Physical health, diet and nutrition is something that has always been a big part of my life in one form or another. I haven’t always followed a good diet by any means, as I’ve used and abused my good genes pretty hard instead.

An athlete dad raising me on bodybuilding and nutrition helped get me jobs for fitness equipment companies and gyms. I didn’t work out during those jobs even though it was free for me then, but it’s just what I knew, so I got into jobs easily.

As I’ve gotten older, I can tell you how much that not taking care of yourself stuff can catch up to you, and quickly! I used to be able to eat, drink, and be merry in just about every way, but that hasn’t been the case the past few years, and it has affected my business as well as my personal life.

Much of the past five years has been spent actively pursuing my own good health on a more regular basis. Last year, I stepped it up even further, with all kinds of experiments to see what worked and didn’t work for me.

I’ve seen and watched others try every diet that you’ve ever heard of, and even tried a few in recent years. I did my best to live vegetarian for almost two years (technically pescatarian because I still ate fish, but fish meat is practically a vegetable).

There were many reasons why that just didn’t work for me.

After hearing Andrew over at Evolvify mention Paleo several times, I started looking into it a bit more. It goes by several names and detail changes, depending on who is talking about it. Some call it the Hunter-Gatherer diet, Robb Wolf and Dr. Cordain call it Paleo, whereas Mark Sisson‘s style differs slightly and he calls it Primal. The media likes to mockingly call it the caveman diet.

All I know is that it works well.

The first serious reading I did about it came when Tim Ferriss posted an excerpt from Robb Wolf’s book on his blog. I picked up Tim’s 4-Hour Body book when it came out, and decided to try his “Slow-Carb Diet” experiment.

I had done a bit of research on the ideas he talked about in there, mostly through Wolf and Sission. Tim’s book laid it out pretty basic, despite not being fully paleo. It was easy to follow and never left me feeling hungry. I lost weight without really trying and noticed immediate improvement in several areas I hadn’t even thought about being diet-related.

Things like skin issues and respiratory problems I’d developed. My blood pressure went down to lower than it had ever been, and my super-high cholesterol dropped down to well withing the “normal” range despite eating as many as 9 eggs a day (nine was an unusual day, but I eat at least 2 a day).

Remember when I said I abused my body for a long time? I smoked for 25 years. I quit years ago when I started having respiratory issues. Quitting didn’t seem to change them at all. A year or so later I started gaining weight, and the breathing problems got worse, which I attributed to getting fatter.

Partially right. When I took grains and sugars out of my diet, my breathing cleared up like I’d never had an issue on about the third day. Just gone. Even before the weight started dropping off.

After a short time, I tried removing other foods, and really began experimenting with different food effects. I have it pretty well dialed in now, so that I know when I eat any particular food, how my body is going to react to it.

I’ve still got a ways to go, and am not going to turn this into a fitness blog, but I’ve been doing this for a year now, and wanted to put the information out there in case others are struggling with weight, fitness, physical vibrance, or other health issues. There is a lot of good information out there, and you can get started with some of the links included in this post.

Do you have any experience with a Paleo diet or Primal lifestyle? Let me know if you have any questions below.

Healthy Body, Healthy Business is a post from: Live Collar Free

“What do you want to do with your life?”

“I want to help people.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Not really sure.”

This was a conversation that took place with a friend about five years ago. If you go read it again, you’ll know the conversation I recently had with that same friend.

Nothing had changed.

There were a few slight differences in specific things they were doing, but overall a vague, directionless life is still going on, with no closer realization of this vacuous goal.

No progress was made in any particular area of life, and no further clarification on what they wanted to do with their life. Just five years older and we were having the same conversation.

There is no shortage of people making resolutions, doing annual reviews and other forms of goal-setting here near the beginning of the year. Most of us talk about some things we know we need to do that we’ve slagged off since the previous year, and most of us won’t do any different than we did last year.

Maybe that’s good enough for your life. Maybe you won’t wake up one day and realize you’ve wasted 50 years of your life wandering around aimlessly. It scares me to think how many people do that very thing.

Are you working toward something?

Are you just hanging around?

Are you staying on track (or shifting course, as appropriate)?

I hope you have this conversation with yourself more than once a year, and certainly more than every five years.

I’m going to keep asking you…

5-Years Later: Making Life Better or Just Getting Older is a post from: Live Collar Free

So. 2011 happened.

Learned new things, had a bunch of fantastic experiences, conducted more lifestyle experiments than I probably should have, found many great new tools, met lots of smart people doing amazing things, went to fun new places, and hardly shared any of it with my readers.

I might be jumping around here the first month of the year or so, but I have some great resources to help you out.

