From Kansas to Medellin: A Millionaire's Story

From Kansas to the vibrant city of Medellin, Colombia, we embark on an incredible journey with our special guest, who shares his inspiring story of transformation.

 Growing up in an outdoor-oriented community in Kansas, he transitioned from being a swimmer to becoming a hunter before making the bold part-time move to Medellin, Colombia. His entrepreneurial spirit shines through as he discusses his ventures and highlights his son's remarkable career in country music, showcasing the dedication and perseverance needed to thrive in such a competitive industry. Join us as we bridge the gap between the United States and Latin America through enriching personal anecdotes and shared experiences.

In our conversation, we uncover the often-overlooked benefits of living abroad, with a focus on Colombia's superior and affordable healthcare. Comparing the conveniences of Western living to the unique experiences in places like Medellin, we challenge common stereotypes. From the efficiency of services like Rappi to the excellent medical care , these insights provide a fresh perspective on international living. Discover how Medellin's vibrant real estate market has become a lucrative investment opportunity, surpassing traditional hotspots like Miami, and hear about the spontaneous decisions that led to falling in love with this dynamic city.

We also dive into the exciting world of cross-cultural living and business building, exploring the challenges of starting a mattress business in China and the rewarding experiences of balancing life between the U.S. and Medellin. Our guest offers valuable advice for young entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of passion and living without regret. Listen in as we discuss the financial wisdom of relocating abroad, particularly for retirees looking to maximize their Social Security benefits, and the cultural appreciation that comes from learning the local language. This episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone considering a global lifestyle and seeking success beyond borders.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello and welcome to Matt Chambers Connects, a podcast hosted by Matt Chambers. This is the podcast that transcends boundaries, empowers cross-cultural connections and fosters a more connected world. I'm your host, matt Chambers, and I invite you to join us on this quest to expand our understanding and build bridges between my two favorite places on the planet Latin America and the United States. My two favorite places on the planet Latin America and the United States.

Speaker 2: 0:27

I've been traveling living and doing business in Latin America for nearly two decades. Thank you, matt, for having me. I appreciate being here, man, how you been. Everything good, everything is great look at the weather here.

Speaker 1: 0:54

I know, man, beautiful medellin, colombia. You know, this is the first live podcast that I've done where I've interviewed the interviewee live. Oh, we're in the same room. Yeah, I've been doing them all remotely and you know, because everyone I interviews all over the world, right, you can, it's hard, yeah, that's true. Yeah, hard to get in the same room, but yeah, man, it's nice to nice to be here. We've known each other quite a few years now, right, five, six years before pandemic yeah, definitely before pandemic.

Speaker 2: 1:22

I took five years. You were. You were one of the first people I met here.

Speaker 1: 1:26

Yeah, yeah, that's right. So I know you've been. When did you first buy in down here? 2018, 2017? It's right at the beginning of the pandemic. What? 1920? 2019, yeah, that's right Before pandemic Gotcha. So you came from Kansas, you grew up in Kansas, had business in Kansas. What was it like growing up in Kansas, man?

Speaker 2: 1:49

Well, kansas City in itself is more of an outdoor community. You know hunting and fishing, although I was in sports most of my high school college and, being a swimmer, I tried every sport. Well, you can figure out what you're good at and, being a swimmer, I tried every sport where you can figure out what you're good at and then uh. But I didn't really do a lot of that until I got older, because swimming you go from 5 to 7 am and 3 30 to 6 monday through friday and saturday. Then you had meat and that was 10 months a year. So that took an incredible amount of time. Once I got married, I started hunting, getting together with my rugby buddies. I needed an excuse to get out of the house. Sure, I thought hunting would be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1: 2:31

Yeah, like, what the hell else do you do in Kansas?

Speaker 2: 2:33

right, hunt, fish, hunt and fish, a lot of it, a lot of it, and you know, which is really great because there's so much open space. There's a lot to do.

Speaker 1: 2:42

Yeah, I can identify. I grew up in West Virginia, middle of nowhere. West Virginia and Jesus, Exactly. Yeah For me. I didn't really have the patience to hunt or fish. I did it as a kid, but I didn't have the patience to do it, so eventually I had to get the hell out of West Virginia just to not be bored. But I do understand it and I think you told me your son's a country music singer. Is that right?

Speaker 2: 3:05

Yes, he's had three number one hits. They had eight top 40 hits. He has a great career. It's pretty amazing. Now he went to Nashville, started, you know, cooking hot dogs in Tootsie's, a famous bar. Then they let him sing and, you know, first one was 12 to 2. I went in there and there was three people in there and he's up on stage singing. I had a panic attack. It was like, oh my god. And then, you know, he was one of the better ones. He moved two to four, four to six. Then he was headlined the 10 to 2. For you know, it took him nine years to sign with sony so he worked his butt off to do it isn't that kind of the common thing with those guys, though?

Speaker 1: 3:44

Anyone that wants to make it, you just kind of have to go through yourself with the wolves you know there's a lot of great voices out there.

Speaker 2: 3:52

You don't want to go to a karaoke bar there or in Brampton, but you know, yeah, you have to survive and you know you got to have a little luck and I'm still amazed when I hear him on the radio that he's one of the 10 million that made it. It's really something that's awesome. Very proud of him.

Speaker 1: 4:11

Very proud. So share with me your journey as an entrepreneur I know you worked for yourself your whole life and share a little bit about your upbringing in Kansas and how you got into business and what are some of the key lessons you learned along the way out there.

Speaker 2: 4:24

Well, you know I started, like everyone, fast food at high school, part-time something's probably about 99 percent of the people in the world. But uh, when I got into college I'd always worked and I was doing concert security work and worked my way up to where I was running the company, where we'd have 120 people go to a show, social security ushers, ticket takers and I really enjoyed that. I got out briefly and went into the corporate world. I double majored in accounting and finance and sitting in a cubicle drove me crazy and the consular security thing was always moving, doing something, a lot of issues all the time. But I just love starting businesses and it's the one thing you know. I probably started seven of them and two of them were very successful.

Speaker 2: 5:17

The other ones I still think were great ideas, whether bad timing, bad management, or maybe that's just my ego talking, I just feel a thing. But you know, like you, I mean starting. Maybe that's just my ego talking, I just feel a thing. But you know, like you, I mean starting a business. It takes a certain mindset, certain person. You got to be able to. You know you can't be risk adverse if you're doing that, like I. When I first started you know one of my businesses. I didn't take a paycheck for two years. I mean nothing. It was growing but and I knew it was eventually going to be there. But it was a little tough.

Speaker 1: 5:46

But how'd you get through that? Did you just take the minimum of what you could take, or did you do other things on the side to make that?

Speaker 2: 5:54

Well, fortunately, at the time I was married and that helped, because you know it led to a few fights, of course, but you know she had an income, so we at least had basic expenses. And the problem was I had a staffing firm. We did attorneys, engineers, project managers, so everything was you had to pay people. You didn't get paid for 30 days. You couldn't even bill for 30 days. Then you didn't get paid for 30. So you're 60 behind. And then every time you're successful, which means you're adding more people, which means you have more payroll demands, it means you just can't take. I mean I knew it was sitting there, but it was tough. I mean it was never easy. And I'm sure you've had those same things. You've started up many companies and there's always that, you know, trying to get on there and with every business. And then the next thing is do I bring on a person to help me? But then I have to pay them. Is there enough work for them, full time? And it's, you know it's always juggling something.

