245: How to Attend the World's Most Epic Cultural Festivals with Ranika Koneru

Learn how to attend the colorful Holi Festival in India, the lantern festival in Thailand, or Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Ranika Koneru joins Matt from Bulgaria right after her Keynote address at the Bankso Nomad Fest. They talk about Bulgarian wines and how Ranika prepared for her first major public speech. Ranika then reflects on her Indian-American background, identity, experience growing up in Texas, and how her interest in world travel developed. She talks about studying abroad in Spain, living in China and Korea, Summiting Mount Kilimanjaro, and opens up about experiencing ‘reverse culture shock’ upon returning to the U.S. Ranika then talks about her transition into becoming a full time digital nomad, offers tips on sustaining a life of full-time world travel with no base, and shares her reflections on dating in the digital nomad lifestyle. She then talks about founding her company “Cloud Connections” to help digital nomads experience the world’s most epic cultural festivals in a respectful and culturally immersive way. Ranika explains the meaning, history, and cultural significance of the Holi Festival in India, as well as the Ye Peng and Loy Krathong festivals in Thailand. She also offers a special discount to listeners of The Maverick Show to attend any of these festivals with Cloud Connections. And, finally, Ranika reflects on the impact all of this world travel has had on her as a person and what travel means to her today. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)