What I Do When I Don’t Travel

Posted: 8/23/18 | August 23rd, 2018

Years ago, I wrote a post about things I like to do beyond just travel. While I drop hints here and there about the “non-Nomadic Matt” me but today I thought I’d share some of the more interesting facts about me that are not travel related. (Especially since a lot of you responded to my last email about being in a creative slump with “Well, tell us more about you!”)

So grab some popcorn and learn a little more about who I am and what I do when I’m not on the road:

Speaking of which, I love popcorn. Seriously. It has zero nutritional value and an infinite amount of taste! I can’t get enough of it. Always salted, no butter though.

I love movies. I probably watch two or three a week, either in the theater or at home on Netflix.

When I’m on a plane, I only watch bad movies — the cheesy Hollywood movies I’d never spend money to see. They’re terrible, but they are the kind of mindless entertainment I want while I’m relaxing over an ocean. It’s my way to turn my brain off for a bit.

When I’m not traveling abroad, I split my time between Austin, where I’m a resident, and NYC, where I go when it gets too hot in Texas or I need some really good sushi.

I consume an unhealthy amount of news, especially as it pertains to politics. Not just US politics — I follow the political situation in a lot of countries. While it impresses locals that I can name their prime minister and discuss recent changes in farm bills, it’s not healthy reading so much news. I’ve had to delete news apps from my phone so I would stop thinking the sky was always falling.

An Old Fashioned is the way to my heart. It is hands down my favorite drink.

My favorite liquor? Scotch, specifically peaty Scotch from Islay. (Feel free to send any bottles to 222 Broadway, Floor 19, New York, NY 10038. I won’t mind! My favorite brand is Ardbeg.)

I am terrible at sports. I can’t play any, and I barely know how they work. Don’t ask me about players either. I couldn’t name one. (Though I do enjoy a good soccer match!)

I love to swing dance, though I don’t do it as often as I’d like. I learned how when I threw a Gatsby-themed birthday party for myself a few years ago and have been hooked ever since.

I love Taylor Swift. Her cheesy songs are awesome, her show production is out of this world, and I think she’s a marketing genius. (And your “Really? Come on, Matt!” will do nothing to change that. I see ya over there!)

When I write, I listen to one song on repeat over and over again. Doing so helps me focus better. The song helps me tune out the world, and then, when I’m bored with the song, I tune it out and focus on what is in front of me: my writing. I’m way more productive this way! (This post was written to Sia’s Alive!)

I don’t have any plants because they all die. I could say it’s because I travel so much but when I was a college graduate, I bought a ton of bonsai trees and even those died. So no green thumb for me!

I know all the best sushi and cocktails spots in NYC. I even run a speakeasy bar crawl for my friends who come to town. I spend a lot of time reading and learning about the ’20s and the history of cocktails.

I want to learn how to shoot a gun. Not because I’m some gun nut, but because I am one of those “preppers.” I think the world is pretty much f*cked, and I’d like to know how to shoot a gun to (a) protect myself and (b) hunt (another thing I want to learn how to do) in case the world comes to an end or the zombies come. Having a Plan B never hurt anyone.

To that end, I’d also like to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow. I think that would be really fun.

I try to spend an hour a day reading (though, lately, I haven’t been doing that as much as I would like since I’ve been busy meeting a book deadline). I’m a big fan of biographies and travel, history, and business books. I think reading and educating yourself is one of the most important things you can do in your life, and I cannot understand people who don’t read books. How do you learn about the world? How do you improve yourself? How do you relax? I just don’t get it. Education doesn’t stop at school!

I’m a morning person. I tend to wake up around 7 am and do my best work before lunchtime. On a good day, I’ll get up at 6 am.

I don’t drink coffee. I do drink a lot of tea, my favorite being anything in the green tea family, though I have a special love for jasmine and sencha. I would really love to take a tea class and learn more about it.

This fall I plan to sign up for French classes again and really try to learn the language. To me, French is one of the most beautiful languages in the world, and I’m really sad I don’t remember anything from my previous time learning it!

When I was a kid, I was the state champion for Magic: The Gathering. My friends and I played it a lot. I also had a Star Trek-themed bar mitzvah. So, basically, full nerd!

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So there you have it! Some more interesting facts about me. Well, things I think are interesting at least. Tell me something about you: Who are the people who read this website? What do you do in your free time? What are your hopes and dreams? Leave a comment and share!

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