NuNomad

Don't Know How to Fund Your Travels? How About Selling Your Life?

So often we get comments on the forum and questions sent to us from people who want to take off on extended travel but are wondering how to raise the funds to hit the road.

Well, as they say, "where there's a will there's a way" and Ian Usher of Wellard, Australia seems to have both. Ian Usher is selling his life on Ebay and so far the bids are near $400,000.00 Australian Dollars. The winner will receive his home, car, jet ski, parachute and other recreational equipment as well as his electronics, furniture, friends and job. Ian is careful to say he is not "selling" his friends but that his friends have agreed to welcome the purchaser and give him a chance. Likewise, his current employer (a rug company) has agreed to hire the newcomer on a trial basis. To support his sales pitch he has put together a nice web page (Alife4sale.com)where he gives the details of the offer.

OK, so most of us might not go this far - but think about it. If you're wanting to do world travel for an extended period of time you will have to do something with your stuff. Selling your things to fund your travel is not only a fine idea but it has been done successfully by a lot of people including our own Ricardo of NuNomad (read about it in our book "Quit Dreaming and Go!") who held a local auction of his things before he took off. Personally, I'm getting ready to hit Ebay with some books and Craigslist with a dining room table to begin saving for our next adventure.

And kudos to Ian Usher who's creative idea looks like it's paying off big! Bidding ends on July 29. Keep an eye on it.

Starving for a Jet Lag Remedy

By Ricardo

Jet lag hits me harder than a jalapeño margarita. I don’t mean, simply, restless sleep for a night or two after a long (trans-Pacific) flight, but all encompassing type of jet lag: dizziness, inability to sleep more than four hours for up to six days, nausea, the acute awareness that my mind and body are not in sync—the full-on zombie enchilada. This condition is realized at least a couple of times a year—for about eight years now. So, I’m way weary of this dilemma. When I fly from Los Angeles to the far east, and especially when I travel west to east on my return trip (the mother of all hellish routes—jumping 15 time zones) I know I’ll be out of commission for at least five, maybe six, days. I simply dread it. My curiosity was, therefore, quite peaked when I read a recent on-line article (Starving yourself may fend off jet lag) announcing a Harvard University study about the relationship between one’s internal clock and how it is affected by meals. In a nutshell, it concluded that fasting during long flights may trick one’s body into lessening the impact of jet lag.

Let me state, first of all, that I am not one of those new-age, holistic, “power-cleansing” type of guys. To me fasting means missing a meal. And since the Science study stated that one should fast at least sixteen hours of the flight time from their example set forth (Tokyo to Los Angeles), I had to seriously equate—what I was sure would be a torturous ordeal—with the benefit of not having to suffer five to six days of feeling crappy afterwards. I decided, in the interest of jet lag-relief science, to be the lab rat and test out this so-called remedy.

Last week I flew from Bangkok to Los Angeles. My flight departed at 5PM. At the airport, right before the first leg of my flight (there would be a quick plane change in Taipei), I ate a big meal. This would be my last meal for 18 hours. Additionally, I followed another common remedy which is to not sleep—an option not mentioned in the study, but seem equally logical to me. “Yeah, right”, you are no doubt thinking. “No food and no sleep on a (combined) flight of 15 hours, that’s not possible.” But, I did it. No food at all, just lots of water. And after about five hours of flight, my hunger actually dissipated. It was like my brain was saying “Oh, it’s past dinner time. You must no longer be hungry.” And by the time the plane was about to land, I had also noticed that I was not nearly as tired as I should have been. I was landing in Los Angeles at 8PM and my body was feeling like a person that was (more or less) 8PM tired (granted after an exceptionally hard day) and only a couple of hours late hungry.

That first night in Los Angeles I wolfed down two plates of pasta, had half a glass of red wine and went to bed at about midnight—my normal time. The following morning I woke up at 6AM. I felt rested and not at all loopy. This, however, did not convince me that I’d dodged a bullet. My jet lag usually does not hit me until several days after the flight. But the fact that throughout that first full day back I was, for the most part, clear headed and energetic was promising. I was even able to get quite a bit of work done on the computer.

