Why Riding Feels Like Magic

Ron 0:10

We spend a lot of time on this show talking about the magic of riding a motorcycle. The freedom, the solitude, the rhythm of the open road. And it's one thing to be a motorcycle rider, but it's another thing to be someone who understands global adventure travel. That includes not only leaning into your curiosities, but also leaning into your fears. Yeah, facing the fears of the unknown, sometimes alone. Yeah, that takes travel to a whole new level. Today's guest embodies that truth in every sense of the word. Joining me is filmmaker, writer, and world traveler Matthew Robertson. As you're about to hear, for over 30 years, Matthew has had amazing outdoor experiences around the world. Yet when you listen to this conversation, you quickly realize that his wildest adventures haven't been across mountain ranges and deserts. A lot of those have been internal. They've been about gaining an appreciation of how amazing our natural world is, about the beauty of human connection, kindness, and the wonders of community. You see, he understands that whether you're breaking bread with a stranger in a mud hut in North Africa or pulling over to check on a stranded motorcycle rider, whatever really matters isn't necessarily about the machine. It's about the human connection and internally learning to be still. So my friends, pull up a chair, grab a hot cup of coffee, and lean in with me. Here's my conversation with my new friend in the UK, Matthew Robertson.

Meeting Matthew Robertson

Ron 2:35

Uh with both concerns and optimism. And I've certainly found that gentleman today. So, Matthew Robertson, thank you so much for joining the Peace Love Moto podcast.

Matthew Robertson 2:45

Oh man, thank you for having me. It's always actually a surprise when people ask me to these things because you always sort of think, really, me? But you know, I guess sometimes I forget. You know, I guess I've done some pretty wild things in my time, but thank you very much. It really is a joy to be here. And uh and you you seem like an absolutely wonderful human. So uh it's a privilege.

Ron 3:06

Well, same same to you, my friend. So how I found you was through Instagram. And so we can we can bash technology all day, and I do that a lot of the time. But I'm so glad I found you there because first I first I noticed the photography, then the then the associated videos, and then your bio of this adventurous life that you have led. But not only that, but your care for others, for nature, for mother nature, for motors, your passion for motorcycling, and all these boxes were just getting checked for me. And it's like, I really want to talk with this guy. So it's a pleasure meeting you today, most certainly.

Building A Life Around Adventure

Ron 3:49

So, Matthew, well, let's just start off with what do you do? Don't I don't think I know anymore, you know?

Matthew Robertson 4:00

You know, I get that asked a lot, you know. I think I've had sort of a quite a colourful career in the fact that adventure in the outdoors has just been in my DNA since a kid, you know, my dad dragging me dragging me up mountains and and all sorts of things like that. But uh, you know, at that part of your life, or as you grow older, you know, you get to sort of 18 and you just sort of think, well, it's not a job, right? In my day, it wasn't a job, the outdoors. Or if it was, it was quite obscure. So you sort of find yourself rolling into sort of a a normal job, if you like, you know, an office and things. And I I sort of played around in marketing and and did some stuff like that and was sort of, yeah, what am I doing? I don't know. And then moved on to, I ended up being an actor for a while and did some of that, and then sort of thought, uh, it's kind of fun, but it's not really a job, you know. And so, long story short, I sort of found myself in the Himalaya. I took a year out and traveled around the world and uh found myself in the Himalaya, and I just was looking over the combo ice four, and I remember this is before phones, as in mobile phones, and I was really alone up there. And I think I'm sure maybe you've experienced this, and I'm sure maybe some of your listeners have too, is that when you're you just have sometimes you get these moments, and generally it's in the outdoors, where you get this sense of euphoria and your whole body's just like, oh God, this feels so good. Wow, wow, wow, don't go, don't go. Oh, gone. And sometimes it's only like five or ten seconds, but it's just like and I thought, if I can bottle this feeling, I could build the most extraordinary adventure company. So I went back to the UK and and I started this company and ended up doing it for like 20 plus years. And we ended up looking after sort of all kinds of clientele from Gwyneth Paltrow to you know captains of industry. I don't even know how we ended up looking after these people, if I'm honest, but it it happened. And and really the only reason I started the company, I'll be honest with you, is it just allowed me to do what I love, which was travel. So I thought, how can I avoid getting a proper job, do what I love, and hopefully get paid for it. And then I think just because I had an amazing team and I was really passionate about the subject, I uh it we we had some really good success. And and so I loved that. And then as we got further down the line, the company was sort of taking a little slightly different turn, wasn't sure what I mean. This is a very long answer to your question, sorry. I wasn't sure that I was slightly falling out of love with it because it was becoming a bit, I was getting more and more stuck behind a desk managing people and numbers, and it was like, oh, it's not what I joined us for. And then COVID hit, and then obviously there was no travel, doesn't matter how much money you had or how much you wanted to do it, you weren't going anywhere. So I just thought, well, why don't I dial it right back? And I launched a production company, which, you know, we did a lot of filming during our trips, filming clients, etc. And then we know a lot of our guys are working in the film industry as well for safety and logistics, et cetera. And so we started doing that. So we started filming for brands that wanted to film in dramatic environments where other companies squeaked, that's kind of where we shined, like at the Arctic Circle, underwater, mountains, etc. And then sort of, so I still have that company, but I've dialed it back now. I do what I love and I own it, and it doesn't own me, thank God. So and I sort of am writing a book and I'm sort of working on a YouTube series at the moment, which I'm really excited

