Three years ago my friend said I was heading out on a walkabout.  I didn’t know what to expect but I knew I was going to encounter things I couldn’t predict.

The one thing I didn’t realize is that travel has become something different.  

Different from what I experienced as a child.  It wasn’t something that I was racking up experiences. It was something that I was putting myself in different environments around different people in different places and not knowing what will happen next.

For the last two and a half years I’ve come to a new appreciation of travel and have come to understand that the things we think we want from travel are not the ones that really matter.  

Once you set out on a longer-term adventure you eventually get to the phase of travel where the thing that seemed important will insert themselves in your life and only upon reflection do we figure out what they really mean.

It’s the simple things.

Like the bike rides in the middle of a day.  Strolling through Park in Japan with deer who just want to be your friend.  Or ducks in Bali going about their day.  And blowing bubbles in a rice field.

It’s the familiar but different.

Downpours like you’ve never seen.  The sunsets that seem a little more special and you can’t explain why, and the afterglow of those sunsets that never seem to fade away.  It’s the secret beaches that don’t seem to make sense and the other ones that have surprises just around the corner. 

It’s the totally new experiences.

Like riding past an elephant on a river.  A casual ride through Ho Chi Minh…and everything in Japan you always find something interesting in Japan 

It’s the people you meet along the way.

Like following my friend to Taiwan…and sharing lunch with him and his partner at the top of the mountain despite being terrified of heights.  It’s the acts of kindness that you remember when you look back.  Or following someone you’re falling in love with to Thailand and knowing its the only place you’re supposed to be.

It’s the places like Taiwan that weirdly feel like a second home and how special it is to share that place with the people you do love most back home.

Travel will take you to different worlds but you’ll never really forget where you came from, what it’s like back home…but when you do go back home it makes it all that much sweeter and the simple moments with family seem so much more profound. 

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post An Ode To Travel and What It Means (Video) appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

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John Zeratsky was a designer in the tech industry has worked with hundreds of startups in his time at Google Ventures.  He’s also obsessed with redesigning time and thinking about what matters in life. Earlier this year he just got back from 18 months living on his boat sailing around Central America, which he wrote about in an article titled “What quitting my job to sail around central america taught me about fulfillment.”

John describes himself as “risk averse” but after being influenced by different perspectives on risk (including thoughts from the incredibly thoughtful Brian Koppelman) he realized that he could take smaller steps to test out a bigger leap.  So in advance of taking the trip, him and his wife avoided the trappings of lifestyle creep by saving 50% of their salaries and avoiding the urge to upgrade their apartment.  As a way to test whether they would like a longer sailing trip or not, they took smaller trips, going for a two week trip and a two month trip before heading out. This helped them learn about how they would feel and practice some of the skills they would need while living on the boat.

In this conversation we talk about:

• Growing up in a small lake community
• His love of sailing growing up
• Why him and his wife change their mind on taking the trip in 2015
• Rethinking convenience and comfort
• What comforts are worth paying for
• Belonging and community
• How his relationship with money has changed
• How him and his wife are structuring their life to work how they want
• The one change that helps people be less addicted to their phones

Links Mentioned:

• Designing Your Life
• Sprint: How To Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas In Just Five Days
• Make Time: How To Focus On What Matters Every Day
• Twitter: @jazer

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post John Zeratsky on what living on a boat for 18 months taught him about work, belonging, comfort & money appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

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Hannah Wei has been living as a digital nomad for the last four years traveling across the US, Canada and Southeast Asia.  When she is not working as a product consultant, she trains in Muay Thai, photographs people, and collaborates on local initiatives.

Her transition to a nomad life might have been a bit more natural than for overs after growing up all over the world.  She was born in China, ended up moving to was somewhat familiar after being born in China and living across the world – attending nine different schools before entering high school.  

She ended up attending University in Canada but left early and built her first company when she was 21.  She ended up dealing with burnout and after several years in Toronto, she decided to sell her stuff and head out on a nomadic adventure.  Four years later, she is still on that adventure and still trying to make sense of how to balance success, creativity and community as she travels the globe.