Speaker 1: 6:58

It's easy. I think that when you have a good month, it's easy to think well, how can I hire somebody to grow this thing right?

Speaker 2: 7:13

And then as soon as you do that, the next month you're like, damn it, I entered this new person and I got to pay this new person. Damn it. No, I know, that was always the hardest thing for me to figure out. Yeah, and I think for most entrepreneurs we're always trying to figure out how do we grow it? I mean, that's the whole reason we're in business is to grow For sure.

Speaker 1: 7:28

If you're not growing, you're dying right. Exactly Some of these guys I've met over the years clients, friends, whatever. They get to a point with their business and they're happy, they're content, and you start getting complacent and you're fucked. I mean there's no because, again, if you're not striving to grow it, somebody's going to come in and fill the business, or you're just going to get laxed, or no, that's true, because you're right.

Speaker 2: 7:55

If you're not out there doing it, then you start to disengage For sure, because everything's kind of just running itself. You're making enough money that you're relatively happy.

Speaker 1: 8:03

But you're right, you're not helping the business and someone else will come in For sure, you'd be starting another one in two or three years because that one's going to go out of business, exactly. So what Did you? Sell the business and retired no.

Speaker 2: 8:19

Actually, timing-wise, our largest account was bought out. We didn't get a new contract with the company and so it kind of worked out because it was already at I was at the retirement age. I would have liked to have sold it, but during the last couple of years trying to get it's always good to find people to- grow the business.

Speaker 2: 8:39

That's the hardest thing and I wish there was some magic way to do it, because I've tried hiring people with management, sales, management sales, and apparently I was paying them too much in salary plus commission, because they seem to be very happy not selling, sure, and I've always said this and it's true, and because I've gone to so many sales trainings and that if you, even if you're not good at selling, if you just do the numbers, you're going to make money for sure and it's. You know it's hard to get that across yeah, and I think it's it's.

Speaker 1: 9:13

It's always a challenge to find someone that's going to care about your business as much as you do. Well that's true too, yeah and then they're not going to manage it the way you do and exact you're gonna, you're gonna end up fighting over that and it's just not going to work in the end.

Speaker 2: 9:28

I've seen it happen. The other part was, you know, in the industry there's usually a non-compete. So you hire a sales manager that doesn't have a non-compete, and then you find out why Because no one else wants to. No one else wants to Exactly.

Speaker 1: 9:45

So what drew you to Medellin? I know you did some travel You've done quite a bit of international travel before you came here, right?

Speaker 2: 9:53

Right, I've really started traveling in my 40s, and when the kids were little, I took them to Mexico, dominican which still has the most beautiful beaches to me, sure, but we started traveling. The more I traveled, the we started traveling, the more I traveled, the bug hits you, the more I want to travel Right here. Then I had a friend go to Russia. I went there a few times and it is eye opening. I think everyone should travel, because when you come back to the United States, you'll stop bitching For sure, because, except for Europe and the united states government doesn't do anything for you. And here, you know, in america, everybody wants. That's right, I should get this, I should get that.

Speaker 2: 10:29

I went to russia and once you get out in this town called egesk it's a military town, so it's like one of the last ones to open up to the west, and so not many people spoke english. But when you saw how these people lived, they all lived in dorms and it's just amazing to me that that's how the whole population lives. There's a few people that had a house. They had a two mile stretch of road that they had just paved. They called it five minutes in america, literally because it had a paved road because they had one people, not holes everywhere. Oh it's crazy. Yeah, I mean we see everyone sees tv and they know they want to be in America, but I just thought it was so funny. That's, that's what they all call.

Speaker 1: 11:08

Yeah, for sure. You know, travels opened up my eyes to see the things that the United States does well and also the things that we do bad. Right, because as many things that that you see abroad that these countries do poorly, the way they treat their citizens and they you know all all the negative you see almost as many things that they do well, right, I mean carl, exactly, and columbia the perfect example of that. I think everyone thinks that you know that's columbia, so all they do down there is, you know, it's just killing each other and drugs and all that stuff. It's just not true, right, you get here and you're like, oh my God, the Rappi service. There's one thing that I just you know what I mean.

Speaker 2: 11:50

You turned me on to that. You said it would be life-changing. It has been.

Speaker 1: 11:53

I've seen so many things here, as you have in Medellín, colombia, that literally I just have never seen anywhere else, and a lot of them are things that when I'm not in Columbia I miss them. I almost can't live without them, and one of those is a rapid delivery service. They deliver absolutely everything you want to your door, anything, day or night, doctor, nurse you need a doctor.

Speaker 2: 12:16

That is the one thing here. I got food poisoning last year and I had somebody call up and a doctor came here, gave me an IV in this room and it was just amazing.

Speaker 1: 12:26

Here in your house, right in your house.

Speaker 2: 12:27

Yeah right, it's fantastic Because with the food poisoning I couldn't leave the bathroom for too long so I couldn't go anywhere For sure. But that's incredible. The other is the medical and I have people back home go because I had my eyes done, I had cataracts. I had my eyes done, I had cataracts, came down here. They did it. They put a trifocal lens in and cheaper than I would have paid with insurance in the States which is another issue that we'll get to later but I do everything here now. Fantastic. And people back home can't understand. They go. What are you crazy? It's a third world country. I go. I have news for you their medical is a lot better than a lot of places in America.

Speaker 1: 13:03

Absolutely, absolutely. I one time I got sick on salmon. I have many of these stories. I won't do into all of them, but I was deathly sick on salmon and it was my own salmon. By the way, I have never, I've never been sick. Take that back. I got sick on fried chicken here one time.

Speaker 1: 13:18

But Colombians are so clean in general, they're just clean people In South America, most countries. Brazil is extremely clean, colombia is extremely clean. But if you're from the States and you don't travel, you hear about Colombia and you're like oh my God, this you know my brother-in-law at one point. He was like I thought Colombia just had a bunch of potholes and dirt roads and I'm like, oh man, colombia is incredible, the infrastructure is incredible, and especially for a third world country. But I got sick on my own salmon. I left it out too long and I went ahead and cooked it, ate it, stupid.

Speaker 1: 13:45

The next day I wake up deathly ill and my buddy John, who had been here for about eight years or something, a couple of years before me, he said Matt, don't even pass, Go, go directly to the emergency room. I'm like the emergency room, can I just go to the pharmacy and get a pill or something he's like no, go directly. That's what people do here. They go directly to the emergency room and at that point I had signed up on their private health insurance through SORA and I go directly to the emergency room. There were probably six or seven people in the line in front of me, but I flashed my SORA private health care card and literally skipped the line.

Speaker 1: 14:17

She says go over the other window and pay your copay. The copay was the equivalent of about 13 or 14 American dollars at the time, right. And then she said just wait in the chair, we'll call you. Literally, my ass hit the chair. And she says Mr Chambers, come on back. And I could see these other people were just deathly sick. And I'm like wait, I'm skipping these people. How can we do that? Because I had the private health insurance. They passed me right back into the emergency room S emergency room. Swear to you, within five minutes I have ivs in my arm. Three hours later I'm out of there.

