Don't worry, everything will be OK

I think apologies are in order. No, no, not you to me. I owe YOU an apology.

I thought I was being honest with you

You see, I have always tried to tell you the truth about my life. I have tried not to hold anything back…even my finances.

I thought I was revealing myself through my wit and story craft

By giving you Travel Narratives I thought my personality would shine through when you read about my adventures in far off lands (well far off for you). I worked hard to embarrass myself, or share stories that might get me fired from work, accounts of when I almost died, and even times when I have saved others from dieing.

I thought that you would get updates on my Facebook Page

You see, I started my Facebook Page to help fill in the gaps here in on my website. There is no way I can post every place I visit, every strange thing that pops into my head, or every wonderfully odd picture I take. Trust me, if I posted everything that came into my head you would get overwhelmed and would run for the digital hills.

I thought you weren’t interested in learning more about my life

Sure, you might say your interested, but really you just want to read pretty words, look at beautiful pictures, and discover wild adventures. But it turns out that many of you want to know me better, and that the details of my life abroad are in fact interesting to you. All I can say is:

Thank you and I’m Sorry

Many people believe that saying sorry is a sign of weakness, or that it signals that you were wrong and thus you deserve to be blamed. Many people at work think that saying sorry is a liability. That Evil Bob will use it against you to get ahead, get the higher paycheck and score with the cute secretary. But really, you never had a chance with the cute secretary. Plus all she is interested in is your money so let Bob lose it all while you work on making your life better, happier, and filled with people who love you.

Starting today I’m going to start giving you more personal updates, let you in on the ups and downs of living this kind of lifestyle. I’m actually going to tell WHAT this type of lifestyle is!

Take a Deep Breath and Let’s get Started

A few months ago I offered my advice on how to Manage Uncertainty- Don’t. Instead of freaking out about losing my job at the same time my first son was born, I took a different route. I decided to enjoy and be thankful for what I had, rather than worry about what I didn’t. Many of you are probably wondering how that worked out for me.

Today I’m here to shine some light onto my life for you, and show you what has happened in an incredibly short but eventful 3 months. At the very least you can guess that I still have internet access, but are we homeless, are we able to pay the bills, are we still in Japan mooching off my parent’s in law?

The Baby and Japan

I've been to Japan, Kosovo and Greece! I like to Fart too.

First things first! On June 22nd, 2011 we welcomed Kaito Andrew Yamagiwa Wassel into the world. He is by the far the best thing that has every happened to me in my life. After spending 2 wonderful months living in Japan with him, we moved back to Kosovo (more on that below). He did great on the 11 hour flight from Japan, 4 hour layover, and 2 hour flight from Vienna to Prishtina. Soon we are heading for a family vacation to Greece. That means he’ll have 3 countries under his belt in 3 months…such a good little traveler

Living with your in-laws can be difficult in general. But living with in-laws in a different country and in a different language is especially difficult. Our visit could have turned into a darker Lost in Translation but it didn’t. My Japanese Parents are wonderful people and we all had a great time. It was not all roses and I did get tired of a strict structure of Japanese living. But we managed and learned to find the gems amongst the stress.

At times I had to work, even though I was not getting paid (more about that below). We were exhausted at times due to lack of sleep. Although, in general Kaito is a mild mannered kid who seems happy with his lot in life. I also used the time to see more of Japan and catch up with friends.

Work and Kosovo-Getting Paid to Hike

Not having a source of income and welcoming a new baby to the world can be stressful. Insurance, international flights, and buying expensive baby items can make any worry. Instead of stressing I took action. I worked to finalize the Hiking and Nature Tourism Guide to Dragash, Kosovo. It will be available (right here!) around September 19th. We were always committed to returning to Kosovo even if a job was not waiting. After all, we left our stuff in our apartment and let’s face it, living in Kosovo is MUCH cheaper than living in Japan without a job.

Working for free has paid off and I’m happy to say I’m about to enter into a new contract with the United Nations in Kosovo. The twist is that I’m now blending my travel writing with my peacebuilding work. Sounds impossible…right? I will be taking the hiking guide a step further and will develop a rural tourism and mountain strategy for Dragash, Kosovo. I’ll be working with the UN and the Municipality to develop strategies to increase tourism and protect their natural assets at the same time. Basically, I’ll be getting paid to hike and write. This consultancy is a direct result of this site (ToddsWanderings.com, yes, this little website right here!) and my willingness to take action for free with the guide book.

I will also be helping the UN to manage the change in my old peacebuilding program in Northern Kosovo. If you have been paying attention to news recently this summer has been difficult up there (riots in the North). I’ll be evaluating the past 3 years of work and helping them with raising 11 million dollars (yes, you read that correct) for the program that I co-developed on my last contract.

So, I have “stability” until March 2012. After that I have no idea what will happen. I have plans (yes, you will be hearing about them soon) to take this site to the next level. I’ll need your help as this site is nothing without you. Well, that is not true. It is still something, but it would be a lonely, sad place without your sexy, well traveled, and witty eyes.

It All Works Out in the End

So, what are the lessons you should take away from this post. I’ll be so bold (yes, it is my site) as to offer a few myself, but I’d love to hear your thoughts down in the comments.

1) Don’t worry about what you don’t have and instead focus on what is in hand. You’ll just waste energy that can be used to enjoy what is around you.

2) Work hard on the opportunities you do have. I could have complained about working for free but instead I focused on providing value.

3) If you work hard and are passionate about something you will attract attention and work.

4) Without my website none of this would have been possible.

5) My son is super cute.

6) Everything in life is not as simple as it is sometimes presented on this Blog (due to editorial constraints). My wife and I have been tired, we have fought, we have snapped at each other, I have been stressed by lack work, she has been stress by lack of work etc etc etc. But through it all, everything has worked out in the end.

So, what are your lessons from this adventure? Do things really work out in the end or am I just a biased upper middle class American who had the world handed to him?

Photo Credits: Bowing in Japan, My Son

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Proof it All Works Out in The End is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

Anyone who says you can't have it all is more worried about what they don't have and that you might end up with more than them.

Recently a number of people have written me to ask EXACTLY how I have been able to travel the world for the past 12 years. After reading a friend’s wonderful post explaining in detail how he has traveled for over 10 years as well at Wandering Earl (yes, people with Wandering names have to stick together) I decided to post my own account.

For those of you who don’t know my background, I left the US in 1998 to visit Japan. Coming from a middle class family, it was my first time on an airplane and I was 21 years old! Over 40 countries (I’m sure I’ll forget to mention a few below) and various different jobs later I’m still on the road, now with my wife and my recently born son.

WARNING: This is a long post.  For word nerds, it is exactly 2,382 words long. For time nerds, it will take the average reader 15 minutes to read and 10 more seconds to understand. Proceed carefully as you will not get this time back. You can of course just read the headlines in about 3 minutes if you don’t want to understand anything that I spent so long writing.

For the regular readers out there I thought I had already told you how, especially in:

5 Steps to World Travel and Getting Paid to Do What you Love

or maybe in 3 Strategies to Help you Succeed and Travel the World. Still not convinced that I’m not trying to hide anything, then check out How to Manage Uncertainty—Don’t where I lay out 7 steps to help you travel and live free of worry.

We Want the Dirty Details including Money Money Money…Money!

But I also know that it can be difficult to relate to such a life sitting behind a pile of bills, late payments, and screaming kids demanding your attention.  I was sitting in my hometown bar a few years ago reminiscing with a buddy about the countries he visited me in. A hard drinking, hard working local took exception:

“Who the fuck do you think you are? Stop lying, no one could have been to so many places. What are you 30 years old? [I was 28] Get the fuck outta hea (that’s New Englander for “here”)

My sister was bar tending that night and told him to quite down. Drunk Dave turned quiet, grabbed his beer tighter and just repeated softly “it’s just not possible”.

