Living Life on Your Own Terms Through Global Exploration – Interview with Jeffrey A. Epps, MBA

The voice behind Outcast Vagabond is a self-made global traveler and heritage storyteller who has built a life around independence, cultural exploration, and unapologetic individuality. With over 15 years spent living as a cultural minority across places like Miami (USA), China, the Philippines, Mexico and Argentina, he uses travel as both a lens and a platform to explore identity, challenge perspectives, and inspire others to break free from societal expectations and create a life on their own terms.

Jeffrey A. Epps, MBA Digital Nomad, Marketer, Investor, Educator

Why is your travel brand called “Outcast Vagabond?”

It basically sums up what I am in two words, I’ve always been an outsider kind of person who loves to travel. So, it describes me in a very brief way. It’s also unique and it makes people curious to want to learn more. It works for me. I like it and other people like it.

What kind of travel do you focus on?

My niche is heritage travel. I’m a heritage traveler who likes to create travel media content that focuses on peoples’ ancestry, cultural traditions and ethnic identities. This all fascinates me. I believe that heritage is sacred and that it should be protected and preserved at all costs, and that forcing a person or people to disown their own heritage is sacrilegious. When I travel and visit places of historical significance, I like to immerse myself into local cultures, in an effort to understand why places are the way they are, why people are the way they are and how these places can be better understood by the world. I feel the best way to understand the present in any place, is to first understand its past. I like to discuss topics such as race, race-relations, gender issues, American politics, Americanophobia, geopolitics, Sino-American relations, Argentine-American relations, global affairs, social issues, controversies, conflict resolution, human rights issues and informational integrity. I have spent the last 15+ years as a White, English-speaking minority in places such as Miami (USA), Mexico, Philippines, China and Argentina, which have given me a very unique perspective on race, culture and my own identity as an American world-traveling digital nomad and expat. I believe that if people embrace each other’s differences, rather than ignore them, we can understand and appreciate each other’s differences in a much more honest way. 

What do you do, exactly? And what are your long-term goals?

These days I’m a full-time freelancer. I don’t work for anyone anymore, but rather I work with other people. I offer free travel consulting to people who follow me, and I provide paid marketing services for travel-related brands. For example, if I want to partner with a hotel I will visit with the hotel manager, or marketing manager, and I will try to work out a business relationship with them. I will offer my marketing services, show them my portfolio with what I’ve done for other properties, and in exchange I ask for perks, monetary compensation, room discounts or upgrades, discounts on food and beverages, free access to exclusive lounges, etc. This helps me both earn and save on accommodations when I travel. This is just one example of what I do to pitch my marketing services. I deal with a lot of people this way, sometimes I even collaborate with other travelers while I do it. I’m also an avid investor, I have been for years and I do still teach part-time online, sometimes. Not long ago I was able to monetize my YouTube channel and Facebook Pages, so now I’m earning income with these social media platforms. I also sell shirts and hats from time to time.

As far as long-term goals I’ll start with what’s going on right now. I finished my full-time teaching contract last August (2025) in Wuhan, China, then spent several months traveling around the world, and then I moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina in mid-January of this year to begin my 3-year path toward Argentine-American dual citizenship. I have an excellent immigration lawyer who is helping me out. Once I acquire Argentine citizenship then I can travel to places that aren’t so easy as an American, like Russia, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Cuba, etc. Having dual citizenship also comes with many other perks as well. It gives you bragging rights and notoriety in the travel industry and respect among other travelers and people you want to do business with. Not to mention, it makes investing and doing business in other countries much easier. I’ve been to 126 countries and I plan on traveling to all of them, or die trying. Argentina is the 5^th country that I have resided in. After I travel to every country in the world then I’ll focus on traveling to every territory in the world. Then I will focus on both exploring the best ocean dives sites worldwide and even entertain the concept of space travel, now that it’s more possible for ordinary people. I want to buy some land in Patagonia, eventually, and build a small ranch, mini-winery, bed and breakfast and operate local tours. This will take a lot of money, a lot of planning and a lot of work. But if I keep up with what I’m doing at the pace I’m doing it, it can very well become a reality. I want to pen several articles, books and create a million travel media projects. I want to become fluent in Mandarin and Spanish. I want to manage and host events and social get-togethers, to bring like-minded digital nomads and travelers together. I want to contribute to creating and maintaining world peace and cooperation, and this can be done with the help of travel media that counters mass media bias. I want to help make travel more affordable and more accessible for more people. I just want to give back to the world in my own ways. I’ve always made altruism a focal point in my life. These are my goals and this is my life. I love it. I want to inspire and teach others to have similar goals and to live a similar life.  