In our conversation we touch on many things, including:

• Her upbringing in China and move to the US
• Her creative inspirations as a child and how that evolved as she got older
• Her experiment to code a bot to swipe on Tinder and tell people’s stories
• What she has learned from Muay Thai
• Her decision to compete in a professional Muay Thai fight in Thailand
• What Muay Thai that has taught her about burnout, performance and success
• How she defines success as a nomad depending on the region she is in

Follow Hannah

• Hannah’s Website
• Hannah on Twitter: @herlifeinpixels
• Her personal review Notion group
• How to pack up your life in eight steps
• Tinder Photography Bot Experiment

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Hannah Wei on her nomadic life, competing in her first Muay Thai fight, dealing with burnout & tinder experiments appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

Arriving & Airport

If you are staying more than 30 days, make sure to buy the Visa on arrival which will allow you to stay up to 60 days (you have to extend it after that I believe), otherwise visa-exempt will do.  

• SIM: You should be able to get a good SIM card at the airport for $10-20 covering you for more than a week.  These can be recharged at many roadside cell phone places, so no need to buy the most data right away (airport price is higher).  I recommend Telkomsel for cell phone service
• Cash:  You will need cash.  I recommend getting a Charles Schwab checking with no international ATM fees.
• Transport (Cash only): You will be mobbed by drivers upon arrival asking to drive you to your hotel.  I recommend arranging something beforehand or using Grab. The typical scam of drivers is to tell you a price (example 200k IDR) and then add “airport charges” at the end and try to get 200 IDR.  With grab, you either need to sign up in the US before arriving or use your new Indonesian number to start an account. If you use grab, you need to walk through the exit and towards the parking garage and there is a sign that says something like “arranged driver pickup” or something like that.  The grab drivers are typically pretty skilled at sending you a message on where to go. Prices:
  • Grab prices: Seminyak: 75-125k IDR; Canggu: 125-175k IDR; Ubud: 150-250k IDR
  • Arranged car: 200k and up
  • Airport driver: probably 200k+ but negotiate for sure

Getting Around & Basics

I recommend getting a motorbike as you may find yourself moving around quite a bit as places are all very close, but not close enough to walk (plus sidewalks aren’t great).

Bike Rental: I rented a motorbike for 850k IDr for a month and another one for two weeks for 450k IDR.   You want to pay somewhere around these rates. You can probably go a bit cheaper. I recommend getting a Honda Scoopy as they are comfortable and easy to ride.  Typically your hotel can help arrange this.

• Beware: If you just walk up to someone you will likely be quoted something very very high for Bali.  I was quoted 4 million IDR for a month, which would have been a ripoff.
• Contact: I had a good experience with a woman (WhatsApp +62 819-3309-667) who will deliver directly to your hotel (I was in Canggu, so she may not do other areas)

Ride Sharing: There are two options – Go Jek and Grab on the island.  Both have very cheap ridesharing on motorbike and car. They also offer food delivery if you are looking to get some food while its raining or don’t want to leave your pool for the day.  I have only used Grab for a car ride, so can’t speak to the others, but they are pretty prevalent on the island.

Food: The food is a mix of indonesia and western instagram food.  The local places are called Warungs and can range in quality. The cheapest local food is Nasi Campur which is a plate of buffet style local eats which typically costs from 12k-25k.  Nasi Goreng and Mie Goreng (nasi = rice and mie = noodle) are the other classics. You can find them for 25k-40k at almost any restaurant and are an amazing simple meal. If you go to Bali and don’t try either, you aren’t living right!  Warungs are also a great place to grab and drink a full fresh coconut, which is typically the cheapest drink on the menu.

In addition to local eats, this is food heaven for vegan, paleo, smoothie bowl fanatics.  If you use google maps, you can see many of the pictures posted of the food, which is a good guide.  You can eat epic meals for between $5-10 a person per meal.

Locations  

Kuta: Skip it.  Very packed and every other place offers the same things but in a better environment.

Garuda Wisnu Cultural Park (4/10): Everywhere you go in Bali, you see this giant statue emerging into the heavens and wonder “what the hell is that?”  Well it’s a massive hindu temple in a culture park.  Pretty cool place, but definitely skip it if you don’t have time.  Kind of a tourist trap and very modern (I think they built it pretty recently).  Here is a free view without going:

Seminyak (5/10): This is the place that will emerge the most if you google around on where to stay.  This is because there are the most number of resorts and high-end hotels on the beach.  If you are looking to stay in a high-end accommodation and not explore much, this could be a good option.  There is definitely some good food, partying, massages and shops in this area, but this is definitely the “Miami of Australia” where Australians come to party and hang out and party for a week.  

