The Fearless Road

11. PART 1 - Conquering Oceans and Fears: A Voyage with Karlis Bardelis

• Michael D Devous Jr • Season 2 • Episode 11

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Season 2        Episode 01       Part 1
"Conquering Oceans and Fears: A Voyage with Karlis Bardelis"

Embark on an adventure with Karlis Bardelis, a fearless world traveler, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker. In part 1 of this gripping three-part episode, join host Michael Devous as he introduces Karlis and delves into the beginnings of his extraordinary journey. Known for his daring exploits, including rowboating across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, Bardelis shares his remarkable journey of overcoming fear, pushing boundaries, and embracing challenges. This episode promises to inspire listeners with unique insights on fearlessness, resilience, and the power of the human spirit. From rowing solo across oceans to roller skating across Europe, Karlis shares his awe-inspiring tales of courage, resilience, and pushing personal limits. Discover the power of fearlessness and entrepreneurship as Karlis reflects on overcoming obstacles, facing adversity, and embracing the mindset needed to conquer the unknown. Tune in and prepare to be captivated by Karlis's fearless spirit and the thrilling start to his remarkable adventure. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 as the saga continues on the Fearless Road podcast.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Karlis Bardelis embodies fearlessness through his daring adventures, including rowing solo across oceans and roller skating across Europe.
  2. Overcoming obstacles and embracing a fearless mindset are essential for achieving extraordinary feats.
  3. Surrounding oneself with inspiration and curiosity can fuel the desire to push personal limits and embark on epic adventures.

Quotes:

  1. "Most of us, when we're in the entrepreneurial journey, the risks we take aren't going to cost us our lives."
  2. "Our failures are nothing compared to one failure in the middle of the ocean in a small rowboat."
  3. "There is something in each one of us that resonates with something outside that we haven't yet tapped into."

Lessons:

  1. Embrace fear as fuel for pushing personal limits and achieving remarkable goals.
  2. Surround yourself with inspiration and curiosity to maintain a fearless mindset.
  3. Stories of human achievement and resilience can inspire and motivate others to pursue their own adventures.


Speaker 1:

Hey there, everybody, and welcome to the Fearless.

Speaker 2:

Road podcast, where we explore entrepreneurial insights, stories and advice on embracing fear, breaking boundaries and achieving goals on the road to success. I'm your host, michael DeVue, and after years of overcoming obstacles and tragedy, I began to wonder how does someone become fearless? Well, that's exactly what we're going to find out. In every episode. We dive into the lives of individuals who've learned to turn fear into fuel, face some incredible challenges and cultivate a fearless mindset while navigating their fearless road. So join me for in-depth interviews with some amazing people where we investigate more deeply the valleys on their road to success because the valleys are where character is built, foundations are laid and where the fearless are born.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Fearless Road Podcast.

Speaker 2:

Hey everybody and welcome back to the Fearless Road Podcast. Season two gets off this month and gets off its ass is what I mean. We've been on a huge break. I wanted to call it a hiatus, but then I thought hiatus from my understanding, I thought it was a shorter term and so, like we went into the fall, we went into December for the holidays and I had actually planned on releasing season two and coming out with season two in January, and then I decided I needed to push it back a little bit and reconsider the the, the format of our shows, how we were doing them.

Speaker 2:

They're really long episodes, by the way, um, which I enjoy because they're very in-depth conversations and stuff, but I wanted to look at a way to edit them down and put them into more bite-sized pieces and I just couldn't quite get there. I really enjoyed, or enjoy, the long, lengthy, in-depth conversations. I think there's an audience for that. I know it might be smaller and it doesn't appeal to the quick bite. You know quick fix people out there. So what I did was I decided instead keep the long version but also add a new show, by the way, surprise, called Fearless Thinking, and that is going to be like 10 to 12 minute bite-sized pieces, little chunks, little pieces, easily digestible format. Then the long, slightly winded version of the Fearless Road podcast, which is usually about an hour and 15 to an hour and a half of really in-depth conversations. And that plan was derailed by an entire month of getting sick in February. Weirdly enough it wasn't COVID, but whatever it was, it was a doozy and I was out for an entire month. And then I had to push back a lot of other businesses, things in the pipeline, projects that were lined up, clients and things all had to get pushed back in order to make space for the fact that I was out for an entire month. And here we are Now. It is coming up on April 1st. I'm getting ready to release this bad boy for episode one into season two of the Fearless Road podcast. And you know what I'm so excited? Because episode one I've been sitting on this episode for a long time.

