Exploring the Journey: An Interview with Matt Scott

Scott Brady is an adventurer, author, and publisher, and the first person in history to cross all seven continents. Brady is executive publisher of the Overland Collective, home to Overland Journal, the Overland Journal Podcast, and expeditionportal.com—the world’s largest vehicle-dependent adventure community. Scott wrote Overlanding 101 (Simon & Schuster) and is currently riding around the world on his BMW GS. He also led Expeditions 7, the first expedition to drive the same vehicle on all seven continents. Brady’s polar crossings include Antarctica and a south–north crossing of the Greenland ice sheet. Scott is a fellow of the Explorers Club and lives in Prescott, Arizona.

Matt Scott

Matt is a leading expert in automotive adventure. He has extensively explored the world’s most remote places by 4WD and is considered an industry authority on overland travel. He is the only American to ever become an editor of a major Australian 4WD publication and has over 15 years of competitive auto racing experience. @mattexplore

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Transcript

#21 Exploring the Journey: An Interview with Matt Scott

Scott Brady: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to the OVERLAND JOURNAL podcast. I’m your host, Scott Brady, and I’m here with my co-host, Matt Scott. And today we’re gonna talk about you.

Matt Scott: My favorite thing.

Scott Brady: We’re gonna talk about you.

Matt Scott: Me. I love talking about me. This is gonna be the easiest podcast ever. Which- Or not …

Scott Brady: which I think is really fun because we’ve done now 20 podcasts, and we’re so grateful for the response to the podcast.

We’re so thankful for all of you that are listening. Love

Matt Scott: the feedback. Yeah. We get a lot of feedback on social, and, uh, really appreciate it.

Scott Brady: Yeah. If you ever have questions or suggestions, or if you need, uh, for me to do something a little different or for Matt to do something a little different, we are very new to all this.

We have a passion for the subject, but we are not professional podcasters. So any, any suggestions that you have, we’d, we’d love to, to hear more, and thank you all for subscribing and for listening. [00:01:00] And that leads us to why we’re gonna talk about the subject today, is learning more about who Matt is and his background and, uh, asking s- him some questions that I think will shed some light on why he is the co-host on this podcast and his history.

So Matt, thanks for taking some time today to be the one being interviewed.

Matt Scott: Yeah. Yeah. No, I’m, I’m, I’m stoked. I love talking about myself. You know, so.

Scott Brady: So I’ve n- I learned a little bit more about you even today. I mean, we have known each other for over a decade- Yeah … which is so, which is so fun. And I learned, uh, today that you went to school for international politics and for, um, even some s- cybersecurity and-

Matt Scott: Uh, well,

Scott Brady: the, the-

international relations and-

Matt Scott: Yeah, the, the goal was to end up, you know, foreign intelligence, some kind of three-letter agency, and then I found out they paid, like, 35 grand a year- Yeah … and, uh, that I could- Write about cars and have fun and, [00:02:00] you know, live the life I really wanted to live and make the same amount of money.

Not that it’s all about money, but my life is definitely all about the things that I’m really passionate about. And, you know, since I’ve been five years old, that has been cars. I, I, I don’t, I don’t know anything else but cars.

Scott Brady: Well, and, and tell us a little bit about that. Um, I can see this picture in my mind of a f- of a, a five-year-old, a very ginger kid.

Matt Scott: God, I’m not ginger. I’m not ginger.

Scott Brady: S- now you were, you were in a fully suspended race car at five years old.

Matt Scott: Yeah. Yeah. I think- Tell

Scott Brady: us that …

Matt Scott: I- the, the first time I drove a race car, that was my actual race car, um, I was, I was technically four. It was the day before my fifth birthday, because at five you became, um, eligible to race Quarter Midgets.

Um, and I, I grew up in the Midwest, even though I’m a, an avid West Coaster now. Um, you know, I’m a corn-fed Midwesterner that used to race, you know, circle track and dirt track. [00:03:00] And, uh, i- it’s interesting. I mean, I think when you’re five years old and you’re kind of groomed to be a racing driver, which, you know, until I was 15, 16, that’s, that’s, that was my, that was my life in the same way that, you know, you know, football dads or hockey dads- Sure

or whatever. You know, my dad, Jim Scott, um, you know, we raced every weekend together. And I mean, that, I, I love that. Like-

Scott Brady: Yeah …

Matt Scott: you know, one of the things that drives me to be successful now is I wanna go back racing with my dad.

