Filling Your Bucket List - Cole Sjoholm

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Trust me after my year, last year, I put figuring out how to get to outer space on my vision board and I have no idea how it's going to happen or what we're going to do, but that's what we're working towards at this point.

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Oh, I love that.

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And you know, what's funny is that now seems feasible, right?

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Like 10 years ago, that might've been unrealistic for anybody.

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Yeah, it's becoming more feasible for sure.

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It's still a very expensive venture, but we're going to figure out how to do it.

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Welcome to the Wayfinder show with Louie Hernandez, where guests discuss the why and how of making changes that led them down a more authentic path or allow them to level up in some area of their life.

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Our goal is to dig deep and provide not only knowledge, but actionable advice to help you get from where you are to where you want to be.

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Come join us and find the way to your dream life.

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Welcome back to the Wayfinder show.

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I'm your host, Louis Hernandez.

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today we are here with Cole Sjoholm.

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When someone asked Cole, would you go?

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The question changed his life.

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In 2023, he spent the year traversing the globe, stepping foot on all seven continents in a single calendar year solo.

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From Australia to Europe and Antarctica to the Far East, 71 flight segments, 110, 246 miles flown, and 167 nights later, he learned that he isn't checking things off a bucket list, instead he's filling his bucket.

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The backstory and how the year came to be is as inspiring as the travel itself.

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The lessons learned continue to shape his life and his career.

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And the travel game.

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He captured these experiences in his new book, Filling My Bucket, a year of solo travel across the seven continents.

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Cole, welcome to the Wayfinder show.

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hello there.

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How are you doing?

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I'm doing great, I'm really excited to have you on when I saw, your profile.

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come across my desk.

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I was like, I got to get you on because to be completely honest, you have done what my wife and I hope to do in a couple of years.

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We're going to be empty nester soon.

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And we're starting to prepare.

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We're starting to, you know, envision traveling the world, because, it's not something we were able to do when we were younger.

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Yeah, for sure.

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You know, my story is a little bit different and I'm sure we're going to talk about that, but my planning in advance was limited to five days.

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it was definitely a wild journey getting there, but, I can't wait to be here.

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Can't wait to see what you're going to ask me.

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Tell us about how that happened.

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So yeah, I've always loved traveling growing up in rural northern Michigan I always knew that the world was bigger than where I was and was fortunate that my parents took us on summer vacations as a family I Have always loved traveling to the point that hotel restaurant management was my major in college.

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I really thought that was the way forward.

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However, 2023 and how it came to be was a simple question from a friend.

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On New Year's Eve of 2022, was in Blackhawk, Colorado, in front of a slot machine, gambling, having some fun, ringing in the new year.

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a friend messaged me and asked if I had ever seen these videos on TikTok about the Drake Passage.

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I don't have TikTok, but I know about the Drake Passage.

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And then she asked me, have you ever been to Antarctica?

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You know, she knew I liked to travel No, I haven't.

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Not a lot of people have been there.

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then she asked, would you go?

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And that one question changed my life.

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kind of the backstory of how, how that came to be then is, I'd already had a trip to Australia booked for March of 2023.

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I knew that I wanted to go to Europe, to Norway, Finland, Sweden, and explore some of my family heritage, during the summer.

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when she asked me this question, I had already had the trip to Australia booked, I knew I was going to go to Europe.

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I'm like, well, if I go to Antarctica, that means I'm going to South America also.

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So I only have to go to Africa and Asia, and I can go to all seven continents in a year.

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And I think I replied back to her about three minutes later, I'm going to go to all seven continents next year.

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walked up to my hotel room, started doing some quick research to see if it was really possible or not, and about 30 minutes later, I had a list of when and where I was gonna go, and it all came together that quickly.

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I saw an opportunity, I took it, little impulsive, yes, but the year has zero regrets.

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Wow, I love that.

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there's so much there, but I gotta ask.

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I don't know what the Drake Passage is.

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what is that?

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the Drake Passage is known as the most rough waters in the world.

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three oceans come together.

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The Southern Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, and they come together at the Cape of Good Hope in South America, just known as the most rough waters in the world.

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Some days it's known as the Drake Lake, which is very smooth seas.

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still more rough than typical waters, but then other days it's known as the Drake Shake where waves can reach over 30 feet tall and really move those cruise ships around down there.

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Wow.

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Really good watching.

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If you haven't ever seen videos, I highly encourage you to look at them on your favorite video viewing platform because it is pretty wild.

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Interesting.

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Never heard of that.

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So let's get into the meat potatoes of this because you say it just happened in five days, but You're also a really high performing mortgage lender.

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Am I right?

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Yeah, correct.

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I'm still, been doing mortgage for more than 10 years, banking finance for 20 years.

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definitely a huge part of my life.

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you can't just take off and go like that.

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You had to have prepared in some way.

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it's unfortunate, and I guess a lot of this is a derivative of COVID and a lot of those changes that have happened in the mortgage industry since then.

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clients don't typically tend to meet face to face anymore.

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A lot of it is done virtually, or over email and text messages.

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So it's really opened up a lot of flexibility for me to work remotely.

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my employer was very supportive after going through some necessary safety protocols about access and consumer financial protection, security measures, we came up with a plan about how it was possible.

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I still worked, this was not 167 days of vacation.

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I was still working while I was traveling in these different continents.

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time zones were a consideration, but it all came together in a way that was remarkable and perfect can't wait to try and do it again.

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How many countries did you end up traveling in total?

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The official count from last year is 25.

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my total country visit over my lifetime is at 36.

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So it was a lot of travel last year, a lot of new destinations and new sites.

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You had mentioned something before we got started about you had actually started thinking about something like this long before this.

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I was transitioning from a salary position as a bank manager to a commission only job as a mortgage lender.

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part of that transition, I went into a professional coaching service where a vision board became one of the exercises thinking about what I wanted my life to be as part of that change.

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I created a vision board back in 2012 that was largely based on travel, as well as some personal and financial goals, travel had always been an important part of my life, and it really was a lot of my why, about why I wanted to, do things and how I wanted to make my life better for myself and my family Fast forward to 2023, I lived so many things that were on that vision board that I never thought were possible.