A New Film Series On Motion

Matthew Robertson 7:46

about. And the first protagonist that we're filming is a 75-year-old man that I found on YouTube who was sitting in his living room at 75. Or he started at 70. So at 70, he was sitting in his living room going, no, he'd been traveling a bit in his 70s, and he said he was just sitting in his living room one day watching the TV, and he just said, No, no, no, no, no, no. I want more than this. This isn't a life. And he went out and bought a motorcycle, and at 75, he's visited 45 countries solo. Oh man. And this guy, right? So I went to meet him to see if he'd be good on camera. So I go to London and and I I I hook up with this guy, and immediately he's got a smile like yours. Is this you just know, you know, when you know how good it feels? And and I just was like, oh, I kind of like this guy. Yeah, and immediately I sat down with him, and then the stories, and it was like, oh my god, dude, stop. I've got to this is this is gold. So, anyway, long story short, I've gone from the travel business production company, and now I'm sort of I love writing, so I'm sort of orientating myself into the creative and sort of the the whole premise behind the show is very much about, you know, my wanderings. I I don't think really I I like I don't refer to myself as an adventurer, more of a journeyman. You know, I know I want to get here, but I don't really care how I get there, so I'll take the long way round. Just like I said, you know, I was just telling you that I'd been away and just done 18 countries in my Defender, and and it was extraordinary. It sort of revives your faith in humanity as well, that people are good, don't believe the news. But anyway, so this guy is excuse my should have turned that off. This guy's gonna be the first guy, and we're going up to Scotland into this huge estate, a hundred thousand-acre estate, and we're just gonna disappear, stay in this tiny bothy, we're gonna talk stories and drink whiskey and and laugh and cry and just ride bikes, and it's just gonna be this wonderful little mini mini Charlie and you and McGregor, you know, long way around, I think. But it just a but this will this will be a snippet, and then I've got a few other people coming in as well for the next couple of shows. So it's it's really exciting, but I think what I love about it for me will be this sense of journeying and just how people have it's about momentum, how that they're always in motion. You know, these people are always searching for something new and self-discovery, whether that be on motorbikes or four by fours or you know, van life if you like, you know. And uh and I I just think you start to you you s you meet these people, you talk to these people, and it's the vibrance and the excitement in their voice and the joy you see in their eyes, it's just so infectious. And I so I kind of want to share these moments that I get, which are sort of reserved to my memory with others, because I think in the world that that's always on and a bit crazy, it's nice to find something authentic and genuine and kind of beautiful too.

