Q:  Who’s Your Daddy?

A:  Novelty

In the last year, two of the countries I’ve lived in are Chile & Costa Rica.  In both places, I did a number of things, kissed met a number of people, and learned a number of lessons.

Many people advocate the value of travel–that’s nothing new–but what they’re really advocating is the value of experiences.

Experiences yield so much more than an adrenaline rush; they exercise our souls, rejuvenate our minds, refine our perspectives, provide us with lifelong memories and, most of all, make us come alive.  (Possibly assisted by Jose Cuervo, but no bold claims.)

Travel fosters new experiences.  New experiences are, by default, novel.  Novelty forces us to think critically and be present in the moment.  This is why travel is such a valuable tool in terms of personal growth.

When we’re at home, it’s remarkably easy to get stuck in a rut.  We rely on our routines to carry us through our weeks, which turn into months, which turn into years.  And while routines can be comfortable, they can also be really stifling–without us even realizing it.

Today, I want to share some of the experiences I’ve had over the past year that have kept me sane.  I encourage you to run, faster than ever, toward your own.  If nothing else, you’ll at least have one or two damn good stories to tell.  (But hide the photos.  By all means, hide the photos!)

Costa Rica, Land Where Happiness is Contagious–Possibly The Result of an Unnamed, Unknown Shot Administered to the Glutes When Developing Signs of the Common Cold.  Or Not.  But I Really Wanted to Mention It.

Did unspeakable things on top of a waterfall.  Had a healer perform a ritual on my forearm to rid me of a stomach virus.  Determined that hips not only come in all different shapes & sizes…but also range of motion.  Ran hand-in-hand with a cute German boy into the ocean at night with all of our clothes on & not a care in the world.  Just because.

Had my purse stolen.  Twice.  Watched a mother & baby whale hovering off the coastline as I sipped a caipirinha at sunset.  Learned that raw fish tastes better than cooked fish, and that butter is what you put on top of saltines.  Made peace with bugs, but mastered the art of killing cockroaches when duty called– a particularly tricky task when one’s pants are around one’s ankles in the bathroom.

Experienced a 6.8 earthquake (which was far better than being bombed, since I didn’t know the word for “earthquake,” and thought that’s what was happening at the time).  Made the acquaintance of a porn director, a Swedish prostitute & Matthew McConaughey.  Discerned the value of patience while standing in long lines, as well as the value of using the ladies’ room beforehand.  Watched barefoot children play soccer in the streets with empty soda bottles, and saw their unabashed excitement the next day when I returned with an armful of balls.

Experimented with foreign sounds coming out of my mouth, and giggled when they didn’t quite make it.  Felt the wind in my hair atop jet skis, 4-wheelers, scooters, deep-sea fishing boats & bicycles, and the sun on my skin as I rafted down rivers, ziplined my way through rainforests, kayaked my way through mangroves and hiked my way up mountains.

But Most Importantly…

Learned that people and what they do for a living are mutually exclusive.  Found out what it means to be madly, passionate, uncontrollably in love.  Found out what it means to be profoundly, devastatingly, soul-crushingly hurt.  Discovered that politically drawn lines separate countries, not humanity.  Unearthed universal truths about the world, but at the same time, uncovered even more particular truths about myself.  Understood what it finally meant to feel alive.  And last but not least, gained knowledge that in some places, short shorts really can be practical.

Chile, Land of Ridiculous-Looking Pants & Guards That Look Like the Guards at Buckingham Palace, but Aren’t.

Witnessed a man without legs heave himself down the aisle of a public bus with his elbows.  Participated in a student-run, alcohol-fueled, end-of-year celebratory party inside the walls of Santiago’s most prestigious university.  Wistfully admired the immense majesty of snow-capped Andes mountains from the other side of the glass in my bedroom.  Climbed a portion of the Andes mountains with newfound Brazilian friends, then later celebrated the glory of the vineyards of their valleys.

Taught smart, driven college students the right way to pronounce the “sh” sound in English, and they taught me what it means not to have opportunity handed to you on a silver platter.  Was flown to Patagonia in order to impart valuable knowledge to high school students, but it was those high school students who showed me that innocence is sometimes the most valuable quality of all.

