Matt Bowles: This is part two of my interview with Geleen Antonio. If you have not yet listened to part one, I highly recommend you go back and do that first because it provides some very important context for this episode. That was episode number 271. If you have already listened to part one, then please enjoy the conclusion of my interview with Geleen Antonio.

I also noticed that you mentioned that you had moved to Chicago, which I want to give a big shoutout to. I know you and I both love Chicago. I was actually born in Chicago, although I didn’t live there for very long. It is officially the roots. That’s where I was born. So, can you share a little bit for folks who have never been to Chicago? What do you love about the city of Chicago?

Geleen Antonio: I still call Chicago home. That is still one of the places. I think one of the places that I first chose to be my home versus California was chosen for me because Chicago for me is about community. And everyone is so welcoming and open to just meeting you and welcoming you into their front groups and it’s also very lively and in the summer especially because it does get cold but, in the summer, there are a lot of festivals there in every single neighborhood has its own festival drinking and events everything is happening outside.

There’s also a lot of culture, a lot of art that’s happening there. So, I love going to museums, doing street art, or just learning about history because there’s so much, and every neighborhood is unique. I think there’s, I’m going to get this wrong, like over 70 different neighborhoods in Chicago, and each one has his own personality.

One of my favorite neighborhoods in Pilsen because a lot of Pilsen now is a Mexican community, and so you have like the amazing art, the events, the culture, and the liveliness, and the food that’s in Pilsen, and I’m always just so welcoming every time I go there for an event. So yeah, it’s just, everything in Chicago I think I love because there’s also just so much diversity, uh, not in just the people, but also in the things that you can do there. So, whatever it is that you want and want to get up to, you can find that in Chicago. I even actually used to host meetups in Chicago for a few years for travelers or people who love to travel, and one of the things that I love doing in Chicago was finding the weirdest activities to go to and hosting an event around that or dragging my friends to go with me or even going by myself.

So, like one of, one of my favorite events was this event called Cheese Sex Death. And it was in a converted funeral home. So, this place is like a theater, but like really was a funeral home. So, they really played up on that death piece. It was a burlesque show that was cheese themed. And so, you had not very sexy burlesque dancers, but like you know, like some Rob or Les dancers that were all their acts focused on a type of cheese. So, there was one that was all about the cheese whiz can, and then there was like a guy that was dressed like a cheetah, the Cheeto and he was like just crawling on the ground with a bunch of Cheetos and spreading the Cheetos to everyone. So, you know, events like that can only really get in Chicago. I feel like

Matt Bowles: I am definitely asking for your recommendations. The next time I go to Chicago, Geleen, that is for sure happening. That is amazing. Well, I want to ask you know about your transition and the path from what you described as studying neuroscience and working in the corporate world and getting on that traditional track and how you were able to transition into this digital nomad life of full-time world travel that you do now.

Geleen Antonio: That transition happened in 2020 during the pandemic. So, while I was in Chicago, I was doing consulting and actually traveled a bunch for work. But I also, in that time frame was traveling to escape. So, I was constantly going on a weekend trip or going on, I think, at least a few international trips per year, specifically for my birthday or New Year’s or other trips my friends would suggest.

I was living this life in Chicago where I felt like, oh yeah, like, you know, really fun, successful, had a lot of friends. It’s great. And then the pandemic happened, and it really got me to start thinking about what, of course, like with everyone else, what is it that I’m doing? Right. We’re kind of in this pandemic where everything’s slowed down.

And like, what do I want to do with this time that I have? And it actually got into a pandemic relationship at this point. And it was great, but it actually, showed me how much travel is important to me because he wanted this path of like living in the suburbs, and his idea of travel was going to the same lake house in Wisconsin every year and his idea of fun was looking out into this lake in silence and I pictured myself I was like, “Oh, am I, would I be that person that sits next to him in this lake?”.

