Iceland Inspires Matt Wilson's Startup Idea

Speaker 1

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is now, but there was not in: 2012

Speaker 2

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as been a digital nomad since: 2010

Speaker 1

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Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 2

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Yeah, of course it's great. It's great to have you on. Thanks for taking the time. I'm excited to chat today. I usually, uh, I usually open by asking, where are you? Where are you calling in from? So

Speaker 1

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I am calling in from upstate New York right now. Uh, it's summertime. And so, uh, came up from Puerto Rico, where I live, uh, to visit my mom.

Speaker 2

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Oh, awesome. Yeah. That was going to be my next question. Are you home? So, um, you're visiting, so you're visiting your mom in New York, and home is Puerto Rico. Um. That's awesome. How, um, how long have you been living in Puerto Rico?

Speaker 1

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Uh, just over two years. Yeah, we really enjoy it down there. I live with my wife, and now my little daughter. And, uh. Yeah, it's been an amazing experience. It's been a a new

Speaker 2

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adventure. It's a beautiful place. Um, I, you know, did a little did a little background, and I know you've you've moved around, um, you moved around quite a bit. Lived in a bunch of places. Um, it's two years. A short amount of time. Long amount of time. You guys already? I and your next spot, are you kind of hunkered down now with your daughter?

Speaker 1

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, pesky pandemic. But between: 2012

Speaker 2

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Rico completely

Speaker 1

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confused all the time. So we'll be talking about, oh yeah, we got to go to San Jose today. And we're like, no, we live in Puerto Rico. Or we'll we'll say Costa Rica when we're talking about Puerto Rico. And it's yeah, it's uh, it's hard to keep straight, but, um, yeah. So we're we're we're settled. We we really enjoy it down there. And, uh, it's, I would call it Costa Rica Light. So we lived 2.5 hours from the capital city in Costa Rica. Yeah. And, uh, you know, we lived in a remote little fishing village, basically little jungle town. We lived. We literally lived in the jungle. We had monkeys on our back porch. And, um, it was incredible. But, uh, as far as schools and receiving mail and, uh, you know, creature comforts like Amazon or, you know, a full service grocery store. Supermarket. Yeah. There wasn't a lot of that kind of stuff. So, um, it's it's weird how life changes, but, um, you know, Puerto Rico has has a lot of the creature comforts that, uh, I didn't think I needed, but, you know, it was really. It was kind of a temporary stop. And then we're like, oh, we really liked this and appreciate, um, that, you know, for better or worse, it is part of the United States. And that does come with it. It's it's advantages, but still feels foreign to us. I still get to practice Spanish. My daughter gets to grow up speaking Spanish, which was really important to us because my wife is is from South America. And so, um, you know, it's important for her. She has a big family in Chile, and I have a small family in the state. So, yeah, the language is really important. Yeah. Ton tons of advantages of being down there and, uh, yeah, it's just more laid back and, you know, all the things you would think about Puerto Rico. Yeah. Of course. Also it feels like a really nice in-between to what you're describing. Right. Like a little bit of the US creature comforts. Um, but still that for an especially more Latin vibe obviously. Which is awesome. Um, yeah. Envious. I love both those places. I've been to Costa Rica a few times now, Micah a few times now, and Puerto Rico as well, and I completely understand the getting mixed up of the capital cities. I have done that. I've done that many times. Um, uh, I

Speaker 2

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up there with my backpack in: 2012

Speaker 1

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Uh, just being in a foreign country, just arriving in Bangkok, like, all of a sudden, like, where am I right now? And, uh, the people that you experience with that with you get really close to them. And so, uh, yeah, that's that's basically what we do. And. Geez. Yeah. Like I said, maybe 30 different countries at this point. And good news, uh, because now I've officially aged out of under 30 experiences. Our community decided, they decided for us that we were going to start over 30 experiences for people in their 30s and 40s. So we'll see what happens in another 10 or 15 years when people still want to travel with us, because we literally have people who have been traveling with us for ten plus years. And yeah, it's it's pretty amazing. The community that we've built that is amazing. I also say, because I've been checking out your socials, I love the messaging. Um, what I wrote down help people live adventurous lives. Uh, which is which is awesome. There's, uh, through chatting with people on the podcast, you know, you just start to realize how many different ways there are to travel if you really want to, um, you know, whether that's solo traveling or in couples on a budget or, you know, boutique bougie and, uh, been finding more of these experiences, like yourself, um, that you've built with communities that's more adventurous for certain age groups. I've got friends that have done similar trips, which is and they sound super fun. So, um, I guess just tipping my hat to you here. Um, for, for creating such a great experience, it's a great way for people to get in touch.