The second night’s sleep, however, was not as sound. I got in only about 5 hours—but that could have had something to do with going out to a 3rd street tequila bar with my hosts. That second day I was a little more tired than the first day—due to not getting my full eight in, not the tequila—but, still little jet lag was felt and I was still able to work several hours. That night I slept six hours and the following day (day 3), at around 6PM, I felt like taking a serious power-nap. But as I laid there on the sofa of my friend’s home, with my head begging for some nap time, my body was not concurring. I could feel how out of sync the two were. So, I sat up and forced myself to stay awake. An hour later, and after a couple of episodes of Family Guy, I was no longer sleepy. That night I slept for nearly 8 hours. And on the fifth night back, I again slept well. On day four—the day I’m usually impacted the hardest by a trans-Pacific flight—I still felt pretty good, even though I had flown eastward another two time zones that day. That night I slept nearly nine hours and that day I declared myself jet lag free.

Conclusion? The combination of fasting and not sleeping during a long flight makes a big difference. As sensitive as I am to jet lag, it was a relief this time to have gotten past it with relative ease. Yes, there was still some residual jet lag, but only about half (perhaps even less) as severe as in previous years. So, on your next long flight, starve yourself. What do you have to lose?

Got an Interesting Office Space? Opportunity for Fame and Maybe Fortune - You Never Know

This morning I was contacted by Nick Leiber of Businessweek.com. They are working on a new project that will feature photos of interesting at -home office spaces and descriptions of those people who work in them. Nick thought our audience of nu nomads might be great candidates for people with cool office spaces and I have to say I agree. Ricardo has already sent in his photo and description. I'll be soon to follow.

If you'd like the opportunity to appear in Businessweek.com along with your name and short description, go to Wanted: Pics of Your Home-Based Business and follow the directions.

If you get published - let us know and I'll blog about you too!

What the F*** Are You Doing in a Cubicle?

by Carmen
Today as I was listening to the radio I caught a story on Marketplace (a popular public radio news show) about the latest reports on U.S. worker productivity. Here's an excerpt from it that I pulled from the story text on the Marketplace site:

DAN GRECH: Since 2000, workers have increased their productivity by nearly 20 percent, but during that same period, average hourly wages increased by only 3 percent.

JARED BERNSTEIN: The American work force is working harder, smarter and longer. Essentially they're baking a bigger pie, but they're taking home smaller slices.

That's Jared Bernstein with the Economic Policy Institute. He says the gap between productivity growth and wages is at a historic high. The reason, more money is ending up in the pockets of the wealthy.

The story then mentions that some economists do not believe the gap between productivity and wages is as large as reported although they agree that there is a gap.

And get this - the way productivity is measured is in units of "widgets per hour". I don't know about you - but I have one life to spend on this earth and it's damn sure not going to be spent in a cubicle pumping out more widgets for less money so someone else can live like a Rockefeller.

And I ask you - if you're reading this from your cubicle in the 12th hour of your work day "What the F*** are you doing it for?!" Is this really what you dreamed your life would be? If not - go out and live it.

I suppose you're on this blog because traveling is one of your dreams. Make it happen. We've got tons of information here for you and more coming. In addition, there's a whole community of like minded people here on the forum, ready to help and an e-book to give you a step by step. Sorry - you don't have any excuse for being a widget pumper. Believe me. I'm a coach and I've heard every story under the sun. If you want it - go out and take it.

The Environmental Effects of Nu Nomading

by Carmen Bolanos
Most of us are thinking about our impact on the environment these days (at least I hope we are) and we are hearing more and more about pollution emitted by air flight. I have been concerned because of my love for travel and for the environment that I could be encouraging people toward an activity that has a negative impact on our world. The question has been churning in my mind for several months, "What's more polluting - a long distance air flight or daily car commuting?"

So - here is my attempt to answer this question for myself. I'm not an expert on these issues so I welcome any comments or corrections from folks who may be.