I’m putting together a free guide to help you figure out the kind of Collar-Free life you want to live. It has things like online tools and resources to help you live and work from anywhere, like I do. You don’t have to do exactly what I do, as there are many variations on what people do for their unconventional lifestyle.

The point for me is to show you what’s out there, so you don’t feel like you’re stuck in whatever place brings you searching for these things.

There will be other changes around here this month, but I’ll just tell you about them as I get them up and running.

If you have something you think I’d like to see or should tell people about, let me know in the comments below or contact page.

Thanks for sticking around.

How to Alienate Readers and Return a Blog from the Dead is a post from: Live Collar Free

I've been under the tree and on the yacht.

Sports cars, speed boats, off-road vehicles, houses, motorcycles, and various other toys came and went in my past life. I had a good job, a big house with a mortgage, several cars, a fancy watch and money left over. Money flowed so freely and easily, I had trouble finding dumb things to spend it on, like a supercharger on my suburban and I was serious about an airplane at one point.

I had everything I ever wanted and I was doing it all the way we are all taught to do things.

None of it was truly mine, and I was miserable.

So I did the only sensible thing: lost it all and found myself destitute.

What we Learn

There are plenty of benefits to having lots of money. It definitely allows you to do things you can’t do without it. But the standard way of dealing with money in our culture gets twisted if you aren’t paying attention. Just because I had a lot of “stuff” doesn’t mean I could afford it. Don’t make the mistake of wondering how someone can afford that shiny Mercedes rolling past you on the street. In many cases, they can’t.

I made many mistakes that weren’t the most fiscally-sound, and most involved the same problem that so many people face: Debt.

We are taught to go to school, get good grades, so we can get into college, where we get a degree so we can get a good job. Then we get to buy a house, cars and all the other stuff that comes with this form of success. The problem with much of that is the debt.

Student loans, car loans, home mortgage, credit cards to buy all the stuff you need to fill that house with, and on and on. If you’ve made it this far, you’d better be sure you have a good job, because you have a lot of debt payments to make. Start missing those, and you find out who really owns all that stuff. So back to work with you, where you aren’t spending any time enjoying your mountains of stuff.

That stuff can become nothing but a tremendous burden.

A Better Way?

If you poke around on the web enough, you can find any number of people doing things differently. Whether just having a more conservative approach to living with a bit less of the usual stuff we like to collect, to consciously living with as few belongings as possible. Any number of people around the world get rid of their stuff and downsize. Whether for economic, ecological or personal reasons, more people are conscious of their finances and it’s implications lately.

Have we been taught the best way? Are the added complications, stress, and lack of time worth the pursuit of stuff? Do we really have to follow that paradigm to find happiness, or can it be reframed?

I’ve written before about my living without a car, downsizing, and other minimalist ways of living. I don’t have as much stuff as I used to by a long shot, and I love it. My life is much simpler and less stressful. I’m not tied to any spot on earth, and I can go anywhere. I don’t need to come up with X-amount of money every month just to pay for things I already bought.

I am free of debt, and refuse to get back into that form of slavery. If I don’t have the money for something, I don’t buy it. If I can’t pay for it myself, I don’t need to borrow it to do so. In almost every case, I have lived without it so far, I obviously don’t have a true need for whatever it is, anyway.

It’s hard to put a number on the kind of peace that freedom can bring. And I don’t need a supercharger for it, either.

You vs. Debt

Earlier this year, I met up with Adam Baker and his family from Man vs. Debt when they came through town on their RV tour of the U.S. Baker & Courtney found themselves in overwhelming student loan debt early in their marriage, and worked to figure a way out of that trap. I’ve talked with Baker for years as they paid off their debt, traveled to different parts of the world, then did their RV tour, so it was good to finally have a chance to sit down and pick his brain about debt, blogging and other business stuff.

He is releasing a program today called You vs. Debt. If you go check it out, it will be very obvious that he hired a professional video crew and put a ton of work into this (I want to say I saw videos as far back as March?).

He’s been putting up a bunch of samples from the program that should give you an idea if it would be helpful to you, but here are some quick bullet points from Baker:

• YvD is a 6 weeks video-based course with the goal of completely changing people’s relationship and emotions surrounding money and debt.
• 32 individual videos, shot on green screen and edited w/ support text on screen, each video contains a lesson (3-9 minutes), and quote of the day, and a daily challenge (5-30 minutes to complete).
• Videos delivered every day Monday – Friday for 6 straight weeks. Saturday is the accountability survey and Sunday is rest day.
• Each day has a worksheet (30 total) that ties into the lesson and is filled out as part of the member challenge for that specific day.
• Each member will have a public profile they can customize (they’ll be able to view and search other members) and a fully-moderated forums to get help, support, and questions answered.