Speaker 2

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And I have noticed to you just posted or maybe posted recently, the Millennial Travel Guide book or travel book. That's correct. Yes. What? You know I I'm, I'm aged out I think of your of your experiences as well. But you know what I, I was thinking about this with the the message there is pretty clear. Do you. Have you found that millennials are just craving this after, you know, a decade plus of working in offices or wherever they're working? Is that is that kind of what you found and you've seen as sort of a driving point to helping them get out of that daily grind?

Speaker 1

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Absolutely like half of the people that come on our trips live in a random city across the US or Canada for work, and it's really hard to meet people once you're past school age. So to really build friends, build friendships, and people are busy at this age, I get it right. Even millennials are starting to to age. I'm on the older end of millennials. But you know, now we're really seeing a lot of Gen Z come into our community. And that's a whole different story because they were craving this stuff, I don't know, out of the womb. I think they were built different than the millennials. But yeah, after just grinding and then we had that pandemic. So a lot of people are still revenge traveling, trying to get past, uh, all, of, all of that time. Yeah. Being locked up. Right. And so many of our friends are. Looking to get married or are married or are having kids and that kind of thing. And so for the people who aren't, aren't engaged in that thing, or it's just not the time yet, or even if they are and they need a break. That's yeah, it's been super valuable for people to say, wow, okay, I need to just hit a pause on my life and go somewhere. But I don't necessarily want to be completely alone. So you can solo travel, but you're not in the middle of nowhere with no communication. You can have these reflective experiences with other people who you can actually. Uh, yeah. Connect with.

Speaker 2

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Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. And yeah. And it's I mean, I've solo traveled and, you know, you always have those nights where even though you want a solo travel, you're like, oh, I need to go meet people or want to, I feel, I feel like I want to be social. And it's hard, right? Like, um, figuring that all out while you're alone. So it's really, uh, quite nice to be with friends or better yet, with folks that you've, you've just met, but you're sort of in a group together. So, uh, really appreciate that, that that model. Um, yeah, I've been very I've just been curious about this. So thanks for sharing. But, um, you know, the goal of the podcast is to hear about one of your travel experiences. And I know you've got a story in mind keyed up for us. So I'm just going to I'm going to transition to that now. But thank you for sharing. Um, with that, you want to give us a little bit of background about the the travel story you're going to share. You know, like, what year was it? Where where are we going and why are we going there?

Speaker 1

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Absolutely. So it all come full circle. You you'll see in, uh, in a bit here, Andrew. But I was. My early to mid 20s, and I was living in New York City with another guy in this little tiny apartment that we were splitting, and we had a fake wall built. You know that in New York they have these real estate is so expensive that they have these companies that will come in and literally put you, uh, put in a fake wall. It's like they pump air into it anyway. You can hear everything. The person you know, your, your roommate is doing and, um, just crammed in a tight space with a lot of people. And I found myself going to the same bar. Whiskey shout out to Whiskey Tavern. Good people. But, uh, you know, I'm, uh, really glad that I'm not there all the time anymore. Or, honestly, I haven't, uh, haven't been back, although I'd love to stop in. It was just kind of the same old grind as we were discussing. I was working in the startup tech scene, and, uh, my business partner and I, Jared O'Toole, had a website for entrepreneurs called under 30 CEOs. And so we had a media site. We offered, uh, advice, different articles for young people trying to start businesses. We followed a lot of the news and the trends. And this was, you know, pre AI. This was like at the birth of social media, right. So yeah, um, this was beginning of web 2.0. And so we were all about it. But it was again it was a grind. And we were working long days for not a lot of money to

Speaker 2

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Icelandic rescue team. And in: 2010

Speaker 1

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went skiing office in this backcountry, um, out this backcountry glacier where I was literally dropping into this bowl all by, all by myself. He would pick me up in the snowmobile at the bottom, bring me back up the mountain. Um, it was just incredible. And so we went on. Yeah. Go

Speaker 2

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ahead. So a question just to so clarify a couple of things. Um, because this, uh, it's just funny how it's coming together. So at the time you guys were writing what I guess you like on your website, was it more like a blog? But were you doing journalistic type work for that?

