Matt Bowles: My guest today is Tarek Kholoussy. He is a social entrepreneur who with an MBA from New York University and a career of working at top organizations around the world like Goldman Sachs. In 2013, Tarek left the corporate world behind in an effort to explore the actual world after traveling to over 100 countries, running 25 marathons, and supporting numerous social causes around the world. And in 2018, Tarek launched Nomads Giving Back with the vision to inspire nomads to give back to the communities that we call home away from home. In 2020, Tarek and his team launched Nomad Skill Share, a learning platform and community empowering you to learn the skills to live the life that you imagined.
Tarek, welcome to the show.
Tarek Kholoussy: Hey, brother. So good to be back and reconnecting with you. I missed you.
Matt Bowles: I missed you, man. We are in person today, and I am so excited about that. Let us begin by setting the scene and talking about where in the world we are and then specifically where we are and what we are looking at.
Tarek Kholoussy: We are overlooking right now the city of Eternal Springs, Medellin, Colombia.
Matt Bowles: Yes, we are. And it is so great to be in person with you and sharing this view and sharing this evening together. We just decided to turn on the microphones because you were actually one of the first 20 Maverick Show episodes. You were on as episode #17. Anybody that has not listened to that episode, we’re going to link it up in the show notes. I highly suggest you go back and check that out. Provides a lot of amazing contexts for this episode. We went through your whole story. You talked about some incredible travel stories. There’s a lot of really amazing things in that episode, but when I interviewed you for that episode, that was back in 2018, we were together in Brazil, and you were just launching Nomads Giving Back. That was literally, I think, your first podcast you ever did about Nomads Giving Back.
And now it is four years later, and I wanted to definitely have you back on the show to talk about basically, what’s going on in the last four years. And Medellin, I think, is such a very fitting city for us to be having this conversation in, because I know that the city means a lot to you and you have a lot of history with this city, and maybe that’s a good place to start. Can you share a little bit about, for you, what Medellin means to you, why you love it, and maybe some of your top highlights or memories or experiences from the city?
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, I have to begin by just sharing that I will never forget the moment we met, because you literally came up to me immediately after I gave the talk about the life lessons on my journey, and you introduced yourself, and you said, can we have dinner tonight? And we just bonded over, like, so many shared interests and passions. You know, you’re a big advocate for social impact. So, you were there from the moment no man’s giving back was born. And you were actually my very first podcast interview. And I remember just thinking, wow, it’s time to level up. These are the kind of things I’m going to be doing. And since then, I’ve done a bunch of those and a bunch of talks, and I just. I’ll never forget my first.
Matt Bowles: Well, I will tell you that I continue now, today, four years later, to have people coming up to me and saying, hey, I found the Maverick Show, and I’m listening to the podcast and that episode with Tara Kholoussy, like, wow, it was amazing. It was so inspiring. Some of those travel stories were incredible. And people continue to find the episode, listen to it, and give me incredible feedback on it to this day, man. So, it’s forever.
Tarek Kholoussy: Oh, that’s really wonderful to hear, especially on your podcast, because you have so many amazing guests and, yeah, your support means the world to me, brother. But back to Medellin, oh, my God, it feels so good to overlook the night sky line right now with the lights popping up. And this city just brings back so many memories. My first time in Colombia was back in 2013, when I began my nomad journey nine years ago. And from the moment I arrived on a boat from Panama, I think it was five days on the boat, arrived in Cartagena and from the moment I jumped on land, I fell in love, actually. Literally. I did meet a girl the day I arrived, and we had a really powerful connection. But we’ll leave that for another story, another time. Yeah. So, I just had some amazing experiences here. I think, you know, people often ask me, like, what is it about Colombia? What is it about Medellin? And I really think it’s about the people. They are so full of life, vivacious, hospitable, warm, and they just seem to know how to enjoy life. And I come from a more corporate New York City background, where, of course, we know how to have a good time, but work comes first. We operate in the mind.
But I think down here, it’s about family, it’s about community, it’s about connection, it’s about music and just enjoying all the things that life has. And then, of course, there’s the nature for the size of the country. It has so much biodiversity, and you can hang out on the beaches, the mountains, the farms. In Medellin, specifically, it’s, I think, my favorite city. The city has so much art and integration of nature and the eternal springs. And, you know, when I really think about the places, I love the most, like Medellin in the world, there’s an association with the places where I had the most powerful experiences, the most personal growth that has to be here. And this is where, other than that first month when we landed in Brazil and we did the podcast and I did my first pilot project, we all celebrated New Year’s Eve in Copacabana beach, all dressed in white with 2 million people and 100 Nomad cruisers. And then around 2 or 3 in the morning on New Year’s Day 2018, I said to everyone, all right, well, see you guys later. And they said, oh, it’s too early. What are you doing? It’s only two or three in the morning. I’m like, I got to head to the airport. I’m flying to Medellin. And I started that day in that year as well, in Medellin, Colombia, and gave birth to Nomads Giving back.
Matt Bowles: That’s so amazing, man. Well, the other place that I know, obviously, is a really special place in your heart is the homeland, Egypt. And I know that you just recently visited Egypt again as well. And I want to ask you a little bit about that, because that was actually one of the things that you and I initially bonded over as well, because when we met, I had been to Egypt about three times. I have spent probably about a year in Egypt, and So we connected on that level as well. And I’d love to hear for you a little bit about your experiences in Egypt and why folks should definitely at least visit and spend some time in Egypt.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, well, Egypt is my motherland. I was born in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, but my parents came from Egypt the year before I was born. And so, I grew up in an Egyptian family. And it’s what I know there was Egyptian community where we grew up as well. And I just love the warmth and hospitability of the people. They’re so warm, as we talked about. And then Egypt itself, there’s so much energy there. It’s a very bustling big city of Cairo with so much history. And when you think about the ancient Egyptian history, like the pyramids, I just popped in there, like I said, a month ago, for the first time in years, and we went to the pyramids. It was the day after February 22, 2022. And I climbed into the tomb inside the pyramid with one of our mutual friends, Bianca, the altruistic traveler. And there were people having, like, a spiritual experience there. They were singing, like, seance, and. Because they were there for the whole big day. And you could just feel the special magic that Egypt brings and the history that it has.
