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How to Travel on a Budget | Wolters World

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0:00 | 59:20

You've worked hard. You've saved. But are you putting off the experiences that matter most?

Travel expert Mark Wolters joins us to explain why you don't have to wait until retirement to explore the world. Whether you're raising kids, working a full-time job, or sticking to a budget, this episode is packed with practical tips for making travel part of your life now - not someday.

Because creating memories shouldn't be the reward at the end of life. It can be part of the journey.

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Discussions in this show are for entertainment and educational purposes only and should not be construed as specific recommendations or investment advice. Always consult with your investment professional before making important investment decisions. Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a broker/dealer, member FINRA/SIPC.
Advisory services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Cambridge and SmartPro Financial are not affiliated.

SPEAKER_00

Discussions in this show are for entertainment and educational purposes only and should not be construed as specific recommendations or investment advice. Always consult with your investment professional before making important investment decisions. Securities offered through registered representatives of Cambridge Investment Research Incorporated, a broker dealer, member FINRA SIPC. Advisory services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Incorporated, a registered investment advisor. Cambridge and Smart Pro Financial are not affiliated.

SPEAKER_02

All right, welcome back to SmartPro Radio. We are really excited today because we have an awesome guest. We have someone that I have been watching for a very long time on YouTube with helpful hints and ideas when it comes to traveling. And you're not only just an expert on this, but you're able to teach people about travel. So Mark Walters is here with he's the creator of Walters World. He's a travel expert, YouTuber, someone that's visited over a hundred plus countries, built one of the most practical channels on YouTube when talking about travel. Mark, thank you so much for being here.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks, Rick. Glad to be here. I'm I'm glad you invited me. It's always fun to talk about travel and all the financial sides about it, too.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. No, that's huge. You know, one of the things that we say here is that at SmartPro, we love people and we like finance. But today we got to talk a little bit about the finance side too, because I will tell you this the number one thing that clients tell us when they're preparing for retirement, whatever that looks like, they're going, What do you want to do? What's the idea? Most people aren't saying, I just want to play golf. They're not saying, well, I really don't want to do anything. The number one topic is I want to travel. Travel. I don't blame them. I don't blame them. That and my my question is to you is, you know, you're someone who's been traveling for quite some time. And I'd love to get an idea of what really sparked that in you, that interest, but you didn't wait. You're not waiting, you're doing it right now.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, and I it was funny because like when I was a kid in high school, my dream was like to be the mayor of my town or the government of Illinois, like never go anywhere. And then I met this girl from South Africa who who told me about exchange projects, study abroad. I'm like, I don't know. And then I end up, she I ended up going to Australia for a summer in high school and just fell in love with travel. Like after that, in 1993, I went that summer Australia and I have not stopped since. And it's just been a go-go-go thing. So whether it was when I was in school, uh, I mean, I did my master's abroad, my PhD abroad. Um, I take students abroad. I mean, we my family, we travel, you know, four or five months out of the year uh as much as we can since the kids were tiny and now they're all grown. I mean, it's just it became a part of our life because it was really cool, especially when I got to show my kids the world too, and like take my parents. So we take my parents with us, so they got to have, you know, nothing wrong with baking cookies with grandma. My kids love doing that, but it's nice when they go and visit, they can talk about. Remember the time we were in Rwanda and you try to go to the bathroom, but then all the monkeys came after you and you were running away. Like you can have these conversations, a little bit different. But yeah, I mean, it's funny. Like, once I started going and I started meeting the people, like that's what really I love about travel. Like that and the food. If you, if you're if you're watching this, you can see I love the food part. If you're listening to this, I'm a bit more round than rectangle, let's say. But no, it's like the people just made it so great. And that that's one thing I just love about the travel. Like, that's what keeps me going. It's like I'm excited about meeting the new people, the new culture is all kinds of stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02

When you've coached people on travel, talk to people about it, you've probably realized the same thing I just mentioned. That so many people say, hey, when I get to the end of my my working time, when I'm ready to kind of move into that next chapter, do something new, it is it's travel. Why do you think, why do you think that is? What's your what's your gut tell you on that?

SPEAKER_01

I think a lot of people they think I don't travel because I don't have the PTO, I don't have the time off. So therefore, when I finally am retired, I will have the time to go do those travels. And I'll tell you, like, this is one thing. My parents, they went to Europe like once on a vacation when I was a senior in high school. They never traveled abroad. And then when I was doing my master's in Germany, I got them to come for a weekend, like a long weekend, because this is when the dollar was super strong. So it was cheaper for them to go to Germany than New York, you know. And I'm like, why don't you come see me? And like, this is awesome. And they realized, wait, it's actually cheaper traveling in Europe than it's traveling around the US. I'm like, I know. And it was funny because they started traveling a ton, and this is probably when they were in their, I would say their early 50s, maybe. And they've traveled ever since. And now my parents, my, you know, they're in their 80s, and now they they can't do as much stuff. And they're like, my every time we go there, both my mom and my dad are like, hey, I'm really glad you got to start traveling earlier because then we could do things. Like, you can't hike the Inca Trail at 75. You know, like there's the physical limitations. And I think part of the reason why we wait though is like, hey, I don't, I I gotta make sure my job is happy. I don't want to be away from it. You have this kind of guilt that if I go on a vacation or I go abroad, I'm taken away from work. I'm like, don't think that way. Remember, your job will get rid of you with no problem. Don't move on. So take that time. And and also travel's especially if we're looking at boomers and Gen X, a lot of it, travel was like not a normal thing. Like you got to do go to Europe once in your life or something. Now it's a lot more common. So when you talk to millennials, you talk to Gen Z, they're like, oh yeah, spring break, yeah, we're gonna go hop over to Europe for you know a week and then come back. Whereas before, that was such a like concept. They people are like, What? You're going to Europe? Oh my goodness. And now it's like, yeah, I was in Paris last week and it's no big deal. I mean, it sounds weird, but how that is changed. So I think you're seeing people travel younger, are traveling more, but still when you're like getting near retirement, like, well, I'll just save, I'll wait, I'll wait, but you never know. And that's why I always tell people if you have the chance to travel, travel when you can because you never know what the future will hold.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. That's an interesting point because it's one of those difficult things when you're a financial advisor helping somebody, they're trying to build margin in their budget, margin in their life, save up for investments, um, have that flexibility to travel, and they're looking at it going, oh my goodness, I can't get off track. It can't, I can't change my plans. It seems daunting, and they put it off and put it off until really they can't anymore.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And I think that that's one thing we try to do in our videos because you know, people will write us like, well, you book our tickets. Like, no, I don't, I don't do the work for people. I empower people by educating them how to travel. So you feel comfortable buying your own tickets, you feel comfortable with the destinations you're going to go to, you feel comfortable picking the restaurants on your own instead of someone that goes, here, go to these restaurants, because Anthony Bourdain went there. He did a great job, but there's so many other great restaurants you can go to. So if you know the food of the place, how I can do it on my own. And so that's what we like to do, is just empower people to do that. And they feel more comfortable because honestly, after people do one trip on their own, like they book the tickets, they book the hotels, they realize, wait, this isn't hard at all. Like I can do this. And so we have fans that have gone from we only do group tours to backpacking all by themselves in South America because hey, I feel comfortable enough to do this now. And that's one of those things. It's like anything. If you've never done it before, it seems scary. You go to an Ethiopian restaurant and you've never eaten no Ethiopian food, you're like, there's no forks and knives. What do I do? Oh, well, you rip the bread off, you use the bread to pinch the food and eat it that way. The first time you do it, it's like the workers like, let me show you what you need to do. After that, you're like, I don't need to know, I can do it myself. It's the same kind of premise when you're looking at preparing yourself to go travel.

