Matt Bowles: My guest today is Bori Vigh. She is a location independent entrepreneur, event organizer, TEDx speaker and business coach. Originally from Budapest, Hungary, she is a full-time digital nomad with no permanent base who has now been to 67 countries. She is the founder of one of the largest backpacking blogs in Hungary and she was the host and program coordinator of the Nomad Cruise today. She owns and manages an event center in Hungary completely remotely as she travels the world and she runs a location independent business mentorship program and also hosts the Belong Camp retreat for digital nomads.
Bori, welcome to the show.
Bori Vigh: Thank you so much. I love, I love what you put together and the energy, how we kick it off. So, so excited to be here. Thank you so much.
Matt Bowles: I am so excited to have you here. We should just set the scene and talk about where we are doing this interview from today, we are in person. We are based in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We were both here together at the Nomad based conference and you just had an amazing day today that I want to hear about because you went scuba diving. How was the dive?
Bori Vigh: Oh my God. But it was not even just scuba diving, it was cenote diving. So here in Mexico, there are these cenotes, which is literally just caves or holes in the ground. And then you get to go there without actually having the official cave diving experience. So, it was mind blowing. I saw pictures and I was like, what you see on the pictures, it’s probably fake. It was incredible. Exactly the same as in the pictures.
Matt Bowles: That is amazing. I did not get to go on that trip, but definitely something that is now on my list to do. And you and I have been hanging out in Playa for a little bit. Have you been here before? Was it your first time? And what is Playa del Carmen like for folks that have never been?
Bori Vigh: It’s actually my very first time in Mexico.
Matt Bowles: Wow.
Bori Vigh: This is my 67th country, and I was really looking forward to come here. First of all, because of the food. Everybody tells me about the food, that it’s really good. But also, because it’s a digital nomad hotspot, and I just wanted to be reunited with everybody after these two years. And I’m so happy to stay here.
Matt Bowles: I’ve been talking about how amazing it’s been for me to come and see all of these nomads after a couple years, but for you, that’s like exponential, because you were the host and the program coordinator and basically ran the operations of the Nomad Cruise. So, while I met a number of people on the Nomad Cruise, you met everybody on the Nomad Cruise. So, when you roll into a place like this, some people know me, and I get some hugs and some hellos and all that, but everybody knows you.
Bori Vigh: Yeah. I remember the last time I was coming from Thailand, and I wrote an article to Nomads Cruise’s website, and it was about how amazing it is to have your second family. And it started like I’m jumping off the bus in the city of Budapest, and meanwhile, I’m sending a voice message to my friend in the Netherlands and the other one in Bali, and the third one is, I don’t even know where he is. And I’m just sending all these messages. I’m feeling full of love and whatsoever. And then two years of zoom calls with them and no personal meeting. And still today, actually, still yesterday, I think, or the day before yesterday, I even met someone who was not on Nomad base, but came around here. And our first cruise together was Nomad’s Cruise 3. So, I still meet all these people out of this five or four or five years keep popping up in different cruise ships.
Matt Bowles: That’s amazing. Well, you and I have known each other since 2018 when I did my very first Nomad cruise, which was number six.
Bori Vigh: Number six was amazing.
Matt Bowles: It was amazing, wasn’t it?
Bori Vigh: I actually promise you I’m not telling this to each cruises, but I think the people who were on the Micro six were something incredible.
Matt Bowles: Well, a number of people that were on number six have been interviewed on The Maverick Show. May Ling Lai was on that cruise, Julia Shem was on that cruise, Lydia Baikalova was on that cruise, Kristin Wilson was on that cruise. And the list goes on. It was an amazing group.
Bori Vigh: I’m nothing. Yeah, it was incredible, the whole energy there. And actually, that’s the cruise ship. And I came up with my workshop, deep connection. And the reason why it was born, it’s because I was on this cruise and I looked around, I’m like, there are all these amazing people and we just need some eye gazing and I don’t know, we just need some interaction without talks and, and you know, with our business and. Yeah, I just put together a workshop based on different influences on me and I still love that workshop and I give it in various occasions.
Matt Bowles: I remember that workshop. It was a super powerful workshop. And I know you’ve also incorporated some of those themes into the current retreat that you host today, right?
Bori Vigh: Exactly, yeah.
Matt Bowles: In terms of the Belong Camp and stuff like that. Do you want to talk a little bit about that and what that workshop was about and what some of the concepts were and how you integrate them today into the retreat that you run now?
Bori Vigh: Sure. So, I’m a big fan of connections. I was a solo traveler for long time, four or five years. And I always was really interested in how the people are connecting and what are the levels of. Some people are hit it off and some people are just not a good match. And I talk about every kind of relationships, including business relationships, including friendships, everything. And then I sit down and start thinking about how is it that we get connected and how can we play around with these connections. So, the deep connection workshop is actually just. We do most of the exercises without talking. So, most of the exercises and I don’t really like the not really woohoo things. I try to be really grounded. It’s a really down to earth. It just actually just really listening with our bodies and with maybe a little touch of hands or something.
