Image by fortinbras
Around this time last year, our daily life looked something like this…awake to glorious South African sunshine, head out to the beach for a run and some meditation, head home to shower, stroll to the local organic cafe for a breakfast of home-made bread, scrambled eggs & steaming hot frothy coffee – and sit there for a few hours doing some work on the wireless connection from the internet cafe just up the road.
Today, it’s somewhat different as we await the birth of our baby girl back in the UK, living in our “old” house and seriously getting stuck into our business, in preparation for the arrival of the little madam (although I can’t wait to get back on the road again when she’s strong enough).
Before we came back here, I worried about not walking the walk as well as talking the talk, especially since there are so many people out there on the net who write about stuff they’ve never managed to do themselves – so I worried whether people would question the fact that we’re not currently in some fabulously exotic location.
Of course, I’ve realised now that I was being stupid and irrational (it’s the pregnancy hormones). For all intents and purposes we are still location independent – because if it weren’t for the small (large) matter of the bump, we could indeed go anywhere we choose and run our business from there too.
And that’s what I’ve come to realise more and more about the concept of location independent living – it isn’t just about the travel or living in an exotic location far away – you can experience some of the key aspects of the location independent lifestyle from the comfort of your own home…
The “No Stuff” Mentality
I spent the best part of last weekend going through the things we moved back into our house and getting rid of even more unnecessary stuff. It is quite possibly one of the most liberating things you can do.
I’ve written before about our “no stuff” mentality and the fact we usually travel with around 20-30kg between us and this extends to our current existence. The things in our house are streamlined to the point where we really have very little clutter and unnecessary stuff taking up space.
I can’t emphasise how good it feels to live like this. You know that feeling you get when you’ve tidied up your desk? Or when you’ve re-organised the filing system on your computer? It’s like that…but when you do it with everything you own, it’s 100 times better. Try it and let me know how it feels.
The Freedom To Choose On A Daily Basis
Every single day, Jonathan and I get up and do almost exactly what we want to do. The significance of this does not go unnoticed – we remind ourselves on a frequent basis how lucky we are to be able to do this.
Thinking back to the days when I used to get up at 5.30am, set off in the car at 6am to miss the traffic on the south circular in London and arrive at the client site by 7am (with the intention of going to the gym but usually choosing a snooze in my car instead) – believe me, I know exactly how it feels to have your daily routine determined by someone else.
To those of you who are working towards the freedom we now experience, keep going. It is not a piece of cake but nor is it all roses and sweetness when you get there. What I can tell you however, is that whether you get to do this on an island in the Caribbean or in a small town in the heart of the UK, it gives you the biggest feeling of freedom you can imagine.
A Digital Nomadic Work Style
To experience this type of freedom, you don’t even have to be working for yourself and running your own business. As a digital nomad, you may be lucky enough to get to choose where you work from on a frequent basis – even if you don’t always get to choose what you do.
The rise of remote working is on the increase, especially as companies realise not only how productive it can be but how it can also help cut costs. Whilst the freedom is not as great as working for yourself, it’s also not always as stressful.
If you can make remote working arrangements with your company, it’s the first step in becoming location independent in your professional life and will give you a definite sense of freedom that you’ll never experience whilst stuck in the cubicle.
Ultimately, the location independent lifestyle and the mentality & concepts that underpin it are about pursuing freedom and choice.
To many people those can be challenging things to achieve at the best of times – even more so in times of economic turbulence and uncertainty. At the heart of it all however is one important step which is so often the biggest hurdle for many…Taking Action.
What small action can you do today – or right now – to achieve even the tiniest fraction of greater freedom and more choice for yourself?
Hi Lea
As you know this concept of becoming location independent without the global travel aspect is very close to my heart. In fact, it’s funny that you chose to write about this day as I was planning to post about it myself! Because I really can see how the location independent concept could help remote communities become sustainable once more by aiding those that live in rural areas create opportunities for themselves – for those that are forced to move to the city for economic purposes, I imagine this would be a preferred alternative. I’ll post some more on my thoughts later today tho, and I’ll trackback to here.
Amy
xx
I think the ‘freedom and choice’ aspects are the important ones. I consider myself location independent even though I live primarily in one place because I can and have run my business from different countries – and different locations within countries. The freedom to go the the beach for lunch or take the morning off to do something other than work are among the key benefits. As you say, though, it’s not all gravy – being location independent also means being very organised.
Great post, Lea! To me this is _exactly_ “walking the walk”: you’ve constructed your life in such a way that you can live location-independently, whether that’s someplace exotic or someplace like home. When unanticipated events come along, you have the freedom to choose, rather than feeling stuck by the circumstances.