SPEAKER_02

So I know that somebody is probably watching, they're like, okay, yeah, well, he can say that. Like, he's he's done this. This is his, this is his job. Like, he's got a million plus subscribers. Like, I don't know exactly the economics of YouTube, but like that's probably his career. But you mentioned, hey, I have a family, and most people might not know this, but you're also a professor, college professor.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'm a professor market at the University of Illinois. So like I have a day job and I do this, and that's where a lot of people think it's just don't you just use YouTube. Well, yeah, I love doing YouTube because I love helping people. Like, I love the travel, but doing the travel, helping people be better. Travel is just like a passion hobby for me. But yeah, I have a day job and I go. And that's one of those things. Like, I have a video which I recommend you watch if you're listening to this, the lies that travel influencers tell you. And there's always these ones that, oh, you have to sell everything to be free to see the world. I'm like, no, I I like my job. I love my students, I love what I do, I love my pension, I love my, you know, my insurance, you know, and you don't have to give it all up. And that's the thing, you get the PTO to use, you know, and some jobs, I mean, some jobs, if you don't use your PTO, you lose it, right? So sometimes, hey, let's plan this out when I'm gonna be able to use it. So that's that's one of those things. Like, if you you have it in there, it isn't just, well, he's a YouTuber that travels all the time. Yeah, I'm a YouTuber that travels a lot, but also I'm a full-time professor and I've got two kids in school and a wife, and I got a dog just like other people, you know. So it's a normal kind of thing. And that's what we try to do. It's like, look, you can be a normal everyday person and still see the world. Whereas in social media, it makes it look like you have to be a young, floppy hat, flowy dressed person to, you know, really enjoy travel for real. I'm like, no, you can be a you can be a husky, bald-ish man and then still enjoy travel.

SPEAKER_02

So, no, I I love that that you're transparent with it because I do think a lot of people, you know, they look at different creators, they look at things on Instagram, on YouTube, and there's it's just it's more of the comparison of what I don't have. I'll never be able to see that. It's the jealousy that percolates up through the system. And I just think that's that's ultimately destructive for people because it's judging your life for somebody else's. And that usually doesn't lead to happiness.

SPEAKER_01

No, no, and that's the thing. And here's the thing a lot of those creators, that well, I'll take remember social media is not real, people. Like, that's one big thing. Like that perfect picture they have, they've taken 19, 20 different pictures of it, maybe more, and they put filters on it and all this kind of stuff. The pictures you see of no one at the Great Wall of China, because we could no, that never happened. It's always full, it's always busy. And so once you realize that, hey, they're curating this, this isn't real, you know. They're trying to show the best thing off because they're probably getting paid to make it look good, you know. Like, once you realize that, like, oh, what they're doing isn't really realistic. Because when they're sitting there taking 50 pictures, trying to get the right one for their thing, you're gonna be seeing museums, you're gonna be meeting locals, so you actually get to do more than those creators do, but they have to sell that story and that that FOMO fear of missing out, like when you see them, like, why am I not doing what they're doing? How is it that I'm not making the kind of money data to see these things? A lot of those creators, especially like TikTok, Instagram, they literally just go from brand shoot to brand shoot. So they're getting paid by a tourism board to go someplace, and they're literally living day by day. That's why you'll, if you watch, you'll notice over time you these travel creators usually are about three or four years, and then they kind of disappear. Because it takes a few years to get started, and three year three, maybe start making money, year four. It's like, okay, can I continue doing this? And then once they, you know, you want to start a family, you want to have these things, uh, we're not making enough money to support all these things. Then it comes back, yeah, or mom and dad say, We're not paying for this anymore. And so they kind of disappear. That's why you see a lot of younger people doing this. Um, and that's why it's like, look, realistically, don't don't don't look at them and say, I want that life. Because I'll be honest, you might not want their life. Because it's it's social media is one of those things, and that's why you'll see sometimes you'll see the creators have the breakdowns going, Oh, I can't do this anymore. It's like, well, they've been living this fake life, and it's so hard to keep up the fake life. Like, you make the fake life in a 30-second reel, but being fake all the time eventually wears you down. And so you you see, that's where you see those kind of things. And that's why, like, for us, I don't call us, I do not call myself a travel influencer. I call myself a travel educator. People don't watch my videos for fun, they watch my videos because they're gonna go to Berlin, they watch my videos because they're gonna go to Paris, they're gonna go to Beijing, they're gonna go to Sao Paulo, you know, and they want to be prepared for it. And that's what I'm trying to do. It's not it's not a video about showcasing me in a destination, it's about me showcasing the destination to help you. And I think that's one of the things where I think we have a really good audience of real, like say, like tourists of travelers, that they're all the same. But people that like to see the world, they come through our content because, hey, Mark, you're helping us be a better person and a better traveler when we're going there. And that's one of those things with over tourism, and you see the protests like in Spain, they're not mad at bad, like good tourists, they're mad at bad tours, you know, the ones that are the drunks that are like making it mistakes, walk around town on their bikinis from the beaches, this kind of stuff. Like, yeah, these kind of things.

SPEAKER_02

It's it's interesting. So um, we're going on a trip to Greece and have never been there, haven't haven't been to the Mediterranean since 2012. And I know so much has changed in travel in that long period of time. There's there's yeah, there's excursions and all this stuff that you can go and and and sign up for with the with the trip we're going on. And one of them is the uh Instagram spots to go get your pictures. And my wife and I looked at each other and we're like, is that real?

