Three years ago, I left San Francisco, sold and gave away everything I owned, and moved into a 40-liter backpack.
I traveled to 47 countries, went to every Disneyland in the world, saw the Aurora Borealis in Norway, skied in the French Alps, played on a Japanese island covered in bunnies, bashed people with plastic hammers at the São João festival, and saw my favorite hip hop group perform in an ancient Roman colosseum.
I also built and launched a startup.
And my monthly expenses were less than just the rent in San Francisco.
Two years ago, I wrote that I was traveling because it’s cheaper, more productive and better for my social life.
Now after three years of traveling full-time while building Moo.do, I’m more confident than ever that a nomadic lifestyle is an effective way to live while building a company.
Looking back, my goals made no sense to me.
I was following the goals of the previous generation — what my parents wanted for me and what I saw people do on TV. But, the old definition of “success” doesn’t necessarily make sense in our modern world, so I’m recalibrating what success means to me and rethinking my basic assumptions about life.
I’m supposed to spend my 20s saving up to buy a house. I don’t want to own a house. Owning a house restricts my freedom and may not even be a good investment. I’m investing my time and money into my startup and an adventure-filled life rather than lock myself into one location and lifestyle.
I’m supposed to buy things for happiness. I’m much happier living out of a backpack than I ever was sitting in front of my massive 3D TV and ordering new toys from Amazon every week. Exploring the world is much more interesting than putting more things in my home.
I’m supposed to work when the sun is out. Working from 9 to 5 is ridiculous. That’s the best part of the day! I prefer to enjoy being outdoors during the day and work at night.
Now I’m trying to ignore what I’m supposed to do, and instead I’m figuring out what I want to do.
A life of adventure can be cheaper than staying home.
In my first year of traveling, I favored cheap destinations in Southeast Asia or stayed in hostels to keep the costs down. But, I realized that I was making the mistake of procrastinating the adventures on my bucket list because I perceived them as too expensive.
I found out that the expensive adventure I had been putting off is more reasonable if I split apartments with friends or stay in a hotel slightly off the beach. I’m spending more money this way, but my increased happiness improves my productivity, making it easily worth the extra cost. And, it’s still much cheaper than when I was living in the U.S.
Productivity is one of the major reasons I’m traveling full-time. I feel more creative and it’s easier to focus while traveling. But, I only recently figured out why: A side effect of traveling is that it makes it easier to get into a flow state.
My No. 1 goal is to always work in flow. When I’m working in flow, or “the zone,” I’m totally focused. My…