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Journeys of Intention: Zach Smith's Transformative Travel Ventures

Travel Transformation: Interview with Zach Smith from Anywhere.com

Welcome back to 'The Science of Self'! In this episode, Russell speaks with Zach Smith, the founder and CEO of Anywhere.com. Zach shares his journey from a serendipitous trip to Oaxaca, Mexico that inspired a transformative travel business, to organically growing Anywhere.com into a network that connects travelers with enriching cultural experiences. Tune in as Zach discusses the impact of intentions, travel as a tool for personal transformation, and his unique perspective on travel that goes beyond mere transactions. Don't miss this insightful conversation on living mindfully and making meaningful choices in travel and life.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

00:14 Zach Smith's Journey to Founding Anywhere.com

01:28 The Birth of Anywhere.com

07:50 Serendipity and Intentions in Life

12:47 Personal Reflections and Family Influence

27:01 Travel as a Tool for Transformation

34:41 Daily Habits and Personal Success

37:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Transcript
Russell Newton:

Hello listeners and welcome back to The Science of Self,

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where you Improve your Life From

the inside out, I'm Russell, and

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today we have a guest, Zach Smith.

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Zach is the founder and

CEO of anywhere.com.

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Zach, fill us in on who you are, what you

do, and what we should know about you.

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First off.

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Zach: Sure thing.

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Yeah.

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I actually struggle with, the term

even travel agency, but that is

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kind of the role that we play.

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however, my partner and I have,

been trying to use Our naive,

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awareness and some level about the

industry to create what we think

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the way things ought to be done.

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And so, in this case, we kind of lean

more into being a trust network, and,

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integrated, experience for people

to, with an intent of visiting of.

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Particular destination.

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We help match them to all the different

experiences that are possible.

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And we do that through a network of

local experts and suppliers in each

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geography that we've activated and

we're steadily adding more geographies.

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So it's just been a

organic, emergent process.

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I would say we've just

had to learn as we go.

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And that's kind of.

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the way a lot of us, find our niches

and find our way in this world is

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we, have to take, these learned

experiences and adapt and try to

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keep making the next best choice.

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Russell Newton: Your bio information

says that, the concept for anywhere.com

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or what built into anywhere.

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Dot com was a trip to Oaxaca.

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us through that experience just

to give us a little background on

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how, where this, where the seed

was planted for this organization.

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Zach: Sure.

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it was, post-college, trip

to a warm part of the world.

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a friend and I, took a one-way ticket

to Oaxaca, Mexico, and we, were,

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moving along the Pacific Coast.

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I was reading lots of books, enjoying

the way of life there, practicing

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my Spanish, and really just sensing

and absorbing and experiencing the

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surroundings a series of encounters

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Occurred throughout my time there I

remained open the whole time and that was

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probably why these things happened to me.

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I, had told my friend, I'm open to not

going back to Oregon until the summer

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because it's rainy and cold I don't

really wanna rush home to anything.

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I'd rather experience this while I'm here.

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And so that led to a conversation in

Nicaragua that led to a relationship that

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I encountered in Monte Verde, Costa Rica.

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which led to someone offering to

give me a job, which, then led

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to me learning about tourism.

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all those, different encounters,

gave me this opportunity to,

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really learn about what I wanted.

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you know, to, to experience in,

in life all along was just a

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journey, an interesting life.

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and I just remained open.

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as I was learning about answering

emails and helping people, I.

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Figure out what they wanted to

do while they were visiting this

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one little town in Costa Rica.

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I thought the business had some potential

and so I had made a handshake agreement

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with the gentleman that had owned it.

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he was kind of a little older and

a little burnt out, I think he was

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open as well, but a very difficult

personality I mean, it just was really

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tough and I was only 24 at the time.

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So what ended up happening was I went to

another couple towns and was, exploring

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the country just to see if I was really

able to do this and if I really liked it.

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it ended up not telling my parents, not

telling my friends, not telling any of

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the other, colleagues that were there.