And I just couldn’t do it. And as great as that relationship was, we knew that there was a deadline for this relationship because we were just so different. And only a global pandemic was the reason that brought us together. Cause otherwise I would be off traveling, and he’d be in the suburbs, right?

So, it was a very pivotal time, a pivotal relationship for me because it told me, okay, what do you actually want? Why aren’t you going for it? When this relationship ended, my best friend actually was really supportive and she was like, okay, what are you going to do? Are you going to spend another quarantine, but now in the Chicago winter by yourself in your high-rise studio apartment working remotely?

And my answer was like, okay, well, when you put it that way, that doesn’t sound that great. What are my other options? And she really asked me, what would you do? You’re working remotely, you can go anywhere that you want to, like, what would you do if you were thinking in like the travel version of you? And when she asked that way, I was like, okay, I would want to travel to a different state, maybe stay for a month and, and go from there. Once the answer came out, she was like, okay, we’ll start with New York, cause that’s where she was. I was like, what do you mean? I have my apartment still; all those hesitations came up. Like, oh, my lease is there until January. I have all my things. We’re in a pandemic. Like, do I ask my bosses if I can even go? And she was like, I’m sure you’ll figure it out, but I’ll see you in like a month. And I was like, “Oh, okay, I guess I’m doing this”. And so, I got off that phone with her and I was like, Oh, crap. Okay. It’s been made, but I’m going to go to New York.

And that’s the funny thing is like, once you make a decision, no matter how scary it is, everything else will fall into place. The rest is just details. And that moment right there really showed that for me, because within a week, I found a sub letter. I got rid of all of my things, packed it up into a couple of suitcases, and I had told my managers, “Hey, I’m just going to go heal and see my best friend for a couple months if that works”.

I’m going to be working out in New York. And that’s kind of how I just started the Nomad journey. And of course, you know, from there, I just kept going. So, we’re counting on like over three years now where I’ve been doing this. So yeah, it’s been a wild ride for sure. Just constantly.

And in that path, it wasn’t like a, oh, I gave everything up and then it was everything’s good. And I’ve been living the same life ever since. It’s like, I’ve given up two different careers in corporate. I’ve moved to a lot of different places. I dove into myself and held things out that I didn’t know it’s been a very eye-opening last three, four years, basically.

Matt Bowles: Well, I, of course, want to ask you about founding Travel Not to Escape. Can you talk about the platform that you found, the original story and who does it serves and what does it offers?

Geleen Antonio: So, Travel Not to Escape really is a culmination of like the transformation that I went on. I realized that I am not the only one that might be feeling stuck, unmotivated, wanting a different life, but not knowing. How to make that change. Really, this company caters to that younger version of myself that maybe needed that guidance, and I want to serve as that guide, that skydive instructor for other women. So, it is primarily focused on solo female travelers. seasoned or aspiring, so if they’ve never traveled before but want to start and have some hesitations.

And the basis really is on three pillars that I discovered through my transformation. So, I realized over the last three years, and this is actually kind of how it got created, after nomading in the U.S. for a little bit, I ended up in Mexico and ended up staying there for like six or seven months. And in that time frame, I had a very spiritual experience and there were a lot of things that happened.

I met psychic mediums. I met different like spiritual healers and they just kind of appeared in front of me and would like to give me, it felt like a video game where they would give me like negative information, and I would take that and then I would go on this journey and then I would get another negative information from someone else.

And I was actually only supposed to stay in Puerto Vallarta for a year. or a week and ended up being half a year because in my soul I just felt like I needed to stay here longer. So, when I finally received whatever that final message was, it was the fact that I needed to really go into the solo travel empowerment business.

Like I need to share this with other people. And that was like the download that I got while I was there was, what are you doing? Like, why aren’t you helping people in this space? And it took me a while after I received that message in Puerto Vallarta to start to think like, okay, how do I want to do this?

And one of the things that also came up for me was the fact that connection and play are really important aspects of transformation. So not only is the fact that you’re like changing your life and doing all these new things and trying to create a different version of yourself, but you really have to have a foundation of connection because no one wants to do this by themselves.