Matt Bowles: And what was the impact that you saw after that workshop on Nomad Crew 6, for example, and subsequently when you’ve done it?
Bori Vigh: I think it just raises the energy. I know it sounds vuvu. I’m sorry for the audience. I’m not that vuvu, I promise. But it raises the energy. People just feel so much more comfortable because they’ve been vulnerable in front of each other. And previously to that point, I was only giving talks. I had signature workshops and signature talks, like the bucket list talk. And I usually give in Nomad crews as well. I was talking constantly, like, me on the stage, and then people listening to me. And then when I gave this workshop, I’m like, ah, this is so much more fun, you know, like, teaching people throughout experience. And then you were asking me about Belong Camp. And that’s exactly what happens on Belong Camp. We don’t have any talks, but we still teach each other. Because I think the more we create together, whether it’s a workshop or whether it’s. We even, like, build stuff together in Belong Camp that creates the best connection that you can have.
Matt Bowles: Can you share a little bit more about that Belong Camp? Where is it? Who can go? How long is it? And what is the itinerary like?
Bori Vigh: Sure. So, it’s going to be the fourth time that you’re organizing this July 3rd of July until the 13th of July. And it’s in an old alcohol factory that is not functioning anymore, so you need to bring your own booth. But last time, it was on 50 years ago, but it was built in 150 years ago. So, it worked for 100 years, then closed down, and it got to my family. And four years ago, I was like, maybe I’m going to invite here some of my friends on. Let’s see, what can we do with this? And now this is the event center I’m running. And then this is the place where we are hanging out, mainly also because that group of people who are there in the first place, they just want to come back every year. So that’s how we started creating Belong Camp. And now, of course, it’s open for really cool people.
So, if you hear that this is something that you want to try. We have two rules on what maybe next Belong Camp should be. If you’re going for another location, it might happen. It has to be epic and remote. So, it always has to be like an old alcohol factory, an island somewhere, you know, like something like, wow. When you say to your friends, like, wow, this is epic. And then the other one, it’s the remote. So, if we have the possibility. And this is what I loved on the cruise. If you have the possibility to be closed together and then you’re facing each other for, like, 10 days, I mean, that’s just miracles.
Matt Bowles: So, what is Sort of like the agenda. What are the types of things that occur over the course of the 10 days that you have set up?
Bori Vigh: Sure. We do actually work there. So, it’s a co-working retreat. In the morning we have yoga, meditation and then from 9 to 5 we go back to 9 to 5. So, from 9 to 5 we actually don’t have anything planned. So, you can work. We do have a co working space there and from five we actually play games. So, playing games would be Acro yoga or having a workshop or if you have an idea on what to do, have an idea that you want to try out. We had a coffee workshop. We had so many things that we do. In the afternoons we have those. And in the evenings, we usually close with some kind of fun activities, depending if it’s weekdays or weekends. But we have either bonfire and then we sing around the bonfire. There are many musicians who are coming stargazing. We are creating all these crazy games at night that we can play.
Matt Bowles: And I heard a rumor that there might be a trip out to the Hungarian wine country.
Bori Vigh: Oh yes. I love wines and this is a really nice wine region. Hungarian wine is actually really good, but we don’t share it. So, you have to come to Hungary and then you have to try it there. So yes, every Belong Camp we go out and we taste. It’s incredible. We taste six wines in about two and a half hours. So that’s usually the most fun day. And they’re not even giving just like a little bit of wine, but they’re giving like one glass. So that’s when we are coming up with new songs together and then we laugh a lot and yeah, that’s one of the best days. And we also go for a national park nearby or we do sop or we come up with different kind of excursions. Always different each year.
Matt Bowles: That’s amazing. Well, I love to hear that there’s a lot of musicians coming. That’s one of the, I think defining characteristics as well of the Nomad Cruise is that there would always be a whole group of folks that were into playing the guitar, playing the ukulele, singing. And then there would be whole groups that would just like gather around and jam at the night and all that kind of stuff.
Bori Vigh: Yeah, I remember the first time. I think this is how I actually stand out a little bit. For Johannes, the founder, I am traveling with the ukulele and I was one of those people in Nomad Cruise 3, my first cruise, who was singing. Even though I’m never the Most talented. But I’m always the most enthusiastic. So, I was there in Deck 7 every time and playing the same songs and yeah, I love that.
Matt Bowles: I know this about you and I also know that you always travel with a ukulele and you are always down to sing when prompted. So, would you be down to perform a song for The Maverick Show listeners on the ukulele?
Bori Vigh: Okay. Let’s give it a try.
Matt Bowles: All right. What will you sing for us?
Bori Vigh: I have a go to song just to stay on the safe side. It’s called Riptide. I’m sure that you all know it and you can sing along listening this in your plane or something.
Matt Bowles: All right, let’s do it.