I haven’t seen the whole program or purchased it, but I have been privy to a bunch of behind the scenes stuff as he’s worked on it this year. Personal finance isn’t really the main focus of this blog, but if you are struggling with a mountain of debt, it will definitely hinder your freedom to live life.

So go check out the free sample stuff to get an idea if it would be useful to you. Baker’s You vs. Debt program would be a lot easier than the way I did things, if your relationship with money is a paradigm you need to shift.

How to Have Everything and Promptly Lose it All is a post from: Live Collar Free

One of the most popular requests I get is “How do you pack for so long with so little?” Much of it is a mindset which doesn’t really jive with today’s American consumerist lifestyle in the first place. That is the biggest hurdle to overcome in many of the things I talk about here.

There are plenty of packing list posts all over the travel and minimalist blogs, but since so many people ask, I figured I’d go ahead and post up my typical packing list for my office and personal needs when on the road. Since I just packed up the office recently to go to the Virgin Islands, I made sure to make a list and take some photos for this post.

My Office is Where I am

I’ve mentioned my backpack before, and how I refer to it as “My Office.” My office is anywhere I am sitting while working. I don’t like looking at the same wall every day, so I very often will be someplace new several times a week, even if just at home. Of course I don’t do work that requires a big setup for graphic or some sort of massive equipment that would be tough to carry around or even move. My laptop is the biggest item I need, and it is actually more machine than I need.

Everything on this page packed & ready.

The pack I have used for a few years now is ”SYNERGY from SwissGear by Wenger Computer Backpack” I bought it one day when I was on the road and needed a better carry bag for my laptop, and it has served me well. It holds a lot of stuff, can be crammed under the seat of most airplanes, and is very comfortable to wear, even fully loaded.

It is not weatherproof in any way, and if you are a constant traveler, this would not likely be the best pack for you to carry around daily. I wouldn’t want to take this on long hikes through a rainforest with it, but it works well in an occasionally carried city environment.

Everything listed below fits into this pack, or worn on my body while traveling.

Electronics

Laptop - It will shock most bloggers to know that I am not using a Mac, but I am on my third Toshiba Laptop now, and have never had major issues with them. I bought my current laptop as a refurbished 2006 model. I have used it pretty much all day every day for work, screwing around on the internet and watching tv and movies for years.

Toshiba Laptop & Accessories

It gets a lot of use, and has yet to have any issues other than the battery wearing out. I have had bad quality and support issues with other brands, and have even spent quite a few years in the hardware industry. I can’t say how good Toshiba service and support is, because I have never had to use it.

Laptop Charger

Laptop Inverter – When I bought my laptop years ago, I was working a lot from my vehicle. I needed to keep the laptop charged as I was using it for mapping as well as my customer databases while on the road. I could not find the generic one that I have, but there are a lot of options for 12v inverters on Amazon. If you work from a car, this is a must.

Headset – I mostly use Skype or Google Voice for what little phone interaction I do, and also use Dragon Naturally Speaking to dictate articles and posts when I don’t feel like typing. After a good review of the current version from Sharon Hurley Hall, I installed another copy and have been working on getting familiar with it. I pack the headset that came with it for that dictation and communication.

All electronic gadgets & Gizmos.

Phone - I currently use a Blackberry Pearl, but as I said, I am doing less and less over the phone. I turned off the web access a couple of years ago, and now it is basically only used for friends and family, or in emergencies on the road. I am looking into switching to a prepaid phone just for those cases, as it makes no sense to pay for a service I hardly use.

iPod Touch – My 32GB iPod Touch has been very handy for what I do. I don’t actually play much music, but I listen to a lot of podcasts when out fishing, paddling or doing other things that are away from the computer. A constant reader, I have read dozens of books on it and when I need to get online, it is usually pretty easy to find wi-fi. It’s close to having an iPhone, without the monthly charge, and fits in my pocket, unlike an iPad.

Headphones - for the iPod.

Camera - Canon Powershot point & shoot cameras have been the best I have used so far. I have an SD1000 that they only produced for a short time, but there are many models to choose from. They take great photos, are easily carried in even a shirt pocket, and can even be hacked to do far more than most others, like shooting in RAW.

Camera Charger

Underwater Camera Case – Canon makes a custom underwater housing for my camera and all of their other models. They fit each model perfectly, and are very nice. Unfortunately for me, they are about the same price as the cameras themselves. I was not willing to buy one at such a price.

I bought a DiCAPac Underwater Camera Case, which is basically a very well-sealed bag that fits a variety of smaller cameras. I have access to several cameras that I can use in wet conditions. I have taken it with me paddling, boating, and snorkeling many times over the past 2 years, and it has not leaked at all. I snorkeled 7 different days in the Virgin Islands alone, and it works flawlessly. I occasionally test it with a piece of tissue paper inside and leave it submerged overnight.

