Learn how to coordinate your travel plans with friends, exchange recommendations & connect around the world with Pangea. Matt Gray starts off describing what he loves about Cape Town and tells the story of taking the world’s highest bungee jump off a bridge there. He then reflects on growing up outside NYC, studying abroad in Vienna, and traveling the world for a decade as part of his corporate job. Matt tells stories from visiting Reunion Island, Madagascar, Lapland, Greenland, Antarctica, Armenia and Uzbekistan. He then talks about organizing a group safari to Botswana, building community in the digital nomad lifestyle, and his plans for co-hosting Nomad Week 2026 in Cape Town. Next, Matt talks about founding the Pangea App which enables you to coordinate your travel plans with friends, exchange recommendations & connect around the world. He opens up about his own transition into full-time entrepreneurship, his journey building and scaling Pangea, his recent acquisition of the Overlap app, and is 5-year vision for Pangea. Finally, Matt explains how he designs his digital nomad lifestyle, why he wants to travel to every country in the world, and what impact all this travel has had on him as a person.
360: Hacking Serendipity, Connecting Travelers with the Pangea App, and Co-Hosting the Nomad Week with Matt Gray
Episode Summary
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About the Guest

Matt Gray
Matt Gray is a full-time world traveler and the founder of Pangea, the leading app for travelers to coordinate their plans, exchange recommendations & connect around the world. After spending 10 years in leadership roles in product & corporate development at a global fin-tech company where he worked in places like NYC, London, Italy, India and Indonesia, he left the corporate world to focus on building Pangea to solve the problems that he faced first hand during his travels. He is now on a personal mission to visit every country in the world with as many friends as possible. Over the last 12 years, he has lived, worked and traveled to 108 countries.
What You'll Learn
- How to coordinate your travel plans with friends and hack serendipity using the Pangea app.
- How and why to attend the upcoming “Nomad Week” in Cape Town
- Stories from Reunion Island, Madagascar, Lapland, Greenland, Antarctica, Armenia and Uzbekistan
Links From the Episode
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REGISTER FOR NOMAD WEEK 2026 IN CAPE TOWN
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DOWNLOAD THE PANGEA APP
CONTACT AND FOLLOW MATT GRAY
FOLLOW THE MAVERICK SHOW AND DM MATT BOWLES
OTHER MAVERICK SHOW PODCAST GUESTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
- 74: Diego Bejarano Gerke
- 192: Orest Zub
- 216: Sharon Rosenberg
- 217: Sharon Rosenberg
- 277: Harry Mitsidis
- 278: Harry Mitsidis
LOCATION WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE
- Matt Bowles: Asheville, North Carolina
- Matt Gray: Raleigh, North Carolina
#1 BOOK THAT MATT RECOMMENDS
#1 PERSON WITH WHOM MATT WANTS TO HAVE DINNER
TOP 3 FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
TOP 3 BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS
PLACES IN MADAGASCAR MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
PLACES IN INDIA MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
PLACES IN BOTSWANA MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
TRAVEL COMMUNITIES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
OTHER PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
- Antarctica
- Yerevan, Armenia
- Australia
- Botswana
- Bratislava
- Budapest
- Bulgaria
- Cape Town
- Chobe River
- Copenhagen
- Denmark
- Drake Passage
- Dublin
- Fergana Valley
- Hongkong
- Indian Ocean
- Italy
- Georgia
- Greenland
- Lapland (Finland )
- London
- Madagascar
- Myrtle Beach
- New York
- Panama
- Prague
- Reunion Island
- Ushuaia
- Uzbekistan
- Vienna
Time Stamped Show Notes
**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.
[0:43] Introducing Matt Gray
[2:08] Meeting in Cape Town
[4:33] What Matt loves about Cape Town
[6:47] Taking the Tallest Bridge Bungee Jump in the World
[9:20] Growing up in Larchmont, New York
[12:13] Studying Abroad in Vienna, Austria
[15:54] Traveling and Living Around the World for a Corporate Job
[21:20] Reunion Island and Madagascar
[25:31] Lapland, Finland
[26:49] Greenland
[28:44] Antarctica
[30:58] Visiting Armenia as his 100th Country
[33:41] Uzbekistan
[35:32] Community Building in the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
[38:57] Organizing a Group Safari Trip to Botswana
[42:08] Co-Hosting Nomad Week 2026 in Cape Town
[52:30] Founding the Pangea App
[55:35] The Features and Benefits of the Pangea App
[1:00:54] Transitioning into full-time entrepreneurship to build and scale Pangea
[1:03:43] Acquiring the Overlap App and the 5 Year Vision for Pangea
[1:07:53] How Matt Designs His Digital Nomad Lifestyle
[1:09:48] The Impact Travel Has Had on Matt
[1:12:04] The Lightning Round
[1:16:30] How to Follow and Contact Matt