Speaker 2: 14:44

I feel I'm 100 you know, and I and I've done that a couple times I have a driver who speaks both english and spanish obviously I'm not, unfortunately, fluent like you who gets heads turning when they see you talk in a restaurant because you sound like a trombone. But uh, I've worked hard for that, by the way. Uh, yeah, but it wasn't easy, no, without a doubt. But I went in there. I go in this little room at the ER I'm the only one there and as they're doing x-rays, I look out and I see, oh my God, there's another waiting room. I'm in the American paying cash. They like that For sure, and I'm like I went right in. It was amazing.

Speaker 1: 15:24

Yeah, and you know I tell people back in the States they're like, oh, I need to get this dental work done or that dental work done. And I'm like, well, you just go down to Columbia, you know, and here's my dentist, I'll give you a dentist, Go see him. And people turn their heads like I'm never doing that. I've heard too many horror stories and the experience I've had with medical here has been absolutely incredible. I've had surgeries here. I had my dentist. I've gone to every six months for the last six or seven years. I see no difference in what he does and what I get done in the States. No, they have the same equipment. It's just as nice. My teeth cleaning costs $25 out of pocket, right?

Speaker 2: 15:59

I have a little heart issue that goes back in that they're supposed to check every year. Checked it last year. Well, I get back to the States, I call them up to check it. No one ever contacts me and then I kind of forget about it. So now I'm coming back and spent a year and a half and I'm like this is my heart. I had my gal call up who speaks, and you'd met her, speaks English and Spanish. On a Friday, calls a heart doctor. They get me in Monday afternoon, unlike the United States. I'd have to wait two months. Yeah, yeah for sure, gets me in 300 patients. 75 months, 300,000 patients as well. Yeah, 300,000 patients. But I was like God, that's the one good thing about here. You rarely ever have to wait, you just get in, you can get everything done and it's great care.

Speaker 1: 16:43

They take health serious here, I mean, and that's just a. It's a beautiful thing. I actually saw a few years back. Someone showed me where the US had fallen In terms of the overall health care system. The US had fallen to around 34 on the world level. It's crazy.

Speaker 2: 16:59

I tell people 17. Yeah, no, I tell people to look it up I. Yeah no, I tell people to look it up, I go. They have a better health care system. It's much faster and it's much cheaper.

Speaker 1: 17:07

Now, that said, I don't think people should come down here and just see whatever doctor, right, I mean you could see a bad doctor here more easily than you could in the States. But if you're going to the top hospitals I mean most of these guys have been educated in the US, europe I mean they come back here. They're absolutely incredible and you know they've done their internship and stuff abroad and maybe worked abroad for you know, x years. So you're getting US quality at these better facilities for a tenth of the price.

Speaker 2: 17:35

No, and that's an excellent point. You just don't want to go anywhere. But fortunately, now that I've gotten to know people here, they have directed me to the best places and yourself, included, has helped me with that, and you know. And now that you know, we each have a group of people that we go to and I had my eyes done. We went to the one clinic. I didn't, I had no idea, I didn't know I was going to do it here. Yeah, but it's amazing, it's been, it's been Once you and once you're here and people and they you're right, because they're like it's third world why would you ever trust an industry? I go? You have to be here to see it For sure.

Speaker 1: 18:11

That's another reason, I think. Going back to your point that people should travel Because it is easy to sit in Kansas has an example, or West Virginia, or even wherever. Atlanta right, there's people that don't travel all over the United States, so it's easy to sit back there and say oh, columbia, all I've heard about that is narcos, and you know but then you come here, the buildings are freaking beautiful, the mountains are beautiful, right I mean.

Speaker 2: 18:33

I have one of my best friends, lawyer, in town and he goes have you seen the crime there? I go. Have you seen the crime in Chicago? You go there, don't you? I go. You don't go to the band park. I mean, you know you got to be somewhat smart, but I'm like Chicago's worse. They're killing everyone there.

Speaker 1: 18:49

No, I mean, and not just Chicago, but all liberal run cities in the state. So the state's a savage you know, that is shit.

Speaker 2: 18:58

It's gotten worse since pandemic obviously Much worse, and you know, with all the hey, let's let these people out, there's no repercussions if you're a criminal.

Speaker 1: 19:14

In Colombia. It's easy to sit in the States and I've done it myself. I'm not here full-time, I spend time in the States all the time and it's easy to go away for two or three months to start looking at all the crime stats that you see on Facebook or you see on Instagram and then think, oh, my god, what's going on in Medellin right now? Right, because it's the only perspective you have. You're not down here walking around the streets every day and seeing the realities of it, you're just seeing.

Speaker 2: 19:30

Facebook. Oh you know what? That's an excellent point, because what do they report on? It's all negative news. It's all the negatives. I mean you should mention every country.

Speaker 1: 19:38

They're all reporting on the majority of these guys, I would say high 90%, right, just to be conservative. Most of these guys are putting themselves in those situations just like they do in the States, right? If I go to the south side of Chicago and just decide to go walking around, well, there's a high chance that something's going to happen.

Speaker 2: 20:07

You know that is an excellent point in which I tell people I haven't had anything happen to me Now, granted low luck, anything can happen. I've had my house in Kansas City get broken in two. So I mean it happens everywhere and obviously I'm in a nice neighborhood for sure. But the other thing is I tell people but I don't. Also, as you just said, which is the best point, I don't put myself in that position. I'm not out drunk at four in the fucking morning, exactly. I mean, that's when you're going to get into a situation where you're not thinking as well as where you should be, and that's where people when does most crime happen?

Speaker 1: 20:44

There's nothing good happening after midnight, right? Exactly, I mean for the most part, and you know, I think another thing to point out in Columbia is that the rules are different here. You just simply can't come down here and do the exact same things that you can everywhere else, right? I mean, if I come down here and I can go to Miami and I can get on Tinder and swipe right a hundred times, I'll get a couple dates maybe. Maybe you come down here and you swipe right a hundred times on Tinder, you'll get a hundred date, right, but they're not going to be the hundred that's won, right? It's not the good. People aren't on those apps here, and so these are getting in trouble.

Speaker 2: 21:23

No, you're right, we do have to be careful. And the other thing is I know you have seen a lot of stuff. I may be wrong, but I think, because one, you're so fluent and you're so comfortable here that you can go anywhere, that you stay in different areas that I have not been able to reach out into yet because I'm not fluent. So you're in more local areas, so you probably have seen more, which a lot nicer areas. I would like to get there someday. So I think probably some of the crime you've seen in there.

Speaker 1: 21:52

Well, yeah, I mean again, I've seen crime in Atlanta. I lived in Atlanta for years, right, I mean they robbed my neighbor's Lambo in Buckhead when I was there, literally Walked right in the garage and stole it. They broke into our garage, which is a really high-end building in Atlanta with 24-7 security, broke in multiple times, stole six, seven cars out of there. I mean I've seen it everywhere and I don't want to paint the picture that you know Medellin's perfect and you should come out down here and do whatever the hell you want, because I don't think that's true, but you know you need to.

