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Operation Cheerio | Rescuing a Cuban Street Dog

by Matt 5 Comments

Cienfuegos Cuba
The first park we found Cheerio in.

Back in November of 2017, my wife and I went to Cuba, a place I had long wanted to visit. Its uniqueness, history with revolution and communism, and relatively closed-relationship with much of the world had always piqued my interest. I love visiting places that are so different than my home country. We went for just over two weeks, which proved to be a little too long in the end. Maybe its because my wife is from Mexico, or because we’ve travelled a lot through Latin America, or maybe just due to the overall cost of traveling around Cuba, but we were somewhat disappointed.

We still had a good time. We loved exploring Havana. We loved dancing in Trinidad. We loved meeting locals and hearing their stories, albeit through my wife as I don’t know enough Spanish. But it just wasn’t a place we fell in love with. Foreigners are charged excessively compared to locals. We felt like $-signs sometimes. The food is very bland and for anything more than bland, the prices are on par with Canada, the USA, and Europe. We enjoyed our time there but had no intentions of returning.

But then we did return, thanks to a street dog we named Cheerio. Cuba is full of street dogs – friendly little animals that have been given up by their so-called owners. Forced to fend for themselves, they tend to cherish foreigners who aren’t used to seeing street dogs and therefore show more love and affection than locals do.

Seeing street dogs breaks my heart. After all, it’s doubtful that they’ll live very long. With dangers such as cars, starvation, disease, and “government control”, life on the streets is often short-lived for a canine. I wish I could help them all but just like global hunger and pollution, there’s not too much I can do on a large scale. So, in terms of street dogs and cats, we usually try to give them a treat or some water, give them a little love, and then bid them farewell.

That is until we met Cheerio in Cienfuegos, Cuba. As we walked through Parque Jose Marti, this little dog ran up to us, so excited, wagging her whole bum in the process. It was the first time a street dog approached us so cheerfully, looking for some affection.
[Read more…] about Operation Cheerio | Rescuing a Cuban Street Dog

How Bali Changed My Life

by Matt 4 Comments

Mount Batur Bali
Bali’s Volcano…

Back in 2009, I did something that I had been promising myself for many years. I embarked on my first long-term trip to New Zealand and Australia. For five whole months, I explored two new countries and challenged myself in ways I never imagined. I jumped out of an airplane, bungy-jumped off of the Auckland bridge, abseiled into caves, climbed a volcano, hang-glided over the sea, witnessed the twelve apostles, and scuba dived with sharks at night. Reading this makes me seem like some sort of adventure junkie, but I actually wasn’t…at the time. Sure I had slowly been exploring life’s possibilities and trying new things like white water rafting in the Canadian Rockies and riding as many roller coasters as I could, but still, I was a relatively shy guy who wasn’t really into adrenaline sports or thrill-seeking.

When I first landed in New Zealand however, I felt like a new person. I had this new zest for life. I had this incredible adventure ahead of me and I was free to do with it as I pleased. It was only 7 AM when I pulled up to my Queenstown hostel after an early flight from Canada when I noticed an advertisement for sky-diving. I figured “what the hell?”, and immediately signed up. Less than 30-hours after landing in a new country, I was up in a small plane, getting ready to jump out at 15,000 feet. [Read more…] about How Bali Changed My Life

LL 023: The Art of Adventure with Lord Derek Loudermilk

by Matt Leave a Comment

In the 23rd episode of the Live Limitless podcast, I chat with Lord Derek Loudermilk of DerekLoudermilk.com.

Derek LoudermilkLord Derek Loudermilk? Well yeah, who wouldn’t want to become a lord when it costs just $50 via Sealand.com. It’s true. You too can be come a lord for a nominal fee. This is one of the many interesting conversations I have with Derek during the interview.

Derek is a former professional cyclist and scientist who became a digital nomad as a writer, podcaster, and coach. He is the host of the Art of Adventure podcast where he interviews world-class performers doing incredible things in Global Exploration, Human Performance, and Entrepreneurship. He is also the author of the soon-to-be-released book Conductors, which he successfully launched on Publishizer.com.