Hi Lea,
I couldn’t agree more the freedom and choice that you get with being location independant are unbeatable – if I am having an off day then I usually have enough leeway to move work into tomorrow.
Working out of your home is a good first step for most people to becoming location independent. Many don’t want to cut loose from their job completely, start a business and learn something brand new. It’s scary! I’m in the process of moving away from being stuck in the office at my web development job and taking it wherever I want to go, still working for the same company.
I agree that it’s unnecessary to define “location independent” as “away from home 100% of the time.”
It’s certainly less expensive to fly to a place once and park yourself there, but this year I’m bouncing around–home, Europe, home, Australia, home… It’s partly an expedition to find a place I want to stay longer, it’s partly because that’s where my business sends me, but it’s also just fun.
And I fervently agree about paring down stuff. I travel lightly and enjoy having just my netbook and a few clothes. When I get home, I feel oppressed by all my “home” stuff. Now I’m getting rid of more stuff so I can enjoy my light travel lifestyle at home.
You’ve just covered all the points for curing Someday Syndrome – deciding what you want (regardless of expectations), making conscious choices and taking small steps to go after it, and getting rid of anything that you don’t need or love.
Nicely done! ;)
This post struck many chords with me, Lea.
Having someone else determine my daily routine always went against the grain. So much so, I’m starting realise now, that my tendency to get itchy feet and bolt across borders every few years may have been an extreme form of rebellion against what my true essence perceived as oppression.
As a recent solopreneur, I’m definitely still drunk on the freedom high. I feel like one of the kites that the Chinese old men fly all day in a patch of land next to my house. Your LI Biz course is helping reel me in as I know it’s time for me to hone my LI ideas into active revenue streams. Thank you.
:-) I sometimes get such a buzz after the purging of “the stuff” that I do a little dance.
Hi Lea,
I had a warm feeling in my heart while reading this post, esp. the first lines. Your description of life in South Africa is what I have been dreaming of for 6 months.
Really fantastic. I am taking action to get to that point. Reading your blog helps a lot. Thanks.
Love the message here. It seems to make the Location Independent lifestyle more inclusive and obtainable.
Since meeting my soulmate several years ago, I’ve cut down on extended travel. But I still have the flexibility to work from home, office, Vegas, or wherever I feel like working from.
And even if I’m mostly at my homebase, the LI setup allows me to have clients from all over that I’ve never met in person.
So I guess I can still be considered an LIP. Yay!
@Amy – I loved your post (worth a read here: http://amypalko.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/digital-lifelines-to-the-rural-remote/) and am really excited that we’ve started talking about how the LI concepts can help.
@Sharon, Andy & Sue – you’re all right…the freedom to choose is what underpins the concept of being LI and something that I think is easy to take for granted once you’ve got it & yet seems to unattainable when you haven’t.
@Ross – that’s pretty cool your company is open to that. Have you had any teething problems with the move so far? Did you see Christine’s post about this recently?
@Cathy – That’s a lot of bouncing!! Where’s ‘home’?
@Alex – so I’ve uncovered the secret solution. Is that you out of a job? ;)
@Leigh Anne – funny you should mention your “rebellious” streak. It’s something I’ve heard a few people say they’ve realised about themselves.
@Ozlem – SA is a superb country to visit, esp. the Western Cape which is where we were.
@Sterling – I love the direction that the community are taking Location Independence in…definitely making it more accessible to many more people which can only be a good thing :)
@Lea
No way – the more of us out there helping people get rid of their somedays, the better the world will be!
I especially like the no stuff mentality. I just sat here for a minute in my room/where I do my online work and took a look around. It’s incredible how much stuff I don’t even use that I could get rid of and de-clutter this place.
This post pretty much sums up what I want my life to be like so great job. It’s truly all about freedom and making your own choices.
I can certainly relate to the no stuff mentality.
I just live throwing away stuff or giving away things I don’t need. I could fit my entire life in a 20KG backpack and smaller 5kg one and be quite happy I have everything I need.
Lea: I have a question about your home in the UK. You mentioned you went back to your house – is this a home you and Jonathan own? If so, did you rent it out while you were away?
Did you keep all your stuff in storage when you were away (bed, dressers, other large furniture)?
Just curious about the home base and the expenses it incurs (rent or mortgage pmt, tax, insurance, etc.) when you’re away.
Hi Amy – yes, the house is one Jonathan & I own (with a mortgage) that we usually rent out to cover the mortgage payment. We streamlined all our stuff and put the rest into a very small storage room so I wouldn’t have considered it as a ‘home base’ as such.
On the costs side – the mortgage was taken care of by the rent, so the only additional cost in the UK was around £50/month for the storage room.