We hear much about the 1% thing. In this land of plenty: Dislike. God bless Scandinavia and other successful social-democracy experiments, where people can get rich, but also most everyone enjoys excellent education, employment, healthcare, and—wow!—lots of time off for vacations, babies, families, and more.

Yet hard-working people can do well the world over, and you meet examples daily. A friendly deliveryman or breakfast waitress can make your day (while a millionaire in a Mercedes may flip you off for no reason). Somehow, sometimes, hard-working laborers lead role-model lives; competence is not always about the money.

• A modest man gone viral

The story of one James Robertson, 56, went viral recently, and he soon found himself $345K richer…and rising. The Detroit Free Press reported about his daily, 10-mile, walking commute to a low-paying job. This he’s done for 10 years. A few good Samaritans took notice, went to GoFundMe, and now Mr. Robertson has the car of his dreams—plus a nice cash cache.

• Hard workers: Everyday heroes

This tale stirs up many sub-stories, including: The sad lack of job options for the carless and working poor; the nonstop political kerfuffle about funding public transportation and living wages; the incongruity of well-to-do do-gooders suggesting they can solve systemic and societal problems by selectively throwing their money around.

The real story here, though, is the profound role-modeling Mr. Robertson provides by enduring these conditions just to put food on his table—with (until now) no obvious prospects for significant advancement or payoff. He’s just one of the millions (billions?) of workers who toil away out of loyalty, self-sufficiency, and pride.

Most of us have met many of these everyday heroes—and still do. I think about the ones I’ve had the good fortune knowing, especially when I’m feeling overworked, the cash isn’t flowing, hard-working folks do something for me while I merely flash my credit card or move from Point Y to Z.

My heart forever goes out to Irma, my fellow server and a “lifer” at the country club—whose patience and laugh went right to my heart and the many members who adored her. John, the janitor (when that was the title), who put up with college-dorm crap and always had wisdom and a smile to share. Bob, the pot man. Lee, the fry cook. And Joe.

• Joe the Dishwasher

I once worked in a downtown Minneapolis restaurant with a booming lunch business, busy bar, and serious dinner crowd. As a newbie waiter, my shifts might start at 10 in the morning—and end after midnight. It seems like Joe was always there, manning the piles of pots, dishes, leftovers, and epic messes that come with such a job.

Joe served as bedrock amid the kitchen’s slippery chaos. And he was always kind and appreciative to me, which is more than I can say for some of the staff who worked in a place with hierarchy and secrets.

Imagine water and food scraps spraying everywhere, all the time. Picture steam and sweat and the occasional burn. Joe did yeoman’s work, never stopped, and never complained. In fact, he rarely spoke, though I know that he walked an hour to and from work every day to his home in a Native-American, government housing complex.

I can’t fathom what keeps a Joe like that ticking. But I do know that—even amid the mean scene that a kitchen can become—Joe held a high post. If you screwed up the way you distributed dirty dishes, you were pulled aside by the chef. If Joe couldn’t keep up with a crazy-busy mealtime, Chef commanded an assistant from the line over to help. And when employees were fed between shifts, Joe got whatever he wanted.

Chef: “You hungry, Joe? That was a rough lunch. What can I make you?”

Joe (shyly, as usual): “You got any ribs?”

Chef (with a smile): “I got more ribs than you can shake a stick at, Joe! I’ll heat some up and you just let me know if you want some more.”

When the employees ate, the staff segregated by tables and status—management at one, fancy waiters at another, underclass waiters and bussers at the next, kitchen crew at the largest one where the evening’s specials and recipes were debated while fresh and fussy ingredients were fondled and on display.

Joe always sat alone—amid the odors of his work and in a uniform that usually looked like a Jackson Pollack painting. But I so remember the satisfied smirk on his face when he dug into his plate of fine dining.

This upscale eatery—where CEOs swung deals over Scotch and Symphony Ball mavens gossiped over Chardonnay—could not function without him. Countless jobs and meals and celebrations depended on his dependability and unheralded skills.

Nobody ever crowd-sourced a car for Joe. He may never have gotten a car, and probably didn’t get rich. Yet those of us who got to work with him are richer for it. Maybe richer than the people we served.

