Integrated Strategy

A week ago I woke up and wondered, Was that all just a dream?  I had just come home from a 6 months adventure and was plunged back into the reality of 'home'.

I want to take you on a bit of a journey with me, then tell you how it was all possible.

The journey started at the beginning of January where my best friend and I set our sights to Thailand, jumped on a plane, and was on our way.  Security was tighter then I've ever seen it...

But Luck was on our side as the trip started off on a high note getting business class seats for the long 12 hour flight from Chicago to Tokyo.

Two days into the trip we checked an item off both our 'Bucket Lists' ... learn how to Scuba dive and get certified. So that's what we did. What a great adventure in itself. We got to swim with massive turtles, sharks, and see things that I never knew existed on this planet!

Oh, and here's one of me in my favorite scuba diving positions... the Super Man! (if you're a diver... just laugh at me )

But it's easy to forget I was there for work. Really, what I called this was a 'Working Vacation'. I was only suppose to be there for 2 months to test things out and try to see if it was possible to 'work and travel'. Here's some proof...

You might be wondering how was it possible to work in such a beautiful location ?! Well, the way I saw it is that if I didn't get any work done, I would have to go back and get work done here. SO, I made the decision to get my a$$ on the computer and get productive. (though I have to admit, it was hard some times).

The set up was pretty great. I mostly got work done inside my 1 bedroom apartment (they called it a 'guest house'), in reality- it actually was too hot outside most of the time to do work! This was the backyard for the first 4 months of the trip...

Well, the days went by faster then ever before. In between work, the days were filled with trips to the beach, watching people para gliding back and forth the mountain side (not sure if that's what it's called), incredible sunsets, training Mauy Thai, personal training, Thai Lessons, discovering new temples... the works.

Oh, and I had to get use to the SPICY food, if you look at this picture closely you can see the beads of sweat running down my face! (excuse the Pad Thai on my face..)

My buddy Jay and I then went on a crazy adventure to Laos. There I saw things that I'm pretty sure I'll never see again...I wrote more about it in This Post... Click here to check it out.

As I write this, I'm looking through the pictures  and think to myself, "wow, even this post wont really describe how the trip was" but I think it's the closest I can get.  When people ask, "Oh how was your trip?"  I'm often stumped in a loss of words for how the trip really was. I think, 'Life changing, amazing, completely different worlds...' and then I have to settle for replying, 'Oh, it was good'...

Good does not even start to explain this kind of adventure. One of the great take-aways from this trip is the truly incredible people I have met along the way. They have given me hope, have inspired me, shown me love, happiness, kindness that I haven't seen in a long time. Here are just a Few of those people...

After a couple months into the trip my best buddy Jay had left to train in Japan. (for those who don't know him, he's a Mixed Martial Artist, he's on course for big time success- his site is: www.JasonSaggo.com )

About 4 months into the trip I had decided that I needed to change things up and move locations.  Why? Well, honestly I was starting to get too distracted living near the training camp. Here's one of my big discoveries about working and traveling...

Being surrounded my people on Holidays is great, but can also be a huge distraction to getting things done for work. Just a heads up for people thinking about making a trip.

So I moved to Karon Beach. It was beautiful.

The beach was 50 meters away, the apartment was double to size and I was more immersed in the Thai culture then ever.  At this point I could speak the language on a basic level which made the experience so much cooler!

You might be wondering how much it cost to live there... well, I doubled my rent by moving to this great location- so my rent become just under $600 a month. Not bad considering I had my place cleaned everyday!  And food, well you could spend as much as you would back home, but if you were willing to venture off a little you could find great Thai places with great prices and even better food. For example, this meal here...

Typical Thai meal that I miss so much -
Main dish & soup - 50 Baht,
Delicious mango shake - 50 baht,
Pineapple 10 Baht,
Watermelon 10 bath
= Total 120 Baht = $4 Canadian  ... Not bad at all!

I also had met a few people along the way who were doing similar things...  Take Matt for example.He has been very successful build traditional businesses and is now working full time online, traveling WITH his wife and 1 year old child. Now that's a dream come true for many of us.

Not many people know this but I also did work for a hotel (at no charge ... in case the Thai embassy ever reads this ) okay, so I 'helped out' with a hotel's marketing which was a very cool experience. I got to see inside the workings of a totally different business model and apply my online marketing strategies... just shows what learning and investing in yourself really can do for you.

A cool experience. After the first meeting, I was asked for some advice on a promotion they had going. Here was the situation...

They had booked a catering company for a big event (I think it was Valentines day)... and they had enough room for lets say 100 people. The issue was, we were 2 days away and there were only 4 seats reserved...  yikes! So I was asked, "How do we get more people to reserve seats!?".  After briefing them on some ideas, the on-duty manager then gathered the staff to implement the ideas right away.  Cool experience, so I even took a picture...

I had to come home at some point (to say hi to friends, family, and head to a conference in August) and the day for me to leave started to creep up way too fast.  One of the things I wanted to do was get a proper bike (as my Aussi friends would say) and ride around Phuket. Some how the universe came together and I had a Kawasaki Ninja 2010 650R (for the bike buffs) for the last 10 days...

I then it was my turn to say goodbye to Phuket and my great friends there. Even the small merchants and restaurant owners were on the list to say farewell.  That's one of the cool things about Thailand, people are so open and you get to know each other kinda like the, 'good old days' back here at home.

I headed off to Bangkok for a few days...

I met up with a good friend in Bangkok who showed me around. What a great experience traveling around the city and outside to temples with a local... getting to see things that most tourist wouldn't have a chance.

Literally I had some of the BEST food I have ever tasted. (If you have a chance to go to Bangkok, go to the restaurant called, The Secret Garden...  and thank me later...

Thinking about it, I was eating things I would never even try before. And that is really one of the biggest take-aways from this trip...

I have been exposed to a whole new way of life. It really is possible to live life on our own terms, I mean, WHAT EVER it is that you want out of life- it can be yours.  We have to be open to it though... can't be afraid to take that step into the unknown. Being around people who are passionate about what they do, whether that's surfing every day the waves are good, helping people as a nurse, or marketing an online product... it has shown me that life doesn't have to be this monotonous routine of a 9 to 5 grind that so many people find themselves 'trapped' in.

There's a quite shift happening where being able to work online and travel is now a reality. This is relatively a new shift. Maybe it's for you, maybe not. All I can say is that it's worth a shot if you want it.

Many times I've gotten the question, How did you get into what you do? And what it really came down to was looking at the LIFESTYLE that I wanted to have.  I think we have it backwards when we're trying to decide how we should earn a living.  We're taught to look at the pay of the job, the benefits, the vacation time.... then see if you'll still have time to do the things you love to do.

I would suggest to look at the things you love to do, then find a job (or business) that will fit the LIFESTYLE that goes with it. That's really how this was all possible for me... it's all been by design.

The 'How' I do it is a bit more detailed and you can learn more about that by signing up for my ebook on the side of this page, or getting my Formula Training.

Point is, this adventure has been nothing short of life-changing. Thanks to everyone who I met along the way and I look forward to spending time with you again. I'm excited about my next journey and bringing you along. I've enjoyed putting this post together and re-living this adventure with you!

Looking forward to hearing about your adventures...

Cheers to living your life!

Taigh

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