Scott Brady: Yeah,

Matt Scott: sure. You know? We… So, so basically from five to being an adult, um, you know, I raced everything, started in Quarter Midgets, and kinda, kinda everything, bunch of road course, bunch of, uh, you know, a lot of circle track stuff.

And yeah, it, it, I guess it just changes things. You know, at, at a young age when you are having to communicate at five years old, you know, to, to your crew chief, my dad, that- That’s awesome … um, you know, “The, the car’s a little bit loose going into turn three,” it’s not a, a thing [00:04:00] that I guess most five-year-olds are thinking.

No. So it’s never, it, it’s never shut off, and I think that’s why I got into reviewing cars, and I’ve had, you know, a modest success with that and, and the writing thing, because it, to a degree, has come second nature for me. I’m one of those weird guys that can feel the, the, you know, there’s a little bit too much preload on the right rear shock or something like that.

Sure. I don’t know. I’m, I’m just a car guy, and I love it

Scott Brady: Well, and that’s an… It leads to a couple questions on the driving side because one thing that I’ve noticed is once people cha- shift from driving recreationally to semi-professionally or professionally or even, um, in a very advanced amateur way where they’re getting- Yeah

a lot, a lot of training, so much shifts for them. What, what are some of your key takeaways that you’ve had as a driver that have then influenced who you are as a traveler, and then even as a businessman?

Matt Scott: Smooth is fast.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: That’s [00:05:00] the one thing that I always, that is just drilled into my head. You know, my, my uncle is a, is a racing instructor.

He’s been a racing instructor, um… Used to be with Skip Barber from the ’80s, and now he works with BMW and kind of everybody, but he always drilled that into my head, and that’s something that I’ve, that stuck with me through travel. You know, for me, s- smooth travel is just proper preparation. You know, it’s figuring out, figuring out what you’re doing, and in business too, just keeping a, keeping a cool head.

Scott Brady: I remember it, that what you just said brought me back to s- within the first couple months of you starting to work with us. Uh, you had a Jeep Wrangler, and- Oh, God. It

Matt Scott: was horrible.

Scott Brady: Yeah. And we were, we were up, we were up in the mountains outside of Prescott, and we were working through a pretty technical trail in the snow.

Matt Scott: Yeah.

Scott Brady: And, and I remember I’d given you a couple pieces of advice and, and you just… Like, I saw all the, the bulbs come on, and you’re like, “It’s just like racing. I need to be smooth in order to get through this [00:06:00] terrain.”

Matt Scott: Yeah. You know, I, I guess race car, four-wheel drive vehicle, whatever, any- anything with four wheels, two wheels that has a motor, it’s, it’s all about just inputs, right?

Sure. So if you’re smooth with your inputs off-road, you’re not gonna break traction. Exactly. Um, if you’re smooth off-road… You know, the, the second-best thing that always sticks in the automotive is something you taught me, that off-roading’s like a chess game, right? And I think by being smooth through that chess game, that’s, that’s how you win.

Scott Brady: Sure. Um- And you’re thinking a couple moves ahead, right? Yeah. If you’re focused on the trail immediately in front of you, you’re going to miss setting yourself up

Matt Scott: for- Exactly … a

Scott Brady: bigger obstacle.

Matt Scott: I, I was always taught, you know, if I’m going into turn three, I’m looking through turn four. You’re, you’re looking not at where you’re…

You know, you look where you want to go. You’re not looking at where you’re going.

Scott Brady: Sure.

Matt Scott: And I think the same thing applies for off-road.

Scott Brady: So I think on the car front then, if you could have any car, not a four-wheel drive- Mm … right now, what would you, what would you buy? Anything.

Matt Scott: [00:07:00] Anything. Probably a 911.

Scott Brady: Nice.