Ultimate Charger – This item I previously reviewed on the blog saves me from having to bring 4 other chargers everywhere I go. It replaces both 110v and 12v chargers for my iPod, GPS and phone.

Notebooks - I use paper notebooks to write ideas and plans down. It uses no batteries and I can add to it without booting anything. Sometimes writing out an article on paper is easier for me to process, as well.

Thumb Drives – I have a couple of USB Thumb Drives to back up files, or sometimes to take to an internet cafe  or a printing house. This is rare for me, but I also keep copies of some software handy if I need it (antivirus and web settings). I got most of mine from giveaways, but they are small and handy.

SD Cards – I keep a few SD Cards in case I am taking more photos than usual, and can’t get to my computer to upload them, or I am shooting RAW files, which fill up the cards faster. Like all storage mediums these days, they are getting ridiculously cheap.

Clothing & Personal Items

Fashion is not something that is even remotely important to me. I am more about practical, comfortable and useful than what others think. The less I have, the less I have to wash, store, and otherwise care for.

I have worked on getting my entire wardrobe converted to lightweight, quick-dry items that work for me. I’ll have a separate post about that shortly, but it works best for travel, especially.

Swim Trunks - (Generic brand stuffs into its own pocket and dries quick)

Roll everything to pack easier.

Lounging/Sleep Shorts – Basic cotton gym shorts

2x Convertible Quik-Dry Shorts – The particular brand I have are Reel Legends Marlin Zip-off Pants. They are very lightweight, fairly durable, can look nice enough, and dry very fast. I can wear them in the water, and they’ll be dry enough by the time I’m done with dinner, or hand washed in a sink before bed and they’ll be dry in the morning. I found these both at a thrift store, and they have served me well for the 8 bucks total I paid for both pairs.

3x Underwear – I haven’t tried out any of the lightweight travel brands yet, though I will be looking into those when I need to upgrade.

I didn't pack one of these shirts.

2x Quik-Dry athletic-type shirt – I have about 5 of these total now. Lightweight, wrinkle-free and dry superfast.

3x Quik-Dry Button Shirt – Some are generic, but recently found some Columbia brand shirts that work so well. Keeps sun and bugs off of me for the most part, and I included a semi-formal shirt for dinner and such.

Hat - I packed my boonie hat I’ve used for outdoorsy stuff since 1984, but came back with a new one from Tilley.

Flippy-floppys – Generic and cheap pair to throw on when I need to walk outside.

Vibram Five-Fingers Shoes – I got a pair of Vibram Five Fingers KSO‘s for my birthday just before heading to the Virgin Islands. I only took these and the flip-flops as footwear. My feet were still getting used to them, and on some of the longer day hikes I did through the mountains, my feet started to ache a bit. But they are all I wear anymore. They are incredibly comfortable, and it does feel like being barefoot, just without worrying about stickers and glass cutting up your feet.

Headlamp – I like to carry a headlamp with me, as it always seems to come in handy.

Everything else!

Towel - After I got back, I finally ordered a Sea to Summit Drylight travel towel. I’m very happy with how small, absorbent and lightweight it is, as well as how quickly it dries. These will be replacing all of my towels from now on.

Wallet - I don’t keep much in a wallet. ID, ATM card, and a couple of other thin items. I am in the water a lot, so I bought these waterproof wallets from Seattle Sports. They are cheap and do everything I need them to do.

Sunglasses
Passport
Toothbrush
Deodorant
Razor - I only use 2 Mach 3 blade cartridges a year, but that’s another post
Chapstick
Small Daypack

How do you pack?

Obviously, my setup may not work for you, and women or people in different climates will have other items they might need. I don’t like to check bags or have more than I can carry all day.

As an example of this setup for me, I was on this last trip for 11 days, and never felt I was lacking anything. In fact, had I never returned home, I still would not feel like I was missing anything. Much of everything else I have is outdoors equipment, like camping and snorkeling gear. There was snorkeling gear at my destination already, so I didn’t need to worry about it.

Try to pay attention to the things you bring with you on trips, how much you use each item, and evaluate whether you could get by if you didn’t bring it with you. Is it worth packing and dragging it around the globe? Or is it just an unnecessary convenience that is more trouble than it’s worth? Let me know how you do it below.

Pack Light for any Trip and Miss Nothing is a post from: Live Collar Free

photo credit: byJoeLodge

The package wasn’t supposed to come for another few weeks. When I saw it was addressed to me, I knew it was finally here. Another piece of the puzzle. A brick removed from the wall blocking my path.

