Tag Archive for: minimalism

What Are “Digital Nomads”? Joe Rogan and Chris Ryan discuss Perpetual Travel

In case you missed it, recently on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast (JRE) #739, Christopher Ryan, Joe Rogan, and Duncan Trussell spoke at length about the new, growing class of Western technical professionals quitting their 9-to-5 jobs, some of them RVing across the USA, or even becoming permanent travelers and “digital nomads” — pioneering a new way of living beyond borders.

I still highly recommend you pay your taxes, but this is an interesting conversation nonetheless!

Dr. Chris Ryan is a psychologist, speaker, and author of New York Times best seller Sex at Dawn: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships, and also host of his own podcast “Tangentially Speaking”. Duncan Trussell is a stand-up comedian, and host of his own podcast “The Duncan Trussell Family Hour“.

Watch the full JRE #739 episode here (Highly recommended!)

Learn more about 61-year-old fitness trainer and perpetual traveler Steve Maxwell here.

 

/1 Comment/by

Vagabonding After 10 Years — with Rolf Potts

Rolf Potts VagabondingRolf is a high-profile proponent of independent travel and acclaimed author of the book Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel — one of the two books, alongside Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek, that inspired my nomadic lifestyle. He also authored Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Revelations from One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer and is an accomplished travel journalist who’s reported from over 60 countries and written for National Geographic Traveler, The New Yorker, Slate, Lonely Planet, Outside, The Guardian, the Travel Channel and much more, he’s an explorer who’s adventures have taken him across 6 continents.

You can learn much more about Rolf on his bio site and at Vagablogging, and get your hands on his exclusive bundle of free content from BitTorrent to celebrate the release of the new audiobook.

In this call, Rolf phoned in from his family farm in Kansas and we discuss:

  • Find out the one continent he hasn’t been to yet.
  • The similarities between a travel lifestyle and entrepreneurship…
  • Learn how living out of a van in 1994 helped give him the long-term travel itch.
  • The idea of “home” for a long-term perpetual traveler, and places we love to live.
  • Why it’s important to take control of your circumstances rather than being passive in life.
  • What it means to develop an “uncommon way of looking at life” and how you choose to use your time…
  • How travel has changed Rolf’s worldview and what he’s capable of…
  • How much time he recommends people take off for a RTW trip or a sabbatical…
  • The challenges of re-assimilating back into ordinary life.
  • Mentioned: Vagabonding resources and Rolf’s favorite travel quotes
  • What is a “Postmodern Travel Writer”? and we talk about some of the writers of the past who he admires most.
  • What value does travel have to the student of life as opposed to a traditional educational experience?
  • About working with Tim Ferriss to release the audiobook version of Vagabonding for the first time…
  • and much much more…

Find Rolf at rolfpotts.com and vagabonding.net and if you have questions for him, email [email protected]

Also be sure to listen to our past interview with Rolf Potts, in which we dig deep into the ins and outs of becoming a successful travel writer.

/by

The Art of Long-Term World Travel — with Rolf Potts, author of “Vagabonding”

Rolf Potts VagabondingRolf is one of the most accomplished travel journalists of our time, having reported from over 60 countries for major venues like National Geographic Traveler, The New Yorker, Outside, and the Travel Channel. He is a high-profile proponent of independent travel. His book Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel was one of only four “fundamental books” Tim Ferriss mentioned in The 4-Hour Workweek, and was one of the two main sources of inspiration behind my nomadic lifestyle. His second book, Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, details personal anecdotes from 10 years of traveling and travel writing. With his extensive experience traveling on a shoestring, Rolf shows how nearly anyone can achieve the dream of extended overseas travel.

You can learn much more about Rolf on his bio site and at Vagablogging.

In this call, Rolf phoned in from Philadelphia (where he’s currently a writer-in-residence at University of Pennsylvania) and we discuss:

  • Rolf’s past life prior to writing two acclaimed books
  • His 2 years spent teaching English in Korea
  • The impetus for writing Vagabonding and his philosophy behind the book
  • Mentioned: Walt Whitman, other favorite books and sources of inspiration: vagabonding.net/resources
  • How living out of a van, traveling around the US in 1994 helped give him the long-term travel itch
  • How Rolf went from first published article to his first book deal in less than 2 years, and his advice for those seeking to get a book deal and agent
  • Mentioned: Rick Steves, also Travel Writing 2.0 by Tim Leffel
  • Great places for generating online buzz: The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, and networking in the travel & lifestyle design blogging community. Make yourself very accessible on your blog…
  • “To become a good travel writer,  you need expertise.” Rolf recommends travel blogging, infusing your writing with personality, being as engaging as possible, and wise use of free content online to get your name out there. Listen in for much more…
  • How to avoid being a walking dollar sign when you travel in developing countries
  • Is there a rule-of-thumb for avoiding the typical tourist route and traveling to places that are not full of tourists, where you can find a more non-commercialized or unique experience?
  • All about Rolf’s workflow, how he finds the motivation to keep working even after becoming a stunning success (and being featured in interviews and media all over the internet and the world), and how to maintain discipline as a freelancer
  • About the sacrifice of traditional stability, home & family, and how to tell your family you’re going off to travel long term (note: it wouldn’t hurt to give them a copy of Vagabonding)
  • How Rolf started the No Baggage Challenge in 2010—traveling light to 12 countries on 5 continents
  • Mentioned: luggage-less traveler Jonathan Yevin
  • Lessons learned in hyper-minimalism: don’t weigh yourself down with things. And what items does Rolf now travel with and consider essential?
  • About the writing workshop Rolf runs in France every July at the Paris American Academy
  • Why he loves Bangkok and why revisiting Khao San Road feels like going back to kindergarten
  • and much much more…

