NAME: Matthew Kepnes
CLAIM TO FAME: Matt is a New York Times bestselling author and runs the award winning budget travel site, NomadicMatt.com. After a trip to Thailand in 2005, Matt decided to quit his job, finish his MBA and head off into the world. His original trip was supposed to last a year. Over ten years later, he is still out exploring and roaming the world. His debut book How To Travel The World on $50 A Day spent 4 consecutive months on The New York Times Bestseller List.
WHERE TO FIND HIM: On Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and on his website.

Let’s start with the basics: What time of day do you start writing? Is it easier for you to write early in the morning? Late at night?

I tend to write in the afternoon right after lunch. I like to handle the business stuff of my website in the morning and when that’s out of the way, I feel my mind is clear and I can sit down and focus on the writing without worrying about anything else.

Do you listen to music when you write, or do you prefer silence, or something else in the background?

I always have music on while I write. I put in my headphones and let iTunes do the work, though, sometimes, I will listen to one song on endless repeat. I like having some noise in the background. It helps me focus. By actively trying to tune everything out, I tune in to my writing.

What was the best money you ever spent as an author? What did you do with your first book advance?

The best money I ever spent was hiring Brass Check. They really helped me come up with a marketing plan for my book. The first time around I tried to do it all myself and that didn’t work out so well. The second time I spent my advance on hiring them to help me plan my launch and the book hit the New York Times bestseller list.

Living a nomadic lifestyle seems antithetical to the idea of having a writing routine, or any routine for that matter. Has that been a challenge you’ve had to solve for? How do you keep your writing routine (or aspects thereof) constant when your surroundings are constantly changing?

It’s really hard to write and travel. I don’t do a lot of great writing on the road unless I stay in one place for a long time. It’s easy to whip up some blog posts, but writing a book requires a lot more structure. Part of the reason I’ve slowed down my travels somewhat is because I need a lot more routine in my life so I can write better. I’m writing another book now and it’s been really hard to find time to do that on the road. After struggling with a balance for years, I can say that it’s virtually impossible to write and travel. To write a book, you need consistent time to write and when you are moving every other day and trying to sight see at the same time, you don’t have that time.

One of the things that most writers struggle with is ideas. Where do you get your ideas for your books and articles? Do you feel your travel has been a catalyst for generating ideas? A hindrance?

Ideas are not something I have trouble with. I don’t get writer’s block. I get time block. It’s hard for me to find the time to write when I am on the road. Ideas are easy for me because I am always traveling and thus have a consistent stream of new stories.

You’ve achieved something few authors can say: You’ve written a New York Times bestseller. For you personally, how do you measure your success as an author, or what does literary success for future projects look like to you?

Part of success for me was definitely having that vanity of saying, “I’m a New York Times best selling author.” That’s like “Fuck yeah, I made it!” On a deeper level, I want to write something that lasts. My first book, How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, is definitely something that had an impact on people and changed a lot of lives. It got people out there on the road. But it’s not a book that lasts. Prices, companies, tips, tricks—those all change and require the book to be updated all the time. I’m writing a memoir about my time as a backpacker and, for this, my yardstick is simply “Will people want to read this twenty years from now? Will this book be picked up and read like The Beach, A Year in Provence, or Vagabonding?” I want to create something timeless. That would be success.

You had a massively popular blog that you were able to parlay into a New York Times bestseller. You’re now working on your first memoir. Do you have different routines or habits for different formats? What was the biggest unexpected hurdle when moving to longer form writing?

Memoir is hard. My first book is a guide. It’s practical tips. Do this, do that, go here. It’s very straight forward. Writing a 300 page story requires a lot more work because you have to keep interest and emotional tension a lot longer than say in a 1,000 word blog post. You need interesting characters. You need a reason to turn the page. As I write and rewrite this over and over again, it’s been a real challenge. However, as someone who likes to write, I’ve found to be a growing experience. It’s taken me months to get to a place where I finally feel like I am moving in the right direction.

Everyone says that the first step to being a good writer is to read good writer’s’ writing. What do you read? How much do you read? Do you have a favorite author, perhaps someone you try to emulate?

If you want to be a good writer, you need to do three things: write a lot; get a better writer to give you feedback; and read constantly. The more you read, the more you realize what you like—and don’t like. The more you pick up the foundations of story. You see how classics keep tension and build characters. And you take that into your own work. I read a lot of travel writing to see how others have created timeless classics. I read a lot of fiction to see how others create character and dialogue. My personal favorites are Dickens, Hemingway, Bill Bryson, Peter Mayle, and Cheryl Strayed. I have countless authors I like. Those are just a few.

When you started your blog, NomadicMatt.com, did you have any designs on becoming a published (and then bestselling) author? When did your aspirations to be a writer begin? What are common traps aspiring authors should try to avoid?

No, not really. My original goal was just to make money online so I could fund my travels. It was that simple. I wanted to travel more and being a freelance “travel writer” seemed like the best way to make that happen. I though I could get work as a guidebook writer and just take from there. This all just happened without any real plan. That said, once I realized this blog had legs and was going somewhere, I put more focus into making it a business.

Do you consider writing to be easy? Would you say it comes to you naturally?

For me, writing is a real challenge. I always have the story what I want to write but getting it of my head and onto paper in a way that makes sense to the world is the challenge. The editing, the re-editing, the rewriting. That is a long and painful process for me.

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