And also, lightness and play. In my time in Vallarta, I kept running into people and we kept trauma bonding because we were having a lot of similar things that we were experiencing and I was meeting a lot of friends and connecting with a lot of people, but we were drinking, and we were just basically using each other as therapists.

I had kind of like an epiphany moment when I realized like, wow, I haven’t laughed in a really long time since I’ve been here. And when I started to chase that laughter, chase that likeness, I started getting connected with people that felt right, that felt like my people. And I would invite them to, “Hey, let’s go get dessert and play ukulele on the beach”.

And we would like to watch the sunset and twirl into the ocean. And we would do these really playful things. playful childhood type of activities. And that was really the starting basis for the, the play pillar of my business. So, as I started traveling after Vallarta, like I went to Playa del Carmen, for example, and at that point, my therapist told me to start to release some of my prior traumas and wounds by blowing bubbles. And I went on this journey to find bubbles and I could not find them for like three months in Playa del Carmen. But then I finally found them, and I invited other people to blow bubbles with me and the plaza and eat churros. And we had this beautiful bond of women in Playa del Carmen during this time because we were, we would just meet like at least once a week and blow bubbles and eat churros in the plaza.

And that’s when I started to realize like, wow, like these moments of play and lightness, like they’re so integral to like connection, and both of those are so integral to helping you grow and transform. And that’s the three things for Travel Not to Escape that I want to instill in others is transformation, which is possible for you, connection with yourself and other people in a more meaningful way, and play. As you’re doing all this work, it should be fun. It should be light. And I want to reignite that connection. Spirit and other people as well.

Matt Bowles: Can you talk about some of the in-person connection events that you have organized around the world? Maverick show listeners, for example, know Kim Kohler, whom I interviewed, who’s one of the co-owners of Nomad Soulmates. We did an entire episode about dating in the digital nomad lifestyle, which was entirely amazing. And I encourage anybody who hasn’t heard that episode, to definitely go listen to that one. But I know, for example, you’ve partnered with Nomad Soulmates, and you’ve partnered with several other artists.

Organizations in a number of different cities and countries around the world organize these connection events. Can you talk about some of them?

Geleen Antonio: Yeah. And that’s so funny that you also had Nomad Soulmates co-founder on your podcast, actually, my episode with Aline will be out soon as well. And so, I met Aline in Bali and Ubud and this was actually really recent, just a couple of months ago.

The way that I met her was a very kismet way because I ended up having to go to Kuala Lumpur for a visa run because my Vietnamese visa did not come through in time. I ended up meeting a woman, Adriana there, who actually also lived in Bali. And when I came back to Bali, she was like, I have to introduce you to someone.

And she like, really was like, no, it’s, I need to introduce you to, and ended up being Aline from Nomad Soulmates. And instantly, as soon as we met, I was like, I think, we should collaborate on something. So, our initial thinking was something around play because I’ve been doing play events as I’ve been traveling. And I was also a member of Outpost, which is the co-working co-living community in Ubud in Bali. And I had this idea of like, okay, well, what if we combine all three of us together into one event? The event was Speed Friending, and it was part of Outpost’s first Friday monthly event. So, it was great to like, include their members and also bring other people from the city together.

It was a play on the Nomad Soulmates concept of speed dating. And I was like, what if we do Speed Friending because we’re out of co working and it’s going to be uneven numbers? And then what if we, we add this element of play in there to get people connecting when they’re in this lighter, playful mood.

And so, the concept came together, honestly, in like a week and we got everything planned and promoted and it was beautiful the way it always happens that way, but we have like around 30 or so people showed up in the rain to come and play so we started off with playing musical chairs which warmed them up into doing musical speed friending rounds. And so we had like five or so different rounds where we would play some music, they would walk around a room and then when we stopped the music, whoever they locked eyes with or were right next to, they would start a conversation with.