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But I had already made it clear in my

mind that this was something I was gonna

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pursue Sure enough, I'm on an aerial

tram going through the rainforest, just

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taking pictures, enjoying myself and a

stranger across from me on a package trip.

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asked me what I was up to and there was

this brief little moment in my head,

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do I really want to communicate that?

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this would be the first person

I told what I planned to do.

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So I did.

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I just said, well, I'm thinking

about buying this, this

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website in this little town.

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It's kind of tourism related.

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And he was curious and he gave me

his contact information and said, I

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think we should really stay in touch.

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I'm a software engineer.

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We were of a similar age, and

so I just, basically started.

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Sending him the sort of information

and the, the ideas that I had and

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what I wanted to develop, what was

lacking in the current business

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and where we wanted to take it.

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and so it took, you know, about a year

or so later before we were able to

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actually go into business together.

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But, That relationship was also

just very much a, you know, the

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universe just showed up and gave me

the right person at the right time.

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And again, I think it just

was because I was open So, but

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again, that was way back in 2006.

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And the first real expression

of what we wanted to do as a

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business was anywhere Costa Rica.

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So that was the goal as just an online

guidebook for the whole country.

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So more visitors would have more

awareness about what was possible.

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And so that then became.

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our information layer about the

country doing things that weren't

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transactional, doing things that

weren't focused on sales the whole time.

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So we were doing species profiles or

profiles of all the national parks

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I was going to, every destination

I was meeting, every hotel,

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people that you know might be in.

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the budget range or the mid-range,

they could find, accommodation.

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we would go the full spectrum, Hilltop

hotels or beachfront hotels or, remote

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resorts, all these different categories.

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So then people would have a

better sense of what choices they

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actually had versus just seeing a

package or going to just a typical.

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website and making all these

independent reservations.

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So we tried to summarize the whole country

and then empower local experts to help

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design the trip for those visitors.

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So then they were, the visitor was

having a cultural experience right from

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the very beginning with that geography.

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And then upon arrival, the

network was empowered to.

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Make any adjustments in real

time for that client because

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they were in the same time zone.

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We, had relationships with all these

suppliers so we could advocate on behalf

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of our customer if something went wrong.

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So that just made sense to me.

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it seemed like the way things ought

to be done, and so we just have

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had to keep building technology and

tools to try to facilitate that.

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And yeah, there was a lot of.

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challenges that came up, but ultimately

that's kind of the orientation and,

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the original seeds of, what we started.

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Russell Newton: And the person you

met on the rail car on the, tramway,

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is the person you're in business

with now or that you formed the

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Zach: Yeah.

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We're still business partners today.

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Russell Newton: Wow.

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Zach: Yeah.

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Russell Newton: That's fantastic.

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one question just to give us a little,

insight into your worldview, these.

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meetings and people that you came

across, events that happened to

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you in your worldview, do you view

them as serendipitous, as, fateful

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that they were meant to happen?

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If you have a religious background, would

you see them as ordained or predestined

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or just personally do you them as chance

and you met the opportunity at the

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right time just you happen to be there.

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Zach: Yeah, that's, one

of my favorite questions.

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if I have to go back even further in

my own life, To look at what led me

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to that point on the aerial tram or

what led me to that point in Oaxaca

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or what led me to, be the person I

was in university and before that.

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So

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in general, I think, our

intentions are pretty much the

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most powerful thing in the world.

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they drive relationships, they

drive choices, they drive, a lot

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of what shows up in this world.

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I think my parents had certain intentions

about, what they wanted and because

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They were idealists that, left the

city and moved to, the west coast.

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They got five acres out in Oregon.

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My mom was a ceramicist making pottery,

selling stuff, my father's last name

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was Smith, and they wanted to do

something more interesting and come up

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with a fun middle name for me and my

three brothers, I'm the oldest so they

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named me Zachary Bonaventure Smith.

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And so, they, they in some ways like set

my course in some, in some ways, But then

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of course I had to learn many lessons

along the way to figure out, how I could

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play my role and be who I'm meant to be.

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which I don't think is, pure destiny,

but it's not also pure chance.

