The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders

Matt Bowles: Full-Time World Traveler Since 2013
  • 5.0 (209)
  • PLACES & TRAVEL
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

The Maverick Show is a global travel podcast about what really happens when people cross borders and build lives across cultures. Hosted by full-time world traveler Matt Bowles, each episode features intimate, unfiltered conversations (often over a bottle of wine) exploring the human stories behind global travel and what the journey teaches us about the world and ourselves. Guests include expats, digital nomads, women and diaspora storytellers, worldschooling families, and human rights advocates, all sharing travel stories that are funny, moving, and deeply human. In addition to hearing about extraordinary places and the people who live there, you’ll learn what it’s really like to move abroad or travel long-term, as guests open up about their personal journeys navigating culture, race, power, identity, and belonging in an unequal world. If you’ve ever felt that travel changes you in ways no one talks about, you’re in the right place. The Maverick Show hit the Top 100 on Apple Podcasts (including #1 in Places & Travel), was ranked in the Top 1% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes, and was named the #1 Digital Nomad Podcast and #1 Remote Work Podcast by Million Podcasts — with hundreds of five-star listener reviews.

  1. 5D AGO

    Indian Diaspora Stories & Lessons from Ghana, Ethiopia and Nomadic Cultures with Priyanka Surio

    Learn how global diaspora connections & nomadic traditions can unlock new ways of building community across cultures. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Priyanka Surio reflects on growing up in Florida navigating a mixed Indian and Hungarian identity, and how early experiences of not fully belonging shaped her relationship to culture, travel, and self-expression. She shares stories from reconnecting with her heritage, including time spent in Hungary, studying abroad in India, and how these experiences informed her evolving sense of identity. Priyanka reflects on studying the Year of Return in Ghana as a model for reconnecting diasporas and considers how similar frameworks could strengthen ties within Indian communities around the world. She also discusses her travels in Ethiopia and her encounters with historically nomadic cultures in Mongolia and Morocco, examining how these experiences reshaped her thinking about movement, cross-cultural travel, and building community. She closes by reflecting on minimalism, intentional living, and how a life of travel can transform the way we understand identity, belonging, and connection across cultures. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

    1h 15m

  2. MAR 23

    Anti-Blackness in Latin America, the Mestizaje Myth & Visiting Equatorial Guinea with Dash Harris

    Hear travel stories from Equatorial Guinea to Brazil & how Dash works to dismantle anti-Blackness in Latinx communities. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE In Part 2 of this conversation, Peabody Award–winning producer and historian Dash Harris unpacks the ideology of mestizaje and explains how narratives of racial mixing have obscured anti-Blackness across Latin America and its diaspora. She discusses why she rejects the umbrella identity of “Latina,” drawing on Black feminist scholarship, her workshops on dismantling anti-Blackness in Latinx communities, and her own experiences traveling and researching Afro-descendant cultures around the world. Dash tells stories from visiting Equatorial Guinea—the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa—and compares Afro-diasporic histories across continents. She also shares observations from Salvador, Brazil about tourism, memory, and the politics of Black cultural spaces. Finally, she recommends some of her favorite music—from Afro-Cuban traditions to Afro-Colombian and Brazilian sounds. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

    46 min

  3. MAR 16

    Black Latinx Identity and Culture: Dash Harris on Diaspora Storytelling & Co-Founding AfroLatinx Travel

    Learn how growing up between Brooklyn and Panama shaped Dash’s journey into documentary storytelling and global travel. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Peabody Award–winning producer and historian Dash Harris tells stories about coming of age between 1990s Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and Panama. She reflects on navigating Black and Afro-Panamanian identity across cultures and how those experiences shaped her understanding of race, identity, and the global Black diaspora. Dash tells the backstory of filming Negro, her groundbreaking docu-series exploring race and anti-Blackness across Latin America. She also explains how filming the docu-series ultimately led her to co-found AfroLatinx Travel, a company that organizes trips centering the African roots of Latin America and connecting travelers with Black communities, histories, and cultural traditions. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

    56 min

  4. MAR 9

    Queer Travel & Jewish Anti-Zionism: Cara Laban on Identity, Community & Collective Liberation

    Learn how Cara came out as queer while living abroad and built community, belonging, and solidarity with Palestine. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE In Part 2 of this conversation, Cara Laban reflects on the intersections of queer identity, Jewish history, and political solidarity while living and traveling around the world. She shares how coming out as queer while living abroad helped her find community and belonging across cultures, while a deeper engagement with Jewish history and contemporary politics shaped her journey toward anti-Zionism and solidarity with Palestinians. Cara also recounts navigating male-dominated digital nomad spaces, attending feminist protests, and encountering police violence. She then tells travel stories from Italy, the Dominican Republic, the Galapagos Islands, attending Carnival in Rio and seeing pink dolphins in the Amazon. Cara reflects on how living between cultures can expand the way we think about identity, community, and collective liberation. And finally, she shares lessons from Jewish history about our collective responsibility to confront the rise of fascism in the U.S. and around the world. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