Speaker 2: 22:25

If you want to travel, though I have been in many countries and I would suggest finding this one at least to see it.

Speaker 1: 22:31

Absolutely Beautiful place, great people. People are so friendly. It's just amazing, for sure. And you've invested in several properties here, right? Yes, and wouldn't you have three or four, three, three, and you were looking at more at some point, yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:47

You know it's nice, steady income and, to be quite honest, we have a mutual friend who helped me do that Yep and he's you know, I don't know I would have done it without you know he had properties. He was telling me, you know you should do this. I started looking at it and he, you know, mentioned me through it. And, of course, everything in life, we all need help. We're not born with anything. Learning from yep, right, so we all learn from someone, and so that's worked out really well.

Speaker 2: 23:13

I was, you know, the only thing for people who want to invest and this is the same as in Europe too they're not going to give you a mortgage. You got to be able to have cash. Yeah, absolutely. But you know, if you find a nice place with you know, it's got a track record and for me it's worked out really well because you have management companies. I don't do anything, I just get a check every month. So it's worked out really well. I've been very happy. At first I was a little nervous because they elected a new president who was a little more liberal than I wanted to think, but it appears most of his agenda hasn't gone through the place and now that COVID's over the place looks like it's booming more than ever, for sure, yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:53

No, I agree, you know, I don't know what the real estate market's going to do here. I know that the guys like yourself who bought pre-pandemic, for sure, and I have some buddies that have bought all the way back to like 2011, 2013. I bet they're happy as hell. Oh, for sure, you know, the market's doubled, I think, since 2011 or 12, something like that. The yield, your yields, have been really high, right 12, 13%.

Speaker 2: 24:15

Yep, You've been up there and you know, just recently I was looking at the properties. They're up, you know, 40, 50% and value, yeah, value Right, wow, and I'm like, which is incredible. I was just happy with the income, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:28

You know, when I first started coming down here. I came down here just on vacation in 2015. I found this place by accident. I had gotten invited to a wedding over on the coast in Cartagena by one of my neighbors in Atlanta. Really, yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:41

He was like let's go, I'm going down to a wedding in Columbia, you want to come with me? And at that time things were great Just got out of my furniture business, all that stuff, and so what else do I have to do, right? So I bought a flight like last minute. He asked me like the day before, and I was like fuck it, dude, I don't have anything to do, let's do it. So I ended up in Cartagena and I stayed 10 days and I had heard about other parts of Colombia and I'm like fuck it, I don't have anything else to do.

Speaker 1: 25:08

I stayed and traveled through the country. I went all over and the very last city I found was Medellin. Really, I was going to stay four days. I'm staying four days and that's it Bought like a Thursday to Sunday type deal, and for that weekend I went to migration and asked for extra time. I was like I'm going to extend my stay and then I just kept coming. And then 2017 to 2000,. What 2022,? I was here pretty much full-time, oh yeah, and that's just. It was incredible. Now I'm not here full-time, but it was an incredible experience.

Speaker 2: 25:41

You know it's funny. I was traveling around I saw a group. It was foreign brides looking for foreign brides. Not that I wanted to get married. What the hell were you doing on foreign brides if you weren't wanting to get married? Because I wanted to travel and it was a group, it was a good excuse. I am not like you. You have traveled all over South America and I am very envious by yourself. I cannot do that. You were like you're like hey, I'm going here, I'm going here. Well, what's there? I don't know yet. I'm like extended my stay First time I've ever done that in my life. Then they had another one here in Medellin and I just fell in love with this city. It's just the climate, the people, just everything. I was kind of hoping to find somewhere to go in the winters. I didn't want to go to Miami, like everyone else, but I mean it's just incredible. As soon as I got here I did feel like I was home.

Speaker 1: 26:34

I mean it was just amazing Of all my travels and it's funny you're talking about me going random places. But when I built my mattress business, I flew to China several times. Every time I went I'd spend like three or four weeks, really, at first it was just Hong Kong, right? So Hong Kong's first world, big deal, right, you can go to Hong Kong land, you, you can go to Hong Kong land. You can speak English if you want to, whatever, right, but it's still freaking China, man, You're not in the States anymore. Oh yeah, first world.

Speaker 1: 26:58

But at one point I took a ferry to go to the mattress factory where I built my mattresses. It required a ferry from Hong Kong to Foshan City. It was about a three-hour ferry ride. Geez, now imagine my obvious American ass On a freaking ferry for three hours. Now, hong Kong is different, because I can you know menus in English, all that stuff's a little bit easier. But I'm on a fucking ferry Going up some random ass river In the middle of nowhere, china, trying to find a mattress factory. Am I going to make it whole? If you need any idea, man, all of a sudden you go from Hong Kong To mainland China, everything fucking symbols. You're not seeing any more English, it's all symbol. I couldn't tell a pizza shop from a hospital. But here I am wondering around in Boshan City trying to find a mattress factory. Even those no-name cities in China have multiple millions of people, so you're in just a sea of people. That's crazy.

Speaker 2: 27:51

But that was my Russia was kind of like that. They have all these words that have like four continents in their continent in a row, which we don't have in the English language. You can't figure out what the hell they're saying. It can be intimidating.

Speaker 1: 28:04

The only two cities. My point I've failed to get to the only two cities I've ever flown to and immediately fell in love. I felt an energy that I've just never felt before in Hong Kong and an energy I never felt before in Medellin Very different places, obviously.

Speaker 1: 28:23

Right, but there's something about landing in both of those cities that just gave me some kind of weird energy immediately. I land still today in Rio Negro, here, and I'm like I've been here 100 times, right, but I land and it's just something comes over me when I get to this place and the same happened to me in hokong, a different.

Speaker 2: 28:41

Oh, it's incredible and besides speaking the language, you've also culturally ingrained yourself. You know, in a lot of different things here and, uh, you know you're in groups. I'll show a dance which I'd like to do someday.

Speaker 1: 28:54

I've embraced it, for sure I've. You know, I definitely I'm not a pat myself on the back guy, but that's one of the things that I'm pretty proud of, I'll tell you what and I've said this to other people about you, I mean MDS is how well you've done. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 29:08

It's been good. It also gives me something to strive for so I like it.

Speaker 1: 29:12

I'm glad I could be a little bit of an inspiration in some way. So how are you balancing your time now between the States and Medellin?

Speaker 2: 29:19

What I'd been doing and I may change it up a little bit, but I've been doing basically about six months each and the time in the States. You know, I have a lake house and go back for the summer months by Branson, missouri, which is a big touristy area. It's a big If you've seen the show Ozarks, it's not that lake but one just like it about the same size and the kids. So I go back see the kids, the grandkids, my friends, and obviously enjoy the weather there and just have a great time, get on the water and play. And I don't really fish a lot, but surfing, wake surfing's now the big thing there. Are you doing that? Well, I was before my surgeries. They put me down for about three years. I'm trying to get back into it. My kids are very good at it Now.

Speaker 1: 30:07

they just let you drive the boat and buy the food and the beer.