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And so I do think there's an aspect

of serendipity and I think there's

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a little bit of The natural laws of

this world cooperating with you when

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you bring, intentions that are aligned

when you have certain core values.

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And I mean, this just brings up

like a really, like we've talked

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about intentions a little bit,

but like just a childhood story.

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I remember.

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We were at our house, there

was, a few kids and one friend

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brought over a slingshot.

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I had never held a slingshot in my life.

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and I was like, wow, this is a fun toy.

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And so I wanted to turn

playing with the slingshot.

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And so I got the slingshot

and we're just standing there

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and there was a little pebble.

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Loaded it.

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And at the time there was this

beautiful yellow finch that

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flew into this apple tree.

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And all of a sudden I was like, well,

now I have something to aim for.

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I'm gonna aim for this bird.

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And so I was at least 20 yards away.

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I was not that close.

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But then I was like,

I'm gonna hit that bird.

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And so I aimed shot this thing, and just

like in the cartoon, this bird spiraled

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right down to the ground, perfect shot

on the neck, and I was devastated.

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I was like, oh my God.

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I didn't intend to kill that

bird, but I did try to hit it.

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So my intention was a powerful force.

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It caused death.

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So, I felt guilty and shame and bad.

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me and my dad buried it.

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that was a lesson that I felt like

I internalized and never really

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wanted to, cause, that type of.

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Reaction in the world through my

own kind of thought or intention.

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so I believe that there are, those

lessons that are hard and painful and

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they do show up in our life and then

it's how you navigate after that.

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you can't avoid that

feeling of guilt or shame.

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It can't, it already happened.

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It's in the past.

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But then you got to move forward

with those next best, best choices.

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And I think that's an

adaptive, natural way.

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And, so in the case of, you

know, different people that you

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meet and when you are able to.

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Share values or share common ground, you

know, those relationships can blossom.

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Like the business partner relationship

that I had, I met my wife on an airplane.

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she was sitting next to me.

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We just got to talking.

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We had all this common ground.

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We were both flying from Seattle to New

York I mean, I can't explain why that

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person showed up there, but if I wasn't

in my right head space and she wasn't in

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her right head space or we'd been sitting

anywhere else, we wouldn't have met.

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but we met at the right time and

we were both, in an open place.

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That was more than 10 years

ago, and we joke that it's been

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one long date ever since then.

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And so sometimes, when you live your

values, you do have a co collaborator,

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in the field of, other people or

nature's laws or whatever you want to.

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Call it.

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I do think that there is some

alignment that just shows up.

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I don't know, I don't study that, but

I do believe that that's, something

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that I've felt and I think it's real.

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Russell Newton: I was admitted a little

confused because, and I had marked

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for a follow up question on what it

meant that intentions drive so many

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things in life, but your story, I.

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with the slingshot really fantastic.

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I had a very similar experience

with a, gun that with the rifle,

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with the barrel was so bent were

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Zach: Mm-hmm.

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Russell Newton: Of the barn

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So I took aim at a cardinal, with

a very underpowered BB gun and

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hit it just at the right, wrong

spot on the elbow of the wing.

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Zach: Mm-hmm.

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Russell Newton: As you know, this

was, many, many years ago, so

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obviously left a, a mark there.

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So that's

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Zach: Mm-hmm.

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Russell Newton: Of how your intentions,

that your statement, that intentions

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drive so many things in life.

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Are you familiar with the book, the

Gift I believe it's called, or the

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concept of the law of attraction.

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Do you subscribe to that kind of

thing, but stay on the kind of a

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spiritual, side of things here, the

woohoo side of things for a minute.

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Does Law of Attraction present

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Zach: Yeah,

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Russell Newton: Do you

subscribe to or is it just book?

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Zach: I think there's something there.

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no doubt.

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but, you know, One thing about

some of those, so you know, some

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of that is, is yes, okay, we

do have the power to manifest.

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We do have the power to, you know, on

some level create our, the reality or, you

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know, become who we're meant to become.

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but it, I think it requires.

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A lot of patience and a lot of,

understanding that it's not meant to be

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just, you know, results based, you know,

or like, I've been repeating this mantra

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and, you know, why isn't this happening?