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my coach encouraged me to put things on there that were stretch goals or, things beyond my wildest imagination.

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I put it in a place where I looked at it on a regular basis for a good number of years.

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I'd say the vast majority of the items that were on that vision board came true in a single year, and it really was a vision board for my life, not just a year, I'm so thankful for the exercise.

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I have become a champion for vision boards.

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I really think that they're important, stretching beyond what you think is possible.

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And really, if it's important to you, what I've learned is that time and place are important.

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But when you give something space in your life, it creates a very powerful connection between what you want and what you do.

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And it's really life changing in that way.

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we've talked about visioning a lot in this, show, and we've brought on numerous people who have different strategies, and they do some amazing things with it.

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myself, at the times I've been most successful, it's usually as a result of a vision I set off, years before So it's really the right, having the clarity and knowing what to do and how to get there.

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it's a very powerful thing and it gives you that focus that you need to execute.

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Yeah, and what's most fun is some things like you said that they could be, you were asked to put in some stretch goals and sometimes that can be scary when you put them on, right?

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Like you, you put something on there and it almost has to, if it isn't scary, it almost shouldn't even be on there, right?

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Cause you're thinking how can that happen?

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No way, right?

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And then before you know it, it's happening.

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Well, trust me after my year, last year, I put figuring out how to get to outer space on my vision board and I have no idea how it's going to happen or what we're going to do, but that's what we're working towards at this point.

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Oh, I love that.

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And you know, what's funny is that now seems feasible, right?

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Like 10 years ago, that might've been unrealistic for anybody.

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It's becoming more feasible for sure.

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It's still a very expensive venture, but we're going to figure out how to do it.

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I love it.

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Oh, wow.

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we're going to have to have a show recorded with you from out of space.

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That would be amazing.

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So, About that board.

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I just want to talk about that process a little bit So you started doing this board 12 years ago would you look at it regularly how did you actually make it Ripped out pictures from a magazine.

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Did you have a professional drawer for you?

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no, it was all homemade.

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my little tip that that I like to use is I like to use binder clips And I kind of paste those on the board and then add pictures to it.

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as you accomplish one thing, your vision might change or evolve.

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I never took something off, but I sometimes added to it.

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I like having a three dimensional thing.

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So I'd make, some backgrounds for a picture I cut out.

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sometimes I make a little paper picture frame that I'd put around the image and just try and do a little bit more than just, pasting things onto a poster board, but making it a living, breathing document where you can add or subtract, whether something was accomplished or whether, the vision has evolved or changed or expanded, I could do that without having to redo the board itself.

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Yeah, and I did.

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I mean, I put it in my office.

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I looked at it every day.

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Another fun tip that I've learned over the years is putting it in your garage, where you have to look at it every day as you're coming and going in and out of your everyday work life into your home life is a really powerful place to put it.

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But I think having it visible, is so important.

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You know, as technology's changed, a lot of people will take photos and then use it as their home screen photo on their phone.

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So they're forced to look at it every time they pick up their phone.

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But I just think that visibility is really important, even subconsciously, if you're not paying attention to it, it just helps that vision come together.

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I love that.

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I think that is key to, you know, have it somewhere where there's the garage or on your phone.

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Yeah.

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Well, you, well, you are looking at it every day.

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If you put it away and forget about it, you could easily forget your vision.

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Right.

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And you're doing exactly.

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And you're not providing that clarity that you need in that focus.

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So, yeah.

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And, and it gets you excited, gets you positive, gets you motivated towards something, you know, so.

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It's great.

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tell us about the actual travels now.

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you did this solo, right?

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I did.

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I did all seven continents by myself, that's not to say I didn't meet hundreds of wonderful people around the world that I now get to call friends.

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Yeah.

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But the actual travel, was all done solo.

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Wow.

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So, how would you make friends?

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I did a lot of cruise vacations, logistically.

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That was an easy way to travel as a solo person.

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I knew I didn't want to spend a ton of time packing, unpacking, ground transportation.

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And really that was a factor of being able to work remotely.

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when you're on a cruise ship, you might have a sea day where you're just sailing between destinations.

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those were great days for me to stay focused on work.

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And then when I was saying those.

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You know, cities around the world getting to see and do the highlights of those, those destinations.

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I could be less focused on work and rely on my team back in Grand Junction to pick up some of those day to day pieces for me.

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so cruising became the way to do it.

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And then because of that, everyone's on holiday or vacation and they're all friendly.

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They're all like to sit down and chat and learn about where you're from and what you're doing.

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I was able to meet.

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Literally hundreds of different people from all different walks of life all around the world, largely due to cruise traveling.

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Oh, interesting.

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So that answers one of my questions.

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I was going to ask where you stayed.

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So you were always on a cruise ship?

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Not always.

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there was a land component where I'd fly into a destination and spend anywhere from three to five days in a city.

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Then I would get on a cruise ship.

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Then I would typically stay a few days at the departure port and do some land based things.

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but a cruise ship was home for a good majority of the year last year.

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Interesting.

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So that would mean that all of the places you visited were, on a coast, I'm assuming.

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a good number of them.

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one of the stops, though, in Germany, you stop in Wormundi, which is up on the northern coast, and then, take a two hour train ride into Berlin in central Germany.

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So, it depends on, how long you're there.

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some ports, You're there overnight, which allows you to explore further or longer than just a one day stop.

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But, you know, I, I tried to fly into destinations that I had a big desire to do some more land based vacations and further exploring, a couple of days in advance.

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that allowed me to combine the best of both worlds.

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how would you pick them?

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Well, because it was all happening so quickly, literally, like, I went up to my room 30 minutes later, I had it loosely plotted out.

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A lot of the schedule was set for me based off of what was still available.

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I had this trip to Australia booked already, and then, I started searching destinations, cruise lines, prices that had availability.

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That worked into this master calendar of visiting all seven continents in a year.

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the Antarctica cruise season, for example, only goes from October through March.

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which shrunk it down for me because March I already had things planned, so I couldn't go early in 2023.

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I had to move that to the end of the year.

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Which then meant I only had October, November, December to do that segment of the trip.

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and then based off of some other things, like Asia was best done in November, I only had December to do Antarctica.