Well it is possible, but I’ll be honest, it does require a number of sacrifices, leaps of faith, and the ability to go against the collective wisdom of just about everyone you know and love.

I try not to speak too much about money here on Todd’s Wanderings, since I do like to keep some privacy to myself (most of the bad things I have thought and done in my life qualify). But in this post (and probably the only time) I’m willing to open up about my non-blogging finances and show you just how little you really need to travel the world. As you will see, you can do it while heavily in debt, you don’t need nearly as much as you think, and long-term travel doesn’t have to equal abject poverty. In fact, due to lower costs of living, beneficial tax breaks, and a personal desire for simplicity and lack of acquiring “things” I think I have led a higher quality of life outside of the US than I could have if I stayed (wars and bombing raids included).

1998- Study Abroad in Osaka, Japan

In 1998 I was all set to go on my university’s study abroad program to Japan. At the last minute it was canceled as there were only 2 people signed up. Undeterred the two of us created our own program, found a school to enter and arranged everything ourselves. I was a poor collage student, paying for my school all on my own through student loans and scholarship. I had saved roughly $1,000 for extra expenses (yes, I worked during college). That was not nearly enough, but as a first time traveler what the hell did I know.

Luckily, as we organized the whole trip ourselves I had to pay the tuition upon arrival. Japan is a cash society so I carried $12,000 in traveler checks (yeah that is a lot of $100 checks!) with me on the plane. As I flew over the Pacific Ocean for the first time the exchange rates went crazy and when I landed I didn’t need all $12,000 to pay for school and was able to use the savings to live and travel.

I also cashed in a $1,000 in inheritance to pay for the 900 mile, 88 temple walking pilgrimage I went on after school ended. Life has never been the same since.

Counties Visited: Japan and Jamaica (yes, spring break called)

Money Saved: Nope. Maybe your expectations are too high for me.

Balance Sheet: Still sinking in student loan debt

1999-2001 Shiga, Japan- JET Program

I was lucky and graduated university with only $30,000 in debt. Yes, that’s a lot but that is also how much my private university cost per year!

After graduation I got a job as an assistant language teacher with the JET Program in Japan. This was a fantastic first job and I earned roughly $36,000 per year. I got 20 days of paid vacation, left work at 4 pm everyday, and didn’t have to work in the summer time. I spent all of my money traveling around South East Asia, and exploring Japan.

Counties Visited: Japan, Spain, Vietnam, and Thailand

Money Saved: $0

Balance Sheet: Still sinking in student loan debt

2001 Peru, Parent’s Attic, Chiba-Japan- Private English School

After 2 years in Japan I was looking for a change and returned to the US. I didn’t have a job so I moved back in with my parents and lived in my old room. Despite not have much money in savings I headed down to Peru for a few weeks to hike the Inca trail and explore the Andes Mountains.

Deciding it was better to be working abroad than unemployed in the US I found another job teaching in Japan for about $30,000 a year and moved to Chiba (near Tokyo).  Living near Tokyo was tough but I stilled traveled and managed not to save any money. I kept paying the minimum on my student loans and saving money for travel.

Countries Visited: USA, Peru, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and Thailand

Money Saved: $0

Balance Sheet: How long can I keep treading water before I drown?

2002-2004 Shiga, Japan- Elementary School English Teacher

Unfortunately, I had to admit that being broke and living near a big city like Tokyo was just not fun.  So, I called in some contacts and found a new job back in my old area of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Getting back to the Japanese countryside was great as was the return to my JET salary of $36,000 a year.  Money and free time still went to paying for jaunts to South East Asia as well as slow travel around Japan.

Countries Visited: Thailand, Myanmar, South Korea

Money Saved: $9,000

Balance Sheet: Getting smaller. $20,000 still in the hole.

2004-2006 Graduate School in Boston, Thailand and Japan (yes again)

Five years after graduating I was out in the world but making the exact amount of money as when I started. I was also chained to a job and was only able to travel during vacations. Plus, teaching English might be great for some people, but it was decidedly not my passion. It was time to make a change. I got into graduate school for International Relations and moved to Boston.

I visited Japan (yes, an ex-girlfriend) over winter vacation, broke up and then for the summer between year 1 and 2 I got an internship in Thailand. I lived in Bangkok for 2 months, toured the country, visited Cambodia again, and then headed back to Japan for 1 month to walk the Shikoku Pilgrimage again. I paid for it with a $2,000 grant and with a work for shelter and travel agreement with the NGO where I volunteered.

I paid for 2 years of graduate school the only way I could, I took out massive amounts of loans (private and government subsidized), blew through my $9,000, worked part-time, and maxed out credit cards. In the end I decided I would rather live the life I wanted and owe money than be miserable with a mortgage

Countries Visited: USA, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Canada, Las Vegas (trust me it’s like another country)

Money Saved: Ha!

Balance Sheet: took a beating- $100,000 in debt (Credit Cards and Student Loans)

2006 San Francisco, Timor Leste (East Timor)- Intern, Governance and Conflict Consultant

Life is serious business filled with nice hats and big glasses

When you are $100,000 in debt, what is the smart thing to do? I did the opposite and took another internship, this time in the expensive city of San Francisco for 3 months. I was paid exactly $3,000 to keep me alive and slightly breathing. I cobbled together a string of couch surfing and sublet agreements and slept in 5 different houses over the 3 months. I even managed to drive the length of route 1, party in La Jolla for the 4^th of July, and enjoy Big Sur on the way back.

The phone rang one day, 1 week before my contract was up, and I was offered a 1 month assignment in Timor Leste (yes, the number “one” seems to be important here).  I said yes without the slightest hesitation, dropped a bag and flew out a few days later with no intention of returning. I lived in Timor for 6 months, traveled the country, and explored Bali and the rest Indonesia.

Oh, by the way, Timor Leste was when I first created Todd’s Wanderings!

Countries Visited: Timor Leste, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Singapore

Money Saved: Just glad I was able to start eating again

Balance Sheet: Still $100,000 over my head.

2007-2009 Sri Lanka (the civil war years)- Human Rights Advocate

With a few months of experience under my belt in my new profession I followed a girl (now my wife) to Sri Lanka right when the civil war was starting back up. It took me about 3 months to find a job, but I found one, worked my ass off as a human rights advocate, and eventually turned it into a Country Director position. The NGO had no idea that I was going to do that, but it just shows what you can accomplish if you try something new.

During this time we enjoyed the hell out of Sri Lanka and I got to start enjoying traveling for work and adding fun to the end of each trip. It is an amazing thing to get paid to travel! I also set the stage for my debt reduction and retirement savings plan. Read the post How to Manage Uncertainty—Don’t to see my strategies here. Basically, I cashed in some investments and paid off my credit cards, rolled the monthly interest savings into my student loan payments, started saving for retirement, an eventual house, travel, and food when I had a chance.

I started off earning $38,000/year and left making about $47,000 a year. But with no taxes and low cost of living, life was good.

Countries visited: Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Switzerland, England, Japan, Dubai, USA

Money Saved: Probably about $15,000 over 2 years

Balance Sheet: Owed about $89,000. I was beginning to learn to how to swim.