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Or when one thing happens, you think

you're done and you know, it's all over.

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The pop science of some of that stuff, is,

important to get out there, but sometimes

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it's not well understood by the reader.

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Maybe.

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you know, I'm, I'm not sure because

again, I it's sometimes dropped as if

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it's like this trend or this, yeah, you

know, I, I, I, I, I, I just think that

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if you're in the present moment,

and if you live your values

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and you know yourself, that

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it's a natural byproduct for good

things to start showing up in your life.

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Whether you wanna, whatever you wanna

call it, whatever, you know, media,

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you want to sort of build around that.

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I think that those things, it's

good to put it out there, I suppose.

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Yeah, I don't really follow too

much with, social media or what is,

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being amplified at certain points.

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familiar with that concept.

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and I think that came with good intentions

for people to understand that they

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have a lot of, power over their life.

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And it starts, with just

that subtle listening.

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but sometimes the ego gets involved

and people want like, oh, I just

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want more, more, will make me happy.

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and then you're filling this

void, or, oh, I wanna manifest

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all these material things.

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And you know, that to me is, Not really

the goal, but you know, sometimes that's

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just where people put their attention.

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back to one of the most powerful

things I think we do know

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about, the nature of life.

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our intentions really matter, but.

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Where we put our attention is

actually changes the nature of, the

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world the entanglement of, people,

relationships, ideas, whatever.

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So that's another big area that,

People should be more cautious,

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of where they put their attention.

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because it has many ripple effects.

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I just think that as long as you're

conscious of, okay, yeah, I'm

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ingesting, two hours of mass media on.

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Social media or the headlines in news,

I'm ingesting all that information.

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I have to metabolize that.

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thoughts are gonna enter my mind

that I now have to reconcile with.

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is that emerging from within

or is that something that is

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externally showing up and I think.

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that's where it gets a little tricky

as far as, people being aware of what,

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the power that their attention has.

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and how they're able to focus on, building

their own internal kind of compass of,

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how they want to move through the world.

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So anyway,

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yeah.

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Russell Newton: you say you don't

do much social media or you stay

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away from the current trends

and fads and that kind of stuff.

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How do you go on a day-to-day basis

about keeping up with the outside

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world but making sure it doesn't

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corrupt or tarnish or blemish

your own values and your own

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attention and intentions?

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Zach: Yeah, I mean, again,

it comes back to like, well,

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what, what can I control about

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the headlines showing up

on a day-to-day basis?

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Pretty much nothing.

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so, you know, do I wanna, be aware?

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Sure.

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I mean, I'll scan a few

things here and there.

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I talk to people.

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I'm not saying that like the answer is

to just check out, but what I will say

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is that, knowing how to metabolize it,

meaning, okay, this is interesting.

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I'm feeding my brain a few facts, or

I'm feeding my brain some perspective

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that helps me understand, maybe

why some of this stuff is going on.

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is it gonna help me be

better with my kids?

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Is it gonna be, is it gonna

help me be a better community?

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And remember, is it gonna help me stay

focused on the Priorities in the business?

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Is it gonna help me?

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Remain in a state of wellbeing?

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Well, it just depends.

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Like if you know how to metabolize it

and not internalize it too much, then

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sure you can take a dose of negativity

or whatever, and it's no big deal.

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however, I just think there

should be more, consciousness

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around, that there is a,

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Impact that can insidiously

work its way in, over time.

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And I think that's just something that

I've learned, with my own experience.

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So, yeah.

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Russell Newton: there's a difference

between knowing what's going on and

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fretting or being overwhelmed by

what's going on, and there's a balance

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to be had between both of those.

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I think that's a great explanation.

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I never have heard the middle

ground of that conversation.

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to take it in, moderation probably, but

to be able to understand internally what

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you need to do with that and how much

you can or cannot let it affect you.

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that's fantastic.

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Thank you.

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let's lighten the mood a little bit.

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your middle name since you mentioned it.

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Bonaventure.

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Is French?