Matt Scott: What year? Um, I, I really like the 997s. It’s before they got too big. It’s bef- it’s after the reliability and quality issues of the 996 and the ugly headlights. They’re good value. They’re still a kinda emotional vehicle. You know, you still feel the, still feel the engine rumble just a little bit.

Scott Brady: And could that be a track car for you?

Would that be the thing that gets you back into racing with your dad?

Matt Scott: You know, if, if I was to get back into racing, it would have to be in a race car, you know? Yeah. I mean, it, it would be like trying to take your, you know, your Tacoma that you’ve built for overlanding and, and do the 1000 in it, right?

There’s just, there’s so many differences, and honestly, taking a street car to the track as a primary thing, I’ve never understood that. I mean, I raced formula cars, so I could buy a $20,000 used formula

Scott Brady: A Mazda or

Matt Scott: whatever Or the Mazda- Yeah, sure … or, um, Formula Enterprise is a series that I, that I follow.

Um, and, and I can turn Lamborghini [00:08:00] Super Trofeo lap times in a $20,000 car. That’s-

Scott Brady: Well, that’s in- … very reasonable

Matt Scott: to service …

Scott Brady: th- and that’s an, that’s an open-wheel car?

Matt Scott: That’s an open-wheel car, yeah.

Scott Brady: So that’s interesting. So, and I hadn’t considered that, ’cause for me, I think the thing that’s, that’s maybe, uh, romantic is the idea of, of getting a Lotus or getting a, a Porsche or getting, um, some kind of a, of a car, grand touring car or something that could even be on a track, and then taking it o- And I think maybe it’s just romantic.

Maybe it’s not actually the best- Yeah … choice. And, and that, I think that that translates to the overlanding concept as well, is that there are things that are actually really, really good for travel, and it may not be the same vehicle that we want, we want to build or that we want to drive as a traveler.

Matt Scott: Yeah. I mean, uh, as a traveler, the answer is Sprinter.

Scott Brady: Yeah, right.

Matt Scott: But I don’t wanna d- I don’t wanna drive a delivery van. Yeah. Like, like, I, I don’t think anybody wakes up and says, “Oh, [00:09:00] wow, I really want to d- drive the same thing that the FedEx guy drives.” Yeah. Like, no disrespect to the FedEx guy, but I’m sure if he could drive a Jeep Wrangler for his job-

Scott Brady: Yeah

Matt Scott: he would probably drive a Jeep Wrangler over a delivery van.

Scott Brady: Sure.

Matt Scott: You know? But it’s very practical, you know?

Scott Brady: Yeah, yeah. It clicks all the boxes where you can live out of it, and it’s secure and-

Matt Scott: Yeah. I mean, I, I’m a car guy. A- again, so there’s… I’m, I’m not the most practical. I, I like to have very purpose-built vehicles.

Like, my Gladiator, I think, is a good example of that. It’s, it can kinda go anywhere, but it’s also stockish. But,

Scott Brady: but I- Stockish.

Matt Scott: Okay. I, I take that back. Yeah. Right? It drives very well.

Scott Brady: It drives… Well, you s- you were very intentional about it. In fact, I, I would say that your, your Gladiator, of all of the 867 cars that you’ve purchased since I’ve met you-

Matt Scott: Yeah

Scott Brady: is the… was the one that surprised me the most, because it’s the one that is the most practical.

Matt Scott: I’ve owned it for almost a year now, and, uh, I have [00:10:00] zero intentions of selling it. It just, it works. It, it does everything so well.

Scott Brady: So it’s your version of the Sprinter. It’s the thing

Matt Scott: that- It’s my version of the Sprinter.

That makes sense. It has that AT Summit camper on the back. It’s comfortable. It’s quiet to camp in. It drives great. You know, a little bit of wind noise ’cause, I mean, it is a Jeep, but

Scott Brady: I don’t know. I just remember you ha- you had that Wrangler, and then you bought a 109 Land Rover.

Matt Scott: I traded that Wrangler for that 109.

Scott Brady: Which was a hell of a deal.

Matt Scott: And I think that that Wrangler was, like, a salvage title, rusted, uh, junk.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: I, I, I wanna say that I- Traded a crotch rocket for it that had been dropped like 12 times when I was pretty young.