Purpose Beyond The Motorcycle

Ron 11:12

Oh, most certainly. Oh man, there's there's so many little branches I want to go off of this conversation, but one I just I wrote down. So you mentioned like the the long way round, long way down series, long way up series, all of that with Charlie uh Charlie Borman and Ewan McGregor. So I think, at least to me, because I've watched them both several times, at least for me, they could have had a show, they could have had a documentary, whatever you want to call it, that was just about going from place to place, to place to place, taking pictures and and so forth. That would have been just fine. But what they did was to me that brought the beauty to the whole thing was their meaningful connections. UNICEF, for one, visiting these places that were taking care of children and watching these guys, watching Charlie and Ewan be uh really affected by what they saw and promoting UNICEF and while they were out there, it and then those multiple human connections that they made along the way, these conversations, that to me really brought the yeah, there there's there's adventure and then there's purpose. And it's funny, and then the reason I mentioned this, this is a whole nother path too, is I interviewed on this podcast, I've interviewed him a couple of times, a guy who is the CEO of one of the biggest, the biggest touring company in the world for motorcycling and biggest rental. And that's one of the things that we either talked on the air or off the air about was he said it's relatively easy for us as a company to provide adventure to folks. Come along, you rent a bike, we'll take you to the edge of the Grand Canyon, hang your legs off the Grand Canyon with Harley behind you and the course beer in your hand, we'll take a picture. And we check the box of adventure. Done. It's another thing, though, to have that person somehow through that journey realize that I'm here on earth for a reason. And I'm here because there are, just like you said, there are wonderful, beautiful, amazing people all around the world. You just have to say hello and have this conversation. Share, share a cup of tea or a coffee or a meal. And next thing you find out, wow, this is a beautiful world. I don't know where I was going with that, but this is this is what you've got me thinking about.

Matthew Robertson 13:39

But you are a thousand percent right. I think it's all about the connection. And I think, you know, when I looked at doing this show that I'm writing at the moment, the Charlie and Newan thing, because I looked at that as almost a case study. And really, you could almost take the motorbikes out of it. It was so much more, and no offense about motorbikes, I love them, but it was very much about the connection they had. You saw that they were suffering, you saw that they were happy, you saw them laughing, you saw them thinking, oh my God, where are we? And then they'd meet these locals, and then they'd meet somebody random that would let them stay in their house. It's all about these moments. It's all about that connection with the natural world and humanity. You know, my journeys that I've taken all over the world for the last 30 years, you know, I would say it's culture that makes them beautiful because there's a there's a some, you know, thousands of beautiful countries, right? But imagine if you went to a beautiful country and everybody there was horrible. The food was horrible, the people were horrible, the c government was corrupt, etc. You'd be just like, do you know what? Nice place, but just get me out of here. I wouldn't bother going back. But when you meet people and they just smile and welcome you into their home, even when it's bad, you know, it's still pretty good. And so it's very much about that human connection, overcoming adversity, the beauty of the natural world, the hardship of it sometimes. But also, you know, you have those moments of just ecstasy, which is, you know, I believe a flow state where nothing else matters. You know, you're in it and you're just like, and you can heal it, hear it in Charlie and Ewan's voice when they're talking on the mics and stuff. That you know, I think that's why that show was so infectious, is that you listen to it and you think, oh my god, they're living the dream. Wow. And you just think, yeah, they truly are. And what I admired Ewan about about really with this as well was very much that you know, he doesn't have to travel that way, but he did. And he didn't mind roughing it a bit, and you know, and actually it made the whole experience better. So it's all about the human connection, very much so with what we're doing as well, because it took me a while to sort of simmer down what is you know that that nucleus, that goodness, the essence of what makes that show work. And I thought, well, it's not really the country, it's not necessarily the motorbike, it's about these two individuals having a connection in the natural world, and then just let everything else just happen organically, and it just kind of does.