• Accomodations: This is the typical villa look (left) that is very prevalent in Seminyak and you can get for a pretty good price and then the beach resort views (right) which are a bit more pricey

Uluwatu (8/10): Beachside village that is famous for its cliffs and surfing as well as Pura Uluwatu, an amazing cliffside Hindu temple filled with monkeys who will steal peoples hats and glasses in exchange for snacks (true story).  Good for a 2-3 day trip as part of a longer trip.

• Accomodations: You can find anything from $250 a night resorts overlooking the ocean or a no-frills room for $20 a night also with the same view.  The two areas I’m familiar with are padang padang or Suluban beach, which is an amazing cliff with a hidden beach you hike down to.  It also has a bunch of cliffside dining ranging from top-shelf to local Warun eats (nasi goreng, etc…).  I think there are more top notch hotels in padang padang but I don’t know it as well.
• Attractions:  I definitely recommend visiting the Pura Uluwatu.  It’s an amazing cliffside view and a pretty cool temple in the middle of Bali.  Come for the view and stay for the Monkeys. Each time I went, I saw a monkey steal stuff off of people and then hold on to it until the trainers or people trade them snacks for their stuff back.  This is amazing to watch.

Canggu (9/10): I lived in Canggu for almost two months and absolutely loved it.  If you like sunsets, good foods and relaxed vibes, this is the place for you.  I think this can offer almost all of what Seminyak does but for a little less money and people.  Good for an extended stay or even 4-5 days.

I definitely recommend renting and riding a motorbike to get around Canggu.  The bike directions on google maps are pretty good and accurate.

• Accomodations: You can find anything from $15 a night to $300+ a night (example high-end resorts here, here, here and here)

For more detailed Canggu recommendations click here

Ubud (8/10): Ubud is an amazing and popular spot.  While the main area is packed with tourists, the outskirts are more chill than anywhere else I’ve been on the island.  The overwhelming views and colors of the rice paddies, volcanos and sunsets are enough to make you ask “why don’t I live here?” as many people who I know have decided.  Good for extended stay, 2-3 day trip or 5-7 day trip as well. Click here for detailed recommendations.

I only have been here for two separate day trips and two other trips of two days, so don’t have as much to offer, but have friends who have lived here long-term.  Let me know and I’ll help you figure out some places to eat/see!

• Where to stay: I don’t have any great recommendations, but I’d recommend staying slightly away from the heart of the city, renting a motorbike and finding a place with an incredible view and sunsets.  