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Zach: It is French.

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Yeah.

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So my parents, gave us, long and

somewhat meaningful, middle names.

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So I'm Bonaventure, my middle

brother is Belvedere and my,

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youngest brother is Beaumont.

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they just were having fun with, trying

to give us a little bit more spice in

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our names, rather, you know, 'cause

Smith was obviously pretty common and

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still is, probably always will be.

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So, yeah, I was always told it

means good ventures through life.

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That's what my mom told me.

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and then I, you know, later on.

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Realized it's a really common name

for travel companies and stuff.

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Bonaventure Travel is a really common

name I don't think about it that often,

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but every now and again, I'm like, gosh,

this thread is just still there, you know?

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I can't, I can't get it.

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It's like, it's, it's just there.

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So, yeah.

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And, and.

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Again, I, I just, I think that there's

a few things in that, name that I

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just, I have internalized, the, you

know, the concept of just, you know,

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good, you know, like generally good.

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meaning, cooperative or, win win or win,

win win, balanced, versus extractive.

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and then venture, you know, it can

mean many things like, you know, a

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venture or really just any kind of.

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Collaboration or pursuit,

business venture.

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it's a journey.

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so I suppose it just gave me a bit of,

again, just like probably contributed to

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my own inner voice that, you know, that's.

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That's how I want to be.

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And I have the name, so

I just have to live it.

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and so they kind of set me up

in this way that, you know, it's

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just part of my identity, I guess.

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most people don't know my middle name.

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I don't really talk about it that

often, but it's like now it is just

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kind of interesting, I suppose.

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that thread is connected.

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Russell Newton: Trying

to put the timeline.

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in my head with what you said about

the years and how many have passed and

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so forth, but your parents, it sounds

like they were maybe toward the middle

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of the end of the baby boomer Is that

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Zach: yeah,

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Russell Newton: timeframe for them

375

:

Zach: So they were city

people from Chicago.

376

:

And moved out west in the late

seventies, bought five acres

377

:

with a house, and no foundation.

378

:

my parents had a lot of family,

concentrated in Chicago and

379

:

they had nobody out in Oregon.

380

:

and so they kind of just

had to, figure things out.

381

:

And, as far as, role

models, they took on a lot.

382

:

They worked really hard, the amount

of stress that they were able to

383

:

metabolize and, live the real life.

384

:

I find to be, just amazing.

385

:

so, yeah, they were, really down to

earth, still down to earth people,

386

:

and they're still around, thankfully.

387

:

moving a little slower, but, you

know, still out in the garden, still

388

:

working, still doing art projects.

389

:

so, you know, they're great.

390

:

And, I definitely think

they had a big impact.

391

:

as a parent myself, I am starting

to realize that I think so much I.

392

:

Of human development really does start

with parenting and, and it's such a huge

393

:

responsibility and, I definitely take

it very seriously and really try to,

394

:

be the best version of myself for the

kids and give them, you know, boundaries

395

:

and lessons and things like that.

396

:

I want them to, be present in the

real world, not on devices as much,

397

:

which again, is now more normalized

definitely than when I was growing up.

398

:

I don't necessarily want to, prevent

it, 100% because again, you can't change

399

:

the na I mean, people, we socialize and

the kids see stuff and okay, they wanna.

400

:

they wanna watch a video,

sometimes that's okay.

401

:

but it's balance and so, I feel

like my parents did a great job

402

:

of balancing, letting me kind

of go, and make my own mistakes.

403

:

And, you know, giving me some core,

foundational values and, examples

404

:

of the way they were living to help

me, make those next best choices and

405

:

try to move forward as best I could.

406

:

But it's a very, dynamic process.

407

:

as most parents would probably understand,

there's so many variables involved and,

408

:

when they're young, they're, They present

so many tests, of your patients, of

409

:

your, you know, ability to, just, yeah.

410

:

yeah, just, just try to

keep it all together.

411

:

they're really tough on parents,

412

:

Russell Newton: great

story about your parents.

413

:

I grew up in Chicago as well.

