Episode #54: Fire-Spinning, Ethical Tourism, and Relocating Digital Nomads to Chiang Mai with Amanda Gedney

Episode Summary

Amanda Gedney begins by explaining her love of hula hooping and fire-spinning, how to do it, how she learned it, and how she manages the fire-spinning performances at the Jai Thep festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She then takes us on her journey, starting with growing up in New York, going to college at the Fashion Institute of Technology, studying abroad in Paris, falling in love with travel, and then totally pivoting and moving to Chiang Mai to teach English right out of college. She then explains her entrepreneurial trajectory and her experience building her company, Settle in Abroad, which helps digital nomads and teachers re-locate to Chiang Mai. She explains what is included in her turn-key relocation package, as well as her other shorter-term offerings for tours and experiences in Thailand. She then goes on to talk about “ethical tourism”, how travelers should think about it as they explore the world, and how she ethically vets all of her tours and experiences. Amanda then goes on to talk about building and scaling her business, the biggest challenges, and why she over-pays her staff and supports them in building their own businesses. She also talks about her partnership with One Tree Planted, Warm Heart and explains how and why Settle in Abroad gives back to social causes for every program sold. Amanda then gives her advice to high school and college students who desire remote work options and want to integrate travel experiences into their lives. FULL SHOW NOTES AVAILABLE at www.TheMaverickShow.com

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What You'll Learn

How and why to consider re-locating to Chiang Mai, Thailand as a base
How to think about ethical tourism while traveling the world
How to build a business around expertise you have already developed in your life

Links From the Episode

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LEARN MORE ABOUT RELOCATING TO CHAING MAI WITH “SETTLE IN ABROAD”
(Use code “Maverick Show” for $200 discount)

NOMAD PROGRAMS AND EVENTS MENTIONED

Nomad Summit (Get 10% OFF Tickets to the Next Nomad Summit By Using the Code “FRIENDS”)
Remote Year (Get a $100 Discount off Remote Year By Using This Link)

THE #1 BOOK AMANDA RECOMMENDS

I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi

THE PERSON WITH WHOM AMANDA WOULD MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER

Michelle Obama

CHARITIES THAT “SETTLE IN ABROAD” SUPPORTS

AMANDA HULA HOOPING AROUND THE WORLD

FIRE-SPINNING AT THE JAI THEP FESTIVAL

INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE

OTHER PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

TOP 3 FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

TOP 3 BUCKET LIST TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

CONTACT AMANDA

Website (Use code “Maverick Show” for $200 discount)
Settle In Abroad Instagram
Amanda’s Personal Instagram
Email: info@settleinabroad.com

Time Stamped Show Notes

[3:30] How Matt and Amanda met at the Nomad Summit in Chiang Mai

Matt and Amanda’s first impressions of each other
The best pizza place in Chiang Mai

[5:40] Fire-Spinning and Hula Hooping Around the World

Mastering flow arts
Learning to be a fire-spinner
Safety precautions for fire-spinning
Managing the fire spinning performance at the Jai Thep Festival
What hula hooping means to Amanda
Starting the hula hoop club in College
Amanda’s “Hula Hooping Around the World” series

[15:29] Amanda’s Journey Through the Fashion Industry and Falling in Love with Travel

Growing up in New York
Her Interest in the History and Business of Fashion
Studying Abroad in Paris
Traveling through Europe
Learning about the Options to Teach English in Thailand
Deciding to leave fashion and move to Chiang Mai
What travel means to Amanda
Amanda’s current lifestyle design and travel cadence

[29:03] Amanda’s Experience Moving to Chiang Mai as a Long Term Base

Re-Locating to Chiang Mai While Broke
Amanda’s Serendipitous Experience Settling Into Thailand

[34:06] Amanda’s Entrepreneurial Journey

The inspiration for “Settle in Abroad”
From re-locating teachers to re-locating digital nomads to Chiang Mai
The value proposition of “Settle in Abroad”
What’s Included in the “Settle In Abroad” Chiang Mai Re-Location Package
Offering shorter-term tours of Thailand

[49:23] Ethical Tourism

Explaining the aspects of ethical tourism
Examples of un-ethical tourism regarding both humans and animals
Ethically vetting all “Settle in Abroad” tours

[54:07] Organizing Local “Experiences”

The “Settle in Abroad” event around the Lantern Festival

[58:28 ] Building and Scaling “Settle in Abroad”

Join “The Hatchery” business accelerator program in Chiang Mai
Figuring out how to make her business legal and get a business visa at age 21
Hiring and scaling Settle in Abroad slowly
Hustling and bootstrapping her business
Managing staff and creating quality control
Amanda’s choice to significantly over-pay her staff
Hiring Thai women and supporting them in building their own businesses

[1:05:23] Building a Socially Conscious Business

Integrating a charitable contribution to her business
Partnering with Warm Heart
Partnering with One Tree Planted
Why Amanda is so passionate about education

[1:11:31] Amanda’s Advice for Young People in High School and College

[1:18:05] The Lightning Round

The #1 Book Amanda recommends
The person with whom Amanda would most like to have dinner
The advice Amanda would give to her 18-year-old self
Amanda’s top 3 favorite travel destinations
Amanda’s top 3 bucket list destinations

[1:24:14] $200 Discount Offer on the Chiang Mai Relocation Package (And Recap of What’s Included)

[1:26:04] Contact Amanda

About the Guest

Amanda Gedney

Amanda Gedney is the 25-year-old CEO and founder of Settle in Abroad, a relocation service that help digital nomads and teachers move to Chiang Mai, Thailand. She founded Settle in Abroad in Chiang Mai at age 22 and has since partnered with a local Thai legal services company so she can help digital nomads navigate the legal and visa processes required to live long term in Thailand and legally start their own businesses as foreign nationals.

Settle in Abroad also offers short term travel programs, tours and experiences in Thailand all of which are carefully vetted to ensure they are ethical and helping the Thai community prosper. Amanda primarily employs Thai women and supports them in improving their businesses and personal brands.

As a socially conscious business, Settle in Abroad plants 12 trees per program purchased, through its partnership with One Tree Planted, and also works closely to support Warm Heart, which sponsors orphans and hill tribe children just outside of Chiang Mai.

Amanda is also a hula-hooper and fire-spinner. She teaches hula hoop dance workshops, manages the fire spinning performers at the Jai Thep festival in Chiang Mai, and produces a YouTube Series called Hooping Around the World and she has been to 35 countries.