia. I slept under the stars, saw the Milky Way in such detail I thought the sky had been photoshopped, and spied elephants, lions, and countless other animals I had only dreamed of before then. Africa was raw and unbridled, and it rekindled a love of nature that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Like scuba diving, it was just one of those “wow!” moments, when you realize how wonderful life and nature are. Being in Africa was an incredible adventure, and its beauty and the hospitality of its people have stuck with me ever since.
8. Living in Bangkok
In 2007, I moved to Bangkok for a month to learn Thai. I spent most of the first few weeks in my room, alone and playing Warcraft. I was staying in an area where more locals lived, as I wanted to get out of the touristy, backpacker area, but I also felt very disconnected from the city.
However, I had just decided to extend my travels and go to Europe the next year, so, low on funds, I needed more money! I decided to find a job, as I had heard teaching English paid a lot money. At the same time, a friend found out I was staying longer and introduced me to one of his friends in Bangkok, who introduced me to more friends. Suddenly, I found myself living in an apartment with a circle of friends, and having a girlfriend and a life. It wasn’t easy at first, but the longer I stayed, the more I got out of the house and the more of a resident of Bangkok I became.
It was this experience that taught me I could make it anywhere — that I was a capable, independent person who could start a life from scratch.
Because if I could start a life in a place like Bangkok, I could start a life anywhere.
9. Finding family in Ios
In 2009, I flew from Asia to Greece to meet a friend and explore the Greek islands. Upon landing in Ios, we found we had arrived too early in the tourist season and that the island was empty. There were only backpackers looking for work at the bars and restaurants. We got to know a small group of them quite well, and when my friend moved on, I decided to stay. I couldn’t leave my new family just yet.
Our days were spent on the beach, we hosted BBQs for dinner, and our nights were a blur. As my newfound family found jobs at the bars on the island, I wrote and blogged. It was so much fun that when I found out most were returning to Ios the following year, I did too.
Ios, to me, is that wild, carefree summer where you feel the world is your oyster and nothing can stop you and your friends from conquering it.
Though the years have passed, I still stay in touch with many of the people I met in 2009, running into them in NYC, Australia, Hong Kong, Scotland, and various other parts of the world.
10. Patagonia
This year’s trip to Patagonia was one of the defining moments in my travels because it taught me that I am not Superman and can’t juggle it all.
After trying to find a balance between work and travel, I finally cracked. I could not manage both well at once and started to get bad anxiety. It changed how I travel: no longer do I travel and work. If I try to do both at once, one will always suffer. So now, if I’m in a new place, I’m in the new place! The computer is away. I’m there to explore, not work.
It was a hard lesson to learn, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out over longer trips, but with my eye twitch gone and the panic attacks subsiding, I’m in a much better place.
***
I’ve created more memories than I can remember in the last ten years. I often find myself remembering something that has found its way back from the dark recesses of my mind and saying, “Oh yeah, that did happen. Damn. How did I forget something like that?”
It often feels like my mind is running out of room.
I count myself lucky to have been able to experience all I have in the last ten years. Not everyone gets a chance to travel, especially for as long as I have. I’m often amazed at the trajectory my life has taken by simply saying “I quit” one day.
Was it always fated to be this way? Did the universe conspire to make this happen?
Or was it simply chance that brought me to where I am? Was this in me the whole time, and I just had to realize my potential?
As the poem goes, “two roads diverged in the woods” — and it has made all the difference.
I don’t know what that other road was like and, frankly, I don’t care. I never wonder about it. I never think “what if?” The road I’m on is never one straight path upward, but this road I picked in that yellow wood was the best choice I’ve ever made.
C.C. Chapman
BEAUTIFUL post my friend and I’m glad that in the midst of all that traveling our paths crossed more than once.
NomadicMatt
Me too! It’s been too long too!
Kyle B.
Thanks, Matt, the value you’ve found in your travels is truly inspiring.
As cliche as it is, I’ve gone back to that Robert Frost poem and really love it for the message most miss and which makes it more powerful in my mind. Those two roads, “…the passing there / had worn them really about the same,”
That is, you may assign a kind of romantic sense of inevitability to the path you take in life in retrospect, saying that you took the “road less traveled”, while the meaning and value you find along your path is really of your own making, as none of us can tell one path from another at the outset.