Scott Brady: Right.

Matt Scott: It was bad. I, I remember the like, you know, track bar angles were like 70 degrees.

It was really bad.

Scott Brady: Yeah, it was really bad. Like- But, so you… I remember you got into that Series III? Was it a Series III one? It was a Series IIa.

Matt Scott: Series IIa. And, and for me, [00:11:00] that is where it all clicked. That was the transition from, from Midwest Matt to West Coast Matt. You know? The, the Jeep was a car I had in Illinois, and we, we drove through corn fields.

I, I, I moved out here knowing very little about travel. Um, you know, I had always traveled racing. You know, every weekend we were driving to Indianapolis or wherever was in m- was in our region, but moving out here was just a, w- was a big change for me. Like, I still, I still remember that, that… I call it my chess moment, that I realized, like, I don’t have to fly through everything, that it was just like, it was just like racing.

And, and I’ve, and I’ve carried that with me. And, um, the Land Rover taught me It taught me that things were about passion. And I, and I had actually had, had, had a Land Rover before this. I, I… My, my first car was a Land Rover Discovery. Um, I guess when you have a kid that grew up around race cars, the last thing that you really want is a, like you want a Jeep.

The best. Exactly. You know? Why, why would I wanna drive something slow on a road with other people? And I still kind of feel that way, but yeah, that, that was a big transition for me. It, [00:12:00] it made me realize that I, I loved travel, but I also loved the, how the vehicle could play a part of that. Like, the, the vehicle can be a traveler on its own.

For sure. The vehicle can have a personality. Um-

Scott Brady: And that did. I, I remember hearing you laugh and seeing you smile more with that car than anything else- Yeah … because it was like, it was like the circus bear on the, on the tricycle. I mean, it was like literally it was so fun because it was spinning, it was…

You were s- constantly having to-

Matt Scott: You were working it. Yeah. That’s where I learned how to drive- Yeah … was that car, you know? Um-

Scott Brady: It was so analog, and do you miss that with your… You have such capable vehicles now. Do you miss that- Yeah, totally … like, haphazardness-

Matt Scott: Totally … of, uh,

Scott Brady: the series? I,

Matt Scott: I… I think if I was to get another car, I’d get, I’d get a flat fender.

You know, my, my buddy- Yeah … my buddy Brad in Australia has a, a Ford GPW that we’ve taken up Cape York, um, taken Fraser Island, kind of taken all over, and you wanna see me smile, and it’s, it’s in something [00:13:00] with brakes that doesn’t work- Yeah … a gearbox that doesn’t wanna go in gear- … and, you know, uh, no power steering.

Yeah. Uh, I, I think everybody should have those, should have those experiences, and, um- I agree … you know, it, it teaches you… Like, I, I now know what horrible axles are. I didn’t have the Salisbury in mine, so, like, I had to learn how to replace an axle. I had to learn how to, you know, replace things.

Scott Brady: And be really gentle as a driver.

Matt Scott: Yeah. Um, learn how to be smooth-

Scott Brady: Yeah …

Matt Scott: in a different way.

Scott Brady: I do realize, like even in my own history, that some of the most fun that I’ve had was in the vehicles that were the least suited for the activity. Oh, yeah. ‘Cause then, ’cause then even a trip to Sedona, like we did that one day, was like an expedition- Yeah

’cause it was like you had no idea if you were gonna make it, if you were gonna get stuck, if something was just gonna stop working. I mean- Yep … yeah.

Matt Scott: It was fun. It… You know, I think you can definitely isolate yourself from adventure, right? And, and I, if I was to critique myself, that’s probably something that I do.

[00:14:00] I have a… You know, my personality, I, I like to perfect things. I, I find joy in building beautiful overland vehicles for myself- Something to the nth degree … not for anybody else.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: But yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s interesting. You know, I, I, I think it’s… You know, now it’s my travels that have influenced my vehicles more so than, you know, early it was the passion for the cars, and then I found out I could travel in them as I got older, ’cause I’m still young.