My Passport arrived. I could now go anywhere on the planet without hiding in a suitcase.

The statistics say that only 20% of the 308 million Americans have passports (though it’s going up as high as 30% since you need them to go to Mexico and Canada now). There are many reasons for this. Nomadic Matt wrote a good article on Huffington Post about it a couple of months ago. When he asked what we thought the reasons for this were, my answer was, “I think you covered them pretty well in this article. Institutional fear, arrogance and ignorance if you want a short answer.”

Life in the 300-Mile Circle

I grew up and lived most of my life in a 300-mile circle centered around Los Angeles. I have lived as far north as Fresno, as far west as Vegas, and as far south as Orange County. While I’ve never had the same address for more than 4 years, I didn’t leave that circle for more than quick trips around the U.S. for the first 35 years of my life.

I was one of those Americans who never had a passport. There were always places I wanted to see, but I had never actively pursued overseas trips. I’d been to Baja California a few times, crossing the border on foot. Drove down to Ensenada for a weekend once to spend the single night I’d ever spent in a foreign country in three decades.

For 35 years, I only left the Pacific Time Zone a handful of times. I had always wanted to see more, but something always got in the way. No matter the different scenarios then, the something was always related to fear.

Getting Free of Convention

When I started to free myself of the self-imposed constraints I’d lived with for most of my life, I started getting out more. I stopped watching the news and watching much tv, and the world seemed to start opening up. We can blame the media and culture here (I can hear the scoffing from non-Americans at my use of the term “culture” ), but it really rests with you to get out and do whatever it is that makes you happy.

I moved to another time zone since then and have gotten out more in the past few years than I had ever done before. I still haven’t gone anywhere that required a passport. A past trip to Puerto Rico and the upcoming St. John Island trip don’t need a passport as U.S. Territories, though they are technically different countries. I’m playing catch up on all that time I didn’t get out-of-town to explore what I can.

My answer to Matt’s question got me thinking more about it, and I realized I didn’t want that limitation any longer.

Do you have to travel to live your life?

Being a Digital Nomad is not necessarily about traveling around the world. It is something that can be done, but it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Hopefully you aren’t staying at home out of fear like so many do, but there is more than one way to live life.

In this community, you see every manner of traveler, wanderer and Nomad. But this isn’t just about travel. This is about happy.

You don’t have to go live on a beach in Thailand like Cody McKibben, or move to Chile like Ashley Ambirge to live your best life. Not everyone wants to travel constantly out of a backpack like Matt. Not everyone wants to wander in a tiny RV like Cherie & Chris, or even in a luxury bus like Louise & Sean. You don’t have to ever leave your country, or even the small town where you were born if that’s what makes you happy. Hell if you’ve got a Ted Nugent-sized ranch you never have to leave, then more power to you!

But please don’t spend your life in fear.

So am I the only one who has hardly traveled the world here? Tell me if you’ve got things holding you back in the comments.

How to Escape your 300-Mile Circle and See the World is a post from: Live Collar Free

If you follow my updates on Twitter or Facebook, you may have seen me talking about a temp “job” I am taking in March. One of the greatest advantages of working from anywhere as a Digital Nomad is that when strangely rare but fun opportunities come up, you can jump on them more easily than if you have a location-dependent job that you have to show up for every day.

When friends Cherie & Chris over at Tales from Technomadia posted that they needed a cat-sitter for 10 days or so, it was an easy one to jump at. The cat-sitting job is in the U.S. Virgin Islands!

I’ll be spending a couple of weeks with the girlfriend on the island of St. John in March, staying at their temporary winter place. Their Jeep will get us around on the small Caribbean island while they fly over to Texas to give their presentation on this very subject of Technomadism at SXSW. While I’d planned to go to SXSW as well, the opportunity for an almost free trip to a tropical paradise was too good to pass up this year.

Their pictures have been making me crazy (and are shown here on this post), especially now that I have to wait a few more weeks to get there!

I’ll be posting from there, as I’ll be working some of the time we’re there, just as I would be anywhere else with internet access. I’ll pack my usual single backpack that I call my “office” and will of course have plenty for the trip. I’ll post my minimalist packing method when I get a chance, as several of you have asked how I pack so light after my video last week.

Island Life by Technomadia

My new passport should get here before we leave, if we decide to go over to the nearby British Virgin Islands while we’re there. But much of this will be like my previous trips, where I just happen to be working in a different location. But you can be sure I’ll be getting some snorkeling and hiking in during the day! (I live a short walk from white sand beaches, so I already know not to do the laptop at the beach thing)

Rum is something like five bucks for a 55-gallon drum there, but I don’t drink. So I’ll be working in the evenings instead of taking advantage of that island deal.

