Check Out Matt & Nat ’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt & Nat.

Hi Matt & Nat, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are a part-time travel couple based right here in Nashville. When 2020 turned our world upside down, we found ourselves with more time on our hands than ever before. It allowed us to hop off the hamster wheel of life and reevaluate what was important to us, and what we wanted our lives to look like in three, five, and even ten years down the road. What we realized was that much of what we were chasing wasn’t going to get us there.

We had always wanted to travel more and inspire others to do the same but never had the time. With the abundance of time on our hands that 2020 handed us, we put our heads together and launched Adventures of Matt & Nat on June 30th of 2020. Four days later, we were listening to a podcast that was talking about how to tell a story to your audience and really niching down within your niche. That’s when Nat said, “What if we visit all 50 states in 2021?” My first reaction was “YES!”, then, being the realistic and logical one, I started doing the math… That pretty much comes out to one state per week which seemed impossible since we have other jobs! After a lot of conversation and planning, Natalie convinced me that we could do it! And not only just visit each state, but also put out a YouTube video and blog for each state as well. Even though I was on board, it took both of us four months to feel confident enough in our goal to make a public announcement!

Now, here we are… nine months into 2021, 36 states visited (as of September 10), nearly 6,000 YouTube subscribers, and on track to hit all 50 states before Christmas! We couldn’t be more excited about where this journey has already taken us and the amazing places that are yet to come!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Considering all of the logistics that go into the amount of travel that we do, it has been a surprisingly smooth road. That’s not to say that there haven’t been some bumps along the way though!

From extreme exhaustion that forced us to pull off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere in Alaska to sleep for an hour just so we could make it back to our hotel, to Nat getting so sick at the start of our Alabama trip that we had to completely alter our plans, to losing all of our photos from two states due to a technical issue… These are just a few of the bumps, but the rewards have been so much greater than any struggle!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are part-time travel journalists, photographers, and cinematographers. We are currently in the process of documenting for our blog and vlog series “50 States in a Year” where we are traveling to all 50 states in 2021. We put out a new YouTube video and blog on our website for every state!

Our goal in visiting all 50 states is to encourage and inspire others to get out and experience just how amazing and beautiful our country is.

The thing that we are most proud of isn’t a singular piece of work, but rather the body of work that we’re actively creating. Even if no one watches our videos, we still have these modern-day “home videos” that allow us to relive some of the most amazing memories of our lives, and that is something special.

Other than visiting all 50 states in a year, we think that the thing that makes us different from other travel YouTubers is that we aren’t full-time travelers. We have jobs that currently don’t allow us to be gone for more than 3-5 days at a time most weeks. The good thing about this is that most people are in a similar situation, so we are able to show those people that you can get out and see the world and make incredible memories on a limited schedule.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
It’s not too late! It’s never going to be convenient or easy and the market will always seem over-saturated, but you offer something special that no one else can offer, and that thing is you. No one else is you and that is what sets you apart from the rest.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.adventuresofmattandnat.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventuresofmattandnat/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AdventuresofMattandNat
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/matt_n_nat
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/adventuresofmattandnat