I am a mid-twenties, Iowa boy, who caught the travel bug after finishing my degree at the University of Iowa. When the vast majority of my peers decided to commit themselves to a cubicle, working 8-5, five days a week in an office, I decided I would instead move to Europe. A number of things ultimately led me to make this decision, but one thing is for sure, I’ve never looked back.
Hi, I’m Matt – a guy from Iowa that somehow ended up living in Queenstown, New Zealand – one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’m the founder of New Zealand’s largest travel planning and booking website, Planit NZ. Here on Backpacking Matt, I share photos and stories of my adventures around New Zealand […]
Just about two weeks ago, a former coworker of mine from The University of Iowa Foundation and current student at The University of Iowa emailed me requesting my thoughts on traveling abroad post-graduation. She was putting together an article for a Features writing class she is currently enrolled in. Kathleen Olp’s finished article is brilliant, […]
10/11/2008 – 8:05PM Right, so I’m safely on the ferry and just now leaving the port in Bari. I’m notoriously late. Luckily, I wasn’t even running behind today. I was on the boat by 6:30. I was shocked to see the ferry leaving port at 7:50 – ten minutes before its scheduled departure. With my […]
31/10/2008 – 8:55 Right, so, I’m on a night train heading to Venice. The train left Budapest at 5pm and will arrive in Venice at 7am tomorrow. Its my first real experience with train travel in Eastern Europe – I’d be lying if I said its anywhere as close to glamorous as Western Europe train […]
Backpacking Matt 
