Being an entrepreneur is a constant struggle. I’ve never met a single true entrepreneur who wasn’t always looking for the next big thing.  It doesn’t matter how little free time they have, or what the state is of their current projects, they are always open to new possibilities.  This can be both a good and a bad thing, but for me personally it’s left me a little overwhelmed throughout the past week.

Right as I was in the midst of finishing up my first premium product here at Location 180, I decided it would be a great time to start a new venture!  I’ve had an idea to start this site for the last few months, and I finally decided to just go for it – regardless of how close I was to finishing my current project (anyone else notice my June 15 date come and go?).

Note: My new site will officially launch in a few weeks, but if you sign up for the Location 180 mailing list, you will get full details in Wednesday’s newsletter.

The point being, why would I take on a new venture when I’m so close to finishing the project I’ve been working on for months?  To be honest, I don’t know the answer to this, but it did get me thinking about the importance of project management and the components that lead to success for some and an endless amount of half finished products for others.

Hint: New site has something to do with this.

So here are the 7 fundamental components of project management:

1) Organization

If you can’t force yourself to be even the slightest bit organized, you might as well not even start the project.  Organization is essential to ensuring that you stay on track and are able to focus on the real priorities.  This becomes even more essential once you get multiple projects involved and have to balance your time between each of them.  If you have a proper roadmap to completion, filled with goals and timelines you will have a much greater chance of success.  The best way to accomplish this is to have a plan before you even get started.  Know exactly how much time you are going to spend each week, and on what tasks.  Having this type of plan for each of your endeavors will make it clear whether or not you are over extending yourself

2) The Ability to Say No

This is extremely important.  As I mentioned, so often the typical entrepreneur wants to get involved in as many opportunities as possible . However sometimes, no matter how great something seems, you have to be able to say no.  You’ve already started working on any number of other projects, so you obviously hold a belief that they will be successful.  If you over extend yourself, very quickly those current ventures that were on the fast track to success could wind up half finished, and you with little motivation to return to development mode.

3) A Feature Filter

So often we have a tendency to want to throw everything we possibly can into our products, businesses, whatever.  This can be one the quickest ways to slow down progress and make yourself extremely frustrated in the process.  In writing my guide to Overcoming the Fear of Uncertainty, I had this huge unrealistic list of things I wanted to include for the initial launch.  By taking an objective standpoint and only keeping the most important features, I’m able to continue making progress, while not getting frustrated with the sheer amount of features I tried to cram in.  With any features you are adding to something, ask yourself what the benefit is.  Will it help you sell more?  Does it really make the product that much better?  If the answer is no, scrap it and move on with your life.

4) A Life Outside of Work

We’ve all been there at some point, hell I’m probably there right now, where we get so wrapped up in the things that we are working on that we forget to have a life outside of our work.  Essentially what this leads to is lower levels of quality, more stress than necessary, and a propensity to burn out.  Don’t do that to yourself.  At the very least set aside an afternoon or evening each week to step away from business and enjoy the rest of what life has to offer.

Or you know, you can take a whole week and go some place exotic.  Like Bali, where I’ll be headed next week!

5) Follow Through

This where I get into trouble.  I’m great at starting projects.  I tend to get overly excited and jump right in, without thinking too much about how I plan to actually finish a project.  I get sidetracked, start something else, lose interest, or any number of other things that keeps me from finishing what I’ve started.  Just in the last few weeks I’ve started to take heed to each of the other 6 aspects of project management, and I feel like I’m closer with this whole follow through thing than I’ve been in awhile.  It’s exciting.  A little bit of momentum can carry you a long way – think about that if you are struggling to get something past the finish line.

6) An End Goal

Why are you working so hard on this?  What are you hoping to get out of it?  If you don’t have a goal, then it’s really difficult to put your full effort into your projects.  Do you want to make money?  Free up time?  Gain exposure?  What is it that is driving you to do what you are doing?  Understanding exactly where you hope to be when all is said is done is vital to helping you get there.

7) Passion

You can work on just about anything without the need to be passionate about it, but doing something you love and believe in can certainly add motivation.  I’ve tried to choose projects and businesses that I really have an interest in.  The kinds of things that I would do for free (and many I am), if I had to.  Finding something you are passionate about is a much better long term business model than grinding away at something you hate.

How many of these things have you considered when it comes to your life and your businesses?  Whether you have a business or not, you are applying project management skills to many aspects of your personal life.  Viewing yourself as the project manager of your life and continually analyzing it in the context of these fundamentals can be a worthwhile way to ensure you stay on track with your goals.

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I’ve had a couple readers send me emails over the past few weeks asking about the mistakes that I made in going location independent.  Specifically, from the time I left my job to the time that I showed up in Thailand.  Well, let me tell you, there were a lot of them.