Speaker 2:

It's with Carlos Bartolis. He is from Europe. He's from, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, the Netherlands, latvia. Anyway, I may have that wrong, but anyway he is this incredibly ambitious, incredibly brave and fearless world traveler who is also an entrepreneur and motivational speaker. One of the things. One of the things that he does. I love it. One of the things he literally row boats like rows in a boat around the world. He has rowed, by himself in a boat, across the Atlantic, across the Pacific, across the Indian Ocean.

Speaker 2:

I mean, my God, when you think about the feats of bravery and adventure that this man has to take on, or does take on, when he's out there in the middle of the ocean alone by himself, and it's just him and his mind and his wits about him having to problem solve. It's fascinating when you hear him talk about what you have to reduce everything down to in order to get to the solution, and sometimes what's magical about that is your mind will really come up with ways to save your ass in some of these situations, because that's kind of what it comes down to, right Most of us, when we're in the entrepreneurial journey. The risks we take aren't going to cost us our lives, and I love that this puts these things into perspective for us, because what we do, while it might change lives and impact some lives, it's never going to kill anybody, least of all us, especially if we fail right. Our failures are nothing compared to one failure in the middle of the ocean in a small rowboat, and what that could cost you, you know, and what this show costs you Nothing but your time and your attention, which I appreciate, and I want to tell you that I do. I really appreciate your time and attention. That's very valuable to me.

Speaker 2:

I'm very aware of the fact that most of us are getting used and abused by the social media power giants out there that just want more of our eyeballs, our precious and valuable time, attention and our talents, and they're sucking they're sucking the passion out of us and they don't deserve it. You deserve a better place. You deserve a better opportunity. I'm actually building that place. It's a community called the Ascend Hub coming this summer, and it's for entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, leaders, executives and mentors, anybody on that road, on that path that is trying to come together not only to collaborate and share their wisdom and their strengths with one another, but share in the collaborative educational journey of both resources education courses, coaching, mentorship, workshops, live webinars, you name it. We're going to have it in there and it's going to be all in one place, kind of like ragu. You know it's in there, so more on that will come later.

Speaker 2:

Get a chance. Make sure you like and subscribe Not only this series with the Fearless Road podcast, but also the new one, fearless Thinking, with yours truly, my short and more bite-sized, digestible, easily digestible series called Fearless Thinking, launching on April 1st on all your favorite platforms. So, without further ado which I say all the time and I still don't know what it means let's get straight to season two, episode one with carlos bartalus stay fearless, okay, you ready yeah, good to go um, awesome, okay, um.

Speaker 2:

Ladies and gentlemen, a welcome to the fearless road podcast episode.

Speaker 2:

I don't even know which episode this is going to be, because I haven't decided when I'm going to showcase this episode, although I will tell you that today I'm exceedingly excited about my guest on the program for a number of reasons, least of which is the six Guinness World Records and the fact that this individual has navigated, circumnavigated the entire globe by boat, rowing by himself on the oceans.

