Content creator and traveler Drew Binsky has been on his fair share of crazy adventures and he’s learned valuable lessons along the way, with the goal “to have life’s greatest experiences.” In this week’s episode of the Mind Set Win podcast, Binsky chats to host Lisa Ramuschkat about his favorite stories having visited every country in the world.
Mind Set Win is the podcast that unlocks the winning mental tactics of high performers and elite sports professionals, and shows how we can apply the same strategies to our daily lives. Every Tuesday, Ramuschkat hosts an in-depth conversation with a new guest, with a focus on the role mental strength has played in their journey. Then on Thursdays, she’s joined by York-Peter Klöppel, Head of Mental Performance at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre, for a breakdown of the interview, with Klöppel bringing expert insight and clear takeaways for us all to follow.
Drew Binsky has been sharing his journeys, the people he meets and the cultures he immerses himself in on social media since 2017. According to him, the key to this is spontaneity, or “just go”, which is something Binsky incorporates into his online presence, is to encourage people to explore the world or even their already familiar surroundings. He’s met the tallest man in the world, been on the world’s longest and heaviest cargo train for 20 hours and attempted to debunk a man who claims he hasn’t slept since the Vietnam War.
“Every place that I went to, when I look back on all those trips in my earlier days, I love them. There was never a moment or time that I said, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t have gone here or I shouldve done something else’.”
Originally from Texas, Binsky moved to Seoul, South Korea, to become an English teacher and explore Asia, which inspired him to start a blog dedicated to travelling. That later evolved into creating videos. His spontaneous approach to travelling has brought him to many different countries and left him with fascinating anecdotes about every journey he took.
For instance, while on a trip in rural Southern Vietnam, Binsky sought out a man who claims to not have slept in 62 years. “I heard about him and then I basically went on a mission to track him down and see what his deal is,” he explains. After spending two-and-a-half days with the man, Binsky can neither confirm or deny that the claim is true, but he had not seen him sleep during their time together. The Vietnamese local is reportedly very happy not sleeping, living a very active lifestyle and taking care of his various houses and animals.
Binsky rides high on the world’s longest, heaviest train
© Drew Binsky/Red Bull Content Pool
What did he learn along the way?
But it’s not just the physical act of always being on the go and restlessness that brings a certain difficulty to travelling like Binsky. Creating videos takes up a large part of the challenge he was confronted with in the early days of his travel content career. In retrospect, he knows exactly what made those days difficult and has changed aspects of mindset to ultimately improve and help him overcome the challenge. “If you want to make impactful stories it’s a lot of time, stress, team-building and energy. You can do it yourself and I did so for about four years, but those were my burnout years, it was too much to handle,” he opens up to Ramuschkat.
Do you want to hear more of Binsky’s adventures from countries around the world, like when he went on the world’s most dangerous and heaviest cargo train journey in Mauritania? Listen to the Mind Set Win Episode in the player above.
Then, tune in on Thursday to hear sports psychologist York-Peter Klöppel share his thoughts on Binsky and his adventures.