Nomadic Entrepreneurs

My guest today is Daniel Espinoza, a web designer and consultant. Daniel has spent a year traveling with his family. They spent two months in Europe and one month in New York City. On today’s episode Daniel tells me what it’s like traveling with 3 kids and the challenges of running a business that isn’t quite ready to be left on its own yet. Daniel and his family made some major changes to their lifestyle to keep their exploring going. He shares what his kids have learned and taken away from their time abroad. We also talk about the problems that come up when traveling abroad. The topics discussed today are: The importance of Standard Operating Procedures Making the decision to homeschool Finding childcare when abroad How traveling has helped Daniel’s kids gain cultural experience Daniel’s “star pattern” plan for future travel To learn more about Daniel and his business visit his blog at daniel.gd and find him on Twitter @d_espi.

My guest today is Jason Hanley. Jason is a software consultant who has been working remotely since 2009. He currently operates a software company called Syllogistic Software. He has been working as a programmer since the age of 10. At the age of 15 he was involved with a software that is still used today. He is CTO of the Rumie Initiative, a  non-for-profit that helps children get a quality education. Jason has lived in 5 countries since going remote, but has visited over 20 countries as well. On today’s episode Jason tells me about his experience working abroad and what places he truly enjoyed seeing. The topics we cover: Working from the Caribbean The usefulness of scheduling software Working and living in New Zealand How to get referrals Why keeping in touch with contacts is important The benefits of smart phones How internet service varies from country to country To get in touch with Jason visit jasonhanley.com. He can also be found on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+. Resources Mentioned Today: Jasonhanley,com Twitter Facebook Rumie Syllogistic Software Inc timeanddate.com

Today I welcomed Casey Armstrong to the show. Casey is senior vice president of Watchmaster.com, a luxury watch ecommerce company in Berlin. He's helped grow startups, such as Mavenlink, Pivotal Tracker, and Pantheon. He also grew and sold PaleoHacks.com, and leads the online marketing for the New York Times bestselling book, The Lean Entrerpeneur. Casey has been traveling for business all over Europe and also has backpacked across the continent. He shares his experiences and impressions of the places he has been on today’s episode. We discuss all sorts of differences between life in America and other countries. The things we discuss on today’s episode are: What’s it like working and living in Berlin The benefits of working online The terms “offshore” vs. “location independant” The usefulness of Google’s translation tools Traveling and living with kids abroad To contact Casey you can find him on twitter @caseya or email him at casey@watchmaster.com or casey@fullstackmarketer.com. Resources Mentioned on Today’s Episode: Full Stack Marketer Watchmaster.com The Lean Entrepreneur Like the podcast? Help us! If you enjoy these candid conversations about work, life, travel, and business, support us to keep going: Subscribe in iTunes to Nomadic Entrepreneurs Leave us a 5-star review in iTunes Share the podcast with your friends   Hopefully the fact that your show of support will keep the podcast going is reward enough for you. But we want to sweeten the deal for you even further: After you’ve submitted your review, send an email to kai@developyourmarketing.com. Once you do, you’ll get an exclusive Roundtable Report with six Nomadic Entrepreneurs on sharing their take on some of the questions nomadic entrepreneurs get asked most frequently, like: How do you get started? Where should you travel? How do you make an income while traveling? How do you deal with the work/life balance while traveling? (You’re traveling to somewhere exotic and exciting, after all!) This 6-page Roundtable Report will help you get your most pressing questions answered — and hopefully give you the encouragement to take that trip you've been dreaming about. All you need to do is: Subscribe to Nomadic Entrepreneurs in iTunes Leave a review of the show Send an email to kai@developyourmarketing.com  