Speaker 2:

Some of the things that you run into with fear in this world, as an entrepreneur, a business person or what have you, that make you reticent, that cause you to rethink your strategies and your patterns, that make you wonder whether or not you're going to be successful, are probably nothing compared to the fear that you would face in the middle of the ocean alone. And if it's not a testament to a person's strength and fortitude and constitution, it is a testament to the human endeavor and what we can accomplish when we put our minds to it and when we really make magic happen. And today my guest is Carlos Bartalus, a world-renowned personal rower Olympic I wouldn't say Olympic because you haven't competed in the Olympics yet, but you did go to the Olympics and we will get into that in a little bit. But Carlos Bartles is with us, he's not in a boat, he is in studio, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

He is going to be sharing with us. Yes, he's going to be sharing with us some incredible stories and sharing with us his fearless journey. So, everybody, please welcome to the Fearless Road Podcast, carlos Bartolos.

Speaker 3:

Hello, welcome on board Michael and everyone who is listening. This is Captain Carlos, speaking here from a very couch, first from today, but it's been it's been some time in the ocean and it's been some time across three, three oceans. I unfortunately I have to correct you a little bit because I still I'm a circumnavigator in the process. I still have to cross Africa on my bicycle, but well, it's only 5,000 kilometers.

Speaker 2:

I guess I'm going to have to bring you back on the show once you're finished so that we can talk about when you're done and I can make the official announcement about it. When you're done and I can make the official announcement about it, I'm glad to be here, thanks.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you. Thank you for joining us. I love how we connected via the Speaker Lab. I love that you're bringing your message to the world and taking it beyond the ocean and beyond your own personal experience in the waters and how dealing with and facing your own personal fears and shortcomings, your own limits, and pushing those to the extreme can help a person think outside the box, approach problem solving from a different perspective and address their own personal challenges and hurdles a little bit differently. And I think that's an incredible message to be sharing with the world. Before we get into, sort of like, all of those different things, share with us a little bit of your background, if you will, for the audience who doesn't know you and doesn't know your experience, how you got to where you are. As you say, connect the dots for us on your professional and your personal journey and how you took this on.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, all right, let's start. Let's start in just all. This Board of Borders story started 10 years ago and that's been an incredible journey. Well, under the name of Board of Borders, I do many type of human endeavors I would say adventures but before that, I was working as an environmental engineer in a company, in a recycling company, which is actually my education and my background bachelor in economics and master degree in environmental management. So, yeah, that was what I was doing before and before all these big adventures.

Speaker 3:

And you know, I had a hobby I loved to climb mountains on my vacations, and one week or one maximum one month in a year, I could get a vacation. And after some of those holidays, I was thinking that how I could prolong this time that I'm spending in adventure, because that's where Europe myself I'm from, north Eastern Europe, from Latvia. It's a quite small country, but we have some climbers even here and some rowers and some people who dare to go on the big journeys and adventures. So that's my background. I was actually a guy from the office, basically, and in 2015, I just Googled how to row an ocean. So that's how you start.

Speaker 2:

That's how you start basically, that's how you start, ladies and gentlemen, that rabbit hole that most of us go down when we Google. Carlos took that seriously. He took that rabbit hole. Just so you're aware, those of you who can't see us, you're just listening to the podcast. Carlos is wearing a black turtleneck and I am wearing a black turtleneck. We did not plan this. It happens to be cold here, where I met in the mountains of new mexico. It's also freezing cold where carlos is in latvia, which you said, I think it's one degree celsius there's one degree celsius now outside.

Speaker 3:

So yeah, so pretty.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we're both in turtlenecks and we we look like the guys from Saturday Night Live we're going to do a modern dance routine here shortly. So, after you Googled, I just can't believe it. I love that you did this.

Speaker 1:

How old?

Speaker 2:

were, you, were you 24?

Speaker 3:

No, now I'm 38.

Speaker 2:

So all these adventures, but when you Googled, what were you?

Speaker 3:

When I Googled, I was 30. Yeah, that was eight years ago.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, oh my God so basically, I'm not a rower, nor athlete, nor sailor.

Speaker 2:

You're a Googler, I'm a Googler. That was the limit of your skill set.

Speaker 3:

Just yeah, yeah because be aware what you Google because it might take you somewhere.

Speaker 1:

Be aware.

Speaker 3:

My gosh.

