Found this bio I wrote in Jan 2000 while cleaning out old storage disks…

April27

Click to read, it was part of a redo of the EmuHQ design from that same year. Pretty cool :).

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2 Year Travel Summary! Dec 2011 to Dec 2013…

April24

From December 2011 to December 2013 I lived the life of a digital nomad, I traveled around the world while working remote :). It was challenging, immensely fun, and I learned a shit ton :).

So, where did I go?

Panama for a few weeks.
Cusco, Peru for a month.
Buenos Aires, Argentina for a few months (1, 2, 3, 4)
Chile for a month (1, 2)
Easter Island
Melbourne, Australia for 1 year (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Bali for a week.
Singapore for a week.
Tasmania for a week.
New Zealand for a month.
Hong Kong (1, 2)
Split, Croatia (1, 2)
Freiburg, Germany for a month.
Romania for a month.
Amsterdamn for a week or two (work).
Spain For The Via de la Plata (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Scotland for the last month (1, 2, 3)

And then back home to settle down in Fayetteville, Arkansas :)

What did I learn?

#1 – You learn a whole lot about yourself when traveling for 6 month stretches alone. Lots of time to think, read, and just be with yourself. It was super helpful for me and I cleared a whole lot of bullshit from my mind, and I have a much better idea of who I am and what I want to do. Which is an good feeling :).

#2 – Living with your brother is really fun, especially when it is in Australia for a year. Especially when he refers to himself as your life coach :).

#3 – Time zones are hard, but also nice because they force you to prioritize what meetings need to happen. I just switched to a format to try to force this at home with meetings only on MTW from 9am to noon. We will see if that helps.

And I was reminded just how kind and awesome 99% of the people in the world are :). And how they just want clean air, good health care, opportunities to better themselves, opportunities for their kids, and for politicians to go fuck themselves (especially the corrupt ones, which usually means all of them in lots of these countries). Maybe one day a global political party can really get some traction.

Favorite places or experiences?

I loved them all but I especially loved Croatia! I can’t wait to go back as the weather and beach and people are amazing. Followed closely by Scotland, it felt like home :).

Highlights of the trip?
– Christmas and New Years in Panama with friends and family :).
– Taking Ayahuasca in Peru and seeing old ruiens + reading about them.
Touring the Mendoza wine region one weekend with Rose and Steve.
– Running at this great park in Buenos Aires while I was there + getting a lot of big picture working while I was there at local cafes.
– Finding the weirdest wines I’ve ever had with Joel and Laura one night in BA.
– Hiking Patagonia for a week near El Chalten. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
– Getting to see Easter Island and do a lot of biking, running, and walking after the polluted capital of Chile.
– Living with my brother Nick for a year in Melbourne Australia :)!
Riding a train from south to north australia for 3 days, I had a blast and it was an awesome trip!
– A week vacation in Bali where I read the entire Wheel of Time series over + the final one. And had some amazing food and total relaxation.
– Doing a short week camping adventure across Tasmania with Joel! And seeing a platypus in nature up in the mountains around old growth forests plus so many other beautiful areas. Tasmania is amazing!
– Heading back to Singapore for a week for delicious food and great company :)!
– RVing across all of New Zealand with my brother the navigator :). And seeing Hobbit town!
– Going on a boat with some work friends in Croatia that happened to fall on my birthday, exploring old military bases and a sub base was a life long dream :)! Not to mention how amazing that entire country is!
– Amazing hospitality in Serbia, and fantastic food and history!
– Running and mountain biking in Freiburg Germany, so many amazing trails everywhere!
– All the little trips I did across Romania, an amazing country and I’m hoping to go back when it is warmer :).
– Walking for 7 days across the Via de la Plata in Spain. It wasn’t what I expected, and I wish I had done it 8 years ago when I first found it. But it was still an amazing and challenging experience. Lots and lots of alone time when you are working all day.
– Scotland with family and friends! It was so great to have so many visitors for the last month.

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Goodbye All My Paper Books :(

April24

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The only thing I kept in storage while I traveled was my books. But I finally decided it was time to say goodbye :(. I donated them all to a Denver goodwill, hopefully someone else enjoys them and gives them a new home.

Goodbye 658 books!

I love my kindle, I can carry every book in the world with me it feels like :)

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What is the American dream? What is the world’s dream?

April14

Is this the american dream? America’s Workers: Stressed Out, Overwhelmed, Totally Exhausted.

We are all “rich” and yet we keep pushing for more, what is the point? I talk to person after person who is stressed, working nights, and generally pushed beyond the breaking point week to week. Why do we do this? What are we trying to achieve? 3,000 sq foot houses? 5,000 sq foot houses?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately over what the american dream is at this stage, and what the world’s dream is? This is a really challenging question, the american dream seems bloody and broken and hollow. Everyone abroad knows it is broken but doesn’t know what else to march towards.

What does the american dream mean to me at this point?

– My kids have a future where they can pursue what they want to pursue that makes the world fun/better/enjoyable. They might not make a lot of money, but they can live well, raise a family, receive health care for their passion in life.
– Education is as cheap as possible and key to providing a range of all things to pursue. Art might not seem like it pays off, but it has unlimited payoffs long term and for the world at large. We can’t just replace it with more business students and expect an awesome world.
– My kids have a future where they don’t have to wear breathing masks to go outside.
– My kids have a future where they don’t have to go shoot people at age 18.
– My kids have a future where they have a say in the direction of the future of the world.
– My kids have a future where don’t have massive debt that chains them to one choice in life.
– My kids don’t have to worry about their health care. It is part of taxes.
– Politics are heavily regulated to keep corruption to a minimum. Term limits of one term, and other items to keep them inefficient and full of optimism. And we cut off the head of anyone who takes a bribe maybe.

I would like to see a good Basic Income Test, I think it might really bring a huge bloom of new ideas and advances for society at large. Robotics needs to advance even further to enable this though. And it will be a really rough transition on some people, and some industries, before people change up.

Anyway, just some thoughts for a Monday night. Been a rough decade for the ‘American Dream’, and I can’t wait to see what happens over the next 20 years :).

UpDesk Review: UpWrite

April12

I love my new UpDesk! I’ve been working standing up for a few years and needed a new desk when I moved back to the States. I highly recommend this one as it works perfect and the added dry erase board top makes it extra useful for small notes and daily plans.

My first desk arrived slightly damaged on one corner due to shipping, and they handled it awesome. In fact I decided I wanted two desks so they gave me the top for free and I bought a leg set. AMAZING customer service!

Hit me up with any questions too :)

This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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