Canggu Recommendations

Here are some of my favorites with a * by places that you must go

• Best beachside cheap eats: Warung Middle is my favorite spot for chilling with some cheap food (their mie goreng is amazing in a tasty, but not good for you instant noodles kind of way) and a $2 smoothie
• Best bang for the buck: Warung Ithaka is probably the best value for $, view, and ambiance you will find in Canggu.  You can eat an amazing Nasi goreng for 38k IDR (about $2-3) and watch the sky turn red over the ocean while drinking a $2 mango smoothie
• *Is this real life? La Brisa is one of the coolest places I’ve been to watch the sunset.  You will feel like you are in some sort of movie. I only went there once, but the Chef is the former private chef of Richard Branson (or so someone told me)
• Lunch Spots: The Shady Shack and Cafe Vida are two of the most popular (for good reason).  Almost everything I’ve had at both has been top notch.  $5-10 a person for a meal.
• Cool day spot with pool: I thought Bokacika was pretty cool with a pool to hang out in and a view of the rice paddy.
• Ride Paddy Cafe: Cool view off the back of the Cinta Cafe for some chill afternoon or brunch.
• *Best Warung: Warung Dandelion is an amazing experience, but be prepared to encounter an  entire staff that is very talkative and welcoming. Don’t go here if you want to be left along.  All of the food here is amazing.
• Other: For workout eats, check out Motion Cafe or Savage Kitchen.  For local granola and organic food,
• Coworking/Events: The best three places for coworking are Dojo, Tropical Nomad and Outpost.  Each have a lot of free events for the public, so just check the facebook pages (linked) and see what’s going on.  A cool way to meet local nomads and entrepreneurs. Dojo is the most popular and famous and also the most expensive – you also get access to Hubud in Ubud if you’ll be moving around.  If you just need good internet and the lowest price, Tropical Nomad is best for short-term travelers. Most cafes also are great spots to work..
• Exercise: You can check out S2S or Wanderlust Crossfit (most expensive) or Avenue ($10 a visit) or  Victory Fitness (cheapest, about $5 a week or $10 a month).  Odyssey MVMT comes highly recommended as well for HIIT classes and Yoga.  Also, if you search facebook for events, there are also a lot of bootcamp style events on the beach you can find.  For Yoga and meditation, there are also countless options, but I cannot recommend The Practice highly enough.  It’s an amazing venue and place to disconnect and even try Yoga or meditation if you’ve never done it before.
• Spa/Massage: I never made it there, but Amo Spa has the best reputation in Canggu.  People seem to love the massages and the day spa experience (free with $15 massage if you download the GU GUIDE app and grab the coupon).  Otherwise, you can get a pretty awesome massage all over from 80kIDR to 200kIDR ($6-$15)
• Tanah Lot: A touristy area about a 25 minute bike ride north of canggu.  Pretty cool temple in the ocean.  You can get some solid food on the sunset deck and watch the sunset.
• Sunsets: Check out the sunset at the different spots along the beach.  There are slightly different scenes at the end of Batu Balong, Echo Beach and Pererenan.
• Trip to Ubud: You can take a day trip to Ubud for about 150-200k on grab (maybe cheaper).

Ubud Recommendations

Attractions: Some things to do in Ubud:

• Monkey Forest: Good, not great.  Basically walk around for 100k IDR and see monkeys jumping all around.  Worth checking out for sure (not too expensive), but definitely a tourist trap
• Tegalalang Rice Terrace: Both a tourist trap and a must-see.  Absolutely beautiful.  Get there in the morning and grab a smoothie and some food before walking through the terrace from the road overlooking it.  

• Ran out of time, but the Campuhan Ridge Walk looks like a beautiful way to walk through the heart of Bali.
• Mindfulness/Yoga: As I said I didn’t get a ton of time to explore, but these are highly recommended by others: Pyramids of Chi: Sound healing and acoustic bioresonance sessions come highly recommended from a friend.Yoga Barn: One of the most popular spots for Yoga
• Coworking/Events: Hubud is the most popular coworking space and you can also get access to both Dojo (in Canggu) and Hubud with one membership.  Many cafes are also fantastic for working.
• Epic sunset/great food: A bit challenging to get to, but completely worth it.  Check out the sunset from Cafe Pomegranate or one of the restaurants on that road.  Beware: you’ll have to go down a very tiny strip in between rice paddies so if you are not comfortable with driving a motorbike, consider walking there.

• Sweet view/cafe: I didn’t eat here, but The Elephant offers a beautiful green-soaked view overlooking view of fields, the mountains and local terrace walk.
• Hidden Gem: Even though it is in the center of Ubud, Sweet Orange Warung has never been that packed when I went there.  You have to walk from the main street (use the google map directions).  It is a blissful paradise in the middle of a massive rice paddy.
• Other Recommendations From A Bali Friend/Five Year Resident:  Muse is a great cafe with a good view and good Tali dish. Clear Cafe is great for some healthy eats.

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Paul’s Totally Biased Bali Recommendations appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

When you ride up to the location, you are greeted by a family who runs a small farm on the village.  Upon arrival, they immediately started to offer their homemade Roselle juice, but we declined and entered the “split.”

This split is not the Grand Canyon but is still quite fascinating.  You can walk through and be amazed at how our seemingly stable land can split open it two.

Walking through the whole thing takes about 10 minutes.  When you exit, you are again greeted by the lovely family and with a sign offering the chance to give a donation.

Walking out, I offered a donation of 100 Baht (which is a little less than $3 USD) and walked away.  We were planning on heading out so I gave the donation and walked away.

Immediately, the owner runs over and insists that we sit.  He immediately brings over two drinks of Roselle (which taste slight less bitter than Cranberry juice).  We were pretty flattered, but he was not done.