Derek and I have a lot of similarities such as our passion for adventure, which leads to an interesting and inspiring conversation. If you’re looking for some tips, tools, and inspiration for bringing more adventure and excitement into your life, this episode is for you!

[Read more…] about LL 023: The Art of Adventure with Lord Derek Loudermilk

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Speaking in Front of 100+ People

by Matt Leave a Comment

Two weeks ago, I got a message from my friend Steve asking if I wanted to give a talk at an event called Pechakucha. He sent me some links about the event and told me that the theme was about less. He knew I travelled for less and therefore would be a good candidate to speak. I always wanted to give a talk in front of a crowd so I said yes.

Later I found out that I would be in front of over 400 people. My biggest talk prior to this was in front of maybe 35 people. Needless to say, I was both excited and nervous. Perfect.

Speaking in front of a crowd pechakucha

Pechakecha events consist of a slideshow presentation with 20 slides x 20 seconds of talking per slide. They happen around the world. I decided to not just talk about travel. I wanted to have an overall inspiring message for living a limitless life so I dug deep and picked some incredible accomplishments I’ve had that were inspired by less.

[Read more…] about Speaking in Front of 100+ People

Stop Making Excuses in the New Year

by Matt 2 Comments

If there’s one thing that really gets to me, it’s hearing people make excuses for everything in their life. They complain about this and that and how other people are simply lucky. Sometimes I give them possible solutions and they brush them of with yet another excuse. It’s exhausting.

I’ve fallen into this category more than a couple of times in my own life and I can certainly tell you that it gets you nowhere. If anything, it just makes things worse.

If you’re unhappy with your situation but keep doing the same thing, you’re going to be exactly where you are one year from now and ten years from now and twenty years from now. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

Don’t be insane!

You can’t complain that you don’t have enough money to travel the world or that you don’t have any time to learn new things or that you don’t have enough income and then turn around and watch the next episode of American Idol. You can’t sleep in late every day, stare at your Facebook feed for hours and sit on the couch if you expect to make changes in your life.

It doesn’t work like that.

We all have enough time to learn something new and try new things. If your time isn’t prioritized however, it will go to waste.

I have friends who make more than $100K per year but have no savings…

I know some people who say year after year that they want to travel or pay off debt but literally don’t make one step in either direction…

Some complain about not being able to find a job yet they’ve only applied for five or six…

Others want to start a side project or learn a new skill or start a business but spend all their free time partying or watching movies…

Every one of them has an excuse.

I don’t have the time. No one will hire me. I can’t do that. I don’t have enough money, etc, etc, etc.

It actually irritates me to see people throw away possibilities in life. I find it quite sad because it’s all bullshit.

Everything is a choice.

Stop Making Excuses in the New Year

If you don’t have enough money, chances are that you’re not spending it right. You need to re-prioritize where the money is going and make a change. Your accommodation, eating habits, drinking habits and shopping habits are all choices you make. No one is forcing you to do anything.

If no one is hiring you, you’re doing something wrong. Maybe your resume sucks. Maybe it has spelling mistakes. Maybe you’re not applying for enough positions or maybe you’re applying for the wrong jobs. How about moving to a new city? Maybe you need to start for free or do something creative to get attention.

If you want to travel but never do, you haven’t made it a priority. It’s extremely rare for someone in a developed country to not be able to afford traveling somewhere exotic for a long period of time. What’s common however is that people either tell themselves lies such as traveling is too expensive or they are simply spending their money on other things instead. Others expect too much and have conned themselves into thinking they need 5-star hotels to change their life abroad. Ugh.

The point is. You have chosen where you are. Yes, we all have different circumstances and some of us have it a little harder but for the most part, you are where you are because you’ve put yourself there. Unless you’re living in North Korea where you’re literally imprisoned, you are free to make a different choice. It might takes months or years but if you want it bad enough, YOU CAN make it happen.