Faith
Hello Matt, I became a Nomad much later in life than you and I enjoy reading your articles and this one resonates with me. I have traveled for about 16 years, vacations from work. I was fortunate in that, I could travel for about 3 weeks at a time. Mostly with a friend. In 2013, I sold my condo at the age of 70 and decided to go to Europe for 6 months with plans to find a permanent home when I returned to the States however I continue to travel. Each journey in life is unique. We learn from one another and we connect with people that we would never have thought we would.
I reflect often on my surreal moments and those people I meet along the way. Travel is life changing for sure. This past trip for me I remember sitting along the Riviera and reflecting on I can never go back to who I was before. Thank you for sharing.
Kate
It is so fabulous to read Matt’s adventures and travel stories, but Faith, as an older woman and traveler, I valued your comment so much. I am 64 and thinking that I will probably stop, or at least slow down, as most of my former travel buddies are coupled up. My thought is that if everyone traveled and had massages, there would be no war! How we learn about others is so incredible when we are in their country, their homes and eating their food. Thanks for sharing a glimpse of your story. I would enjoy knowing where you are now.
Sebrin
These are such beautiful memories! I hope to find my own Ko Lipe one day. It feels like there aren’t as many secrets on our small planet… The shit story tho…. Lol
NomadicMatt
It’s a dousy huh!
Ellen Keith
Such a great list, Matt! 🙂 I had a feeling I’d see some of these stories on this list. Looking forward to our paths crossing again.
vanessa reynoso
Nomadic Matt, I have followed your blog for a long time, and am better for it! This is a wonderful post reaffirming your decision to follow your heart, always. I hope that my next 10 years are filled with as much travel as your last 10 years were! Thank you for sharing this and for always inspiring!
Natalie
What a great post, Matt! There were times in my life I should’ve said, “I quit!” I didn’t and yet, I think I will get to a point where I’m more nomadic than now. All my blog reading and fantasy skyscanner searches are starting to run off on my husband (who did a fair bit of traveling before I met him)! Currently working on getting our ducks in a row, as they say!
Katie
I love when you meet those little travel families on the road that you instantly connect with. Sometimes you stay in touch with the people and sometimes you don’t, but either way it was special. I actually met a group of American guys on New Years in the Philippines that I hit it off with and I am dating one of them now! I loved KO Lipe too and didn’t find it too built up at all, I went in November last year and it was very sleepy and so beautiful – definitely nothing like Phi Phi although it could be slowly heading that way
Hayley
Thanks for sharing Matt! I think everyone has got a shit story Of some sort from their travels… It’s another bonding experience. Haha! 🙂
NomadicMatt
That’s for sure!! haha
Taryn
I have been reading your travel stories for a while now. This is my favorite so far. I consider myself an avid traveller – but I studied, started a career and for the past many years I only had the chance to travel once or twice a year during time frames limited by my employment. It wasn’t enough.
I am ecstatic to say that after a lot of hard work I quit my job as a lawyer and my Husband and I are about to embark on a round the world trip starting with a house sit in South Africa. We dont know where else we will go except that we want to end up in Central America at some stage.
It hasn’t always been an easy decision. Sometimes the weight of financial responsibility has made me question my decision. But reading your posts and looking deep down inside – I know we have made the exact right decision for us. Thanks for being an inspiration.
NomadicMatt
You’re welcome! Thanks for the comment!
Ngaire
Great post! Nice mix of laughing moments, eww yuk and can totally relate moments! Congrats on 10 years!
Alyssa
So many great memories you must have. Thanks for sharing. I’ve been traveling on and off since 2011, but I’m ready to do it full-time starting with a one-way flight to Hawaii in 6 days.
Ashley
Such great memories you have. We’re lucky to be able to live vicariously through you, whether it’s the sites you see or the epiphanies you have about your life. You’re an inspiration in every aspect of life. Thanks for sharing, Matt!
Nisha
You are amazing Matt! I think it will be a while before I forget the shit on the hand story, though. 😀
But seriously you inspire people from all ages. I hope I could communicate my thoughts that well someday. I love your writing style.
Amanda
I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while, but I’ve barely commented. So hello! I just felt so inspired by this post that I absolutely had to tell you. These connections and adventures that you describe just filled my heart to the brim and I have GOT to get out there and travel more! I’m in between jobs right now, and I keep saying now is the perfect time. Just trying to fight off the fear. 😉
NomadicMatt
Thank you for the lovely compliment! 🙂
Amy Pelham
Wow these experiences are truly one of a kind. I love having those Ah-ha! moments when everything clicks and all you can think is “This is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Love the post!