This was a great one, so make sure you give it a listen! Find Rolf at rolfpotts.com and vagabonding.net and if you have questions for him, email [email protected]

/by

Get Out of Debt and In Control of Your Personal Finances with Adam Baker of Man Vs Debt

If you’re someone who’s tired of living from one paycheck to the next, want to build a solid safety net, curb impulse spending and increase your earning power, then Adam Baker at Man Vs. Debt is someone you should be listening to. He and his wife paid off about $18K in consumer debt, sold all their belongings, and were able to travel the world for over a year (with their 22-month-old daughter!). With a little hard work, they have been able to achieve some incredible things, and because he’s done it, Baker has become a huge authority in the online personal finance world who shares credible advice that will help you eliminate financial stress in your life.

I’ve known Baker since early on after he started his blog in 2009. Since then, he’s quickly amassed a loyal following, joined forces with some of the biggest forces on the social web (Leo Babauta at Zen Habits, J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly, and the team at WiseBread). He and I partnered together with a great team to start Untemplater, and finally got the chance to meet in person when he visited Thailand in January on his year-long location-independent world tour! I’ve been looking forward to doing a video interview with him for quite a while now, and this week we were finally able to sit down for a great conversation.

Baker just launched his first ebook guide, Unautomate Your Finances: A Simple, Passionate Approach to Money , which lays out his holistic approach to personal finance. I know from interacting with him on a weekly basis that he’s spent the last several months toiling away on this guide, he’s gotten a tremendous amount of positive feedback, and this is something that is sure to transform people’s relationship with money. Watch our video conversation below to see why you should un-automate your finances, how you can build a more conscious, simple, sustainable financial life, and get the scoop about his world travels since freeing himself from debt prison!

Click here for the full video interview.

  • 0:55 – Baker’s college experience, business background & financial history
  • 2:15 – White picket fences & opting out of the template life path
  • 4:54 – Unconventional approaches to eliminating debt
  • 6:45 – Deliberate, effective budgeting
  • 8:13 – How to plan for income fluctuations & irregular expenses when you’re a freelancer
  • 10:20 – Couchsurfing & backpacking through Australia, New Zealand & Thailand
  • 13:38 – Traveling the world with young children
  • 16:07 – More about Baker’s new ebook Unautomate Your Finances
  • 20:36 – Cultivating a conscious mindset about personal finance & money
  • 22:12 – South by Southwest Web Awards & where to find Baker

UPDATE: For more from Baker: check out his Sell Your Crap guide to learn how his family got rid of all their belongings before they went traveling around the world, and how you can sell all your stuff on eBay, Craigslist, and Amazon to make some extra cash. Also, if you want to add a guaranteed $12,000 to your online business over the next 12 months, you might want to grab a seat in his course with Corbett Barr, The Hustle Project. Corbett and Baker are both Faculty members at Digital Nomad Academy, regular recurring mentors for our students inside the Academy, so I can speak personally to the high quality of their coaching.

I’ll be honest: I’m someone who hates to sit down with spreadsheets and budget out my finances. I don’t even like to look at my bank statements every month! With student loans, a lot of random business stuff going on, and the fact that I’m a lazy excuse for a human, my finances are a damn mess, but Baker has developed a product that has fundamentally changed the way I think about money, and he and his wife Courtney are proof that you really can get conscious about how you spend, escape the debt “game” that the rest of the world is stuck in, and start to build the lifestyle you want now! Forget dreaming about retirement, if he and his family can eliminate their debt and go globetrotting, you can get control of your finances and do whatever you dream of doing too.

Here is what you get if you purchase a copy of Baker’s Unautomate Your Finances:

  • A comprehensive 83-page eBook. In “The Unautomation Theory” section, Baker relates his experience climbing out of the debt hole and the way that has transformed his family’s lives. He goes on to explain how to avoid financial burnout and unlock conscious financial awareness by un-automating. In “The Science of Unautomation” he’ll help you take a hard look at your priorities and figure out how to budget for what you really want in life. Lastly, in the “Applying Unautomation” section, he focuses on application, showing you how to actively manage your finances with a simple 2-page minimalist budgeting system and apply his “Debt Tsunami” tactic to rid yourself of debt.
  • A 27-minute video interview with Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net. Baker interviews Leo on how he applied the principles of simplicity and minimalism to dramatically turn around his financial life.  Powerful insights from a leader in simplicity, blogging, and productivity.
  • A 29-minute audio interview with J.D. Roth of GetRichSlowly.org, one of the top personal finance blogs on the web. J.D. joins Baker on a call to discuss his own financial recovery story and what it’s like now that he’s in the “third phase of personal finance“.
  • A 2-page, custom-designed PDF version (printable) of the minimalist budgeting system discussed in the main guide.
  • A simple Excel template for those who want to take the minimalist budgeting system digital.
  • Free Extended Updates! Get on the exclusive email list and over the next 6 months, Baker will be releasing sample case studies, FAQ’s, and exclusive interviews… for free!

At just $17, I honestly thought he was nuts for giving away so much hard work, but it just goes to show how dedicated he is to providing real value and helping those who need financial guidance. This is a truly impressive product that would typically go for at least $39 if you look around at other bloggers online, and it comes with Baker’s “as long as I have a pulse” money-back guarantee. So if you need to learn how to get the best of your personal finances, start an emergency fund, successfully get out of debt, and create a realistic budget that will let you achieve your financial and life goals, then Unautomate Your Finances is definitely something you need to check out.

/10 Comments/by