342: A Quest for an Iconic Tattoo in the Philippines, Hot Air Balloon Rides in Laos, and How to Visit Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Kiribati with Jimena Serfaty

342: A Quest for an Iconic Tattoo in the Philippines, Hot Air Balloon Rides in Laos, and How to Visit Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Kiribati with Jimena Serfaty

Author: Matt Bowles: Full-Time World Traveler Since 2013 June 23, 2025 Duration: 54:15
Hear stories of underwater mailboxes, treehouse hotels, volcano boarding & meeting a 98-year-old Filipina tattoo artist. ============================ 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 interview Jimena Serfaty talks about her experience exploring the Gobi desert in Mongolia, taking a hot air balloon in Laos, and embarking on a quest to find a legendary 98-year old tattoo artist in the Philippines.  She then talks about living in Australia and visiting Tuvalu where she ended up at a nigh club with the former Prime Minister.  Jime then describes her trip to Vanutu where she mailed a water-proof postcard from an under-water mailbox, stayed in a treehouse, and went volcano boarding.  She also describes visiting the island of Kiribati. Jime then talks us on her journey becoming a fully-remote entrepreneur, describes how she structures her travel lifestyle, and explains why she wants to travel to every country in the world. Finally she shares some of her best travel hacks and reflects on how all this travel has impacted her as a person. → 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! :)

There’s a certain texture to life lived in motion, a collection of stories that emerge not from postcards but from the messy, beautiful reality of planting roots in foreign soil. The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders captures that essence through long-form conversations hosted by Matt Bowles, who has been navigating the world full-time since 2013. This isn't a guidebook podcast; it’s a series of intimate dialogues, often unfolding casually over a shared bottle of wine, where the destination is understanding. You’ll hear from a diverse range of voices-expats, digital nomads, women forging paths abroad, and diaspora storytellers-each sharing the raw, unfiltered nuances of what happens when you cross borders for good. The focus is on the human narrative beneath the itinerary: the cultural misunderstandings that become breakthroughs, the loneliness and liberation, and the profound ways a global life reshapes identity. Listening feels like pulling up a chair at a cafe somewhere in the world, eavesdropping on a conversation that’s equally about internal discovery as it is about geographic change. Matt’s own experience as a long-term traveler informs these discussions, steering them toward the substantive lessons learned far from home. If you’ve ever wondered about the true weight and wonder of building a life between cultures, this podcast offers a genuine, thoughtful window into that journey.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders
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