Instructables

Sometimes you might find yourself in a crisis. Years ago while Sara and I were at the Denver Fire Academy taking a fire fighting course for Palmer Station the instructor said to us, “The only thing that separates you from someone else in a time of crisis is training.” What he meant was that during times of extreme stress (like a building fire) everyone panics – firemen, non-firefighters, everyone. But if you think about the eventuality of, say a fire, and create a plan for; fighting, fleeing, protection from, then you will be able to set down neural pathways that will help you to make coherent decisions rather than succumbing to panic and shock.

After our training I found myself having a much more aggressive stance toward fire, emergency, accidents etc. Now, when confronted with car accidents, brush fires, or strange columns of smoke I find myself going coolly toward the danger with my senses heightened, looking for the tell-tail signs ready to react to it with my training.

Savvy Nomads are people who are constantly putting themselves into situations which ask them to call up their cool inner confidence. But this isn’t an innate skill. It requires practice, learning and the desire to learn. A Savvy Nomad doesn’t consider this a burden, they are naturally inquisitive and learning how to deal with crisis is for them like drinking water – a necessity.

For all the Savvy Nomads out there who have to continue their education here is a link to a clever site: Instructables and a video on how to make a stove in a pinch with some recyclables and lighter fluid.


Cool Little Miniature Stove! - More DIY How To Projects

Where the Hell is Matt?

One of my very first goals in life – you know early on, when people (adults) ask kids, high schoolers or college aged kids “What are you going to do/be/want to grow up and do?” I always thought, “I want to travel.”

But the catch is that traveling isn’t a job per say. I did apply to be a flight attendant in the early 90’s. Out of a room of over 100 women and maybe 10 men I was selected for a second and third interview, but only two spots were open and I didn’t get one. I thought about being a travel agent – but that didn’t seem right, booking someone else’s travels. Working in Antarctica was a good fit. I traded time on the frozen continent for travel time anywhere and indeed Sara and I had some great travels.

Now days I travel the digital highways of the internet. In 1995 I remember visiting the only website in Peru. There was just 1. Now I doubt you could visit all Peruvian websites in your lifetime.

In my digital travels I found this video:


When I first came across Matt – I initially thought that he was independently wealthy. But it turns out he got a job, a job to travel around the world making silly videos to post on the internet. He was actually paid to do this! His initial video was downloaded over 5 million times. This got the attention of Stride Gum. They wanted to sponsor him to travel around and make more videos – odd I know but the gum people did get you to think about them for a moment and I suppose that’s the point.

Writing about himself Matt says,

“Matt is not rich. Matt also doesn't have some magical secret for traveling cheaply. He does it pretty much the same way everybody else does. Matt thinks Americans need to travel abroad more. Matt was a very poor student and never went to college. When he got older, he was pleased to discover that no one actually cares. Matt doesn't want to imply that college is bad or anything. He's just saying is all. There's other ways to fill your head.”

Ok Matt I’m with you – let’s go out and fill our heads with all the cool interesting things the world has to offer. Check out Matt’s website at: Where the Hell is Matt.

Family Reunion

Full-on Independent Folk

Dave and I just hosted a siblings and parents family reunion on my side of the family. Everyone but my youngest sister, Natalie (Golda's daughter), was able to make it. It's a complicated family. Here's who made it:

• My dad, Stephen
  
• My dad's wife, Golda
• My sister, Siri
• My brother, Noah
• Noah's wife, Laurel
• Siri and Noah's mom, Deborah
• My mom, Shirley
• Long time family friends, Joan
• And Joan's daughter, Robin

That sounds awkward but it was really great. And it made me realize what a long line of independent minded folks I come from. My Grandmother on my mom's side ran her own business in an era when women normally stayed home. She was a seamstress and owned her own fabric store. My mom has lived off the grid in northern Minnesota for the past 27 years while working a variety of jobs that always ran towards uplifting folks who deal with discrimination on a daily basis. My dad is a potter who teaches at a college and has an independent studio and kiln where he does community firings 4 to 6 times per year. Deborah runs her own business buying and selling high-end antiques. And Joan worked as a puppet-maker for years and has recently started making jewelry.

Dave and I run our own business and are both always looking for new ways to make money and keep living this independent lifestyle we have come to enjoy so much. I do not feel like I am some great adventurer - neither does Dave. We are just living our lives the way we want. Sure, being self employed means we don't have health care, but neither of us wants to be tied down by a 9 to 5 job. We've done that and it sucks! No offense meant to those who do work full time for someone else. We work full time too, but we work from home and choose our hours. Every day we walk the dog for a long and leisurely walk down by the lake (Lake Superior), we take breaks when we feel like, and we work our tails off when we need to. (And if we did the math on how much we pay ourselves we would probably make less than minimum wage - luckily neither of us is much good at math.)

I wish everyone who wanted to could work for themselves without fear of losing their health care. Imagine what a happy and productive society we would be if folks could work at what they loved. If we had a national health care system like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, France, etc (you get the picture) I think Americans could regain their entrepreneurial spirit and burst forth in creative endeavors. I'm hoping that in my lifetime I will see such an advance in our society.