Matt Bowles: So, we talked a little bit about Egypt on the last podcast episode that we did. And at the time, I was telling you a story about when my sister came to visit me in Egypt. And you listened to the story and appreciate it and all. And basically, the anecdote that I was sharing was that I was living in Egypt for probably about nine months, and my sister came from New York to visit me, and I took her to the local street cart that I get my lunch from every day, Fuluntamea cart, and the street in Cairo. And the guys know me so well because I go there every day and I buy my lunch from them. And when my sister came to Cairo, I took her there on the first day, and I explained to my broken Arabic that this is my sister and she’s from New York, and this is her first time in Egypt, and she’s come to visit me. And they went behind the cart and pulled out a table and a chair, and they were wiping it off and putting it there on the street for her to sit so that she would have a table and not have to stand while she’s eating her food. And then we ordered lunch, and they brought it to the table, and they served us and stuff like that. And when we were done with lunch, I went to pay them and they refused to accept the money. They said, no, no. Your sister is a guest in our country. This is her first time in Egypt. Welcome to Egypt. Thank you for coming to visit. You’re our guest. Your money’s no good here, basically, right?
And so, I told you that story and then we went on with the podcast. So about, I don’t know what it was. Maybe even just a few days later after we had recorded it, you had posted a post on Facebook basically saying that you had been to your hundredth country. And it was this great milestone. And I wrote a comment on your post and I said, you, hey, brother, it was so great to experience that 100th country together with you, which was the African island nation of Cape Verde, where we were together. And after I commented that on your post, my sister commented on your post saying, hey, wait a minute, you two know each other. Absolutely blowing my mind. Like, my head starts to spin. And then you comment and you’re like, wait a minute, you two are related. You have the same last name. And I’m like, how in the world do you know my sister? Yeah, so how do you know my sister?
Tarek Kholoussy: I love this story. So, you know, I’m a such a big believer in serendipity. And so, when those moments happen, you know that the universe is saying you’re on the right track and meeting you is one of them, and meeting your sister is one of them. So, I met your sister. Even though there’s the New York connection, we didn’t meet in New York. And even though there’s this nomad movement, we didn’t meet in a nomad capital. We met in a Tibetan monastery in rural Nepal where I did my very first yoga retreat during this month that I had of self-challenges where I went offline for the full month. I tried experimenting with being a vegetarian. And I started that month with a yoga retreat. And that’s where I met your sister. And we figured that out thanks to the serendipity of social media.
Matt Bowles: Absolutely amazing. And it was even more amazing because my sister is not a full-time nomad, but she had taken a sabbatical from her job and was traveling around the world for quite an extended period and was doing all of that kind of stuff. And then the two of you ended up in the same place and got to know each other and had that connection. I mean, that was just unbelievable, man.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah. And it’s funny because I met both you and your sister during two of the most important moments of my entire life. Because that month in Nepal, as you know, I hiked to Mount Everest base camp and on the last day of the month ran the highest marathon in the world, which was like something I never imagined I could have done. And with you giving my first public talk to 500 nomads, announcing this vision for this dream I’ve had for my entire life. So, I don’t know, something in your family is very important energy for me.
Matt Bowles: That’s amazing, man. I love that so much. I want to hear a little bit more. I know that the entire South Asian region, the whole subcontinent is a very important place to you and that you’ve spent a lot of time in India as well as Nepal. And last time on the previous podcast we talked about the rickshaw run that you did across India and what that experience was like. But I know you’ve also spent time in Goa as part of your personal journey and spiritual growth and all that kind of stuff that that also has an important place for you. And it’s actually a place in India that I’ve never been and would love to hear a little bit about your experience in Goa.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, sure. So, India for me has also been really interesting experiences. I’ve been there maybe four or five times now, going back to 2006 for the first time when I was my corporate life. And so, I saw India from like that whole outsourcing corporate experience the first couple times. And then you mentioned the rickshaw run where I drove a rickshaw like a tuk-tuk across India from top to bottom for 4,000 kilometers. And then this most recent time was about maybe three years ago or four years just before Nomads Giving Back. And for me, I went there that time for two months where I was looking to get off the grid, really do a lot of self-reflection and inner work. And Goa is one of those places that just has choose your own adventure on. You can mix and match and just do different types of retreats, workshops.
The people there were not on the screens, the people that are there, it’s. I wouldn’t say it’s a digital nomad hub. It has potential for certain places. I did see like a couple really small co working hubs, but that’s not what I was looking for and that’s not what it’s known for. And yeah, I just really found myself letting go of the so-called matrix of the West. But then even like the digital nomad movement, it was nice to kind of take a step back and reflect. And you know what, by the end of those two months, I actually said to myself, do I really want to create a social enterprise? Even though that was my stated goal, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. And it was interesting to go through that process because I thought to myself, am I doing that for the ego? Am I doing that? Like, why does it have to be some big thing? If I really want to help people, why does it matter how many? Why not just help the community around me?
And I almost had second thoughts, but for not the wrong reasons, but potentially the right reasons. Then I came full circle, and I concluded for myself, at least for my personal journey, that everyone has a unique journey, including myself. And I feel like throughout my education and my work experience, I acquired some skills that I developed over the years. And I thought, there is this opportunity to really contribute to the world using my unique background and my unique skills, my unique passions. So, I went full circle. But it was good to revalidate my actual personal why. And letting go of doing it for the wrong reasons, but rather the right reasons.
Matt Bowles: That’s awesome, man. Well, in addition to Egypt and North Africa, I know that you’ve also spent a lot of time in sub–Saharan Africa, and it was another thing that you and I bonded over. I remember one of the first nights we were just sharing stories from Uganda, and then on the last podcast episode, you shared some incredible stories from East Africa, and we were talking about Uganda and all of that, and just some really incredible times that both of us have had there. But one of the places that you have spent time that is really the tippy top, maybe the number one country on my bucket list in Africa that I have not yet been to is Ethiopia. And I know that was a significant place in your journey as well. Can you share a little bit about your experiences in Ethiopia?
Tarek Kholoussy: Sure, yeah. Ethiopia is special. Well, historically, they are one of only two countries in Africa that have never been, like, occupied. And I personally kind of felt that because they have a very distinct, unique culture, even among its neighboring countries. It’s a very rich in culture from their food. For those of you who haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it.
Matt Bowles: Amazing.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, amazing.
Matt Bowles: One of my favorites in the world.
Tarek Kholoussy: So true. It’s so special and unique and full of flavor. And then the people have a certain resilience and pride about themselves that I think distinguishes them from among the rest. And I’ve been there three times, and the first time I just went to explore. I know you like to talk about travel hacks sometimes, so I’ll just throw that in here. I was in Thailand and I wanted to make my way to Cape Town. So, it’s quite a journey. And there was a layover in the flight I looked at in Addis Ababa, right in Ethiopia’s capital. And so, there’s this trick I found where you can try to extend your one-way ticket by making it multi route. And you play around with the dates. And in this particular case, I kept saying, okay, well if I stay for a few days and the price didn’t go up. And then I said, okay, I kept going up and it was up to two weeks before the price went up.