Speaker 2:

For some reason after you, when you and I spoke the last time and we were talking about this in my head I had you were like 24 when you did this and started and I was like, wow, he was young, he's been doing this for years. But the fact that you were 30 and you took this on at 30, you already had some life experience under your belt, you already had some risk assessment about things you could or could not do in your life and yet you still googled how to do this and went yeah, I'm gonna do that at 30.

Speaker 2:

I'm gonna try. Yeah, you know what actually?

Speaker 3:

that's a good point that you're asking about this, because, uh, there was so many ups obstacles in my mind that was like in the way, um, before I went on this journey, at the age of actually 28, when I started Board of Borders, there was some other adventures, also human-powered, like roller skated across Europe, cycled from Latvia to Sochi Olympic Games, then pulled my sled yeah, so wait, wait, you rollerbladed across Europe.

Speaker 2:

Is that what, yeah, from you? Just want to make sure we all heard you correctly, yeah, so.

Speaker 1:

I.

Speaker 2:

I might rollerblade oh I don't know down the street, but not across an entire country or six.

Speaker 3:

Actually, I think it was nine. Well, in Europe you know, there are small countries, but still it was 6,300 kilometers from north to south of Europe and it took me two months. Yeah, it was an amazing journey and that's how this borders journey started. But before I stepped into this uh unknown there, there were some obstacles. There were some like uh, things that I was afraid of, like how I'm going to survive, like how I'm going to support myself financially where I'm going to live, and all these things.

Speaker 2:

Like everyone, has, Because you don't get paid to roller skate across Europe. Right, there's not a. Nobody was hiring for that, no that vacancy was already taken. There's no insurance program? There's no.

Speaker 2:

No absolutely so before we get further, ladies and gentlemen, so you're listening to the Fearless Road podcast. It's Michael DeVue, your host, and Carlos Barteles, my special guest, from Latvia, europe. If we have sound issues or anything like that, we apologize, but we are dealing with whatever tech we're dealing with and the networks and stuff. I am currently dealing with a small little heater in this cabin in the woods here because I don't have heating. So if you hear the heater, then you know I'm just trying to keep warm. And so let's get back to Carlos talking about roller skating across Europe as one of his first challenges. That did not deter him, that did not sway him. He continued to google bigger, bigger challenges.

Speaker 3:

Uh, carlos, take it away yes, because when you are hooked on this, on this amazing journey like of uh moving, uh across europe, across continents, you, you cannot, you don't want to lose this amazing feeling of moving all the time, uh, being in adventure, it was just what I loved. It was just what I loved 100%. And after first adventure, when I came back, I was just curious what would be the next adventure. And well, I already knew it that I had some friends weird friends, to say the least, I mean who wanted to, who wanted to cycle to Sochi Olympic Games in the winter time. So we face temperatures minus 20 or minus 24 Celsius, so I don't know what's that in Fahrenheit, but it's like 20 degrees below the freezing. So I was just hooked on this adventure thing. So I was just hooked on this adventure thing.

Speaker 2:

And so when you got bit by the bug, as they say, you were seriously bit by the bug. Were you enjoying riding in that cold? I mean, how did you stay warm in those temperatures? I would imagine, for those of us who, if anyone out there, has done any kind of like winter sports, downhill skiing, things like that, if anyone out there, has done any kind of like winter sports, downhill skiing, things like that.

Speaker 2:

You know, when you wear the gear, you work up a temperature, you work up a heat in your body and you can sweat inside the clothing. How did you stay dry, how did you stay warm without overheating and how did you maintain your temperature core temperature and stuff while bicycling and roller skating in that freezing cold?

Speaker 3:

so uh, so roller skating, uh.

Speaker 3:

Just to underline that, roller skating I did in the summer, so it was fine there were, yeah, there was, uh, uh five much easier than on ice and snow absolutely well, I would say it's close to impossible, yeah, but I had five friends with me and so, yeah, they just drove down the camper van and we went together on that journey, all together, and they were preparing meals, they were making sure that we have a place to stay. So I was good on that. And also on this second journey, uh, to Olympic games in Sochi. Uh, in freezing cold, we had, uh, we had the friends who joined us, who were finding the safe place for us to stay for the night.