Bori Vigh: I was scared of and the dark. I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations all my friends are turning. You’re the magician assistant in their dreams. Ahoo. Ahoo. You come on down cause lady running down to the riptide. Taking away to the dark side. I wanna be alive hand the man I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my throat cause you’re gonna sing the restroom. There’s this movie that I think you like. This guy decides to quit his job and head to New York City. All this time he’s running from himself and she’s been living on the higher shelf. By who? By who? You’re coming down cause waiting Running down to the riptide taking away to the dark side. I wanna be your left hander man. I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my throat cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong. I just wanna, I just wanna know if you’re gonna, if you’re gonna stay. I just wanna, I just wanna know. I can’t have it; I can’t have it any other way. I swear she’s destined for the screen. Closest thing to miss your Fifo that you’ve ever seen. Oh, lady running down to the riptide Taking away to the dark side. I wanna be your left-handed man. I love you when you’re singing that song and I got a lump in my throat cause you’re gonna sing the right song. Old lady running down to the riptide, taking the way to the dark side. I wanna be your left-hand man. I love you when you’re singing that song and I got the lump in my throat cause you’re gonna sing the of a has drum.
Matt Bowles: That was amazing, Bori. Thank you for playing that.
Bori Vigh: Thank you so much.
Matt Bowles: You know, when I started asking my musically inclined guests to perform music on The Maverick Show that began with people that I met on the Nomad Cruise.
Bori Vigh: Okay.
Matt Bowles: And I can tell you the first ever episode where I did that was with Tobias Rauscher.
Bori Vigh: Okay, well, that’s another level.
Matt Bowles: And I got him to play.
Bori Vigh: Oh, my God.
Matt Bowles: A fingerstyle guitar song. He actually played two songs on The Maverick Show episode when I interviewed him, and it was so amazing.
Bori Vigh: And you’re telling me this now? Oh, my God, I apologize.
Matt Bowles: But then I had May Ling Lai saying I had Sean Tierney sang on the podcast.
Bori Vigh: Becky as well, right?
Matt Bowles: All these people. Becky Gillespie just sang on the podcast. Yeah. All of these people that I’ve met on Nomad Cruises that are so musically talented, you know, they’re all performing in the talent show. So, I see them, I’m like, wow. I’m like, you know, and they’re like brilliant, amazing entrepreneurs, nomads and stuff like that. So, whenever there are people that are really musically inclined, in addition to the conversation, I love to be able to have them perform.
Bori Vigh: Well, you put me into the spotlight. Literally right now, I think I’m blushing. But we have dim lights here, so you cannot see.
Matt Bowles: Well, Bori, I want to go all the way back now and talk a little bit about your backstory. Can you just talk a little bit about where you grew up in Hungary, what that was like? And when you think back, where did some of your entrepreneurial tendencies come from? Where did some of your interest in world travel come from? Like, take us through the backstory a little bit.
Bori Vigh: Oh, that’s interesting. All right. So, I was born in Budapest and actually was brought up in until I was 11 years old. I was in the center in the György area of Budapest. It was a bad choice from my parents’ side. I don’t know why they chose to stay in the 9th district, which is for Hungarian listeners. They’re going to know that that was a no go zone back then. And that’s where I grew up. And my father was a journalist for a long time. And at one point around the 90s, when Hungary came out of the communism, my dad decided this is the time to be an entrepreneur. So, he disappeared for two weeks. It felt two weeks maybe it was a weekend, but it felt like two weeks. And apparently, he exchanged apartments with my grandmother, and my grandmother came and lived with us for that period of time. And he sat down and then he put together the basics of a PR company. And he came back and he’s like, I think I can do this. And then he did it. And he became one of the most successful PR companies in the 90s in Hungary he was working with Microsoft and Bill Gates and all these guys and yeah, without speaking English. So yeah, he did a good job.
And I think that’s how they were always, always behind my back when they saw that I have entrepreneur skills, which I even had when I was nine years old. I got a Tamagotchi. That was my first business because I went into the classroom at age 9 and I started to rent it out to my friends and there was extra charge if they let the Tamagotchi die, which is always dying. So that was my first business.
Matt Bowles: And then how did it evolve from there as you grew up? And how did also did your interest in travel develop? Were you traveling as a kid internationally? Like, where did that desire come from?
Bori Vigh: Okay, so because of my dad when he was a journalist, he didn’t know when he can go for a holiday. So, it was always like he would come home on a Friday. And then today is the day that we go for a holiday or at least this is how I felt. And then we started packing and then we packed by the night and we left at the night. We had a Nissan Mikra, which is, you know, coming from the communism I was born in, still in 85. So, I was born in under the communism. I just told my age. Oh my God. Anyways, so then we get into a car and then we would drive down to the sea, which was Yugoslavia back then for a while, and then Croatia. And that whole night we would have one cassette and that one cassette was playing on and on. That was Simon and Garfield Club.
Matt Bowles: Wow.
