Location Free Lifestyle

More and more people are realising that any work you can do on a computer, you can do anywhere in the world.  Plus it can be a lot cheaper to live somewhere sunny and warm than back “at home.”

I know because luckily I’ve been living this lifestyle for the past decade, deciding where I want to live from Italy to Japan, in the mountains or by the beach, and how I choose to work.  I make my living online through websites, Youtube, writing magazine articles on various topics via email as well doing workshops and lectures all over the world.  You don’t have to be a millionaire, far from it,  it’s something anyone, or maybe even everyone, should do.

I figured in the spirit of give and take I’d write up this blog with some of the experiences and places I visit, along with some of the ideas and techniques you can use to fund your new Location Free Lifestyle.  Hopefully it will give you a few ideas and hopefully will inspire a few more of you to share your knowledge and experience. This is still all very new.  I know that I’m still making it all up as I go along.  I’m always wanting to know the best places to go, the bargains that are out there and the ideas that will make funding it much easier.

We’re fortunate enough to live in a time where it’s possible to make even a modest living online, which can then allow you to travel and live in almost any country you could desire. It’s about breaking free from the 9-5, the long commutes and boring jobs.  It’s about waking up in the morning in a beautiful location actually wanting to work on something that contributes and makes you happy.

I’ll try to update the site as often as I can, and judging by my schedule for the next year there should be quite a lot to come!

Please make comments on the posts and feel free to ask me any questions!

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If you want to visit the world, or any other country, the best way, by far, is to get yourself into a Location Free Lifestyle. You can do it from any age (there are plenty of teenagers and retirees doing this) and there are more resources out there than ever before.

You still work really, really smart (smart, not hard remember), but you also get to choose exactly where you wake up each morning.

But …. one of the biggest problems you’ll face is that although you imagine everyday will become a weekend, in fact every day becomes a weekday!

Usually this isn’t much of a problem because as soon as you’ve done your work for the day, you’re now in an amazing new location to explore!

But sometimes you do just have to switch off. Get rid of the WiFi, Wimax or LTE and just go off the grid for a few days.

Yes it is really, really scary! The first time I did it it was for me too. But once you get used to it, you realise that the world won’t fall down if you don’t check your emails. And more importantly, you realise that your email inbox isn’t the centre of the universe!

It gives you a whole new perspective on the goals of your company, and what you are wanting to achieve.

So I would totally recommend getting away from any 3G signal, even just for a couple of days to get your email stress meters properly reset!

This January I did this on the Hollyford Track in New Zealand, which has to be one of the most amazing adventures in the world. If you’re up for it, do check out their site at http://www.hollyfordtrack.com/

Good luck and remember to take some time off!

Be genki,

Richard

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Getting started with a location free lifestyle is probably the hardest thing to do.

So just put all the mailing lists and special offers in a folder for now, and I’ll share with you the “3 step plan” that I use with my consulting clients. (I just finished one now, in Starbucks of course, and figured it would help you too.)

So we need 3 “Pomodoro Techniques” (basically you sit down with a timer and work solidly for a set time, usually 25 to 50 minutes.  No distractions.  No Facebook. No emails. No telephone. Nothing. Just work. This is how I manage to get so much done.)

I’d recommend doing them for 50 minutes each and let’s just do one a day.

So tonight, instead of TV, set a timer on your phone for 50 minutes and sit down with either an open document or lots of pieces of paper.

And what I want you to do is …..

Write down *at least* 100 different topics you could write about, talk about, or make videos about.

Just write and write. Don’t worry if they are popular enough, crazy enough, far too much competition or whatever, just write down every single topic you could give advice to someone on.  Like fast cars?  Write it down.  Like dogs or cats? Write it down.

Just list, list, list, list.

We’ll sort out the details later, but for now just keep writing every possible topic you could possibly help someone with.

What do you read about in magazines?  What do people ask you about at work? What do your mates ask you about at the pub?

You don’t need to be the best in the world, you just need all the things from your experience.

Don’t worry if the topic has been done to death, you’ll bring your own unique angle later.