I mean, a lot of people probably think I’m old. I, I just turned 30.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: You know, so I, I- Uh, when did I start working for Overland International? I, I, I still had an Expeditions West business card that I found the other day. So I mean, that was, that was when I was 20. That was, that was over 10… That was 10 years ago or something.

Scott Brady: It, it had to have been more than that because, uh, we started the corporation, Overland International, in 2012.

Matt Scott: Yeah.

Scott Brady: So yeah. So. Yeah, it’s been, it’s been a while, which is… Yeah, it’s, it’s just been fun to watch. But-

Matt Scott: And that, I mean, that was the launchpad for, for I guess my career. I mean, um, you know, I started [00:15:00] writing for Expedition Portal before I moved out here a little bit.

And-

Scott Brady: Yep …

Matt Scott: you know, people always ask me, “Well, I, I’d love to learn how to write.” And I always say, “Well, just do it,” ’cause I was not a writer-

Scott Brady: Mm-hmm …

Matt Scott: you know, wh- when I first, when I first started A- as you said, like I, I believed in ethics very strongly, and I had a very technical knowledge and understanding of things, but, you know, I didn’t know how to use an apostrophe appropriately.

Yeah. Now I do.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: Um-

Scott Brady: It takes ti- and I remember mentioning that to you, is that the reason why I thought you would be a great fit is that you always told the truth and that you always had an opinion. And, and for me, that, that, that ethics is so critical. I mean, the only time we’ve ever terminated an editor is because of an ethics violation.

Yeah. So it’s, for me, it’s, it’s really, uh, that comes down to it, or else the reader loses faith.

Matt Scott: It, it’s all about the reader. You know, you’re- Yeah … you are, you are providing a service for that reader. You’re not providing a [00:16:00] service for yourself. The reader doesn’t really care about, you know, the emot- the, the, the contrived emotional backstory.

Like, they, they wanna know the facts, they wanna know the information. And my style from that, and mixing it into my thing, be- became entertain and inform, and that’s something that I’ve always tried to do. Writing about cars can be very technical, and it can be very specific. Mm-hmm. It doesn’t mean that it has to be boring.

Scott Brady: And I, I think for the, for the listener, that is… I mean, during this time that we’re in right now, which this is being recorded during a time that a lot of the country is still under a shelter in place order, and a lot of people are trying to start their own podcast, or they’re trying to start their own website, or they’re trying to write for an, an outlet like Overland Journal or Expedition Portal, a little bit of advice that comes along with this interview, and that I watched Matt execute very well when he started working with us, is focus on the reader first.

Focus on telling a great story that [00:17:00] is evergreen, that can last a long time, because those articles like that really provide a, a strong return on investment to the publisher that you’re working with. But if I was to give anyone that’s listening advice, is don’t just pitch a publisher like, “Hey, I’d like to write for you.”

The best thing that you can do, because publishers and editors are extremely busy, the best thing that you can do is find a great story, write the entire thing up, have all of the images ready to go in a Dropbox or on a Google Drive, have all of the images edited, have the article completely edited, then send the publisher or editor a note and say, “I’ve been thinking about your magazine.

I’ve, I have purchased several copies. I understand your writing style. I have provided a complete story for your consideration.” Totally. And I can tell you that our editors, they pick up stories like that all the time. It’s I think the challenge is- that if, if someone says, “Hey, I’d like to write for you,” [00:18:00] that’s gonna- the editor knows that now this is a 20-step process- Yeah

to get to a final piece. Whereas if somebody says, “I love your publication, I have purchased your publication, I’m a reader of your publication, I understand your style and your style guide, and I’ve delivered a product that you could put to print.”

Matt Scott: Yep. I, you know, I think an, when you’re submitting something to an, to an editor, it needs to be something that to the best of your ability is ready to run in that publication.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: 1,500 words does not mean that 2,000 is better. Right. It means that he really wanted 1,400.

Scott Brady: Right.

Matt Scott: You know? Um, yeah, and, and that was an interesting thing. I mean, I guess, you know, when I was running Expedition Portal, it was cool to work with all these travelers. And it, and it’s interesting, like some of the people that I, that I worked with, even at a young age, you know, I was kinda able to help improve their writing and help improve and, and send them on the right direction, and now these people have turned into writers full time.