Speaker 2: 30:11

When COVID hit, I had a bad knee and a bad ankle and they couldn't do replacement surgery because it was non-essential. And I was like, fuck doc, when is walking non-essential? And he knows he goes. Michael, I didn't make the rules up, I go, I know, but it's bullshit and it was For sure. So two years of suffering, watching the boat go out, sitting on the dock or sitting on the deck. So now I'm back trying it. I think most everything's coming, coming back and you know, like my kids, who are young, you know they can, they're, they're surfing behind the boat, they can catch a beer and drink it.

Speaker 1: 30:44

I'm so proud catch a beer and drink it at the same time while she's while she's my daughter.

Speaker 2: 30:52

I'm not sure I'm getting out of the year, but that's my daughter what do they say?

Speaker 1: 30:58

the carrot doesn't fall far from the tree.

Speaker 2: 31:00

Yeah, exactly but so hopefully, uh, I will get back and do that. And then winter, and I noticed it this year when I left it was about 37 degrees in november and I'm inside and I'm walking down the steps and I'm having to go one step at a time because my joints hurt. So I'm reading about it. They say the barometric pressure and you know the temperature as soon as like now I know why us old people go South and why people go to Florida and Arizona. I mean, my joints just work.

Speaker 2: 31:29

So I've been coming here in the winter, which has been a godsend, because what I also love here is I'm more active. You know, you're outside, you're walking, you're going to the gym yeah, you don't have a car here, so you have to walk to a lot of places, but it's so beautiful you want to be outside, otherwise you're huddled in. So what I've been doing, that's how it's been working. And actually thank God because here I'm actually working out even more in the winter here, because it's so nice and you know everything's so cheap, you can afford to have a trainer and all that and. And then you know when I go home for the other half. But yeah, so I get the best of both worlds is all I can say.

Speaker 1: 32:06

That's. That's another thing that's been amazing about just South America in general, not just Medellin, but Medellin for sure. You know you could have access to so many things here that you can't have anywhere else, and I think we talked about this the other day. You've learned a lot and done a lot here, but there's so many health things you still haven't tapped into. I mean, trainers here are cheap, like you just said. A nutritionist, if you want a nutritionist.

Speaker 2: 32:33

That you mentioned and I definitely want that, Because you're the second person that mentioned that last week. Yeah, I mean that you can have that. It's so easy.

Speaker 1: 32:40

Everything in the States is commerce right. Everyone is trying to make a shitload of money off of everything. And it's interesting here health things they don't really look at like a profit center. I've noticed health things they don't really look at like a profit center I've noticed. I mean I had a gym over in Valdez, by the stadium, and I was paying about 20 bucks, I believe, for the annual membership and then $20 a month for the monthly. So there was like an annual fee you had to pay of $20 and then $20 for the monthly. Then it came with a trade and now I'll still be training two or three people at the same time, but who gives a fuck for $20?

Speaker 2: 33:13

I mean, after a while, my trainer's like okay, we're doing this circuit. Well, now I know what the circuit is. Every day is maybe a little different. But the other thing and this is the guy I met at the gym, which is where I meet most people when I'm traveling and I'm talking to a guy and he's your age, he's a young guy and he and you know, he's got a driver, he's got a nutritionist, a chef, he's got a personal admin for sure, and you know it's just amazing because everything is so cheap here. You can afford to get so much stuff done that you can't do in the states, and and I just love that about this country.

Speaker 1: 33:48

It's stuff that you wouldn't do if you had the money now. Even even people that that that can go get a butler and can go get a private one-on-one trainer every day to come to their house they just won't do it in the state, not part of the culture most of the time. But you come here and it's a no-brainer not to do it. Oh God, they make everything freaking easy.

Speaker 2: 34:07

I know, I was like on it and I've worked out my whole life. I played college sports and I was like, yeah, I'm in pretty good shape. First day I went in there I passed out. I was like lightheaded. I mean, we're going machine to machine. And my son, when he was out on tour he had a trainer. He told him the first day he'd puke. And I'm like going oh my God, that's going to beat me. We had to like stop, I go. Okay, having a trainer makes you work out a lot harder. It's also I also swim. Swimming on a team makes you swim at a whole lot different pace than you're ever going to do on your own, for sure.

Speaker 1: 34:42

So, and didn't you do? Did you have stem cells here? Because I know Medellin is famous for stem cells now, they have that bio-accelerator to.

Speaker 2: 34:49

I spent $36,000. It's just right down the street from us, right? Yeah, we were running Well it's right by that. It's in that mall Down by Clinica Medellin, right? No, no, no, no. What's that mall you went to when you were at that apartment? Ah, the Soto Mall, it's in there.

Speaker 2: 35:05

That's where it is. Yes, it's inside there. So I stayed it. The other day I go oh, this is the hotel we were in, because we went up there to see a doctor oh, see my heart doctor. But yeah, $36,000. They're like, hey, we can put it in this, it'll do your joints, it'll do, you know, it can do your hair, it can do this and this and this. $36,000 later I didn't get anything out of it and you didn't. It didn't work for you. Now somebody must be, because I see videos of professional athletes going there.

Speaker 1: 35:36

No, Mike Tyson comes down here. I think Rogan comes down here, if I'm not mistaken. I know that Rogan talks about BioAccelerator a lot on his podcast. Oh, does he really? Yeah, he talks about it a lot. And I think Mike Tyson. I know Mike Tyson confirmed that he's been here.

Speaker 2: 35:48

Yeah, so it's got to work. I asked them afterwards because I wasn't very happy, obviously, but they say, yeah, it's like 80%, I go I don't remember you saying that before Like an 80% chance it'll work.

Speaker 1: 36:02

Yeah, so you got the 20%, I'm the 20%.

Speaker 2: 36:05

Now I'm not happy, obviously because I think you should have got us ready on it. Yeah, I'm not real pleased, but on the other side I do understand. Not everything works for everybody, but I do think they were overselling it at the time For sure For doing everything.

Speaker 1: 36:19

Did you price shop that in the States, just to compare? Well, $36,000 a year. What would that have been in the States for what you got done?

Speaker 2: 36:26

At the time. No, because they were doing stem cells here which are in the States. I've had some stuff done, but they use your cells. I don't want a 66-year-old's cell stem cells they're not stem but cells. But so down here, you know, the stem cells are the golden woods. That's the ones you wanted. So that's why I came here. And when you can't walk You'll do whatever. You'll do anything to be able to get up and move around.

Speaker 1: 36:51

Yeah, and so that was my pandemic life, Absolutely. So let me circle back a minute. I want to pick your brain as much as we can on the business side, obviously because of your success back in the state. But what advice would you give individual looking to invest or start a business down here? Would you even recommend starting a business in South America? Is there any point to it?

Speaker 2: 37:15

There is, I think, but obviously you need American dollars and you need to earn American dollars. That's hard to do here but, as I mentioned, what I do see is real estate management. I mean, look at, you know, cash flow yeah, basically started like 2012. I was probably managing like 2,000 units, for sure.

Speaker 2: 37:37

You know, 15% off Airbnb. You make 2,200. Yeah, 2,200 dinners a day. Yeah, so it's. You know. I think you know, because you only need a few to get started that you can survive here, sure. And then you just keep adding every year and the person managed some of mine too. She's got like 10, so she's and she's columbian, so she's happy as hell.

