We're Cherie and Chris, two late 30s technomads. We've been on the road full time since 2006, running our software development and technical consulting business as we roam.
1) Tell something about your life before and the reasons why you have become location independent.
Prior to hitting the road full time, Chris was living in San Francisco, CA and working in the tech industry. He had long ago decided that his position in Silicon Valley would be the last traditional job he would hold, so when it came to an end he bought a small travel trailer and hit the road full time.
Meanwhile, Cherie was living on the other side of the country in Florida running her software development company out of her home, and already integrating in a lot of personal travel while working remotely.
We met online, in a Prius forum - and quickly hit it off both online and in person when we finally met. It took only a couple weeks for Cherie to decide to join Chris on the road, taking her business with her - and she eventually sold her house and most her possessions.
2) How did you plan a new life as a location independent?
There really wasn't much of a plan for us - we just knew what we wanted, and made it happen. Too often, people get caught up in the planning, and forget to really listen to what is calling them and just doing it.
Chris had long term intentions of eventually going fully mobile, but his job was too good (and too fun) to give up. So when he was laid off, he evicted himself from his apartment and made his dream of nomadic living a reality. And when he and Cherie met soon thereafter, she was already running a location independent business and was able to join him with little effort or change in her lifestyle.
We look at our current life of complete location independence as being an outcome of having lived our lives with conscious intent to have the freedom we want to take advantage of opportunities in front of us.
3) What is your job or source of travels funding?
Cherie continues to run her custom software development business, and we pick up some interesting technical consulting gigs and writing projects. And we're always open to interesting short term gigs to keep things fun.
4) Which countries have you been?
Most of our nomadic travels together have been roaming around the USA via our little solar powered travel trailer. Right now however, we're living in the US Virgin Islands for the season and renting a small cottage. Prior to going nomadic however, we both had traveled fairly extensively. Chris grew up in Indonesia, and traveled all through out Asia, Australia and Europe. Cherie has traveled to Russia, Sweden, Finland, Central America and throughout eastern Europe. In the future, we hope to integrate in some extended international travels, or perhaps buy a sailboat an sail around the world.
5) Can you tell what happens when you are going to leave for a trip? (emotions, sensations, but also how you can organize a trip in practical termsand and how you choose a destination)
We really don't view things in terms of 'trips', as we travel full time without a fixed home base to return to, or depart from. We're continually moving around - whether it be in our little home on wheels, or packing a backpack and renting something for a few months somewhere.
We tend to let serendipity select our destinations for us - by events we want to attend, people we want to visit and fun opportunities that present themselves. Such as the chance to live here in the tropics for a few months, came completely out of the blue and we were able to jump on it with little notice.
6) Do you think that anyone could become a location independent?
We don't think that a life of location independence is for everyone, and nor should it be held up as something that is desirable for all. It works for some of us who don't need a firm sense of a home in order to be happy. But that's simply not true for everyone. There's something to be said for investing yourself in a local community and career - and besides, if everyone was traveling, who would we visit?
But for those who crave a life of travel and mobility, a sense of agility and adaptability is key. You have to make mobility your priority, and make choices in your life that revolve around that intention.
Web Site: www.technomadia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment