Meet World Wide Nate
“Travel the world and have the time of your life”is the motto that world traveler Nathan Fluellen lives by! Nathan has traveled to four continents covering 30 countries including Taiwan, Vatican City, Mexico, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Sweden, and England just to name a few! Inspiring and educating others about numerous cultures, Nathan continues to motivate and empower young people to conquer their dreams and live a life they have always imagined!
Let’s get to know Nathan Fluellen better….
What first motivated you to create a life based on traveling the world?
The motivation started in college while attending Tennessee State. I came to a cross roads when I started to think about what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life as I approached graduation. A large portion of my family has traveled or lived abroad. My classmates at TSU were doing amazing things and I wanted to do something amazing too. And my college professor was the tipping point when he challenged me to see more countries then him. He has been to over 80 countries at the time so my goal has become to hit the century mark and visit 100 countries. During a trip to Roatan it become more evident as I was walking on a white sand beach I dawned on me that it would be selfish for me to continue to have these amazing experiences and not share them with people.
I’m sure you have thousands of places you love but what are your top 3 places to visit and why?
South Africa, the motherland, I was blessed to spend two weeks in SA and visit Johannesburg, Kruger Park, Cape Town and Durban. Each place had its distinction and the common factor that made each location wonderful were the people. The people of South Africa have the warmest spirit; the people always make a country memorable.
Rio de Janeiro the energy of the city is non-stop. The food, music and beaches are electric. Rio feels like visiting an alternate universe to the States because the history, music and culture all developed from the new world exploration. The city is a gorgeous with its mix of tropical weather, city life and beaches. All the people are gorgeous and welcoming too.
Roatan, Honduras is an island off the coast of Honduras and it is perfectly underdeveloped. Divers mostly visit here but it has the perfect balance of luxury and old world charge. The second largest great barrier reef runs along the island that makes for warm, calm water and the best snorkeling and scuba diving in North America.
Sometimes young people are nervous or worried about traveling outside of the country, why is it important to travel the world? What does it teach you?
My college professor quoted the rapper, The Rza in his book when he said “a wise man is a traveling man”. That statement holds true because the world is a diverse place, not everyone does things like we do in the States. When you visit another country and see an entire nation do things different your perspective changes, you see new possibilities and appreciate different approaches to life. Traveling is instinctive because anything can go wrong and you can be miles away from home but you learn how to be responsible, courteous to others, your own accountant, and utilize networking skills. `
When creating your amazing life of jet-setting, what was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?
The biggest obstacle was balancing earning a living and traveling. Once I figured out how to generate cash flow to fund my traveling then the ball started to roll a lot easier.
You’re always on the go visiting incredible places around the world, what are 3 pieces of advice would you give to teens who want to travel the world?
1. Network before you travel by using websites like courchsurfing.com to meet people locally. A local contact can make a world of difference.
2. Contact tourism boards, their job is to provide you with all the information you need to have a wonderful trip so you can come back home and spread the word about what a great time you had and other people will come visit.
3. Travel with your ears and not your mouth. Traveling is great but with the good comes the bad and there are people who target tourists. Being the loud America in an unfamiliar environment can lead to bad results. Be wise as a serpent and humble as a dove is what my mother always says.
C.O.R.E is all about empowerment, What does empowerment mean to you?
Empowerment is educating yourself. Take every opportunity to learn as much as you can and you will do yourself the ultimate justice. Knowledge is definitely power.
Fun Faves- Food? Song? Artist? Quote?
Food
Seafood: crayfish, lobster, shrimp
Artist
Fela Kuti, Kanye West, Little Dragon, Lykke Li, Common, Mos Def, Grizzly Bear
Quote
Matthew 10:16
be therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
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