Speaker 3:

So, regarding to dry our clothes, all was set, all was done, but how we kept ourselves warm, well, we had some tricks. Let's say, there is a specific like a cream gel that you use to warm up. Let's say, if you have a soaring knee and then you need just like a small tip of this cream gel that you put on the knee and in that, in the, in that gel, there is uh, uh, red peppers, so they they uh, was it uh capsaicin yeah?

Speaker 3:

yeah, that's the same we have the same here in europe.

Speaker 2:

So and you?

Speaker 3:

know that you have to put just a small drop of that gel. So what we were doing, we used that gel like a sunscreen with like thick layer of that capsicum we were using like a sunscreen. We put like a like uh, in the thick layer all over our bodies, and then we put our clothes on and we were sitting inside like in a hotel or thecled about 100 miles, like 170 kilometers a day on average. So yeah, a little bit more than 100 miles.

Speaker 2:

Did you train up to that? Did you train to get up to that amount, or did you just start and push yourself to see how far you could go? Or did you just start and push yourself to see how far you could go?

Speaker 3:

Well, it would be unfair if I would say that, oh, I just jumped on the bicycle and went minus 25 degrees Celsius and 170 kilometers a day. Well, I definitely did some training, but I wouldn't call myself an athlete Nothing close to that. But I already had under my belt that two months journey across the Europe with the roller skates, and basically all my life I have been like, let's say, active. When I was a kid, I played basketball in school and then I learned how to ski and snowboard and then climbing, ice climbing, rock climbing. So I've been active all my life, but never close to being any like athlete level or anything like that. So, but yeah, when you just switch on this, it's a mindset like you switch on, uh, the, the mindset that, okay, I will do this 170 kilometers, uh, I will just resist the the this cold weather, and yeah, so I I don't know whether I have some, uh, let's say, formula to for that, but it's a choice. Actually, it's a lot of choosing your attitude. It sounds like it's a mindset.

Speaker 2:

I mean, you have to set your mind to it. And you chose to put your mind to it and establish a mindset that said I'm going to do this. My body and I'm going to take on this challenge, I'm going to do it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, michael, going to do this, my body and my I'm going to, I'm going to take on this challenge, I'm going to do it. Yeah, michael, you know I could agree. It's very similar to the to like technique, what we? That's technique, the way we dress in the winter here in europe. We just have one layer, then we on another layer, another layer, so we have maybe three, four layers and it's fine, you know, and if you don't have those layers, you will be freezing to your death and what?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so therefore, I would say that definitely I was adding some layers to my mindset, to my brain, while I was going through some challenges before that across Europe with the roller skates climbing in Alps in Norway, there was. There was an accident in Norway where we, where I, fell down from the freezing waterfall like eight meters and and I broke my, broke my leg and a lot of things. A lot of things happened first time when I was as a climbing student uh, in caucasus, in in russia, between russia and georgia. Uh, first time when we were there, we had to rescue our instructor because he was struck by the lightning. I mean not directly, but the lightning struck into the mountain Like we were on the edge of the mountain.

Speaker 3:

I mean all these things. They sound like, oh come on, this guy is just telling some fairy tales, but really that's a true story.

Speaker 2:

I mean it's loud and it's powerful that you guys, even though you were near him, you would have been, you would have felt the power of that lightning and the and the, the, the lightning clap as they say, that incredible sound, yeah uh, we, we were in the group of like 12 people and our instructor was on the back of the pack, so we, we already moved.

Speaker 3:

Uh, I was in the front of the group, so afterwards we had to come back and rescue our instructor because, yeah, he, he was injured, so we had to transport him down to the to the snow level, and then there were some guys who came to to carry him to the closest hospital. I mean, that's in caucasus, there, there isn't like, oh, in five minutes you have the helicopter, uh to to rescue you.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's uh no it's very remote, right, yeah, that region was quite remote and yeah. So all these adventures, all these expeditions, they added some layer, they added some ability of this resilience, they added some kind of layer and also definitely this attitude and mindset that was adding on, adding on. And now I would say that, oh yeah, actually it's easy to row an ocean, you can do that. But yeah.