What mindset shifts help individuals break free from societal expectations and create a life that reflects their true values and purpose?

Individualism. This is what has worked for me. But it’s more or less a natural advantage for me. I’ve always been somewhat of a lone ranger, sticking to myself and being very selective with whom I mingle with. When you’re like this, you don’t really have peer pressure and you’re less inclined to be like other people. Therefore, one can be their true self without interruption and live a life that represents who they really are. I consider myself a late bloomer, but this is a great thing, because late bloomers tend see their best days ahead of them, rather than behind them like people who’ve had success earlier in their lives. Many late bloomers tend to be individualists. It takes us a bit longer to discover what we’re good at and what our true purpose in life is. My life didn’t get good until I was 38 years old, when I discovered my calling. And I just want to say that it doesn’t really matter what other people think of you, it only really matters what you think of yourself. If someone isn’t important to your life or isn’t someone you really like, then their opinions of you don’t really matter. This is part of the power of individualism. You have less distractions from other people and more inner peace. The more people you let into your life, the more problems you’re gong to have. Therefore, be very selective with who you let into your life, quality over quantity.   

How can feeling like an outsider or “outcast” become a powerful catalyst for personal growth, freedom, and authentic living?

Well, honestly, the less time, money and energy you spend with other people, the more time, money and energy you can spend on yourself. And let’s not forget the influences that other people can have on us that tend to direct our own lives. I’ve never really been family-oriented, nor had many friends and I used to feel bad about that. I’ve just always been a different kind of person, I do things my own way, at my own pace. People don’t like what they don’t understand. But as I got older, I realized that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time around. And as I got older, I realized that had I been popular and likeable as a younger person, my life wouldn’t have ended up the way it did. Being by myself, or being an “outcast” allowed me to be my own brand and not someone who tried so hard to fit in and be like other people. Also, as I mentioned, I’ve been able to invest more into myself and improve myself over time without the distractions of other people. So basically, what I thought was a permanent liability, ended up being a long-term asset. I turned lemons into lemonade. Now I get to live the life that I’ve crafted for myself, thanks to being an “outcast.” You just have to be your own best friend and love yourself first. 

What common fears hold people back from pursuing a life of exploration and self-discovery, and how can they overcome them?

Most people are group-oriented, and especially, family-oriented. Most people are also programmed to do not what they want to do, so much, but rather what other people encourage them to do. A lot of people want to be like other people in their families. Many people grow up with close-knit, supportive families in neighborhoods that they become familiar with and attached to. It’s no surprise that most people end up like their parents and they stay close to where they grew up. Who can blame anyone for this, especially if they have wonderful childhood memories and loving people who care about them. People with these circumstances want to stay around faces and places that make them feel like they belong to something special that remind them of the good ole days, and where they know they can call someone for help, have a listening ear or just a shoulder to cry on. People like this are less likely to venture out, take risks and do what they themselves want to do, without being so influenced by others.

I didn’t grow up with this kind of life; I had just the opposite. I grew up around people that I didn’t want to be anything like, in a place that I wasn’t comfortable in and witnessing situations that I never wanted to experience myself. These were major incentives for me personally to work hard, join the U.S. Army, go to college and get out.

I had to make certain choices in order for me to punch my ticket to a better life. These weren’t easy choices, but they were necessary choices. They were painful choices. But the long-term benefits that came with these choices far outweighed the short-term pain that came with them. I guess this could be an example of “no pain, no gain.”

And I’ve always been willing to do things that I feel most other people would not. Such as put myself in uncomfortable situations for long periods of time, knowing that the long-term benefits outweighed the short-term costs. An example of this would be teaching English in China, as an American for almost 10 years; a country widely considered to be America’s greatest adversary and having non-American foreign co-workers who come from countries who are at odds with the U.S. and Israel. You get a lot of animosity from people. Fortunately, I’ve developed a high tolerance for humility. This simply comes from developing a survival instinct, doing what’s necessary to survive and reach my goals. Since I’m not like most people with respect to being family-oriented and I don’t have a lot of friends, I’ve developed the habit of being self-sufficient and being creative with finding solutions to my problems. I know how to do without, I’m good with money (thanks to my business education), I almost never ask other people for help, and I take pride in all this. Over the years I’ve acquired skills that have been major assets to me as a world-traveling digital nomad and foreign expat.