2011 has started off well so far, with only a month down and already several projects in the works. I’ve done a lot behind the scenes here on the blog as well as working on several other things I want to share with you here too.

The point of this site was to help you sort through the many ways to do this kind of thing yourself. There is a lot of noise out there to sort through, with any number of directions you could go to this online lifestyle thing. Some good ones and some not so good ones.

I won’t teach you any online money stuff that is all over the internet. I will help you sort through the good ones by bringing you the quality products and people who can help you live your life however you want, instead of being tied down in the traditional way most of us start out.

I’ve spread myself thin with a variety of projects lately, and not doing enough to share it here with you between various writing and editing jobs, as well as work on affiliate products (which you can learn to do also using Corbett’s Affiliate Marketing for Beginners like I do. And yes, that is an affiliate link!) Much of the behind the scenes work has been testing things to make the site easier for you to use to get the information you’re looking for. I’ll have a bunch added when it’s all ready-ish to go.

I switched my mailing list over to a new system to be able to give you posts to your email. Spammers should all die, so you won’t get any of that from me. Go sign up over there on the sidebar, and you will get updates on new posts, as well as specials and products not posted here on the site.

I hope you’ll bear with me while I get the kinks worked out. In 2011, I’m going to take this site to the next level, as they say.

Technomadic Adventures in High Gear for 2011 is a post from: Live Collar Free

A video review seemed like a better way to do this post, so you can watch the embedded video below, or read the details here.

One of the benefits of having a site like this is that people and companies offer to send their products to you to review and talk about. As it grows, that happens more often. I turn plenty of these offers away when I don’t think the product is something you & I would be interested in using.

I was approached by a company who makes this neat little 3-in-1 charger, and asked if I wanted to try one out for review for my readers. I looked at it, and it actually solves a big problem I have as someone who works out of a backpack and on the road quite a bit. With the various kinds of RV’ers, vandwellers, backpackers and other digital nomads who visit this site, I knew this would be something you’d find useful as well.

The video covers most of the detail, but when I’m on the road, between two of us, we have as many as 9 different devices that need charging at some point. Between A/C wall chargers and D/C car chargers, I am carrying around a lot of cables in my office (which is a backpack, no matter where I am).

The Ultimate Charger is a 3-in-1 charging device that allows you to charge your devices in 3 ways: a 110v wall outlet, a 12v cigarette-lighter plug, and even using a 9volt battery on some devices.

It comes with six short, removable tips to charge most modern devices:

• iPhones
• iPods
• Cell Phones – will work for most US Carrier cell phones including Sprint, Verizon, AT&T & T-Mobile
• MP3 players
• GPS Navigation Systems
• Portable Video Game Systems (PSP, Gameboy)

The six tips include:

• Mini USB
• Micro USB
• Iphone/iPod
• LG
• Samsung
• Nokia

It comes with a nylon carrying case to hold all the tips as well as the charger. I only need 2 of the tips for my devices, but when you consider each tip covers you for both wall and car chargers, that can save on the mess you have to otherwise carry around. For just my Blackberry and iPod Touch, that brings me from four chargers down to just this one.

It seems well-made, and after charging 5 different devices, it has yet to get hot or catch anything on fire. If you see them on shelves anywhere, the packaging allows for you to make sure the tips fit your devices without having to rip open the box.

The Ultimate Charger costs $24.99. They sent me this one Ultimate Charger to try, and I was able to get them to agree to free shipping when you buy from my link!

Buy the Ultimate Charger now!

Let me know in the comments below if you’ve used one or how it works for you when you get one. Also let me know what you think of the video reviews. I haven’t done them before, but it seemed like it’d be easier to see it than just hear about this one. If you would like more, let me know in the comments below!

Video Product Review: The Ultimate Charger is a post from: Live Collar Free

In 2010 part of my yearly review has been to take stock of my business issues and goals. But since I have become Location Independent, I like to look at all the places I went during the year, as well as people I’ve met, mostly through these online interactions.

An informal poll told me that most people seem to use Facebook and Twitter much the same way I do. Facebook is almost exclusively people I know and have met in the real world, while Twitter started out just following anyone with similar interests.

As I’ve used them more over the past few years, I’ve noticed I am meeting a lot of people in real life through Twitter. I’ve been “online” since the days of the dial-up BBS, and have always made friends and associates from people I’ve met first in the online world.

My Location Independence

Before I get going, I should clarify my situation. I can do my work from wherever I want on the planet, but I mostly work from my home base. It’s easy, and I have a lot of things in the works. That may change in the coming year, and I’ll go back to getting out more often.

This year I did not leave the state of Florida even once! I haven’t left since a trip to the Pacific Northwest in October 2009.