Just make a big, big, big, long list.

1,000 things on the list?  No problem!  If there’s time left on the clock, write more!

If you run out of ideas, just “niche down” the ones you have, so from motorbikes go to tires, route plans, helmet designs, whatever you know about.

Sounds cool?

OK, if you want step two, let me know you’ve done this step and I’ll tell you.

Remember action is the key, don’t wait to learn everything first.

Learn a bit, do a bit.

That’s how the ones who are doing this do it.

Once you’ve finished, have  a glass of wine/beer/water, whatever, you have deserved it as you’ve done the first step to being location free!

Pretty cool, eh?!

Richard (Sat in the park waiting for the fireworks to start! )

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Last time we had part one of my very simple guide for you to get started being location free.

Go and check it out now, before you do today’s exercise.

So tonight, again instead of TV, set a timer for 50 minutes and let’s make another list.

This time it’s for the “location” part of location free lifestyle.

Write down all the places you want to work from. Paris? Venice? Beijing? The beach? Write them all down.

This is going to be your motivation for when you have the bad days.

Believe me you will have them!

But if you know what you are aiming for it makes all the small little problems into, well, just small little things.

So write down all the places you want to go.

When I first started I wanted to live in Italy, Portugal and China.

Maybe you want to go to Argentina, the Maldives, New Zealand?

If there is still time on the clock when you’ve done the list, don’t stop!

Now, next to each place write down all the things you want to do there.

Wake up early? Take a swim? Do a bit of laptop work (yeah, you have to work sometime!)  Eat nice food at sunset?  Check out a show? Walk with the lions?  Have a gelato on the Great Wall? Whatever, just write it down.

And keep writing, and keep writing.

Don’t stop until the clock runs out.

(This doesn’t just give you a goal to aim for with all the locations, it’s also training you to work solidly for 50 minutes.  That’s all it takes really, just blocks of 50 minutes concentrated work.)

Excellent.

Now you’ve done that, get a nice drink and let me know you’ve finished so I can bring you the third and final part!

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Welcome to the third part of my “getting started with a location free lifestyle”

Do check out part one and part two first, then we can get started with the final chapter.

Today I want you to set a timer for 50 minutes again, and with no distractions at all….

Write down every single reason you can think of as to why you need to make $10,000 online

Again this is insurance for those bad days.

Want more freedom? No boss? Nice food? Take care of family? Get rid of the commute?

Just write and write and write every single possible reason you can think of.

And when you are completely out of ideas, go back, read each one, say “why?” and write the answer.

Then ask “why?” again and write.

Why don’t you want a commute?  Why don’t you want to be on crammed train every morning? Why do you want freedom to wake up when you like?

Why, why, why….

I want pages and pages of why!

Why?

Because this is how you will find the real reason you want to do this.

And this will propel and sustain you throughout all the hard work and hard days that will come.

Once you know your path it’s much easier to follow it.

Plus of course, just writing and writing for 50 minutes straight with no distractions is fantastic training for when you start your new online business.

Excellent, next time ….. we start the real work.

For now though, go check out a great movie, you’ve certainly deserved it!

Richard

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I just got back from my first trip to East Africa, Tanzania to be exact.  And it was really cool!

I’m writing it all up on my main blog but I thought I’d just mention a few things from the Location Free Lifestyle point of view.

Obviously being tropical Africa things like Malaria tablets/nets, keeping your jabs up to date and having a good first aid kit (with lots of plasters!) is a must, one of the best things is actually how easy it is to get online.  I was in a well out of the way place so  I went all prepared to have no internet whilst I was there, but also thought, like in most of Asia, that I might be able to find a Wifi internet cafe or hotel at some point.

Well I had no luck at all with that!  However, one of the amazing things is just how far 3G has spread.  Even in really out of the way places.  So the easy thing to do is to bring a 3G dongle for your Mac/PC with you (or an unlocked iphone) and just buy a local SIM card.  Bang, instant internet access in the most remote of places!

