General Lifestyle Design: What are you aiming for?

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- CommentAuthorDavid
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
I thought it'd be fun if everyone shared their overall aims in life. It's something I think about quite a bit and I'd love to hear differing thoughts.

Personally, I love the idea of simply wandering and writing. I want to live out of a single backpack (got the backpack and all the gear worked out already) and just explore foreign countries, writing about things that interest me on <a href="http://www.davidturnbull.com">my blog</a> and having plenty of time to just sit back and relax. The last two I've really accomplished already, it's the travel that's the tricky(ish) part, but I have plans to start traveling with a friend early next year, and a few ideas of what I'd like to do after that.

And for some reason the idea of ultra budget travel really appeals to me. It actually seems exciting to be sleeping in uncomfortable dorm rooms in hostels and staying out all night simply to avoid the cost of accommodation.

But perhaps the trickiest part is traveling around without a laptop. I feel a laptop would completely ruin my desired way of wandering, so I'm still working out the logistics on that side of things. Optimally I'd love to carry nothing of significant value, but the compromise may be to take an iPhone which lets me handle a significant amount of business-related tasks using 3rd party apps.

Anyways, enough blabbering from me. <strong>What are you aiming for?</strong>Adventures of a Barefoot Geek by David Turnbull
- CommentAuthorNate
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
Hey David, great to hear what you are planning. The low budget travel idea really appeals to me as well.

As for me, I'm working on one business that I recently started, and a few other websites that will bring in some affiliate revenue. My plan is to quit my job by May 2010, and I'm working as hard as I can until then. I don't plan on ever monetizing my blog, it's just something I do because I enjoy it.

As far as being a LIP, I probably won't ever live outside of the United States, but I am planning to move somewhere warm in the hopefully near future (I live in Maine, winters are brutal here), possibly Hawaii. I do, however, have the goal of visiting at least 50 countries in my life, so I'll be getting started on meeting that goal as soon as possible.

So that's what I'm aiming for... Let's hear some more :-)my blog: the way that you wander
- CommentAuthorcodymckibb
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
Well, I'm still working on my bucket list (there's a lot I'd like to see and accomplish if I can manage it), but most importantly my long-term goal is to build a BIG business that has a positive social cause as its central mission—not nonprofit, but social entrepreneurship. I have my web development & consulting business right now and slowly building up online passive income streams, but that's the next step, to take a lot of the things I'm working on in my spare time and turn them into a real social venture: most likely some sort of voluntourism business or adventure travel that gives back to local communities in need.

Then if I can get a book published, that would just make my life. :)Thrilling Heroics || Twitter || LinkedIn
- CommentAuthorjdbentley
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
I want to become completely location independent, first and foremost, so that I can travel for months and months on end (if not years). This obviously requires some kind of business, but, just like Cody, I'm aiming for something that helps people. Also, for me web design and development is a big deal. It may even be a passion. What I'd ultimately love to do is work on design and development projects that aren't client work, like what I've recently done with Location Rebel and <a href="http://wageslaverebel.com">Wage Slave Rebel</a>. Not answering to anyone else, just making design I love. Ideally, these sites I develop will be sources of automated income, but I'm still working on that.

Also, like Cody, I'd like to write a book. I'm not particular about what kind of book. It could be a non-fiction self-development book along the same lines as Wage Slave Rebel, or it could be a web design book or even a novel. I just want to continue honing my writing skills and have a well-regarded body of work.

So, in short, I'm aiming for a life of travel, design and writing with some kind of more-than-profit small business to sustain it.Blog: Wage Slave Rebel
- CommentAuthorSean
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
As with everyone else here I want to become Location Independent. I don't care as much about making millions as long as I have the time and means to do the things I want to do (travel being the biggest one at the moment).

I also am looking forward to taking my personal business more seriously. There are some things I am working on that should allow me to free up more time to spend on Location180/Location Rebel, as well as write the ebooks I have been talking about for six months. From there who knows what happens. At the moment I am enjoying getting to know so many different people, and I know the more that I meet the better off I will be in the future.

I think it would be really cool to take everything on my <a href="http://www.seanogle.com/the-list">Bucket List</a> and write a book about it (there are a lot of similar books, but I think I could put a cool spin on it) as well as edit a video of as many of those tasks as possible. Who knows if I could ever turn that into something profitable, but regardless I am looking forward to doing it.Becoming Location Independent is easier than you think...
- CommentAuthorLifeExcursion
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
My goal in life is to have control of my life. If I am someone else is controlling my every action than I am a little worried that I will not be able to live life to the fullest. The more I do what I want and have the ability to do that, the happier I am.

Thanks for starting this David Turnbull!

Dave
LifeExcursion
- CommentAuthorpaulnorwine
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
My ultimate goal can be summed up with the phrase, "work how I want, when I want, where I want so I can do things how I want, when I want, where I want."

I'm still working on what all of that means but at the heart it means living a passionate and exciting life that I can share with my friends and my family wherever we, or they, might be. I have a "bucket list" and, with friends / family spread all across the globe, travel and new experiences are at the top of the list.

At this point, I'm trying to find a way to build a stable source of online income without losing sight of the end-goal. I see this as being the most difficult part of the journey - what are all your thoughts on the process?

PaulPaulNorwine.com
- CommentAuthorjdbentley
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
<blockquote><strong>@paulnorwine</strong> - work how I want, when I want, where I want so I can do things how I want, when I want, where I want.</blockquote>

This is a good way to sum up what lifestyle design is I think. I would definitely say this is our "unified theory". No matter what we (all of us here on the forum) are wanting to do, it really comes down to that.