Speaker 1: 37:59

No real estate, so it's been good for the last 10, 12 years. I mean, you see that they're building new buildings all over the place when I go in there, oh my god, they're building stuff everywhere.

Speaker 1: 38:09

Yeah, it's crazy no, it's, and somebody's got to manage them absolutely and I and I don't think tourists are going to stop coming here. No, this place has already been found and it would have to go. I don't see it happening, but this place would have to go back to what it was in the 80s for people to stop coming here. People love this place.

Speaker 2: 38:27

No, yeah, I don't see that happening and I don't see them wanting it to happen because they're bringing in too much money. And yeah, no, this is probably what Mexico was like 30 years ago. I don't know, but it's just booming, growing like crazy. And if you were starting a business, labor is cheap, which is why I say, like real estate, you can hire someone to clean or fix something for next year or not, but otherwise I see a lot of people who are working remotely.

Speaker 1: 38:55

And obviously investing has certainly paid off for you big time here. Yeah, I mean just in a short time. You've made a lot of money on your properties, as have many others down here, Right, so I hope it keeps going that way.

Speaker 2: 39:09

Makes two of us. I think it will.

Speaker 1: 39:11

I think it certainly will. But yeah, I mean, columbia's a hard place. Some of these guys that come down and start restaurants, you know to each his own for sure, but I just never saw a point.

Speaker 2: 39:21

I was going to say I don't see a point doing that.

Speaker 1: 39:23

Well, because you're still working the same freaking 80 hours. You work at a restaurant in the United States, or 100. Right, and you're bringing home like $1,500 a month. I'm like, what the fuck are you doing?

Speaker 2: 39:31

You could teach English on a lot of things, and if you're bringing all the $1,500 here, that's a good month. You're still working your butt off, yeah.

Speaker 1: 39:45

Yeah, you're putting in the 80 hour, you know, whereas if you had a successful not that I recommend the restaurant business, no one If you're putting in your 80 hours and you're successful, you're at least going to get some. You're getting some money for your efforts, whereas down here.

Speaker 2: 39:56

it's a little bit of a challenge. Even in the States, 80% of restaurants grow out in the first two years. I mean, it's just, it's a whole lot of money which, if you're off and up a restaurant, you better not be buying new equipment, you better be jumping on a place that somebody else went out and already has all that in there.

Speaker 1: 40:12

To me down here it's real estate in some form. I would agree with that, you know, to really make money, or you just get some work online or some kind of business. That's what a lot of guys do, well yeah, I mean the ones you know.

Speaker 2: 40:20

They had had it when I was younger. It's probably a great idea. My business would have taken off. But you know to work remotely and have American dollars and living down here which you know, for even one to two thousand a month, like a king here, for sure, and a couple grand a month.

Speaker 1: 40:34

You're doing everything you want to do. Oh hell yeah, easy Hell yeah. And so if you're making even a mediocre what would be considered a mediocre American salary, you know, your money just stacks up.

Speaker 2: 40:46

And I've taught people like me that are retired I go, you don't. You know you won't even spend all your Social Security money, let alone touch any investment you have or anything like that, not at all.

Speaker 1: 40:58

I have a friend who for some reason, shared his financial situation with me a few years back. Just in terms of what he's bringing in every month in Social Security, no-transcript in total is what he brings in. He was living in a penthouse, oh really. I mean this thing was like three bedrooms, massive, big, huge floor plan, 180-degree views. That's a beautiful area. I think he was paying $1,200 or $1,300 a month for his rent right In Miami. That place would be $10,000 and all. So about $1,200, $1,400 a month in rent, anyway, he's he's literally 10 times over.

Speaker 1: 41:43

His total expenditures were $2,500 a month, right. So just off that small little bit of $3,500, he was putting a grand a month just accumulating in his checking account. And then all the money he had saved. He had a successful company, they sold and he invested the money well, his money that he had invested in the S&P mutual funds, all that stuff had more than doubled in the first seven years he was here, because it was during the Trump, roughly that 2015 to 2022 thing. Oh, I miss those days, but yeah, yeah, we're fucked on that, but anyway. So 2015 to 2022, his money doubled and the money he had saved, and then he has this random little thousand bucks that he's saving every month from his little $3,500 salary because he lived here, and so his words to me were moving here. For many people like myself is also a financial decision. Oh yeah, without a doubt, because he'd be drawing out of that retirement, spending all the $3,500. Easily. His money would be going down instead of up.

Speaker 2: 42:42

No, that's why I try to get across to people. For people to leave, everyone's situation's different. Obviously, family's the biggest tie, but if you can get away and people get away to Florida for six months of the year, get somewhere like here. Florida's expensive as hell.

Speaker 1: 42:59

It's so expensive and you'll have more fun here, man? Oh, definitely. How many times have you left your house to hang out with somebody and you get home at the end of the three or four-hour period and you're like, damn, I spent $10 a day. I've done it and spent zero. I've literally gone to dance, events that were in parts and things like that, where they give a free class or whatever. I get finished and I'm like I just had three hours of fun for $0. I spent nothing.

Speaker 2: 43:28

There was a little place where I used to stay, over by Hotel DuPont. I found I went there every day for two weeks. A bunch, two empanadas and a bottle of regular Gatorade, regular size, $2. I mean, my brain just couldn't comprehend how cheap some things are.

Speaker 1: 43:46

You know what's interesting. I'm not trying to one-up that story by any means. If you search in Medellin, you can find a whole meal for $2 or $3.

Speaker 2: 43:58

Well, I was about to say if anybody can one-up it, it's you because you haven't been everywhere you know am.

Speaker 1: 44:08

I am in the touristy area, though I don't my my stories can't be, yeah, you're getting screwed, but two dollars.

Speaker 2: 44:11

I'm out in the country man, where it's like you know, they, they, uh, they've only seen three or four guys like me where I live so I'm just and you know, I noticed when I went with you to that area they don't have a lot of gringos and we're standing out and everyone's staring.

Speaker 1: 44:27

I go.

Speaker 2: 44:27

I feel like a rock star.

Speaker 1: 44:28

For sure, for sure. But I like that. I mean it keeps me out of the riffraff, it's a little quieter yeah definitely. You know, I know my little. Everyone out there knows me. I know them.

Speaker 2: 44:39

At this point it's kind of nice, I know it's even let's look special and it's, and it's a beautiful area it is. They have everything out there and someday I'm gonna be there with you.

Speaker 1: 44:50

Let's do it, man. I need some neighbors, I need an. I need some neighbors I can speak english with. Yeah, exactly, and you know, even though I, uh, I speak spanish pretty well at this point, I sometimes I need a break.

Speaker 2: 45:00

You can always use. Use a new wingman. You know we always need them.

Speaker 1: 45:03

Yeah, Use a wingman, that's for sure Always. Well, hey, let me ask you another business question. What advice would you give, you know, young guys or individuals that are trying to get their own businesses launched in the States Not here, but in the state at this point?