    59 min

  5. MAR 2

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

    Learn how Cara stopped escaping and designed a sustainable world travel lifestyle that works for her brain. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Cara Laban left New York chasing a childhood dream of Australia, but what began as an escape from burnout turned into a two-year immersion in life overseas, from bar shifts in Melbourne to bakery work in the outback. In this candid conversation, she shares the mental health lows that followed her across continents, the road-trip mishap that left her stranded without gas in remote Australia, and the moment in Thailand when she realized travel alone wouldn’t fix what she was carrying internally. We trace her evolution from working local hospitality jobs to building a sustainable travel lifestyle online after discovering Hannah Dixon’s Virtual Excellence Academy. That reinvention eventually led her to found Travel Reddi, an AI-powered travel logistics platform designed to simplify global mobility. Cara opens up about depression on the road, the difference between analog and digital nomad life, and how systems thinking became the foundation of both her business and her forthcoming book: “How to Do Anything Even if You’re Lazy”. This is a story about reinvention, self-honesty, and designing a life overseas that actually works for your brain. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

    52 min

  6. FEB 23

    Skydiving Around the World: Taylor Wallace on Risk, Fear & Finding Freedom in the Sky

    Hear stories of balloon jumps, zoo dives, flipping out of planes & the personal growth and life lessons behind it all. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE In the final part of the conversation, Taylor Wallace shares how a spontaneous first jump in Brazil led to a passion for skydiving that has taken her across the world, from beach jumps outside Rio to balloon jumps over Cappadocia and massive skydiving festivals in the United States. She explains the discipline, humility, and constant learning required to stay safe in a high-risk sport, and reflects on how skydiving mirrors entrepreneurship and travel—requiring courage, adaptability, and trust in yourself when things don’t go as planned. The episode closes with Taylor reflecting on how global travel and adventure have shaped her resilience, perspective, and desire to keep pushing beyond her comfort zone. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

    52 min

  7. FEB 16

    Japan, Remote Entrepreneurship & The Fit Founder Lifestyle with Taylor Wallace

    Hear how Japan, startup life, and global travel shaped Taylor’s approach to entrepreneurship and intentional living. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE In Part 2 of the conversation, Taylor Wallace reflects on how her deep connection with Japan shaped her worldview and confidence as a global traveler, sharing stories from Kyoto, Mount Fuji, and the cultural experiences that made the country feel like a second home. She then traces her path into entrepreneurship, the sale of her startup while living abroad, and how community and global mobility helped launch her location-independent life. Taylor also breaks down her concept of the Fit Founder Lifestyle, offering practical insights on balancing business ambition with health, travel, and intentional living while building a career on the road. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

    48 min

  8. FEB 9

    Growing Up Global: Taylor Wallace on Brazil, South Africa, Singapore & Finding Her Place in the World

    Hear how early travel across continents shaped Taylor’s worldview and helped her navigate her multi-cultural identity. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Taylor Wallace reflects on how growing up between cultures and traveling internationally from a young age shaped her identity and global perspective. She shares formative experiences in South Africa, Singapore, and Brazil, explores her multicultural heritage and connection to place, and discusses how studying history and witnessing different narratives around the world reshaped her understanding of power, belonging, and U.S. foreign policy. This episode traces the experiences that helped Taylor find her place in the world—and set the foundation for the global life she would go on to build. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

    48 min
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5
out of 5
209 Ratings

About

The Maverick Show is a global travel podcast about what really happens when people cross borders and build lives across cultures. Hosted by full-time world traveler Matt Bowles, each episode features intimate, unfiltered conversations (often over a bottle of wine) exploring the human stories behind global travel and what the journey teaches us about the world and ourselves. Guests include expats, digital nomads, women and diaspora storytellers, worldschooling families, and human rights advocates, all sharing travel stories that are funny, moving, and deeply human. In addition to hearing about extraordinary places and the people who live there, you’ll learn what it’s really like to move abroad or travel long-term, as guests open up about their personal journeys navigating culture, race, power, identity, and belonging in an unequal world. If you’ve ever felt that travel changes you in ways no one talks about, you’re in the right place. The Maverick Show hit the Top 100 on Apple Podcasts (including #1 in Places & Travel), was ranked in the Top 1% of podcasts globally by Listen Notes, and was named the #1 Digital Nomad Podcast and #1 Remote Work Podcast by Million Podcasts — with hundreds of five-star listener reviews.

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