More food came, including fresh sweet potato, banans, nuts, homemade jelly, plantain chips and nuts.  Wow!

While eating I noticed this book sitting next to us and I couldn’t agree more with its takeaway.  While a cynic could easily read this as asking for more money, it was obvious that this family just wanted to share what they had and create a deep bond (and memories) with the people that they served.

Having received this incredible gift and seeing this notebook, I asked myself “what more can I give?” and decided to leave an additional gift for him and his family. As we were walking away, I put a larger gift in the donation box and went to board the motorbike.  This wasn’t a life-changing gift for either  of us, but it was something I was drawn to do.

As we were about to ride away, he comes over again with more gifts!  This time he had two bags of stuff for us to take away.  In one bad was a can of homemade jelly, some plantain chips, and some nuts.  In another, a massive fresh Papaya.  Wow.

As I’ve embraced experiments in giving over the last year, I have continued to be blow away with the kindness and generosity of strangers.  In sharing this, I hope more people find out about this incredible man and his family who now have a place people come to because of a minor earthquake in 2008.

Isn’t life grand?

The post Receiving Incredible Gifts in Pai, Thailand at “The Split” appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

Bryan Victor has never taken a traditional path but he doesn’t know any other way.  Perhaps that is why he started his own podcast in Singapore, Misfits, which interviews unconventional Singaporeans.  At 20, he saved up $10,000 while he was serving required military time and decided he would travel the world for a year.  During the trip, he realized this was all the “schooling” he needed (see 10 things I learned).  After learning how he could live simply on very little money, he knew that this opened up many options for him.  He knew that he would always value flexibility over maximizing income, learning this lesson earlier than others.

Regardless of any position towards “formal” schooling, his chosen path, wedding planning, wasn’t something you learned at school.  He knew he had to create his own internship.  So before his trip, he wrote to 50 American wedding planners (the best, he says), to ask if he could work with them.  One person gave him a chance and he was able to learn while making enough money to live.

Going back to Singapore, he couldn’t get anyone to hire him, so he realized he was “forced” to create his own wedding planning business.  In the process, he became named one of Singapore’s Top 10 Wedding Planners (though he argues there weren’t that many anyway!).

After proving he could make it, he started dabbling with a side business, 2D animation and founded Sage Animation.  He decided to give the wedding planning business away as a gift and was able to find one person (out of 40) that he thought would do a great job.

Bryan has been fascinated with understanding what makes him happy.  As he was on another trip in the United States, he was drawn to another project (motivated by the #vanlife movement) to build a liveable van for himself.  While he accomplished the feat, he found that he was overcome with a “something-like depression” feeling after he achieved it.  While he thought he had everything, it led to a new and deeper curiosity in what actually leads to happiness.  This tweetstorm summarizes his latest working thoughts on the topic:

How to Be Happy (without being rich):

— Bryan Victor (@bryanvictorlim) November 20, 2018

Books & Other Resources Mentioned:

• Jose Villa – Wedding Photographer
• Seth Godin
• Tim Ferriss
• Antifragile
• Naval Ravikant Podcast on Farnham Street
• Solve For Happy
• SEO That Works Course
• Vanessa Van Edwards – People School

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

The post Bryan Victor, Unconventional Singaporean on creating his own education through wedding planning, year-long travel & creating a visual animation studio appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

In my first week-plus of living in Taipei, I’ve started learning Chinese, photography and photo editing. I’ve discovered multiple foundational principles that have made me hungry to learn more. For example in photography, once you shoot in RAW format, you are able to have much more control over the editing of your photos (not to mention more wiggle room for taking bad photos!) and once you learn some basic characters in Chinese, you can start identifying more complicated characters.

However, this got me thinking about why most of us often go through our days telling our friends that we care about learning while staying completely oblivious to some of these simple ideas that may open the door to deeper learning.  I was also curious where the energy to learn these new things came from and why I was suddenly inspired to tackle multiple domains at once.

I think part of it has to do with solitude.

One of my favorite essays is one by William Deresiewicz titled “Solitude and Leadership.” In it, he talks about solitude as the key to leadership and a missing ingredient in our busy, modern world.  He believes solitude can be found in extended reading, contemplation or even periods of sustained work (such as writing). In this way, solitude is about an inward-focused reflection, as opposed to the bitterness involved with loneliness.