Speaker 2: 45:20

Well, obviously it's multi-level, which a lot of people push in and depending on the industry. But you know the others, like my business, was a service and back in the day I was dealing with, you know, fortune 100, fortune 50 companies because I could. I think that's a lot harder now because even looking at to start a business like mine, you would have to have so much insurance, so much revenue. You couldn't do it like you could. But you could do it to the mid-sized companies and that's where I think most people should be looking service those types of companies.

Speaker 1: 45:58

Mid to smaller, is it? Yep, you gotcha. And what do you think that the key considerations and strategies for success in that would be right now? I know you told me a story when you were little and I no, you weren't little, but you were struggling to get off the ground right and you had a business that failed and you didn't know what to do. And I think your dad said I'm oh god, yeah, go ahead and tell the story.

Speaker 2: 46:25

I was 30, bankrupt. I'd started a couple businesses and, uh, you know, didn't work, couldn't get traction, and I was like what am I doing wrong? All my friends are married, they have houses, you know, they're, know we can see the path forward for the life and I'm like you're treading water. Yeah, I'm losing it and he goes. It's just and it's really not that much, but he goes. You were never one to work for somebody. He goes. This is where your passion is and I think that passion is a key word, because even my son in the country music that was his passion, it's the only thing he cared about. But anyway he said just keep going, something's going to work. And also, to tell you kind of relate to that, with my son, he left about halfway through the nine years when he was trying to make it in Nashville. He left Nashville, came home. I didn't say anything for a couple of weeks and I was like, well, what do you want to do? Maybe go back to school. I, you know, don't work that great at it.

Speaker 2: 47:22

You are in school, that's not it's a I'm old now, but but you know, what I said to him was kind of what my dad said to me. It kind of fell along and it's like the only thing you care about is music. That is your passion. So I said go back. I don't know if you're gonna make it or not, but what you don't want is years down the road to have regrets over it. And that's kind of what I got from my dad and China, what I pushed into him. And he did go back and thank God it worked out. But yeah, you got to have passion for something.

Speaker 1: 47:53

That's what I've felt for myself. I sit around and think about those things all the time. I'm like when I get to 80, right, because I speak with a lot of all my friends are older. Almost all my friends and I love speaking to older people and I've spoken to a lot of guys You're referring to other people, not me, right.

Speaker 1: 48:11

No, you're not there yet. You're not there yet. But I've spoken to a lot of guys that are at that 75 to 85 range in my life and they just seem, you know, a lot of them just seem like you know, you can just see it on their faith. They're just not, they have regrets, they're unhappy about whatever it is Right, and I just don't want to get to that age and say, damn it, don't have regrets.

Speaker 2: 48:36

Don't be bitter.

Speaker 1: 48:37

Because, at the end of the day, you know, unless you're Elon Musk, unless you're Steve Jobs Because, at the end of the day, you know, unless you're Elon Musk, unless you're Steve Jobs, you know you're great. The chances of people actually remembering what the fuck you did when you're here are like zero, right, correct. So most of us are scared to do what we really want to do because we're afraid our buddies are going to make fun of us. Right? That fucker's going to be dead, just like me in about 30 years, right?

Speaker 2: 49:00

That's an excellent point, because you know it doesn't, in the grand scheme of things, none of that does. And you know the problem and we touched on it before is being in the state you know we're always like, no matter what we have, somebody's always got more. Well, I'm not Bill Gates, well, I'm not Elon Musk, and it's like we're just on this treadmill like a mouse.

Speaker 1: 49:21

A hamster wheel? Yeah, a hamster.

Speaker 2: 49:23

And it's like get off and enjoy it a little bit along the way that brings me to another point.

Speaker 1: 49:28

My buddy said this the other day. He made the same point you did in a different way. He says and if you're in the States and you're not a mega billionaire at this point, he's like a multimillionaire at this point gives you no status, right, thought, millionaire at this point gives you no status, right. But you have to be like a mega billionaire now to get any status. But the minute you land in south america not just medellin or a country like this, it could be the far east, it could be, you know, eastern europe, a lot of different places around the world oh exactly, you get immediate status. Yeah, right, because your, your money goes further. You go to miami right now, it doesn't matter. You oh, you5 million, I don't care, the neighbor has 10. His neighbor has 50.

Speaker 2: 50:04

And, by the way, I can burn through half of it pretty damn quick down there too in a few years. But yeah, no, that is one of the joys of traveling, and everything comes down to me. As I've gotten older I've realized, because I didn't before, we were all chasing a dollar. And there, because I didn't before, we were all chasing a dollar. And there's nothing wrong with that, we need it, you got to have it. But everything's experiences. What you know like, what all can you see? There's so much in it Like you have a great vacation, I'm going to go back there, but then you go. What else is out there? What else is just as cool, you know?

Speaker 1: 50:36

For sure you go back to the states I noticed this all the time is there's so many people that just have nothing to talk about other than what they're doing in business and their they have and the money right, and I, I think I was that person when I was in the furniture business. Sure, I was making great money. I was doing other stuff on the side and I had you know, had you were a couple different income streams and this and that, and all you thought about was money. And I don't get me wrong, I, I love that, it was fun, it drove me and it still drives me to this day. But at the same time, what really fires me up is when I can talk to somebody like yourself that's done well in business. And then you have some fucking stories. You've traveled, you've seen stuff all over the world. These guys that just work until they're 80 and all they can talk about is what they're doing in business. I'm like ew, that's tough.

Speaker 2: 51:21

You know, funny. You said that, though, because I was so focused on working and I started probably, like I said, in my 40s, and business was good at that point. But I had one of my best friends I go, yeah, I'm going to take Madison to Disney World. He goes. You know, I've been hearing that forever. You going to wait until she graduates high school and he tongue school. And he was right. I did it and it was like and, and then, once you do it, you catch the bug and you want to keep doing it for sure. But he was right. All I'm doing was talking.

Speaker 1: 51:48

You know, you got to get out and do something. Yeah, and you know I get people all the time they're like hey, I want to start traveling, like you. I mean, how do I do that? And I'm like well, you need to start by leaving mississippi and going over to georgia, right?

Speaker 2: 52:03

You don't need to go from Mississippi to.

Speaker 1: 52:04

Hong Kong or Tokyo tomorrow, but if you do that small trip from Mississippi to Georgia I'm making that up randomly, obviously, but if you just start somewhere and start, then you get that bug that you're talking about. You just keep going.

Speaker 2: 52:16

And then you're right, once you have taken even these small trips, you have something to talk about For sure. I have a friend of mine I took into Costa Rica that, I think, is coming down here in February. He had never been out of the country. He goes. Well, that's not what we do, meaning his family and I was like you know, I go. You're going to be the most interesting person now when you go back at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it was the first time he'd ever done it, and now he loves it. You know, of course and that's the other thing is, it is so eye-opening. If you've never done it, there's a little fear, there's hesitancy, but once you're out there, you're going to want to keep doing it.

Speaker 1: 52:53

If you've been watching CNN and they're telling you about all the people that are dying in Mexico City and you know, and then yeah, of course they were dying in Mexico City. That Mexico City, that's real Sure, but you plug it. Mexico City is so big. I mean something could happen to you four hours away. You know, something that happened in Mexico City could be four hours away from where you are Right.