So, I basically had a free trip to Ethiopia for two weeks and I just put myself out there and met some locals and they really showed me a more local experience, made some really deep friendships. And then I went back and saw them again. And one time I went to the Social Enterprise World Forum, which is this annual conference that they rotate continents. And this time it was in Africa, which really piqued my interest. Because if it’s in Africa, in Ethiopia, then there’s going to be a lot more Africans and Ethiopians, which is a great unique way to connect with the social impact scene among the leaders in the continent, not just Ethiopia. And I’ll never forget because I had launched Nomads Giving Back before I went there that last time.
And I made a comment in one of these panels, like with 50 people that I lead Nomads Giving Back. And then after with the panel, like eight people came up to me and wanted to learn more. And they’re like, so tell us about your work with the nomads. And I started talking and they were looking really puzzled. And it took me a little while to realize that they thought I was talking about real nomads, like people who are living nomadically in Ethiopia, roaming around and living in the desert. And I had to explain to them that there’s this thing called digital nomads with like laptops and cafes. And they’re like, huh? And it really was like a wakeup call to just remember, number one, how privileged we are. But number two is perspective is everything.
Matt Bowles: Man, I was in Mongolia in 2019. I was there with a group of digital nomads. And one of the things that we, I mean, the Mongolians are like the OG nomads, man. I mean, in terms of exactly what you’re talking about in terms of their culture. And so, we actually got to go and hang out with some Mongolian nomad families, go into their yurt, they call them gers, is the name of the architectural structure. But we got to actually go into where they live and sit around with them, and they made us tea and all this kind of stuff. And of course, they spoke no English, but we had a Mongolian guide who was bilingual and was translating. And it was this amazing exchange because we’re like, teach us the ways of nomading. Because we’re like, we’re digital nomads, but we’re literally asking them all the same questions that we get asked, right? Like, if you’re nomadic and you’re moving all around all the time, how does dating work? How do you find a relationship partner? How do you, like, not be lonely and have, like, social connection? Teach us the ways, because you’ve been doing this for a heck of a lot longer than we have
Tarek Kholoussy: I love that.
Matt Bowles: And it was, like, an amazing exchange when you are able to connect with them and then to sort of build that bridge, give them another example of, like, this is kind of how we’re doing it and stuff. But ultimately, a lot of the same principles are pretty similar.
Tarek Kholoussy: It’s so true. It’s so true. That’s amazing. Yeah. And, you know, just one other anecdote from Ethiopia is that, you know, I wear three bracelets and a necklace, and I got this necklace with you in Cape Verde to memorialize the symbolism of the hundredth country. And the hundred countries don’t matter. The number doesn’t matter. But it was just a personal goal that served me well in my particular journey. And one of my bracelets here is from Ethiopia that I got from a woman in a village in the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia. And I just could not fathom how fascinating these cultures are within the villages in rural places in the world, but especially in southern Ethiopia, because they’re just so resilient.
And I can imagine that they’ve been living this way for generations and generations. And I really admire these cultures that didn’t get caught up in the whole industrialization. And a lot of benefits have come from living in an advanced culture. But there’s also a lot of drawbacks that you know from being obsessed with technology and careers and being in the mind. And I just loved the simplicity of their traditions. And also particularly intrigued by how each village is so unique within, like, there can be one and a half hour away where one was, like, flourishing and looked happier and more economically viable. And then there was a one that was, like, more struggling. And you learn that one of them believes in these things and these values and the other one doesn’t. And it’s just kind of fun to connect the dots in terms of what values help a community flourish versus, you know, not.
Matt Bowles: Yeah, man, that’s amazing. I want to go to Ethiopia so bad. I lived in Washington, D.C. both of us have spent time in D.C. and as you know, that’s the largest Ethiopian immigrant community in the United States is in D.C. so they have all of these amazing Ethiopian restaurants, and there’s all these Ethiopians there, right? And so, we’re just amazing people. And I’ve actually been through the airport. I’ve transitioned flights in Addis Ababa Airport, and one time I used my miles to upgrade to business class for a long-haul flight on Ethiopian Airways. And one of my primary incentives for doing that was the food. I was excited about getting in the business class experience on Ethiopian Airways. So, the first thing was that I got to go to the business class lounge in Addis Ababa Airport, which was amazing.
And they do a whole Ethiopian coffee ceremony there in the business class lounge in the airport, which is amazing. Ethiopian coffee is incredible. And it’s widely regarded, I believe, as being the international, global birthplace of coffee. Came from Ethiopia originally, right? And then I can remember this. I was on the business class flight on Ethiopian Airways, and they come through, and if the folks are Ethiopian who are sitting there, they pretty much just serve them the Ethiopian food. But if you’re not Ethiopian, they ask you, sir, they come up to me, sir, would you like the Ethiopian menu or would you like the Western food menu? And I basically looked at it. I said, ma’, am, I literally upgraded to business class on this flight just for the Ethiopian food. I will take as much of it as you are willing to give me. It is like my favorite food in the world.
Tarek Kholoussy: Amazing.
Matt Bowles: So incredible, man. I’m so excited to get there.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yes.
Matt Bowles: So, let’s talk a little bit about Nomads Giving Back. And the last interview that we did, you had just announced it, you had just launched it. It was the first podcast interview you did about it. And I was super privileged to be able to help, to sort of amplify it and provide a platform to help the announcement get out to the world about it. And then over the last four years, just to watch the progress of how you have built it and scaled it and brought so many amazing people into the fold that have become involved with it now and so much impact that it’s had. I would love to go through a little bit of the history, literally from our last podcast interview, starting in Brazil until Now, so can you take us through maybe some of the highlights and maybe just starting in Brazil?
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, sure. So basically, from day one of announcing the vision for it, and like you said, it was day one, there was nothing but a logo and a statement. Nomads Giving Back’s vision is to inspire you to give back to the communities that you call home away from home. And our mutual friend Johannes, founder of the Nomad Cruise, came up to me and said, hey, listen, we have a fundraiser every Nomad Cruise and we haven’t picked the causes the funds are going to go to. So, would you like to spearhead this project and choose the Brazilian causes? It’s like, sure, why not? So, the generous community made some nice donations and basically from day one landing in Brazil, I started reaching out to social causes and meeting with them and talking about them and learning about the issues that they’re helping us solve. And we selected two different causes. One was really interesting because it was a school in the favela that was in Rio and you’ve been to the favelas and you know, like how the challenges but also the beauty of these communities. And this school was actually funded a lot by the author of The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho, and he donated his villa as the library.