Speaker 1

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Yes and no. This was a bit outside of our wheelhouse. Yeah. This particular project was outside of our wheelhouse. However, we were publishing news. We were covering, uh, businesses that were doing social good as well. We were really kind of at the forefront of this is time when things like Tom's shoes, uh, was just getting started and, um, you know, these type of things were becoming quite popular. And so, yeah, we were covering things, but this was like little outside of our wheelhouse. However, we thought, you know what? Like, this sounds too cool to not accept. And, you know, we're gonna do our very best. I did forget one random part of this story. Uh oh. Okay. That actually, that comes later. I saw piecing together in my mind. Um, but later, I'll give the spoiler. Later, we came back, uh, for a startup Conference, which is kind of how we. That's a little teaser for later on in the story.

Speaker 2

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And the first time I went in: 2012

Speaker 1

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this area of Iceland to get a little bit warmer. But, you know, at that time they were starting projects. This is, uh, aside from Siggy, but they had cameras pointed at the glaciers so that people could actually see and. Yeah. And see firsthand, um, how the glaciers were melting and so. Well, we know how that's played out in the last 10 or 15

Speaker 2

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years. Yeah, yeah, I was recently in Alaska. Um, and they've done similar. Similar stuff. It's it's crazy to look at the old photos, uh, and see the difference. Uh, yeah. So you arrive and meet Ziggy. Um, yeah. Was, uh, tell me about Ziggy. It was from their perspective. Were they just like. Okay, awesome. Like, they're going to talk about my business. I'm going to take you around and show you a show. You an amazing time. Was it more like an adventure travel type business? Like, come and we'll do experiences around Iceland.

Speaker 1

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That's right. So he was basically comping me a trip to come and see what he does. Uh, obviously we were going to cover what he does, but. Frame the social good aspect of that. On how like if these glaciers melt is not going to have a business type of thing. And yeah, so raise awareness. Um, and also, yeah, he was going to get a bunch of coverage out of it. And um, but Sigi and I hit it off right away. He's like this, uh, Viking dude with a beard and, uh, just a really fun, playful guy. He spends a lot of his time way deep in the backcountry. He has an entrepreneurial mind, and so his brain is always going. But he's not the traditional type that likes to sit in front of the computer all day. He needs to really disconnect. And, uh, like, his business partners will say, oh yeah. Siggi goes to his mountain house, as he calls it, and he comes back with just amazing ideas. And so he and I to kind of have that together, along with the film crew that was capturing a lot of the content for this. Yeah, it was uh, it was a pretty cool experience. So we just went and had a ball all over this country. And of course we're going to these places to capture, uh, good content. And this was before, you know, everyone on the anybody on the internet could be a travel blogger, like it was, um, you know, we had real cameras and real crew with us, and, uh, so yeah, it was it sinking. I instantly kicked it off. And we still work, uh, with Sydney's company. Sydney's not even a part of it anymore. He's gone off to do his own thing. But yeah, we still work with Sydney's company over there.

Speaker 2

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That's cool. That's that's amazing. So, um. Yeah. You're there. Ziggy's taking you around, as you said. Like backcountry skiing. Uh, what else did you get up to? Or I guess, you know what? What was sort of the highlight, if you will, of, uh, of the experience?

Speaker 1

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Right. Which is especially in: 2012

Speaker 2

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go for it.

Speaker 1

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So. Yeah. So Siggi has this, uh, super jeep, and I've never heard of Super Jeep anywhere. And, uh, the brand of these trucks are not even Jeep. But, um, this was this truck. I believe it was named George. And it was like a Ford excursion on huge tires. I mean, it's not a monster truck, but big, big off road vehicle. Yeah, that is capable of going. You know, it's got a snorkel on it. It goes through the rivers. I mean, he was showing us how when you cross a river, uh, of. Please don't try this at home unless you know what you're doing and you know the depth of the river. These are professional guides, you know, professional drivers. But if you're going to cross a river, you don't take it. You have to go down it at an angle. And, uh, your wheels. These trucks are designed to do this again. Don't take your, uh, you know, take the

Speaker 2

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rate. And if you remember, in: 2007

Speaker 1

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is now, but there was not. In: 2012