And we would also give them different conversation prompts to keep it light. And then also dive into a little bit more meaningful conversation as well. And then at the very end, I reintroduced the play. We did a balloon pop activity, and it was a really fun time. So, I loved that. Creating these experiences in all the different cities, because it’s also like, who can I partner with? What is the community like? What are the types of toys and games that I can even use? Because each city has its own different supplies as well. So, the whole aspect of like creating and curating this experience is it lights me up and I’m so excited to be able to give that type of joy to other people as well.

Matt Bowles: Well, I love that you’re having a lean on your podcast. I want you to talk a little bit about your podcast, what you’re up to, obviously, as you know, I am a listener. What can folks expect from your podcast?

Geleen Antonio: I interview women who have had these transformative experiences themselves. As I mentioned, as I know I’m not the only one and I’m sure my story resonates with so many people.

And I meet all these amazing women on my travels who have done such crazy things taken so many risks made so many changes in their lives and are so inspiring in so many ways and I want to share their stories so other people can resonate with them, too all of my guests that have come on have some component of using solo travel as a way to change their lives. And we chatted about how it was done and their takeaway similar to the conversation that we’ve just had. I start our conversations off with a question about play, and I end it with a question about play because I think you can have like with little play sandwich with that in mind.

And so, we, we talk about play, we talk about how they make meaningful connections. What are some of their most transformative experiences on their journey? And also, they provide tips for other women that may be hesitant as they start their own journey.

Matt Bowles: Well, I also have to ask you about one more thing that has actually been one of my favorite pieces of content that I have heard from you, which was that you did a travel centric guided meditation.

And I have never heard that before, like a travel themed, a specifically travel themed guided meditation. And I was listening to it, and I was so appreciative of it because I’ve heard plenty of guided meditations. I mean, I have the headspace app and I have like, you know, all of this kind of stuff, but you did one that was specifically travel centric and I thought that was so unique and I appreciated it so much and I wanted to ask. If you have more of that coming and for folks that are interested in that type of stuff from you, you know, what else you have available?

Geleen Antonio: Yay. I’m so glad that that resonated. Yeah, that was one of the things that I really wanted to put out into the world because one of the biggest things I’ve heard from women is that they get anxious making these decisions.

And then there are a lot of different pivotal moments during the travel journeys that you can turn around because it’s scary. And yeah, sometimes all you need is five minutes to calm your nervous system and have someone in your ear giving you a little bit of a pep talk walking you through it and so that’s why I create these meditations.

So, the first one is on the podcast, I’m Putting a few more, and I have a few more on the website as well. And they’re actually going to be catered specifically to travel experiences, so an example of one is, right when you land from a trip at the airport there’s a lot of chaos. Your nervous system is just over-activated. You don’t know what car to get into. It just puts you in this place where you might make a rash decision and it might just be a little scary. And I have a meditation specifically for this moment where I guide you to go somewhere quiet, maybe a bathroom, maybe just the corner of the departure section where you can sit for five minutes, calm your nervous system so that you get the confidence and the courage to keep going to choose the right decisions that aren’t anxiety filled.

The meditations are very travel-centric in those very anxiety-provoking situations, as well as connection specific as well. So right before you go into a new event, say you want to meet a bunch of people and new friends, I have a meditation that will hype you up and get you some affirmations, get you to connect with yourself and be magnetic on your own right before you go to an event.

It’s that way when you go you feel your best self. So, I’m very excited to create that type of content. I’m also really focused on a connection at the moment that particular pillar because as I mentioned, it’s one of the foundational pieces to the transformation. And so, I have a free webinar that I’ll have posted and that is all about my five proven methods for how I make friends anywhere in the world that I go I’ve lived in over 30 cities just in the last three years. And I’ve used these same methods, and they work like I will land somewhere, and within a week I have been able to find my people by taking these particular steps. So, I want to share that with other people and on top of that.