2009-2011 Kosovo- Consultant, Peacebuilding, Rural Tourism

The war finally ended and it was time to move on. We did the only sensible thing and my wife and I packed up and moved the Balkans. She took a job with the UN and I started consulting. When consulting work dried up I landed a job working for the United Nations in the divided town of Mitrovica in Kosovo, and moonlighted pro bono writing a hiking guide to southern Kosovo. Yes, this was the beginning of combining my travel writing with development work.

Let’s just say working for the UN in a non-family duty station (yes, I had my family with me) is very good for the bank account. This part of my life is a bit too fresh to share all the details with you but you’ll get an idea in the overview at the end of this section.

Between the UN, consulting, and having a baby boy in Japan I did quite a bit of traveling these 2 years. I am also a firm believer in saving money when it is available so I kept my normal lifestyle and socked the savings into paying off debt, saving for a house and…you guessed it… traveling.

Countries visited: Singapore, Timor Leste, Sri Lanka, Austria, Kosovo, Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, England, Netherlands, Jordan, USA, Japan, Maldives, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Italy

Money Saved: $40,000

Balance Sheet: Owed about $56,000 in student loans. All private loans with high interest rates have been paid off, I never carry credit card debt, and the rest of the loans are at a low 3.25% interest so they get the minimum payment for life and the savings will go into investments.

You don’t have to be rich, or poor, to Travel the World

I don’t expect you to run out and mirror my life. But I hope that you realize that traveling the world is a decision that you have to continually make. Sometimes you will have money, other times you won’t. That is the nature of having a freer life. But it can be done. I’m still doing it, my wife is doing it with me, and now our son has joined the party. Besides the travel aspect we are doing the type of work we love and getting paid for it.

In terms of my blogging money I earn about $1,000 or more a month. Most of this goes back into the business in one form or another. I have plans to implement a new strategy that will hopefully expand this income but even if it doesn’t I’m quite happy with it and the additional security it brings me and my family. My goals for my website and writing endeavors are to provide for my family when we don’t have other jobs, eventually replace our current income, and continue to prove we can get paid to do the things we love.

Never underestimate the value of living in a cheap country, or following your dreams!

What are your secrets for traveling the world?

How I Paid for 12 Years of Continuous Travel is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

What? I can still use churches and clouds for non inspirational posts...right...

When life kicks you in the teeth, smile back. When life gives you a present, good or bad, say thank you. When life changes, accept it as the one rule in life that never changes, things change. This is not meant to be an inspirational post, if it gets wishy washy then I give you permission to click away, shut down your computer, and walk away. Actually, if it’s a nice day out, go ahead and take a walk now, I’ll still be here when you get back.

Things change. Life changes. We change. Our significant others change, our family changes. Jobs come and go. You get the point. But how do we manage all this change? Uh, er, did you read the title? We don’t manage the change, we should just accept it, adapt to it, and move on. I know, easier said than done. But if nothing else, the past 12 years living, traveling the world, and working has taught me it’s a waste of energy to bemoan change.

Child on the Way- I’m Unemployed

But Todd, you have a great life, what do you have to worry about? Well, nothing really. Didn’t you just read my last paragraph? I’m a big fan of giving advice ONLY when I live that advice myself. In the next one month I will be leaving my dream job, having my first child, and will be moving in with my in-laws in Japan. Does my life still sound sexy?

First the job. My contract is up and there is no more money in the project to pay for me. I will miss my job. I loved working for the United Nations in Northern Kosovo. But instead of wishing things were different, I’m working my ass off to leave the project with what it needs to survive after I leave. I want it and the people there to succeed. I’m grateful for the past year, would never change a thing, and will bring the experience from this job forward with me to whatever I do next.

Sometimes you have no choice but take a different road.

Towards the end of June my wife will deliver our first son. Instead of being worried about being unemployed at the same time I become a Dad I’m looking forward to it. I will have 2 months of NOT working to spend with my wife and new child. Who gets that? Not many people. Sure, it requires some sacrifices, like moving in with my wife’s parents, living in a small room with the three of us etc etc. But the rewards are so much better. Two months not worrying about work, living in Japan, being close to family. Amazing.

Don’t be Lazy

Being calm, thankful, and hopeful is not the same thing as being lazy. I’m looking for new jobs. I might have some consulting work coming up that combines my development work with my travel and tourism work. If it works out great, if it doesn’t, something else will.

I’ll use my 2 months off to finish my Shikoku Pilgrimage Book, work further on my blog here, and continue to push my quest for world domination. I’ve worked hard to get to this point in my life: unemployment, wife, kid, no house, no mortgage, savings (yes, that helps not being stressed), amazing friends who understand and support me, and a singular desire to get paid to see what is around the next corner.

Now What?

Great, you have filled my head with ideas of happiness, joy, and fulfillment, but what next? I still don’t have a job, I still have responsibilities, I have bills. Well, life is about making the most of your time RIGHT NOW. I’m sitting here on a Sunday Morning, the sun shining, a cup of coffee (OK ten cups later), writing this post. I’m taking action. I’m reveling in my change, enjoying it, sharing it. I could be sitting on the couch, watching TV, doing nothing. But I’m not. Here is my secret boiled down into 7 steps that range from personal finance to career development. This helps me not only manage the risks of NOT managing change, but it ensures I have the space to enjoy the change:

1) Never Carry Credit Card Debt. I know this sounds easier than it is but it is a fact that you are paying more for what you buy today with credit due to the interest fees. If you have credit card debt, make it a priority to pay it off. Once you pay it off take the money you were paying each month and apply it to another fund (more on this below). Pay off your credit card bill before the end of each month. This way you get the convenience of a credit card without having to pay for it.

2) Make a monthly budget. Cut up your expenses, savings, and discretionary funds. Start with bills, then see what is left for savings (retirement, house, emergency fund etc) and then put the rest into your passions.

3) Establish an Emergency Fund. If you are worried about losing your job and paying the bills than this is a must. Try to have at least 2 months of expenses in the fund but build it up to 1 year. Because you followed point 2, you know exactly how much you need each month to survive.

4) Establish a passion fund. Life is not about squeaking by. You need to ENJOY life. As you know, I love to travel and it would be easy to blow all of my money on traveling. Instead I put a dedicated amount of money aside each month for travel. This keeps me sane and means I don’t go overboard. Last year I only visited 16 countries…This year I’m on 4 so far…

5) Keep things balanced. I paid/saved what I could when I was younger, and as my salary has increased I have made the necessary increases to my funds. Most of my extra money goes to savings and paying off student loans.

6) Always think a few steps ahead. My job is ending now, but I take something valuable from each job to help me get the next. Be strategic and always look at upgrading your skills, knowledge and understanding.

7) Do things for free. If you love something and have a passion for it, do it. I just recently managed a free Lonely Planet Book and I’m working on a free hiking guide to Dragash, Kosovo. Both have led to new opportunities and I don’t regret any of the free time I spent.

Yes, it’s that simple

I know you are thinking that I’m the exception, that these are just general ideas, and it can’t possibly be you. I have been living and working abroad for the past 12 years, and I wish I had started these from the beginning. I didn’t get my finances in order until I made a plan 4 years ago. I left college and moved to Japan in 1999 with $30,000 in student loan debt. I graduated from Graduate School in 2006 and moved to East Timor with $110,000 in student debt. I have a wife, a kid on the way and I’m about to be unemployed. Life is what you make of it, and what you tell yourself it is. I can’t wait to see what’s around the next corner!

Question: How do you deal with Uncertainty and Change?

How to Manage Uncertainty- Don’t is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

This is where I grew up...It is possible to live and work in beautiful places.