Inevitably there  was nothing too catastrophic considering that I’m here, employed, and having a great time.  However, there are certainly some things I would have done differently.

When you make the transition from the 9-5 to having no plans and no set schedule, you may think it will be an easy transition.  In reality, it’s not.  No matter how many times I told myself I would set a schedule for myself, and stick to it, I had a much harder time than I thought I would.  For the first three days I stuck to my routine of getting up at 6:30, working out, and then heading to the coffee shop to work.  After that, the alarm started slipping to 7, and 7:30, before I finally gave up on the alarm all together.  Then the work out went with it.

A few mistakes, but coming here was not one of them...

By the time December rolled around, I knew that I was coming to Thailand and I used that as an excuse to slack off.  I had a difficult time admitting to it back then, but if you remember the post Stuck in a Rut? Get Out While You Can, it hit me like a ton of bricks.  When I think back to those 2 months of free time, and the amount of work I could have gotten accomplished, its staggering.  I could have my manifesto complete, I could be a Photoshop expert, and I could be making a nice little side income off of my affiliate marketing ventures.

In reality, I did all of those things half assed.  I’m about halfway through the manifesto, I know the basics of Photoshop, but am certainly no expert, and I haven’t done much marketing at all in the last month.

So tip # 1 if you are trying to learn from my mistakes, USE YOUR TIME WISELY.  Being without a job should give you an excuse to work harder, not slack off and make excuses for why you can’t or don’t need to work.  I’ve been watching a lot of Gary Vaynerchuk posts lately, and his web 2.0 speech the other day really resonated with me.  Check it out if you haven’t.  ”Stop doing shit you hate” and “hustle”.  Two of the most important lessons you can learn in life.

Another big mistake I made was not using my new found free time to network and write.  I guess that could fall under the pretense of tip #1, but I should have been writing 2,000 words a day and sending a hundred emails.  You have to wonder where I would be if I’d done that?  Probably have a much bigger site than I do now. I think networking is the most important thing you can do in business (or life for that matter).  I know it’s cliche, but it is all about who you know, not what you know.  That statement has proved true for just about every big thing that has happened in my life.  Go read Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi if you want to learn how to network effectively.

Arguably the biggest mistake I’ve made was not defining a plan.  I haven’t done a good job over the last three months of creating a short and long term plan for my life and my business.  There have been no formally defined goals for 2010, although that may be on the docket for this afternoon.  I think before you can really be productive working for yourself, you have to know exactly what you are trying to accomplish and how you are going to get there. That’s my biggest weakness at the moment.  Now that I’ve got the site and my new lifestyle up and running, this will be the most crucial step towards my future.  If you want to learn more about goal setting and reviewing your accomplishments, I would highly recommend checking out Chris Guillebeau’s annual review posts.

In the end you realize mistakes are inevitable.  You are always going to make them, it is what you do after the fact that really matters.  Ask any entrepreneur and I guarantee there were more failures than successes.  Learn from your mistakes and work your ass off and good things will happen.  I’m working on both and couldn’t be happier with where things are going.

If you have any questions about what I’m doing, or how you can make changes in your life, don’t hesitate to send an email.  Now that I’m experiencing this for myself, and fully understand how possible it is, I want to help anyone who’s interested.

Be sure to sign up for my email updates and RSS Feed if you haven’t already!

So as you, the reader, are the most important part of the success I have seen on this blog, I wanted to take a moment to reflect upon your finest moments.  I have received hundreds of comments on my posts, and those are hundreds more than I ever expected to receive.  I got the inspiration for this from a post that Corbett Barr wrote a while back called “10 Favorite Quotes From Readers (And Why You Should De-Lurk).” I think the more I can integrate the readers into the writing and what I am doing, the more useful and exciting it is for everyone.

I also wanted to quickly take the opportunity to revisit some goals that I set in The Best of Location 180.  There are three in particular that I had hoped to achieve by the end of 2009.

1. Reach 500 subscribers.  I have been as high as 498, and am currently at 494.  So if you haven’t subscribed yet, now would be an EXCELLENT time to do so!
2. Get 1,000 comments by the end of 2009.  I am at 947 as of this writing, this gives me roughly 8 days to get 53 new comments.  If you have been lurking for awhile, introduce yourself!  It has been exciting to see some new faces, as well as see continued support from all of the regular commenters!.  I love you guys.
3. This one is a bit more obscure, but I posted a goal of wanting to have at least one reader from every country, before Chris Guillebeau visited every country.  He is at 122, and I am currently at 117.  So if you know anyone from Liberia, Paraguay or Greenland send em’ a link!

Alright, I am done with the sales pitch, on to the comments!

