This past Sunday I found myself laying in Washington Park and letting my mind wander to wherever it felt compelled to go. Lately, this seems to be happening on a much more frequent basis. On the golf course, I would imagine there was a crystal clear ocean just beyond the tree line. While writing this article from the garden of my office building, I was imagining I was in a cosmopolitan oasis in the South of France far away from the 100 degree weather we have been experiencing in Portland. I feel as though my whole life I have been discouraged from dreaming in this way. Authority figures constantly reminding me to stay in the moment, because day dreaming won’t
Continue Reading > 11 Comments posted: July 30th, 2009
In my first carnival of blogs I wrote about some of the sites and posts that have inspired me to continue down the path that I am currently on. In this next iteration of the carnival I wanted to focus on articles that I have read that provide motivation for me personally. Maybe someone has become successful at being location independent, or perhaps they are doing something on my list. Either way something about their writing has motivated me enough to want to share it with you. A few will be familiar names if you are a regular reader of my blog, but this is only because I am a true believer in what they are doing, and they
Continue Reading > 7 Comments posted: July 27th, 2009
Have you ever had a stressful week at work? Of course you have; we all have. Does it seem fair to you that regardless of how hard you work, or how much stress is placed on you, that nothing will change? Sure you will get your annual review, where you can plead your case for why you should get more money, a bonus, or perhaps more time off, but for the other 51 weeks out of the year, what you leave with at the end of the day remains the same. Don’t get me wrong, there are those rare jobs that are fulfilling and encompass exactly what you want to do with your life, but lets be honest, those are
Continue Reading > 8 Comments posted: July 23rd, 2009
As most of you know, one of my biggest reasons for starting this blog is to hold myself accountable for accomplishing things on “My List“. I have realized that for being such a big part of my adventure, I have spent very little time talking about it. The creation of this list has actually been on going for quite some time, and by the time I published it there had already been a few that were crossed off. So this is an update on some of the things I have already done, as well as progress that I have made on new goals. #1 Hang Glide Over Rio (Completed February 2009) This is the one that almost didn’t happen. We
Continue Reading > 12 Comments posted: July 20th, 2009
The chances are, if you are reading my blog, you have also heard of Cody McKibben’s site “Thrilling Heroics“. I just want to start out by saying that Cody is the man. A true rockstar entrepreneur in every sense of the word, Cody is doing some seriously cool stuff. So needless to say, after following his writing for the last few months, I was pretty stoked when he agreed to have a Skype conversation with me last week. As most of you know, I am going through a quarter-life crisis of sorts. I am trying to figure out what I am really passionate about, and come up with some next steps for where I want to go in my life.
Continue Reading > 7 Comments posted: July 16th, 2009
There aren’t many of us who couldn’t use a little extra cash here and there. Maybe you want to hop over to Fiji and need a plane ticket. Maybe your computer got stolen and you need a new Macbook. Well the good news is, there are a wide variety of things you can do to make an extra buck or two. I will tell you how I personally made an extra $1,000 to fund my travels, and also provide a bunch of other ideas that could work as well. Each idea has a rating based on how easy it is to accomplish, and if I have personally made money doing it, I will specify how much it was.
Continue Reading > 15 Comments posted: July 13th, 2009
This week we are featuring another fantastic off-the-beaten-track happy hour. The place is called Le Happy. Located under the 405 next to Slabtown on NW 16th and Marshall, you would never guess the joys that await you inside this crepe oasis. Le Happy features a wide variety of savory and sweet crepes, that are some of the best I have ever had. Second best to be exact (the crepes at Chez Michou in Buzios, Brazil take the top prize). But these are fantastic nonetheless. During their happy hour from 5-7 you get a buck off any drinks, and I would recommend going for the “Le Trash Blanc”. This bacon and cheese crepe paired with the always classy PBR, is a
Continue Reading > 1 Comment posted: July 8th, 2009
As I was helping my dad re-roof his house this past weekend, it made me realize how happy I was to NOT do manual labor for a living. When I woke up this morning I could barely move. Muscles I didn’t even know I had ached. I realized that the sunscreen I applied, really didn’t do a whole lot of good. With that in mind I started thinking about some of the great things about being a blogger. I might not do it for a living, but there are a wide variety of benefits to starting a blog of any kind. Lets take a look at some of the best reasons: 1) It is location independent. Unlike most professions or
Continue Reading > 8 Comments posted: July 7th, 2009
Since I began this site at the beginning of May, this is the longest I have gone without posting. I am not happy about this. I did however have a GREAT time (I use the term great, very loosely) helping my dad reroof/reside our old house in 90 degree weather for the entirety of my holiday weekend. With that being said, I think now would be a good time to take a look at everything that was accomplished in June, as well as take a look forward and see what July has in store. We covered a lot of ground last month, quite a bit more than I expected to be honest with you. In the beginning of the month,
Continue Reading > 3 Comments posted: July 6th, 2009
Located on a random street corner in NW Portland, Cafe Nell may very be one of the best kept secrets in Portland. Last week I decided to go here on a bit of a whim, after driving by and getting curious. It used to be a completely ivy covered building that housed Hurley’s restaurant. Well now Hurley’s and the ivy is gone, and what is left is one of the best happy hours in Portland. One of the first things you notice when you walk in is the chalkboard by the bar with the daily happy hour specials. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but after sampling a few of their specials, I may have a new favorite place.
Continue Reading > No comments yet. posted: July 1st, 2009