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going in October, it's a little bit more risky to actually set foot on the continent, because it's still early in the season, and there's a lot of ice.

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my goal was to not only visit all seven continents, but to actually set foot on all seven continents.

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so that left December and just all these pieces, you start moving the puzzle around and they all fit together and voila, five days later, all the travel was booked and I was out on my first vacation.

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Nice.

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What about a visa arrangement for all these?

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How is that handled?

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Part of that was learn as I go, which there was a few stressful moments, but, travel agents typically aren't responsible for advising whether visas are required or not.

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we do have some benefit as US citizens where typically most places don't require visas.

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check your State Department website.

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A lot of countries that do require visas, you can apply electronically and get a visa in as little as 24 hours.

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that was the case for everywhere I visited.

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I purposely didn't choose some other places, like China which have a much more extensive and rigorous visa requirement.

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Because I just didn't have the time available in my year of travel to dedicate to obtaining a visa for that country.

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But you know, I did visit Hong Kong, which is, part of China now, which does not require the mainland tourist visa.

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So you still got to experience some of those different places, just with some less requirements.

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And that's still the case.

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Yeah.

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It's Hong Kong.

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Oh, I didn't know as of November of last year, that was the case.

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Oh, neat.

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I went to Hong Kong like 10 years ago and for grad school program and we went from Hong Kong, you could easily go on to the mainland.

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but it was a little bit harder the other way, I thought that all changed when China took over.

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I was coming from Tokyo or from Japan to, and then in through Taiwan and then visit Hong Kong, but I still wasn't required to have a tourist visa that, you know, the cruise ships do a good job of communicating what's generally required, but they push responsibility to the passengers to make sure they have the required documents, whether that's your passport or visas.

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What about, so it sounds like you pretty much stuck to the general.

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Tourist destinations within these places, right?

00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:15.490
So you weren't really going out and integrating into the communities or anything like that, right?

00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:16.980
Yeah, it just depended.

00:17:16.990 --> 00:17:26.799
certainly when you're only in a city for, anywhere from 8 to 12 hours, you don't have a ton of time to get out and meet a ton of local people.

00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:36.910
I do like to venture off on my own some when I'm out exploring and would frequently hire a local tour guide versus, someone sponsored through one of the ship shore excursions.

00:17:37.500 --> 00:17:41.890
There are some risks to doing that as far as liability for getting you back to the boat.

00:17:42.130 --> 00:17:50.940
if you miss the boat, your responsibility to transport yourself to the next destination becomes your own unless you do one of the ship tours, but, you know, it worked out.

00:17:51.329 --> 00:17:53.819
Well, for me, I didn't ever have any issues.

00:17:54.180 --> 00:18:08.640
I'd spend a lot of time in those land based segments before the cruise ship, trying to get to know some of the local cultures, better and, spent close to a week in Australia, same in Northern Europe and Amsterdam.

00:18:09.109 --> 00:18:11.200
my Africa trip was really all land based.

00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:13.369
so there was no cruise component there.

00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:24.890
And then South America, spent several days in Buenos Aires, flew up to Iguazu Falls at the northern border of Argentina and Brazil, and, then flew down to Ushuaia to catch the cruise ship to Antarctica.

00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:26.769
Interesting.

00:18:27.190 --> 00:18:30.164
What do you think, one of the things I think about with travel?

00:18:30.474 --> 00:18:35.234
A lot is the idea of going deep versus going wide, right?

00:18:35.335 --> 00:18:47.634
Oftentimes, we were just in Japan for 12 days and we spent half of that time in Tokyo the other half in Kyoto And he and we we purposely a lot of Other people went and hit the whole country They just want to go in and out.

00:18:47.634 --> 00:18:50.194
I've learned to want to spend more time and go deeper.

00:18:50.204 --> 00:18:57.605
the deeper you go, the more you fall in love with these places and you want to spend more time there, Versus if you're there one day.

00:18:58.224 --> 00:19:01.474
that is the downfall of, a cruise type vacation.

00:19:01.835 --> 00:19:05.454
you really get to see what I call the highlight reel of a destination.

00:19:05.785 --> 00:19:12.394
if I told you the number of, UNESCO World Heritage Sites that I saw in a year, It's a huge list.

00:19:12.394 --> 00:19:15.035
well over 20 different, maybe more than that.

00:19:15.734 --> 00:19:21.075
certainly I couldn't have gone to 25 countries or, over 50 destinations without cruising.

00:19:21.125 --> 00:19:24.174
because I was still working, that was the best option for me.

00:19:24.964 --> 00:19:32.585
I do value and appreciate, A different, more immersive type experience, but that wasn't possible at this stage in my life.

00:19:33.805 --> 00:19:41.595
with that said, I like cruising in general, so it was all good and fun for me, but I do understand and appreciate the differences between those types of travel.

00:19:42.424 --> 00:19:49.535
I think it just depends on what you're trying to accomplish and it all works great either way.

00:19:50.015 --> 00:19:53.464
And it sounds like you get the community built in from the cruises anyways.

00:19:53.884 --> 00:19:56.595
my Australia cruise was almost all Australians.

00:19:56.944 --> 00:20:04.615
the European cruise, there was a sprinkle of Americans, but obviously heavy European, being that it sailed out of Amsterdam or Rotterdam.

00:20:05.444 --> 00:20:11.075
it depends where that happens, but I am really glad I had the land based components to tie in with that.

00:20:11.075 --> 00:20:12.115
So I need to have some more of that.

00:20:12.460 --> 00:20:14.930
More local immersive experience that you talk about.

00:20:15.380 --> 00:20:15.900
Interesting.

00:20:16.579 --> 00:20:21.029
because of that, are there places you'd want to go back to and immerse yourself more into the community?

00:20:21.630 --> 00:20:27.109
There are certainly, I mean, I'm really fortunate that I would say there was nowhere that I visited that I didn't like.

00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:36.289
There was certainly areas that I liked more than others or would want to spend more time exploring and the destination that comes to the top of mind is Norway.

00:20:36.579 --> 00:20:37.869
I loved Norway.

00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:38.250
I was.