I’m also launching my Passport to Connection program. So, it’s a one-day live virtual workshop where I go through all these things, so I go from How do you connect with yourself to understanding what you’re looking for in a connection? What type of values are important to you? And then we’ll walk through what your play style is, which I’ll maybe ask you that as well.

Understanding what your play style is a great way for me to understand what activities light you up, and it can be a basis for connection to get you meeting other people, whatever city that you’re in. And then once you have those activities, giving you the information to be able to filter for like-minded individuals, handle rejection, and then as we all know, as you travel, you’re, you’re leaving and you might not see people, but it’s like, how do you maintain the connections that you want to maintain even if it’s been a long time or you’re in a different city now. So it’s a full-day workshop that’s a very hands-on intimate group that I can help with these particular issues about connection So that if you have a trip coming up or say you recently relocated to a new city I want to give you all the knowledge to be able to make friends as soon as you land, and also build a community around that and so I do have a monthly mastermind so that not only am I giving you all this information, which could be a little bit of an information overload, but we also have the forum to meet consistently, to share your wins, to share some challenges and ways that you can get supported by the community. So, I’m very, very excited to launch Passport to Connection.

Matt Bowles: So Awesome. We are going to link all of that up in the show notes. So, folks can just go to one place that themaverickshow.com, go to the show notes for this episode there, you are going to find direct links to all of the offers that Geleen has and how to plug into her world in whichever of these ways sounds best to you.

Geleen, when you think back about all of the travel that you’ve done up to this point in your life, how has all of that impacted you as a person?

Geleen Antonio: It’s been the foundation for who I am right now. It’s not just my travel is my life, right? I am more than just the travels that I’ve been on, but it has been a catalyst for me to create and design this life that is authentically me. And I think without that, I wouldn’t have been able to see the other options that were out there that I could take for my own. Without that, I would still be feeling stuck in the same city that I grew up in, maybe in a relationship that was unfulfilled, in a career that was really stressed working and burnt out.

And so, travel is just, it’s a catalyst. It’s an expander. It gives you options and different pathways, and it’s up to you to make those changes. But for me, it’s been such a beautiful way for me to create a life.

Matt Bowles: Well, before we move into the lightning round, I want to ask you about where we started. You mentioned that this was sort of a full-circle moment because you are now back in the Philippines. Can you talk a little bit about what the experience has been like coming back to the Philippines?

Geleen Antonio: Oh, gosh, this is a topic that’s still, you know, one that I have to process since I’m still here. But the reason I came back to the Philippines actually was because of an astrologer, funny enough. Otherwise, I think I would have been a lot more years before I made my way back here to my home country.

But because of this very profound birth chart reading that I had at the end of last year, it kind of got me into this inner child healing journey. And one of the things she was very adamant about was that I needed to spend my 34th birthday in the place where I was born. I was like, I’ll do it. Like, is that absolutely necessary?

And she said that yes unless I did that, I was going to have a lot of blocks and all the other areas of my life. So, listen to the astrologer, just in case she was right. So, I came back here in July, actually, for a couple of months. The first time I came back a few months ago was in the city that I was actually born in, which was Fort Bonifacio.

So, my mom was in the Navy. So, I was born in a military hospital. And it’s interesting because the city now is actually this big cosmopolitan high-rise foodie destination city, whereas before I was very poor, and it was just a military base. So that in itself, that experience in itself was like very eye-opening just to like living in that my birth city, but has it change so much.

It almost mirrored where I was in the change. So, like going from like really poor poverty-stricken Philippines, and now it’s this cosmopolitan city and like, I’m traveling the world, and I can come back. It was very much like a mirror, um, just coming back to that city. But then I actually, I left after a couple of months because it was too overwhelming for me.

Seeing my culture and the things that I experienced growing up within my family, I realized were actually cultural things. And I, it honestly was really overwhelming for me. And I left and I went to Bali to go heal for a few months because it was just a lot to process. And I knew that I was going to meet my mom here in the Philippines for Christmas.