Roselle
what a nice read … very inspiring to pursue my heart’s desire to go out there and see what the world has to offer… thanks
Janet
Great post! Agree about the scuba diving, it’s life changing. And those memories that come flooding back? As you grow older that only gets worse…you’ll be glad you chronicled them like you have. As I approach 50 I wish I could have documented adventures then like we are able to now. Here’s to your next 10 years!
Sumil
Like its said you can sum up the journey looking back…Matt you are an inspiration to a whole generation of travel bloggers !
Nicole
have been reading your blog for years, and have had some similar experiences. this post was such a nostalgic treat. thank you for sharing it.
Kevin Casey
I just got back from a jaunt to the Algarve coast of Portugal, Matt, which was absolutely amazing. Now you’ve gone and made me realize I’ve got to get myself to the Greek Islands next! Which time of year were you on Ios?
Daniel
I bet the good old memories kept flooding back while you were writing this post. One of the more inspirational post from you Matt ! Wishing you the best for the upcoming 10 years 🙂
Amanda
Your blog is great Matt! Currently planning a EUROTRIP and your suggestions are really helpful along with your entertaining stories. Keep posting and traveling!
Marry
These are such lovely recollections! I want to locate my own particular Ko Lipe one day. It feels like there aren’t the same number of insider facts on our little planet…
Stephen
Beautiful, true story ideal to write a book. I suggest a title: Nomad’ecade :).
All the best!
Cory
Such good story. Really well written as well. It’s funny as I’ve been reading your blog for a long time and it’s amazing to see how you’ve changed your writing style throughout the years. I love where you started and how far you got. Ten years of beautiful memories and incredible experiences. To many more, Matt!
Yannis
If only each and every person on earth could get at least a few of those experiences in their lives!
The world would be a much better and happier place!
🙂
Cody Jay
Awesome post! Brings back so many good memories from my own experiences.
As your post highlights, it’s mostly the memories with people that you remember best.
Keep up the journey!
NomadicMatt
Thanks again everyone for the kind wishes! 🙂
Suzanne
Wow! Love your experiences.
Justin
It sounds a lot like touring musicians. Once they’re taking a break and off the road they get stir crazy and can’t wait to get back out. That really sucks about Greg man.
Anuradha
Lot of people save money for years and travel, with as less risks as possible. Being a total nomad must have been so scary for you in the beginning. I can’t even imagine. But I’m also happy you gottu have these many memories.
Good luck with your future endeavors, Matt. Cheers 🙂
Eva-Marjan Lamot
Wow, this is such an honest and interesting article. I always thought that these professional travel bloggers like you never had fears for anything, that they never get into trouble while traveling and they have an overload of self-confidence! It teaches me that you don’t have to be superman to do what you love ? what a great inspiration! I wish you a lot of luck in that new chapter in your life!
Jellis Vaes
Love this post matt and it’s shows so perfectly how memorable traveling is and how much it can teach you just about yourself. Also cool to see scuba diving being on this list. If I would make one myself diving would be on there as well. It always blows my mind thinking how funny it is that I am able to breath 18-30 meters under water. We truly have a magical world here with some incredible people on this planet of ours and traveling shows this pretty darn well. Thanks for sharing this Matt and wishing you the best in life.
Laura
I just came across your blog and it made me think we have lived parallel lives. I left to travel the world in 2005 and started making changes to spend more time back in the States in late 2014. I have not finished traveling and could not imagine a different life then the one I have had, but sometimes its good to a bit more of a true base to return to. It is possible we have already crossed paths but if not possibly one day to come who knows where. Best of luck in your next chapter!
Scott
Extremely Inspirational, I have been following you for some time now and honestly you have the life right now that I want to have in 10 years. I had my world travel experience that opened my life to how amazing the world can be after I graduated from college picked up a backpack and flew off to NZ for 4 months. I ended up extending my stay and hit Aus returning to the States in June for a corporate job I was so proud I secured before I left. It’s been 6 months since I started, and to put it creatively; I can literally feel my soul and passion rotting away inside me. Thank you for writing such inspirational articles, that hopefully motivate enough to pursue the life of my dreams.
TEL
Dear NomadicMatt,
We are not that far on the nomadic journey you took, but after living 5 years abroad and than spending few months in Asia, we moved back home, found a corporate jobs and than felt exactly like you. So we did the same thing you did. We quit the jobs after three months, created a travel blog and now we are waiting what the life will bring to us. You never know, but we are sure that if we would stay in our boring jobs, buying expensive stupid things, the life would slip through our fingers and we don’t want to waste the opportunity to see our amazing world. Thank you for your great articles and inspiration! 🙂 Good luck!