So, it was really cool, like to be in the library of an author who was truly inspiring for me. It was one of the major books and influences of me building the courage in my old corporate life to take the leap into the unknown and become a nomad. And so, we ended up selecting that school for as one of the major recipients. And they had never had any sort of digital skills program before. So, we helped them facilitate to create one and use the money to pay for the teachers. And they welcomed nomads who wanted to contribute and volunteer there as well. So that was like our first initial project and month one. And then as I mentioned earlier, on New Year’s Day, after celebrating with you and the team and the crew, I came to Colombia and I went to a well-known co working co living place here called Selena. And I just walked in there and I asked if anyone might know someone who might want to join my team. And before I even left that discussion, I had a CV of someone by the name of Manuela. And we met the next day and she joined my team and before you know it, we brought on her friend and then another friend. And then before you know, we had a team of five or six Colombians and myself that were spending days in the cafes of Poblado and Lorella’s.
And Medellin, and we were just building Nomads Giving Back from scratch. And ultimately, the challenge we were looking to solve is I want to get people who want to give back, but they don’t know how, and to, like, really, like, inform, inspire, and empower people to give back. And before you can really feel empowered to know how, you need to feel inspired and know why. But before you can even know why, you need to be informed and know what, like, what are the local social challenges? So, we first did this by building partnerships, local partners with impact leaders, and trying to understand what are the social challenges and what can people like the foreigners do to give back in a meaningful way, in a way that actually makes a positive impact. We talked many times about the complexities of volunteerism giving back. And so, we wanted to make sure that we come in with a humble perspective and listen and then see how we can contribute.
Matt Bowles: Yeah, I want to ask you a little bit about that. You obviously have a lot of experience in various different social enterprises and volunteer work and all of that before you founded Nomads Giving Back. And so, I want to ask you, when you approached this project, how did you think about navigating some of the problematic power dynamics that often accompany charitable work and voluntourism, like the White Savior complex and things like that, that oftentimes all too often leave the privileged people feeling good about themselves that they did something, but oftentimes leaving the local communities as disempowered as they were, or even more disempowered at the end of it all. So with your experiences that you’re bringing to the table, how did you sort of approach that and sort of navigate some of those problems as you were building Nomads Giving Back?
Tarek Kholoussy: That’s a really good question. I’m glad you asked it. It is a very complex subject, and my perspective has evolved over time. One thing that’s really important, I just want to reiterate from what I just shared, is that it’s critical to come in with open ears. Like, there’s that famous quote about we have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak. So that kind of philosophy of, like, understanding that people come from a different perspective, from a different background, they might have the best intentions, but sometimes intentions aren’t enough, and that sometimes more harm can be done than good. However, I am in the camp that intentions really do matter, because we’re all growing and we’re all learning, and it’s important not to scare off people with good intentions. I’ll give you an example. You and I just, last night went to a beautiful event. It was a music performance here in Medellin by my friend, leads this organization. It’s a nonprofit foundation that teaches music skills to less privileged children. And last night was a performance to celebrate their work. And it was beautiful. Very high energy.
In that same theater two months before we met, when I was preparing for that talk and building the vision for nomads coming back, I went to an event, and in that event, the topic of volunteerism came up, and one of the women in there on stage said to everyone, you should never, ever volunteer abroad. And that really triggered me, because I don’t believe in that. But I think that there’s such a spectrum of views on this. But highlight here is that there was someone in the audience who had the opportunity to go to a volunteering day two days later. And I invited her, and she said, I don’t want to go because I don’t have anything to offer. And I was told I should never volunteer anyway. And I just felt so disenfranchised because there is beauty in volunteering and connecting with local causes, because it’s not just helping others. It’s really helping yourself. Giving back is about also, it’s okay to feel good and give. I think there are some people that think you should never feel good about when you’re doing something good.
And all I know is that there’s this virtuous cycle that can happen where if you create positive energy and you inspire people and you help people, that will come back to you, whether you believe in karma or not. There’s a spiritual side of this, but there’s also just it feels good to feel empowered that you can make a difference. A lot of us don’t feel good in life because we feel like, what difference can I make with the problems in the world? But if everyone thought that there would be no good. So, to bring it back to more of a practical level, it’s important to try to work with local leaders, listen, understand what their needs are. If it’s a major project, capacity building is important. Sometimes there’s situations where a nonprofit or some A team of volunteers will come in, they don’t bring it to completion, where if they leave, it all falls apart. So, I think upskilling people to run these programs that they’re launching is crucial and often missed.
Matt Bowles: Yeah. And I think another important component that you are very attentive to is empowering the local community initiatives. That are already in place and working on this stuff and plugging in under their leadership and direction, as opposed to coming in and dictating to them what to do or things like that, which I think is a really important piece of this, right? And I remember that you have actually invited me to participate in some of the Nomads Giving Back events, which have all been amazing, amazing and fantastic. One of which I remember was the one that we did in Lisbon right after we got off of the Nomad Cruise. Can you share a little bit about that? I mean, that was absolutely packed.
I just remember it was like standing room only. People were trying to get in the door. I mean, it was like a really huge event. And it was so cool because it was led by these local organizations that were doing incredible work. And you had approached them and asked, how can we support what you’re doing here if we’re going to be spending time in your city as digital nomads? How can we plug into the things that you’re doing and help you to advance your cause? And I think that’s kind of the really important framework for navigating some of these power dynamics that circumvents a lot of these problems.
Tarek Kholoussy: Right.
Matt Bowles: When you just simply do that. But can you share a little bit about the Lisbon event?
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, 1,000%. Yeah. That was a really special day. Yeah, we packed that room with like, I think 100 people or so. And you were an amazing moderator, as expected. And we just learned about what these leaders were doing in a local level and how people can give back. And I think going back to the inform, inspire, empower, it fascinates me how little we know what’s going on in the environments around us and how complex issues these are. Now, I often talk to these leaders of these social impact organizations, and when we ask, like, how can we help? A lot of them say it’s about getting their mission out. They’re often running on a grassroots budget, busy as hell, may not have the skills or the desire. Some of these people are so humble and they don’t like the whole PR side, the social media side.