00:20:38.690 --> 00:20:45.390
on a Norwegian fjord cruise, so I spent about seven days in Norway, and I can't say enough great things about it.

00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:47.069
the fjords are beautiful.

00:20:47.069 --> 00:20:49.059
The people were wonderful and warm.

00:20:49.609 --> 00:20:59.569
I love how they take a break in their afternoon around two o'clock every day to meet their friends for, a coffee and a pastry, it's just a different way of life that I really appreciated.

00:21:00.809 --> 00:21:05.960
It's Part of that culture that I enjoy and I'm familiar with because of where I grew up in northern Michigan.

00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:08.430
it felt like home in a weird way, Oh, neat.

00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:13.000
our listeners don't know, but your name, I'm assuming is Norwegian, right?

00:21:13.150 --> 00:21:16.950
It's actually very Swedish, but I have Swedish, lineage as well.

00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.440
so they probably didn't have a hard time pronouncing your name.

00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:21.740
people were excited and they'd start talking to me in Swedish.

00:21:22.029 --> 00:21:31.819
I don't know anything, unfortunately, so, that was always fun, but, like, when the tour guides would see my names, they, they would all start talking to me in Swedish or Norwegian Yeah, that's funny.

00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:34.430
that's a great segue to talk about language.

00:21:34.490 --> 00:21:40.230
I think with today's technology, it's something that's always scared people from traveling, but it's so much easier now.

00:21:40.230 --> 00:21:45.150
I'm assuming you became a very capable user of Google Translate and such.

00:21:45.150 --> 00:21:48.430
Yeah, it was surprising how little I had to use it.

00:21:48.460 --> 00:21:52.440
I know some Spanish, which gets around, in a good chunk of the world.

00:21:52.980 --> 00:21:57.849
But there was a meal I had in Buenos Aires, completely through Google Translate.

00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:03.539
I know like Portuguese, or strong enough Spanish with the different conjugations of verb.

00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:06.670
And, he really didn't know any English.

00:22:07.069 --> 00:22:10.589
So we had an entire meal, through Google Translate.

00:22:10.589 --> 00:22:12.655
And it was one of the most fun enjoyable and memorable experiences of the year.

00:22:13.105 --> 00:22:19.385
it's remarkable how technology has enabled travelers to do that and really taking down barriers.

00:22:19.395 --> 00:22:23.586
So it's not perfect, but you get enough of a sense that it can really work.

00:22:24.236 --> 00:22:28.215
when we were in Japan, none of us knew any Japanese.

00:22:29.040 --> 00:22:30.240
in Tokyo, you almost don't need it.

00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:33.641
A lot of people actually speak English, but in Kyoto, that was not the case.

00:22:34.270 --> 00:22:38.570
we depended on that app, and I am blown away by how far it's come.

00:22:39.010 --> 00:22:45.931
you pretty much just put it in between you and, The foreign language speaker in front of you and you each talk back and forth and it does it for you.

00:22:45.931 --> 00:22:47.151
it's just so amazing.

00:22:47.161 --> 00:22:48.721
Now it is, very fun.

00:22:48.721 --> 00:22:54.671
you do have the benefit where a lot of tourists sites, they definitely have signs and multiple languages and things like that.

00:22:54.691 --> 00:22:59.820
So you figure out how to get around, you know, as a solo traveler, I did have the benefit.

00:23:00.685 --> 00:23:02.125
Of figuring it out on my own.

00:23:02.135 --> 00:23:03.746
I didn't have anyone else to rely on.

00:23:04.256 --> 00:23:12.086
that's where a lot of that personal growth comes into play where, you learn what you are capable of and how capable you are to figure things out.

00:23:12.155 --> 00:23:14.096
And it was just a really great experience.

00:23:14.465 --> 00:23:21.115
You know, sometimes my phone data plan wouldn't work and you'd have to figure out how to navigate from point A to point B.

00:23:21.115 --> 00:23:27.836
When I was really stuck, some local was able to help me and knew enough English that we could figure out where I was trying to go and how to get me there.

00:23:27.836 --> 00:23:29.066
So it worked great.

00:23:29.516 --> 00:23:30.566
Yeah, it's amazing.

00:23:31.185 --> 00:23:34.925
So I'm curious, did you have any preconceived biases?

00:23:35.641 --> 00:23:44.951
when you went towards any certain countries or cities or places you were going, that were proven wrong, or right.

00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:48.990
Yeah, I did write about it in my travel blog a little bit.

00:23:49.020 --> 00:23:50.941
I had no idea what to expect in Asia.

00:23:50.971 --> 00:23:53.480
I was really nervous about the language barrier there.

00:23:53.931 --> 00:23:59.635
I had known some friends that had gone to Tokyo and then talked about how friendly the people were and how helpful they were.

00:23:59.955 --> 00:24:08.885
And that definitely came true, I really loved Asia, just the entire continent and my entire visit there more than I ever expected.

00:24:09.425 --> 00:24:24.546
I think that's a little bit of ignorance, a little bit of unknowing, but, you know, like Vietnam, for example, it's a controversial topic in American history and, a lot of people, you know, it's painted with this dark jungle, you know, negative connotation.

00:24:24.955 --> 00:24:32.816
And my visit in Vietnam was, you know, It's more opposite than any other thing that I ever would have thought or learned through American history books.

00:24:33.306 --> 00:24:35.026
I found the people incredibly friendly.

00:24:35.086 --> 00:24:40.185
The culture and, you know, just lifestyle was so vibrant and colorful.

00:24:40.645 --> 00:24:44.986
And, that's one of those destinations, again, that I would really love to spend more time and go back to.

00:24:45.266 --> 00:24:52.365
just, you know, I think the historical context versus the current day modern situation is, can be different.

00:24:52.365 --> 00:24:56.385
And there was no unexpected negative surprises.

00:24:56.385 --> 00:24:58.135
There was only positive surprises.

00:24:58.635 --> 00:24:58.945
Yeah.

00:24:58.965 --> 00:25:00.306
What part of Vietnam did you go to?

00:25:00.756 --> 00:25:05.316
I was in, Huan, you know, historical, heritage site and Oh wow.