In Taipei, I am (for now) unable to communicate in the local language.  Unlike European countries I have been to, I cannot even read the characters.  This has forced me inward and has made me highly aware of my thoughts and emotions.  I’ve grappled with moments of shame and embarrassment, but also with hunger and curiosity to learn.  While it would be easy to close up, there does not seem to be any other option right now than going deeper.

Edgar Schein has talked about this as “learning anxiety” in the context of organizational learning.  He identifies two types of learning.  The first is the fear or anxiety of not looking competent.  This shows up in organizations as micromanagement and perfectionism and serves as a barrier to learning new things.  Why try if you will be shamed for any mistakes?

The second, which he urges organizations to embrace is what I would describe as “if I don’t keep learning, I will look foolish.”  Learning FOMO if you will

While I was practicing Chinese in Boston, I did not have any “anxiety” to learn.  In Taipei, since I often am finding myself without anyone to talk with, I am having to contemplate my emotions while also being spurred to action by a yearning to connect with others (and to order the amazing local food, of course).

In his essay, Deresiewicz expands his definition of solitude to include the deep conversations typical of a great friendship:

“Of course friendship is the opposite of solitude; it means being with other people. But I’m talking about one kind of friendship in particular, the deep friendship of intimate conversation. Long, uninterrupted talk with one other person.”

Perhaps this is the core of what drives us to learn. Being able to have the types of experiences that matter to us and connecting with the people that share the same inner drives as us.

But the challenge is that to move towards these types of conversations or experience, you need to spend time in solitude instead of with other people, you need to stay silent instead of telling everyone your plans, you need to get out of your comfort zone instead of chasing more security.  Reflecting on a walk, reading a book or even meditating by yourself in the morning.

There is a thin line between solitude and isolation.  It is in dancing with this vulnerability, uncertainty, and chaos in the middle that we often find a new route forward and some clues to find those people to have those deeper conversations.  I’m not sure where I’m headed with all this learning, it just feels like I’m headed towards the types of conversations and friendships that matter.

41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

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The post Solitude & Learning New Things appeared first on Boundless by Paul Millerd.

My first memory of greed was waiting in the line at a local crafts store called The Hoot. My blood was pumping as I looked at the clock and counted down the minutes until 9am when the store would open and a group of 10 of us, an odd collection of fathers, mothers and children, would walk calmly but with some urgency towards the back of the store. The goal was always the same — to acquire at least one plush, hopefully soon “retired” and artificially scarce PVC pellet-filled creation.

My first collection was of basketball cards, but it never turned into a full-blown obsession. Okay, I’m lying. I had a monthly price guide and organized my cards by team and by year. I had a dedicated box of Michael Jordan cards, which eventually held (and still holds) over 100 of his cards.

However, basketball cards were something I would pull out when I was old, sharing stories about sports with the next generation.

Beanie babies were my ticket to teenage retirement

The early internet was a wild playground. As a 13 year old, the banks had no interest in my services, so I got creative. I would buy basketball cards, beanie babies and beanie baby accessories on eBay. Instead of paying immediately, I would send the seller a self-addressed-stamped-envelope stuffed with cash. I was operating as an amateur drug dealer and beanie babies were my drug.

At one point, I orchestrated a complicated trade over a forum with a random person on the internet to acquire a rare “retired” seal that went by the name Seamore. This specific beanie baby I acquired came without the famous TY “hang tag” — probably ripped off by some child who had no idea what kind of treasure they were playing with. It was still a coup for me — price guides told me it was still worth $50 without the tag.

Seamore (pictured here without that valuable “hang tag”)

There were many of these price guides on the web which gave optimistic predictions. While there were some differences, most confirmed my conclusion that beanie babies would rise in value forever. I was mentally doing the math and it was quite clear that I would not have to worry about college. I was starting to imagine a future in which I was some sort of beanie baby lord, just swimming in my riches.

Preparing for my leap to the upper echelons of society, I started curating and obsessing over my collection like a collector of wine or fine art.

