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Brent Rose: Inside the Life of a Location Independent Tech Journalist

Wish your road trips never ended? For Brent Rose, they don’t.

Brent Rose is a freelance technology journalist who has spent the last 17 months living out of a van and road tripping around the United States. For Brent, what started as a year-long road trip has turned into an open-ended lifestyle.

Brent tells us about how he decided to start his van life, how he equipped his van to be able to work from anywhere, and what his nomadic life is like. He also gives us some pointers and great stories and information about his career as a tech journalist.

“I’ve been on the road for the last 17 months now. I’ve put about 35,000 miles on the thing. It was originally going to be about a year-long thing, and now I don’t know how or where to stop. I don’t know if I want to stop – so the adventure continues.” – Brent Rose

Travel Topics:

  • Why Brent decided to convert to van life [5:27]
  • What to look for in a vehicle for long term travel [8:19]
  • How to convert a van to fit your lifestyle [8:47]
  • How to get into tech journalism [10:18]
  • What is Gizmodo? [11:43]
  • What it means to be a good writer [13:39]
  • The transition from office life to van life [24:43]
  • How Brent’s location independence influences his professional output [27:03]
  • Kayaking from Cuba to Florida [28:47]
  • Benefits of a press trip [37:29]
  • Making that important decision… what do you write about?! [38:45]
  • Most memorable moments on the road [43:13]
  • How a pearl in an oyster can lead to a great pick-up line [45:35]

Brent Rose Talking Points:

Website | Instagram |  Facebook | Twitter

“I love the freedom it affords me.” – Brent Rose

Music Credit:

Take Action:

Brent drives his van on a constant road trip to balance work with adventure. What can you do to bring more adventure into your everyday life?

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Dani Heinrich of Globetrotter Girls: Joys, Pains and Tips for the Aspiring House-sit Connoisseur

Compliments of flickr.com/Globetrottergirls

Imagine moving to a new city and living rent-free for months… or visiting a dream destination and staying in a luxurious home with an equipped kitchen and furry pets to keep you company. Today more and more people are traveling as house sitters.

House-sitting has changed the way I travel and live my life.

Blogger and author of Break Free: The Ultimate Guide to House-Sitting, Dani Heinrich has been taking care of homes and pets for years. I had her back on the podcast to lay down detailed tips on how to land the best housesitting gigs.

Listen to this one if you have a location-independent business and want to authentically experience a destination and save money at the same time.

“This is how I established my love for New York City… Before when I was staying in hotels there, I didn’t connect with the city as I did when I house sat and I got to know the neighborhoods.” – Dani Heinrich

Podcast: Play in new window

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Travel Topics:

  • How Dani’s last visit on the show introduced V and I to the wonders of house-sitting [01:13]
  • An Overview of “Break Free: The Ultimate Guide to Housesitting”, a book written by Dani and her co-author Jessica Ainlay aka The Globetrotter Girls [01:52]
  • The secret to great house sitting is…. being personable [04:50]
  • How to find secret neighborhoods, truly local food and cafes of New York City through housesitting [07:00]
  • Two greatest advantages in landing a housesitting gig are great references and an ability to meet with the homeowners in person [09:52]
  • Important Note: Not everyone is trusting of house sitters right off the bat [10:31]
  • Why house sitting is an amazing way to move to a new city without paying rent for the first few months [13:45]
  • Tips for first-time house sitters [14:20]
    1. Show your trustworthiness, personality and transparentness
    2. Bonus: Be an animal-lover!
    3. Be honest with yourself about what you’re comfortable with
    4. Include references from other experiences like Airbnb and house sitting for friends
    5. Horse lovers, you are wanted! [16:35]
    6. The most important strategy is to apply right away. Do so, by setting up daily alerts [20:30]
  • How to write the ideal application letter [21:29]
  • What to do when house sitting experiences go wrong [24:14]
  • Tips for getting great house sitting reviews: [30:20]
    1. Clean before the owners return
    2. Cook or bake something and leave it in the fridge for the owners return
    3. Send plenty of pictures, texts and email updates to the host—Ask first!
    5. Make friends with the neighbors…. it will get you more jobs!
  • You don’t have to be the perfect gypsy housewife to be a great house-sitter. Just be yourself! [34:11]

Dani Heinrich’s Talking Points:

Website  | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Music Credit:

Take Action:

Dani tells us housesitting can open your eyes to hidden worlds wherever you may travel. By taking the trail less worn, what will you see?

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Nick Onken: Life Baller Travel Photographer and Philantrophist

He works with top celebrities.

He works with top brands.

This all only started recently.

He believes 100% is possible 100% of the time.

Here is the story of a Life Baller.

A leader in travel photography, Nick Onken.

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“Photography leans towards different ways of making income.” – Nick Onken (Tweet It)

Travel Topics:

  • The benefits of basing your creative entrepreneurship from California
  • Traveling Britain as an ‘Induction’ to world travel
  • Tibetan Monks and the Everest Base Camp
  • The powerful perspective change when experiencing different cultures
  • Building a business around your favorite things
  • Professional work to financing worthwhile causes
  • How to help charities and travel the world
  • Shop Talk Radio as a leader in creative entrepreneurship

Lovely Links:

Website | Twitter

Music Credits:

Special Thanks:

  • Kanniga Ponpiboon: Episode Art
  • Karen Asprey: Show Notes
  • Chris Jones: Sound Engineering
  • Jonathan Baillie Strong: Audio Architecture
  • V: Slave Driver
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Johnny Ward: From a Medical Research Lab Test Subject to a New Rich World Traveler

From a poor family in Ireland to an enterprising business.

With no technical knowledge.

This successful entrepreneur builds teams to grow his own businesses.

All the while enjoying the long term travel lifestyle.

Please welcome, Johnny Ward.

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“Being broke is not an issue. There’s always a way.” – Johnny Ward  (Tweet It)

Travel Topics:

  • Money making as a medical research lab test subject
  • How Johnny managed to backpack for 2-3 years on little or no income
  • Why 99% of travellers give up and go back home
  • Johnny’s moment of realisation of how he wanted his life to be
  • How to grow a technical business, without technical skills
  • How to outsourcing works
  • Why being broke is powerful
  • How his passion got him to where he is today…. The New Rich World Traveler

Lovely Links:

  • Connect with Johnny:

Onestep4ward | Twitter | Facebook

Travel Tools:

Music Credits:

Take Action:

Write down a list of skills you can teach.

Now look at what tuition opportunities are in your local neighborhood.

Is this something you could earn a living from abroad?

If not, whats a better idea?

Let us know in the comments below.

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The Inescapable Working Lull

I’m working again.

My work/play life pendulum swings with mighty, inescapable momentum. To the left it’s travel, wanderlust, elation and new experience. To the right it’s hard labor, long hours, feeling incapable and repetition.

These are the hard working traveler blues:

The highs are astronomic. The lows are tough and dirty.

Inevitably, that fun pendulum comes to it’s apex and with this pause commences the working lull. A not so subtle message that you are broke and had better start hustling.

Soon enough everyone has to tolerate the swing. Time to dive into whatever society you are currently marooned in and commence the hustle.

Once that hustle wraps up you get another pendulum pause. That is the best fathomable time. Your supplies are stocked, the plane tickets booked and the next chapter is staring you down.

But first, you gotta endure the inescapable working lull.
I’ll see ya on the other side beloved reader.
More excitement to come… I promise.