Speaker 2: 53:09

It's so big and that's Chicago. Every weekend there's a dozen, 20 people shot and killed and it's like do you not go to Chicago? Well, you just care for where you go and you know where we stayed here. You know very nice area and, like I tell people I go, I see cops everywhere. There's a cop on the corner almost everywhere. So the chances are more remote, obviously, but it's a safe place to be. But I'm also not going crazy and going out in the barrios and seeing what I can do there, because I wouldn't be dead. Yeah, going crazy and going out in the barrios and seeing what I can do there, so that wouldn't be dead. Yeah, because because this great gold face, I can't walk down the street without people going.

Speaker 1: 53:50

Hey, I can. I can understand that I don't really blend in too well myself, but which is why I'd like to get out to your area, so that's a goal of mine. Any memorable experiences before we wrap up? Tell me, tell so that's a goal of mine Any memorable experiences before we wrap up. Tell me some memorable experiences you've had here that you think would resonate with people.

Speaker 2: 54:07

I think you know, I took a picture today and sent it to somebody back home and they're like and it's, you know, this is a city. And they're like look how green it is and this is a city of eternal spring and it's a beautiful city, and just things like that that you just don't. You know, when you go into another city in new york, you don't even see the sun. Those bills sometimes it's great and um, but here the thing that for me, the climate is basically the same all year.

Speaker 2: 54:37

I'm, in short, short 70, 75 degrees every day right, and the people go out of their. You know what I'm? I am from the midwest, and the midwest people kind of in your area, because my world too, people are friendlier and but here they're always friendly, you know, and for as little money as they make, they're always smiling, for sure, they're always happy, and I found that in many countries. So it's just to be able to get out there. People will take the time to show you something or to help you, because you're lost and I can't speak the language, so they've got to say it 50 different ways to see if something resonates in my head. Yep, but they, but they're happy to do it but you've been learning the language.

Speaker 1: 55:19

You've been spending some, some energy on that, huh that's my number one goal on this trip.

Speaker 2: 55:24

I have a tutor and again a teacher. Again, it's easy to hire people here and inexpensive, three days a week, two hours a day, and just in the last few weeks I can now put phrases together, whereas I've used Duolingo for two years, which has helped me to understand words but couldn't talk. But now I'm getting into the conversational piece, so I'm kind of excited.

Speaker 1: 55:47

Yeah, yeah. So it's an exciting, exciting journey. I spent years on it myself and you definitely get a different experience once you speak the language, and some positive, some negative. It's not all positive, but it certainly helps you from the taxi driver driving you all around the city and screwing you around right, which really doesn't happen here, but it happens in other parts of the world.

Speaker 2: 56:10

But the other is it does make it. You know, what do I like most is a culture, so you get to, you're able to enjoy the culture and the people.

Speaker 1: 56:19

I think if you respect these people and it's the same anywhere you go in the world, right? I mean, if I go from West Virginia to Miami or Miami to Kansas, wherever I go if I respect the people and I'm nice to people, they're nice to me and it's for sure that here exaggeratedly nice here they're so nice, you know but at the same time, if you come down here and act like an idiot, no, I totally agree.

Speaker 2: 56:43

That's one of the things, and that's it. Like you said, in America too, no one is beneath you. And yet I've had a couple of people here, one of them I will not go out to eat with. I wasn't even there, but they brought him French fries he didn't ask for and, who knows, he doesn't speak the language. He might have asked for it, yeah, but he went off on him. I go. Why would you ever go off on anyone? Why would you ever treat somebody like that? Because one they're trying to do their best and you know he's just and he was just a jerk and I said I will never go. I will never go eat I, because I will never treat someone like that absolutely.

Speaker 1: 57:18

I'm the same way. I mean, and I'm exaggeratedly so in another country, but I can't tell you how many times I've been out with people down the air that you know. There's just these guys that that I think just have some serious insecurities and they come here and they're able to feel like a big timer, cause they can do whatever they want to do, and and um, when they get the opportunity to treat someone like shit and show them they're above them, I think they, they do it. Yeah, I have a guy that I used to go out and eat with three or four times a week over in laurelis when I was living there, and and um, and he was always bitching at the waitresses. I finally had to stop stop hanging out.

Speaker 2: 57:51

You know what that's an excellent point is. It is the in uh insecurities, because the one guy that I'm thinking of offhand he does all right, but he's.

Speaker 1: 58:00

In the States. He's a regular dude right In the States he's average.

Speaker 2: 58:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah, he comes down here. But you're right and I think that is it. It's just the insecurities and he gets to now be the big man. But I don't think that's being a big man, no, it's being a small man.

Speaker 1: 58:13

Right, right, absolutely no, I agree. I've seen that several times with Americans down here.

Speaker 2: 58:20

Well, the American, the traveler, you hear this shit.

Speaker 1: 58:23

I think I've told you that. You know I have such a small circle and it keeps getting smaller, and most of it is because I've built a reputation here and I have friends here and you know I'm pretty recognizable. With the Spanish skills you become pretty recognizable because most people have been here 10, 15, 20 years and they speak none of the language, especially foreigners, and there's very few Americans in the city that speak the language to a high level, and so I'm really just careful who I hang around with, because I know how I treat people and I don't want to take the chance on bringing someone along with me that doesn't treat people well.

Speaker 2: 59:03

Well, just your language skills, but you have the most knowledge of anyone I know. I mean, you have gone everywhere, as I said, by yourself, the different countries and when you go to you don't sit in a tourist area, you get out and see the country and see the culture. Yeah, and I think you know that's that's why you helped mentor me, because there are times I need help or need you know. I'm always having to ask somebody something and your knowledge is just amazing.

Speaker 1: 59:28

Well, I appreciate that but I have to give credit on that to when I first came here, I at least understood a decent amount of the language because I had experience in the past and a lot of taxi drivers a lot of people in the past and a lot of taxi drivers a lot of people in the city took me under their wing once they realized I really wanted to learn language. I was really doing a good thing. A lot of people took me under their wing and they taught me a lot of things about the city that I probably would have never learned otherwise. So the knowledge I have is is one because I fell in love with the place and people understood that I was in love with it, so they started feeding me information. But yeah, I don't know. I think if you're nice to people here, they're going to be nice to you, and on the other side of that, if you're bad to people, they're going to be.

Speaker 2: 1:00:13

I pray.

Speaker 1: 1:00:14

There's a problem if you're bad, Exactly If you're an American and you come to another country and you act like an asshole. I hope there's karma. Dan, we're out. I do. I feel strongly about that. But hey, man, appreciate you coming on the show. Hey, thank you so much for having me Appreciate it.

Speaker 2: 1:00:28

I love talking about this. You know traveling in this city and it's really been phenomenal for me and people. If you ever get a chance, stick your head in, look around. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah thanks, man appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 1:00:40

Thank you. Maybe we'll do it again soon. Yep, all right, guys. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of matt chambers connects. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes where we'll dive deeper into these two fascinating worlds. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe to our youtube channel, matt chambers connects. You can also find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts, youtube Music and many other major podcast platforms so you don't miss a show. Also, please join us on our social media channels so you can connect with other listeners and ask your most pressing questions and also tell us what types of guests you'd like to see on the show. Thanks again, and I'll see you next time.