Traveller Profile - Nomad Matt

This month we start off with our very first traveller profile. Each month an enthusiastic traveller will share with us their personal stories from their adventures around the world. If you would like to be featured in the upcoming months then please contact us.

Introducing our first traveller…. Nomad Matt is an avid traveller from Sydney, Australia who has also been fortunate to live in Scotland, France and Colombia while studying and working. He has travelled to 50 countries and is soon on his way to Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe. You can find Matt on Instagram at Nomad_Matt. Matt shares with us his advice and what he has gained from travelling.

1. Why do you travel?

For many reasons: as an escape from routine and everyday life, to learn about different places, people and cultures, to re-energise, to better appreciate the things and opportunities I have and to make friends.

2. Tell us your favourite: a place to visit, mode of transport and source to get travel info.

Favourite place to visit is Forster/Tuncurry on the NSW mid-north coast. It has stunning beaches, dolphins everywhere, a relaxing vibe and I have many happy memories with family and friends.

Favourite mode of transport is by train. It's convenient, cheap, quick, comfortable and you still get all the great views without the stress of driving or the confines of a bus.

Favourite place to get travel info is from other travellers and blogs like this one - first-hand stories and recommendations from real travellers who have no agenda other than to share.

3. What is your favourite travel memory?

​Thankfully and gratefully, there's many to choose from. One of the most memorable is taking the train from Yangon to Bagan in Myanmar. It was an overnight train with four of us in a carriage through really remote areas and in a country that was new to tourism. It was also during water festival celebrations for New Year so locals would stand by the tracks and throw buckets of water through the windows which soaked everything and everyone but I managed to keep pretty dry. I remember going to sleep as the train rocked pretty violently with the sun setting over the desert and then waking up and being in this amazing place where thousands of temples stood for hundreds of years. And being able to share the experience with some of the most important people in my life made it that much more memorable.

4. What's the most important thing you've learned while travelling?

To be mindful and appreciative of what I have and what others have or often don't have.

5. Who would you love to sit next to on your next flight?

My dad, I would have loved to go on an overseas trip with him.

6. What's your best money-saving tip to travel?

I don't know whether this is smart or good advice but whenever I get paid, I first put aside whatever I need to make the next trip happen and then whatever I'm left with I make work until the next pay.

7. How do you deal with the post-holiday blues?

Definitely planning the next trip, I'm often planning two or three trips ahead. Also, making an effort to maintain the new friendships and connections I've made during the trip.

8. What's one thing you like to do in every place you visit?

I love doing ritualistic type things in different places and seeing how similar or different they are. I love to go to the cinema, go to a public swimming pool and go to a place of worship.

9. Travelling can leave a big environmental footprint, how do you minimise yours?

When booking flights, you're often giving the chance to offset the environmental impact of your flight by making a small donation which I do whenever the option is there. If not, there are carbon footprint calculators which will tell you what your footprint is and how you can offset it. And then just doing common sense things like taking public transport where possible and avoiding single-use items.

10. Plan an around the world trip for us, stopping in one city only on each continent.

I've done this a thousand times in my head and I'll choose places I haven't yet been to.

Lord Howe Island, Australia (Australia) for the scenery and beaches
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Asia) for the architecture and history
Kigali, Rwanda (Africa) for the culture
Belgrade, Serbia (Europe) for the nightlife
Miami, USA (North America) for the beaches and nightlife
Barranquilla, Colombia (South America) for the festivals
Antartica for the wildlife

Thanks Matt for your thoughtful and inspiring answers. Such great stories, advice and motivation. Would you like to be our featured traveller next month? Drop us a note below…

If you would like to read other traveller profiles we have featured, click here.