SPEAKER_01

Like somebody would would pay to just to do that? So there's places if they know like if we can get that Instagram spot and we get a few Instagrammers to come here, other people come just to get that picture. I mean, think about if you ever been to if you've ever been to Key West in Florida. So you know there's the end of the line, there's the buoy that's there. People will wait in line for like an hour to get a picture with the buoy. And I'm like, you realize you can just walk out in front of it and the like and take a picture? Yeah, the people are behind you that are getting the picture up close, but here's the thing I can put them here and then move my head and oh, now they're not there anymore. And I save myself two hours. That's the thing. But but it's kind of like the Bourdain effect is people like they see this, like, hey, I want to relive that. I want their life, so I want to do what they do. And that's why you'll see, like, when I lived in Lisbon, uh, Anthony Bourdain went to a restaurant, which is a good restaurant, don't get me wrong. Like, I've been there, I eat at that restaurant before, it was good. But like literally, next door was the restaurant we went to all the time, which had better food. But literally, we would go because I lived there for five years, so we'd go into this restaurant, but then this one had the line outside. I'm like, yeah, this food's better. Yeah, but this one he was at. I'm like, they have the same food, but okay. You know, it's because people want to have that. I want to have that what someone else had. It's that jealousy kind of thing, which people realize it's not like maybe it's not jealousy, but it's that envy. Like, I want to have that lice, I want to have that picture. And I think a lot of people for doing that, it it makes this for the vacation, isn't relaxing, it's it's a competition. And that you don't want your vacation to be, you want your vacation to be a vacate. Like you want to be like, I have the food, I have the fun, I've got the people, awesome. Instead of, did I get all the shots?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, the social credit that comes with it. One of the things that you said that that really stood out to me is how you view yourself and on on YouTube with the content you create, is that it's more of education, not influence. And the reason I like that is because all of our advisors, we say that you need to have the heart of a teacher, not somebody that's selling, but the heart of a teacher. And that changes the perspective on how you interact with people and what you put out there. And I know with your your background and education and teaching being a professor, I'm sure that comes out in the videos. I know the first time I ever saw anything that you put out was in 2016. And I mentioned this to you earlier as my wife and I were going to northern Europe and had no idea. It was our first time going with just ourselves. And there was obviously the things that we're fearful of of like, okay, how do I how do I get a taxi? Like, how does this work? And what, you know, what area of town are we in? I kind of know, but not really. And we started somewhat upon YouTube going, okay, let's set search. And we came to your videos, and they were just incredibly helpful rather than somebody walking around with the awesome b-roll and the drone shot and all the things. I'm like, I don't know how to. I just want to know, like, do I do I tip here in restaurants? Do I like where should I not go? Where should I go?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, the thing is, it's it's hard. It's for for someone like you looking for content that's going to be helpful in your destination, it's hard to find. Because if you're really going to the destination, you want to know, do I tip? How the locals treat me? Do I need to know the language? But someone that's just watching it as entertainment, they love the drone shots because it looks beautiful. But here's the thing I I hate to tell you, Rick, you will never get that drone shot because you will never be flying, you know, 400 meters above the Pantheon. You know what I mean? Like, and that's why for a long time we didn't use any drone shots in our videos. Um, because we I don't want I don't do drones, but the thing was like that's not a sight you're really gonna see. But I saw that on YouTube you have to have a drone shot or something like that to show the city because the other like people watching want to see that. So, okay, there's what it looks like. You will never see this view though, but there it is for you. So that's that's one thing, is especially if it's like tons of drone shots. Like, that is not teaching you anything. That's not showing you anything you're gonna see. You can just sit at home and watch a drone shot. Like, you're gonna be in there, you want to see what the streets are like, okay, but tell me what's gonna happen in the streets. Don't just walk around and say, let's get a coffee, and then I'll have a coffee and talk about how great the coffee is. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So I want to focus, I know we've been talking about um international, and I want to stay there because I want to talk about the difference between what you've seen in your experience between American culture and other places around the globe. And the what I really want to focus on is, you know, in America, and it's uh it's I don't know if it's as much as it was five years ago, but it was all about hustle culture. It was like, you know, it was just always keep going, grinding, like it was just that was that was the thing. And I think it burning a lot of people out. Yeah, it probably is. And you know, American culture, it seems to be keeping up with the Joneses around you, right? There's a lot of people that go into debt to do that. There's a lot of people that don't have any peace, especially in their finances, but that that peace also is in their whole life because it's trying to just keep up with what you feel like culture tells you you're supposed to do. And you go to other places and you don't see that, or maybe it's not as much. And from your perspective, what have you noticed?

SPEAKER_01

So that that that's a really good thing. Like the the quality versus quantity of life kind of idea. Like in the US, well, one, in the US, it's almost like you have to have a hustle, side hustle to make the make ends meet. You know, that that's a whole different that's and that's a whole other topic. Like, especially like in Europe, I really felt because I mean I've lived in Finland, I lived in Portugal, I lived in Germany, I lived in Austria, I've spent literally like probably over a year of time in Italy over the years, like dating a girl in England, so I was there all the time. Like, I lived a lot of places around, and I will tell you, living there is like, hey, I'm staying here forever. Like in the US, like, look, I'm I'm here in Champaign now, but you know what? I might get a job in Georgia, you know, and you know, I'm but there it's like, no, I'm I'm I was born here, my parents were born here, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, my great, great, great, great. Like, you're not going anywhere. So therefore, your mentality is, hey, I'm not looking to change, I'm just looking to enjoy what's here. And so there's definitely much more of a community feeling because the people have been there for so long. So the people you see at the grocery store is the same people you saw 20 years ago. So that makes it a different kind of living experience. But also, what I saw when I worked in Europe, it was, I mean, it was really like, hey, if it's nine to five, it's like you walk in at you walk in at nine and you're out the door at five. 501 door's locked, and they're and they're like, you can't be here, go, go away. Like, work's over. Even your boss, like, hey, we got a project, come back tomorrow. Whereas in the US, hey, you know, I got I gotta I gotta I gotta keep going, I gotta keep grinding. I know I want to press my boss, I gotta get this stuff done, I'm gonna do extra stuff, gonna get this. It's a it's a completely different mentality, about at least from what I've experienced. It's like it's been very much a different mentality because that hustle kind of thing, that's why, you know, there are people in Europe that want to hustle and then want to keep going. But it I felt like when I lived in Europe, we didn't have to do that. But of course, that was before inflation was high and there's all these other things. But it is one of those things that it's definitely more so focused on the quality of life. And I'd rather have you know drinks with my buddies, you know, an aperitivo in Italy after work and hang out with them than it is to make sure I have the nicest house or the newest car or anything like that. So it's definitely, I would say, different financial priorities, but also different life priorities. And you can that that's one thing that I I really brought, like that's one thing I loved about travel is you'd see that just kind of bring it back. Like this this nice shirt, this is the first nice shirt I've had like 15 years. Because my grand or my my husband, my husband-in-law, my my father-in-law gave me two like golf shirts this summer because I'm like, look, I'm married, uh my clothes still fit, I'm not gonna buy the fancy clothes. My kids, they they need clothes. I always joke with my students. You notice what notice your parents' clothing got better once you moved out. It's like, yeah, they have money for themselves now. You know, it's like, you know, just it's just a different way of how they kind of do things for sure.

SPEAKER_02

Do you find um, you know, I know right now, specifically in the United States, and this has a whole lot of lot of reasons behind it, whether that's cell phones, whether that's just, you know, um uh social media, it could be all different types of of reasons, and there's a multitude of them. But like there's this loneliness epidemic where people are like, I don't have friends, I don't know how to make friends, I don't know how to even talk to somebody, much less the idea of going to a new place and doing that is so difficult.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I see people that like they won't talk to each other, but they'll text each other. Like literally, like I and they feel more comfortable, like they'll see each other hi, hi, but then they'll go back online and they'll chat that way. But that's how, like, especially younger people, that's how they kind of grew up. It's like, hey, we weren't together, so we talked online, and that's how we talked. And you do see that loneliness. But I think if you talk about the phone, one thing I think when you go to Greece, notice this. You notice you go to a restaurant in the US, mom, dad, kids, everyone's got their phone out, they're not interacting. You're up, you go to you go to the restaurant, the phones are away. Like they have their phones, they love their mobile phones. They had mobile phones before the US, but when they go out to eat, the phones are away. Interesting. And therefore, you're you're forced to interact with people, so you're getting more of that practice of talking to each other. And that that's one of those things. It's and it's funny because I don't know if it is social media, I don't know what it is, how it is, but like in the US, it definitely is go to any restaurant, you'll see everybody with their phone out. And in Italy, like Italy or Sp Portugal, yeah, they might have their phone out, but it's like on the table, not in their hands.