Ron 16:26

Yeah, it it was genuinely real. Uh I loved watching it. It wasn't staged, just like you said, they went through hardships, hardships. I remember in one of the episodes of can't remember which show it was, but you and Charlie both were talking about how their necks hurt because they've been dealing with crosswinds all day. Having to hold that helmet and walking around like this with me. You know, it's just just the pain, the the physical pain of that. But then again, you know, then they come out of a visit with the an orphanage or UNICEF place and just think, oh my god, look at this. These poor children where they could be, but where they are, and they have people caring for them. If we could just do that more and more for others,

Loss Recovery And Choosing To Stay

Ron 17:17

man. Well, so which takes me in this direction, Matthew. I've asked any number of people this question, those who have a care for others. I I asked this question of the the founder of the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, if you're familiar with the DGR, Mark Hawa. I I asked Mark, where did this come from? Where did this uh desire to help others the desire for adventure in your case too, but uh this this this humanity, where did it come from? Did did is it is a family influence?

Matthew Robertson 17:54

I think my experience to my days is that adversity builds character. You may not like it when you're in it, but I think when you get over the hump, but I hate this thing, this whole midlife crisis thing. It's not a midlife crisis, it's a midlife awakening. You start to care about the things that matter, right? Family, kindness, you know, time. These things are so important. And I think a lot of people wake up in their 50s and just go, hang on, is is this it? Is this all I'm gonna do till I'm 70? Am I gonna work? And then with all my pension and everything, sit in a pair of slippers and then give it away again when I die? I mean, no. So back to your question, where does it come from from me? I have a big family and they're they're beautiful and kind, but I went through a really tricky divorce when my kids sort of went in a slightly different direction, which really broke me, broke my heart because I came from a big family and suddenly I didn't see my kids. And and it and I think there's a lot of men out there that probably have had a similar experience, and it, you know, it just hurt so much. And right in the middle of that, I was on a big expedition where two people didn't make it. So I was involved in a recovery there, which was right in the middle of my divorce. And uh so and then I came back to an empty house. And it sort of it took me literally to the edge where I again don't talk about this very often, but you know, I was I I went to take my life. And I believe I have to be careful here because I get a bit joked, but I believe, you know, when I was going to do this thing that my late father just said, not yet, not yet. And it was so it felt so real that I just sort of breathed and I thought, my god, my kids, I've got I I I life is so precious. All these sort of moments were flashing before me, and I just sort of walked back up to the house and I just sat down and I thought I gotta I gotta I gotta get through this. I I don't I don't know how. Because I where I live in the UK, my actually, ironically, my family all live in America. They're English, but they all live in America in Virginia. So I didn't have family here, and I didn't have a and I so I don't have a big friendship group, so all of this was internal. So, you know, I got into meditation, which really was absolutely amazing for me. And I don't know really how I did it, but I managed to get over the hump. I still meditate, I still have bad days, but I have more good than bad, and and I'm I I'm so incredibly grateful to still be here and that I now see more of my kids. And you know, I think life is incredibly special. So where does my how did I get into this? Is that I just thought it, you know, it's the biggest killer. I think in Europe now of a suicide is the biggest killer of men over 50 now or under 50, one or the other, I can't remember. But and to me, when I started to look into that, when I was sort of searching for myself, God, what why is my head so screwed? And I was reading these statistics, and I thought, why is nobody talking about this? You know, because there's no money to be made in it, right? And I thought, well, I gotta help. I have to help. I don't know how I'm gonna help, but I'm I've got to try and help. So I launched a podcast that was all about talking to suicidal suicide experts, like professors, physiologists, um, all kinds of athletes, and you know, they've all had their battles and they all have their reasonings. And it to me, it was just it was fascinating. It was such an incredible learning. But my only motivation was never to make money doing it, I just wanted to help. And um, and I sort of I thought if I got one letter from somebody or one message from somebody saying, you know, it took me somewhere else, then I'd I'd be a very, very, very happy man. And that happened a few times, um, which made my heart sing because I think giving is so much more powerful than receiving.

Reflections And Part Two Tease

Ron 22:40

Just as Matthew mentioned about his heart singing when hearing interaction from someone else. I felt the same way during this conversation. I was just so, so very inspired. And we will continue with this interview next week. For now, we'll take a pause and let's just consider what we've heard. And as always, I thank you so much for listening to the podcast and for people just like Matthew who make creating this podcast and delivering it to you just so enjoyable and so worthwhile. So stay tuned next week for the second half and the conclusion of my interview with Matthew Robertson. Take care.