And on the flip side, we have so many of these digital nomads that they are all about the social media, right. That’s their forte. Often, it’s their profession. So, we launched a free Volunteer Matching Program a couple years ago, and it’s a great opportunity for these social causes to put out their needs. And then these aspiring volunteers can just come to us and we do the magic behind the scenes and match them. And what cause doesn’t want to have more help with marketing, maybe upgrading their website, advocacy. A lot of these nomads and foreigners have a strong online presence and an influencer community. Just by spreading the word of the great impact work that they’re doing can make the world of difference for these organizations.
Matt Bowles: That’s awesome, man. Well, I also want to talk to you about one of your latest initiatives, Nomad Skill Share, which I know emerged out of Bali. Can you share a little bit about maybe just Bali in general, a little background about what Bali means to you, and, of course, you spent a lot of time there over the last couple years, but maybe just share a little bit about that experience and then how Nomad Skill Share evolved and what it is.
Tarek Kholoussy: Absolutely. So, I’ll start with Bali, then. Bali is my other favorite place in the world. Sometimes I say I went to the buffet and I sampled a lot, and then I went for seconds to a handful of my favorites. And then, you know, you’re full, but you just can’t get enough of your favorite couple dishes, and you just keep going. So, Bali Medellin is where I’ve been hopping back and forth the past few years. Like Medellin, Bali has amazing people. Not just the locals that are so warm and rich in culture and friendly and community focused, but also the foreigners who live there and visit there there’s a diverse group. But the people that I connect with, who resonate with me are just super inspiring and go after their dreams, and they have their passions and skills, but they also have, like, this healthy lifestyle, from yoga to the gym to healthy eating and surfing and all these amazing things. So, it’s like there’s always at least a dozen events to choose from or workshops or anything every day. It’s almost like a choose your own adventure retreat, you know, a la carte. So that I find myself also just having had a lot of deep, deep growth experiences and meaningful relationships that were birthed out of out of Bali. When I was going back and forth between Medellin and Bali, I couldn’t decide, and I kept changing my mind.
And then when I thought I chose Colombia, I said, I’ll go to Bali one last time. And that was February 2020 days before the world shut down. So, I like to say I got, “stuck in Bali”. For two years I didn’t leave an island. You know, what’s interesting is that as nomadic as I am, and I don’t know if I ever told you, but my name, Tarek, literally means nomad. So, I Think it was destiny that I became a nomad. I was happy staying put for those two years. I really believe that we explore the world, to explore within, and that we also had different chapters of our lives. And that really served me well. And to go full circle, Bali now is where we have our biggest presence and we have about 25 teammates there, half Indonesian, half foreign. And I mentioned my very first teammate came from Medellin, a Colombian named Manuela. A few months ago, she became a nomad herself and moved to Bali and is now my right-hand chief of staff and doing an amazing job. And I just love how full circle this has gone. And to answer your question about Nomad Skill Share, so along the way, as I did just reference the pandemic, it really forced us to take a step back and say, okay, well what do we do in this new world where people aren’t getting together?
And we had had 130 events in these three and a half years and the first half were all in person in the first year and a half. So, when the pandemic hit and we’re not bringing people together, the co-working places are shut, nomads aren’t nomading. It was a good chance to take a step back and be like, okay, well how can we look at these restrictions but also turn it into opportunities? And how can we serve our mission in a deeper way? So, in hindsight, it actually helped us get more laser focused because while advocacy is important and that was our main thing, we wanted to also have a direct impact. And what is it that nomads have that kind of unites us all? It’s skills. Because how can you be location independent, earning an income without skills? And there are digital skills. And in these tourist destinations and these nomad hubs, there are a lot of these foreigners and a lot of locals supporting those foreigners in the tourism economy. And Bali is an example, a prime example of the impact that can happen when tourism drops. Take a place that has 80% reliance on the GDP on tourism and take away tourism, hit it hard.
And so having a more diverse economy and having people have the freedom to work online if they want to, to enter that global economy where they could tap into opportunities globally as opposed to only in their one location. So, we’ve said, okay, let’s create something where we can share skills not just among ourselves, among the nomad and foreign community, but especially giving back to local communities. And over the last year we’ve been building this out and we now have a platform and a community that are teaching skills. And we created three self-paced courses, starting with remote work skills such as, like how to get your dream online job, how to become a social media manager, how to become a virtual assistant. And today we just launched our first partners course, which is all about solopreneurship that we didn’t create ourselves, but we’re now creating a marketplace and selecting amazing teachers on different types of skills. We have a buy one, give one program, buy one, give one scholarship.
So, for every course we offer someone, we’re giving a scholarship to a less privileged person from a local community. And at the end of the day, you know, they say you can give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish, he’ll eat forever. But what’s also important is actually like taking them to the lake because it’s not just a skill, it’s like, how do you get that first job? How do you get that first client? So, we’ve been really great about bringing some of these people into our team and our community and upskilling them on a mentoring level and then hooking them up with referral and recommendations. And so, a number of people, especially in Bali, have come through our courses, come through our team and now are having paid opportunities. It’s really beautiful seeing this come together. We have now more than 100 teammates around the world, volunteers, ambassadors, community leaders that are all just supporting this mission because it resonates with them and we’re all co creating this as we go.
Matt Bowles: That’s so amazing, man. It’s been so incredible and inspiring to watch it evolve over the last four years, since our first interview until now. For you, when you think back on the last four years, back to Brazil, when you just announced, I’m going to do this right, this is happening, this is launching. We got a website and a mission statement to now with all of these hundreds of team members and ambassadors and folks all over the world and all of the things that you and the Nomads Giving Back team and community have been able to do over the last four years. When you reflect back on it all, on your experience building the social enterprises and having the impact that you’ve had over the last four years, what are your primary takeaways from that? What did you learn over the last four years through the process of doing this and building this? What is your main sort of reflections and takeaways?
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, I’m still learning every day, but a few things I think I have learned in the last few years is first of all, I thought I had this impressive career working in places like Goldman Sachs and these high caliber, high effective operations. But entrepreneurship is a whole another animal and especially social entrepreneurship. It definitely has had been a, at times a roller coaster. And I think building resilience and keep coming back to my personal why, like, why do I wake up and work long hours and give it my all? It’s beautiful to actually connect with the why and understand the impact is why I’m doing this. And because of that, I think I have really encouraged myself to grow from my lessons. And I’ve had many lessons. For example, managing volunteers is a different animal than managing people who are highly paid. And so, I had to really adapt and change in terms of learning to influence without authority, to really focus more on inspiration, and to really understand each teammate’s and each partner’s unique needs.
