How to Stop Thinking Small
“You guys have got to weigh in on this debate,” said our friend’s e-mail.
I figured I’d check it out. Awake and chugging coffee early in the morning, I had nothing better to do in my jet lag induced haze here in Italy. Read more 
Three Self-Employment Surprises
It’s time for an update on the under-discussed arm of our NVR life. Work. Read more
Coming Down Inspired
As I write this, we’re barreling west on I-70 National-Park-ing our way back across Utah.
Over the last weeks, we’ve basically ignored work (yikes!), eaten horribly (gasp!) and bustled from pillar to post (tiring!). I mean, one night last weekend we were having champagne and cookies on a gondola and the next we were pretending to be cowboys at a ho-down. Talk about random. Read more
Know What You Do and Do It Well
One of our corporate clients just e-mailed to give us his “highest praise.” He said that he is most pleased because our work is memorable. In a good way. That’s a huge compliment in the competitive consulting/freelancing arena we live in.
It’s also a nice affirmation to receive while we’re on the road and in some tough-to-get-work-done situations. Like now, when we’re on the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Read more
When Things Get Ugly, Commit
I knew it pretty much the second my eyes flew open. Something was off.
That “something” turned out to be the start of the day – it was way off. A work day. More specifically, a Monday that was now starting over two hours later than expected. And the realizations didn’t get any brighter. Moments after my eyes popped open, my brain shifted from “oh no, what time is it” mode to “what do I do to make my head stop hurting and my brain start working” mode. Read more
What Will You Do for $20
We’ll work from anywhere, but we won’t work for anything.
We have to have our standards, right? Read more
Follow Your Own Path
Our moms love us, but they don’t totally get us. Take this conversation from late last week as we were preparing to head into the wilderness… Read more
How To Be Disruptive in Life and Work
I don’t know what gets more of a reaction – telling people we are car free or telling people we aren’t on Facebook (well, actually, weren’t on Facebook).
In truth, those are just a couple of the things, minor things actually, that prompt the crinkled brow in people. We happen to get that befuddled look – the same one people often get when looking at unusual art – a lot. We see it as a good sign because it usually means we’re on the right track. Read more
On Working Virtually – Differentiate Yourself
We can work from anywhere. And do. We’re gearing up for our annual camping extravaganza, so working virtually gets very tricky. We wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Confession. We’ve both had jobs (more than one) that we’ve 1) had no passion for and 2) had no real talent or natural strengths for. We’re smart guys, though, so – like many, many people – we whipped out our “grin-and-bear-it” abilities and performed well despite the duties, if only to go home at night dreading the next day.
Friday evening’s were heaven; Sunday evenings were hell. It felt crappy. Read more
Lessons on Passion and Fanaticism from Travel and Oprah
Last Thursday morning, the upcoming week was looking very ordinary. Our big goal was to bust out a lot of work in order to have things in tip-top condition before taking off for over a month of awesome travel. Easy.
That quickly changed when – on that Thursday afternoon – we got an irresistible offer and decided to bolt down to Los Angeles for a long weekend. It was time to, once again, put on our last-minute-travel-expert hats. Read more
On Working Virtually – Find Your Strengths
Here’s the scene. We’re on a relentlessly rocking ship (see last week’s post), heading across the treacherous Drake Passage as we make our way from Antarctica back to South America and then (finally) home to Seattle. Visiting Antarctica was the capstone experience of this journey, bookending several months of volunteering and exploring in the Southern Hemisphere.
It was now time to head home. Ugh. A blurb from our journal: Read more
Are You Living the Life You Want?
Travel seems like the universal dream; something that nearly everyone wants more of. We regularly get a lot of questions about our travel adventures. Beyond questions about where we’ve been and where we’re going, people always seem to be even more curious about the details of how we constructed our current reality.
We call it a “no vacation required” lifestyle because we strive to live deliberately every day. For us that means a life where we can explore the world, work virtually and give back along the way. One of our primary goals is to inspire people to build there own version of a no vacation required life. Along the way, we’re in turn inspired by people who want to break the mold. Read more