414

:

If they had both maybe been born, five

or 10 years earlier, they would've just

415

:

been hippies instead of, those that

move west and found their own lives.

416

:

I'm glad you have such a heritage

that you're willing to share and,

417

:

that you see the importance of

carrying it on within your own family.

418

:

did you carry on the tradition of

middle names with your children?

419

:

Zach: Yeah, we did.

420

:

I think that that's.

421

:

Yeah, it was a lot of conversations

with my wife, but it's, you know,

422

:

we, with our son, it's middle name

is Jet, 'cause we met on a plane

423

:

and we thought, if he doesn't like

his first name, at least he's, got a

424

:

short, middle name that, has meaning.

425

:

and then, yeah, we did Okay.

426

:

and our daughter, we feel like, she

will grow into her name at some point.

427

:

right now she's just a

wild, almost 5-year-old,

428

:

Russell Newton: One of the phrases

I took from your website or from

429

:

your introductory email focusing on

travel as a tool for transformation.

430

:

can you expand on that phrase as a tool

for transformation as far as travel goes?

431

:

Zach: Yeah.

432

:

basically I've, I've always felt that,

perspective generating experiences are

433

:

very valuable for humans to go through.

434

:

and.

435

:

I mean, this traces back when I was,

I'm gonna give you the backstory

436

:

and then I'll give you the current.

437

:

So when I was, 11 or 12, we

had to do a big class project.

438

:

And it was just like an independent study

come up with any topic and research it and

439

:

I told my mom, she was in the art studio

and I remember this, and I said, I think

440

:

I want to do my project on perspective.

441

:

And she's like, what?

442

:

What do you mean perspective?

443

:

and then she, she's like,

well, that's tricky.

444

:

Well, maybe it should be about.

445

:

Perception.

446

:

'cause then that, that gets into the mind

and the eye and all this sort of stuff.

447

:

And so we landed on visual perception.

448

:

So I've always been interested in.

449

:

How people see the world.

450

:

And, so I, you know, modeled the

brain and did a little heart HyperCard

451

:

program and, you know, it was

like a interesting, cool project.

452

:

but then yeah, of course, as I,

that still was always with me and.

453

:

As I was traveling to different

places, in Central America and I

454

:

had done a study abroad in Europe.

455

:

So I traveled around Europe and I, you

know, it just naturally, you just, wow,

456

:

there's a lot of ways to be in this world

and I think that that's interesting.

457

:

when you realize that.

458

:

There really isn't any other, there's

just lots of people going about their day,

459

:

focusing on their routines, their family,

generally being extraordinarily peaceful.

460

:

as I got into the travel business in

Central America, I really wanted people.

461

:

To realize this tiny little country

of Costa Rica has its own story.

462

:

they're not just like an, you know,

people confuse it, oh, it's an island,

463

:

or Oh, it must is a food spicy like

Mexico, or all these different things.

464

:

And it's just like, no,

they're not like that.

465

:

They're, you know, they're their own

culture and so, just understanding

466

:

that, In my opinion, it is kind of

467

:

a sacred thing to help people experience

another culture or another geography.

468

:

I treat it like that, and so I treat

it as how can people be present and

469

:

aware and relaxed enough to absorb

their surroundings The welcoming

470

:

people absorb the good natured,

ecosystem that they're within.

471

:

And then maybe if they can be in

that relaxed present state, they

472

:

can come to their own conclusion

that, wow, this really is peaceful.

473

:

this is really interesting.

474

:

I'm now.

475

:

Learning about the other,

and it's primary information.

476

:

It's not a narrative, it's not a headline.

477

:

It's not something that just

shows up or you hear someone say,

478

:

it's like, no, you've lived it.

479

:

You get it.

480

:

You know that those people are genuine

and so that's why we really are very

481

:

conscious about, understanding all the.

482

:

Intentions the client has, like,

who's coming on the trip for how long?

483

:

what is your budget?

484

:

What is gonna make you feel comfortable?

485

:

What do you wanna experience,

while you're here?

486

:

what are the dietary restrictions?

487

:

All these many things that then we help

match them to a sequence of events.

