Today’s episode is a true adventure, because we are interviewing a true adventurer. We’ve had Louis Coles from the infamous YouTube Vlog ‘Fun For Louis’, around for Dinner. Having visited 85+ countries, Louis is a true free spirit and he holds saint like wisdom, gained from his inspiring round the world adventures. And today he’s going so share his incredible journey with us.

Growing up in Surrey, UK, his teacher parents allowed him to imagine. They gave him the gift of creativity and fostered the idea of being and thinking different. You only have to see this picture of his teenage bedroom to notice the extent of his parents believing in the power of imagination and play.

I think imagination is on the decline for kids today, all the technology we have available to us steals it away. Feeding my imagination when I was growing up allowed me to think differently and outside the box as an adult - Louis [7:29]

Never a fan of prepackaged holiday resorts, the Coles family would drive to the South of France for vacation allowing Louis to soak up culture from an early age. He was inspired by a month long trip they spent in Indonesia and Malaysia, knowing from that moment, travel would become a big part of his life.

Briefly working an office job between his college gap year, he got insight into the adult life he knew he didn’t want. Seeing his aged 50+ colleagues trapped in their 9-5 for years on end and also recalling his childhood lessons to always think different, Louis knew the office life wasn’t for him. He had a calling for something much bigger.

The more travelled I became, the broader my perspective of the world, religion, purpose and culture became. Travel is literally the antidote to ignorance - Louis [20:50]

So he bought a mini bus and set about travelling and documenting his life. Along the way helping helping the youths of london to get off the streets with community project work. During YouTubes infancy Louis experimented with different ways to use the platform. After a few bizarre ideas like eating live spiders and frogs on camera, he settled on documenting his adventures and now as veteran of the Vlogging world, he has 2 million subscribers.

Today we chat about:

• The true meaning of purpose and finding it through spirituality
• Religion without the dogma and the rules
• Why you should always be trying to be a good human being
• The campaign for love and social justice
• Adopting homeless people and giving a struggling person their life back
• Travel kills ignorance - the best travel motto for life
• Driving 9000 miles around the USA and driving from London to Beijing
• The anxious trap of having to blog everyday and the importance of slowing down a little.
• Your end path will inevitably go through a few route changes

Hope you enjoyed this week’s episode with Louis, you can find out more about him here:

funforlouismap.com

Twitter

YouTube

Produced by Jason Sanderson - Podcast Tech