So, I was like, you know what, let me leave, let me go do my travel thing again, and I’ll come back for Christmas with a clearer mind. So, then I came back for Christmas, and I was only supposed to be here for two weeks, and I was going to spend time in Bangkok for New Year’s. But this was the first time that I’d been in the Philippines with my mom since she took me when I was four.

So, this was kind of like a really good bonding experience for us. Of course, a lot of those old wounds came up, things that we never talked about before. I got to re meet my family here because all of her siblings, everyone basically is still in the Philippines that I’ve never known. And the first time I was here in July, I told her, I don’t want to meet family.

I just want to have that be like my special time to experience the country and then I’ll come back and do the whole family thing. Now I’m at the point where I’ve re-met some family and really for the first time because I was four back then. So, it’s been, of course, it’s a journey having to go through and experience all of these feelings that come up, especially like, for example, I actually hung out with my uncle for the first time, and I found out that he actually has a bit of an adrenaline spirit in him as well.

So, he climbed Mount Everest. He actually is like really big into the mountaineering groups here in the Philippines. I was like, wow, like I never knew that you know. And so, I, he always took me to a mountain, and we went climbing. Uh, and that was a lot of fun. But afterwards, he took me to his godson’s one year birthday party and they were doing all these like childhood activities that are very specific to the Philippines.

And he was like joking around and he was like, have you not experienced this before? And I was like, no, I didn’t actually like did not have the greatest childhood. Thanks for reminding me. And he’s like, oh, maybe he was like joking around. He’s like, maybe for your next birthday, we’ll make it childhood-themed.

And I was like, actually, my business is all about, and a child viewing and childhood play, maybe for this exact reason. So yeah, those things kind of get brought up. So, my time here in the Philippines, I feel like is very different from other people that might be visiting this country, as, as I had mentioned to you, because I’m not necessarily here as a tourist like I am, but I’m not.

And so, a lot of my time here in the Philippines is really getting deeper, deeper into my roots, re meeting some of my family and experiencing some of the things I never got to as a child.

Matt Bowles: Geleen, after you’ve gone through all of this transformation that you’ve described in our conversation, why do you continue to travel and be so passionate about it today? What does travel mean to you today?

Geleen Antonio: Travel is one of the ways, as I mentioned, that has taught has allowed me to transform my life and I’m really passionate about helping other women do the same now. And so, it’s part of my mission. It’s part of what I do and how I can help others to see the world, to see what else is out there.

And so, I continue to travel to not only experience it for myself but to share it with other people. And also, it’s part of the lifestyle that I enjoy the most when I think about what my core values are, adventure, freedom, community, impact, and purpose. All of those are found in travel. And I continue to do, and I will continue to travel because it lights me up in all those different ways.

And my long-term goal actually is to be a perpetual nomad, but with more, I know you do real estate investments. So actually, with more real estate investments in different countries. And so, the goal is to have many bases on all my favorite cities in the future. So, I’d be like a nomad, but a nomad with my own home. So that’s, that’s the five to 10 years at this point.

Matt Bowles: Aright, Geleen, I think that’s a great place to end the main portion of this interview. And at this point, are you ready to move into the lightning round?

Geleen Antonio: Yes.

Matt Bowles: Let’s do it.

All right. What is one book? Maybe that has significantly impacted you over the years, other than your own, that you would most recommend people should check out.

Geleen Antonio: Yes. So, the book is called Play and it’s by Dr. Stuart Brown and he’s the founder of the Institutes of Play. And as Play is one of my pillars. I’ve been doing a lot of research about understanding why it’s essential for us as humans and how to apply it in your life. And because it’s something that I aim to help people with, it was very illuminating for me to read. And I think it’s also really great for other people to read and understand how they can incorporate play into their lives.

Matt Bowles: Who is one person currently alive today that you’ve never met that you’d most love to have dinner with? Just you and that person for an evening of dinner and conversation.