Bori Vigh: And because that was, you know, the western songs. And they would make the bed in a way that my brother was sleeping in the backseat. And then me between the two seats they would put like blankets between so that it would even out. And that was my spot. There’s no safety in the 90s at all. And I would remember they thought that I’m asleep. I was just up and I remember watching the stars out of the car. Me by Simon and Katunga played hundreds time the same song. And I felt that intimacy and adventure and safety at the same time. And I think that’s how I got the bug.
Matt Bowles: Wow. And then how did your independent adult travel journey begin?
Bori Vigh: I went for a one-month study abroad program when I was 18 to study Spanish because I had a really strict Spanish teacher who didn’t believe in me and I can’t stand that. So then when I was in third year in high school, I decided to go for this one month, and I decided not to tell anybody that I speak English. So, in the school, I would go in, and everybody’s like, hey, how are you, Howard? And no hablo. No hablo ingles. Because I felt bad that my parents paid that much money and I don’t use it properly. So that was the first time that I realized I can travel solo. Because I went there, I knew I’m not going to be alone because there’s a school. I was 18. I was wearing my hair in two sides in two braids, and I was walking by, and then I was having my first welcome drink, which was a small beer. And they cat calling me. They were like, hola. Oh, yeah.
And I was so happy that some real Spanish people talked to me. And in Hungary, we don’t really have too much cat callers. I stopped. I was like, excuse me. They were super surprised that I stopped and I walked back to them, and I was like, excuse me, no entiendo. I don’t understand. And then when they realized, and I’m only 18 years old, then they became like this brother vibe. And then they protected me for the entire one month when I hang out there. And then they didn’t speak English, so they taught me everything that I know in Spanish.
Matt Bowles: Wow. What city was this?
Bori Vigh: In Malaga, in Spain.
Matt Bowles: In Malaga. Okay. So then from there, after you had that, your first solo international experience, what was the impact of that?
Bori Vigh: So, then I thought that my love was for Spain. So then I went to Erasmus in Spain, and I realized my love is for travel and probably solo travel. So When I was 25, I went through a difficult kind of a breakup, but it was just an argument, and I get offended. And I always had this dream to see the tango dancers. When I was a child, I saw a documentary about the tango, and I was mesmerized. Oh, my God, these old people. And then they are full of youth and shining and you’ve just been to Buenos Aires, right? So, you know what I’m talking about. It’s incredible. Even through the TV, I’m like, oh, this is real passion. 11 years old. And then I turned to my mom. I’m like, when I grow up, I want to go and see this in life.
So, I always had this in my mind. But in Hungary, we didn’t really have backpackers. I only heard about package holidays. I mean, we left out many years of travel because we were not allowed to travel up until the 90s. So, we were behind everybody else in the Western world. We were just like, opening our eyes in this was in 2010, you know, and I haven’t heard about any possibilities until I just. I was just like, what if I check? So, I get into this breakup mode and I was getting on to work in my bike and I was like, what would I do if I would break up with this guy? And I’m like, I would go to Buenos Aires. And I’m like, why the hell do I need to break up or wait for anything to happen?
And then I realized everything in my life is always just, I will then. Or when I win the lottery or, I don’t know, get into a corporate job where there’s going to be a conference in Buenos Aires or somebody else is making this decision. Like, hold on a second. I’m an adult now. I can do things by myself. So, then I check the plane tickets. As of today, the most expensive plane ticket I’ve ever got, but I get a plane ticket and I went to Buenos Aires.
Matt Bowles: Wow. Those two locations that you just mentioned, first of all, Malaga is actually where you and I first met, because that was the departure city of Nomad Cruise 6 that we were just talking about. And then Buenos Aires was actually my first city on my digital nomad journey. When I sold all of my stuff and got rid of my permanent residence and all of that in 2013 and started my nomad journey, Buenos Aires was also my first destination. And I went there for three months in 2013. It was unbelievable. I mean, so how was that experience for you and what was the impact then of the Buenos Aires trip?
Bori Vigh: So, I remember when I was landing for a few days, I’m still like, oh, what the hell is going. I remember I couldn’t understand that. It’s like summer there and I was still wearing long pants for like five days. I’m like, maybe I can just wear a short today because it’s 35 degrees and I’m dying. It took some time until I realized that, what’s it to be out of your continent? And on the fifth day, it was time for me to go to the Tango bar. And I went to this milonga, which is, I think, still think that in the same place because it’s the oldest tango bar. It’s the first floor, there’s a beautiful balcony. And I went there with some hostel friends. And I remember I sat down and there are all these old people dancing in front of me. And I felt that happiness is coming out everywhere. I’m shining the brightest I’ve ever been shining. And I felt that even my fingernails are shining. The happiness is, like everywhere around me. I know it’s super weird, but this girl just looks at me and is like, I’ve never seen anybody so happy in my entire life. And then I asked myself the question, why does it make me so happy to see these old folks dancing? Because they are 80, 90 even, and they’re just so full of youth.
Matt Bowles: It’s amazing.