SPEAKER_02

Which is interesting because in some of those places, if you go eat, it's going to be considerably longer than even you know here in the US. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah. Like I always love Italy. It's like, okay, when are we going to dinner? I'm like, okay, we're going at seven. All right. So I'll get the Uber for 11. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So going back to the beginning of the conversation, you've traveled, but you've traveled and you still have obligations at home. You've got a family, you've traveled with your family. How have what is some practical advice you can give the listener to go, okay, I do want to start doing this. I don't want to wait until I'm in my 60s to go travel for the first time or to go wait till the kids are out of the house. Like I want to experience this with my family. How have you been able to do that?

SPEAKER_01

So, one of the things we did is we would plan like different times of the year. Because you know, if you're going to go fly in July to Europe, tickets are going to be double the price they are in like October or September. And if you have small children that you can take out of school, honestly, your school's probably going to be happy. They get to see the world. So you take a 10-day vacation, they just make one five-day window of schooling. You leave Friday after school, you get back Sunday night, and you can show them a lot of stuff. And if you go like to Ireland in October, it's like 500 bucks. You go to Ireland in July, it's 100, it's $1,500. So all of a sudden, just by change the time of the year you go, you're literally saving thousands. So like my kids, when they were little, we always took an October trip because they would have like, um, they'd have like uh you know parent-teacher conferences for two days, which parents never were supposed to go to, and they have another like Indigenous People Day. So there'd be like three days off out of the five days. So, hey, we're gonna take those two and we're gonna make this a little mini vacation. And so we would do that literally every year. We took them to Italy, we took them to France, all over. And so we kind of figured out how the school calendar would work so we could save a bit of money. Also, if you're thinking about it, if you go earlier in the summer to like a Europe trip, June, like July 1st is when Europe gets out of school. Okay. So you're not fighting with the European families in early June. You're just fighting with other Americans, basically, and other national travelers. So it's a little bit easier to get around. And so you do that. Another thing I think if you're gonna travel with your kids, especially looking at teenagers, because you know, teenagers are like, I don't want to go to Italy, I want to stay here and hang out with my friends and play video games. You know, like literally, like your teenager will tell you they don't want to go to Italy because they want to hang out with their friends. I guarantee that will happen. And you're like, what? And then you're, you know, what so what one of the things you can do is whenever you're looking to travel, get everyone involved. Like, let your kids be a part of the planning process. So if you're going someplace, you know, you you know the three cities you're gonna go to. Hey, uh have them pick one of those cities, or or you know, so they feel like that's your town. So find out what we have to do about it. Like, so with us, our oldest, we let us say, hey, we're going to this town, find us some places to eat. He was really good at finding. So he'd find us cool restaurants to go eat at. And so then he thought, oh, this is what I found. So he felt ownership. So it wasn't we're doing mom and dad's trip. No, this this was your choice. Or, you know, we'd have the kids like we, my wife and I would talk about like three destinations we want to go to, and we're like, okay, we got these three ones, so we'll let the kids pick. So then we'd let each kid pick one trip. So, hey, Caleb, do you want to go to Iceland or Mexico or you know, Peru or whatever? And all three were okay going to. And he picked one, like, all right, this is your trip, man. Let's do it. And he had really bought in. And and when they were like when they were high schoolers, that really is impactful because then I feel like they're the one making the decision. Because that's one thing teenagers want to have that sense of control. And so, like, we wanted to go to Israel, we want to go to Jordan, you know, Greece. Oh, it's like a kind of a mid, like that part of the Mediterranean trip. And so I was like, hey, Caleb, you know, what do you think about this? Would this be a trip maybe you want to do one day? It's like, actually, that'd be really cool. I'm like, all right, if you want, I could I'll book it for you. We can do it. He's like, all right. And so we were from a kid that the summer before was like, I don't want to go to Italy with you guys to, hey, yeah, let's do Israel and Jordan and this because this would be really cool because I picked it. That's one of those things you had to realize. And here's the thing another thing is like we call it multi-generational travel, where I see a lot of like upset up travel. So multi-generational travel is like grandma, parents, and grandchildren. Okay, or grandparents and grandchildren. So you just multi-generation stuff. One thing you have to talk about when you're doing that, you got to get everybody involved because if it's just grandma's trip, everyone will hate grandma by the end. Because grandma wants to go to those shops and grandma wants to go to the theater, grandma doesn't want to go to Disneyland, grandma doesn't want to go to the beer hall, and all of a sudden you're not doing the things that other people want. It's like, well, what was the point of vacation? Because it wasn't my vacation, it was grandma's. And so you want to make sure you get everybody involved so everybody has a thing. And remember, if you're going with like grandma and other people, it's okay to have time away. You don't have to spend 24 or 7 with each other. You can plan things out. So when we do our multi-generational trips with my parents and stuff, like I know day five, my dad, I've got to get him a cheeseburger. I gotta find a place that has some American. The guy worked abroad forever. And as he's gotten older, he's got a little more persnickety with his uh with his food. So he'll, I mean, he'll eat anything, but by day five, I know I gotta I have to go find an Irish pub that has a burger and fries, and he'll be okay, you know. And it's little things like this, like these little tiny things can make a big difference in your enjoyment of the trip um with your family. Um, I think another thing, if you're looking at like how to do the travel with your family, one thing is like you gotta start young, and it doesn't have to be international. You know, you can go take them to the town nearby or the big city nearby, do a weekend away. Because sometimes just that like get them used to going to museums, get them used to like trying different foods. Because while people go, well, kids only like chicken nuggets. Yeah, because all they know is chicken nuggets. So if they can always default to that, hey, just give go to that restaurant before. Like if you're going to go to Italy, go have pasta a few times at a few different restaurants just to try it out. Even if they're just having spaghetti noodles, they're used to having spaghetti and noodles. You know, like they they they feel more comfortable. So you take them to take kids to like places they've never seen the food before. No kid goes, ooh, random stuff I want to eat. No, they're gonna say, no, no, I don't want that. I want give me the chicken nuggies. You know, so if they've seen it, it makes it so much easier. Like, that's one thing with our kids. Whenever we're going to like new places, I'm like, hey, we're going to Russia. Um, so we're gonna make the cold boorish, we're gonna have the Shajlika, like the meat skewers and stuff. So when they went there and they saw the food, like, oh, I like that from home. And it made life so much easier.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Hey, if you've been listening for a while, you know that we care about doing things the right way and helping people make choices that truly matter. But here's the thing: you don't have to do it alone. At Smart Pro Financial, we build a custom step-by-step plan that has the potential to help you today, but also guides you into the future you're hoping for. We use Ramsey-inspired investment models so your money's invested the same way the Ramsey team talks about. And get this, there's no account minimums because we believe that everyone deserves trustworthy financial advice no matter where they're starting. If you're ready to get started, then click the link below to meet with a smart pro financial professional today. One of the things that you said, I think a lot of people are gonna go, wait, did he say that they're doing trips internationally with a short period of time? Because if people look at their time budget, going, oh, if I'm gonna go and be on a plane for eight hours or spend this money to get there, I have to go and spend two weeks. And if I got to spend two weeks, I can't do it. You're not doing that.