You know, that- that’s how they’re sustaining themselves traveling. For sure. And, [00:19:00] um-

Scott Brady: As the industry’s grown, there’s been more and more opportunity for people, and all… think of all of the friends that we have that, um, are writing for, for us or writing for other outlets. There’s a lot of great magazines.

And, and that leads me to the question, how, how did it feel, uh, when you had your first article published by Outside?

Matt Scott: It, you know, it wa- it was, it was pretty cool. Like I, I’ve, I followed Outside for a really long time. You know, they, they really lead in kinda outdoor journalism.

Scott Brady: I agree.

Matt Scott: You know, and I was, I was really lucky.

Um, I became really good friends with my editor, my current editor over there, Wes, Wes Siler, and you know, he’s been another one of those kind of mentors in my life that was never afraid to tell me what I was doing wrong. He really helped refine my writing style. So yeah, so I mean, I g- I guess going back to the first time, I was elated.

You know, I sent it to everybody I know. Yeah. And, and it was so cool. Like, here, here’s my name on that magazine. But it was the same way [00:20:00] the first time I was published in Overland Journal, the first time I was published on Expedition Portal. Like, um, you know, I was working for Land Rover at the time, and I, I don’t even know how that worked.

So I was, I was working for Land Rover, decided to… I mean, I dropped out of school and, um, decided to make cars my life, and my kinda performance driving background got me in the, got me in the door with doing some, some training with them. And, uh, then moved to Panama, but- I don’t know, I, I, I still love getting published

Scott Brady: Yeah, I, I r- I think Outside Magazine was the first magazine that I ever subscribed to, and I remember the first time that my words ended up in print in Outside, it was just…

I- it felt to me like as… nearly as exciting as the first time that I printed an Overland Journal.

Matt Scott: Yeah. And, and I don’t do a huge amount with them, but I, I think the stuff that I do is relatively significant. I mean-

Scott Brady: It is, yeah. You’re their, you know, four-wheel drive automotive [00:21:00] journalist, so.

Matt Scott: Yeah, I mean, Wes is pretty competent too.

Yeah, for sure. You know, he knows his stuff, but yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s fun. It’s a… I don’t know how much you guys know, but I, I also own a company called Adventure Imports. Not trying to plug that necessarily, but you know, that’s, that’s my day job now. Um, I’ve, I’ve kind of transitioned away from, you know, full-time editorial after I, I was running a magazine called, um, Unsealed 4×4 in Australia, and I, I lived down there, and then moved back to start this business, but now it’s, it’s a passion project for me.

Yeah. It’s… So it’s, it’s cool. I, I can take more time to do things. I, I can really, you know, put my best work out there, and I, and I love doing that, and I love doing this podcast too. Like, it’s, it’s nice to… You know, over the time that I’ve been doing this and the countries I’ve been to and the places I’ve traveled, it’s nice to be able to share that information.

You know, and something that’s really, you know, passionate, that I’m passionate about is that Overlanding is about travel. Yeah. Like, I, I mean, I’m a huge car guy. I geek out on building these things, but for me it’s… It, it, it all comes back to the [00:22:00] travel.

Scott Brady: Yeah. I feel, I feel like for myself too that it’s relatively balanced.

I was probably more about the vehicle early on, but now I don’t, I don’t enjoy it any less. I still… I love turning wrenches myself. For me, it is my downtime is busting knuckles and getting dirty hands. Yeah. So I, I like working on my own vehicle, and I still do it-

Matt Scott: Yeah … because- Like with COVID, I’ve been working on my Land Cruiser.

Like, I’ve been geeking out rebuilding doors, you know?

Scott Brady: Yep.

Matt Scott: Uh, uh, but trying to, trying to keep the parts, trying to keep things original, but okay, let’s figure out how we rebuild a window motor. Let’s figure out how we rebuild this door hinge. Let’s figure out how we can make these things better and, um-

Scott Brady: And then that way when you drive it around the world, you know how that all goes together.

You’ve actually-

Matt Scott: Exactly …

Scott Brady: you’ve actually turned the wrenches on that car, which leads me to a few more questions, uh, primarily around your travels. But, uh, you grew up in Chicago, and then you did move out west, and then you ended up in Panama. Now, tell a little bit of that story, ’cause that’s a great one.