Plus you’re paying local rates for the data. Although also remember to bring lots more cash than you think you’ll need!  Obviously don’t expect fast speeds or anything, but using the net on the beach in Africa itself is a very, very cool thing!

And if you want to see what life is like there, check out my main development blog!

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Emilie wrote in with some really good questions, and I figured it might help a few of you as well.

Here we go …
After reading your posts on how to set up a business and making money online, I’m interested in starting my own. I apologize for my ignorance but what exactly do you mean by online business? Do you mean a website or blog that sells product, such as your Genki English CD’s?

It’s just like any other business i.e. helping people solve a problem they have (be it needing to be clothed, fed or made happy etc.) and just doing it online instead of a traditional shop, office or store. Selling products or services is one way, but there are many others.

Can one make money by simply keeping a blog?

It’s a bit like saying “Can one make money simply by keeping a shop?” Yes, you can indeed. As long as it is something that people are looking for and wanting and that you have a really good product or service.

I heard that Youtube pays people whose videos attract a high number of viewers and subscribers. I’m tempted to do this but I don’t know how kind of video to put up. I can’t think of anything I’m a master at so I’m hesitant about posting in Youtube.

The trick with Youtube is that it is all new and success is mostly totally random at the moment. So put lots of videos up about different things and see which ones become popular. If these ones are also profitable then you have the beginnings of a business.

What things to do videos on? Either two things: 1) How you solved problems that you have had in the past (maybe learning a skill, changing an ink jet cartridge, finding how to use something etc. etc.) or 2) Do it about the questions that people always ask you (do your friends ask how you got the flowers good in your garden, how you did your nails or where you got your clothes? What do they ask you about?)

My other concern is, countless number of people have started blogs and uploading videos. Is the market already saturated? I’m so far behind, will anyone even notice my site if I am to start one?

The famous mis-quote about patents is “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” This was said to be written over 100 years ago.

There’s always something new to be done, or more importantly a new way of doing things. After all no one has yet seen what you can fully do yet.
The trick though, as you say, is marketing – getting the word out there. So get to the library and get all the books you can on marketing especially every book written by Seth Godin

Could you please give some concrete examples on how to start an online business, what kind of business to start, and how much can a starter expect to earn?

Have a look here for some ideas:

Money wise, it all starts from that first $. Once you’ve made that you just keep doing and innovating!

Sorry for all these ignorant question but I would really appreciate some advice from you! Thank you!

No worries, it’s always good for me to hear what people are struggling with. It hopefully helps me write things that are more useful!

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One of the biggest hurdles to setting up a location free lifestyle, or any big change really, is the feeling of “I don’t have time!”

But it’s not really a case of not having time, after all we all have the same 24 hours each day, it’s just that most of us have never been taught how to properly manage our time.  If you know the tricks the pros use, it’s so much easier!

In today’s video I’ll give you two of my top techniques for making boring tasks seem more fun, for getting so much more done each day and a quick tip for how to focus that I learnt from the Prime Minister of Thailand.  Invest the 6 minutes now, I’m sure you’ll see it pay off in no time!

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One of the questions I get asked a lot (even by my brother) is:

It’s OK you saying how wonderful it is to have a location free lifestyle, but *exactly* how do we do it?

Fair enough, that sounds like a challenge! So ….

1. Learn about the industry

The first thing is just to learn how to market online, what sort of business to open and all the technical stuff.

We don’t get taught about it in school, so you’ve just got to put in the hours to learn it like anything else.

Don’t have the time?  Skip TV/web for an hour a day.  Believe me, it’s worth it.

Where to find the info? Beware of those super courses with hefty price tags.  I’ve spent thousands of dollars on these things and to be honest whilst some of them are quite good-ish, most of them just re-hash stuff you can find for free.

So I’d recommend saving your cash and just investing your time instead.

And where to look?

Well there’s just one site I’d recommend.  It’s run by a part time minister called Darren who just gives really good stuff away for free.  (Partly because he actually makes his money doing other things rather than making his money telling other people how to make money online).  I actually bought a course through his affiliate link this year which would netted him $1000.   What did he do with it?  He gave it away to charity.

