Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders

Personal Growth & Wellness Travel

Explore podcast episodes about personal growth, mental health, and transformation through travel, including living abroad and long-term travel experiences. Hear how travel shapes identity, purpose, and well-being across cultures.

Travel often transforms the way we see ourselves and the world. In these conversations from The Maverick Show, guests reflect on how long-term travel, living abroad, and cross-cultural experiences can spark personal growth and self-discovery. These episodes explore mental health, mindfulness, reinvention, and the ways global travel can reshape our perspectives on purpose and belonging. Through powerful travel stories and reflections on life overseas, guests share how stepping outside familiar environments can lead to deeper personal transformation.

378: From Almost Jumping to Building a Life Across Continents: Cara Laban on Depression, Travel & Reinvention

Learn how Cara stopped escaping and designed a sustainable world travel lifestyle that works for her brain. Cara Laban left New York chasing a childhood dream of Australia, but what began as an escape from burnout turned into a two-year immersion in life overseas, from bar shifts in Melbourne to bakery work in the outback….

281: How to Enhance Your Aliveness and Presence by Creating a Deeper Relationship with Nature with Dom Francks

Learn how to overcome distraction, overwhelm, and disempowerment to become more present, creative, courageous and wild. Dom Francks joins Matt from a van in the Western U.S. for a virtual wine night and begins talking about the role of sports in his life growing up. He reflects on achieving excellence in golf, nearly going professional,…

272: Travel Not to Escape with Geleen Antonio

In Part 2 of this interview, Geleen talks about moving to Chicago and what she loves about the city. She then explains how she transitioned into a full-time digital nomad lifestyle, and the impact all of this travel has had on her. Geleen also talks about her podcast “Travel not to Escape” and how she…

271: Transformative Travel with Geleen Antonio

Geleen Antonio joins Matt from the Philippines. She starts off reflecting on her experience coming up in California and navigating her Filipina-American identity. Geleen talks about growing up in an immigrant home, the impact of a study abroad experience, her path to self-empowerment, and how she started to travel the world. She then explains how…

246: How World Travel Impacts Your Brain with Robin Who

Robin Who joins Matt for an aperitivo. She starts off sharing her experience growing up in multiple places around Italy before moving to Germany at age 12. She talks about developing her passion for language learning and foreign cultures that would eventually lead her to a life of travel. Robin reflects on her experiences in…

243: Keep Calm, Bring Your Carry On: Prioritizing Mental Health for Travelers of Color with Jen McKinney

Jen McKinney joins Matt on the podcast from Ghana. They start off talking about what they both love about Accra, as well as what they love about Cape Town. Jen then talks about being the daughter of high profile Black Panther Party member Gene Allen McKinney. She shares some historical context about the Black Panthers…

226: The Legacy of South African Apartheid and Healing Ancestral Money Trauma While Traveling the World with Vangile Makwakwa

Vangile Makwakwa takes us on her journey growing up under South African Apartheid, watching it fall, and then navigating institutionalized white supremacy in the post-Apartheid era. She opens up about the extent of racial trauma she experienced when working at Stellenbosch University and how it drove her leave South Africa and travel the world. Vangile…

218: Bridging the Gap Between Travel and Wellness, Prioritizing Black Mental Health, and Founding Flex-n-Fly with Youmie Jean Francois

Youmie Jean Francois joins Matt in-person for this conversation in Dakar, Senegal. They start talking about their time together in Dakar and what they love about Senegal. Then, they discuss the “Stylish Minimalist Packing” workshop that they co-facilitated for other world travelers on the Remote Year program and give tips on how to travel the…

207: Mental Health For Nomads, Love Languages, and Becoming a Fully-Remote Psychotherapist with Dr. Aprile Andelle

Dr. Aprile Andelle shares her approach to therapy, how she works with her clients, and reflects on the mental health workshop she conducted for digital nomads in Cape Town on the Remote Year program. Next, she analyzes Matt’s test results and explains his love languages, his attachment style, and his enneagram personality type. Aprile then…

167: How To Create Deep Friendships Quickly and Design an Ecologically-Regenerative Nomad Life with Kaela Atleework

Kaela Atleework takes us on her journey growing up in California, becoming an international model for Chanel, and then leaving it all to pursue the nomad life. After 10 years of traveling, she shares her critical reflections on “voluntourism”. Kaela then takes us through some considerations for being more socially conscious travelers, including the importance…

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