Rode llamas in the city, took cable cars up mountainsides, and relished every single bus ride across town.  Ate a seafood delicacy known as locos that is apparently only available off the coast of Chile (still haven’t found the English equivalent), delighted in the tradition of warming red wine on the grill, and witnessed the power of food in connecting strangers.  Covered myself with no less than four comforters each night at my host family’s house, and felt what it was like to truly be cold, but at the same time, through their kind compassion, felt what it was like to truly be warmed.

But Most Importantly…

I learned that “friends” is a mere synonym for “family“–even when you don’t share a common tongue.  But most of all, I learned that sometimes, friends are the best form of faith.  I discovered the importance of laughing, dancing and blaring the radio with the windows down.  I determined that through the hardest of human hardships, hope & kindness prevail, yet through the cushiest of human conditions, greed & hostility are more prevalent.  I discovered that stereotypes only stretch as far as we pull them, and differences only noticed as long as we watch them.  And last but not least, I learned that when all else fails, it’s never, ever a bad idea to go to the park and whisper sweet nothings into your lover’s ear.

Be glad that I’m not listing London, 2006 here, or you’d be hearing a lot more about sweet nothings & lovers.  Spanish ones, at that. Le sigh.

Surviving Versus Living – Not Even Your Mom Can Help You On This One

Nothing compares to experience.  Nothing you could buy.  Nothing you could sell.  Nothing you could find on eBay.  Nothing you could bust a rhyme about.  Nothing your mom could bake you in a bunt pan with ooey gooey chocolaty chips melted inside.  Not even anything that your Facebook farm with 700 bushels of freaking boysenberries can compare to.  (Shocker.)

New experiences are the only path from merely surviving to actually living.  And I’m pretty sure that if you don’t already have a down payment on your casket, you’re probably more interested in the latter.

Unless, of course, you have OCD, in which case you very well may already have your casket picked out.  (And you thought the Swedish prostitute had issues.)

If this topic interests you, you can grab a free copy of my report titled Living or Just Surviving?  A No-Bullshit Guide for Modern-Day Outlaws Who Want to Feel Alive Again.  It’s free–you just gotta throw in an email address down below, partner.  Then I’ll send you more free stuff later–maybe without foul language in the title.  But probably not.

LIVING OR JUST SURVIVING?
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Ride ‘em cowboy!

Most of you reading this website are here because you want more.

Tried and true may be comfortable, but boring.  The traditional life path may be safe, but uninspiring.  The status quo is average, but nothing extraordinary.

You know there’s something missing, but you can’t pinpoint what, exactly, it is.

We’ve essentially been told for years that hard work pays off.  You’ve gone and done everything the way you’ve been told you were suppose to do it.  We’ve been under the impression this whole time that as long as we put in our dues, we’ll be rewarded, and handsomely.   This was the model of reality we’ve built up in our minds, assuming that by following the rules, eventually the right of passage would open its doors to us, and we’d saunter on through in our Armani suit, whistling show tunes and brushing our shoulders off before asking someone to pass the Corvasier.

Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that right now, you’re lucky if you even have a job, let alone an Armani suit.  Maybe you happen to be in that crowd.  If not, then chances are you’re probably looking for a job. Or maybe you’re one of the brave, who’s elected to try and build an unconventional business & lifestyle.  Regardless of the circumstances, you haven’t been able to quiet the small, nagging voice in the back of your mind that says, “Is this it?  Is this what I’ve been working for my whole life?  This?”

But you make every attempt to silence that voice, because now that you’ve put so much time and effort into X career or Y life plan, you feel obligated.  You tell yourself that you’re just going to have to stick it out.  And so you do.  But it doesn’t get better.

The small voice eventually becomes a bigger one, reminding you that you deserve more. You start to resent that voice, and then start to resent yourself.  This is your one precious life, after all.  But just as soon as the thought pops into your head, you immediately hit a brick wall; you wouldn’t know how to change it if you wanted to.  What’s a person to do?  Go back to school?  Up and quit?  Stay and start a business on the side?  Exile themselves from the country?  Just say screw it, and sit at home eating buckets of fried chicken and Twizzlers all day long?

