I’ve officially been location independent for going on ten months now. When I first started Dan Andrews told me something. He said, I wake up every single morning, from wherever I am in the world and I think to myself “This never gets any less awesome.” Thats a pretty powerful thing to think about. In my finance job, for about 6 months I would wake up and think about how awesome my job was and how lucky I was to be in such a position. If you were to ask me during that initial 6 months if I thought I would always feel that way about my job, I would have said of course, this is great! Well we all
Continue Reading > 21 Comments posted: September 30th, 2010
Everyone has something they that say they are going to do sometime during their life. I’ve got about a 100 of them on my bucket list. I’ve learned over the past few years, that for all of those “somedays” unless you make a conscious decision to work towards those goals, the vast majority of them will never be experienced. Think about the last ten years of your life. How many times have you said out loud or thought to your self “Someday I’ll do that” or “I’ll do that when I have more time and/or money”. Now, for all the times you’ve said that, how many of those items have you actually made any type of progress towards achieving? I’m
Continue Reading > 22 Comments posted: September 22nd, 2010
Greetings from the Big Apple! I should be landing in NYC right as this post goes live, and will officially be crossing #37 off of my bucket list. I’ve been trying to plan a trip to New York for the better part of three years, and whether it was lack of vacation time, money, or free time, it just never materialized – until now. Over the next two weeks I’ll be hanging out with friends in Philadelphia, Boston, and NYC while taking in all that the Northeast has to offer. That said, if you are in any of those places be sure to shoot me an email if you want to meet up! Also, another bucket list item that I
Continue Reading > 12 Comments posted: September 9th, 2010
Why do you read this blog? Why should anyone read this blog? That’s a question I’ve been asking myself lately as I continue to decide upon the direction that this site should take. After spending a few hours combing through old posts, I actually have an answer to that question. Reading this blog will give you the courage to live the life you really want to be living. That’s a bold statement. But I sincerely believe its true. For some this means location independence, for others its travel, and others still it may be just freeing up more time to do the shit they love. But I’ve achieved it. I’m living the life I want. I can work from anywhere,
Continue Reading > 36 Comments posted: August 30th, 2010
Awhile back Chris Guillebeau had a post entitled “Glory Days” which really had a bit of a profound impact on me. He pointed out that, everywhere you look there are people who still rely on their past accomplishments, rather than working hard to create more. It’s like the 70 year old man who won a state football championship when he was 17 – and still talks about it on a regular basis. I don’t want to be that person. This concept is fresh in my mind after reading Chris’ new book “The Art of Non-Conformity”, where he discusses the topic of the glory days again. (Book comes out September 7th, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.) I found myself
Continue Reading > 14 Comments posted: August 16th, 2010
People ask me all the time about what it is exactly that I do. Each time I answer that question, I end up giving a different answer depending on what was happening that particular day. My favorite answer is: “I golf”. While it’s true that I do try and do that as frequently as possible, the reality is much more complex than that. Essentially I’ve reached my goal of having multiple streams of income. I’ve always liked the idea of that, because it means that I’m not getting bored. By making money from a variety of things, it ensures that I’m keeping things interesting and not getting bogged down in one repetitive task or job. Sure I like some income
Continue Reading > 14 Comments posted: August 3rd, 2010
If you’d have asked me last year how I felt about the idea of having a routine, you probably would have received a profanity-laced tirade of epic proportions. Last year my routine was so dull that I get bored just thinking back on it. I’d wake up, drive to work, sit at my desk for 9 hours, maybe do a happy hour, but then come back and hang out on the couch for the rest of the night. Rinse and Repeat. This went on month after month and eventually it takes its toll on you. One person can only handle so much monotony. It’s a slippery slope too. Getting out of habits such as that, are much, much more difficult
Continue Reading > 10 Comments posted: July 30th, 2010
After nearly seven months that went by way quicker than I’d even realized, I find myself back in Portland, Oregon. In the five days I’ve been here I’ve found that the weather is even more beautiful than I’d hoped, the beer is even better than I remember, and having a flexible lifestyle in the States is going to be even more enjoyable than I’d imagined. Over the past three days I’ve done something that I haven’t done in, well, I can’t remember how long. I’ve been completely shut off from the internet and my computer. I’ve been spending time with friends that I haven’t seen since I returned and going to events that I’ve been looking forward to for months.
Continue Reading > 14 Comments posted: July 26th, 2010
I am probably 37,000 feet up by the time you read this, so I will approve any comments and respond as soon as I land! Over the past 9 or so months I’ve been incredibly selfish. Now, I’m not saying I’ve done anything wrong, or that looking back I should have done anything differently, but the fact of the matter is that I’ve been focused only for what is best for me, with little regard for those around me. That said, just about everyone around me has been incredibly supportive of everything I’ve been doing. Even my family and close friends who have been affected the most by me quitting my job and moving to a foreign country for half
Continue Reading > 11 Comments posted: July 20th, 2010
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to scuba dive. When I was younger I used to get incredibly jealous when my dad and uncle would leave on dive trips, and I’d have to stay at home and do fun things like go to school. Exotic places like Cozumel, Roatan and Thailand became implanted in my brain as these holy grail destinations – perhaps that’s what led me down my current path. For years, I considered the prospect of getting certified, but there were numerous road blocks that always got in my way. First off, is the proximity factor. While the Willamette Valley is a mere hour drive from the Oregon coast, the diving conditions you would find
Continue Reading > 12 Comments posted: July 17th, 2010