Speaker 2

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people. So people started calling us a

Speaker 1

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little, uh, calling, emailing. However, they got in touch with us at that time and asking like, do you have to be under 30? Do you have to be a business owner? Do you have to be a CEO? Right? I want to go to Iceland. I'm like. Now we really know. You don't need to. We can just all go and have fun. And a lot of the feedback actually, that we got from that trip was we didn't need any workshops or really even to go to the conference, although that was fun. Um, let's just go to Iceland and have a good time. And so yeah, that's what we started doing and it started to morph from there. And, uh, you know, there's a it's been really Andrew. It's been a, uh, ten plus year trip. Uh, you know, journey, if you will. But, um, you know, I'll I'll pause there.

Speaker 2

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Um, sounds like a nice, nice escape from your apartment in New York City, that's for sure. So basically, you you hatched what was under 30 experiences. Um, the idea for it on top of a volcano in Iceland. Um, and I. Yeah, it's very interesting how you painted the whole picture around what was happening in Iceland in the macro economy, like how this all fit together. So, um, yeah, I mean, super interesting and it all makes sense with the times and kind of cool that, that that's how it all came together was through through a trip basically.

Speaker 1

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Thank you, thank you. Yeah. I hadn't thought of a lot of these details in a long time, to be honest. And, uh. So, yeah, that was fun to to tell that part of the story.

Speaker 2

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Um, I'm now I'm curious too. So, um, you know, it's really cool the impact this trip had, you know, on on your life going forward from then. Um, how did the actual documentary, um, if you will come together, how did it all. How did. Yeah. How did it all look?

Speaker 1

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So honestly, the finished product of that was nothing to write home about. Nothing against like, the filmmakers or anything, but something larger spun out of this and, you know, being under 30 experiences and this, uh, ten plus year collaboration between, uh, you know, Ziggy's company and under 30 experiences, like, they still take us up on the glaciers and then there are super jeeps to this day, uh, you know, Northern Lights season is coming up, and they'll still be by our side. And so the content that we shot at the time was good and was definitely used, but now it's kind of interesting, the same experience that I had and the kind of epiphanies and awakenings that I had about climate change that people can go and see for themselves through under 30 experiences. And we've taken hundreds, if not thousands of people to Iceland. Now, at this point, um, definitely in the hundreds. I would have to. Yeah, I would have to do that math. But yeah, probably well over a thousand people, um, have gone to Iceland through our company and seen it exactly how it is. And, um, so that firsthand experience, I think is, is even more powerful than anything that we could have. You know, this video didn't end up going viral, right? Like, uh, of course we we tried and we wanted it to, but I think something more impactful spun out of it. So it was really interesting how, uh, you know, the twists and turns of what you set out to do and plan, uh, as any good trip, right? Yeah. Might go a little bit differently, but, um, it ended up being something, uh, yeah. Even cooler.

Speaker 2

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Yeah. I've been getting, uh, hearing lots of great stories over the past little while around, uh, folks going on trips that and then being kind of turning points. I don't know whether that's just getting outside of the or not even comfort zone, but sort of habitual life or how life is going and being able to to brainstorm a little bit, kind of like Ziggy's, uh, mountain house, you know.

Speaker 1

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Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Right in the center of Iceland. I mean, there is nothing around this place. It's pretty

Speaker 2

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incredible. Yeah, well, that's another thing. Iceland itself is so beautiful. A very different landscape than anything you'll experience anywhere else. So, um, you know, great place to sort of think about things, if you will. Um, what's, uh. So I imagine you you got back after your trip to New York and then put these sort of, sort of putting these plans into motion. Um, so thanks for sharing that amazing story. What's on the horizon? So back to the present. What's on the horizon for you, uh, today. So. Wow. So it's hard to kind of fast forward through 12 years of this, but all of a sudden we're back to the present. And, um, I mean, we have a new trip to Vietnam rolling out. I just got back from Cuba, uh, personally scouting out our trip. And, um, yeah, that's going to be a really amazing experience. Of course, to support the Cuban people as best we can. I mean, the impact that tourism, uh, and we really can't call it tourism through the US government, um, or due to sanctions. Right. But the impact that people can have directly to the people by going to Cuba and, uh, doing the right things and again, supporting the Cuban people and these small time business owners is it's really pretty impressive. Um, I'm personally, I'm trying to get to El Salvador, a country that's completely turned around in the last several years and is really an emerging hotspot right now. Uh, for tourism. Yes, I can call it that. Uh, it's actually, I think it's the only one of the only countries in the region that has a level one travel warning from the US State Department, meaning, uh, there's no the US government has no qualms about you going there whatsoever. Like, they don't even say, be careful. That's how safe it is. I mean, they probably say, be careful, but you should be careful anywhere you go in the world, especially in the United States. But we don't have to get in. Into that. But yeah, those are a few things that are on the agenda. I just got back from, uh, Korea and Japan earlier, I guess, in the spring. And so that was my first time in those two countries, if you can believe it, I will tell you that I enjoyed Korea more than Japan. Japan, of course, has some things that you can't get in Korea. Um, and those two countries are very different and they're very different on purpose. Um, but