Matt Scott: [00:23:00] Yeah. So, um, I ran a hostel down there for a brief period called, um… I mean, it was called Panama Passage. Passage,

Scott Brady: that’s right.

Matt Scott: But that was really… That was a huge fulcrum point or transition point for me as a person, ’cause I, I wanna say I was 20 or… 20. It was right before I moved here I was, I was running a hostel for, for international travelers.

So like-

Scott Brady: Yeah …

Matt Scott: I’m, I’m still friends with people that I met there. Um, I don’t remember a lot of it. Sorry, Christian, but I was drunk for a lot of it. And, uh, you know, just, just being in this, this environment and learning how to ship vehicles, ’cause I was doing it every single day. Sure. Learning how to do the paperwork.

I mean, that was one of the things is, is we would help travelers ship their vehicles. So yeah, Panama was cool. To live right downtown, um, that was really an experience that-

Scott Brady: What a neat city …

Matt Scott: really cool. Really, really cool.

Scott Brady: Most people have no idea how mod- I remember I was going downtown to meet with, with the shipper because we were gonna be shipping the vehicles from [00:24:00] Panama after we went to the Darien Gap.

And I re- I remember going downtown and there’s like Porsche Cayenne. Like- Oh, yeah … it’s, it’s like people have no i- They, they think it’s Central America and it’s third world. Like Panama City is not third world.

Matt Scott: Yeah. I mean, some of the buildings there are pretty crazy. I mean, this was obviously before he was president, but Trump has like a massive casino and- Yeah

it, a beautiful building. Yeah. Massive. Um, there, there’s sky rises and- Yeah … I mean, it’s, it, it looks almost like Miami.

Scott Brady: It really feels that way to me.

Matt Scott: But yeah.

Scott Brady: And of course, yeah, you got the Panama Canal and all of that. Which I

Matt Scott: never even saw. I never,

Scott Brady: I never- About time to go back.

Matt Scott: I never went to the, to the locks.

Yeah. I lived like a mile from the Miraflores Locks.

Scott Brady: It’s, that’s how it works though, right?

Matt Scott: You know? But there’s, there’s kind of this traveler hangout. It’s the, uh… I wanna say it’s the Balboa Yacht Club, and you could watch the boats go by. So

Scott Brady: good.

Matt Scott: So,

Scott Brady: um- Yeah, it’s so good. I camped out there in that parking lot.

Yeah, yeah,

Matt Scott: yeah. Yeah. Um-

Scott Brady: Oh, that’s awesome. So then, so you, you were in Panama, then you ended up in Arizona for a little while, and then you moved internationally again. [00:25:00] Where’d you go?

Matt Scott: That’s when I moved to Australia. There was a pit stop in Pismo Beach there. That’s when I met- Oh, that’s right … I met Laura in, in Prescott, and then she’s a wildlife biologist, and she was working at Pismo Dunes.

Sh- she’s my dune driver. I love driving in the dunes, but you know, she day in, day out drove Pismo Dunes. She, she, she knows what’s up.

Scott Brady: She mastered it. Yeah. She’s got

Matt Scott: the masterclass- Um …

Scott Brady: in dune driving.

Matt Scott: Yeah, so when we moved to Australia and, you know, I eventually moved on from that, from that magazine, um, who I still write for.

I still have a great relationship with Pat Callinan down there. And, uh, you know, it was cool to be able to do the Simpson and just, like, throw her the keys and like, “Oh, yeah, this is the biggest dune. Here, here’s Big Red. I wanna get some photos. Drive up it.”

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: I wish she’d get s- I wish she’d get stuck more, but um-

Scott Brady: Oh, that’s awesome.

So you were in Australia for

Matt Scott: a while? Yeah, so I lived, I lived in the Blue Mountains and made a lot of, you know, just really dear friends down there. Um, you know, people, people I still talk to. Yeah, A- Australia’s a special place for me. I, I spent quite a bit of time there, obviously, with, with, with my business and importing a few product lines from down there, and it’s really still…

[00:26:00] It feels like a second home to me. You know, it doesn’t, it doesn’t feel foreign.