Bori Vigh: It’s incredible, you know, and so in their elements. So, I asked the question, why does this make me so happy? And then I realized I knew why it was important, and only I knew why it was important. And that little kid who watched the documentary, it was not important for anybody. It was only important for me. And I collected the money, I took out the sabbatical. I went for three months to South America and I flew over the ocean. And it was nothing to prove to anybody. It was important for me. And then I realized I want to live my life based on this. And pretty much this is when I was born. To be honest, that moment, I’m like, that’s it. That’s what I want to do with my life, going after what I want. And then I went home and I wrote my bucket list and I started living my life based on that and ditched everything else.
Matt Bowles: And you still have your original handwritten bucket list on the original paper that you wrote it on and you carry it with you.
Bori Vigh: Yes.
Matt Bowles: Physically, everywhere that you travel.
Bori Vigh: Exactly. I actually showed it to you. So, I’m telling this to the listeners that I showed it to, Matt. And it’s a privilege I’d never take out from my wallet because it’s such a thin paper that it can get ruined in a second. Like at this point, because I wrote it down 12 years ago. So, it’s a 12-year-old paper that I keep in my wallet. So, it starts to get a little bit wrinkly.
Matt Bowles: And then you wrote the original bucket list and then you started to structure your nomad journey to go and have those various different bucket list experiences. Can you share what some of those were and some of the subsequent highlights on that bucket list that you got to experience?
Bori Vigh: Sure. So, everybody thinks about the bucket list. I did the stereotypical things still in my first trip. Riding a horse in the sea, next to the beach, you know, at sunset, swimming with dolphins, but in the Amazonas. And I did all these things. But there was one thing that got into my bucket list that was so crazy obvious, and that was skinny dipping. And I kept saying this, and people read it on my bucket list and they’re like, why? That’s so obvious that you can do skinny dipping. You can just go down right now. Come on, let’s go. And I always like, no, now it has to be special because I’m 30 years old and still haven’t done it, so it has to be special. And it happened actually in Koh Rong. I was hanging out with this wonderful people and we are drinking a lot of rum. I think around 3am they’re like, wait, you haven’t done skin dipping yet from your bucket list. This is the time. Because there’s luminous hairs out there. That’s how you say it. We had the planktons, right?
Matt Bowles: Like a luminescent bay. Yeah. Where the plankton light up the bay right when you touch the water.
Bori Vigh: Yeah. So, it was incredible. And that’s how it was, the skinny dipping.
Matt Bowles: Wow, that’s so amazing. Well, I want to talk to you also a little bit about how your blog started and evolved. So, as you were traveling around the world and doing all of the solo travel and doing all of these bucket list experiences, how did the blog start and evolve?
Bori Vigh: So, it started in Buenos Aires because it was that time of travel that we didn’t really have social media. I mean, I had Facebook, but my parents were not on it. And I thought, I’m going to write a blog because I don’t want to write emails, everyone. It’s just easier. So, then I started and there was one, one colleague of mine, I still was working for corporate. And then he said, this is good. This is good shit. And because he was no friend, nobody closes to me, I’m like that person that’s the only person who’s telling me the truth, you know, because my mom said it’s nice, but my mom says, always it’s nice, you know, like it’s. You cannot really believe moms. I’m sorry. Sorry to tell it to. To many of you.
So, then I was like, oh, maybe I feel that it’s good as well. So, imagine that backpacking was so not a thing, that when I went there, went to Buenos Aires, and I will get back to the whole thing. But when I get to Buenos Aires, I was in the first hostel that I went volunteering because I had no idea that this is a possibility for me to do backpacking. I had no idea that the term backpacking exists. I literally thought that going to go there, there’s going to be horses in Argentina and some Argentinos and me that’s what I thought. And the backpack. And I’m hitchhiking probably, and then I get into a hostel and I met these people one night. They invited me over because I was sitting alone, obviously, because I thought that they are one group of friends. And so, you are traveling alone and you are traveling alone and you are traveling alone and you’re traveling solo. And I’m like, ah, I’m just part of a tribe I’ve never heard about. And then they told me the word backpacking. So now I knew what to write about. Because if I don’t know about it and I’m there, then I’m 100% sure that nobody knows about it in Hungary. So, then I started writing. Imagine that I got the domain in 2013. Only nine years ago. I got the domain Backpacker.hu. So, this does everything, right? This does everything, yeah.
Matt Bowles: That’s amazing. Well, I also want to talk with you a little bit about your role on the Nomad Cruise, because I have seen you perform some extraordinary things in terms of the operational mastery and magic that you have pulled off with these events. It has been absolutely incredible to watch. Truly. I mean, just for folks’ context, we’re talking about a cruise ship that is somewhere between a week and two weeks long with somewhere between 250 and 500 plus nomads that are having a conference on a boat with just a massive array of talks and workshops and events and all of these different meetups and talent shows and all of these different things. As a participant, there’s no way you could attend even half of the stuff that’s going on. It’s just way too much stuff. And to even get your mind around how many different things and how many workshops, all this kind of stuff, I was just like, wow, this is crazy. And you organized and facilitated all of those things and executed it so that from our perspective as participants, it appeared flawless and seamless.