Everyone is different and everyone has different preferences. And so, I found myself really becoming more focused on the person behind the role or the partnership and really clicking with what is it that they’re looking for and starting with that. Second, I would say it’s been a real journey in terms of building my conviction in terms of I’ve been challenged. Like you said, social impact is a tricky space. And once in a while, especially in the beginning, somebody might challenge me in my intention or what I say or what I do. I’ll give you like a really small example, for a while we were having these meaningful movie meetups. You know, showing like a documentary and then having a discussion about it afterwards and having some networking and connections and often would have like a local impact leader talk about that topic. And it was really beautiful. We did about 20 of them. I met some amazing people through that. And I remember one time it was again, it was the early days, but somebody had made a comment on a post saying, how is this giving back and you really should charge instead of having me for free and then give that money to the cause.
For some reason, sometimes people feel more entitled and more judgmental when there’s a social cause behind it. But before those meaningful movie meetups, that coworking space in Bali was showing movies like Jurassic Park and sci fi movies and nobody ever had a problem with that. But because I wanted to actually do something for free with my volunteer. So, I’m just giving one really small, silly example that I needed to like grow my confidence and conviction that people are always going to challenge you, but if no one ever challenges you, then you’re probably not saying anything at all. It’s important to use your voice and you are someone I really look up to, Matt, in terms of someone who stands out for what they believe and puts their voice out there, whether it’s about social justice, diversity, inclusion. And I’m sure that what I’m saying resonates with you. I’m sure there’s people that have different opinions and challenge you.
But I found myself now speaking from the heart because I now know much clearer what I believe in, and I’ve seen a lot. And so, I now know and I come to those people who challenge me now with empathy. There’s nothing wrong or right. It’s just that they had a different journey, they had different experiences. And maybe if I walked in their shoes and had those experiences, I would think the same way. So, I think I matured in terms of understanding that we’re all one, we’re all connected. We might have different opinions, but those can be good. And just keep the faith that we’re on the right track.
Matt Bowles: That’s awesome, man. And thank you for your kind words, brother. Appreciate that. Let me also ask you, in reflecting back on your nine years of being a digital nomad, what are some of the key sustainability pillars that enable you to maintain this lifestyle? And you would recommend that other, maybe newer nomads be attentive to if they want to make this lifestyle fulfilling and inspiring and meaningful and happy and joyful and all of those things for the long term, what are some of the key sustainability pillars?
Tarek Kholoussy: I love that question. It’s a big one. Let’s break it down into mind, body, soul and heart. So, when I think of the mind, I think of, like, the professional things and financial sustainability and career. And from that perspective, I think I have seen that there are people that aren’t either used to or have the discipline or the focus to be in amazing place in Medellin and resist the temptations of just sightseeing and having fun and meeting people. And sometimes it’s hard to have the discipline to, like, focus on your projects and your work. For me, I actually had a remote work job living in New York for a bunch of years. Even my first job going back to 2001 as a consultant, I think that I kind of was used to being independent and goal focused, but I definitely have been tempted and have had phases where it can be quite distracting, especially because you have a sense of urgency. So, if you move too fast and you’re like, I’m only in Egypt for like a week, I want to be able to see this, this and this.
So, it’s important to Build in the time. And you know this new term called slomad, especially if your career and your work is demanding, don’t think that it’s like going on vacation for a week or two if you’re going to be doing this for years, right? So, building in budget time, and we all are different, so sometimes people work really well in coworking spaces, and they need that for the structure and the environment. Someone like me, not so much because I actually get distracted because I love to talk to people and I’m curious what they’re doing. So, I do best at home, working from home, or if it’s like light work, I’ll do it at cafes. We all figure it out over time. So, regarding the body, that’s something that I think is also easy to lose sight of because you want to try all the food and people are often drinking, and then you don’t want to make the time to go to the gym and even finding one. And so, for me, I ended up getting addicted to running marathons. And that was a way for me to stay fit because I’m like, oh, shit, I got a marathon in four weeks. I got to go for a training run.
So, setting goals that you need to get to a certain point on your fitness, I think is really important and a good way. And also finding friends and gyms that your part of the group to get that camaraderie. It’s a great way to meet people, by the way, is through sporting events and all that. And then on the soul, that might be different for different audience members, but for me, I think it’s really important to build in a daily practice of meditation. And I seek out different types of events to support important my spiritual path and personal growth and for the heart one of my dear friends, Aline, leads nomad soulmates in Bali, and she’s helping to try to solve that problem. Finding love on the road, that can be tricky too, because if we’re moving around and they’re not, or they can. And I think now with the major adoption of remote work, you and I were talking earlier, it’s a lot easier now. There’s flexibility and actually, like, what I love about the whole nomad journey is they say sometimes people who are traveling and wandering around are lost and they’re trying to find themselves that cliche.
And I like to think that we’re actually creating ourselves because we are a culmination of all our past experiences. And in this lifestyle, you can seek out experiences that you want, like, you just went for A salsa dance lesson an hour ago, right. How cool is that? Salsa classes in South America. So, we can create the experiences we want to become who we want to be. And the love is actually sometimes easier because you’re surrounding yourself with the people who you want to be around with. And energies are contagious.
Matt Bowles: Yeah, 100%. I think the people part of that is actually really important because the location independence gives you and empowers you not only to be able to select the physical destination where you want to spend time in, but the people that you want to spend time with. And it allows you this incredible ability to be very intentional about curating your social community and spending time with the people that you want to spend time with. So, I agree. I mean, I think that is a super important advantage to the lifestyle.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, exactly. And an overarching theme of the whole big question there about sustainability for yourself. I think it’s yourself. It’s about getting more comfortable with who you are and if you’re not growing into the person who you want to be. And there’s nothing more liberating than having so much choice to seek that out. And. And it is an individual journey after all. We’re all on personal journeys. And so, I think that building that resilience and that comfort and that love for yourself can actually permeate all your goals and all your dreams.
Matt Bowles: So amazing. Let me ask you one more question and then we’ll wrap this up and move into The Lightning Round. You have now been to over 100 countries. You’ve been nomading for nine years. When you think back about the impact of all of that has had on you up to this point, why do you choose to continue to travel? At this point in your life what does travel mean to you?