488

:

So maybe 10 days, 12 days, where They're

going to three or four locations.

489

:

They're staying at four

or five different hotels.

490

:

They're, doing a bunch of activities.

491

:

They're doing a bunch of transportations,

all facilitated by our coordination

492

:

of these local suppliers.

493

:

when all the sequence of events start

getting stacked on each other, I do think.

494

:

People just then understand

that the world is safe.

495

:

The world, there's at least that period

that they're experiencing in the world far

496

:

away from home in a foreign culture, in a

foreign geography that they can just be.

497

:

that's my contribution of trying

to create that type of experience

498

:

within the visitor, where they really

are able to absorb the culture.

499

:

a lot of travel is very commoditized.

500

:

It's very transactional.

501

:

a lot of visitors are pretty stressed out.

502

:

They're trying to keep track

of everything themselves.

503

:

or they've got a package and they're

stuck on a tour bus with a bunch

504

:

of other people, and they're going

around taking pictures and just.

505

:

getting maybe some information from

a good guide here or there, but

506

:

it's not the same as independently

experiencing, the vibe of a place.

507

:

And, that's what we

really want people to do.

508

:

these are not, there's some trips

that people would go on where, oh, I'm

509

:

living with a family for three months.

510

:

Okay?

511

:

You're gonna have kind of a transformative

cultural experience in that circumstance,

512

:

but how do you do it in a seven day

period or a 10 day period with a family?

513

:

You know, where they don't wanna

stay at a host family's house.

514

:

They don't, yeah.

515

:

That's not them, but then how do you get

them to that state of mind where they have

516

:

a better understanding of where they're

at and who they can feel, connected to?

517

:

so, you know, we really feel

like, the visitor is very unique.

518

:

They have their own

unique preferences and.

519

:

Experiences that they're

trying to achieve.

520

:

The hosts and this culture, each

culture, they're all unique people too.

521

:

So we value that and we've tried to be

really wonderful matchmakers and take

522

:

that role extremely seriously and take

accountability for the state of mind of

523

:

that traveler all throughout the process.

524

:

And then as far as the

feelings that people get is

525

:

they're gonna feel connected.

526

:

That's the goal, is that they

feel that there's a connection,

527

:

a human to human connection, as

they're experiencing, the trip.

528

:

And then that the world itself is a

platform for adventure and journeys

529

:

and experiences meant to be lived.

530

:

Russell Newton: You have a

fantastic way of communicating a

531

:

concept and then closing it out.

532

:

With a practical application.

533

:

I really appreciate that.

534

:

HyperCard, though my listeners are

not gonna know what HyperCard is.

535

:

Zach: Oh my God.

536

:

It was, in our middle school that

was like the future I remember.

537

:

I had a computer class and, learned

how to, Do very basic little,

538

:

programming of, like things would

vanish and appear and show up

539

:

Russell Newton: It like

magic at that point.

540

:

Zach: Yeah.

541

:

Russell Newton: do you have certain

habits, meditating, reading,

542

:

exercise, whatever, mindfulness

practices that are, and I use the,

543

:

you understand the usage of the Lord's

sacred to your day-to-day success.

544

:

if so, would you share two or

three of those things just in a

545

:

list form or elaborate however

much you'd like on those?

546

:

Zach: Great.

547

:

I really do prioritize sleep.

548

:

seven-ish hours is pretty core.

549

:

I have A mattress that records my sleep.

550

:

that's something that I track and

I, you know, just, just know that

551

:

I got a bank hours there and, you

know, make sure I'm getting enough

552

:

good deep sleep and REM sleep.

553

:

yes, like exercise from.

554

:

Time to time.

555

:

I'm not religious about it, but,

I like, pushing myself, or even

556

:

just going on a long walk, but just

moving the body, using the body.

557

:

I like to play basketball sometimes, but

that's harder on my body as I'm aging.

558

:

I mean, I'm 44 and, you know, it's

like all of a sudden getting bumped

559

:

around or the herky jerky actions

are just a little less congruent.

560

:

And I think that, consciously

eating is important.