So, when referring to “common fears,” they really only exist in “common people.” There is nothing common about me, my persona, my lifestyle, my past or my ambitions. 

How does travel and stepping outside familiar environments accelerate personal transformation and clarity about one’s path?

In my opinion, travel provides the best education for all people. Actually, I should call it a fact. When a person gets out of their comfort zone that they’re familiar with and enters into an unknown world, they will get mixed feelings. The “fear of the unknown” is always a factor and then there is the mass media that tends to brainwash and mislead people on what different people and places around the world are really like. But people can also become very happy and be inspired as well. They can have life-changing experiences. If you’re like me, and you come from a homogenous culture and grew up around people whom you share a lot of cultural characteristics and values with, then being in places and around people that you’re not familiar with can definitely give one culture shock. But honestly, aside from learning about the rest of the world, travel can teach people about themselves more than anything else. Because we can’t see ourselves like other people can, so that’s why having a diversified social network is essential so that people will give us different perspectives about ourselves. This can make us feel both good and bad. For example, I’ve learned that being American is both a blessing and a curse. The former versus the latter will really depend on where you are and who you’re around. Everyone has their own opinion about how they see you, based on what you look like, how you talk, where you’re from, etc. But getting a mix of perspectives not just about yourself, but about everything else in the world, can teach us all a great deal about life. When we realize that we don’t know as much as we think we do, it’s a real powerful awakening that changes who we are. A very humbling experience. It takes an open mind. Travel is the best form of education. Period.

This educational benefit that comes with traveling helps people discover what their purpose in life is. My choice to move to China to teach English in 2012 after I graduated with my 3^rd college degree was really based on a gut feeling. I just did it with limited research. I was still relatively young, I was single with no kids, I had never been outside the U.S. and I just needed a job. I had a friend who was doing it and that gave me more confidence. I had a mountain of student loan debt to pay off and I didn’t know enough Spanish at the time to land any kind of lucrative job in Miami. So, it just seemed like an opportunity with numerous benefits. But it was a decision that changed my life, forever and for the better. To be more specific, Wuhan changed my life, forever and for the better. China was my land of opportunity. Things got worse before they got better, but when they got better, they got much better. In late 2016 I had managed to pay off all my student loans after just 4 years in China. I was doing very well financially. I then took a Christmas trip to Jakarta, Indonesia to see a friend and by the time I left to fly back to China around New Year’s Day, I had discovered my calling at 38 years old. I knew that I was meant to become a world-traveling digital nomad. I created Outcast Vagabond in early 2017; I designed a logo, built my own website and Facebook Page, and the rest is history. Indonesia was my 5^th country traveled. Who would have thought that teaching English in China, with as much drama that came with it, would lead to the blessed and beautiful life that I have today?! This is why everyone should travel, because of what it does for us in ways that can’t be done for us by staying in one place most of our lives. Travel changes people; it changes our minds and our lives. 

What practical steps can someone take to reconnect with their inner compass and start making decisions aligned with their true identity?

Start traveling more. Don’t say “I don’t have the time” or “I don’t have the money.” If anything, you can take weekend getaway trips to destinations that are close to home and that don’t cost very much. In this day and age, many people work with their laptops and phones and can get work done in a mobile way. You should stow whatever excuses you have and get creative on how you can incorporate more travel into your life. You can bring your family with you on your weekend getaway trips, or even longer and more distant trips. No excuses. Just make it happen. People discover so much about themselves when they travel. They learn things they never would have by not traveling, they get to embark on new experiences, try new cuisines, meet new people and just discover a version of themselves that they never knew existed. It wasn’t until I started traveling that I was able to discover my true self, and I learned just how wrong people were about the rest of the world, and this included the people I grew up around, my educators and the mass media. Second-hand information is never a substitute for first-hand experiences. You have to challenge yourself to change yourself. Travel also makes people better because it makes them more tolerant to people who aren’t like them, and this is because travel enables understanding, it breaks stereotypes. Travel educates us, it gives us purpose and it makes us happy. But I feel that it’s the freedom factor that comes with travel that is priceless. Life is too short to stay in one spot, and the world is huge. If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet. Travel.

According to psychologist Dr. Rich Walker, people who engage in a diversity of experiences are more likely to feel positive emotions than negative ones. I can tell you from my experience as a traveler, that is absolutely true.

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