Speaker 2:

I can say that that's not a statement I would ever make. Yeah, there's a lot of things I'll say, oh, it's easy, but that would not be one of the things that I would. I mean, this is incredible, the things that you took on, but I, you know, from a very weird and geeky standpoint actually developing some of the brain imaging, science and algorithms and technology in order to do that.

Speaker 2:

But I would be curious if your mind if your brain, if we were able to take an image, like a CAT scan or brain imaging of it, to see what kind of neuroplasticity that you've developed as a result of putting yourself through some of these challenges, and then mentally adjusting your expectation for performance or expectation for delivery, your expectation of what's coming in front of you, right, what challenges are ahead, and adjusting your thinking in such a way that tells you, oh, I can take this on and I can manage this.

Speaker 2:

From a mental standpoint, right, from a mental strength standpoint. This is something that all of us I think you know when we're in sports learn how to do. Just to a certain degree, we learn how to challenge our bodies and face physical challenges, but it's also your mind convincing you that you can push yourself further than you think you can go. And I wonder about when we get into the comfort of life and the corporate world and working in an office environment and comfortably sitting in our chairs for eight hours a day, we lose some of this particular skill set where we're able to envision ourselves achieving something greater and bigger beyond our own personal limits and then taking that on right. There's not a lot in the workplace and corporate world and the work environment that allows the opportunity for us to begin to take that mental state and challenge ourselves, and I think what you're doing in terms of, like you said, putting layers on, is such a fascinating concept and such a fascinating endeavor. It would be amazing to apply that, I think, to strategies in business.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you know, michael, I think, as you said, when we are kind of uh, surrounded by this, by this delicate worm of the office or of our safe life or something like that, but then, um, at, at the same time, I would say, like 15 years ago, I, I was that guy, like I was, I was in the office working like towards my next uh, and et cetera, et cetera. But you know, there should be something that you're interested in, there should be some spark in your eyes, because back then I could remember that, I can remember that I was interested in books about journeys, about climbing, and that was my inspiration.

Speaker 3:

So, I surrounded myself with inspiration. That could be in form of books, that could be in form of movies, that could be in form of podcasts. Now, many types of inspirational sources you could choose, and there is something in each one of us that resonates with something outside that we haven't yet tipped our toes in. But we kind of are curious, like would I be able to?

Speaker 2:

do that actually. Yeah, well, I think you're talking about human stories. I think the stories are what connects us. I think the stories are what inspires us. I think the stories of other humans achieving things that we dream about doing for ourselves. Right, that's how we get inspired by the stories of other humans.

Speaker 2:

And today, ladies and gentlemen, carlos Barteles is sharing his story with us, and it's incredible If you're just joining us, carlos Barteles, from Latvia, circumnavigating the globe by human power, rowing or bicycling or roller skating, or rollerblading as the case may be has taken on incredible feats of strength and mental acuity in order to achieve things that most of us would never even think of trying or attempting. So Carlos is here here and it's incredible. This is an amazing journey for me just to be witnessing and participating. I really thank you for sharing your time with us today and taking us on this journey. So, board of Borders is your title, it's your moniker, it's your tagline, if you will, and obviously I had said before that your last name, bartolis, sounded like borderless.

Speaker 2:

And borders seem to be. Yeah, so borders are the thing that you tackle. You have no borders in your mind. You cross borders around the world. What do borders mean to you, philosophically speaking? What do borders mean to you?

Speaker 1:

And, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes part one of our interview with Carlos Bartolus, where we last asked him about borders and what do borders mean to him. If you want to know more, check out part two and then, of course, part three. This is a good one. All right, see you at the next episode. Thank you.