• Loyalty and attitude trump arrogance and ignorance

The backbone of any society is the good people who pick the crops, repair the streets, drive the busses, and dish out our food-on-the-run. Make it a game: When you see someone quietly but diligently making the world a better place despite low pay and status, give them thanks. And a smile.

Chances are, they’ll say, “You’re welcome!” And smile back.

Well, the Vacation Revolution we announced in the last post is confronting resistance already. The NYT reported last week on the trend of “workations.” That’s when high-wired, workaholic types travel to exotic, “all-inclusive” destinations decked out with cool necessities like wifi, tech gear, office space, new coworker-pals and, of course, killer coffee.

• The next big co-working thing

Early adopters, entrepreneurs, and idea-mongers are showing up in droves—to places like Surf Office (in California and the Canary Islands), Mutinerie Village (a restored farmstead near Paris and, soon, Coconat, a bucolic retreat near Berlin.

Why not? Why not go hang out somewhere suave where you can work, network, and surf both waves and webs 24/7? If you’re young, worldly, and omni-connected—and you hate unplugging (and love working)—then this is for you. Oh yeah, it may help to have deep pockets or a generous expense account.

The idea further validates the co-working movement, which is uplifting news for local pioneer, CoCo. Maybe the next expansion for CoCo is a space in a retired Minnesota lake Resort!

• The next big un-working thing

Speaking of lakes, folks are also coming in droves (and pickups, ATVs, and snowmobiles) to vegetation retreats atop frozen lakes. Some call it ice fishing. Some just seem to meditate for hours, staring at a hole in ice. Some, though not all, catch bottle bass. They also collaborate, as in, “Catchin’ anything?” But very few of them require laptops, cell phones, or wifi.

To be sure, these peaceful people most likely return to work the next day. So their vegecation is temporary—unlike our workation friends who never seem to shut down.

To each his (or her) own. But every single soul I’ve invited to the Ice Shanty has loved their retreat into the comfortable, low-stim sanctuary. Things like giddiness, games, candles, and singing happen. Things like work, worry, and selfie-importance don’t.

When I ask my friends, “Why is this old, little trailer so magical and fun?” They usually say something like, “Because we’re away.”

A BreakAway comes in many forms. That includes 1974 ice-fishing campers on ice, and maybe even surfing workations by the sea.

Still, I’ll take the vegecation over a workation. Work will wait. Chilling out in the present moment won’t.

The fat cat is out of the bag: Americans’ vacation rates have hit sick, historic lows, and the topic has gone viral like the flu at the office. Dozens of sites have picked up on the story, and screen-starers have are taking notice. Could this—finally—suggest a tipping point in our mass, stubborn refusal to take time off?

The new study, by Skift (of course), found that nearly 42% of our workers took not one day off last year. Trending on the low end: Women and younger workers. Looking a bit better: Men, suburbanites, Westerners, and those with higher incomes.

Contrarian thinking has gotten lots of people rich; just ask Mr. Buffett. So this vakay maven wonders if we’ve hit bottom. Oil’s <$50 per barrel right now. You think it will stay there forever? You think Americans will refuse to take time off forever—especially while the economy has improved and unemployment is low?

Call me an optimist. (!) And never mind that just last March this site proclaimed “Vacations Are A Waste of Time!”  Things change. Workers are giving $52 billion of “free” work back to their employers—while suffering from countless syndromes that a vacation might heal.

5 reasons the vacation revolution has begun

• We need the exercise and movement that a getaway can provide. 

Both will help us fight epidemics like diabetes, obesity, bad backs, and lack of sand on the buttocks.

• Mother Nature calls. 

These days, work means mostly sitting at a computer. Some still toil on assembly lines. Others flip burgers or change sheets (and often get no PTO). Prescription: Find several days to get outside of that discomfort zone!

• Folks are sick of (and at) work. 

Another disturbing trend: Presenteeism. People are going to work sick (which we’ve commented on before)— sometimes even doing daring, dangerous jobs. Got the bug? Stay away. We’ll all feel better. (NOTE: If this dude is feeling dizzy, he should def lay low.)

• We’ve got Euro-envy (for a change)

Say what you want about the chronic Euro economic meltdowns and high unemployment rates. But 30 days off is the norm there. Here, only 15% take more than 20 days. Take 20 days in France, and they’d send you to recovery! We still have things to learn from other lands. Like, R&R (and how to party on the back of a truck).