00:25:05.675 --> 00:25:20.336
Went to a cooking class there, learned how to prepare and, use local ingredients and, you know, that's kind of one of those ship sponsored shore excursions that it kind of goes beyond what you think you're gonna do on a, on a cruise ship.

00:25:20.695 --> 00:25:23.155
And it was one of the most enjoyable things I did all year.

00:25:23.155 --> 00:25:29.016
It was just a really fun day, exploring this beautiful city and also, getting to learn about local culture that way.

00:25:29.546 --> 00:25:40.746
Yeah, during that trip when I went to Hong Kong, we also went to Vietnam as part of my program and we spent a week there I was blown away and we were in Ho Chi Minh City, which is a former Saigon, right?

00:25:40.746 --> 00:25:44.986
So, to be fair, it's not the prettiest city in the world, right?

00:25:44.986 --> 00:25:47.256
It's very hustle and bustle.

00:25:47.705 --> 00:25:56.965
And, you know, it's not aesthetically very pleasing, but the people, You just can't help but fall in love, with how gracious they are, how enterprising they are.

00:25:57.195 --> 00:26:00.816
There's something about the energy there that just, blows your mind.

00:26:01.105 --> 00:26:03.266
and it's so safe, like you don't have to worry about anything.

00:26:03.875 --> 00:26:07.586
we have this preconceived notion that it's going to be dangerous, it was a war zone, all this stuff.

00:26:07.586 --> 00:26:10.346
No, and I fell in love with Vietnam too.

00:26:11.056 --> 00:26:14.286
I mean, one of my memories from Vietnam is how much they like to honk.

00:26:14.375 --> 00:26:22.205
It's like a little honk honk every time they pass someone just kind of a warning because there's so many people on scooters So they want to let them know that there's a bigger vehicle coming.

00:26:22.836 --> 00:26:41.375
And you kind of become numb to the honk honk over Half a million people or whatever, and then you contrast that to Tokyo, which I call the silent city of 40 million people, where there's like no honking, no sirens, like mass chaos just because of the number of people, but also very orderly and, silent in that way.

00:26:41.375 --> 00:26:44.246
So even within Asia, there was tons of contrast.

00:26:44.661 --> 00:26:48.250
It's so funny, man, that you're bringing back a lot of memories for me, too.

00:26:48.550 --> 00:26:53.770
In Tokyo, I went to run the marathon, the Tokyo Marathon, and my wife and kids were there with us.

00:26:53.800 --> 00:26:55.691
it's a massive, it's a world major, right?

00:26:55.691 --> 00:27:01.240
So you get, like, 40 plus thousand people there, and the streets are so crowded and all that.

00:27:01.530 --> 00:27:02.451
But it's so quiet.

00:27:02.911 --> 00:27:06.270
And my wife, she's not quiet, right?

00:27:06.280 --> 00:27:08.721
She's cheering everybody on and all this stuff.

00:27:09.040 --> 00:27:14.431
And I'm just used to going to other marathons where you see all these people and obviously it's loud.

00:27:15.445 --> 00:27:26.006
You know there you see all the people and it's so quiet it's just amazing and my wife said she kept getting dirty looks and had to move to other places because she was cheering everybody on when They're all quiet, which is kind of funny.

00:27:26.415 --> 00:27:28.736
it's totally memorable and unique that way, Which is awesome.

00:27:28.736 --> 00:27:30.615
It really is one of those marathons.

00:27:30.615 --> 00:27:36.710
I hope they're all memorable but yeah that extra little asterisk or something special that you get to remember that one by that's neat.

00:27:37.019 --> 00:27:41.160
So give us the top, three memories from this trip.

00:27:41.619 --> 00:27:44.259
You mentioned, the cooking class in Vietnam.

00:27:44.259 --> 00:27:45.410
You can't use that one again.

00:27:45.420 --> 00:27:47.299
But, you know, memories like that.

00:27:47.904 --> 00:27:49.075
Yeah, there's a lot.

00:27:49.154 --> 00:27:52.335
I sang karaoke at a bar in Tokyo.

00:27:52.785 --> 00:27:57.845
I'm not a singer, but you know, they, they require that I sing some American country.

00:27:57.845 --> 00:28:04.555
So for all you Garth Brooks fans, there may or may not be a recording of Cole singing a country song in Japan.

00:28:05.194 --> 00:28:12.684
Karaoke became this weird memory of the year just because I'm really not a very good singer, but part of that personal growth was I just don't care anymore.

00:28:12.684 --> 00:28:15.434
Like I'm here to have fun, you know, life is meant to be lived.

00:28:15.974 --> 00:28:22.605
so on the Antarctica trip, I was on a Viking cruise, which is, much different clientele than a typical cruise ship.

00:28:23.555 --> 00:28:25.644
It was an expensive holiday to go on.

00:28:26.075 --> 00:28:46.644
I found this rowdy group of people that aren't a typical viking passenger either, because in one of the bars at the front of the ship, we were down there having cocktails later one evening, and myself and another gentleman kind of spotted a microphone over in the distance, which they use for lectures and daily activities and we looked at each other and we're like, karaoke?

00:28:46.845 --> 00:29:02.519
And he was like, oh yeah, we're gonna do So we went and picked up this microphone and we made our own homemade karaoke bar in this bar and sing songs, you know, in Antarctica, who knows, maybe the very first karaoke bar ever to exist in Antarctica, but it was just so memorable.

00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:11.130
And, you know, one of those things that, I'll never ever forget just because it was, Kind of frowned upon, but then also, we just did what we wanted to do and we're having fun.

00:29:11.130 --> 00:29:12.750
So that's funny.

00:29:12.970 --> 00:29:13.529
That's two.

00:29:13.579 --> 00:29:14.160
One more.

00:29:14.490 --> 00:29:14.789
Yeah.

00:29:14.789 --> 00:29:19.480
Another one at the, Aladabra tortoises and the Seychelles, Africa.

00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:23.029
Ooh, there's some of the largest tortoises on land.

00:29:23.410 --> 00:29:30.529
They live to be hundreds of years old and they were so much more inquisitive and curious than I ever anticipated.

00:29:31.140 --> 00:29:38.000
Like, they'll brush up against you with their head, kind of like a cat, or they'll follow you as you walk away like a dog would.