Geleen Antonio: I would really love to have dinner with Taylor Swift. I think she’s an amazing businesswoman, an amazing marketer. She’s navigated a lot of the media’s hyper-fixation on her very brilliantly throughout her whole career. And she’s remained down to earth. While doing so, I think it would just be a really fun dinner, but also super inspiring.

Matt Bowles: 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 Geleen?

Geleen Antonio: Oh man, I would tell her she’s doing great. I always look back to my younger self with compassion because you can only do as much as you can with the knowledge and the resources that you had at that time. So, I’d say first, you’re doing great. You’re doing what you can, but also, I would ask her, what do you value? And it took me quite a long time before I even asked myself that question. It was only really in recent years that I pinpointed what my values were, and now everything in my life is filtered by those values, and I reassess that every year.

And it’s important because all of those things that you hyper fixate on when you’re younger, the things that, you know, might make you feel insecure, that you spend so much of your energy and time thinking about when you understand what you actually value, you realize those things don’t matter.

And you can prioritize your attention a lot more towards the direction that you want to go once you have that understanding of your values.

Matt Bowles: All right, of all the places you have now traveled, what are three of your favorite destinations, you would most recommend other people should definitely check out?

Geleen Antonio: The answer that I’m going to give is based of the three locations that I have returned to. And feel like home in. So, Rome, of course, is going to be one of my top locations. It’s a place that I’ve returned to over and over again for months at a time because of just the transformation that it gave me initially and just the amazing energy and it just feels very raw and like the art and culture just like spilling out of the columns that have been there for like thousands of years. So, it’s definitely a place that I like if you haven’t gone you have to go. It just makes me go back to that transformation in the very beginning.

I would also say Buenos Aires, which I think you have started often, but Buenos Aires has my heart. I have gone and I’ve, I’ve like learned more about myself there. The people are very welcoming. I love the energy, the dance, the culture, the food, just the way of being a place that I’ve at this point spent nine months in, and I’ve built communities and it’s just very special. If anyone hasn’t gone that far south yet, I highly recommend you go to Buenos Aires. It’s just a very beautiful energy to be, in that city.

And last would be Ubud, Bali. I, as I mentioned, I’ve gone there a couple of times now. This last time I lived there for four months. And if you need a place to go heal, Ubud is going to be that place. Just, you know, the energy itself, the locals, again, very welcoming, a place you can just go and connect with yourself, but also everyone else is so nice that you end up making friends and it’s just a very easy place to be in.

Matt Bowles: All right, Geleen, what are your top three bucket list destinations? These are places you have not yet been. highest on your list you’d most love to see.

Geleen Antonio: So, going back to this astrologer who sent me on around the world, she told me I actually needed to go to Morocco. And I, for a very particular quest, again, felt like I was on a video game, but she said that I needed to buy a golden item there. That was the shape of a pencil. And that item is going to be integral for me connecting with the right people. And I might even put it on my logo in order to attract all the right people to me. Okay. So yeah, with that being said, I have a trip planned to Morocco in May. I was like, go on this. So, yeah, Morocco is next on the list of bucket list destinations because of my darn astrologer.

And also, I would love to go to South Africa. I’ve heard amazing, beautiful things about South Africa. I have a lot of friends who are also going to be there and yeah, I’m, I’m really intrigued about going and living there for a little bit.

And then the last one would be Antarctica. I was closer when I was in Buenos Aires and I, so many people were going on Antarctica trips and I know so many people have gone and it just seems like this amazing, definitely bucket list-worthy destination that at this moment, shout out to anyone who wants to sponsor me for this trip, but it is a commitment in terms of finances and time.

So, it’s definitely one on the list for the future that I would love to go to.

Matt Bowles: All right, Geleen, we have now come to the most important question of this interview. I am about to ask you to name your top five hip-hop emcees of all time. But before I do that, let me just ask you to share a little bit about what hip-hop music means to you, has meant in your life, why you love hip-hop music.