• Vacation makes you unplug.

Another alarming trend: people working on vacation (and all the time everywhere). Still, odds at least improve that when you’re on the road, you’ll go on the wagon from digital addiction. Maybe you’ll even, like, dress in period costume and do interpretive dance!

Turn off, tune in, and BreakAway!

NOTE: This post was originally published on December 11 by my good friends at MeetPlanGo!  

It’s that time of year again. The holidays get us all plumped up with feasts and fetes. Then we stumble into a new year. For most folks with any sense of tradition, that’s a time of resolution, reflection, and reduction (of pounds and debt dollars). This year, why not resolve to get one step closer to a big, fat, career break?

While we’re at it, let’s be more specific—and twisted. That is, let’s twist the usual NYE advice to make it more fitting, fun, and hopeful. If your life feels boxed-in or you want to live outside the cube, take note. And take heart.

• SAVE LESS. Sure, everyone’s always preaching about saving for an education, house, rainy day, or retirement. But retirement is such distant ship-smoke on the horizon, right? Presently, 35% of people over 65 work. And both those numbers will keep growing as the cost of living ratchets up. What to do? Retire now and then. The best reward for saving money for your senior years: Instant grat. So you hereby have permission to sneak some straw from your nest egg (assuming you have built one first) to practice retiring. Go away, far away, for a month or 12. Then come back and work (and invest) some more. Repeat every 5-7 years.
• SPEND MORE. Time is money, right? Well, yes and no. We sell our time (and sometimes soul) to the boss who pays us with money, true. But if we could value time, we’d dub it priceless. So how about spending less hours on work (and related shtuff), and more time on what makes you tick—like yoga, cooking, hiking, and (naturally) planning your vacations and sabbatical.
• LOSE THE WAIT. Are you putting something off? Do your travel or even simple getaway goals keep getting sidelined? Resolve here and now to pop that procrastination bubble and do something—anything!—that brings you closer to your desire to experience the world and its cultures, cuisines, and quirks. Visit oddball museums. Dine in a different ethnic eatery each month. Sneak in over-nighters to funky small towns and stately state parks. Use long weekends and vacation time to get outa town and escape your routine. Whatever you do, find ways to make some here-and-now BreakAway moves—until you can make a break for The Big One.

HNY!

2015 is right around the corner. May it be a year of turning the corner on making your dream a reality. And meantime, may the holiday spirit (the kind and generous one—not the greedy and grinchy one) be with you!

It’s that time of the year again. On one hand, the tackiest side of America acts out embarrassing rituals of full-contact shopping and materialism. On the other hand, we take time for Thanksgiving—a non-denominational pause dedicated to family, feasting, and gratefulness.

Folks who somehow manage extended breaks away from work and the routine grind have a lot to be thankful for. There are way more than five things to recognize, but for now, here’s a worthy start.

• THANKS for learning there’s more to life than work. Everyone knows that, of course. Yet few people prove it—and too often not having a job is for all the wrong reasons. Work matters. But so do countless other things. Slipping away now and then may be the best way to practice that balancing act.
• THANKS for the people you meet. Right before I went to Norway for the first time, I asked a fellow Nordic-American (a title not yet on ethnic surveys) who had been there many times, “What’s the best thing about Norway.” He immediately replied, “The people.” With any luck, that’s true wherever you may wander.
• Thanks for the pretty good habits. A traveler has no choice but to habitually assert, adapt, and accept. That’s not always easy. But such wise practices can become, well, habits! And they sure come in handy…pretty much every day of your life.
• Thanks for the life-changing thrills. You can’t often sail Caribbean islands, hike Tuscan villages, or eat your way through Asian cities. Yet these delights need not collect mold on the bucket list—and can instead mold your view of the world and of what’s possible.
• Thanks for coming home again. Getting “the go-homes” before ending a BreakAway can feel like depression meets salmonella crossed with a concussion. But you know you can’t stay away forever, and home works best when it’s a launching pad, not a prison. Anyway, the pain of leaving a magical place eventually turns inside out and morphs into…gratitude.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The NYT recently published a story about companies offering “unlimited time off.” Publicity mogul Richard Branson had announced that his UK and US companies would adopt such a practice. As usual, the media went gaga. And then the HR pundits weighed in. Now it’s my turn.

