Life Nomadic Day 1

Life Nomadic has begun. Six months of not particularly careful planning and a full week of hectic scrambling to rid ourselves of nearly every earthly possesion has paid off.

As I write our first post for Life Nomadic, Todd’s in the next seat over editing our first video. The kid behind me is pounding on my seat. Holy god. It’s like he’s playing Rock Band back there and the tray table is the drums set.

I’d always talked about freeing myself from a single location… making my income portable, all of my belongings portable, and becoming more comfortable being a nomad. After Todd and I took a random trip to Japan I realized that there are probably MANY places in the world that I’d like as much as, if not more than, the U.S.

I told my friends about the trip I planned. Everyone was interested, some people toyed with the idea of coming. After only a few minutes of thinking, Todd said, “I’m in.”

The Right Places at the Right Times

We made a list of all the places we’d like to go in the world. One by one we knocked places off the list. Unless we lived in each country for several weeks, we wouldn’t get the full experience. Our goal was two months in each major location, plus side trips to some lower priority places.

We pored through travel articles and weather almanacs. If we were going to do this trip of the lifetime, we wanted to be in each place at the right time. Running of the bulls in Spain, cherry blossom season in Japan, southern France in the summer. We chose the weather we wanted. Nothing below 50 and nothing above 90.

The Right Stuff

Todd and I are both gear and gadget nuts. Every item we brought had to be the right tool for the job, and be as light and small as possible. We decided on tiny backpacks that are smaller than many school backpacks. Our entire wardrobes were brought to a thrift store and sold for a pittance. New high performance outdoor gear was purchased.

As I sit here above the Gulf of Mexico, I have every one of the things I own in the overhead storage bin. Only a year ago I had a full three bedroom house full of stuff. I’ll go into a lot more detail about exactly what we ended up bringing soon.

Money

I had already started my own business, writing and selling a book I wrote to share my experiences as a pickup artist, called Make Her Chase you and began a much more ambitious independent software project. Todd quit his job at an internet startup and created www.sendshack.com.

Life Nomadic isn’t a vacation. It’s life. When people ask how we afford the trip, it’s like asking someone how they afford their apartment, gas, and bills. We’ve brought tons of technology with us to enable us to be just as productive anywhere in the world as we were back in Texas.

Language

We’re going to learn four languages this year. Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and French. I already had some experience with Spanish and Chinese. Todd’s pretty much fluent in French. To fill in the (huge) gaps in our skills we’re going to do the Pimsleur language tapes. I’ve tried a bunch of others, and they’re definitely the best. I’ve already done three months of Japanes and Todd’s done three months of Spanish.

When we’re in countries that speak these languages, we’ll speak only in the native language except during dinner.

Adventure

We’ll hit up our share of touristy stuff I’m sure, but we’ll also seek out adventure everywhere possible. I’d give some examples… but it’s better to wait until we do them!

All of our adventures will be well documented and posted here for you guys to see. Also, if you’re one of my friends you’d better come on some of the adventures!

Get involved!

Want to see us do something? We’re open to suggestions. Live in one of the countries that we’re visiting and want to go on an adventure with us? Send an e-mail. We also need places to stay in all of the countries we’re visiting, so let us know if you know a good place for us to rent.

And so…

We’re off! It’s Day 1 and we couldn’t be more excited. We’ve already had a run in with the law, broken major social conventions, and have been the last to get on both flights!


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21 responses to “Life Nomadic Day 1”

  1. chris cann Avatar
    chris cann

    Tynan- Met you at Casa De Luz the day before your trip with Gingee, I had the red hair and satisfied look on my face since it was taco day… Awesome what you guys are doing, can’t think of a better way to live really. I’ll be checking in periodically to see what ya’ll are up to! Have fun and see ya soon.. Chris

    P.S. I’ll have a taco for each of you tomorrow!

  2. katie Avatar
    katie

    Yo, Happy New Year!!!!

    I just checked your itiniery & realized that I will be in Tokyo & Yokohama the week before you get to Japan; so I will just miss you by 2 days. Anyway I have no vacation time until July which sucks b/c I used it all this past month in Thailand exploring the golden triangle, Burma & Hong Kong. Nevertheless contact me before you get here & come & visit me on my southern island of Shikoku. I am a 45 minute ferry ride from Hiroshima & a 6 hour bus ride from Osaka or you could take the overnight ferry which is cheaper & more comfortable. So excited for you, see you in a few months 🙂

  3. Jeffrey Avatar
    Jeffrey

    howdy cowboys! glad to see the opeining kick off pics complete with some food that at least looked vegan!

    talk to yall later

  4. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Hey Todd, This is just awesome. Look forward to keeping up on your adventures. Have fun and keep safe.
    PS Don’t drink the water!!!:)

  5. Christina Poe (# Avatar
    Christina Poe (#

    WOW Todd! This is amazing what you are doing! If you stay in Paris when you go to France, I have several friends you could stay with. You are pretty much living out my dream- I am sure you are having a splendid time!