SPEAKER_01

And that is something that I I completely understand. I know for us, like if we're gonna do one of our filming trips in like Southeast Asia, I'm like, look, that's a long flight. I'm not going for a week, we're going for a month, you know, like it's a whole different process. But here's the thing if you when do you have two weeks that you can actually take off? Yeah, like sometimes we we we give it as an excuse. I'm like, your boss, your boss is cool with you taking a week off and a little bit, but you're taking two weeks and some more. Uh that's where it's like, hey, you know what? I can at least go. And here's one thing people don't understand. If I go stay at the Hampton Inn in Cincinnati, Ohio, it's like $250, like with all the tax and everything. I go stay at an equivalent hotel in Italy and it's like $150. So if I'm saving a lot more money, so your trip to, you know, not Cincinnati. I like Cincinnati. So it's totally fine. But I'm just giving this example, it's like you're if you're saving $100 a day on the hotel room, that's $700 in one week. Now, the flight, I'm looking at flights for me, me going to Europe, I can get them for usually between $900 and $1,100. For me to fly to Savannah, Georgia, I'm paying like $500 to $600. So when you look at the money side, it's like it's not that different. And here's the thing if you got a direct flight from Chicago or New York or Dallas, well, actually, it's probably faster than if you have to connect somewhere. You know what I mean? It's like, oh, I got a four-hour connection here, then go there. Yeah, two two two-hour flights with a four-hour layover, all of a sudden, two, four, that's eight hours, that's a flight to Europe. But but if you don't know, you don't know.

SPEAKER_02

That's right. And I was gonna, I was gonna ask the next question on on budgeting was just budgeting for a trip. And you kind of laid it out right there of like, hey, this is a different way and perspective to look at it when it comes to travel. But when you travel as much as you do, is this a lime line item in the family budget of saying, hey, this is this is a thing of importance to us, and we are going to make sure that we save money for it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, we we plan it out because it's like, because we'll look at different things, you know. Like if we're gonna do, for example, we're gonna we're planning now for a 2027 trip to Southeast Asia, which is a very affordable trip. So I'm not as like budget conscious. I'm like, hey, we can splurge, but splurging to Southeast Asia is still way cheaper. Like, I'm getting five star for Hampton Inn prices, and I like Hampton Inn. I don't know why it sounds like Imbasch, but I like Hampton Inn. But like I started to think it's like, wow, we can it goes really far. Like when I I taught in China one summer, and every weekend we would go and we'd go visit some other big city, and we're seeing like five-star hotels for like $80. These would be like $900 hotel rooms in the US, and it was literally like $80. And so it's like, wait a minute, I'm saving so much for this. Okay, but then I know, hey, if I'm my my youngest, he has not been to Denmark and Norway yet, and I want to take him there. Those are expensive countries. So for those, like, okay, we need a budget on this one. I need to kind of look a little bit more because I had to take, hey, let's maybe we're gonna do a little bit less on another trip so we can have cash for that. And that's the thing, is like overall, in general, whether you're going to Florida or you're going to Italy or you're going to wherever, you're paying about the same per day. So the only real difference is that flight. And sometimes the flights aren't that much more or less, depending on where you're going to go.

SPEAKER_02

So a lot of people, when they travel, they go and they they see a place, right? They go see a thing, a monument, whatever it may be, right? How do you go and how do you advise someone to not just go see it, but actually live in that environment as much as you can, even for a short period of time, but actually absorb the culture, what you're seeing, what's around you, versus just going, looking at the the building, the monument, and then that being it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I I well, here's one thing, because you have very much the bucket list traveler who is like, I saw it, check the mark, got the picture, check mark gone. And that's fine. Like, I'm not gonna be those people who say, Well, tourists do this, but travelers do this. That's like that's one of those, it's a big kind of thing I I see online. I'm like, what, we're insulting people because they want to go eat cheese. Like, what's wrong with you? You know, so it's like that that's one of those things that kind of gets me, but like there's the kind of like the living like a local kind of thing. And one of it is just like, you know what? The locals they go visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris too. It's okay. Like, give yourself that permission to be the tourist. That's okay. But if you want to get out and see different things, I mean, honestly, what I tell people, it's like, look, if you can see a famous site from the restaurant, don't eat there because you're gonna pay more and probably get a lesser quality product. Go two or three blocks away from there, away from the site, away from where the tourists are, you're gonna find the locals eating there. And listen, one, you smell because you're gonna smell some good stuff. But listen, if you see the people, like look and see, and but listen, the people that are inside, if they're all speaking the local language, you're set up. Because like that's one thing I've done. It's like we'll go to those places, and one, they're like, wait, why is a tourist in here, but you're here, and then we do the research on the food. I'm like, hey, could we get the blot what are the canals or whatever at where we're at and they're like, oh, oh, you know this, and you're you're a tourist. That's cool. That's actually brought people to talk to us because we knew kind of the food that is traditional for there, and we'd asked for that, like, oh, that's kind of cool. And you're not in the big picture menu places, you were the word normal locals eat. That's one of the big things, just kind of like following your nose, but also following your ears.