In order to answer this question I am creating a sample human being who is a mix of myself and my NuNomad partner Ricardo and adding some data about the average American. This sample human lives in the Los Angeles area, drives a 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan (not a Prius, but not a Hummer either). This person commutes 32 miles each day, the national average for an American as reported by an ABC News Poll analyzed by Gary Langer in 2005.

According to TerraPass.com the Grand Caravan emits about 2000 less carbon dioxide pounds per year than the average American car. That said, it is emitting 10,207 CO2 pounds per year if driven the national average of 12,000 miles per year. This is 1.17 miles per CO2 pound.

If our nomad-to-be is commuting 32 miles per day this is 8,000 miles per year with a 50 week year. This means our nomad-to-be is emitting about 6803 CO2 pounds per year simply by his/her commute (or just over 566 CO2 pounds per month).

Now, let's say our nomad-to-be has decided to take the leap into Nu Nomadic living and has chosen a destination that requires a long flight but where s/he will be able to live without a vehicle on a daily basis and not have to commute (as my partner Ricardo has done). Let's say the destination is Bangkok.

According to TerraPass.com, a round trip (assuming at some point our nomad will have to return home) flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok emits 6,432 CO2 pounds per passenger. This means our Nu Nomad emits approximately a year's commute worth of CO2 pounds just in the round trip flight to their destination.

Wow! That is a lot. However, let's consider the fact that the average American uses their car for more than just the daily commute. As I stated before, the average American drives 12,000 miles per year and emits 12,000 CO2 pounds per year with their car (the 2006 Grand Caravan is below the national average). If the Nu Nomad is staying in a location that will not require car travel for their year, they are saving 3,568 CO2 pounds per year that would have gone into the environment just through their car. I won't even try to compare other factors that would influence impact in the U.S. vs Thailand (use of air conditioning, heating, number of miles food is transported, trash sent to landfills, etc.) but I have a pretty strong hunch that the U.S. lifestyle is the bigger environmental culprit since we are fairly abysmal on many environmental measures.

What does this mean? Well, several things. If you are a nu nomad or nu nomad wannabe you can lessen the environmental impact of your travels in several ways. Here are some suggestions:

1) Choose a destination that will not require a daily commute once you have arrived.
2) Choose a lifestyle at your destination that will not require a car.
3) Consider the emissions factor when choosing how far you will go (could a small town in Mexico satisfy your wanderlust just as well as one in far off Asia?).
4) Stay in your destination long enough to offset the impact of getting there.
5) Eat local foods during your stay.
6) Educate yourself about the environmental impact of your travel and your daily life. TerraPass.com is a great resource to find out the emissions of your current vehicle and any flight you plan.
7) Contribute to the health of the environment by doing an act that offsets your impact. TerraPass offers a program through which money can be contributed to environmental causes in amounts that offset your specific activities.

Book Review - "Tales of a Female Nomad"

I suppose it's proper to review books when they are hot off the press but this Christmas I was given an older book that is so great for nu nomads that I had to write about it. Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman, is a personal account of a woman's nomadic life over the course of nearly 20 years. Her marriage on the rocks and her children grown, Rita decides to escape to Mexico for a time to learn Spanish when her husband asks for time apart. She returns from this trip only to find that her husband wants a divorce but the nomadic spirit has been born within her and she sets off on an adventure of many years that takes her to numerous destinations including New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Canada and Bali.

While away, Rita keeps her income generating through writing children's books. This is a career she had developed before hitting the road. As a writer she was able to keep contact with her editors and publishers from afar. The account depicts her transition from doing this work by snail mail to the advent of traveling with a laptop computer.

I found two things particularly inspiring about this book. First, as a woman and mother myself it was inspiring to see another woman who was in the midstream of life be able to make her traveling dreams happen. So many of us feel that we can't get away because of children, personal ties, or personal belongings. Rita shows that all those worries are just that - worries! Secondly, it was beautiful to read how Rita was able to enter a culture and create personal relationships on a very intimate level with local people without imposing her own western ways upon them. She returns home rich with the love she shared along her journey.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to get a sense of one nomad's life on a personal level. Rita's writing is very candid and you will put it down feeling that she has given you the details of her story in a very generous way.