Ok, actually, I have one other quick note.  Since writing that top part, I have gone through and reread every single comment that has ever been written on this site.  All I can say is “wow”.  There have been so many good stories, pieces of advice, and genuinely heartfelt comments that have been left over the last 6 months, it is unbelievable.  When I started this post, I thought it would be easy to pick out just 10…not so much.  So I shouldn’t really say these are the top 10, rather they are just a few I wanted to highlight because they motivated me, humbled me, or in many cases, just made me smile.  Thanks to everyone who comments on this site, the support really is one of the biggest things that has got me to where I am!

Ok, seriously this time, on to the comments!

From Ami of 40 Days of Change on The Mental Evolution of a Cubicle Dweller:

“You, Sean Ogle, are my Chris Guillebeau. If that makes any sense. Former cubicle dweller? Check. Feeling guilty for not feeling grateful? Check. Trying to speed up evolution by blogging? Check. Keep it up, your experiences inspire all of us cubicle alumni.”

From Andrew of Sail to Trail on Online Friendships and the Real World:

“Rather than comment on this post when I first saw it, I decided to put Sean to the test and meet him for a beer in Portland. I was hoping to bring you all back some telling story to validate the slightly nervous fear multiplied by 100. What. Ev. Er. I basically have one metric for judging interactions over beer. It’s simple… How much beer was consumed? We only finished two beers each in the two or three hours. By pure beer drinking standards, that’s a failure. But… it’s actually a reflection of doing way more talking than drinking. To me, that indicates good company. If you have a chance to meet up with Sean, do it. (and please stop emailing me to ask if he’s hot in person)”

From Dan of the Tropical MBA on Online Relationships and the Real World:

“Sorry to break down the 4th wall between you and your readers, but I’ve got insider’s info here: On the phone, Sean sounds something like a CEO directing a shareholder’s meeting. If things don’t work out with the Tropical MBA, you could make a killing in tele-sales!”

From Tyler of Frugally Green on I Finally Sold My Car:

“It’s pretty amazing what you notice when you step out of the car and get on a bike, or even step off the bike and start walking. It’s like turning up the resolution of life. What once was blurry now is clear as day.”

From Colin of Exile Lifestyle on I Finally Sold My Car:

“Since I sold my car back in August, I’ve felt an immense sense of relief. There’s something innately stressful about driving such a large investment around where anything can happen to it. It’s like wearing a $10,000 pair of shoes. Sure, they’ll get you where you need to go, but what if you step in gum? Get them wet? Leave them somewhere and get them stolen?  Too stressful for me!”

Also from Colin, on 21 Things I Have Learned From Unemployment (The concept of the fax has given me more headaches over the past two months than anything else):

Oh faxes. You’re the 8-track/betamax/laserdisc/minidisc of the communication sphere. – Colin Wright

From Derek of Live Uncomfortably on My Last Day:

You’re screwed! What are you going to do without a steady income? How will you know how to properly spend your time if you’re not on a strict schedule dictated by a boss? Aren’t you worried that you’re falling behind in life? What about retirement? You’ll never be able to retire at 65 now. You’ll never be able to spend your later years in life on a beach in Mexico. You’ll have to do spend your best years on a beach now, stupid. Go back and get a job, hippie, before it’s too late.”

From John Bardos of Jet Set Citizen on “I’m A Hypocrite”:

I think all of us are in the same situation. We all talk about living ideal lifestyles but perfection is something to aim for it is never really achievable. The striving is what counts. It doesn’t matter if you reach your destination or not. Trying is what matters.”

From Rasheed of Present Day Nomads on Accountability and a Comfortable Life:

That makes two of us holding you accountable, Sean. Where do you plan to go? For how long? You have a Guitar? Dude, you could be playing on the street corners and in the subways. Imagine your Guitar case filled with $5 and $10 bills, with $1 coins to keep them from flying away. Let’s go! What are we waiting for? Oh, BTW “Life is meant to be easy. If it’s not, you’re doing it wrong.”

From Baker of Man Vs. Debt on If You Were to Live Abroad:

Stop what you are doing and leave now. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Figure out the rest on the road. It’s not only possible, it’s one of those things in life when you look back on it… it will be tough to say you regretted it. Do it.

Thanks again to every one, and Merry Christmas Eve!!

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Ever since purchasing an iPod touch a couple of months back, I have been obsessed.

While I still think that iTunes sucks, and is even worse than I thought it would be, the device itself is the best purchase I have made in years.  Most of this is due to the sheer amount of quality applications that are out there for it.

Since I have become a proud iPod owner, I have been constantly seeking out the best, most useful applications I could find.  Whether they are time killing games, or productivity enhancers, I have now downloaded over 100 apps, some good, some bad. With that being said, I wanted to tell you about some of my favorites, as well as provide a few links to other really useful app compilations.