SPEAKER_02

I I love that advice because I think that some of the best experience I had with with traveling is getting off the beaten path. But I will ask this question because I've felt this is that there's a sense of um fear with that. Because I'm like, okay, what happens when I I don't I they what if they don't speak any English? Like, how do I communicate? What if I get lost? What if I'm like, what if I stumble into the the uh the area I shouldn't be in? And so I guess my question to that is how do somebody get over that that fear and what part of it is real?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, oh I want to say this. If you're based in the US, if you're going to Europe, pretty much anywhere you are in the US, you are less safe than you are in Europe. I'm just gonna say that one right there. Like, that's where I always find it funny. But like, how could you take your kids there? I'm like, there's shootings in the town I live in. My kids sadly knew three kids in eighth grade that got shot. I'm like, I we like you have bad stuff here. Like, one thing people uh here's a safety advice thing. A lot of people when they travel, they think they put on this magic fanny pack and nothing bad can happen. It's like, oh, my plane was delayed, it's the end of the world. Oh, I can't believe something bad happened to me on vacation. Like, look, when you're on a work trip, flights get delayed too. Like, people, it's funny how many people will literally take a normal inconvenience back home, but it's on a trip, they're like, oh, the food was so bad that I'm like, yeah, you went to a bad restaurant. Like, get over it. Like, why do you hate this country because you got a bad pizza? You know, like I will have people that literally will be writing me, like, how can you make videos about Italy? Oh, I hated the pizza I had there. I'm like, well, are you like, where'd you go? Like, I had one pizza at a train station. I'm like, Well, let's think about if you were at the Amtrak and you got a pizza on the Amtrak, would you think that was gonna be the highest level? Nothing against Amtrak, but you know, it's like people think of it a different way. So that's one kind of idea I want to have like in your head. It's like, look, you bad things can happen, but bad things happen anywhere. And so that that's one thing. So one of those statistics things. But also, I always tell people it's like, trust your gut. If you're like, I don't know if I should be here, you probably shouldn't. Like that that is a thing that it that is international, that is ingrained in us from like, you know, Darwin kind of stuff, man. Like evolution taught us, hey, I don't feel comfortable, I should go, then you should go. But one thing I will say is I I worked in China, I did not speak Chinese, yet we did not starve. People will find a way because people are friends, and if you're trying, I mean, honestly, if you're gonna go anywhere, learn like thank you and yes, like the basic things. Like, people so appreciate it. And the smaller the country, the more they appreciate that you know some of their language. Like, I mean, at Lithuania, I lived there for three and a half years. Every Friday night, I go to the bar to order drinks that I could speak some Lithuanian. Like, somebody at the bar would be like, You're not from here. And you ordered in Lithuania. I'm like, Yeah, like I gotta buy you a shot. I mean, literally every Friday for three and a half years, I had a free shot because someone's like so happy that some foreigner spoke some Lithuanian that didn't have any Lithuanian background. So, so it's one of those things like you just gotta like accept that you know what, I might not know what's there. What's the worst gonna happen? You're gonna have a meal that you don't know what it is, and then you'll love it, and they go, Wait, I have no idea what I ate. Yeah, I'll never get to have it again. Also, there's this crazy thing called Google Translate that you can literally just put it over there and translate for you. So that's cool. That's true. But I'll be honest, when we've gone places, we've always figured out a way, people will always communicate. Remember, like Marco Polo was going around the world hundreds of years ago and somehow came back just fine.

SPEAKER_02

So we can do it too. It's um, yeah, I I find that interesting, especially the comment of like, hey, try to know a little bit about the language. When I when I travel, I don't know why my wife and I, it's it we have this game we play where I try to, we both try to blend in as much as possible to see if anyone thinks we're actually from that country, which is probably different than most American travelers, but that's kind of like our our our just game we play, right? And so I remember the first time I went to Spain, I was looking for I was looking for my orchid bread, and I saw it in this bakery in the window, and I went in. I I don't know how to speak Spanish, but I I went in there and tried my best. And I it was good enough where they didn't question it and I got what I needed. Somebody else, yes, right? Somebody else I was with who I won't mention, so embarrass them, but you know, a family member, uh, multi-generational travel, we should say, went in to the same place and looked straight at the guy, goes, I want a Maroc bread. And just like looked and and and yelled it, like and and the guy looked stunned.

SPEAKER_01

And I was like, I don't think that's the thing. That's one thing I try to tell people. It's like if people don't speak your language, speaking it louder does not help. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_02

So I what I guess my my question is for people that are traveling, what um what do you wish that most let's just say let's just focus on American travelers, they're traveling abroad. What do you wish they knew prior?

SPEAKER_01

Just remember, everybody around the world, we're pretty much all the same. Like that's one thing you'll start to notice. Everybody wants good food, everyone wants a safe family, everyone's spend time with their friends, everybody enjoys like, you know, seeing nice things. I mean, and that's one thing, it's like people think, oh, we're going to this other country. It's like we're visiting like aliens in another planet. No. Like the commonalities of humankind are so common, no matter where you go, you can always find a way to connect with people. You know, and I think once you realize that, hey, we'll find some connection out there, then it's no longer us versus them. It's like, ah, it's just my it's my long-lost cousin I haven't seen before, and I don't know yet, but I'm gonna get to know him.

SPEAKER_02

That's right. So with as many places you've experienced, I know there's there's great experiences, probably experiences you've had, you're like, that wasn't maybe as much as I maybe I built it up more than it was, maybe it wasn't great, maybe I wouldn't go back. Um, my question more isn't leaning into the the good places versus the ones that weren't so great or amazing. It's it's more so how has travel and seen different cultures, people, the history of places, the geography of places, the food, how has that personally changed you? And why do you think that somebody that hasn't traveled needs to go do it for whatever that that change that may happen in them?

SPEAKER_01

Well, for me, well, there's a lot of things that travels really impact me. For like when I was when I was younger and I was traveling by myself in South America, I remember I was waiting for a bus and there's this little girl playing with a burnt match, and it wasn't like, oh, it was just a burnt match she was playing with, like, it was like her toy. And that's when I was like, oh man, that the world's a different play. Like that when you're young and you finally have, you know, I was I think I was in college. It's like when you have that like real realization like, yo, I was life's not been bad to me. You know, like that was one of the things that kind of opened my eyes. And then when I've been going around and I've seen like with all the travels, you start to, you know, you learn from other people. And that's one thing I get really upset because some travelers, not just Americans, but other places, they'll look down on people. Like, oh, you're from that country, so you're like a lesser human. I'm like, there's good people everywhere, and there's jerks everywhere. Like, that's part of life. But like when you start to get to know people, you really open your mind and you become more. I feel you become more receptive of different ideas because you have to, because you're going to all these places with different ideas. You don't have to agree with all of them. Like, that's one thing I think people would misunderstand. You don't have to agree with everything, but you can at least like take it in and go, okay, this is what they do. That's cool. Not my jam, but all right. And you can respect that. And I think as you go around more and more, you see so many different variations. They're like, Yeah, you know, people do different things, and you might see something you love from a different country and bring that into your own family. Like every night when it's dinner time, we yell, Namesa! Which is like to the table in Portuguese, because we just love that when we were there. And you know, the the Italians with the up here tivo time. Yeah, it's five o'clock. Hey, let's get our neighbor and have a drink and we'll do dinner later tonight. We'll just snack and do stuff. Like these little things you can bring from other places, really, really nice. And that's what I really love about travel. That's why I like when people do it. Because when I see students that study abroad, that's one thing I love when I take students abroad, is you literally see even like in a 10-day trip, they're like their perspective on the world changes. Like what I've been told the whole time is one thing, but now when I go there, I see it. Oh, it is different. Oh, like I was in Albania this summer, and if you taught anybody about Albania, like, don't go to Albania. Oh my gosh, you're gonna get kidnapped, taken, blah, blah, blah. You know, the old movie. And we go, I'm like, I don't think it's like that, but I will go see. And I went there, I'm like, dude, the people are awesome. Like, literally, we had a driver that picked us up. He's like, hey, we want to welcome you to Albania. Gave us a bottle of Akia, which is like the local spirit. He's like, because you're here, you gotta have a bottle for yourself. And they were going through the uh, it was funny because we're going through the uh the border check, and he's like, Hold on, he gets out. He had gifts for all the people at the border check. Like, like, it's not a bribe, it's like, because that's my cousin, and this is here, but yeah, it's like it's one of those things, just makes life a little easier, just share the well. Yeah, and so we end up going, ended up enjoying the guy so much. We ended up hiring him to drive us around, and he takes us to like this uh like farm to table food like place, you know, but it's like way out, and we end up being like the equivalent of like Gordon Ramsay of Albania, and we're just having this great time, but if you If you ever looked at things online, people say, Oh, you only go to the beaches there because they're beautiful, by the way, beautiful beaches there. You only go there because you go inland, you're going to get kidnapped and sold into slavery and la la la la la. And you're like, nah, Bain is actually pretty cool, guys. You know, but like that's the thing is when you go, you start to see it's like, oh, the people that are telling you these things, they've never been there, they have no idea. So they're just gonna say, Well, they're gonna pair it with they heard before because they don't know, and that's what people do. I don't know any information, so I'll take the information I've heard and go with gospel. And I mean, we took our kids to El Salvador before El Salvador like got cleaned up, and we were there, and like you do your research, you you pretty much know that they're not going after you. That's gang violence, right? And so we had a great time we were there because we knew we did the research, and you just go, Oh, how can you go there? Because you could take your kid to a farmhouse, and someone online is gonna say, How dare you take your kid there? They're gonna get E. coli from the chickens or something, you know? Sure. And that's why you gotta you just you go and explore on your own, you start to see things to realize, hmm, the stuff I hear is not always 100% accurate, but also when you go around, you start to take more things in and just learn more about cultures and appreciate the people of the world more. At least I feel that way.