Bori Vigh: That’s good.
Matt Bowles: Yeah, I mean, it was amazing. And so, I want to ask you a little bit about that because you are an event organizer, you continue to organize events now, but you do that professionally. What are some of the key skill sets, techniques that from an operational perspective and a program organizing perspective and delivering a spectacular event for participants. What goes into that? And take us through that a little bit.
Bori Vigh: So, what we do when we put together the whole thing is that 30, 40% of my work together with Johannes was that we created the community. So as much as you thought that it’s just something that it’s just happen, you’re happy to hang out with all these people. There’s a massive amount of science of community building and I think there is going to be more and more. We read books together with Johannes. We did one on one workshops after reading the book Belong, where actually my camp’s name is coming from. And we just really thought it through on how to create a community. Like for example, the tribes, if you remember that we were put together into tribes.
And in the beginning the whole idea of the tribes was just so that people who don’t know anybody, they can have a body like have a smaller group because it’s not that intimidating and then how the program is put together as well. But it needed to be exactly the deep connection needed to be exactly where it was. The talent show needed to be exactly where it was. It was absolutely absolute timing based on how much people can loosen up. You cannot do a deep connection on day number one. You can only do speed networking or 30 second pitches or. Yeah, it’s a lot of fun to put something like this together.
Matt Bowles: Yeah, no, for sure. And if anybody has not heard the episode where I interviewed Johannes Voelkner, the founder of Nomad Cruise, we’ll link that up in the show notes as well because you can definitely listen to that and get some more Nomad Cruise history and behind the scenes perspective.
Bori Vigh: Quite a lot. Yeah.
Matt Bowles: But what a really impressive event. I just remember after Nomad Crew 6 just being like, wow, you really pulled off something that was very impressive.
Bori Vigh: Thank you so much.
Matt Bowles: Well, another thing that I want to ask you about now that you have done so many years of solo travel and then you’ve also been so invested for many years in Nomad community building specifically. Can you talk a little bit when you reflect back on the whole thing, how you’ve been a full-time itinerant Nomad with no base for these many years. What have been sort of the key sustainability pillars that have allowed you to sustain this lifestyle for this long in a way that is fulfilling and exciting and meaningful and all of that. And what should maybe newer nomads make sure that they pay attention to if they want to do this for the long term?
Bori Vigh: In the beginning I was struggling like a maniac. Every three days a different city or country or beach or whatever. And after three months I was really done. So then really quickly I learned my lesson. You have time. You don’t have to see everything. You still see a lot of things if you’re just having a routine and focus on what you have there. So having a routine is super important and all these things. But I think one of the most important that helps me define this life is I was in Nicaragua and all I had was a hammock in the jungle in a hostel setup. But I chose to stay in a hammock because how cool is that?
And I remember that I woke up every day and I had 3G on my phone. So, I had data, obviously, because I needed to work. And every day I opened my eyes, I started to be on my phone, and I was looking for apartments in Budapest. And I did that for a week, and only on the seventh day or I don’t know, I realized, oh, I want to go home. Oh, and I understand what I’m doing. I actually am looking for a home base. It has to be in Budapest. And I did this for seven days and I didn’t realize what I’m doing. It was so weird that me, who is preaching about bucket list and follow your dreams, and I actually have talks, and my TEDx talk was about this, and I wrote a book about this. I didn’t recognize that I have a normal dream, you know, like just some stability. So, I think I became part of this identity as well as the traveler. Like, I am a traveler. I am a digital nomad, so I shouldn’t have a home. But actually, becoming a digital nomad and living this lifestyle is that you can actually do whatever you want. And if you want to go home, then you want to go home, and it’s still part of this experience.
Matt Bowles: How do you balance the community aspect of it and the friendship aspect of it and all of that kind of stuff, and sort of creating that social network as you travel around the world. And how do you balance that with the local travel experiences?
Bori Vigh: Right.
Matt Bowles: Because there are now evolving a lot of these nomad hubs, some people are calling them a lot of expats concentrated in. In certain cities around the world. And you can kind of go to those cities and then just interact with expats the entire time if you want, and then just go from one to the other. So, at this point, with the ecosystem having evolved to the extent that it has, in many ways, there’s tons of great stuff, which means there’s all these awesome communities and you can plug into them, and it’s very easy to have social connections very quickly with other travelers. But then also, when you think back to some of your early travel experiences and some of those local experiences and how precious and amazing those were when you were the only traveler in that particular place, right. How do you balance that Nowadays?
Bori Vigh: I agree with you that we have all these hubs wherever we go. And I think we have these hubs because we need them. We need the security, we need the familiar places, we need the familiar coffees. And I think you cannot run all the time outside side of your comfort zone. That’s not possible. And I don’t think it’s healthy either because I do think that I would get lonely after a while. But I think if you’re staying only in these hubs all the time, then what changed compared to your corporate life? Because then all you do is you’re sitting in your comfort zone in the familiar environment. The only reason why you travel is because you don’t want to be somewhere, not because you want to be somewhere else.