Today’s episode is about balance. Travis Northcutt is a partner at The Bright Agency where he helps membership sites grow to new heights. A native of Texas, Travis and his family began their traveling adventure in California and moved to a lengthy five week stay in Europe. He still keeps a home base in Texas, but his European trips are growing longer and longer. Travis shares the tips and lessons he and his family have found work for them during their adventures. The most important lesson he has to share is about balance. Finding the perfect ratio of work, travel, and home life is important to any nomadic entrepreneur. Today Travis explains how he came by some of these tips and how to be smarter in your travel. Travis shares a lot of tips for the nomadic lifestyle including: Make sure you have a reliable internet connect Avoid excessive travel What to do when friends and family want to visit you in your temporary home Know when to say no to work How to deal with jet lag How to communicate with clients from an overseas location Why work time needs to be separated from family time Appreciating your spouse or travel companion Travis can be found on Twitter @tnorthcutt or emailed at travis@travisnorthcutt.com. For more information on Travis’s business The Bright Agency click the link below. Resources Mentioned During Today’s Episode: The Bright Agency Microconf. Europe InfusionCon

My guests today are Sherry and Rob Walling. Sherry and Rob are world travelers who hold down “steady jobs” and still manage to take yearly trips abroad with their children. They share their process of planning these trips with me. As well as what is like to travel with 5 and 9 year old boys.   Rob Walling is a serial entrepreneur who most recently co-founded Drip, an email marketing automation tool. He's been teaching software entrepreneurs how to build, launch and grow software startups for 10 years through his blog, his book Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup, his conference MicroConf, and popular startup podcast, Startups for the Rest of Us.   Sherry Walling is a practicing psychologist who has a serious passion for travel and enjoys sharing these world adventure with her family every year.   The topics we discuss on today’s episode is:   Why staying in more than one place can be exhausting. How Sherry and Rob arrange their month off of work with their bosses. How working online has changed their travel plans. What this travel tradition has done for their children’s development. Common excuses that non-travelers use to avoid beginning a nomadic lifestyle. How to ease into a traveling lifestyle.   No matter what your responsibilities or obligations in this life, travel is a viable option with just a little forethought and planning. Sherry and Rob prove this in spades.   If you would like to hear more about the Wallings’s travel experinces go to Zenfounder.com to listen to their weekly podast.   Resources Mentioned During Today’s Episode:   ZenFounder.com startupsfortherestofus.com MicroConf.com Drip Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup Like the podcast? Help us! If you enjoy these candid conversations about work, life, travel, and business, support us to keep going: Subscribe in iTunes to Nomadic Entrepreneurs Leave us a 5-star review in iTunes Share the podcast with your friends Hopefully the fact that your show of support will keep the podcast going is reward enough for you. But we want to sweeten the deal for you even further: After you’ve submitted your review, send an email to kai@developyourmarketing.com. Once you do, you’ll get an exclusive Roundtable Report with six Nomadic Entrepreneurs on sharing their take on some of the questions nomadic entrepreneurs get asked most frequently, like: How do you get started? Where should you travel? How do you make an income while traveling? How do you deal with the work/life balance while traveling? (You’re traveling to somewhere exotic and exciting, after all!) This 6-page Roundtable Report will help you get your most pressing questions answered — and hopefully give you the encouragement to take that trip you've been dreaming about. All you need to do is: Subscribe to Nomadic Entrepreneurs in iTunes Leave a review of the show Send an email to kai@developyourmarketing.com

My guest today is the owner and founder of Audience Ops. Brian Casel runs a content marketing business with an all remote team. He also co-hosts a weekly podcast Bootstrapped Web with Carthook founder Jordan Gal. This style of business has enabled Brian and his family to take a  cross country adventure. Brian traveled with his wife and 18 month old daughter to some of the major cities of the United States. They hope to make the move to Southeast Asia and parts of Europe. They loved the excitement and diversity of their trip. Each stop in Brian’s journey is like temporarily “setting up shop” and living as a local.   At the time of this recording they were in Asheville, North Carolina. Brian discusses his travel plans with me and offers insight as to how he and his wife were able to make this happen. Here are some things we discussed: Brian’s tentative travel schedule How Brian made arrangements ahead of time for their trip How Brian runs his business while traveling The benefits of “living like a local” What is a “lifestyle business?” Today’s episode is a great example of how nomadic business doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing thing. If you are interested in learning more about Brian visit casjam.com or audienceops.com. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @casjam. Resources Mentioned During Today’s Episode: Bootstrapped Web Casjam.com Audience Ops Restaurant Engine    