561

:

I don't eat just because it's, lunchtime

or, you know, oh, it's breakfast.

562

:

I think the body, responds really

well when you're disciplined with it.

563

:

so, you know, recently I've been,

Not eating three meals a day.

564

:

I pretty much eat, twice a day.

565

:

have a nice long 16 or 18 hour

period, where my body's just

566

:

processing, whatever it's processing.

567

:

I feel like that also helps balance out

the mood and balance out, Extra weight

568

:

or stuff that you just don't need.

569

:

there's, Discipline I think and

again, everyone can, you know,

570

:

it's, I like to enjoy life.

571

:

there's nothing about me that

is so restrictive or so dogmatic

572

:

about this is the only way.

573

:

I just think that if you kind

of listen to yourself and,

574

:

There's probably something in there that

you already know that would probably

575

:

be a good thing for you to change.

576

:

So, you know, I think everybody sort of.

577

:

Generally has had enough stacked life

experiences to, if they are curious or

578

:

are, thinking that they wanna make a

change, they probably know the first

579

:

couple things that they should do.

580

:

so, you know, I, I'm not really

here to preach on that stuff.

581

:

and then.

582

:

Yeah.

583

:

but I, but again, I do think the

main thing is, is people, just

584

:

being patient with themselves and

trying to embody their values.

585

:

So if you, are someone that, wants

the world to be a better place.

586

:

Well, you know, start with each

relationship that you have in your

587

:

community and, be a good listener.

588

:

be available, respond, be proactive

and again, that has an effect that

589

:

is immeasurable, because that gets

passed on to other people so you

590

:

just gotta think, you know, just

be the change you want to be.

591

:

I mean, I know that's very dated

and whatever, but I actually

592

:

do think it's kind of true.

593

:

yeah, I don't have a, plug, I mean, we're

anywhere, we have a number of published

594

:

countries that we, are activated in.

595

:

we have, about a dozen more that we are

quietly in the process of activating,

596

:

to our repeat and our referral clients.

597

:

the goal.

598

:

is that we become, that trusted

source to, use your precious

599

:

vacation time as wisely as possible.

600

:

your budget and your resources

as wisely as possible.

601

:

We are a co-creator with you

to make sure you get what you

602

:

want out of your experience.

603

:

these are.

604

:

Oftentimes, big once in a lifetime

trips, you know, going to Peru

605

:

or the Galapagos, or, taking your

family to, eco lodges in Costa Rica.

606

:

these are rare and we treat them as

being special, each and every time.

607

:

So that's our role.

608

:

And, we also want.

609

:

Tourism to be supportive

of the communities that are

610

:

hosting rather than extractive.

611

:

I think there's an awareness from the

visitor, that needs to also start to,

612

:

emerge, that their choices really matter.

613

:

will culture be more sustained or will

it erode, to more of a homogenous,

614

:

all-inclusive type model where,

people just show up and they, are

615

:

eating and drinking and that's it.

616

:

they're going home and that's travel.

617

:

And the truth is that's not travel.

618

:

That's, That's, that's gluttony.

619

:

doesn't mean that, you know,

it's not okay to go take it easy.

620

:

Sometimes it's just don't confuse the two.

621

:

You know, that's not travel,

that's not experiencing culture.

622

:

You know, being on a cruise ship

with 5,000 people, you know, cruising

623

:

around is not, not real travel.

624

:

So, You know, we're, we're just

trying to play our role and,

625

:

you know, call it as we see it.

626

:

Russell Newton: Fantastic.

627

:

Thank you so much for that.

628

:

listeners.

629

:

This was Zach Smith, founder

and CEO of anywhere.com

630

:

and appropriately.

631

:

You can find them@anywhere.com.

632

:

thanks listeners for joining us today.

633

:

Thank you, Zach, for being with us.

634

:

enjoyed it very much and hopefully

maybe in a few months we'll

635

:

have a chance to do it again.

636

:

If you feel interested in doing that.

637

:

Appreciate you being with

us today in this episode.

638

:

Zach: Pleasure to be here.

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Russell Newton