00:29:38.630 --> 00:29:42.859
And the interaction with the wildlife there was, absolutely incredible.

00:29:43.109 --> 00:29:45.700
And one of those memories that I will never forget.

00:29:46.369 --> 00:29:46.869
Wow.

00:29:47.019 --> 00:29:47.490
Okay.

00:29:48.220 --> 00:29:51.309
So, you know, was there ever a time you felt unsafe?

00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:52.680
No.

00:29:52.730 --> 00:29:54.710
I was cautious and careful.

00:29:54.759 --> 00:30:09.509
you hear like crime in Buenos Aires is maybe higher than other parts of the world, but a lot of other countries don't have guns or don't allow guns, so you don't have to really worry about gun violence, And I was cautious.

00:30:09.509 --> 00:30:11.940
I was careful, with my belongings.

00:30:11.940 --> 00:30:16.799
I tried not to, be flashy or anything like that.

00:30:17.150 --> 00:30:19.140
but I really didn't feel unsafe anywhere.

00:30:19.140 --> 00:30:20.960
It was a very remarkable time.

00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:30.210
it doesn't mean that there wasn't probably times that I wasn't in unsafe situations, but I was aware of myself and my surroundings and, took care to exit them when I needed to.

00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:36.349
What about, advice for people who are what's most courageous about this is the fact that you did it by yourself.

00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:38.750
that really is the unique part of the story.

00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:44.779
I've actually met another gentleman just recently that actually also went to all seven continents last year.

00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:48.029
he would go on some of the trips with friends or family.

00:30:48.119 --> 00:30:52.619
So really that solo component is the part that makes it so special and unique.

00:30:53.299 --> 00:30:53.680
when it.

00:30:54.170 --> 00:30:58.079
comes to, my encouragement of solo travel.

00:30:58.944 --> 00:31:01.075
I have fallen in love with solo travel.

00:31:01.525 --> 00:31:09.234
I also appreciate going on trips with other people because having that built in friend group or companion or partner is so powerful.

00:31:09.845 --> 00:31:18.515
if you knew the number of times that I would see the most amazing sunset when I was in the South Pacific, and my first thought was, I don't have anyone to share it with.

00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:33.559
versus like you see a cafe in Amsterdam and I want a coffee and I just walk across the street and go in and order without having to tell someone what I'm going to do or explain why I want to do it or why we're going to take three minutes out of the day to do that.

00:31:33.589 --> 00:31:36.069
It was very freeing and powerful in that way.

00:31:36.700 --> 00:31:38.289
those are the parts that I love.

00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:42.440
if you're tired, you get to sleep in when you want to, if you want to get up at 6 a.

00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:42.650
m.

00:31:42.650 --> 00:31:44.369
and start exploring, you can do that.

00:31:45.140 --> 00:31:48.299
You're only responsible for yourself and what you're going to do that day.

00:31:48.509 --> 00:31:52.289
that was the great part about solo travel that I've learned to grow in love.

00:31:53.049 --> 00:31:53.359
Yeah.

00:31:53.670 --> 00:31:54.099
Neat.

00:31:54.750 --> 00:31:55.920
What, so what's next?

00:31:56.039 --> 00:31:57.079
Are you going to travel some more?

00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:00.589
Yeah, I'm actually setting out here in a few weeks.

00:32:00.630 --> 00:32:02.099
I'm going on another cruise.

00:32:02.150 --> 00:32:09.950
from Los Angeles up through Alaska, we'll explore several places in northern Japan before I get off the cruise ship in Tokyo.

00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:09.980
Yeah.

00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:13.250
So I'll get to visit some new sites in Japan.

00:32:13.750 --> 00:32:16.339
Also, Alaska is one of those destinations in the U.

00:32:16.339 --> 00:32:16.529
S.

00:32:16.529 --> 00:32:18.180
that I haven't been to previously.

00:32:18.210 --> 00:32:19.839
So I'm excited to get to Alaska.

00:32:20.549 --> 00:32:26.049
And I'm really excited to be able to compare what I now know about Norway with Alaska to see how they compare.

00:32:26.619 --> 00:32:28.539
Because I loved Norway so much.

00:32:28.549 --> 00:32:30.170
So yeah, there's a lot of great things.

00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:32.170
Trip through the Panama Canal.

00:32:34.329 --> 00:32:36.000
Are there any places you would move to?

00:32:37.345 --> 00:32:37.785
Yes.

00:32:37.805 --> 00:32:49.089
I mean, the world is a big, beautiful place and there's probably more places that I would consider moving to than I ever thought possible, but Australia, like, Completely wonderful.

00:32:49.140 --> 00:32:50.509
So friendly people.

00:32:50.539 --> 00:32:51.829
I really loved my time.

00:32:51.829 --> 00:32:53.849
I was up in Brisbane and Gold Coast.

00:32:54.289 --> 00:32:57.539
I can't wait to see Brisbane host the Olympics, in 2030.

00:32:57.880 --> 00:33:01.039
I think it's gonna be a really great Olympic, host city.

00:33:01.809 --> 00:33:03.099
would love to live in Norway.

00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:05.250
it's really difficult for Americans to get visas.

00:33:05.525 --> 00:33:09.505
to work there because of their economy, but I would love to spend more time there.

00:33:09.585 --> 00:33:15.404
I'm definitely hoping to plot out a full 90 day European tourist visa stay in Norway at some point.

00:33:17.954 --> 00:33:18.295
Okay.

00:33:18.404 --> 00:33:28.565
I guess before we go on to the wayfinder four, like I'm wondering, is there any like big lessons you think you got from this that just change your life in the way you think?

00:33:28.970 --> 00:33:51.950
Yeah, I mean, it, the year was all about self discovery and growth, I had been in relationships most of my adult life, and this was the first time in my life that I was single, so spending time trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted out of life, became the goal of the year, I had the fortune of, Doing it in beautiful surroundings, places that people only dream about traveling.

00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:53.920
And that was the backdrop for my story.

00:33:54.480 --> 00:34:01.059
So the visual complementary nature of the surroundings just became such a strong part of my personal growth.