Scott Brady: And you were there for how long total?

Matt Scott: I was there for a little over a year.

Scott Brady: Yeah, that’s aw- Um, and

Matt Scott: then I s- What, what do you like most about the culture? … I spend about a month or two a year there usually.

Scott Brady: Yeah, yeah.

Matt Scott: Um, sometimes less, sometimes more.

Scott Brady: And then you’ve al- One of your places, I’ve asked you before, when you’re… What, what’s your favorite place to travel? And you really love Asia. What’s-

Matt Scott: Love Southeast Asia. Um-

Scott Brady: What’s some of the upsides of Asia for you?

Matt Scott: Yeah. O- overlanding for me is different, and I don’t think overlanding has to be the same for everyone.

Um, I, for… I mean, I had, like, zero money for the longest time, and I still don’t, still don’t. But, um, I realized, okay, I didn’t, I didn’t have the money to buy a several thousand dollar roof tent or a, or a expensive vehicle or, or the thing. So I started going to Asia ’cause I could just fly in, rent a motorcycle or rent a scooter, and have an amazing adventure in a culture that was mind-blowing.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: Like, if you think, if you think Baja is a cultural experience, like, [00:27:00] try getting lost without cell service in Vietnam on a scooter. Yeah. There’s no way to communicate. Right. I mean, like, the alphabet’s somewhat similar, but those are the experiences that I love. I love- So it

Scott Brady: feels wild.

Matt Scott: I love the travel.

I mean, we’ve, we’ve spent collectively probably a year traveling around, around Southeast Asia. I’m lucky to kinda scam manage flight points a lot, so we, you know, we, we, we go there quite a bit. Unfortunately, with, with COVID, that’s gonna be- Yeah … it’s gonna be-

Scott Brady: Everything’s on hold

Matt Scott: for a little bit … a little bit of a hold, so, um, but you know, that’s life.

Scott Brady: Yeah. So. Well, Matt, thanks so much for answering some questions and giving the listener a chance to learn a little bit more about who you are. We could spend a couple hours, and of course-

Matt Scott: Complex.

Scott Brady: Yeah, yeah.

Matt Scott: Complex, varying, and, uh, juxtaposed.

Scott Brady: Yeah. And at only 30, I can’t imagine what the next 30 years are gonna be like.

Matt Scott: I, you know, I, I’m excited about life. Um, I, I think after this, this COVID thing is done, you know, I hope [00:28:00] people kinda come together. And I think, uh, you know, for travelers, once the vaccine’s out and, and everybody’s not paranoid about catching this thing- Right … I, I, I hope it brings people together. And, and I intend, as soon as we’re able to travel, I’m going.

I’m gonna go drive around the world. I’m gonna, I’m gonna do something, and I wanna make sure we’re ready. And you’ve got,

Scott Brady: you’ve got a Land Cruiser to do it. And for those that are listening, you can, you can find Matt. Tell us your Instagram here.

Matt Scott: So I’m, I’m Matt Explore on Instagram. I sporadically post. I, I occasionally find the app annoying.

Scott Brady: Yeah.

Matt Scott: But- It’s push notifications that I hate.

Scott Brady: And then you run Adventure Imports here in Portland,

Matt Scott: Oregon. Yeah, yeah. That’s cool. Um, run Adventure Imports. We’re the MAXTRAX, MSA, and Indeflate distributors for the United States.

Scott Brady: And, uh, of course, um, we’re, we’re sharing that as information about Matt. We, uh, Matt and I both have a very strong belief in identifying any conflicts of interest, so we- Yeah

we, um, we will always disclose those in any of our, any of our podcasts. But- ‘

Matt Scott: Cause it’s about the reader- It is … or in this [00:29:00] case, the listener … the listener. Yeah. It’s not about us.

Scott Brady: Well, we thank you all so much for listening, and we thank you all so much for learning a little bit more about Matt. You can reach out to him on Instagram if you’ve got additional questions.

Matt Scott: Yeah.

Scott Brady: And, uh, we will talk to you all next time. Take care, guys.