Lifeshuffle: Lifestyle Design and Location Independence

I was just beginning to enjoy sweet slumber the other night when my girlfriend unexpectedly nudged me awake. I’m not that thrilled with this wake-up call— I’d only been asleep for maybe 5 minutes. Looking like she was just about to pass out herself, she quietly asks me: What was your favorite thing about today? Instinctively, I wanted to say something like “spending the day with you, baby”… in an effort to save myself from this obvious girl-trap she was setting for me. But taking a moment to think, I let my primal “guy guard” down and took a minute to really think about my day and give her an honest answer. Read more…

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There’s a stereotype for the lifestyle design movement— in my experience, a typical “lifestyle designer” usually fits the following characteristics:

• Male, Age 21 – 40
• Location independent, with a penchant for travel to Thailand
• Practices some form of minimalism in regard to physical possessions
• Works as a freelance designer, developer or consultant, and/or sells eBooks online

But you don’t have to fit this mold— not that there’s anything wrong with it. I’m intrigued by a recent blog post from Corbett Barr titled Is Lifestyle Design Dead Already? In his write-up Corbett discusses the limitations of the term “lifestyle design,” and how perhaps the term has gone the wayside as a result of its over-saturation and implied context. My personal take is that lifestyle design as a concept is not dead, nor is it just getting started. Read more…

I’ve got some pretty amazing travel plans in the works, but all the adventure seems so far from now. Longing for inspiration, I flipped through some of my old photos to reminisce of travels past. One of the pictures that caught my eye was this one – a simple photo, really, but one that teaches me a valuable lesson.

This picture wasn’t taken in some crazy, exotic locale – it was taken atop Runyon Canyon in Los Angeles, after a sunrise hike with friends. I can’t say that this event was an earth-shattering, mind altering experience. But despite that, this was a memorable moment; if only because it was shared between myself and my best friends. Sometimes we lose sight of the simple, beautiful moments that we experience every single day. We think that truly special things are only possible every once in a while. But in truth, these moments are plentiful – unfortunately, we often miss out on recognizing them.

So even though it might be a little while longer before I can create some orgasmic travel memories, I know that I’ll find plenty of beauty in the smaller things around me.