SPEAKER_02

What do you have any particular um places, cities, or or countries that you've been to that you went, this made a profound impact on how I view the world, how I view culture, how I view politics, how I view religion, or how history, any of those places that you just go, man, that stood out.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so we went to Rwanda, this is like right before COVID, okay? So we were going to Rwanda and I was looking for information on Rwanda, and there was nothing out there except for the genocide in the 90s. And so I'm like, you know, there's like Gorillas in the Mist, Hotel Rwanda, there's two movies with Rwanda in it. Like, that's it. So I'm like, I don't know what to expect. And I'm taking my parents there, my kids there, and we and we get we have like a week there, and so I'm like, I don't know what we should be doing. So I end up going through a tour company to try to get things together. So we just had just the the what do the six of us, you know, for our own little private tour. And I remember I'm like, I don't know what to expect because literally there's nothing out there, you know, and so and so we land and we land at one o'clock in the morning in Kigali, and we take we're driving out of the airport, and usually we drive out of the airport, it's not usually nice or anything. Driving out of the airport, I'm like, dude, it's one o'clock in the morning. The streets are so clean, I could literally eat off the street in Kigali, the capital, because it was so nice. And everyone, everyone was so happy, friendly, you know, and because the thing is, people don't know the genocide from 30 years before, and they do not hide the genocide there, they have the memorials there. Like you have to be a certain age to go in because they don't they're when they talk about their children's room, they're not saying it's for kids, they're saying it talks about how kids were killed. Like they do not hold it back, you know. So then they're like, hey, and they've done all this stuff, and I'm like, man, this country's come so far from literally genocide. A million people in literally a hundred days were killed, and they've come this far in 25, 30 years that they can get along. Man, if they if they can go from that to like getting along, and and I mean we could get it, we can we can overcome our differences in any culture, you know what I mean? And so that's one of those things. And and you know, and I was there, it was, you know, we went to this, it was like it's called the Gorilla Guardians um village. Basically, it's it's former poachers, and they don't like, hey, what can we do not to be poached anymore? So it's basically they're showing like Rwandan traditional hunting techniques and food and clothing and how they make stuff. We you know there's we had a traditional Rwandan wedding. I mean, it was really kind of cool, and it's like, wow, yeah, like they're trying their their reform is hey, let's work together, let's find a way. And it's like, man, like that was one of those most like most moving trips we had. And I mean, we're people there were so amazed that tourists were there because tourists don't come because they think they're gonna get genocided, like the hatchet, you know, kind of stuff. And so people would literally stop and look at us, like, hey, and they everyone who waved to say hi. Schools we go by, like the schools wouldn't have to add just to come say hi. Our kids, we would go around, we brought soccer balls, and so we go play soccer in the villages and give the soccer balls to the kids. And here's the thing one of the villages we went to, we had the soccer balls, our last soccer ball, gave it to the kids, and the kids like, hey, we we shouldn't take this. They went and got the mayor of their village and gave the soccer ball to him because this way he'll decide who gets to play, and it's not some kid having the power. So I was like, wow, like that. I mean, these are like 10 and 12 year olds. I'm like, that is profound like understanding of society right there. This is literally a village and the kids are playing soccer in bare feet and flip-flops made out of tires. You know, and I'm like, all right, if they if they can do this, why can't we all do this? Like, that's where you have these experiences, like, my goodness, you know, like and most people when I say Rwanda, like, oh, how could you go there? The genocide. I'm like, it's 30 years ago, man.

SPEAKER_02

30 years ago. Yeah, that's interesting. I think of places, two places that aren't that uh dramatic of an example, but places that I remember when we went to family and friends were like, what? And we're not this adventurous travelers, okay? Like, I'm like, I'm I'm I'm way far away from going to places that you have been um that you've already mentioned in this in this episode. So far. Yeah, so far, so far. But that's right. The two places I could think of is when we went to Russia, and that was, you know, what are you talking about? And when we went to Israel, it was an and and it's interesting because obviously both of those places in the news now, and at that point, you had you had an understanding of where you're going, but um, it's illuminated those now, you know, just because of of what's going on. But it's an interesting thing when you look at those places when I was there, they had profound impact because you got to see history, you got to see culture like on display right in front of you. And I I love history, and I'm thinking of being in a place like Israel going, oh my goodness, like the Assyrians, the Babylonians, you know, the the Greek wait, Jesus probably preached on that hill.

SPEAKER_01

You're like, That's right. You know, it's interesting, like because I'm gonna go up to uh Lake Gala Lake Galilee. Yes, yeah, and so you know, and the the the lake has come down so far, it's like actually when he was walking, it would have been up there. That's why the churches are up there because it's come down so far. Because people are like, oh well, they're how they would have done like no, but think about it that 2,000 years ago is a whole different thing, and it just like this incredible experience seeing these things out there. I mean, it could be very impactful, very impactful.

SPEAKER_02

So I got a few rapid fire questions for you, and some of them you've probably answered, but I want to I want to make sure we get them out there. Um, what is one trip experience that you say is 100% worth the money that someone should think about?

SPEAKER_01

A just you and your family court trip, whether that's to going to, you know, the big city near you or going abroad, but something that's just you and your family, because that's something that you guys will remember and you'll talk about it forever. And I'm yeah, and that's one of those things. Like, I love my parents go with, I love when we get to bring my kids' friends, but like we went on a we we actually did it, we don't usually do cruises, but like we did a cruise, just the four of us college kid, high school kid, and mom and dad, me and my wife. And it was one of the best experiences because we were together as a family again. And that's what I love about because like we are like we'll go out and eat and we play cards afterwards. We go back to the hotel and we're we're playing cards or doing stuff and we're watching movies together. It forces us in that family unit because when you're when you're home, kid wants to go hang out with his buddy, he's gonna hop on the switch, and having that experience is fantastic. So it could be anywhere. But like for me, doing that, that's one of the ones when you go to someplace that is uh with food the kids like, it's like we all eat, we all enjoy. You walk back, you play some cards, you just have a nice night. Like, that's one of those things. Like, that's when you look back at vacation. Think about it, you think about the vacations when you were a kid. It's like, oh yeah, dad was doing this, and mom was doing this. You remember what your parents were doing because they were there and you're all together. And in today's world, we're like stuck on our phones so much, it's a nice thing to do to you know, give us a chance to like reconnect with our family.