Speaker 1

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yeah, there's amazing stuff in Japan, but Korea, I still really felt that it was off the beaten path. And my wife is actually going back in a couple of weeks because she wants to start up, uh, beauty trips out there, um, under her own business. Because the big thing there is. Yeah, these, uh, like all the women on our trips, we're all getting stuff done out there at a fraction of the cost. And, um, you know, I had no idea that that was this big. And, you know, I don't watch a lot of Netflix, but those K-pop or K-pop series know k K-drama. There we go. Um, yeah. Are extremely popular right now. And, uh, yeah, Squid Games and like, that's the cultural exports that Korea has, has, have are quite impressive. And, um, yeah. So, uh, my wife's going to start something out there as well. So yeah, we got some, uh, got some things going for sure.

Speaker 2

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That's amazing. A lot, a lot there. So a lot, a lot going on. Um, yeah, I, I'm, I'm Canadian. So I got, you know, I went to Cuba as, like a kid, like, early teen. And it was super normal. It's like a very regular destination for us. And, uh, an absolutely, uh, a beautiful place. Havana was so interesting. I remember it well because it was one of the first kind of places I traveled to. So that's amazing that you've been checking that out. And, um, yeah, all of those places are amazing. I, I hope for folks that get to, uh, travel with you, with your company that they spark something like you you had in Iceland. Um, and they think about, you know, maybe working, working with these countries in a sustainable way, working through communities, um, and building, building or helping there, who knows? Right. Like your trip has obviously led to so much, um, in the past ten, ten plus years. So, yeah, maybe you'll maybe you'll stimulate that for someone else.

Speaker 1

[00.43.39]

Absolutely. And I know we have we already have many times over just the, uh, we call them success stories internally. Um, it's kind of like, uh, well, maybe not now. I'm dating myself a little bit, but, um, there's, uh, some comedian who says if a friend gets divorced, right? Don't don't say, don't call him and say, oh, I'm sorry. Tell him congratulations. Right. So, uh, on the same note, um, if you're on a trip and you're thinking about quitting your job or something like that, making real life changes, um, people, people are like, you got you got 12 people around you who are like, yeah, do it. Like, stay, cancel your flight, move your flight. Like, uh, you know, we'll help you craft the the message to your boss. You know, it's, uh, we we get a lot of what we call success stories and and, honestly, people just taking control of their lives, and, uh, yeah, you leave the country and you get a chance to rethink things, reconnect with who you are. People get a chance to be themselves completely when their travel because they're not around their, uh, family or their community or even their own culture or their society or their their friends. Like, you get to show up on a trip or go to a random place and when you land. You get to be a completely different person, you kind of leave all that baggage behind, and it's really freeing for a lot of people. And so it's amazing to see.

Speaker 2

[00.45.11]

Agreed. And honestly, I think a very positive note to wrap things up on. So. Matt, thanks so much for coming on and and sharing your story and sharing your experiences, your experience and experiences. And also for, you know, giving sort of the gift of travel to, to others. Um, you know, it's just awesome to hear.

Speaker 1

[00.45.33]

Thank you so much. It's been a lot of fun. I really enjoyed our conversation.

Speaker 2

[00.45.37]

Likewise. Thanks, Matt. A big thank you to Matt Wilson for coming on the podcast and sharing one of his travel stories. A fun one because it led to so much more in his life. It had such a big impact. Definitely go check out his website under 30 experiences.com. And as always, if you've got a great travel story that you want to share, you can find me at one off Travel Stories.