It’s difficult to imagine our perfect life. It is surprisingly harder than one would think at first. If you had the chance, could you do it? Could you design your perfect life? Lifestyle Design is a term created by Tim Ferris in his wildly popular The 4 Hour Work Week. I had never actually heard any about the Lifestyle Design World when I started blogging here at Todd’s Wanderings, even though I had already Designed my perfect life. The funny thing about designing your perfect life, is that it’s a non stop process, you are never done.

Freedom of  Time and Freedom of Location

I came to the conclusion during my Shikoku Pilgrimage that my ideal life was one of freedom, where I was free to engage in my passions, and following my interests. That led me to San Francisco, then Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka and currently Kosovo. I love my job as a conflict resolution and development worker. But I’m also now finding my passion in writing, blogging, and general entrepreneurship. I’ve decided that I want an even higher level of freedom than I currently have. I want to keep working in development but I want to be free to choose the projects and my hours. I had a taste of this before I took my current job, when I was consulting. I’ve also decided that I want freedom of location. I want to be free to live anywhere I want, to reside in Bali, visit my wife’s family in Japan, and spend extended amounts of time with my family in the US.

I could live here a few months every year!

Impossible you say? Only the rich could afford such a life? I disagree. True, it takes more financial freedom than most people enjoy, but it’s not impossible. Nothing is impossible. Well that’s not true, it would be impossible for me to listen to Lady Gaga for 24 hours straight.

Do What you Love

Many people assume that my current lifestyle is impossible. It’s not, and I’m living proof. I also like to take my own advice that we should Do What we Love and Love What we Do. I’m planning a manifesto on this concept that I will share with you in the near future. The overriding message is that you should be doing things in life that energize you and that fulfill you. But at times, on our road to our perfect life, we are sometimes forced to spend time doing things that are less than ideal. Even when were a this stage we can find something to love about our work and thus learn to be happy no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

My Secret Logical Weapon in Lifestyle Design

Last week my wife and I were dreaming about where we would go after Kosovo. This got us thinking about our perfect life, where we would like to live and  what we would like to do. Defining your ideal life is a powerful thing, because once you glimpse it, its difficult to let it go. As I thought more and more about my ideal life (yes, I will tell you what it is soon), I realized I had the tool to plan it all out.

In International Development we plan programs to change the way society interacts, to increase employment, to bolster the rule of law, and to convince waring parties to move to peace. This requires not only sophisticated levels of planning, but also ways to measure the impact of our work, or how we can prove that we were successful. To plan, and to evaluate we use something called a logical framework (one of the most hated and misunderstood tools in development!).

I’m a program designer and manager, it should be easy to use the same skills in designing my own ideal life.

Logical Frameworks and Designing your Life

Numerous books have been written on logical frameworks and how to use them correctly in development. However, I may be the first person to adapt this tool to the planning of our own lives (no, I have not even tried to research if I am or not). The concept is straight forward and the framework helps us to break down complex social engineering into…well…logical steps that are connected to each other. The progression builds from Actions (the things we do) to Outcomes (the things that result from the actions) to Goals (the ultimate thing we want). Each step is verifiable by Indicators that help us to know when we have achieved something.

Step 1- Define your ultimate Goal. What do you want to achieve? What is your perfect life?

Step 2- Define the Outcomes that allow you to reach your goal. What are the components in your life that will let you live the life you set out in the Goal above.

Step 3- Define the Actions needed to achieve each Outcome.

The important thing about planning with the Logical Framework is that you start from the top, from your ultimate goal, and then design the steps that lead there. Often in life we start at the actions, doing something just because it’s what we know, or is easy. By flipping the design process around we can more clearly see the steps we need to take.

Step 4- Include Indicators that prove you accomplished each step above. For the actions, it is a simple as where they done or not. For Outcomes it is a bit more tricky. If your Outcome is “work for myself” the indicator might be “Business registered, and earning x% of income per year.” The indicators for your ultimate Goal can be even more difficult to measure. But if your Goal is to Travel the World you indicator might be “X number of countries visited”.

So What is my Perfect Lifestyle?

If you read the first few paragraphs, and didn’t just skip down to the pretty diagram you’ll know that I want freedom of time and freedom of location that involves the ability to write, blog, be an unconventional businessman, and to continue with my development and conflict resolution career. Sounds greedy doesn’t it

Here is a simplified version of what I created for myself. The Goals and Outcomes are the originals but the Actions have been simplified to fit into the post!

This is a simplified version of a Logical Framework. But this is exactly what I have design for myself.

If you want to design your own Lifestyle you can download my Lifestyle Design Logical Framework Template. If you like this approach or find it useful, a huge thanks in advance for sharing, linking on facebook, tweeting or applying any other type of social media magic.

These are my plans. Want to bet if I will make them happen? Uh? I’m confident that I can. The hardest step in determining your perfect life is not designing the actions. It’s finding out where you want to end up, and knowing that once you get there you might like to walk someplace else  in the future.

What are your goals? Where do you want to be? Let us know what your plans are!

Photo Credit 1, 2

Lifestyle Design the Logical Way is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

I bought it today

This is a very different post than I normally write. I was planning to write about my new website that I’m about to launch called the Travel Blog Challenge, along with the 1000-1000 Blog Challenge experiment. But since the website and the challenge are geared toward helping all us wayward travel bloggers gain more visitors and earn more from our websites I decided I needed to let you know about a great sale going on that lasts only 72 hours (well 48 hours as of time of posting, it ends at 10am EST on December 2).  I’ll write about the Challenge next post.

OK, so basically there is a huge sale where you can buy 23 Business Courses and Ebooks for only $97 that would normally cost $1,052 if you bought them separately. I’m usually skeptical about these types of things and I passed over the links to this for the past day thinking it was all spam. But it turns out the the books and courses are actually very good,  by a number of people I follow regularly and I own a couple already.

They are aimed teaching you how to create an online businesses and helping you earn money from your websites. so you can live anywhere. Just getting Chis Guilebeau’s Guide to Working for Yourself and Corbett Barr’s Guide to Ethical Affiliate Marketing is worth the price. I have both already but decided I wanted to read the others too, especially since I’m trying to build the business side of my blogging.

[Update: I just learned that a portion of each sale goes to building a well in Ethiopia through Charity:Water. Very Cool!]

No hard sell here, just wanted to give you the heads up that this deal is on. I bought mine today and will spend the next few months happily reading through everything. If you want to get the books you can find out more information here. If you want some more information here is a quick rundown of what they are offering. By the way, if you like Todd’s Wanderings you will probably also love Chris Guillebeau’s site on Unconventional Strategies for Work, Travel and Life:

Unconventional Guide to Working For Yourself by Chris Guillebeau ($79)

• Unconventional Guide to Working For Yourself (53-page PDF)
• 3 25-minute of audio teaching sessions
• SEO Report (26-page PDF)

The Essential Motivation Handbook by Leo Babauta & Eric Hamm ($15)

• The Essential Motivation Handbook (PDF)

True Strengths + The Metrics of Ease by Danielle LaPorte ($20)

• True Strengths + The Metrics of Ease – Sample Chapter from the Fire Starter Sessions (PDF)
• Video:  The Metrics of Ease
• Video:  The Merits of Self-Centered
• Worksheet:  Passion Play
• Worksheet:  Very Strong Priorities

Upsell 101 by Naomi Dunford & Dave Navarro ($77)

• Normally only available to buyers of How to Launch the S*%& Out of Your eBook
• 78-minute audio coaching session
• 11 Upsell Worksheets (PDF & DOC)

Websites That Sell Webinar by Laura Roeder ($47)

• Normally available only to buyers of Zero to Website course
• Special access to 1-hour Webinar

