Where the Hell is... Matt?

This is a hub about a man named Matt. His sudden life changing decision and the journeys that have come from that decision. If you haven't heard of his story then take the time to read this and to explore his website. It's a heartwarming tale that gives one a sense of connection with the rest of the world and restores some faith in humanity.

Here is a brief description on his origins. You can find a more complete and amusing "about me" on his website. Matt is an average guy who had little to no aspirations working as a game designer. He decided in February 2003 to cash in his life savings and travel the world. During these travels it was brought up by a friend that Matt should do the dance that he is known for. It's quite a silly dance and it has become the staple that Matt is known for throughout the series of "Where the hell is Matt?"

The video below is the work of his travels through 2003 and 2004 which was completed and presented in 2005.

The video went immediately viral. It was so successful that the video caught the attention of Stride gum who proposed to Matt the idea of going back out on the road and dancing. He of coursed asked them if they would be paying. They said yes. Thus began his next journey around the world dancing joyously and merrily and well... badly. So in 2006, Matt took a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents. In that time, he danced a great deal.

Two more videos have been made since the original trip in 2005, he has been traveling constantly due to the generosity of Stride since then. I've come back every now and then to see what he's up to and even now he's on the road. Below is the video that was made possible by Stride.

Because of the overwhelming popularity that came from the video made in 2006 a lot of speculation and doubt arose. People just didn't believe that one man went to all of those places and danced his silly dance and made people dance and everyone had a great time. In response to the accusation of the videos being a hoax, Matt made a response claiming the previous two videos on his travels to be just that, a hoax! It's immensely sarcastic and the reaction of the crowd leads me to believe not everyone was aware of the joke. And because of that he made another video expressing the fact that it wasn't a hoax and his claiming it to be so was just a joke. You can find the videos on youtube or on his website, they're clever and obviously nothing has been staged regarding his travels but sometimes it just goes to show you the narrow-mindedness of people.

Whatever people like to think, the videos are charming and show the brief beauty of several places that I would jump at the chance to visit. Below is the most recent and last of his current travel videos. I'm not sure if he is working on another or if another will even be made but the ones that are available to be watched are amazing nonetheless.

I'd like to think that it's eventually possibly for me to just get up and go. Traveling has always been an immense interest of mine. For whatever reason anyone has it's the experience in the end that makes it all worth it. Full steam ahead with no regrets. This body may be young but I've gotten a few miles under my belt and I've been out of the country a couple times already. Most of my travels have been limited to the U.S. though and as I'm currently in a band that will be going on tour later this year (I hope) This will give me a great experience and hopefully eventually lead me to bigger and better things. The future is what we make it and Matt is the perfect example of that.