Travel Apps

I initially set out to write a post about the best iphone apps for the digital nomad.  However, very quickly in my research I stumbled upon National Geographic’s Top 20 Travel iPhone Apps.  If you are doing travel of any sort, at least one of these apps will make your life much easier!

While National Geographic provides a great list, here are my personal top 5:

5)  Wi-Fi Finder (Free).  Consider I don’t personally use an iPhone, finding decent wifi is imperative for getting the most out of my iPod.  If I know that I will be traveling to a different part of the city, this app does a great job of pointing me in the right direction of a good coffee shop with WiFi.  For those of you traveling abroad, this app could save you hundreds of dollars in global data charges.

4)  Urban Spoon (Free).  In a new place and not sure where to eat?  Urban Spoon has you covered!  By using GPS (with enabled iPhones) it can automatically find something close in your desired food type, and then will even sort by the most highly regarded restaurants on Urban Spoon.  There are some better location specific apps, but if you are looking for a world wide dining guide, Urban Spoon can’t be beat!

3) Flight Track Pro ($9.99).  While this one is a little bit on the spendy side, it can be well worth it for both piece of mind and time savings.  You can automatically forward trip confirms to Trip It, and track all of your upcoming flights and connections.  It can be even more useful if you are the one picking up a fellow globe trotter at the airport.  It will tell you the ETA of the flight, where it is in the sky, and even what the altitude is.  A must for any frequent flier.

I don't know what this means, but I am sure someone on the streets of Tokyo would!

2) Babelingo ($1.99).  Gone are the days of not being able to find a bathroom in a foreign country.  With over 300 phrases, and dozens of languages, all you have to do is find the phrase in question, select it, and it is automatically translated into the language of your choice.  To take it a step farther, it then puts all of the answers to the question in the new language question, so your new friend on the street can easily answer and concern you might have.

1) Skype.  This one kind of goes with out saying.  To be able to talk to anyone, anywhere in the world, FOR FREE??  What can be better than that.  You need a decent wifi connection, but the conversations I have had on Skype via my iPod more than do the trick.  If you want to get really creative you can combine your iPhone, Skype and Google Voice, to make you a global communications ninja.

Productivity Apps

There are thousands of apps for productivity out there some good, and others not so much.  I have found that I am using my iPod for productivity related reasons much more often that I initially thought that I would.  Here are a list of some that I have found the most useful.

5) WordPress (free) – With this app, you don’t even need to be at your computer to be able to write posts, edit pages and edit comments, the WordPress app does it all for you!  More than one of my posts for this site has been primarily written on my iPod, and I was able to easily upload and post it as soon as I found a wifi connection (not necessary if you have an iPhone).  Overall has proved to be a very useful app for me and my blog.

4)To Do’s (free) – My favorite to-do list app is probably one of the most basic there is.  It allows me to write an item that needs to get done, set the priority of low, normal, or high, and then add notes.  That’s about it.  Simple, to the point, and doesn’t give me a bunch of extra features that I don’t need.

3) Stanza (free) – This is my version of the Kindle app.  If you have a Kindle, and have already paid for books, then that might be the way to go, but what attracts me about the Stanza app is the amount of free content that is offered.  Whether they are shorter articles or publicly available books, I have found at least a few that I have enjoyed.  It is also a tool that is very easy on the eyes.  I am currently reading a free copy of The Count of Monte Cristo.

2) Remote.  This one is cool.  Do you have iTunes? Do you have wifi at your house?  Well now you can turn your iPod into a remote for your music library or Apple TV.  I usually have my computer set up at my desk, which is then connected to my home speakers.  With the remote app, I am able to access my library from anywhere in the house and use it as a remote to change songs, volume, start/stop etc. Best of all, its free!

1) Evernote.  About a year ago, Evernote became my favorite web bookmarking tool.  I have a link at the top of my Chrome tool bar that says clip to Evernote, and anytime there is an article that I don’t have time to read, I clip it and go back and read it later via evernote.  The iPhone app makes my life even easier, as now I don’t even need to be at my computer to catch up on my missed reading.  Whenever I open it, it syncs up with my online account, and downloads any new items, so I can do my reading on the go.  Highly recommended if you are looking for a better way to leave notes for yourself or bookmark websites.

Finance Apps

I was originally going to do my Top 5 Finance apps, but then I realized, I only use three! Between these three finance apps, I can track investments, get up to the minute news, and stick to my budget.  With this combination, all of your finance needs should be met.  Well, unless you want to pay your bills on your phone, but I’m not quite there yet!

3) Bloomberg.  While the stocks app that comes with the iPhone is great for basic stuff, the Bloomberg app takes financial news and stock tracking a step further.  It allows me to not only enter in what companies I own, but also allows me to enter in number of shares and cost basis.  This makes for a fantastic tool for checking my investments while on the go!