Guest Posting Guide by Chris Garrett ($17)

• Special access to Guest Posting Info membership site
• Downloadable Guest Posting Workbook (PDF)
• “Kick start” video
• Guest posting checklist and flowchart

3-Day Money by David Risley ($47)

• 14 Video presentations (2.5+ hours)
• Full written transcripts for each lesson (PDF)
• Audio files for each lesson (MP3)
• Step-by-step Worksheet

Email Triage + 2011 Premium Planners by Charlie Gilkey ($32)

• Email Triage (PDF)
• Guided Audio Program (MP3)
• 2011 Premium Action Planners
• 2011 Premium Freelancer Planners
• 2011 Premium Blog Planners

Location Independent Lifestyle Guide by Lea Woodward ($37)

• Location Independent Lifestyle Guide – 2nd Edition (82-page PDF)
• Do-It-Yourself Design & Branding Guide for Bootstrapping Businesses (78-page PDF)

Zero to Business by Johnny B. Truant

• Special membership to full Zero to Business course
• 30+ screen-capture tutorial videos
• Step-by-step screenshot technical instruction

Write for the Web + Beyond Bricks and Mortar by James Chartrand ($54)

• Write for the Web (89-page PDF)
• Beyond Bricks and Mortar (47-page PDF)

Tired of reading? You can Click here to buy the package

Reclaim Your Dreams by Jonathan Mead ($47)

• Reclaim Your Dreams – “Everything Package” (70-page PDF)
• “I’m Serious About Action” Worksheets

How to Live Anywhere by Karol Gajda ($97)

• How to Live Anywhere – Long Haul Edition (58-Page PDF)
• Anatomy of a 4 Figure Affiliate Promotion (PDF)
• 10 Audio Interviews (MP3)
• How To Live Anywhere Audio Series (8 MP3s)
• “Create Freedom” Teleseminar (Video)

Minimalist Business by Everett Bogue ($47)

• Minimalist Business – Upgraded “Minimalist Plan” Version (PDF)
• 30-Day Quick Start Guide

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners by Corbett Barr ($77)

• Special access to Affiliate Marketing for Beginners – “Complete Course”
• 5 Core Teaching Modules
• 21 Affiliate Lessons
• 2 Profitable Case Studies

Beyond Blogging by Nathan Hangen ($47)

• Beyond Blogging (200-page PDF)
• 15 Blogger Case Studies
• “100k Blueprint” Summary

Smalltopia by Tammy Strobel ($27)

• Smalltopia: A Practical Guide to Working for Yourself (156-page PDF)

Guest Post Secrets by Erica Douglass ($77)

• Special access to Guest Post Secret membership site
• 3 core Guest Post training videos
• Full transcripts for each video (PDF)
• Email Scripts
• Bonus Videos: Online Workshop Recording & How to Deal with Rejection

How to Network Fast by Jade Craven ($44)

• The Guest Posting Mini-Guide (PDF)
• The Twitter Mini-Guide (PDF)
• The Blog Commenting Mini-Guide (PDF)
• The Affiliate Mini-Guide (PDF)

Networking Awesomely by Colin Wright ($20)

• Networking Awesomely (PDF)

Article Marketing Traffic Booster by Henri Junttila ($47)

• Article Marketing Traffic Booster (110 -page PDF)
• 6 How-to Videos
• Bonus Audio Affiliate Interview
• 3 Content Worksheets

Yup, that’s a lot of information

There it is. 23 products worth $1,052 for only $97 if you Buy Now before 10am EST on December 2:

Click here to purchase the package

*Now for the small print. If you buy the package then Todd’s Wanderings gets a cut of the sales and we get to keep the lights on for a little while longer and the heat going for the winter. Like everything else on this site I would never recommend it if I didn’t a) buy it myself and b) think it is a good deal or incredibly useful to you.

Want a location independent life? 23 ebooks and courses to help you is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

I don’t do this often enough. Usually I’m tooting my own horn, or at least the horn of a destination or event. Today is a day to give back, to highlight 6 of my favorite travel bloggers. Each of these writers has inspired me and my development of Todd’s Wanderings in a different way. I’m also proud to call them my friends. Well, friends that I’ve never met face to face. But friends that I talk to more often than my friends back home thanks to the addictive power of twitter, facebook and RSS feeds.

OK, OK, friends might be too strong a word, but what else do you call an obsessive compulsion to read everything about someone on the internet, check out where they are day in and day out, and spy on their conversations with others in the bushes of a comment box? For those of you humming “Stalker” to yourselves, pipe down, and take a walk…but not before checking out these fantastic wandering word smiths who have a wonderful zeal for life and freedom.

Warning: you won’t be able to read through these sites without being infected by wanderlust.

Wandering Earl

I can’t say enough about Earl and his thoughtful blog Wandering Earl. We have a strangely similar life as Earl has been on the road for over 10 years as well. He writes with a sense of purpose and timing that makes you desperate to get to the end of his articles but sad when you do. One post you will love is The Day US Customs Found a Bullet in My Pocket. Earl makes his living as he goes along, through is blog and recently his fist e-book. If you’re looking to earn money and travel, Earl, a 5 year veteran of the cruise ship industry, gives you the lowdown on How to Get a Job on a Cruise Ship.

Runaway Juno

Where do I even begin to start with Juno? The creator of Runaway Juno, she is by far one of the nicest travel bloggers, or human beings, that you will ever meet. She was one of my first friends on twitter (yes, I tweet!!) and has shown nothing but enthusiasm for Todd’s Wanderings, my life, and my love of strong drinks. She has a wit and charm about her that you just can’t fake and amazingly it comes through loud and clear in her writing.

Want to find out how beloved she is by the online travel world? Just take a peek into her Juno-go-round, a round the world trip based solely on her hoards of twitter friends.

The Planet D

As Canada’s self proclaimed, but no less true, adventure couple, Dave and Deb are on an amazing journey to make a living out of travel, blogging, and promotion. This power couple and authors of The Planet D are friendly, warm, extremely productive, and are proof positive that travel blogging can be a career. Between Dave’s amazing photography and Deb’s insightful prose you’ll discover a whole new world of not only travel but also what it takes to run a full time blog.

I draw a ton of inspiration from these two. If you don’t believe me go check them out. At the moment they’re in Fiji on a press trip enjoying adventure sports (and I’m sure a nice cocktail or two) on the tourism department’s dime. Go on, join them for Fiji Waterfall Fun.

y Travel Blog

Caz and Craig are another traveling blogging couple and the brains and brawn behind the widely popular y Travel Blog. I’ll let you decide which is which! I’m running out of adjectives and superlatives to describe everyone so I’ll just give you the honest lowdown. Caz and Craig have been on the road for over 10 years and share a wealth of advice, tips and strategies for traveling the world. Helpful, considerate and focused on community are just a few of the things anyone would say about them. They are particularly good at engaging with their readers so be warned, you might spend a few hours on their site once you meet these nice travelers.

Go ahead, jump into their lives and brains a bit with their thoughtful post A Curious Case of Living.

Hole in the Donut Travels

If you’re looking for descriptive, riveting writing about far flung cultures around the world than Barbara and Hole in the Donut is for you. Barbara quit her successful but unsatisfying 70 hour per week job to travel the world and capture different cultures in writing and photography. She currently spends 10 months of the year on the road and the other 2 back in the US dreaming and plotting her next steps. Despite having a hectic travel schedule and successful blog (i.e. lots of time spent responding to her hoards of fans) she has always found time to write me and give encouragement. She is living proof that a travel writing career is possible, that it’s rewarding, and that she probably spends more than 70 hours a week working…but at least it’s fun

Follow on her most recent adventure searching for Wild Rhinos in Nepal.