Take your time…when you’re “100% sure”

Such implausible policies usually come with not-so-fine print. In this case, according to Mr. Branson’s blog, employees should feel free to embrace the policy when they:

“feel a hundred per cent comfortable that they and their team are up to date on every project and that their absence will not in any way damage the business—or, for that matter, their careers!”

Sounds like a typical Boss Man. I remember taking my first “real” job out of college at a small ad agency. When I asked the owner about his sick-day policy, he said, “Sick days? We don’t need that. When you’re sick, you’re sick.” The policy never was clear to me, though I remember colleagues frequently working while ill. Ish!

Mr. Branson: Is anyone every 100% sure of anything? “Their team?” “Every project?” “The business?” “Their careers?” If perfection were the goal, we’d never stop working. And still never reach 100%. Mr. Branson: Your policy is, at best, a fuzzy discourtesy to the priceless professionals who’ve made you a billionaire.

Some vacation policy tips we can LIVE with

Having hung around countless hard-working (and sometimes burned-out) pros for years, here are some ideas I’ve gathered that seems to work for all parties…

• 2-4 weeks of paid vacation. Yes, it should be more. But this is ‘Merrka. But if you start young and the company gives you 4 weeks in 5-10 years: Sweet.
• Use it or lose it vacation time. No, you can’t work your harried ass off and hoard those days as an exit strategy (or whatever). You MUST take time off. Or you lose the ability to keep adding more. You’ll be a better employee (and person).
• Sabbaticals. Since this site is dedicated to that proposition, how about something so simple as one month off every five years, or three months off every seven years.
• Paid leave for family matters. That includes dads, who often suffer a reverse-discrimination (that nobody talks about). There are laws supporting this now, yet many folks and employers don’t go there. Life is short. Family comes first.
• Sick leave or PTO. “When you’re sick, you’re sick,” and you need to get better—and not sicken the staffers that surround you. PTO is for when you just need a day off. Mental health? Personal problem? Dog ate your laptop? Deal with it. No questions asked.
• 40-hour work weeks. Let’s work hard and smart and then focus on The Big Picture and wellbeing. Anyway, ever check Facebook? Most folks are posting and commenting from work. No wonder they’re working long hours!

What do you think of Branson’s policy?  What’s yours?

Our obsession with smartphones festers on. Go to a social spot like a bar or a rock concert and most everyone is focused on their phone. Students list “no wifi” as a reason they won’t attend U of MN football games. And the chatter about the latest & greatest phones (and the challenges of obtaining one) remains shrill.

And yet, survey sez:

• 67% of Americans reported they would feel completely relaxed if they were entirely “off the grid” (without any electronics or Internet access).
• 52% say that having a smartphone makes it harder to relax.

Source: Princess Cruises

You can’t crack a newspaper these days without reading about youth anxiety, depression, and disorders. Could there be a connection here? Are we forgetting how to talk out our problems—and our dreams? Reducing life to texts and emoticons seems so … simple. Yet depending on a “smart” phone is, apparently, stressful.

People still flock to Mindfulness training, a Westernized version of Buddhism lite. In those sessions, you learn to sit. Just sit. Relaxation is the goal; meditation provides the path. And after several weeks of practice and quiet coaching, you discover some equanimity and quiet your mind.

There’s not an app for that (actually there are, but that’s another rant altogether). In fact, the best app for relaxation these days is to turn off and away from the several screens that now run your life.

Rest assured, there is life—and calm—beyond your devices. Rest assured.

My dear pals at Meet, Plan, Go! continue to publish my (almost) monthly column about Baby Boomers and travel. This September article (which I finished in early October, natch) is designed to take your excuses to the nearest shredder. Enjoy!

You know the scene: I’m at my desk, avoiding “real” work, and surfing the web. In this case, I’m exploring Boomers and long-term travel. I find an upbeat, popular article with 555 comments, leading off with this one: “This is crap. As a boomer I am broke and live paycheck to paycheck, like all the other boomers I know.”

Beware the self-fulfilling legacy

“This is crap?” What a buzzkill! One must feel sorry for this guy; who’s putting Dire Drops in his water? I don’t mean to go all power-of-positive-thinking here, but really, he’s not likely to escape his quandary or his paucity without a serious attitudinal U-turn.

