Sharing Travel Experiences

Sharing (Location Independent) Experiences

by Andy Hayes

I would like to introduce a new feature to the Sharing Experiences blog:
Location Independent Living.

We’ll be running this feature in conjunction with my good friends Lea & Jon Woodward over at Location Independent. While Tim Ferriss and his 4-Hour Work Week might have made this type of lifestyle popular, Lea & Jon are making it reality.

In our monthly feature, we’ll be highlighting one destination that is great for location independents. If those places are good enough for someone to move their life there and run their business from there, can you imagine what kind of inspirational destination it must be? Each of these destinations will be personally recommended by the location independent community – and many of them have their own “Little LIP Guide” packed with tips and information. We’ll point you towards those in each destination, in case you’d like more information.

Over on the Location Independent blog, I’ll be interviewing various members of Lea and Jon’s community who have successfully established themselves as location independent. They’ll be faced with the same tough questions the folk who visit here face, so if you love my interviews then be sure to tune in to Location Independent. (We’ll be running both features approximately at the same time, and I’ll be sure to include a reminder in mine, but it might be worth adding Location Independent to your favourites anyhow.)

What does being Location Independent mean?

That’s probably the first question if this is new to you. I defer to Lea and Jon for the best explanation:

Being location independent is a concept, a lifestyle and a mindset. Whether you want to live a nomadic lifestyle or be able to stay wherever you choose, there are 3 major areas of change which are important when creating this kind of lifestyle. These 3 areas are:

1. Entrepreneurialism: Ability to control & generate your income (being an entrepreneur)
2. Tech Savviness: Awareness of & ability to leverage web & online resources and tools
3. Choice of Location: Ability to freely choose where you live & work from

I’ve got a family and a home and a life – location independent life isn’t for me.

Don’t worry. But if you’re here, I know you like to be inspired and hearing the stories of others. I’ve found that most people who are location independent are quite self-actualised and have a good story to tell.

I would also say that even if you build a life that is location independent, you don’t have to hit the road and start roaming. This is also building a better business. If you’re not an entrepreneur, could you maybe take some of these thoughts and inject them into your workplace – maybe you’ll find a way to work more efficiently? The sky is the limit.

And lastly – location independents aren’t dumb people. They’re headed for places with lots of history, great weather, gorgeous scenery, and tons of things to do. Sounds like ideal places we should know about!

I’d love to know more about being location independent. Where can I go?

You can start off by checking out the Location Independent blog. If you explore the site you’ll see there’s a wealth of resources on there categorised into 3 main areas (business, tech & travel). A great place to start are the Starter Guides to the blog – and if you like what you see & want a more step-by-step intro, take a look at their book, X Marks the Spot, an in-depth review of Lea and Jon’s experiences, mistakes, and successes in Location Independent Living.

See you next Week

Thanks for tuning in and see you next week for the first monthly Location Independent destination. Hint: it is in Asia! These will be on the first Friday of the month and if they become more popular we’ll do them on other Fridays.

Oh, and if you want to keep further track of our Location Independent Living articles, we’ve setup a new category for them. You’ll find it on the sidebar and on the archives page.

Photo courtesy of Tambako

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