Trail of Ants

Ant Stone is by far one of the most elegant writers in the travel blogging community. Trail of Ants is full of wit, irony and a dash or possibly even a splash of genuine insight. I have to admit that I don’t know Ant nearly was well as the others above, but this is more to do with my own shyness. Being grammatically challenged and possessing a mere five shooter of vocabulary, the machine gun efficiency of Ant’s literary minded prose intimidates me. But I’ll do my best to describe him in a manner befitting his awesomeness.

His writing is nothing short of great and his blog is simply incredible. Each time I visit I find another stunning photograph or insight that I’m sure everyone would agree is just about the best thing they saw on the internet that week. His writing is so unbelievable. I nearly died the first time I read his amazing prose. Not only is it awesome, but its really cheap too, I mean you don’t even have to pay anything to be a part of the millions of readers who follow this expert travel writer.

If you are still with me and wondering why I just threw up all over your screen you’ll enjoy reading Ant’s post on 10 of the Most Misused Words in Travel Blogs. Please don’t search for them on Todd’s Wanderings as I’m afraid you will overload the system with all of the results.

Have other travel blogs you love, leave a comment and share them with the world. Or at least my Mom…I think she still reads my writings.

6 Amazing Travel Bloggers is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

(Warning: there are no pretty pictures in this post. You’ve been getting distracted too easily recently and this is important)

Shhhhhh, come closer. I have a secret. Many of you may think you know me through my blog. I try to be open, transparent and honest about my life on the road.  But I still have secrets. Recently people have begun to associate me with the recent trend of travel and lifestyle bloggers who have dumped their corporate world and stifling cubical for the freedom of the open road.  It’s a compelling story, a dream of millions. It tugs at the emotional triggers of the reader for a life of endless beach cocktails, far away romances, and awe inspiring moments as you stand in center of a 10,000 year old monument, feel the ancient dirt shift between your feet, breath in the scent of accumulated history and finally make a real connection to the ramblings of Mrs. Garret, your elementary school ancient civilizations teacher. See, that was such a wonderful image you probably didn’t even realize how long that last sentence was!

So what is my Secret?

It’s a big secret. It might even change the way you view me and Todd’s Wanderings. It could shatter the growing mythology that surrounds my lifestyle and blog (well maybe my egotistical long term travel blogger head could use a quick deflation anyway).

One thing is for sure, it will shatter the image that only the rich travel. It will shatter the image that you need to save tens of thousands of dollars to travel the world.

OK, here is my big secret. The one I’ve been afraid to reveal to you. The truth is…

I didn’t ditch a 9-5 corporate job. I didn’t decide one day to be brave and cast away the life I had built until that point, sell all my possessions and hit the road. I’m NOT a corporate escapee.

This would be impossible for me. The truth is: I never had that life to begin with! There never was any cubical. I never acquired any possessions, house, cat, dog (although I really really want one). I’m just a regular guy.

What did I do?

I made the simple choice to see the world before I got bogged down by a career. Right after college I left the US and moved to Japan were I worked as a teacher for 5 years. I spent every minute of free time, and the money I earned each month, to explore Japan and Asia. I didn’t save a dime and I made the most of my time. (Catchy, I know.)

I changed jobs often, and lived in different parts of Japan. I never allowed myself to settle down and get into a routine. I didn’t want a career as an English teacher but it served its purpose of allowing me (even with my college loan debts, still have them by the way) to travel, live and work in other countries.

When I became bored with teaching, when I felt that itch in my soul that I needed a change I simply did it…I changed. I went to graduate school and started my life as an international development worker. This has allowed me to travel even more of the world, for both work and fun. Again, I change jobs often. I pick projects and causes that I believe in. I try to integrate my passions with my work so that they blend naturally together.

I will write more about what exactly I do in future posts, and will explain how development work is one option to help you see the world in an upcoming guest post.

So what’s the point? I thought I was getting a silver bullet to fund my world travel!

Everyone is different, everyone has a different story. Everyone can find a unique way to travel and experience the world. Many people have assumed that I saved a lot of money to fund my travels, that I did an around-the-world-trip and loved it so much that I continued traveling. Others assume that I have a location independent lifestyle and business that allows me to volunteer for great projects and sip cocktails on the beach.

Still others have assumed that I ditched corporate life and started traveling using my story as my hook to earn money (and millions in stock options). Nope, not true, any of it, especially the sipping part. I like gulping.

The truth is I found a job and left home, found another job and left home, left home and then found a job, quit my job and left home and then found another job. I’m three months into my current job and already thinking about my next country and next job. I’ve been working my way around the world, living a lifestyle of freedom and choice from the very beginning. That was 11 years ago. I’m still doing it and so can you. You don’t have to have the same story as others, or me. It’s better if you don’t.

The whole point of striking out and discovering the world is that you discover your own path and create your own story. The more you follow the path of others the more crowded the path will become, the less benefit you receive.

So how do you do it? You said there would be Steps!

Well, that’s up to you. Seriously, didn’t you read the point of this article! But I did promise steps. So here is a framework to work off of based on my own experience. This is how I not only funded my travels  but learned to get paid for doing what I love. Hopefully it will lead to something equally unique for you:

Step 1: Find a Job Abroad

-Pick a country you like, find a job that you might like and go

Step 2: Travel, travel, travel some more

Step 3: Do things that make you happy, hobbies, learning whatever. Do it all. Volunteer your time. Don’t worry about getting paid except for your regular job.

Step 4: Listen to your heart and change something when you are not happy or satisfied.

-Change your job, change your country. Just move, do something new.

Step 5: With each change, with each new job make it closer to what you would do for free.

-ALWAYS take something you love, a skill from each job to apply to your next step.

Finding what we want to be when we grow up is a process. But it’s one that can be combined with world travel without saving money for one big trip. Tailor your job to your interests and just go. Yes, it takes work. Yes it takes preparation. Yes, you’ll run about of money at times. But if you keep with it experiences will pile on each other and eventually you’ll succeed. Hopefully, you’ll find yourself in a wonderful place of loving your job, being able to travel the world, and getting paid to help others and be creative. It’s a wonderful feeling, trust me, I know.

Go ahead, push back. Tell me what you think or ask questions and advice on how to make it happen.

5 Steps to World Travel and Getting Paid to Do What You Love is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

The Happiness Chart

The Lifestyle Strategies section is all about helping you find your perfect life, showing you there are alternatives to what everyone else implies life should be (no one says it out loud). Being happy is probably the most important measure of a perfect life. If we don’t love what we’re doing, who we spend our hours, days, minutes with, how can we expect to treat others well or help make the world a little better?

May people have told me to grow up, stop being so naïve. Life is harsh, it sucks sometimes and you have to just bear it and move on. True, but move on to what? You also have a choice to work hard to not fall into a pattern you’re not happy with. It may sound selfish but our own happiness is the most important thing. Without it how can we hope to spread more happiness? It’s like when an airplane loses cabin pressure and you’re told to put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. (Morbid example, I know.)

Life can get complicated. Responsibilities and societal norms can pull us in all sorts of different directions, twisting us until we feel trapped. It’s our own responsibility to build a life we love, to be happy with our decisions and where we are heading. Life changes often, something new always comes along, both positive and negative. We don’t always have a choice to control these changes, but we do have control over how we deal with them.

I hope you enjoy my Happiness Chart. I’m getting back off my little soap box now. I’m writing this while I’m sitting on a patio looking out over the Slovenian Alps and Bohinj Lake. I’m pretty happy with my life. So I know it’s possible.