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, so I really, truly believe that we explore the world to explore within. And what I find is that when I step into a new place, or even a place I’ve been to that is special, it just gives me that fresh perspective. It’s when you almost go back within to yourself. And every time I’ve been trying to level up my game, for lack of better phrase, I have really realized that the people who you meet at where you’re at now will treat you the way you are now, the way you present yourself, the way you carry yourself. But sometimes, like in the past, it was harder to grow and change when I was surrounded by the same people in the same environment. And it’s not bad intentions. The people who love you the most can sometimes hold you back because they’re treating you the way you used to be. And sometimes it’s not even them, it’s me. I fall into the pattern of playing the role I used to be. So, the number one thing that I found from traveling is that it’s advanced my personal growth. And because I’m resetting and surrounding myself with the people at the next level.
Matt Bowles: That is an awesome note to end on. And at this point, Tarek, are you ready to move in to The Lightning Round?
Tarek Kholoussy: Let’s do it.
Matt Bowles: Let’s do it. All right. On the last episode, I asked you to recommend a book, and you recommended The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. And when you came over here today for this interview, you showed me that you were actually re listening to the book The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer right now at this very moment. So that was an amazing, I think, tie back to that. When you recommended that book wasn’t just a book that once influenced you, but one that you continue to go back to again and again over the course of years. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to ask if you could recommend a second book that is really important to you or has significantly impacted you that you’d encourage people to check out.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, I’m going to go with the one I already mentioned in this chat. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. You know, when I was in my corporate life nine years ago, it took a lot of inner work to build a confidence to leave that good career behind, that old life behind, and go and take that leap into the unknown. And I did a series of things at the time, and I think The Alchemist was one of those books that really inspired me about exploring, about the power of serendipity. Oh, yeah, this is the power round. The Lightning Round. I better wrap up here.
Matt Bowles: All good, man questions. But you can feel free to extrapolate on your answers if you like. Next up, I want to ask you for one travel hack that you use that you would recommend to people.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, sure. Actually, I was just working on one today. So, after Medellin in a couple weeks, I’m heading to Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and one of the travel hacks is to set up an event even before you get somewhere. And you might have them. The desire to promote something that you’ve done before. That’s your thing. It doesn’t have to be. It could be just reaching out to a community and say, hey, who wants to get together on this thing? But get an event in your first few days, and it’s amazing. Especially about something you’re passionate about. Because then the people who are also passionate about it will come your way and they’re the people you want to be with anyway.
Matt Bowles: That’s awesome, man. Actually, while we’re talking about travel hacks, I want to also ask if you can expand on the one that you mentioned in passing about your extended layover technique. What platform are you using to book that? What is the technique for how exactly you’re doing that? Where can people go and try that for themselves?
Tarek Kholoussy: Sure, it’s pretty simple. I usually use Google flights and you can start with the one way and then you find out where the layovers appear and then you find the ideal flight with the layover you want, then go back and instead of saying one way, you click multi route and then you break them into two separate flights. So, in my case I think it was Bangkok to Ethiopia, Ethiopia to Cape Town, and you could play around with the dates. And at least with my experience, more often than not the price didn’t go up.
Matt Bowles: That’s amazing. Okay, so the technique is that if you ultimately, you’re in Bangkok and you ultimately want to get to Cape Town, you see what routes are available and we what the layover spots are. Then from there you pick your favorite layover spot where you’d like to spend time. So, in your case, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was one of the layovers. So, then you went back and changed it to a multi route flight where it was Bangkok to Addis and then Addis to Cape Town on the same day. So, it was basically literally the same flight that you had seen before. And then you start saying, what if the second flight left the next day or the next day and you just kept expanding out the to 14 days and the price was the same as if you had just booked the one-way original flight with the couple hour layover.
Tarek Kholoussy: Exactly. And if I remember correctly, I think it was only $400 to begin with.
Matt Bowles: Wow, that’s so amazing.
Tarek Kholoussy: So, I had a really special journey for a very cheap flight.
Matt Bowles: That’s a great travel hack. I love that. All right, Tarek, I also want to ask you if you can give one tip for stress reduction. When something happens in your life that raises the stress level, what are your techniques for stress management? One tip you can give.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah, so what I usually do if I’m having a stressful moment, I put on my favorite songs and I just sort of reflect and breathe consciously. And then I just try to remind myself that whatever it is is probably not that big of a Deal. And actually, you and I were just chatting about this before this chat that how many times in my life has it happened where I thought something was a setback and it served me well? And so ultimately, just to like, have faith and trust in the universe that everything is as it should be.
Matt Bowles: That’s awesome, man. All right, I want to ask you for three more of your favorite travel destinations. In the first episode, you gave three and we listed those out. But you have been to a lot of places, my friend. So, I want to ask if you can give an additional three of your favorite spots that you would encourage people to check out.
Tarek Kholoussy: I’m going to go with Nepal, where I met your sister, where I had the opportunity to do some hiking in the most beautiful nature top of the world. And I just also love the resilience of the people, the Sherpas, and getting off the grid. I really thought that Madagascar was unlike anything else I’ve ever been to. I believe they have 5% of the species of the world that are nowhere else and they have like the baobab trees. And I ran an ultramarathon there. And I just remember, like looking around, I had to like stop and take pictures during the run because I’ve never seen anything like this. Are we still on Earth? I like to see things I haven’t seen before and experience things I haven’t experienced before. And that was one of them.
And let’s see. Bhutan. Bhutan’s one that’s not too well traveled. And it’s such a unique, special place. It’s very untouched. Maybe the most untouched place I’ve been to. They don’t make it easy for tourists to go. You have to commit and prepay a trip. And I think it’s like $250 a day. And so therefore you don’t get a lot of those tourists that are just going in and they preserve the culture. The people are wearing their traditional attire in the day to day. I think there’s only one stoplight and they have this tiger’s nest that’s like this temple built into the side of a mountain. And you feel like you’re in some sort of exotic film, but it’s real life. So, yeah, I like the ones that are the most unique. So, it challenges my assumptions and just stirs my curiosity.
Matt Bowles: That’s awesome, man. And for the last question, I want to ask you about bucket list destinations, places you’ve never been that are super high on your list. In the last interview that we did four years ago, you had named Tibet, you had named West Africa, which I went to in 2019, by the way, as you know. And then you had named Vancouver, Canada. So those were your three that you named in 2018. I. I want to ask if you can put three more out there, places that are very high on your list. You’ve never been, you’d really love to see.
Tarek Kholoussy: Okay, so I’m going to start with Antarctica, and I’ll tell you why. During my running days, I had opportunity to run in marathons in six continents. And there’s this marathon in Antarctica that is still on my bucket list because then it would be all seven continents. People who have done that, they joined something called the seven Continents Club. And I think last time I checked, there was only like 800 people who have ever done that. And I think that’s less people than have been to outer space. So that’s still on my bucket list. I haven’t been in marathon running shape lately, but I want to get back into it. I would say number two is Ecuador. I haven’t been there, even though all these times I’ve been living in Colombia, just next door. You know, I’ve just seen pictures and heard stories from people and I just love the South American culture. So, I imagine I would love it there. Especially the Galapagos Islands, I’m sure. Let’s see the third one. New Zealand. Never been to New Zealand. And again, from the movies and my friends’ photos and videos, and the people I’ve met from New Zealand are just super chill and interesting people. So, there must be something about the culture there that produces such cool people.
Matt Bowles: Much love for the Kiwis.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yes.
Matt Bowles: And great pick, man with Ecuador. I did the Galapagos Islands in 2017 and. Absolutely amazing. I bet, I bet. Just incredible. And it’s just such a highly protected ecosystem that, you know, they limit the amount of human beings that can go in there. And the ecosystem system is so protected that the animals there, they’ve never had a reason to be afraid of humans as predators, that animals that live there. So, you go snorkeling and they just want to come up and play with you and hang out. They’re like, oh, sea lions and giant sea turtles. I’m like, oh, cool, here’s somebody else. Come play with me. You know, and they’re like swimming around with you and stuff like that. I mean, it is a wild experience. You see extraordinary things there. I mean, have you ever heard of a marine iguana?
Tarek Kholoussy: I have not.
Matt Bowles: I’d never heard of it either. And I go to the Galapagos Islands. And we went on like a four-night catamaran trip where half of the day is sort of a land excursion. We have a local marine biologist who’s taking you around and showing you the stuff on the different islands. And then the afternoon you’re snorkeling, right? And you have these unbelievable snorkeling experiences with all these incredible animals that are just hanging out with you. And so, one morning we go to this island and there’s all of these black colored giant iguanas and they’re just like laying on top of each other in piles and every once in a while, they spit or something like that. Then you’re just like, well, they’re just like laying here in the sun, like sleeping all day. And they explain to us that these are marine iguanas. And we’re like, oh, okay. So, what happens is that they lay on the rocks and just sleep all day in the sun. And then at pretty precisely like, I forget exactly what time it was, like 1pm in the afternoon. And I know this because we were snorkeling at the time, now we’re out there snorkeling, right? And you can see them all just lying on the rocks. Literally at 1pm. Hundreds of these things, they all get up at the same time. They come into the water at the same time. So, hundreds of these iguanas are coming in the water and we’re snorkeling on the surface. And they get on the surface of the water and they just start swimming out on the surface of the water.
Tarek Kholoussy: Wow.
Matt Bowles: So, you’re snorkeling and you’re like eye level with them and you just see hundreds and hundreds of iguanas just swimming towards you. But then all of a sudden, before they got to us, they all like on cue, turn downwards and they just swim straight to down to the bottom. And then they just crawl along the bottom of the ocean and find their food on the bottom of the ocean.
Tarek Kholoussy: That sounds like the coolest thing ever.
Matt Bowles: And you’re like snorkeling in the midst of it.
Tarek Kholoussy: All right.
Matt Bowles: I mean, it’s like the ecosystem that you’re immersed in as a human to just be there as it’s functioning. And these animals just like could care less that you’re there for the most part.
Tarek Kholoussy: Yeah.
Matt Bowles: Like they don’t view you as a threat. They’re not like, I mean, they’re just do their thing.
Tarek Kholoussy: That’s the way it should be.
Matt Bowles: It is. And it was just really extraordinary. So, yeah. And in the evening, our catamaran was out there and we had, you know, you have a chef on the boat who’s cooking you seafood. I mean, like, amazing stuff. And you’re out there and you just have the sunset every night. And they allow so few people into the ecosystem each year that in the evening, you’re on your catamaran, you’re watching the sunset, having a beer, this kind of stuff. And you look around, you can’t see another boat. You’re the only one there. We really felt like we had the whole thing to ourselves. It was just us and animals and the sunset, and it was just a very unique experience anywhere in the world. So, I highly recommend it.
Tarek Kholoussy: Oh, my God. Now I want to go there more than ever. Yeah.
Matt Bowles: Super special. So. All right, Tarek, I want you to let folks know how they can get involved with Nomads Giving Back. What are the different opportunities, the different ways that folks can plug into Nomads Giving Back, including the Nomad Skill Share initiative as well?
Tarek Kholoussy: Sure. So, yeah, like I shared earlier, we have this amazing global team of volunteers and ambassadors all over the world, socially conscious global citizens, and we’re always welcoming people that are aligned with us to join our team. We have a free Volunteer Matching Program where you can volunteer with a cause that you’re passionate about, sharing a skill that you’re willing to share. We welcome any impact partners that are looking for us to help advocate for them to raise awareness and join our partnerships. And then with Nomad Skill Share, we have these amazing courses. I just told you about that. If you’re looking to learn remote work skills and other types of skills, check us out. We have a free community that you can join at our website, nomadsskillshare.com where you connect with people around the world. And we even have a scholarship program. So, if you feel like you might need the financial resources or you don’t have them and you want to take the course, reach out to us and hopefully we can help you out.
Matt Bowles: Amazing. So, what are the ways that people can connect with you? What’s the social media? What’s the website like? How should people come into your world?
Tarek Kholoussy: Sure. So as far as the organizations go, there’s nomadsgivingback.com and all the social media handles were on the same name, Nomads Giving Back. And same story with Nomad Skill Share nomadsskillshare.com and for myself, you’re welcome to reach out to me. I love connecting with people all around the world. My Instagram is tarek.wsorld and you could find me on LinkedIn as well. I’m sure Matt will probably have the details below.
Matt Bowles: Indeed. We are going to link up all of these things in the show notes so you can just go to one place at themaverickshow.com go to the show notes for this episode. There you will find all of the links to connect with Tarek to get involved or at least learn more about Nomads Giving Back Nomad Skill Share and we’ll link up everything else that we discussed in this episode. Tarek, this was amazing brother. Thank you for coming back on the show.
Tarek Kholoussy: Absolutely. I can’t tell you how good is to see you keep doing what you’re doing man. Keep inspiring. I love everything you’re about.
Matt Bowles: I love what you’re about brother. Thank you for coming on. Good night, everybody.
