346: Running with the Bulls 6 Times in Spain, Falling in Love in Colombia, and How to Experience Guatemala with Chris Davila

346: Running with the Bulls 6 Times in Spain, Falling in Love in Colombia, and How to Experience Guatemala with Chris Davila

Author: Matt Bowles: Full-Time World Traveler Since 2013 July 21, 2025 Duration: 55:37
Hear Latina-solo-travel stories from Guatemala, Sweden, Colombia, Easter Island, Bolivia, Madagascar, Spain and Vietnam. ============================ 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 Chris Davila joins Matt for a virtual wine night and starts off reflecting on speaking at the Latino Travel Fest in Chicago. She then shares her parents immigration journey from Guatemala to the U.S. and how she navigated her Guatemalan and American identities while growing up in an immigrant home in Chicago. Chris then gives her tips for how to visit and experience Guatemala, reflects on her trips back to the homeland, and explains how her interest in world travel developed. She describes her professional career journey, explains why she took an 18 month sabbatical to travel the world, and tells the story of spending Summer Solstice in Sweden with Benny from Abba. Chris then takes us on her journey solo-camping on Easter Island, visiting the world’s largest salt-flats in Bolivia, and meeting her husband in Colombia. She also describes solo-traveling to Madagascar and how visiting local villages there changed her perception of what it takes to be happy. Chris also talks about her experience Running with the Bulls 6 times in Spain and training others how to do it. She then explains why she became a vegetarian in Vietnam, how she celebrated a 42-hour long birthday while traveling from Australia to LA, and reflects on the impact of her 18 month sabbatical. → 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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