But as I have said before, you don’t have to live a jet-set lifestyle to have this kind of freedom as a Digital Nomad. That’s what’s so great about it — you can live however you want. And seriously. With beaches like this, why go anywhere else?

My Year in Review and the People I Met

In January, I took a trip down to Ft. Lauderdale to see family & friends. It was just a long weekend of relaxation down there, and not much work got done at all.

We also went camping for a long February weekend in St. Augustine for my birthday. I had never even heard of it before moving to Florida a few years ago. It is allegedly the oldest European-inhabited city in North America. I met with several full and part-time RVers and vandwellers at Anastasia State Park, but nobody from online.

Only after we got back did I realize one of the people I’ve followed on Twitter was also at the same canon-firing ceremony at the fort in St. Augustine. Lani Pokrana and I were both there at the same show watching about 20 feet away from each other and had no idea.

The launch of the Space Shuttle brought us to nomadic serendipity with the 1st-time meeting of both Cherie & Chris from Technomadia, and Louise & Sean from Our Odyssey.

The offices Sullivan Productions were moving to a new building in Tampa that month, so Anthony Sullivan asked on Twitter if anyone wanted their old office chairs. I picked up one of the leather high-back chairs. I didn’t have a very good desk chair when sitting here working, so it was a welcome addition. I saw him in the office when I picked it up, but he was head down in the laptop so I didn’t bug him. He did sign the chair and leave a signed pic from his Discovery Channel show Pitchmen (which is returning in January 2011).

February ended with a concert in Tampa where I met up with a couple other members of the Pitchmen crew and fellow Twitterfolk. Arwen Saxon is very active on Twitter. She is the brains behind the operation on the Pitchmen show, and who initially told us about the concert. We met up with her during the show and she introduced us to several of the staff, including Billy Mays, III, who also works on the show. He is the son of the late, great Billy Mays, Jr. of television pitching fame. It was a good time.

In March, I spent a long weekend in Daytona for the AMA motorcycle races there. I no longer work in the motorcycle industry directly, but I still have lots of friends who were there racing or working. I was able to meet Dan Lo of Cornerspeed Photo and see a dozen or so other friends I already knew.

I also spent some time in Orlando in March working from a nice hotel there for a business trip my girlfriend had to take there. I wrote about the same event the previous year in this post.

We also went down to Sarasota for a book-signing by Harlan Coben, who is the only fiction author I read anymore. It was the first book-signing I’d ever been to, and we took the time to explore the city while we were down there.

I went to meet Dr. Fuhrman in Clearwater, where he spoke about his philosophies on health and nutrition. I’d read several of his books and followed him on Twitter, so it was nice to meet him while he was in town.

April started with a trip up to Crystal River to borrow a canoe and go snorkeling with the manatees. There are several tour operators up there, but I just went alone this time. The water from the springs stays 72F year-round, so it’s always nice swimming in the crystal-clear water there. It was getting warmer out, so most of the manatees were away in the Gulf. I took a few underwater videos while I was there.

I stayed pretty close to home through the summer (remember the beaches?). It wasn’t until July when I met more people from online when the Way Below Status Quo tour rolled through town. I met up with Norcross, Colin, Ash and Andi before they rushed over to New Orleans.

We went down to Fort Pierce on the Atlantic coast in September. We got to explore a little bit, though it was for a funeral, so we didn’t spend a lot of time there.

In October, I was able to get out of town again when my sister came out here for vacation. We spent a few days with them out in Orlando, doing some of the touristy things. The highlight had to be the trip to Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle Discovery had already been rolled out to launch (STS-133…it still hasn’t launched).

I didn’t meet anyone new on this trip, but I had been making plans to meet with Raam Dev and several others to see the launch. He came down to Orlando to see it later that week, but it got delayed.

Earlier in the year, he had asked me to contribute to his free ebook Small Ways to Make a Big Difference, along with more than 40 other bloggers. It’s a good collection of information you should go check out. Hopefully he will be able to come down when this final launch of Discovery happens.

November brought with it the 42nd stop on Chris Guillebeau’s Unconventional Book Tour. I met a lot of people there. Some I’d been following for years, like Chris and David Risley, but I made many new friends (we just met Shannon from A Little Adrift for dinner tonight, for example).

I also was able to go to a movie screening of Today’s Special at the Tampa Theater and met the writer & star of the movie, Aasif Mandvi. I had only seen him a few times on the Daily Show, and still haven’t seen Last Airbender. He was good in this fun movie. He stayed after to answer a bunch of questions from the audience (who mostly knew him from growing up in Tampa), along with his co-star, Jess Weixler.