Geleen Antonio: I grew up listening to hip hop music, and I actually, in university, took a history of music courses, specifically around hip hop, to kind of understand the background a little bit more. Again, I had wanted other things besides neuroscience in my mind, and so gravitated towards music specifically hip hop.

And I remember going to the clubs when I was not even of age. Dancing, dancing to hip hop music, and it’s just something that my body loves to move to. And even when it comes on now, or like if my friends are like, “Hey, let’s go dancing”. I want to go dancing at a place that plays hip-hop music. I went to a club in Canggu recently that was playing hip-hop music, and it was just the most fun night. It’s just easy to dance to for me.

Matt Bowles: I have been to those hip-hop nights in Canggu, Bali and they are lit indeed. But I will tell you, Geleen, when you and I first started talking about hip-hop and you told me that you loved 90s hip-hop in particular that immediately won my heart. Because as you know, I was a hip-hop DJ in the nineties. And so, this is one of the most fun questions for me on the podcast. And so, without further ado, Geleen, who are your five?

Geleen Antonio: One of the things that I really remember, and I always love listening to is Busta Rhymes. I just love the way he raps how fast he does and the energy that he has when he performs. One of the songs that was on my playlist was Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See. I also have Make It Clap with Sean Paul and Spliff Star and Busta Rhymes. And like those are like the two that I’m like, okay, if I’m in and I want to dance, like those two are going to beyond the playlist.

Oh, another one that I really love that, I don’t know, maybe it’s like the song I like, kind of cry too, Crossroads by Bone Thugs n Harmony, whenever I have that song on repeat and I just like, I just love listening to it. It’s a beautiful song. And I just love Bone Thugs n Harmony in general.

And a couple of other ones that I really loved listening to as well are Fugees and Lauryn Hill. So, Killing Me Softly with His Song and Doo Wop are also on my playlist.

And then last but not least, Missy Elliott, like anything Missy Elliott, but especially if I want to dance Pass That Dutch is on the playlist.

Matt Bowles: Those are amazing picks. I actually just saw Busta Rhymes perform live last year, which was super incredible. That was really fun. And then Bone Thugs, it’s interesting that you mentioned them because they are from Cleveland, Ohio. And I went to college in Cleveland, Ohio. And my first year of college was in 1995 which is right when bone thugs were just jumping off in the mid-nineties and they were the biggest thing. And there I was in Cleveland and the bone thugs were there. And it was just an amazing time to be immersed in their music.

So, I think those are incredible pigs. Obviously, the rest of them were also Missy and everybody else super awesome picks. I’m so glad that you and I connected on that level and that we included this question in the interview. All right, Geleen, I want you to let folks know how they can find you, how they can follow you on social media, and how they can come into your Facebook group. You have an amazing community on Facebook that folks can join and other ways. How do you want people to come into your world?

Geleen Antonio: If you just follow me on Instagram at Geleen on the go, you’ll get access to all the things I post about all the things that I’m putting out there. But apart from Geleen on the go, you could also just go on the website www.travelnottoescape.com. Everything’s on there. If you want to look at my offerings, if you want to work with me or join the community or listen to, some meditations and get some free resources, that’s the spot to do it.

Matt Bowles: Amazing. We are going to link all of that up in the show notes. So, you can just go to one place at themaverickshow.com. Go to the show notes for this episode. They’re going to find direct links to everything that we have talked about on this episode, all the ways to contact and connect with Geleen. And that’ll all be in one place. Geleen, this was amazing. Thank you so much for coming to the show.

Geleen Antonio: Thank you so much for having me. I really love this conversation. It was a lot of fun.

Matt Bowles: Absolutely. And we will continue it in person at the WITS Summit in Utah. If anybody wants to join us, I’m also going to put in the show notes the link where you can get $80 off your ticket to the WITS Summit in Utah, in April 2024. Come hang out with me and Geleen and get a discount on your tickets. And hopefully, we will see you in person. Geleen, this was amazing. I will definitely see you in person and good night, everybody.