What changes are you making to increase your happiness? Share your strategies and plans.

Disclaimer: I bet you didn’t know that Happiness needs a disclaimer. I know this is not for everyone. It’s not meant to be preachy. If you’re happy, love life, love where you are, great, keep it up. This is for those who feel out of step, like they are missing their purpose in life. I used to be one of them. I meet a lot of more through this blog who need encouragement to break free of what they have been told they’re supposed to be.

The Happiness Chart (psst It’s really simple) is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

I know, it seems rather intuitive and obvious. On the surface it may be. After all why would we do things that don’t make us happy. But I meet a surprising number of people who aren’t happy. Some people think that travel is the answer to their happiness. Other people think settling down, having a steady job and a house will make them happy. Others think making an extra $1,000 USD a month will allow them breathing room to feel happy. If you are already happy with your life this post may not be for you. Then again you will be happy enough to continue reading as well

Last week a collective atomic bomb was dropped on the travel blogging and lifestyle design community. I consider myself a part of both, and yes there really is a Lifetyle Design sector (although I use Lifestyle Strategies). The bomb was released by Gadling in this post On long-term travel, snobbery & judgmental blogging. It was amazing to see the swaths of destructive energy that rampaged from over 90 comments to this not so innocent post. What was even more surprising was from whom the comments originated…cool, enlightened travelers from both side of alleged divide (long term travelers vs everyone else). At issue was basically sensitivity around perceived judgments of any one particular lifestyle choice and what travel means in each context. Yup,you guessed it, that old fight and snobbery over “traveler vs tourist” just on a cracked out Blogging level.

The bickering, attacks, childishness and some very well reasoned calls for tolerance, made me think about how I express my life here on Todd’s Wanderings. And in particular, a recent interview I gave on Andy Hayes’ site Sharing Travel Experiences. In fact the interview was published the same day the atomic bomb exploded over at Gadling. If not for the timing I’m sure my interview would have gone viral, but as we know contentious issues trump cute puppies any day (tongue in cheek, please put the pitch forks down, I don’t really think I am as cute as a puppy).

Andy picked up on one of my themes in the interview and called it Organize Your Life in a Way that Makes You Happy. Putting two and two together I started to think about travel and happiness, having a ton of free time on my hands besides work, two book projects, running a blog and pretending to be a good guy. Sometimes we attach too much emphasis to this magical word “travel”. Travel is all about adventure, new experiences, meeting new and exciting people, expanding our minds and tolerance through practical experiences.  But, travel is also real life and has its fair share of disasters, flat tires, lack of water, getting lost, feeling lonely, and being miserable. Travel is fun. Sometimes travel blows.

Travel is a tool. And like most tools it up to us how we will use it. It gives us a chance to step outside of our daily lives and examine what is and is not important. If we hate our jobs, travel is not going to cure it if our lives are organized in a way where we return eventually to the job we hate. Likewise, if we are not satisfied with our lives, escaping on vacation is just that, a temporary escape. If we are happy with our lives, travel, work etc becomes an expression of that happiness. A necessary part of what makes us happy throughout our lives.

Before you ascribe some magical meaning and power to “travel” I would suggest you look at why you want to travel. How do you want to organize your life so that you are happy, content, and excited about what you are doing. If travel is a part of that, or the freedom to travel, then it won’t matter how you travel, long-term, short-term,  Solo Travel, backpacking, flashpacking, whatever. You will be happy with your choices, and be able to change things when you are no longer happy with them. Of course sometimes it takes travel, and the new experiences it brings to make us realize we need a systematic change in our lives. This is what happened with me, but I would never presume that others need to follow exactly what I did to discover what makes them happy. But some people may benefit and I firmly believe that travel can help in discovering what makes one happy. But I could care less about defining what “travel” is besides going out your front door.

So, to sum up. Do what you love, and love what you do. I believe travel is a powerful tool to figuring out exactly what you love to do, but “travel” does not have to be the end result. More later on how I figured my own happiness out and the planning tool that got me started.

What do you think? Was Gadling spot on, am I full of it? Share your thoughts, ideas, criticisms, and praises below!

Use Travel to Make You Happy is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

Instead of highlighting a Travel Photo this Friday I’ve decided to do something completely new, I want to highlight YOU. I can talk about myself and my travels forever, well at least I have been doing it for the past three years. Now it’s time to hear from each of YOU and to start getting to know each other. This is the first Blog Party (think Block Party without the pony and clowns) here on Todd’s Wanderings, with hopefully many more to come in the future.

Note, this idea comes from my friend and fellow writer Alexis Grant over at The Traveling Writer. Please do go and check her site out.

So, what is a Blog Party?

That’s a great question! Basically it’s a chance to tell us who you are, what you do, and where we can find you. It’s a way for us to meet each other, discover areas where we connect, learn new perspectives on life, travel, doing good, or whatever.

What you need to do.

Wait! Don’t go, I promise, no heavy lifting. Just introduce yourself with your name, what you do in life (ie how you travel, what you’re passionate about, favorite oatmeal flavor…), and any projects you’re working on at the moment. Now for the self-promotion part: leave your blog address and twitter name (use http:// so the link comes through) so that we can all find you again, if you have them that is.

I’m looking forward to learning more about you. Don’t be shy, and feel free to respond to each other in your comments or even post something up on Todd’s Wanderings Facebook Page.

I’ll go first by giving you all a peak into what is going on with me at the moment. 1) Just started a new job with the United Nations focusing on Community Stabilization; 2) I’m working on a ebook through Lonely Planet (yeah you read that correct) with 40 other travel bloggers. More on this soon but let’s just say I am super excited about it; 3) I’m going camping this weekend in Southern Kosovo for fun and as a part of a Hiking Guide to Dragash that I’m helping to put together; 4) and I am not writing enough for my own Travel Book on hiking the 88 Temple Shikoku Pilgrimage Japan (it’s a bit more involved than just that as I struggle with societies expectations to settle down and explore Japanese crazy dichotomy between conformity and extremes).

It’s as simple as that, although feel free to skip the list and describe in detail. You can find me on twitter at http://twitter.com/toddwassel An for the record I like Apple Cinnamon.

Enough about ME let’s talk about You! is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

Recently I’ve seen a movement towards people trying to become travel writers so that they can travel. Sounds reasonable. They have a dreamy ideal of hitting the road on a company’s dime (or a hundred dollars, if you factor in compound inflation since the term was first coined), rafting down rivers, eating French cuisine in France,  bushwhacking through cultural backwaters, and writing about it all in just a few hours of work.

When I left home eleven years ago I had my own dream. I wanted to be “That Guy.” You know, that guy who can land anywhere in the world and make a living. That guy who is creative, resourceful and good with his hands (yes, he’s shockingly handsome too). I’m talking about a mix of Macgyver, without the mullet, and Liam Neeson’s character in Taken (such and awesome movie). We’ve met this person so we know he exists. He’s the guy who sold everything, bought a boat and sustained himself for years by working at each port. Or she’s (yes, of course we are being gender sensitive today) the woman you met in Thailand on your two week vacation, who’s writing for the Bangkok Post and will move to a new country when she feels like it. (note: I’ve actually met these people, they do exist).

No, not THAT Guy!

What do these two amazingly awesome archetypes have in common? THEY DON’T EXIST. Sure there are people who are living these lives. But the idea of becoming these people so that we can travel is backwards. As a new travel writer I doubt you are going to get paid to jaunt off right away. I certainly never would have left my house if I was waiting to be “That Guy” before I felt ready to leave. The truth is you have to strike out first. Somehow, as I look back on the last 11 years I have become “That Guy” without ever realizing it.