The process has been a long one for me and it's still not totally worked, but it's getting there. You said it's difficult to build a stable source of income online without losing sight of your ultimate goal and this is no more true than when you're a freelancer. Since I'm actually selling my time and labor, it's really easy to oversell myself. At the same time, if you are just starting out I honestly believe freelancing is the way to go. It's a step down from a regular job in that you keep fairly regular hours and you still sell your labor, but you pick up experience in time management and project management. Then when you are ready step down again into selling products, you'll already have management skills.

It feels like, to me, each step down results in important lessons that are required for the next step down, until finally you can focus on doing what you love wherever you want without feeling like money is a burden.Blog: Wage Slave Rebel
- CommentAuthorjaphy
- CommentTimeSep 25th 2009
My primary goal is to simplify my life, to reduce the time, money, and thought I waste on things that serve no significant purpose. I want to winnow down my life so that the things I pursue are being pursued because they contribute to my and my wife's happiness, rather than serve primarily to give me status in the eyes of others. My secondary goal is location independence, because I believe this is what will bring me and my wife happiness.www.myshrinkinglife.com
- CommentAuthorMK
- CommentTimeOct 4th 2009
Like many of you, I want to travel and jump into the location independent lifestyle. While traveling, I'll write (from articles to copywriting) and hopefully get into travel photojournalism. Eventually, I'd love to write a book (umm, common theme here!). I have ideas to develop a company that would help non-profits with communications - in my line of work I work with so many non-profits that need guidance/assistance with all things PR. I'd like to come up with an affordable, effective way to help. (Then again, this may not be reinventing any sort of wheel).

At least, this is where I am at the moment...
- CommentAuthorSean
- CommentTimeOct 5th 2009
Well MK, you have come to the right place! If you are interested in a serious career in travel writing and such check out <a href="http://www.almostfearless.com">Almost Fearless</a>. I don't remember exactly where it was, but she had a great post about the realities of travel writing (and it is just an all around great resource if you are looking to travel).Becoming Location Independent is easier than you think...
- CommentAuthorNomadRip
- CommentTimeOct 8th 2009
It's funny because when I was Turnbull's age, I wanted a bunch of shiny stuff. Now that I'm twice that and have had a bunch of shiny stuff, I want what he wants, which is a lot "less" on paper. To see and experience things is important to me now, not to gather trinkets and toys.

I am not particularly interested in managing mountains of money anymore, but rather to live this life doing things I find enjoyable. Paul Norwine's quote up there is pretty well said and appropriately describes my desires.-James Live Collarfree | Twitter
- CommentAuthorCaron Margarete
- CommentTimeOct 8th 2009
Damn. Good question.

I don't have the answer but what I know so far is that through this process I'm learning what style of writer I am and what I boil down to. I love travel but prefer to live somewhere that isn't my own culture. I've hated living in Harbin- the city, but lived living in Harbin- the culture. I get a rush learning about what makes a place tick, something you simply don't get when you travel through constantly on the move. Sure you can pick up snippets but what gets absorbed into your very existence? How are you really affected, changed, challenged by this one place???

What writing for the Haerbinger has taught me is that investigative journalism fulfils that passion. I love that I'm exploring a culture, its people, its stories and communicating that to those that get it or better still those that don't. Maybe I'll never truly be Location Independent but I know I'll always write about being somewhere that others couldn't imagine living from the perspective of the people living there too.Caron FromWhoatoGo
- CommentAuthortravoholic
- CommentTimeOct 10th 2009
I quit my job a couple of years ago and have been travelling around since then. My travel style has changed a lot since the early days and now I don't pay much attention to plans and logistics and I sort of just go for it. Those minor details have a way of working themselves out and the old days when I used to fret about whether or not I should bring a first aid and a sewing kit or how many t-shirts I should pack are long gone. Planning is pretty much out the window too.

I'm location independent and while I love to travel, my motivation for wanting to work for myself from anywhere is that I can do what I want, when I want. At the moment that 'want' is travelling but down the road it could be studying, focusing more on painting, or just sitting in a hammock and staring at the wall if I want. Passive income gives me a level of freedom I never could have imagined and, most importantly, the time to enjoy that freedom.

My life is super simplified and packs up into a backpack. I've never wanted to own lots of crap I don't need and I don't care about impressing the Jones'. I do have some plans for my websites and would like to work hard on those to increase my passive income a bit so I can realisitcally afford to live anywhere in the world (I love London and New York and want to check out Japan). In the meantime, the plan is to explore and volunteer as much as possible along the way all around the world, meet nice people and hopefully learn a language one of these days!Blog :: Twitter
- CommentAuthorNomadicNeil
- CommentTimeOct 20th 2009
'Fortune and glory'Nomadic Neil
- CommentAuthorShaun
- CommentTimeFeb 24th 2010
I think my target boils down to having control over my own life. At the moment my goal is to do a bit of travelling but I'm under no illusions: it's not something I want to do permanently. I love playing and recording music, guitar/bass/drums and that's not something particularly compatible with a life on the road. Being able to go anywhere whenever and then come home when I feel like it is a big aim. Having time to spend a few days focusing on one thing and nothing else whenever the inspiration takes me is a big aim. Ultimately it's choosing for myself rather than being a slave to the clock. No good art gets created at a good hour as they say, and sitting up playing guitar until 6am makes life a living hell if you've got to be at the office for 9.- Shaun
- CommentAuthorSean
- CommentTimeFeb 25th 2010
Thats probably the thing I've missed most while traveling, playing guitar. I had one for about a week, but then decided not to travel with it, which was a huge mistake. Hopefully I will be picking up another one here shortly...Becoming Location Independent is easier than you think...

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