Unfortunately (or fortunately in my opinion), it requires effort. Government programs don’t pay citizens to travel and do what they want. You can’t lose weight by eating junk food. Great jobs are not bought at a vending machine and are rarely found in a job database.

Make a choice and stop making excuses. If you’re too lazy to make a change, you should still stop making excuses and just accept where you are and where you’re going. Contentment is the key to happiness after all.

If you do want to make a change and are ready for some small sacrifices, get started right away. Though you should never wait for the New Year, it’s here anyways! All you need is you and the desire to be somewhere different in life.

How to Stop Making Excuses in Life

Want to travel?

Make it a priority. Stop doing other things that cost you a lot of money. Stop buying new clothes. Stop buying alcohol at bars. Stop eating out at restaurants. Move to a cheaper apartment or a cheaper house. Figure out why you actually want to travel and know that you don’t have to be rich to travel the world. Create a plan and get started. You can also sign up for a free copy of the Limitless Travel eBook or Canadian Free Flyers travel hacking program.

Want to lose weight?

Stop eating junk food. Eat less carbs. Stop drinking soda. Stop drinking alcohol. Commit to a 12-week program and get a gym membership. Work out every morning. Start sweating. Eat clean and drink lots of water. Take a before picture and cry yourself with happiness when you take your after-picture 12-weeks later. It really is this simple. The hardest part is perseverance.

Want to learn something new?

Maybe you want to learn how to create a business on the side or learn how to salsa dance or learn how to code computer programs. Did you know most of these things can be learned online for little or no money? Stop watching TV, take shorter showers and stop using social media so you can spend that time studying what you wish to learn. Make it a commitment. Do it everyday. Get out of the house and meet new people who want to learn with you. Try meetup.com. That’s just one option.

You may know right away that this is you. Maybe you know others who should read this. Awesome! Share this with them. It’s free. Some of you will probably shake your heads in agreement and some of you will shake your heads in disagreement and start surfing the Facebook newsfeed for pictures of celebrities and their pets.

What I hope is that at least ONE PERSON will read this and be inspired to change themselves and move in the direction they wish to go in. You don’t need to know the destination – you just need to begin moving forward. The path will change as you move forward but at least you won’t be lost in the forest of life.

What do you want to change? Where do you want to go?

Share below and I’ll get back to each and every one of you.

***

For those wondering my plans for change in 2015, a lot of it is extensions of what I’ve already been doing. I plan on visiting about 10 countries. I plan on doing another fitness program when I’m back in Canada for the summer. I plan on being more happy, grateful and content. Most of all, I plan to focus more on business, even though it’s going to be VERY HARD with all the adventures planned.

I plan to LIVE LIMITLESS in 2015 because I’ve learned that 2016 is not guaranteed.

Annual Life Review and 2015 Plans

by Matt Leave a Comment

Annual reviews are not normal for me. Unlike those who methodically go over each year of their life and meticulously plan for the future, I like to kind of go with the flow and say yes a lot. For some this can be disastrous but for me, I enjoy it. For the most part, my energy and enthusiasm for life and travel and creating things keeps me growing. At the same time, I can see how going over the past year can be a grounding experience and one that can either make you grateful for everything you did or give you a kick in the ass to really change things for the year ahead. As far as planning, I can also see the benefits of at-least creating a rough roadmap for the following year as a way of guiding your thoughts and activity and gaining some focus.

For me, my passion is actually what gets in the way of business. If it wasn’t for traveling 6-8 months each year, I would probably be raking in the money. I’d have much more time to focus on more income streams and much more time to focus on marketing. But hey, we only live once and I know that atleast the way I travel (off the beaton path, months at a time, etc) will slow down once I have a family.

Anyways, as I sit here in Mexico City with just over a week left before flying to Costa Rica, I think it’s a good time to reflect on the past 12 months and make a rough plan for 2015. By writing this publicly, I hope to hold myself much more accountable and I also hope to inspire those who read it to possibly do their own plan, change things up or rejoice in how amazing your life really is.

Let’s begin. [Read more…] about Annual Life Review and 2015 Plans

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