Nu Nomad Founders Meet Face to Face for the First Time

By Carmen Bolanos
July 8 2007

After more than year of hard work on NuNomad, LaptopHobo, and the book, Quit Dreaming and Go!. Ricardo and I finally found ourselves on the same side of the planet at the same time! Believe it or not, the two of us met over the internet through our mutual interest in creating a resource for the working-traveler. And before we knew it, we found ourselves plunging into doing business together before we ever met in person.

A lot of people find this pairing pretty unbelievable. How do you dare get into business with someone whom you've never met? The simple answer is that if you plan to do business remotely, you will have to learn how to make bonds with others without being in the same room, or even the same continent. This is the real key to freeing yourself up geographically. So, how do you do it? Here are some ideas that work:

* Start slowly and casually - if you are meeting someone virtually for the first time with whom you think you'd like to do business, move slowly. Introduce yourself and express a casual but sincere interest. Don't ask for anything or offer anything in the beginning. Merely make contact and see if you can get the other party to return interest with some introduction of their own.

* Engage in conversation over time - let the other party know the nature of your interest and engage in some conversation via email or Skype to toss ideas around if they have interest in your proposal. Again, do not commit to anything or expect commitment in the beginning. Use this "courtship" to notice their habits. Do they return emails in a timely manner? What is the tone of their communication? Do you get the sense they are flexible, reasonable, or temperamental? Do you have the sense this is a trustworthy person? This is a good time to ask about history. Do they have any work on the web you can look at? Do they have references? Are they willing to share their work history with you? In other words, this is all about building trust based on facts that can be verified.

* If you feel uneasy, be up front. Your intuition may tell you to disengage at this point. Gut feelings are important. Better to disengage before any commitment has been made.

* If your intuition is giving you positive vibes, try something small together. Ideally, you might create something that requires no financial burden for either party (e.g.,., write a chapter of a book together, create a sample web page, do some informational interviews in your area of interest and share information with each other). You may begin a working relationship simply by forming a mutually beneficial alliance for your respective businesses.

*As your working relationship grows, be sure to take notes of conversations and share them with each other to ensure you have both understood the results of your meetings. Keep a written record of your email/Skype/IM interactions. It's important to be able to refer back to written interaction in case of a misunderstanding down the road.

*Ensure that your relationship is beneficial to both parties. If it is not, resentment will build and you will lose in the long run. Address this issue periodically to ensure that all parties are content.

*Above all else, be honest and direct with yourself and your partner and expect the same in return.
Getting into business with someone else can be a stressful experience. However, a good partner is indispensable. Ideally, you will find that your talents are a good balance for each other and that the two of you inspire each other forward.

I have to say, I was very nervous just before meeting Ricardo at the airport. The great news is - that after a couple of days together I realized all our communications across the globe had paid off and he really was the trustworthy partner I had imagined. To top it off - he makes a mean pasta dinner!

Wanna Be a Nomad and Don't Know Where to Start? Try Housesitting!

by Carmen Bolanos

At Nu Nomad we often get emails from people who want to live a nomadic lifestyle but aren't sure how to make it happen. There are many issues to think about: finding an income source, preparing your home-front, planning your trip, etc. For a lot of people finances are a sticking point.

One way to save a ton of money as a nomad is to house sit instead of paying rent on an apartment or hotel room. Believe it or not, there are people all over the world who are looking for folks to guard their homes, walk their dogs or read stories to their cats while they go tour the globe themselves. House sitting opportunities can range from a few days to months or years duration. Duties required can range from as little as putting out food for a cat to exercising 26 sled dogs, shooting at bears, and clearing forests in Alaska.

Where do you find out about these opportunities? I belong to a house sitting website called House Carers. For a membership fee of $30.00 US per year, I can choose a variety of preferred destinations and I receive an email anytime a house sit becomes available in these destinations. It's a bit like a Match.com for house sitting. If a house sit opportunity looks attractive I can email anonymously to the owner. After a few exchanges, if we feel comfortable we can begin exchanging personal information and making plans for the sit to occur.