2) NY Times.  While the Wall Street Journal app used to get my nod as the best app for financial news, its new subscription service has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  Now when I need the latest news I use the NY Times app.  This app is fantastic for the iPod in particular, as I can download the latest articles and then go back and read them whenever I have free time or am internet-less.  Also check out USA Today.

1) Mint.  The grand daddy of all personal finance apps, I have been singing the praises of Mint ever since I signed up.  With the touch of a button, I get updated balances to all of my accounts.  Whether it be checking, savings, investments or student loans.  Not only that, but I can also instantly see how I am doing on my monthly budget, and identify where I have been and should be saving.  I can’t recommend this app, and the service in general highly enough.

Games

Alright, this list just wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t include at least a few of my favorite games on here.  While I fully understand that these can be a complete waste of time, they can also be a lot of fun.  Especially when waiting for a meeting or taking a quick break from writing blog posts.

5) Flight Control ($.99).  Ok this one is obscure.  If you haven’t played it you will probably look at me in confusion asking “how can that be fun?”  I don’t know the answer to that question, but some how it is!  Essentially the premise is to play an air traffic controller and guide an ever increasing number of aircraft on to their respective runways.  By the time you get ten planes on the screen at once, it can get pretty intense!

4) Scramble (free).  This was one of the games that got me to buy an iPod in the first place (stupid reason I know).  The conept is simple, you have a 4×4 or 5×5 square of letters and you have to make as many words as possible.  It is surprisingly addicting, and this is made even more so by online play that is very well integrated.

3) Yahtzee Adventures ($2.99). I have always liked Yahtzee, don’t know why.  Maybe it is the fact that it only takes a couple minutes to play a game, and can be a great way to kill a couple of minutes.  This is a recent addition to my app library (before I settled for iDice Free), but this was well worth the two bucks for some extra game modes and increased production value.

2) Bloons ($.99).  This is another one of those games that seems stupid, but can be very addicting.  Basically you are a monkey bowman and you have to pop a required number of balloons on each level.  The levels get increasingly difficult, and with 150 of them, plus the ability to create your own, you finish this game for quite some time.

1) Scrabble ($4.99).  I think this is the only time I have ever spent $5 on an app, and frankly, it was one of the best 5 dollars I have ever spent.  The Scrabble app is wonderfully done, and the online interface via Facebook works great.  If you like Scrabble, this app is a must have, and last time I checked it was even on sale for $3.

Misc. Apps

One of the great things about the iPhone is that there are so many random apps that do cool things, but don’t necessarily fit into any particular category.  So here are some of my favorite apps that just don’t fit into any of the above categories:

10) Guitar Tuner (Free) .  While this particular app doesn’t actually serve as a tuner, it still works fairly well.  You select your desired tuning, and it will play the corresponding notes allowing you to pretty easily get your guitar to match up.  For free, you can’t really go wrong.  To find it, just search guitar tuner in the app store, and it is the first one that comes up.

9) Alarm Clock (Free for basic version).  I don’t use an alarm clock.  For years, I have relied on my cell phone to get me up in the morning.  Now that I will be ditching my cell phone for my move to Thailand, the alarm clock app is what I am going to rely on to get me up and keep me productive!  So far it has worked flawlessly, and really does look just like your typical alarm clock. If you want to shell out $.99 for the pro version, you are able to use any song from your library as an alarm.

8 ) Battery Magic (Free).  My iPod isn’t great at letting me know what kind of battery life I have left, so I have found this to be a pretty useful app to have.  It will tell you approximately how much juice you have left for a variety of activities.  For instance I currently have 90 % battery life, or otherwise put, 8 hours and 6 minutes of Wi-Fi internet left, but only an hour and a half of 3D game play.

7) Photoshop Mobile (Free) .  While this is nowhere near the level that Photoshop is at (and should probably be renamed) it actually can be a really useful app.  Sure you can do some minor photo tweaking, but the real draw here is the 2gb of storage space that you are given on Adobe’s servers to hold and view pictures.  This is great if you want access to your photos but don’t want them to take up valuable storage space on your device.

6) Bump (Free).  This one is just weird, but can be really useful.  With two devices that are enabled, you can transfer documents, photos etc. from one phone to another just by bumping them together!  While it doesn’t work all that well for large transfers, it works great for grabbing that photo your friend just took.

5) ESPN ScoreCenter (Free) – When I am out and about and can’t don’t have the time to sit and watch my favorite team, ESPN ScoreCenter is there for me.  Get all kinds of info and statistics on the latest games, and even customize your home page to show your favorite teams.  As useful as it is, I won’t need it for the Civil War this afternoon as this is basically the biggest game in Oregon history. Go Beavs!! (Don’t tell anyone in Eugene I said that…)

4) Mixology (Free) – How many times have you wanted to make a drink, but just didn’t know how to make it?  Or maybe you had some ingredients, but now clever way to combine them? Fear not, Mixology is your personal bartender!  With thousands of drinks, and multiple ways to search, I found more than a few interesting concoctions.  What makes this even better, is you don’t need to have internet to access the database.