December has gone by fast. I was bummed to know I missed Sean Ogle when he was out here for a meeting. I have interacted with him a good deal through Twitter, his Location 180 blog and a few other projects. I have been trying to meet up with Nick Reese before he takes off in a couple weeks for El Salvador, but it looks like it’ll have to wait until the first week of January.

The Point of this Local Travelogue

I know this is much longer and drawn out than it needs to be, but I wanted to show you that even though I didn’t leave the state all year, being location independent allows a lot of freedom of movement.

Interacting with others on social media outlets is more than just selling your crap or wasting time while at work. I’ve been fortunate to meet some fascinating people this year, as well as in 2009. I expect 2011 will be even more filled with friends and fun.

2011 may bring about more travel and bigger things as far as work and this site. I am already working on passport applications, have friends I’ve never met who may stop by and stay with me here in February (I keep the doors open to host travelers). I may have a short trip coming up in March, and hopefully another trip and event in June. I’ll let you know as soon as we get things finalized!

Have a Happy New Year!

30-Plus Twitter Friends I met This Year Without Leaving Home is a post from: Live Collar Free

Location Independence is not always just about starting your own business, freelancing or otherwise working on your own. Though I have railed against the typical corporate mindset here before, I am not against working a “real job” entirely.

I actually applied for a job at a company recently. It is the 2nd time I applied there since being self-employed. I love what I do, and am not otherwise job-hunting. But I also love this particular company, it’s culture, and am passionate about their product that I’ve used for years. They do great work, and I want to be a part of it.

They posted a position that interested me, so I applied. Much of their staff  works remotely, so it would have allowed me to continue to be location independent. I would have had to cut back on some other projects to work full-time for them, but it would still allow time for other things, like this site. Freedom and enjoying the work that I do are most important to me.

With technology available to everyone now, the old style of having a massive office space to herd all of your employees into for 10 hours a day so they could make phone calls and access the company database is no longer necessary in most industries.

This is not a new idea. My dad was telecommuting from our home in the mountains back in the early 80′s. Of course he was the one writing the software on the mainframes he  logged himself into from the home office, so that may not be a fair example.

Now most anyone can use a phone from anywhere. They can log in from anywhere. It is cheaper for both employer and employee to have the employees telecommuting, and with this flexibility comes several ways this work is getting done.

Part-Time Telecommuting

Employers are increasingly offering trial attempts at allowing their employees to work from home for a day or two each week. I know people who have every other Friday out of the office, all the way to people who only have to come in on Mondays for face-to-face meetings. It’s a good start, but still limits the employees considerably. It’d be tough to justify living in Jamaica if you had to show up at the office every Monday in Seattle.

Usually these scenarios still involve company servers and such that need to be logged into in order to work. They seem to have the toughest time of letting employees off the reservation. As companies modernize, this will be less of a concern. At newer places, most work can be done with any of today’s modern smartphones.

Full-Time Workshifting

Modern companies today are relying increasingly on work from people who aren’t needed in the office at all. Companies are beginning to realize that employees are happier when they can work from home, coffee shops, libraries or wherever else they can get a reliable internet connection.

A good deal of work doesn’t even need the internet full-time anyway. A lot of design work or coding can get done from wherever, and uploaded when needed.

R.O.W.E.

A Results Only Work Environment is style of working coined by Cali & Jody, authors of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It. The concept is similar to a remote worker or other Digital Nomad in that the employee’s location is not important in most cases. The employee’s entire job performance is gauged on whether their work gets done. The name of this game is measurable results.

Say there is a sales goal to meet. You make your goal, the boss doesn’t care where you are or how you do it. No micro-managing, no worrying if you have a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the week, picking up kids from school, etc. Just get the job done, whatever way you work best, and you’re good to go!

Coworking

Whether you  work for yourself or another company, coworking has gotten increasingly popular. There is likely a space in your city where you can rent space to work with other remote workers and entrepreneurs.

Much cheaper than having your own office leased to work alone, this option allows you to work in an office-like environment with other people also doing their own thing. Some are more formal or secluded than others, while others have a much more laid back feel to them. This is popular with creative people who enjoy the company of others or don’t have a decent place to work from home.

-

These are just some of the many ways companies are working with employees in today’s corporate environment. Tech companies tend to be more open to these sorts of alternative work environments, but more traditional companies are opening up to the possibilities as well.

I have mostly talked about the more entrepreneurial kinds of work here on the site: freelance writers, designers, photographers and such. There is nothing inherently wrong with working for someone else. We all work for someone in one form or another.

If you can find meaningful work that aligns with your values and you can be excited about: do that.

Are you able to work from home for your company? Know anyone who does? What kind of jobs do you think would have trouble adapting this kind of flexible work? Let me know in the comments.

Work from Anywhere While Working for Someone Else is a post from: Live Collar Free