So let’s help Mr. Boomer Bummer out. Let’s help any of us who are trapped in pessimism about prospects for a dream. Just for yucks, let’s take life’s big bummers and turn them inside-out into opportunities to fly away from, well, hell? Sometimes, what’s (initially perceived as) bad news could be a prophesy for a BreakAway.

Morphing pitfalls into paradise

• You’re fired! Most folks will work at least 7 career jobs. Some will end rudely. Is that tragic? Or could it be the best thing that ever happened to you? Be ready: Sudden freedom could be your chance to shake it up and change your life plan—potentially on a blissful beach somewhere.
• I don’t love you any more. That’s bad movies. And possibly heart-breaking, yet rarely out of the blue. Why not have the next laugh, store your stuff, and pack your bags for somewhere far away from Mr. or Ms. Over N. Done? Heck, you may even meet your next love interest.
• It’s time to down-size. Boomers are facing this now, by the millions. Yet everybody will—at various ages and stages. When that pad has become too big and the possessions too piled up, consider upsizing your life with a remote pause that refreshes.
• Loved ones are passing on. Death happens. Reflection follows, not to mention denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and, eventually, acceptance. Maybe a sojourn to somewhere peaceful would help you move on; maybe it’s to a place once shared with the departed beloved.
• Your (inheritance) ship comes in. Although our “that’s-crap” commentator lives paycheck to paycheck, Boomers stand to inherit around $12 trillion—and may pass along up to $30 trillion to their offspring. For some, prosperity from heaven will arrive. If your ship comes in, why not set sail for a life-changing voyage?
• You’ve paid off a big loan. Could be college—yours or your kids’. Could be house, cars, cabin, or credit cards. Save something first, please. But then a celebration of your new! improved! debt-free life might be a brilliant reward.
• You survived a health scare. They’re facts of life: accidents, diseases, conditions that can kill. When your time comes—and the doctor finally says, “You’re cured,” it’s time to party. Dinner and Dom? Sure—in France! (For the record, my own RTW trip was largely a reward for surviving a year-long recovery from falling off of a roof.)
• You’re nearing retirement, but… Know what? Most people fear retirement. And many who get there don’t do well; they often experience loss of purpose, depression, and boredom—or just drive their spouse crazy. Recommendation: Try temporary retirement. You’d test-drive a car, right? Retirement is a much longer, more relevant ride.
• You’re already broke. Bummer. Or maybe not. If Broke Dude above is convinced he’ll never get ahead at home, why not be broke someplace else? Maybe he’d thrive in an less pricey country where he could teach English and save some money. Some great travelers buy a one-way ticket, get to work, and make it work.

If you just read this and are thinking, “That’s crap,” the author apologizes—for provoking you so and for your ill-fated predicament. This column was written for the folks who are willing to open their eyes and minds to the idea that bad news may be inevitable, but need not be the end of the world.

A world of possibilities awaits. Godspeed!

Every now and then (as this blog testifies), dreamers, schemers and BreakAway artists of all kinds come together and have gatherings (large and small) to celebrate and inspire this mission and cause called career breaks. Ask me, “What’s the best part about this movement?” and the answer is easy: The people. The same response you have when you finish a big trip, right?

One of those local gems (with worldwide cred) is my new friend, Joe Antkowiak. We’ve chatted at a few meet-ups, and then carved out time for a solo conversation. I was so moved by his stories that I asked him to share them here. He said yes, of course! (Thanks, Joe!)

So please take in his adventures and advice (like “Surround yourself with people that inspire your dreams…”) And next time the BreakAway gang gathers, why not join us? Wherever you want to go, Joe will help point you in the right direction.

• So you’ve been traveling your whole life, right? Give us some of your early history.

Actually, my parents were the first to introduce my sisters and I to traveling. My parents love the outdoors and hiking, so they usually planned a family trip every year to one of the national parks. We had a small pop-up trailer and a station wagon which they used to transport the five of us and our distractions to places like Glacier National Park, Cheyenne, The Great Lakes, Colorado, etc. My two sisters and I would sit in the back of the station wagon playing silly games like Mad-libs or the license plate game. It was great for about a week and a half until the childhood emotions and frustrations got the better of us and we decided to head home. I have very fond memories of those trips. As I grew older and graduated college, I didn’t really travel. It actually took one of my ex-girlfriends to re-introduce me to the travel bug. Now it’s a full-on addiction.

