My name is Matt, and this is is my blog, Matting It Up.
From Days in Places to Matting It Up
I first created this blog in 2018 to write about my travels. I would share travel photos on Facebook and Instagram, but friends were always asking for more information on my itineraries. I put a lot of research into where to travel, what to see and do, where to sleep, where to eat, etc. I wanted to share this information to help others, and to create a digital memory book. I called the blog Days in Places.
When I figure something out that isn’t well documented on the internet, I’ll write about it in the How To section. From transit to-and-from airports, accessing remote locations, and finding the best photo vantage points.
I also created a section for food. While there are lots of ”best places to eat” articles on the internet, I wanted to feature some of the hidden gems we found. Usually, this means delicious and affordable food in places where this can be hard to find. Or a totally unique cuisine in an unexpected place.
Since I love to take photos, I usually stuff my blog posts with as many posts as possible. But sometimes that still isn’t enough, so I will sometimes publish a separate photo gallery.
Scuba diving
With scuba diving taking an increasingly larger role in our travels, I then created a separate scuba section. Many people are unaware that we have some amazing scuba diving here locally, in Canada. During COVID-19 when global travel was inaccessible, many of our local scuba diving sites were still available, so I explored this in more depth, and share some of my favourite sites and tips.
#vanlife
I’ve always found the van life culture fascinating. So when the world shut down in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed like the right time to join in. I purchased a brand new 2020 Ford Transit Connect and designed and built a simple-yet-elegant interior that would do double-duty as a basic camper van, while still being able to haul our scuba gear to local dive sites.
Matting It Up
Fast forward to March 2022. I quit my corporate job. My heart wasn’t there and I wasn’t happy.
I loved scuba, so in April 2022, I move to Utila, Honduras for a month to train as a scuba diving instructor.
The blog gets renamed to Matting It Up as I start sharing more from this phase of my life. The name is a play on living it up… my style.