00:34:01.509 --> 00:34:08.750
that was really the biggest takeaway in figuring out who I am and what I wanted to do with my life Love that.

00:34:09.869 --> 00:34:16.289
Well, Cole, on that point, It's time to get on to our now world famous Wayfinder 4.

00:34:16.590 --> 00:34:18.550
I'm sure you heard this everywhere you were, right?

00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:19.820
Absolutely.

00:34:20.530 --> 00:34:22.530
Famous questions, famous hosts.

00:34:22.530 --> 00:34:23.289
I'm excited to be here.

00:34:23.985 --> 00:34:24.434
Thank you.

00:34:24.905 --> 00:34:39.784
So give us a hack and you can't use Google Translate app or something like that, No, I mean I really found a lot of benefit in brand loyalty and it sounds simple, but sometimes price is only what you pay.

00:34:40.215 --> 00:34:43.855
I have a former manager that if he ever is listening, I owe this to him.

00:34:43.855 --> 00:34:44.875
price is what you pay.

00:34:44.875 --> 00:34:46.164
Value is what you get.

00:34:46.534 --> 00:34:52.565
I became very loyal to American Airlines, for example, I have limited options for my local airport.

00:34:52.994 --> 00:35:04.965
American Airlines was the partner that I chose, but because I traveled so much and so much with their themselves and their partner airlines, I very quickly grew up, or went up the ladder of, loyalty.

00:35:05.594 --> 00:35:12.074
And there was three different instances where I got upgraded from like a normal main cabin economy seat into a business class seat.

00:35:12.500 --> 00:35:18.869
It's a pod, which if I were paying for that would be somewhere in the seven to 9, 000 range of an upgrade.

00:35:19.159 --> 00:35:21.000
I got three of those for free last year.

00:35:21.260 --> 00:35:21.619
Wow.

00:35:21.809 --> 00:35:32.400
Even though I might not have the lowest price ticket for a single segment somewhere in the world, by staying loyal to that brand, it really became a benefit for me long term.

00:35:34.260 --> 00:35:34.599
Yeah.

00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:35.769
That, that's a great one.

00:35:35.880 --> 00:35:40.480
I, I never really thought of that, that consciously, but it applies to everything, right?

00:35:40.530 --> 00:35:41.119
It really does.

00:35:41.170 --> 00:35:45.159
To somebody, you and I are both in the real estate world essentially, right.

00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:48.480
people might shop you for rates, me for commission prices.

00:35:48.530 --> 00:35:51.550
they don't understand the value that we provide if they're loyal.

00:35:51.590 --> 00:35:53.369
there is so much that we provide.

00:35:54.690 --> 00:36:00.670
Provide and negotiate everything to discount their other expenses and bring them other opportunities.

00:36:00.739 --> 00:36:03.239
Peace of mind is a big part of it.

00:36:03.289 --> 00:36:12.559
you are maybe willing to negotiate for a repeat client or for friends or family versus, someone that just picks up the phone we obviously work hard for all of our clients regardless.

00:36:12.610 --> 00:36:19.610
There is added benefit to that relationship, I view myself in the business of building a relationship with my clients, not just transactional.

00:36:20.260 --> 00:36:20.690
That's it.

00:36:20.940 --> 00:36:21.920
how about a favorite?

00:36:22.650 --> 00:36:30.719
Could be a book or show or, you know, my favorite book, it's actually an autobiography by the actor, Michael Caine.

00:36:30.989 --> 00:36:37.440
he's written several autobiographies, but it came out in 1993 and it's titled, what's it all about?

00:36:38.275 --> 00:36:51.355
And I read that book as a freshman in college, freshly out of my own from Michigan and flew the family, family nest and was out of my own for the first time living in Las Vegas, going to school at UNLV.

00:36:51.864 --> 00:37:09.164
there's something about the way he tells his story that's so powerful, When I read the book, I read it in his English accent and, it's just, it's a very fun way and also ties in very well with my own story about personal growth and figuring out what life is all about.

00:37:09.735 --> 00:37:15.605
even though I read that book, more than 25 years ago it still is my favorite book, even after all these years.

00:37:15.655 --> 00:37:16.835
Oh, I'll have to check that out.

00:37:16.835 --> 00:37:20.514
I love good biography, especially an autobiography when it's told well.

00:37:22.385 --> 00:37:24.835
How about a piece of advice for your younger self?

00:37:25.795 --> 00:37:29.005
Yeah, I really struggled with trying to be perfect when I was younger.

00:37:29.304 --> 00:37:32.335
my advice would be perfection is not the key to life.

00:37:32.844 --> 00:37:34.625
You know, life is meant to be lived.

00:37:34.635 --> 00:37:36.715
Sometimes that means it's clean and tidy.

00:37:36.744 --> 00:37:39.034
Other times it means that it's a little messy.

00:37:39.434 --> 00:37:43.835
if you're growing from your experiences, I think that's so much more powerful than trying to be perfect.

00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:47.179
That's profound.

00:37:48.840 --> 00:37:58.099
actually on that, I'm just thinking what comes to me, mine to me is, you know, there's, I think, another, quote, and I'm butchering it but, you know, perfection is the enemy of execution.

00:37:58.460 --> 00:37:59.289
Yeah, exactly.

00:38:00.269 --> 00:38:09.619
how much do we not get done because we're trying to be perfect, it ties into this story the same way, if I had tried to spend years plotting out this trip to all seven continents, it would have never happened.

00:38:09.670 --> 00:38:16.769
I saw the opportunity, I took it, planned it in five days, went out and started going for it, and it turned into the most remarkable year of my life.

00:38:17.369 --> 00:38:17.980
That's amazing.

00:38:18.059 --> 00:38:20.050
I think about the Wayfinder show with this.

00:38:20.050 --> 00:38:29.710
when my, Adam, who's no longer on the show, but it's still a good friend and listener and advisor on this, when we started this, we had no idea what we were doing and we screwed up everything.

00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:34.630
now it's me who still screws up a lot of things, what an amazing year and a half it's been.

00:38:34.630 --> 00:38:38.409
I met so many great people learned so much and been able to share that with people.

00:38:38.409 --> 00:38:41.949
And now I go places and people like, Hey, I heard that show and they got something out of it.