One thing to be aware of if you want to do this, however, is that you will have a lot of competition. Often I respond to house sitting opportunities, only to receive a canned response email that reads something like "We've had so many great responses....". So - if you want to raise your chances of being picked as a house sitter treat the situation as you would any job you were applying for. Here are a few things you can do:

* Get some house sitting experience from friends/relatives/co-workers when they travel that you can list for potential hires.

* The more variety of situations you can accumulate (types of pets cared for, types of property cared for) the better.

* Do a great job! Keep the animals like they were your precious children and keep the home clean and cared for.

* When the house sit is over ask for a letter of reference from the owner.

* Think about putting up a web page for your house sitting endeavor. Describe yourself, what makes you a great house sitter. List your experience and post your letters of reference.

At the moment I'm writing this I am actually house sitting for a friend. Our duties are to care for 2 puppies, a cat and a tank of fish in addition to bringing in the mail and keeping the home clean and safe. In exchange our family is enjoying a great pool (picture above) trampoline and all sorts of games and stuff we don't have in our own home. It's a bit like a vacation in our home town and will be a great house sitter resume builder.

So Where's the Interview? + We want your pics!

by Carmen Bolanos

In past weeks our series, "Meet the Nomads" in which we interview true Nu Nomads has been gaining a lot of popularity. Those of you who have been reading it faithfully know I usually publish the interview on Wednesday or Thursday. So here it is Thursday. Where's the interview.

Rather than leave you hanging, I wanted to let you know that Richard and I have been working like mad to put together destination pages for our mother site, Nu Nomad and time has just gotten away from me. I plan to bring you our next interview next week.

In the meantime, we hope our destination pages will be bringing you some great information on working and living in various countries throughout the world. We're including information on international cell phones, wifi hotspots, GPRS capability, among other fun stuff like weather, art, and language. Want to know how to say internet cafe in the country's language? Check out our destination page. Since all our sites, Laptop Hobo, NuNomad, this blog, and Quit Dreaming and Go are run by just the two of us, it's taking us a little while to get this all together. So far we have Sri Lanka, Thailand and France for you to see. In process we have Spain, Italy and Australia which should come out this week. We'll keep working from there and see where the winds take us.

If you're saying, "I can't believe there are only two of them. Wish I could help!" (and we hope you're saying that) - the answer is - you can help!

We're currently looking for photographs of Australia, Italy, and Spain. We'd love to use yours! Don't send photos of typical tourist sites we could find in any clip art (ie, no Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower). Send us something you feel is a little more creative or something that shows your nomadic life in these countries. If your photo is chosen it will be featured at the top of the destination page and your name will be credited. To see the style we're looking for go to our destination pages on Nunomad

Send gif or jpeg images to carmen at nunomad.com

The Double Edged Sword of a Nu Nomad's Life

When I first began coaching and realized that I could be completely mobile with my profession, I thought the heavens had opened up and blessed me beyond belief. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I could take fabulous trips with my family and maintain my income at the same time while not being a slave to any corporate machine.

Don't get me wrong. I am incredibly blessed and very grateful for the opportunities I have had and continue to have. However, for those of you hoping to adopt a nomadic lifestyle or perhaps who are already in a nomadic lifestyle - beware!

I was in about my 4th year of working remotely when I realized that my work and personal lives had mixed so thoroughly that I had not had even a week without my laptop, telephone headset, and scheduled clients. I was so enamored with the idea that I could work from anywhere that that is exactly what I did. Worked from everywhere! I even worked when sick and up to the end of my pregnancy. I remember having to tell my clients who had never met me face to face, "This is a strange thing to say since we've been working together many months, but I am actually 9 months pregnant, so if I don't answer the phone next week, please understand I'm probably giving birth". The following week I was back on the phone with my new born in my lap.

So this is the two edged sword. When you can take your work with you - be sure that sometimes you don't. Everyone needs a break from work and just because you may be sitting with your feet in white sand gazing at a beautiful ocean, if your laptop is in your lap you're not on vacation!

No matter where you may be, Nomad, be sure to give yourself a few weeks a year to leave the work behind.