To protect my collection, I spent money on the finest cases and tag protectors that my self-addressed-stamped-envelopes could buy. There was an abbreviation MWMT that meant “mint with mint tags” — all was lost of the tags were not perfect.

Tag Protectors!!

Fueling The Fire

As I collected more PVC-filled bears, ghosts and animals, I would go to homepage of the maker of beanie babies TY.com.

As anyone with a dial-up connection remembers, you did not simply go to a website in the late 90s. You first typed in the address, hit enter and then slowly stared at the screen as the website loaded, line by line from the top to the bottom.

Like the drug fueled addict that I have already admitted to being, I would refresh the page several times per day. After a couple of minutes the latest news section of the website would finally load and I could read the latest product announcements.

TY was strategically introducing new beanie babies while simultaneously “retiring” the current collection — meaning you could no longer buy those sacred beanie babies in a store. Online price guides would adjust to reflect the scarcity everyone would lose their mind calculating their riches.

As I built my collection, I had no real strategic plan other than acquire beanie babies and to put them in cases

• Step 1: Obtain as many beanie babies as possible
• Step 2: Protect the good via tag protectors and cases
• Step 3: ?
• Step 4: Retire

MWMT!

Bitcoin Mania

This past year, the internet lost its collective mind acquiring cryptocurrencies. I was not immune from this contagion. At one point I was up a good chunk of change on a small amount of money I threw into the mix. Did I ever think about selling? No. Just like beanie babies, I got caught up in the story of the future potential payoff.

However, unlike beanie babies, the crypto-craze seemed solely about money. With beanie babies, there was something deeper — something playful and silly. Perhaps it was because I was a child or the absurdity of so many people hoarding $5 plush filled animals and other mythical creatures.

I still own several Princess Diana bears and over 100 other creations and store them MWMT in cases at my parent’s house. Within my family, there is an inside joke that my beanie babies will one day be worth millions once everyone else has thrown them away. Keeping them is more of an investment in humor than an actual investment.

Sure, it is fun to play with that dream and wonder “well, what if…” and to think that my PVC-filled creations could be one day still be worth a fortune. But even if they were, I’m not sure I’d sell. There is something about holding on to something from your childhood.

Peace & Travel

As I write this, I am looking at a tie-died PVC-filled bear and one of the most famous Beanie Babies named “Peace” staring at me with its small black circular black eyes. Every time I look at it, I crack up a little.

Imagining myself in front of the computer loading the ty.com website hoping for updates, convincing my mother to drive us to The Hoot, orchestrating trades with strangers on the internet, filling envelopes with cash, and protecting my goods in fine glass cases awakens my inner child.

Over the last few years, I have been getting rid of most of my possessions. Every time I throw or give something away, it is a bit painful, but every time it sharpens the mind towards which things are worth keeping.

Through each move, the tie-dyed bear has survived the purge. I wasn’t really sure why I kept it, but I now realize that it captures a moment in my life in which I was dreaming big and filled with life.

While it was likely one of my first tastes of greed, it was also a first taste of putting a lot of energy into something that didn’t make sense. Something that was filled with silliness and fun rather than payback.

Next month, I’m doing something on a larger scale that doesn’t make much sense — moving across the world and starting a journey of living nomadically. The first ten years after college, I followed a path that made too much sense. I pursued prestige, status, and success and by all accounts was good at it. However, I lost connection to who I was.

Taking the leap to self-employment and exploring my creative side over the past few years, I have unlocked that silly side of myself I didn’t realize was locked away. Creating things that don’t seem to make sense. Writing to see what comes out (like this piece). Creating things on the internet without any intent to “scale.” Helping people without any expectation of payback.

As I travel and continue to learn as an adult, I hope to never abandon the playful and silly mindset to do things I am drawn to and sometimes without reason. Creation for the joy of creation. Silliness for the sake of being silly.

As I set forth across the world, I will be accompanied by my friend Peace.

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41k+ Sold! (Top 1% Book) The Pathless Path is Paul's book about walking away from a "perfect" job with a promising future and starting over again. Through painstaking experiments, living in different countries, and a deep dive into the history of our work beliefs, Paul pieces together a set of ideas and principles that guide him from unfulfilled and burned out to what he calls "the pathless path" - a new story for thinking about work in our lives. Learn More & Buy The Book Here

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