So the site you are looking for is: Problogger.net

Yes there is far too much on there.  And yes it will take you ages to read through it all.  But not more than a full season of your favourite TV show. Again, it’s worth it.  ”Buy it, read it, do it” as we say. Except of course it’s free, you don’t need to buy it.

(If you also have access to a local library I’d also recommend reading through Think and Grow Rich &  Rich Dad, Poor Dad)

2. What about the start up capital?

Once you’ve learnt all the theory about starting an online business, it’s time to get started on actually making the business.

Again I often hear

But it takes lots of capital to start a business.  Where do I get the start up money?

Well, 20 years ago you would have been right.  If you wanted to start up a taxi firm or a printing company you needed capital and lots of it.

But one of the amazing thing about capitalism these days, whether you love it or hate it,  it’s that you need hardly any money to start a good business.

Shall I tell you how you can get all the money you’ll need to start up?

Drinks.

Yep, drinks.

For just one month give up your favourite tipple. Whether it’s coffee, pop/soda, or alcohol just switch to tap water for one month.  And I can guarantee that in that time you’ll have enough money to start up.  Because really you don’t need much money at all.  All you need is the passion and a website.  Plus the will power to spend the next 30 days learning about how to start a business.

That’s it.

Again it’s all about your world view and whether you really see yourself being location free whilst working online.

If it’s just a “that would be nice” thing, it will be like the Ferrari that you’d like but never get.  Which is fair enough.

Instead make it a definite plan. Make it a part of yourself.  Make your spare time into “learning and doing” time.

There’s every reason in the world you can do this.

It’s nothing hard, it’s just how the world works these days, and I’m surrounded by people doing this all the time.

If you want to be like in the videos on the site, or sunbathing in Japan as I was this afternoon, chuck the TV, check out the sites, down the drinks and get started!

Good luck.

P.S. And if you’re so pressed for time you never watch TV or browse the web, check out my latest video coming soon.

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Over the past week I’ve found myself working more and more on the iPad instead of my laptop. Batteries going dead after three hours were the main reason I started using it, but I’ve just found it’s so much better than a laptop in so many ways.

Of course when they first came out that was what had us all excited, a laptop replacement. But being unable to update HTML websites, design flash or edit video sort of made it so I never carried it around with me until now.

But once you get over the fact that you do need and carry both, the iPad and a laptop, the iPad’s strengths shine out much more.

Autocorrect spelling is fantastic. Touching a picture to move it is great. Email is easier to sort and handle (with no gmail failing to sync). Copying text to Pages is infinitely better than Word, no more pages jumping off when you paste in one line or weird fonts appearing when you paste across. Plus everything looks so much nicer than Word!

Presentations are much better with just one small device to carry and you know that the battery meter is accurate and it won’t die or freeze part way through. That type of confidence is priceless.

Everyone can see the screen in meetings and everyone can reach out to touch it and suggest changes and new ideas.

Somethings are slower, like changing between apps, but the time spent waiting on laptops for them to think about doing something when you click more than makes up for it. It also took me a while, whilst writing this actually, to figure out that you need to use two fingers to scroll the text edit window in WordPress. And as I said before there are plenty of big things you just can’t do.

Backup of data is a concern as is the fact that a full iPad takes up a whole chunk of your laptop’s disk when you sync to iTunes!

But overall as more and more tasks get apps to cover them then I can seen me spending even more time working on the iPad. It is so, so nice not having to search for a power outlet or keep the screen on dim just to save power. Instant on and off is amazing. Apps start up exactly where you left them with no lost data or “oh no!” cries if you clicked “x” before saving. Plus it looks and feels nice, like you really are in charge of a spaceship, and the buttons do things when you hit them instead of just whirring the hard drive.

So for the first time in about six weeks I’m actually quite enjoying working in Starbucks (with the exception of a 3 day workshop on a beautiful tropical island I’ve been living in the city since I got back from New Zealand!)

Lets just see now if I can ever do a full days work without having to boot up my laptop at all!

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