3) Pandora (Free) – If you haven’t heard of Pandora, well you have probably been living under a rock for the last few years.  But essentially it is internet radio that plays only stuff you want to hear.  Pick an artist, or even a song, and it will create a personalized station of music that sounds similar to your selection.  Who needs mp3s when you’ve got this?

2) Shazam (Free for basic, $4.99 for full). Ever been in a bar and hear a song being played that you absolutely love, but have no way of figuring out what it is?  Never fear, Shazam is to the rescue!  Hear a song you like, hit the tag button in the app, and in about 20 seconds it will come back giving you all of the information you could ever want.  If you are feeling generous, download Shazam “Red” and 20% of the proceeds will go to AIDS research.

1) Nike + iPod (Free with new iPhone/iPod Touch). Any app that makes me excited to run, has to be a good one.  Any new iPhone or iPod comes built in with this app, even if you can’t see it right away.  You have to buy a sensor that goes in your shoe for 20 bucks, but once you do, you will be a work out machine.  Nike+ basically gives you your own personal trainer on your phone.  During your workout, with the touch of a button, your trainer will tell you how far you have run (or walked), how long you have been running, and what your current pace is.  At the end of the work out, you can save and download the information to a Nike+ account.  Once you have a few work outs under your belt, this can be incredibly useful in tracking progress.  I have found it coming in really handy as I prepare to complete #__ on my list.

BONUS: Geocaching App ($9.99).  I kind of forgot about this one, since I can’t use it on my iPod very well, but it works GREAT for those of you with iPhones.  If you don’t know what geocaching is, check out this website, but essentially it is a global treasure hunt with GPS.  I have definitely found some interesting places because of this that I never would have found otherwise.  The app does a fantastic job of helping you locate “caches”, and turns your iPhone into a GPS that works surprisingly well, all for $9.99.  If you like to do any kind of hiking or enjoy being outdoors, this is well worth the price of admission.

Well there you have it, my favorite apps for the iPod/iPhone.  With over 75,000 out now, I am sure I have missed a lot of great ones, so I would love to hear what your favorites are!

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How is it November already??

Well just when I think things can’t get any more exciting at Location180, I seem to outdo myself.

While September was full of stories about me crossing things off my list, October has been a month of significant change.  Honestly, my life changed more last month than any in recent memory.

So let’s start with the obvious.  October 20^th was my last day at my job.  If you have been a regular reader here, you could probably sense that I wasn’t entirely happy with my employment situation.  While it didn’t happen in the way I expected it to, it was really only a matter of time.  Thank you to everyone that contributed to the 50+ comments and showed me more support than I could have ever anticipated.

Following up that article, I wrote about How to Stay Motivated Without a Boss, as well as The Demise of the American Dream, where I looked at how the goals of Americans have changed over time, and whether or not the changes have been positive.

However losing my job wasn’t the only big thing to happen in October.

I Finally Bought an iPod for instance.  While this may not be a big deal to some people, as you will (or have) read, I had spent the last 8 years vigorously fighting the world telling me that I should put iTunes on my computer.  Well, I reached a point where it was just too useful and too cool not to have one.  Congrats society, you win this round.

I also recognized one of my greatest fears in blogging in I am a Hypocrite.  Little did I know just a few short weeks after writing that post that my credibility would skyrocket. Step #1 complete, I am on my way to not being a hypocrite!

I also finished up work on the Bucket List 2.0.  Unfortunately amidst all the life changes going on, I have done a terrible job with following up on the updates I had promised.

So in case any of you were still curious, for #97 on my list, I promised I would take the first goal that a reader suggested.  Well I should have rethought that one.  Dave Damron of LifeExcursion was the first one to comment, with a goal of running a marathon on every continent.

While I am not entirely sure if it should count, since “running a marathon” is already on there, I will put it up for now.  I am going to start with a 10k and work myself up to a half marathon, this could be a long process.  But thanks for the support anyway Dave!

Aside from that, I haven’t decided upon #98-100, but I will keep you posted.

In January one way or another I plan on doing some traveling.  At the moment, it is looking like Thailand or backpacking through Central America are the two most viable options.  So in honor of that I wrote about My Top 5 Dream Destinations.  So for all of you that responded to my inquiry about renting the place in Thailand, we may have to push it back to 2011 now that I am living the frugal lifestyle!