I just had a conversation today with a 22 year-old woman from Sweden during which she said, “I hope my life is like yours in 10 years.” We had this conversation in Kosovo, so guess what? Your life already is. We can never become who we want to be without doing it. So just do it (I hope I don’t get sued by Nike). To help give you a nudge here are three things I have found invaluable in my journey to being ‘That Guy” and traits I see in others I meet on the road that have helped them.

Just Go

I know it sounds overly simplistic. But so many travel dreams end up in the trash because they remain just that, dreams. If you don’t go now, you might never. There will always be a reason why you shouldn’t go, money, family, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But the truth is, no one is going to hand you your dream job, or pay for your dream life if your not willing to pay for it yourself.

I’m not saying run out of the house in your underwear and jump on the first plane. But if you do please get pictures of Home Land Security wrestling you to the ground. Instead make a plan. If you want to be a travel writer but are having trouble realizing the getting paid writing part of the plan then just travel and write for free. Pick a country that you are passionate about, a volunteer job you believe in, or whatever and go. You don’t have to do that job forever, but it gets you out the door and hands you something a travel magazine never will…a new life with plenty of inspiration. I didn’t want to be an English teacher for my whole life. But it got me to Japan for 5 years and started me off. It allowed me to travel all over the country, learn Japanese, and travel throughout Asia. It’s also providing me with material for my first book, and endless travel writing ideas.

Take Risks and Look for Opportunities

These guys weren't afraid to ask for a picture with me. Take a risk!

You can sit around dreaming about your future life all you want, but you’ll be wasting your current one. Look for the opportunities that are present right now and take advantage up them. When I was in Timor-Leste working I had the opportunity to move to Sri Lanka. I didn’t have a job lined up and  I was taking a risk on a 2 month old relationship as well as with my career in development. But my exact thoughts were:

“Well, there’s a war going on in Sri Lanka so its worth going.” Yes, I realize this is not the normal line of thinking.

“I’d rather give the relationship a try and have it fail than wonder what would have happened.”

The end result was that I found an amazing job doing amazing work and I ended up marrying the girl in the story. Happy endings do happen (no, not the kind you pay for sicko).  Everyone has their own risk tolerance, and you don’t have to move to a war zone to reap the rewards. But you DO have to step out of your comfort zone and take advantage of what life offers you. Which in my experience is a tragedy of riches which we fail to see as there is so much on offer.

Being Passionate is the Best Form of Networking

I hate networking. When my career advisers at graduate school talked about it, it seemed so fake. Having a 1 minute elevator pitch or making business cards just to give out wasn’t my cup of tea. I naturally rejected it and found my own version: love what I loved and find people who were like minded to talk about it with. That’s it. If you show true passion for something people pick up on the energy and want to be close to it. Networking is the way to find new jobs, meet great new people, and have a ton of opportunities open.  Just remember to help others out for the sake of helping them out. Once you become settled new people will enter who need help. No one likes someone in it only for themselves…at least I don’t.

That’s it, some simple advice that takes a ton of hard work. If you step out your front door, are open to new opportunities, take the risks necessary to capitalize on them, and love what you do then everything will work out. As I have moved from country to country (usually without a job first) I thought I was just reacting to what I found and who I met. The truth is that I was being “That Guy.” It seemed natural to me, but to the person viewing my life from their cubical it might have seemed unattainable as they weren’t like me. If we switched places they probably would have made it work as well, or even succeeded where I failed. I’m really glad I never waited for someone to pay me to travel, or I might be reading this from my own cubical

I would love to hear your stories of breaking free or getting ready to do so. Or if you think I’m full of it I’d love to hear that too, it’s good for the soul.

3 Strategies to Help you Succeed and Travel the World is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

Photo Credit: Brandon Carpenter

I’m not the type of person who can  separate life, travel and work. I’ve tried hard to fit in with the rest of the US and settle down. No one tells you specifically that you need to separate them but somehow there’s a constant pressure from society, friends, and family to do so.  Work is what you do to sustain your life and fund your temporary escape by traveling. Your not supposed to enjoy work, although everyone agrees there are a few rare individuals that do. But they also agree that you are not destined to be one of them. If you try to make a life out of travel, you are seen as escaping your “real” life and not working hard enough.

I meet people everyday who work with me in the development world who say: “Someday I’ll have to go back to the real world and settle down.” Or travelers on their year-long break who will go back to “real” life when they return home.

I used to think this way as well, as if the life I built was somehow temporary, and inferior to the life that those in the “real” world live. You know, the world with a steady job, wife and kids, close to family and friends, a house (with mortgage of course), and lots of things to fill the house with and provide further inspiration for more work. That’s a great life for some people, with a lot of rewards, but its not the only type of “real” life.

It took me a long time of trying to find myself to finally break free of society’s notions of what life is supposed to be like. One thing that helped was my travels. I lived in Japan for five years while I tried to decided what I wanted to do with my life. I traveled constantly in the country and abroad. Then I went to graduate school where half the students where internationals. This exposure to other cultures and ways of life helped me to realize there is no one way to live and that it’s OK to break with convention. Of course lots of fear is released when you break with convention and it’s not just your own. Family, friends, colleagues all start to infect you with their fear. Fear of what might happen to you, fear of living life in an untested way, fear of what it means for them if you succeed. I used to let this fear affect me while I searched for my path in life. I would constantly tell myself that I once I figured out what I wanted to be in life I would settle down back home. As if home was the only place I could live my “real” life.

A beautiful spot found while hiking the Shikoku Pilgrimage

On one of my trips, while hiking the 900 mile Shikoku Pilgrimage in Japan, I came to a realization that I was already living my life the way I wanted; a life of freedom, choice and responsibility. Freedom to do what I loved, the ability to chose to move on from something when I was no longer happy with it, and the ability to make a difference in the world. The exact nature of my job, life etc didn’t matter as long as it followed these three ideals. It was something that I was unconsciously doing since I left the US at age 21 and started trying to find myself. It turns out I was already myself, I just needed to release what I thought society and everyone else wanted me to be. It also turns out that everyone in my life is very happy for me and my choices. The pull to settle was more my own making than a deliberate US conspiracy.

Todd’s Wanderings has never just been a travel site, or a political site, or a collection of cool (well I think so) stories. Instead it’s a reflection of my life and how I choose to live it. As such I’ve decided to add a new section to it called Lifestyle Strategies. This will be my section where I describe strategies on how I have developed my current life abroad where my work enables my travel and my writing and all aspects form a cohesive part of  my life. Basically its about loving what you do and doing what you love.

At first I thought about calling this section Unconventional Life Strategies, but that would have played right back to the idea that one way is better or more accepted than the other. Instead I want to offer a counter perspective to life, one where you are not so much attached to a place as you are to a set of principles.

I know that this will not be for everyone, and that’s fine. But for those of you who are interested in a nomadic existence, unhooking yourself from the demands of society or even just ways to gain more freedom I hope you will enjoy the support and knowledge that it’s possible. I will also try to introduce you to other people who have taken similar leaps in life, from professional development workers-with and without blogs , to writers, to artists to whoever happens to cross my path. This is not meant to belittle those who decide to stay in one place, or love the simple pleasure of being with their families. I’m often jealous of what you have, I’ve just realized that it’s not me at this point in my life, or at least it’s me but without the hometown safety net.

What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on unhooking from societies tenacious fingers? What would you like to read in this new section?

“Real” Life, Travel, and Work: lessons from 10 years on the Road is a post from: Todd's Wanderings