• Yet you have a real career. What do you do, and how do you escape it and find good work when you return from long-term travel?

I’m a software developer. I’m lucky because in my industry volatility is the norm, so it’s easy for me to jump from one opportunity to the next. I’ve found some success as a contractor. But unfortunately, my wanderlust and inability to stay at any one place for a long period of time can make it difficult for me to find a full-time position that’s willing to take me seriously. In any other industry, I might struggle more….or maybe I’d flourish more. I’ve survived some of the toughest times in IT, like when the bubble burst in 2000 – 2002, and the 2008 downturn. I have a bit of a safety net, so I don’t worry about getting through those times too much. However, it was a bit difficult to find work when I returned from 4 months in South America. I had lost a lot of knowledge and bombed many of my interviews before I got my sh*t together and finally found something. You definitely have to plan for the difficult times.

• Like me, you love the Caribbean. Unlike me, you’ve mastered SCUBA. How did you do that, and what islands do you love (and love less)?

Initially, I thought stuff like SCUBA was out of my reach. I was never a great swimmer, but I was down in Costa Rica for a week in the winter, and on a whim I purchased an exploratory dive package in Tamarindo. A couple hours training in the pool and then two dives the next day, and I was hooked. A year later, I scheduled a vacation in St. Maarten for a week and looked up a dive center and signed up for the PADI Open Water Certification. I was incredibly lucky to get Michel Wouterse as my dive instructor. He’s one of 300 course directors in the world and has taught everyone from adults to children to people with disabilities. I almost didn’t pass due to some difficulties I had with the swimming test. He didn’t want me to give up, so he actually did the swimming test with me (along with another instructor). They coached me through the entire thing. I feel indebted to him for that. He runs the Caribbean Dive College down in St. Maarten now. I would recommend him to anyone that wants to learn SCUBA. The URL for his school ishttp://www.caribbeandivecollege.com/ As for favorite islands to dive, it’s difficult to top The Galapagos Islands.

• You’ve traveled alone. Tell us about some of those adventures, and what might be some of the benefits of heading out solo?

Traveling alone is not for everyone, but if you can handle it, it’s almost the only way to go. As a solo traveler, you’re more approachable by the locals or any other traveler for that matter. Maybe it’s your vulnerability and the need to make friends that a person traveling solo will project, but people are more willing to approach you and get to know you when you’re alone. Also, you don’t have to deal with group-imposed travel restrictions and drama that happens when sometimes traveling with other people. As a solo traveler, you can mix it up to your liking. As long as you have a good personality and check any attitude that you might have at the airport people in other countries will generally treat you nicely and with respect. Everyone loves getting to know a solo traveler. There are so many adventures that I’ve had alone or after meeting people during my trips.

• Skiing Whistler-Blackcomb mountain in British Columbia and getting an all-day snowboarding lesson from one of the coolest snowboarding girls I’ve ever met.
• Swimming with schools of Hammerhead and Galapagos Sharks off Gordon Rocks in the Galapagos.
• Staying at a Vineyard which was also a Bed and Breakfast in the Languedoc region of southern France. This included me renting a motorcycle and riding it down some of the most picturesque roads in that region.
• Partying it up on the rooftop of my hostel in Lima, Peru and getting lessons on how to make a proper Pisco Sour by one of the hostel managers.
• Walking the beaches of Pabo Colonio for hours on end in Uruguay. I encountered a capsized sailboat on the beach at sunset and captured some of the most amazing photographs of my trip.
• Riding a scooter around the island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and visiting all the face sculptures

• You’re a home-owner—another obstacle for many would-be sojourners. How do you manage that responsibility and yet get away?

That was probably most difficult part of the equation. In 2009, I was sitting on an Adirondack chair in Southern France reading Vagabonding, and the author addresses that issue by suggesting you can rent out your house. I’ve never thought of myself as a landlord, but I knew I’d have to concentrate on that solution if I had any chance of being able to travel for an extended period of time. I spent the next 4 years finishing off the basement, making repairs, and generally getting the house ready to rent. During that time, I started to downgrade my life and realized that my very modest house was actually too big for me and I would have no desire to return. I would have sold it if I was in a better position on my mortgage, but since I was horribly underwater on it, I’ve rented it out. I also hired a property manager to take care while I was away. The city wouldn’t give me a rental license without someone in place, but now that I’ve returned and I see how stress-free my life is with him managing things, I’ve decided to keep him on indefinitely. It’s easier than you would think as long as you get the right things in place.