One final thing I would like to add, is that October has by far been the biggest month for the site.  Records were set left and right, and in terms of page views October more doubled the previous highest month, and Halloween more than doubled the previous daily high.

You guys are continuing to show incredible amounts of support and I can’t thank you enough.  The next few months should be interesting as I adapt to my new lifestyle and plan for the future.

Also, if there is anything you would like to see me write about, or features you think could be added to Location180 I would love to hear about them.  Leave a comment or email me with any thoughts or just to say hi!

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Well, it happened.  Tuesday was the last day at my job.  This has honestly been one of the most overwhelming experiences I have gone through in my life.  For the last 24 hours I haven’t been sure how to feel.  However, I think at the moment the majority of me is feeling a sense of guilt and relief.  While I don’t think my job was perfect for me, it wasn’t terrible.  I worked with good people that I think extremely highly of, however in the end, we just didn’t quite see eye to eye on how my employment would evolve there.

I purposefully won’t go into many details, but the gist of the story is that I submitted a proposal to work remotely, and they didn’t go for it.  I honestly can’t blame them at all, it was a long shot, and while I do believe there were benefits for both parties it just didn’t work out.  I have no hard feelings towards anyone, however I do have this overwhelming sense of guilt that I have let people down who have done so much for me over the last 2+ years.

On the other hand, I am also feeling an overwhelming sense of relief.  I have known for quite some time that what I was doing wasn’t my calling.  It wasn’t what I was passionate about.  It was a paycheck.  It was comfortable.  It wasn’t that bad.  But you know what?  I don’t want to settle for “not that bad”.  I want the best life I can possibly have, and I am now in a position to pursue that.  There is no best time for anything.  In my perfect world, this wasn’t the best time to leave.  Financially, I am not sure I am at a point to do everything I want to do.  But you know what?  If it didn’t happen, I may have been there forever.

Last night I went to go see the movie Couple’s Retreat.  Besides making me want to hop on the first flight to Bora Bora (see # 21 on the list), it made me really excited to start finding my passion.  I was feeling pretty down yesterday, and in the movie, when one of the characters was asked about their marriage, they mentioned “we get through it.”  To which the therapist responded, “do you really want to look back on your life and have to say that you just made it through?”  Well, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, I don’t want that.

Today has been a different day than yesterday.  I woke up at the usual time, and for (almost) the first Wednesday in over 2 years, I didn’t have to put on a tie.  I was able to go work out at 8 in the morning, rather than have to cram it into a lunch break.  If it weren’t raining right now I would head outside and go golfing just because I can.  The point is I feel this new found sense of freedom that I really have never felt before.  And while sure, this is great for today, there is a very fine line between being free and being the lazy ass who sits on their couch all day watching reruns of Saved by the Bell.  That is my biggest fear at the moment.  My life is in my hands now. If I don’t go out and make things happen, they won’t, simple as that.

Maybe I will go golf...on a Thursday morning!

Man, something has just hit me.  As I am sitting in this coffee shop, writing and catching up on all the things I have let slip over the last week, I am happy.  Seriously, considering how awful I felt yesterday, I thought it would be days before I would be able to see the positive in all of this.  But it has just hit me.  I can do whatever I want.  I can spend all day doing Photoshop tutorials.  I can sit down and crank out the long overdue manifesto I have wanted to write for months.  I can even go look for a part time job to help me pay the bills over the next few months (ok, maybe we will save that one til next week).  But I digress…

The point of all this, is just to say, don’t let your life pass you by.  Don’t let the fear of uncertainty rule your life.  I have currently never had so much uncertainty in my life.  It is uncomfortable, it is scary, but it is also exciting and hopeful at the same time.

I have been looking forward to writing this post ever since I started Location180.  Because today I am speaking from experience.  I can tell you what it feels like to not have to go into work for the first time in years.  I can tell you how scary it is to not know how you are going to bring in your next paycheck.  I can tell you that life will go on.  I can also tell you that the future, however uncertain, is bright.  And it feels great to be able to say those things definitively, and not just in speculation.

Big things and big changes are coming for me and Location180.  I am excited to finally start pursuing them with the devotion that has been lacking.

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“I am a hypocrite”

I think my biggest blogging fear is the thought of having to say those words.  While there aren’t really true yet, the next few months are going to reveal a lot about my credibility as a blogger.  99% of the people in the world are really good at talking about all the things they want to do, and all of their big plans.  Yet there is only a very, very small percentage that actually has the courage to act.

As of this second, I have not designed my ideal lifestyle.  I am still working at my job, making my car payments, and generally living a comfortable life.  What does that do for my credibility as a blogger in this niche?  Probably not a whole lot of good.  Sure, I have made some progress on my list.  I have put some plans into motion that will be carried out by the end of the year (I can’t wait for the day I can write about this stuff).  I have done more than a lot of people, yet in the end, I am currently doing the exact same thing that I was back in May when Location180 began.