I’ve been in that position.  Not the friend chicken and Twizzler position (usually), but the lost and confused and crushed position.  And man was it unsettling.  Frustrating.  Disillusioning.  Heartbreaking.

Others have asked themselves these same questions, too.  Take Colin Wright of exilelifestyle.com or Andi Norris of instigationology.com.  Both of these cool cats started out doing out doing something entirely different than what they’re doing now.  Yet somehow, all of us have managed to jump oh-so-gracefully over that little disheartened hurdle, and leap into something that, after taking some inner inventory, made more sense for us.  We’re now doing things that we like to do, because, well, we like them.  And isn’t that the point?

But more importantly, we’re doing things we like to do because we gave ourselves permission to go ahead and do so. To not be afraid to scrap it all and start over.  To teeter on up to the edge of something new, poke it in the side and say, “Hey.  Let’s take some risks, you big, Santa Claus – esque imaginary metaphor, you.” To put ourselves out there, recognizing that the universe can never say yes, if we never ask anything of it.  It’s a go big or go home mentality, and it’s literally saved our lives.

Zee Big Annoucement

So maybe that’s why when the three of us got to talking about how much fun it would be to, oh, say, drive clear across the United States, we knew right from the beginning that this was something we had to do.

What better way to connect with all of you that we interact with online each and every day?

What better way to take our broader message and inject it with a straight shot of nitrous oxide?  (Not in the laughing gas sense, of course, but in the car racing sense.  Zoom, zoom, anyone?)

What better way to create a larger purpose, and leverage the awesome networks we’ve been fortunate to build, in order to bring more of you together in the name of facilitating innovation, big ideas & even bigger ass kicking?

Allow me to formerly introduce to you the official Status Quo Smackdown Roadtrip 2010, where myself, Andi & Colin hop in a car, risk extreme cramping of the limbs & the very real possibility of insanity, in order to drive thousands of miles to come visit in person.  And we couldn’t be more excited / thrilled / unable to stop thinking about how dangerously terrific it’ll be.

The Plan

Starting July 1st, 2010, we’ll begin in New York City, heading north up to Maine, and then loop back down again to Washington D.C. From there, we’ll mosey on down to Florida, hopefully encounter some white tee shirt contests, at which point we’ll swing back up through New Orleans, Memphis, Missouri & Illinois, chillax over in Madison, Minneapolis, Omaha & Denver, and then ride ‘em cowboy our way right back down to Texas, New Mexico & Vegas, before zooming up through California, stopping to play in Oregon & finally ending in Washington state.  The schedule is tentative to date, but we’ll be making adjustments over the next two months before the tour begins.

So, there you have it!  We’ve got some amazing potential sponsors (and if you have suggestions for someone we should be talking to, definitely get in touch), and we’d like to encourage anyone & everyone to come meet up with us in your nearest city, where we’ll be holding all sorts of fun un-conferences, meet-ups & beer drinking sessions.  To sweeten the pot, there might even be fake mustaches.  But shhh–Colin & Andi don’t know that yet.  We’re also open to your ideas on what you’d like to see from us, so feel free to give us a shout.

We’d be honored if you’d go ahead & check out the new site, www.waybelowstatusquo.com, and sign up to come hang out with us in your city, under the “Groups” section.  It’s no definitive commitment–we’d just like to get an idea of what to expect, and where.  You can always bail later if you want, but I’ll probably cry, in which case you’ll be obligated to come buy me a drink.

Last but not least, let us know if you’d be interesting in hosting our happy little threesome.  We want to really connect with everyone, and we’re trying to make a point of not staying in hotels for that reason.  I’ll be including updates about the tour at the end of my regular posts as they come up, including more definitive dates, but let us know if you’re interested.

Hope to see you soon!  And for the record, I will have mace with me, just in case you’re still mad about my Education post.  Or the racism one.  Orrr the one on capitalism & altruism.

Status Quo Smackdown Roadtrip 2010, baby.  Who’s in?

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