  6. be Avatar
    be

    hi boys. miss you already… hope you found a place to stay. xx

  7. be Avatar
    be

    oh yeah, your rss feeds are not working, please fix!

    Warning: copy() [function.copy]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/.panter/cornrow/lifenomadic.com/wp-content/plugins/mytube/mytube.php on line 220

  8. Doug Avatar
    Doug

    Looks a lot more comfy in Panama than it is right now in Moscow!

  9. Magnus Avatar
    Magnus

    Did you try the Rosetta Stone language learning software?

  10. Christopher Avatar
    Christopher

    Awesome. I’m looking forward to following your adventures.

    And for learning japanese – I highly recommend japanesepod101. You can download the lessons for free and they’re really good. The business model for the sites is pretty cool as well.

  11. Donovan Avatar
    Donovan

    Nice, I want to meet up with you in France! I’ve always wanted to go to Southern France.

  12. Stephanie Gentry Avatar
    Stephanie Gentry

    Yo ya’ll made it! Woo-hoo
    This site is GREAT~ I can’t wait to see all the pics
    You crazy adventurers take care of yourselves – know your friends in austin send lots of love and thoughts of vegan cupcakes 🙂

  13. Jake Avatar
    Jake

    Doha in July huh? Get ready for 110 degree temps and above. They must have paid off the alminac to say its under 90.

  14. smcdonald Avatar
    smcdonald

    great lookin hotel/ down at cabos with ur folks all is well/got a few things with big canadian logos that ur mom will send on down//hope u have a great adventure sandy and lee

  15. Jake H. Avatar
    Jake H.

    I just happened across your site (via StumbledUpon), and I can’t tell you have envious I am of your trip. Many of us wannabe nomads have thought about doing what you guys are doing but don’t have the balls to toss our stable lives aside and start really living. I love the way you’re doing too- great minimalistic tools/gadgets and keeping a website as a record of your travels and experiences.

    I’m sure I’ll keep checking in on the site periodically. Enjoy yourselves and have a kickass time… for all of us who wish we were there with you!

  16. The Matriarch Avatar
    The Matriarch

    Hi Ty….
    Boy, was I born 80 years too early!
    Wait til I share this w/ your cousins, aunts and uncles. you will most assuredly hear from James, at least. Too bad Jen and Nate are not still in W. Afrique.
    If you are in Mass Oct 18 you will be invited to a wedding! Andrew’s.

    OXOXOXOXO

  17. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    Can’t wait to read more about your ventures. Thank you for sharing the story. I plan to link to you on my blog, if this is a problem please let me know.

  18. The Matriarch Avatar
    The Matriarch

    Hi Ty –
    Just a paternal grandmother in awe of your exciting venture…

    Just received via e-mail pix of your folks’ inspired new home taken by Dev…fantastic! but then your Mom and Dad have incredibly good taste..and creativity abounds in that space.

    What happens if you can’t extend your Taiwan visit? Will you be visiting the area where you were with Charlie or have I got the Oriental places mixed. If I do, blame it on my slippery slope years…down!
    Love from Grumps ( the one watching a Western) and me, the one that wirtes. Nana

  19. admin Avatar
    admin

    Hi Nana,

    Taiwan is where I went with Charlie way back then… that’s actually one of the main reasons we’re heading back – fond memories. If we can’t stay there the whole time we’ll probably go to the Philippines. I just found out yesterday that we only need to leave for a day or two to come back to Taiwan.

    It’s great to see you reading the site and commenting too (unlike OTHER family members).

    Love,
    Tynan

  20. Joshua Avatar
    Joshua

    Hey Ty,

    My sister will be living in France after May 12th. Let me know when you’re supposed to be going there. She and her long time boyfriend live in Aix-en Provence in the Chateau Noir. Anyway, I’ll be visiting them some time this summer and it would be cool to hang out with the two Nomadics! Let me know if you need a place to stay.

    Joshua

  21. admin Avatar
    admin

    Hey Josh,

    Awesome… we’ll definitely have to meet up with you there.

    Tynan

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