00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:42.920
it's just incredible.

00:38:42.920 --> 00:38:51.699
if I focused on it, being perfect, you know, like because I stuttered or I, the, ah, or bad edit or something like would have never been out there.

00:38:51.969 --> 00:38:53.889
So here you are, and here we are.

00:38:53.889 --> 00:38:56.079
I appreciate the opportunity, likewise.

00:38:56.090 --> 00:38:56.260
Thank you.

00:38:56.920 --> 00:38:57.340
Likewise.

00:38:57.340 --> 00:38:58.300
I appreciate having you here.

00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:07.309
So, last one, what is a big opportunity that you've now been around the world so that you see out there in the world that you're going to pursue?

00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:11.900
You know, I'm really excited about this transformation with AI.

00:39:12.289 --> 00:39:34.079
I think there's a lot of people that are really scared about what it's going to do and, potential job changes but I've started using it in very simple ways in my life, whether that's, creating an outline for a presentation or thinking about a book launch plan and like, what are the steps that I need to take being that I self published this book, I didn't hire a traditional publisher to do that.

00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:41.599
And it consolidates and simplifies a lot of talking points or thought provoking.

00:39:41.885 --> 00:39:43.925
steps that you need to take to do it.

00:39:44.514 --> 00:39:52.764
So I view it as a big enhancer to how we increase productivity, not a detractor or something that's going to take away jobs.

00:39:53.155 --> 00:39:57.034
I'm sure that's going to happen, but just like self checkout at the grocery store.

00:39:57.054 --> 00:39:57.965
Some people love it.

00:39:57.974 --> 00:40:02.635
Some people hate it, but even though there's not a checker there, scanning your groceries, there's.

00:40:02.659 --> 00:40:14.409
Still people behind the scenes that have to keep those things running and upgrading software job replacement or knowing what's coming is important, but I'm excited to see what happens with AI and how we can integrate it into our everyday lives.

00:40:14.900 --> 00:40:15.760
Yeah, I agree.

00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:20.840
it's a great tool that we're only starting to, tap the opportunity for productivity with.

00:40:20.840 --> 00:40:21.179
Right.

00:40:21.320 --> 00:40:22.059
well, I'm curious.

00:40:22.179 --> 00:40:24.699
are there any particular AI tools that you use?

00:40:25.059 --> 00:40:30.320
You know, chat GBT is probably the most popular one that I use, but even Microsoft has their own now.

00:40:30.320 --> 00:40:34.610
Apple's coming out with its own technology in its next release, I think in September.

00:40:35.159 --> 00:40:38.389
we're just at the beginning to see what that looks like and how it's done.

00:40:38.840 --> 00:40:52.480
for me last year in travel, it could have certainly been much more useful if I was thinking about what are the certain sites that I really must see if I'm visiting a destination versus scrolling through websites or trying to pick different pieces and place them together myself.

00:40:52.519 --> 00:40:56.400
I would totally plan some travel agendas differently than what I did before.

00:40:58.170 --> 00:41:00.320
Well, Cole, this has been a real delight.

00:41:00.659 --> 00:41:05.349
If people want to know more about you, if they want to get your book, how can they reach you?

00:41:05.625 --> 00:41:13.695
I have a travel blog or a website that I created to document a lot of the last year, and that's mortgageguytravelstheworld.

00:41:13.695 --> 00:41:14.144
com.

00:41:14.974 --> 00:41:21.804
the book, Filling My Bucket, A Year of Solo Travel Across Seven Continents, that's available through Amazon and Barnes Noble.

00:41:22.125 --> 00:41:27.204
it's also linked on the blog if you're a picture person, please, Follow my Instagram account.

00:41:27.244 --> 00:41:29.465
I love posting photos from a year of travel.

00:41:29.905 --> 00:41:31.824
my camera became my travel buddy.

00:41:32.005 --> 00:41:35.335
I have over 30, 000 photos from the year.

00:41:35.704 --> 00:41:38.594
I really have only looked at about 000 of those.

00:41:38.635 --> 00:41:42.675
So there's a photo book that will be coming in the near future as well.

00:41:42.775 --> 00:41:49.824
I hope to have that published later on this fall, but until Instagram and like, and share which, what photos you like.

00:41:50.324 --> 00:41:50.675
Thank you.

00:41:50.675 --> 00:41:51.474
What is your handle?

00:41:52.244 --> 00:41:54.034
It's Cole period show home.

00:41:54.409 --> 00:41:58.309
So again, S J O H O L M.

00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:01.219
or if you look at mortgage guide travels, the world.

00:42:01.380 --> 00:42:02.650
com, it's also linked there.

00:42:03.585 --> 00:42:04.394
Okay, perfect.

00:42:04.905 --> 00:42:06.954
Well, Cole, this was really a lot of fun.

00:42:06.954 --> 00:42:08.005
Thank you for being here.

00:42:08.005 --> 00:42:09.125
I'm inspired.

00:42:09.804 --> 00:42:12.434
the more we've traveled, the more we want to travel.

00:42:12.554 --> 00:42:19.724
And my wife and I are committed to having a nomadic life for a few years after our kids leave the nest and we're in our empty nester year.

00:42:19.724 --> 00:42:25.835
So, I love, you know, having these conversations and giving us ideas of how to go about it.

00:42:26.324 --> 00:42:31.885
Technology is a wonderful thing and it's only going to improve how we're able to do that going forward.

00:42:31.934 --> 00:42:35.885
I'm excited to hear your story and watch you travel and grow in that way.

00:42:36.454 --> 00:42:36.875
Thank you.

00:42:37.465 --> 00:42:38.284
Thank you so much, Luis.

00:42:38.284 --> 00:42:38.934
Have a great day.

00:42:43.704 --> 00:42:45.465
We hope you've enjoyed The Wayfinder Show.

00:42:45.614 --> 00:42:49.835
If you got value from this episode, please take a few seconds to leave us a 5 star rating and review.

00:42:50.125 --> 00:42:54.375
This will allow us to help more people find their way to live more authentic and exciting lives.

00:42:55.034 --> 00:42:56.335
We'll catch you on the next episode.