SPEAKER_02

That's right. Um, another one here is what is uh what's the destination that you think right now gives you the biggest bang for your buck if you're gonna travel?

SPEAKER_01

Poland, Albania for Europe, Japan, because so when I went to Japan last time, the yen was really, really strong. It was expensive. Now the yen's come down so much. It like there's so many tours that are going there now, so it's some maybe maybe not that, but that's that's another one where it goes a long way. Um, yeah, those would be ones I say off just off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_02

Then what is a travel myth that you wish people wouldn't waste money on? Is there something out there that you feel like people waste money on that they shouldn't?

SPEAKER_01

You can see the world for free by my course and I'll teach you how. You know how they pay for all that? For you paying for their courses. Because a lot of those influencers that are doing these things, look, yeah, you get the credit card and then you get the free miles. Yeah, but you have to spend the $4,000. Well, I have bills anyway. I'm like, yeah, but you still have to spend the money. Like, how these influencers will kind of sell their hacks when really it might not be the best financial sense to do, to do that. It's like, look, you're gonna spend $4,000 on this other credit card that has a higher interest rate and you can't pay it back, then why are you doing it? You know, it's like I I I've talked to people about this. Like, literally, what what I we did the video on the lies, and there's people that do the credit card roulette that literally have like 20 credit cards and they pay off one credit card with another credit card. And I'm like, the bill eventually comes due, people. Like, what are you thinking? You know, brutal. Yeah, and like there was one that he was telling me a story. He's like, I was watching this one YouTube, we literally pulled out a stack of credit cards this thick. Which one he's like, I gotta remember which one I paid that on so I can pay it around. I'm like, why would you want that kind of life? Yeah, you know, like what's the point? You know, anytime they give you a hack that it seems like it's more effort than the $15 to pay for a seat on the plane, just get the $15 and buy the seat on the plane. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_02

So um something's coming up this summer here in the United States where the rest of the world is gonna be coming here in North America, Canada, Mexico, United States for the World Cup. And I mean, to a point, even with all of the financial analysis that we see, it's going to actually increase the US GDP pretty con pretty remarkably that most people wouldn't think of how big of a deal it is. Can you explain to the listener what that what the World Cup, like, why is this a big deal?

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so take the Super Bowl, put it on steroids, then double that, and then double that. That's the World Cup numbers we're looking at in terms of viewership online. It is everything, and people want to go. And right now it's hard to get tickets, and they there's even stories you look online about how expensive the tickets are, but people are still buying them because this is the World Cup. And the thing is, we've expanded the World Cup. So there's actually more teams now, so that means more games. So we could have games in Canada and Mexico, and there's still gonna be more games in 2026 than there was in 1994 when we hosted it then. So it's gonna be all over and the events that happen. You don't have to spend the money to go into the game. All the cities that are hosting games have like event spaces that people can go to and watch the games in the city park or downtown kind of stuff. There's gonna be so many events going on. And the thing is, people will travel with their country, kind of like college teams will travel, like their fans will travel around with them. But this is on steroids. And then everybody's coming around, and everyone's like, oh, my family's from so I gotta cheer for them too, and cheer for the USA. And so it's just a super fashion passionate fan base. And actually, we have a we have a podcast, I'll send you a thing for that we're actually talking about like what to look out for for these things because you were having hotels that were price gouging like crazy, and so people are just staying away, and they're like, then the hotels are like wait, wait, we they started to lower the price because they were really like overdoing it, you know. So uh just remember you don't have to stay in the city of the games that you can stay a little bit farther away, and you'll be just fine.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. So, Mark, one of the things that we try to focus on with our conversations as we wrap this up is hope. We feel like right now there's a lot of people that that don't have a lot of hope. Uh, in our world in finance, it looks a lot like I'll always live paycheck to paycheck, I'll never pay off my student loans, I'll never be able to travel, I'll never be able to retire. And we have a lot of the antidotes to that on the financial side. But speaking from your perspective, from what you see, you work with people, you you've you've met people, you work with people, you have friends all over the world, you have classrooms full of students, um, you talk to millions of people all the time. Can you give your final word on just hope to people right now, whether it has to do with travel, whatever, just speak hope into them?

SPEAKER_01

Hey, one of the things I gotta say is if you tune out, tune out the noise, find the things that give you the pleasure in life, the happiness in life, and that's what's gonna warm your soul. That's where that hope comes from. And if you find those positives in life, it makes life so much easier. Because a lot of times with social media, I mean, I make money, I make my money off social media, but social media can be very toxic for your brain. And sometimes just pulling yourself out of that toxic the toxicity of social media and the online space just to focus on the positive things. Like here's one thing I give you advice on your Instagram or whatever social media you like, go and like 10 posts and watch if it's a video, watch video through, watch 10 positive posts, and it will change what shows up in your feed on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube. And all of a sudden, those negative videos will start disappearing and the positivity comes back. And once you have a positive outlook and positive influences on you, it makes you walk around with a smile much better.

SPEAKER_02

So I know a lot of people are probably going, I wish you asked them these questions. A lot of those are going to be in the videos that you have recorded online. Yes, you have so many, a huge library of content. How do listeners go and interact with you after this?

SPEAKER_01

So the best thing to do is go to YouTube and just put Walter's World in, W-O-L-T-E-R-S World, and we'll show up. You'll see a bearded chubby man that has a ponytail yet still bald. Hey, I can pull it off. You'll see me on there. Or if there's a country you want to go to, just put in like the don'ts of Germany, the don'ts of China. Like we have videos that are based on like the do's and don'ts. And don't worry, the don'ts, it's always a positive spin. And we make a positive, like our videos are very positive and we're very inclusive for everyone. So we don't judge people. It doesn't matter where you're from, we don't care if you're rich, if you're poor, if you travel a town or it's your first time going, we have content that helps everybody travel better.

SPEAKER_02

Mark Walters, thank you so much for your time. Thanks, Rick. Hey, thank you all so much for tuning in to today's episode of Smart Pro Radio. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you did, please take a minute and subscribe and share this episode with friends. We really do appreciate it. And make sure that you don't miss any future episodes. We put them out on the first Monday of each month. We'll see you then.

SPEAKER_00

Discussions in this show are for entertainment and educational purposes only and should not be construed as specific recommendations or investment advice. Always consult with your investment professional before making important investment decisions. Securities offered through registered representatives of Cambridge Investment Research Incorporated, a broker dealer, member FINRA SIPC, advisory services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Incorporated, a registered investment advisor. Cambridge and SmartPro Financial are not affiliated.