Matt Bowles: I also want to ask you about your business mentoring that you’re doing and the coaching that you’re doing nowadays. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Bori Vigh: Sure. Well, it’s a funny thing because I actually didn’t plan to do this. I have quite a lot of experience in different fields as we’ve talked right now. And some of my friends started to contact me a couple of months ago, like a year ago I think, and they’re like, hey, I kind of looking for a business mentor and I think he would be perfect for this. So, it was really interesting because three of them contacted me in only two weeks and I’m like, huh, that’s interesting. All right, let’s give it a try. Let’s see what can I do. And I enjoy it so much. It’s so good seeing how amazing these businesses start to boom as soon as you just talk to someone for 50 minutes and they come back two weeks later and there’s massive change in their lives and in their businesses and in their income. And I’m like, I’m blown away. I’m just blown away. I love doing this. So yeah, then I started to open this up and I started to do this for other people as well. And yeah, looking forward to more people who are joining.
Matt Bowles: So, what does it look like now if somebody is interested in your business mentoring services, what kind of program do you have set up? How would an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur work with you?
Bori Vigh: So, if you already have a business, whether it’s a freelancer or solopreneur or actual business idea that you’ve been working on a little bit. So, we don’t start absolutely scratch because I think being a solopreneur is extremely difficult because you need to have a huge self-discipline. And this comes from Johannes as well. I’m quoting him, but maybe he’s quoting someone else. He always said freedom comes with discipline. Freedom equals discipline. So, if you’re a freelancer, if you’re a solopreneur, that discipline has to be there, that you work. And then this is what I’m helping with.
So, when there’s somebody you need to give accountability to, it’s going to help your business right away. So, it’s a three-month program in the beginning and then we can extend it, but it’s a three months program where we have one business goal to reach and we have biweekly, we have a call and we have an asana board to follow what you need to do. And also, we have excelled sheets for various data that we need to monitor it. And we talk every two weeks and after the third week we have an assessment on how did we do and we usually do good.
Matt Bowles: Awesome. Well, I also want to ask you in terms of your personal business journey, you are currently part of a mastermind group.
Bori Vigh: Yes.
Matt Bowles: And it is a powerhouse quartet of four amazingly brilliant and badass women who have all been interviewed on The Maverick Show. So Maverick show listeners know Lavinia Losub, they know Adi Cohen, and they know Rosanna Lopes. All of your Mastermind groove. So, can you share a little bit about what a mastermind group is, sort of how you’ve structured that and how that operates and benefits your business life?
Bori Vigh: Sure. I think everybody who is an entrepreneur now faces similar challenges. The higher you go, the more lonely you get, they say. So, I think maybe this is how masterminds group started to become a trend nowadays. We came out of a group, the four of us, we came out of a group organized by one of your guests, but everybody was your guest. So, I think at this point we can just say this. So, Brittnee Bond organized a female power women mastermind, which was like a massive mastermind. In the beginning of COVID we were all community leaders in our own little bubbles. We were all leaders and we were 10 or 15 women and we had incredible businesses.
And the first time we met; I don’t think that we had one person from the same country. It was incredible. We were all around the world and then we were sharing, we had hot seats and whatsoever. But of course, keeping such a big number of participants with all the different time schedules, it didn’t work. And then first we started an accountability group and then with the four of us, and that was supposed to be for three months and we kept going and now it’s A bit difficult because Adi is in the Israel and Levine is in Bali and we are here with Rosanna in Playa del Carmen. So, we don’t actually have a time to have a meeting. So, we do one on ones which we are really grateful. And we also went for a retreat together. We met in real life this spring and we went to Slovenia together and we tracked and we didn’t work. We just got to because we never met in person, you know, we only met online in the beginning.
Matt Bowles: Yeah, that’s amazing. Yeah, I saw the pictures from that on Instagram. I was so excited to see the four of you together. I was like, oh, yes, that’s amazing. All right, Bori, let me ask you one more question and then we will wrap this up and move into The Lightning Round. When you think back on all of the travel experiences that you have had over the years, what, what impact has all of that had on you? Why do you continue to travel? What does travel mean to you?
Bori Vigh: It means being who I really am. Because whenever I travel somewhere, I just really feel that I’m really honest to my core. And also, the community, these people, these folks, these nomads all over, I mean, the FOMO is real.
Matt Bowles: That’s amazing. And that’s a great place to end this interview. Bori, at this point are you ready to move in to The Lightning Round?
Bori Vigh: Yes.
Matt Bowles: Let’s do it. All right. What is one book that has significantly influenced you over the years you’d most recommend people check out?
Bori Vigh: I mentioned this book and I got to mention again, this is Belong from Radha and Sean notes probably. And for anybody who wants to build a community, I highly suggest Belong.