I don’t want to be known as that guy that tells you how to live your life, but isn’t taking his own advice.  After the overwhelming response you guys gave me in If You Were to Live Abroad…it is obvious what I need to be doing.  Around 25 of you constructively berated into doing my travels.  The time is coming for that, and it is almost here, but not quite.

The most difficult part of the situation I am in right now, is that it is transitional.   I can’t write about what I am doing due to my job, but much of what I want to write about has to do with those plans.  Aside from not being able to publish as much of that content right now, there is one aspect of all this that I think is pretty unique.  For months you have all seen the site evolve.  You have been able to see me dealing with my personal struggle of breaking out in to an unconventional life, and that isn’t something that gets documented very often.   To be completely integrated into a traditional way of life, and then decide to do things differently is very difficult.  Sure some people can handle the change better than others, but you are getting to see the questioning, second guessing, and what will ultimately be the success of my transition.  There will be even more value to you once I have become successful.  Once that has happened, I can write about all the specifics that have remained very vague up to this point.  And I will safely be able to say “I am not a hypocrite.”

So I guess I want to submit this as an apology of sorts.  Looking back on many of my posts they have been very vague.  Filled with theoretical thoughts, plans and ideas.  As far as you can tell, there has been very little concrete progress towards my goal of doing a “Location 180″.  Well I am close.  SO close.  And I hope you guys will bear with me just a little bit longer as I continue to finalize the next chapter of this site.  One that will be full of more adventure, more useful how-to information, and most importantly, more real life experience.

–

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I did it.  After 8 years of holding out, and not giving into the masses, I bought an iPod.  You might be wondering why it took me so long to join the legions of cool people out there globe trotting with their white headphones. Or perhaps why I was even against it in the first place.  After so many years, I am not even sure I am able to answer that question.  However, I think it started out with my hatred for iTunes.

I have never been so against something that I have no experience with,  in all my life.  I was perfectly happy using winamp for all of my music organizational needs.  I didn’t need an Apple program to come in and take over my computer like the bloodsucking behemoth that it is.  I wanted to be able to freely hook up my music player of choice to any computer, take the things I needed and be done with it.  I refused for years to go along with all of the proprietary crap that went along with an iPod.

Three or four years back I found myself at a crossroads.  I could buy a new 60gb iPod with video, or a 30gb Creative Zen Vision (now affectionately named the “faux-pod”).  The only good reasons I could come up with for buying the iPod were the increased capacity and the “cool factor”, everything else was in the faux-pod’s favor (sound quality, functionality, screen quality etc).  For years I have used the Creative and been completely happy and content.  Until now.

Ever since the iPhone and iPod Touch came out a few years ago, I have been mesmerized.  The stuff they were capable of doing were so far beyond anything that had be done, it was hard not to be envious of your select few friends that forked out the big bucks for one.  Although, as cool as they were (and are) the thought of owning one was never a possibility.  I refused to give in to everything I had been against for so long (even if I didn’t really have a good reason for it anymore).

Well on Monday night, after much deliberation, I went out and bought a 32gb iPod touch.  Now some of you are probably thinking ” wow, he is still a loser, he didn’t even get an iPhone.”  Believe me, there was a lot of consideration going in to this.  Here was my reasoning:

1) My contract with AT&T doesn’t allow me to upgrade until December, and I don’t want to pay the penalty

2) The new data plan would bring my monthly cell phone bill to over $100 a month, and if I end up out of the country next year, that is $100 a month I would really rather not spend.

3) I can still use the Skype app, as long as I can find wifi.  Free international calling? Yes please.

4) It does 90% of things the iPhone does.

I could go on and on for my reasoning, but I think you get the point.  I also, now 500 words into this post, want to relate it back in some way or another to lifestyle design and travel, because hey, thats what this blog is supposed to be about right?

The main motivation behind this purchase was to make my life easier when I go location independent.  I wanted to be able to check my email at a local cafe without having to lug my laptop around with me.  I wanted to be able to play scrabble while on a bus from Belize to Costa Rica.  I wanted to stop having to steal my girlfriend Tate’s iphone to be able to beat the next level of bloons.  Bottom line is, I needed wanted something that would allow me to do all the things I could normally do at my computer, without having to be at my desk. The iPod solves that (well most of it).

I will not however say, that it was an easy transition.  Installing iTunes onto my computer was one of the most painful things I have done in recent memory.  To be honest, it really is just as bad as I thought it would be.  I will go ahead and say it, itunes sucks.  A lot.  Yet as I find myself glued to this stupid little shiny device, I think that is evidence enough that it was worth it.  Hell I wrote half this post from it.  Definitely couldn’t do that with the faux-pod.

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