Today's guest is Matt Inglot. Matt is the founder of the Tilted Pixel a web agency that he runs remotely. He also runs Freelance Transformation where his mission is to help others attain his level of freedom. He lives in Alberta, Canada with his wife and two of the world's most spoiled cats. The Tilted Pixel is now 10 years old, but it has gone through an amazing transformation. In 2011, Matt was feeling burned out, so he decided to shut down his office and rebuild the entire structure. He went digital, and traded teams of developers for contract freelancers from all over the world. In order to keep his business running smoothly, Matt has specific criteria for the clients and contractors he works with. In 2012, he went on an adventure to Poland and the Ukraine for two months. He left his brother in charge of the day to day operations and made sure to have a process for everything including only checking his email every 2 weeks. The move was very rewarding and life changing compared to the long days of office life. Today Matt shares his best practices and what drives him to keep this nomadic lifestyle. Today’s topics include: The 3 steps to making your business mobile. How this change has affected his life as a whole. Where Matt gets his leads. How “reality is negotiable.” Living abroad vs. living in the US. Matt encourages people to find their freedom in their work life. To get some tips from Matt about getting a great work life balance visit freelancetransformation.com/worktravel. Links and resources: Tilted Pixel Freelance Transformation  

Today I talk to Sean D’Souza a writer and business owner. Sean is known for his commitment to 3 month vacations. He shares how he makes that work and why people need to reconsider their own down time/work time ratio. Sean has a formula that works for him, he works for about 3 months, then takes a month off to recharge. He feels it is hard to switch from work mode and vacation mode. So it’s best to work out processes that will help you switch back into work mode after a vacation. His company is built on this idea where clients are notified and the whole business goes on minimum contact with Sean.   Sean is very serious about energy management. He discusses this with me as well as these topics: How managing your energy helps your happiness. How it affects long term memory. How it also affects your pain perception. Sean’s definition of a “business.” What is low energy is and how it is subjective. Not everyone can take 3 months off at a time, but there are things you can do to stop and recharge. Like take a nap. Naps are basically “mini vacations.” Resources Mentioned Today: Psychotactics.com  How to Win the Resistance Game

Today we’re joined by John Sonmez: founder of Simple Programmer and author of bestselling book: "Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual". He’s published 55 courses on topics such as iOS, android, .net, Java and game development for the online development resource plural site, and is also a life coach for software developers. He helps software engineers, programmers and other technical professionals boost their careers and life a more fulfilled life by empowering them to accomplish their goals by making the complex simple. Today’s topics included: What John’s major goal is in life and why How he condenses his work week to one day The concept of home exchanges How taking a trip can improve your business The perks of being a minimalist How to make traveling simpler We dive into John’s experience of traveling through Europe for several months with his family, all while keeping his business alive and well. He tells us what motivated him to pick up and go, and gives advice for people who want to follow in his steps. We talk about everything from dealing with the family aspects of traveling to the things that totally caught John off guard about his trip.

In this episode, we’ll be talking to freelancer and coach, Jason Lengstorf. He’s a writer, speaker, and software marketing consultant for companies like Intel, Precision Nutrition and PlayStation. Even though he started out with published writing and educational material, he’s basically a one person R&D lab. He’s now been freelancing for over 10 years, and most of his time has been location independent. Meaning, he travels the world full time and is loving every second of it. Not only that, but he coaches other people on how to do the same! Today’s topics include: Jason’s favorite part about running a business abroad How to overcome to instinct to protect yourself Lowering your workload to increase productivity What it’s like to live all around the world Grouping things by context and time-blocks Why you should start being protective of your time Jason and Keith have both experienced finding and immersing themselves in different cultures and communities, and living a truly nomadic lifestyle, because “you have a flexible schedule and it’s very non-permanent.” Not only do they discuss all the ins and outs, but they’ve learned some really valuable tips along the way. They’ll be sharing the biggest productivity life hack of all time, how time zone changes detach you from real-time and unnecessary urgencies, and why you might be the perfect fit for this incredible lifestyle, too. Links and resources: Jason's website Two Friends Talking About Things (Jason's podcast) Jason’s Twitter Jason’s Facebook