Matt Bowles: Awesome. We will link that up in the show notes for sure. Bori, if you could have dinner with any one person who is currently alive today that you’ve never met, who would you choose?
Bori Vigh: All right, this is going to be embarrassing by Alanis Morissette.
Matt Bowles: Alanis Morissette.
Bori Vigh: Alanis Morissette. Yeah. I love her music. I think she has a lot to say and I love her voice. I wish I could sing like her and I love her wisdom and she’s just really cool.
Matt Bowles: Awesome. All right, knowing everything that you know now, if you could go back in time and give one piece of advice to your 18-year-old self, what would you say to 18-year-old Bori?
Bori Vigh: If somewhere is not good, then you can move away.
Matt Bowles: Awesome. All right. Of all the places that you have now traveled, what are your top three favorite travel destinations you’d most recommend people to check out?
Bori Vigh: Number one is Ko Pha Ngan. I love Ko Pha Ngan. Number two, I’m an island girl. I love island. Number two is Gili Air. And number three would be Minca in Colombia.
Matt Bowles: Nice. Can you say where number two. Where is that?
Bori Vigh: Gili Air is between Bali and Lombok in Indonesia. It’s a small island.
Matt Bowles: And then Koh Pha Nang is a. Thailand.
Bori Vigh: Thailand.
Matt Bowles: It’s an island in Thailand. I have lived in on the beach in Ko Phang for five weeks myself and love that place. Got the scuba dive with whale sharks there? No.
Bori Vigh: All right. And now out of here looking for whale sharks, but I never found them.
Matt Bowles: You know, it was crazy because I did my PADI advanced scuba certification on Koh Pha Nang. And when we were going out, you know, you just do like five dives to get your certification or something like that. So, you just go out a couple times. And they had in the dive shop a chart of the dive masters that work there every day and dive all day, every day. And it was how many whale sharks each of them has ever seen in their entire history of working at the dive shop. And so, it would have the checks when they ever they see a whale shark. And there were not a lot. And they would explain to us that people, tourists, folks would come there to go and dive to try to see a whale shark in the wild. And many people would dive every day for months and never see one.
Bori Vigh: Wow.
Matt Bowles: And so, they said, but this is one of the most amazing places to see whale sharks in the wild. And so, when they were going out on, taking us out on our dive, they said, okay, and this is for your training for today. You know, the itinerary is we’re going to do this and this, unless we see a whale shark, in which case all bets are off, and we swim with the whale shark. So, they would say this every day. And then one day we go out and sure enough, we’re down there doing our thing, whatever. And a whale shark just comes and everybody is just amazed with. And it just hung out with us and swam with us for like 10 minutes.
Bori Vigh: I am so jealous right now.
Matt Bowles: It was amazing. I got so lucky. It’s just like a lottery ticket. Yeah, that’s all it is. Yeah, it was amazing.
Bori Vigh: So cool.
Matt Bowles: All right, Bori, final question. Going back to the bucket list today, what are your top three bucket list destinations? Places you’ve never been, highest on your list you’d most love to go.
Bori Vigh: So, I would like to get go to Tonga or any of the islands over there and then definitely South Africa because everybody’s raving about it and I haven’t been there. And Rwanda.
Matt Bowles: Okay, so South Africa, Rwanda and Tonga. Okay. Amazing, bigs. I have only been of those three to South Africa so far. I spent about three months in Cape Town and it is a very special place. So, when you are ready to plan that trip, hit me up.
Bori Vigh: All right?
Matt Bowles: All right, Bori, I want you to let folks know how they can learn more about Belong Retreat, how they can learn more about your business coaching program and how they can find you, follow you, and all that good stuff. How do you want people to come into your world?
Bori Vigh: Sure. Okay, so you can find me on borivigh.com or vighbori.com because in Hungarian we switch it around, but I have all the domains, so vighbori.com/mentoring. This is where you can look up more details about the mentor program. And for Belong Camp, just belongcamp.com amazing.
Matt Bowles: We are going to link all of that up in the show notes so you can find it at one place at themaverickshow.com just go to the show notes for this episode. And Bori, I heard that you might even have a special discount for Maverick Show listeners.
Bori Vigh: Not much. Even I say fuck yeah. So of course, 10% for both of the tickets. So either you’re coming for Belong Camp, which I highly recommend, or you’re up for business mentorship. Then you have 10% for Belong Camp you use the coupon code Maverick. And for the mentoring in the call, you just need to say this wonderful, wonderful man’s name.
Matt Bowles: Awesome. So, you can get 10% off either the business mentoring or Belong Camp both. If you want to do both. We are going to put all of these links in the show notes along with the discount codes you need to use and the URLs you need to go to and all that, as well as Bori’s social media handles and how to find her and follow her and connect with her because she is an amazing person to follow on social media. Bori, this was incredible. Thank you so much for being on the show.
Bori Vigh: I loved it so much. Thank you so much.
Matt Bowles: All right, good night, everybody.