• Are you still planning a big BreakAway for later this year? What’s the latest on your itinerary, and how is the planning going?

For now, I’m concentrating on saving money so that I can go on another big trip; potentially the middle of next year. Meantime, a friend and I are talking about a snowboard trip to Park City, Utah during the Sundance film festival in January. And / or, I may try and rent a motorcycle in California and ride through the wine country sometime spring or summer of next year. Small trips for the interim. Then again, if winter becomes unbearable, I might have to head down south for some fun in the sun.

• That’s ambitious—and impressive. So are there any other locations you long to linger in? Or…what might be your ultimate “dream trip?”

“Dream Trip”? – There are so many possibilities. Although, I’ve been toying with heading back to South America and visiting the countries I missed (Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia) and then continuing to Southeast Asia for some diving, and possibly onward. I think I’d like to leave for a year or more. I’ve got my sights on Europe too – Greece, Spain (I want to do the El Camino de Santiago de Compostela), Ireland, Turkey, etc. I think that on my dream trip, I would hope to open up more and throw some caution to the wind. I’m pretty adventurous, but also somewhat conservative. I’d like to get involved in some volunteer work or teaching potentially. It’s great seeing all the sites, but after awhile, I think there’s a need to experience something more meaningful. I’d like to push myself outside of my comfort zone and see if I can contribute something to the rest of the world somehow.

• You speak French, right? Are there any other skills or talents that help you do what so many only fantasize about?

I’ve been speaking French for the last five years. Or, I should say that I’ve been attempting to speak French for the last five years. Learning a new language is tough and the only way to get better is to immerse yourself in it. Unfortunately, Minneapolis isn’t really someplace that you can immerse yourself in French language and culture. With that, I do the best I can by splitting my time between duolingo and conversation groups. I have a hope to someday spend a couple months in France with a host family. However, that’s still a ways off. I’m not sure about other talents. I’d say that if someone wants to travel for long periods of time, that they’ll need to learn how to manage their money well. They’ll also have to learn to live without. What I mean by that is to be comfortable without the good things in life all the time. Long term travel will teach you to be adaptive as almost nothing goes exactly according to plan. Learning the language definitely helps.

• And finally, any other tips or words of inspiration for the rest of us?

Surround yourself with the people that inspire and support your dreams. You’ll never get where you want to go with all the negative static that can permeate your life from being in the wrong environment or listening to the wrong people. Learn to be assertive about the things you want – there’s nothing more frustrating than settling for an experience or thing that you didn’t really want. Be prepared for bad things to happen. It feels like everyone has something stolen from them while traveling at least once in their lives. Use it as an opportunity to learn that your possessions are things that can be replaced. Easier said than done, I know. I knew a guy that once he arrived in Peru, had his entire bag stolen. Instead of going home, he re-acquired what he needed and moved forward with his plans.

We’ve heard it all before – You have one life to live. How many of us really take that statement seriously? I would posture that most of us make excuses for the things that we do not do. I still do that quite often, but I fight those negative thoughts all the time. Conformity is a powerful force, and one that is detrimental and soul-sucking to us all. I think Jack Kerouac said it best with “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.“

I love collaborating with the good people at Meet Plan Go and I’m really enjoying cranking out a monthly “Big Boom Roadshow” column for them.  I dedicated my latest verbiage to shameless (but sincere) promotion of their Big Event on 9/20.

• 10 Reasons Why Boomers (and Beyond) Should Attend NYC MPG

So if happen to find yourself near NYC tomorrow night and are plan-free, you’ll thank yourself for joining guru Sherry Ott and friends for an evening of long-term travel inspiration and information.

It’ll set you back all of $99, but it may change your life. Many, many people who have attended Sherry’s (and even my) gatherings have found themselves in faraway lands doing fascinating things within a matter of months. I’m often agog—and even humbled—by the possibility and power that’s generated when like-minded, strong-willed folks come together.

Sometimes we just need a lead, a laugh, or a little kick in the butt. You’ll get all that and more. You’ll leave with your head spinning and your heart flying. High fives to Sherry and the good people at BootsnAll for making this shindig happen.