If you haven’t heard of Google Voice yet you are probably a normal person who leads a normal non-techie lifestyle. For you I say shame. Shame on you! Google Voice might be the best thing since the toaster (not quite as good as sliced bread but still pretty awesome).

The benefits of GV can heavily come into play for the vagabond. If you are curious about GV watch these videos… Read the rest of this entry

Does anyone remember the movie Fight Club? Brad Pitt and Edward Norton star in this violent flick about what else? Underground fight clubs. In my slightly younger days this was in my top two movies along with Pulp Fiction. There were several scenes that I wasn’t able to get out of my head and as I got older and really started to understand what those scenes were really about that things became clear. Well…clearer anyway. Read the rest of this entry

My first steps on my vagabonding journey began about a year ago. I was out of work and had managed to get myself into a few thousand dollars of debt and tied down with a mortgage. I was in the process of losing my home to foreclosure and there was nothing I could do about it.

I was working side computer jobs here and there but nothing substantial. Only really enough to keep some food on the table. The few months before I had leave my house behind I started selling things to get by and make the minimum payments on my debts. As time went on I sold more and more and lived on less and less. I stumbled on a website discussing a “minimalism lifestyle” which I found very interesting. The main reason being I had found a name for what I had already been doing! Read the rest of this entry

Having been living on very little for the past year or so I’ve learned a lot about different areas where I could minimize. Cutting back on groceries, clipping coupons and pinching pennies are just a few areas where I have really made vast improvements. Combine that along with my other posts about ditching a huge percentage of my personal belongings; I’ve become quite a different person from what I was.

One thing I didn’t expect to learn was areas where I could stand to take in and keep a little more. Areas that we sometimes take for granted. Read the rest of this entry

Having had minimal foreign language experience in the past, I feel it’s time to learn. I have chosen Japanese for several reasons. One of which of course is, I’d love to travel around Japan for awhile.

I slacked off both times I took German in high school and I’ve picked up a few words here and there in Spanish. I am no where near fluent in either German or Spanish and only know a few key words.

My quest to learn Japanese started out with a few different audio books last week. I have a 20 minute drive to and from work each day and my thought was why not use some of that time to start learning. Things were slow to start, so I took the next reasonable step which was to call the local community college. Which I was informed that they only teach German, Spanish, Italian, and French. Then the foreign language director informed me that she wasn’t aware of anyone in town who teaches either. Read the rest of this entry

It has been just over a year since I last posted an update about becoming a minimalist. I haven’t been able to travel any where near as much as I’d like to but I can say that my road to becoming a minimalist has been fairly successful.

I have been able to eliminate 90% of my debt. I only owe money to my dentist due to a medical emergency.

I sold off/donated 80+% of my belongings and have stored most of whats left in a storage unit that is 8x10ft. The unit is only about 3/4 full.

I have lived in a few different places only taking with me (for the most part) a backpack. Which by the way is an Osprey Atmos 50 in Cindercone Red seen below.

Read the rest of this entry

For anyone who knows me I don’t read books. Before this I book I had only one other under my belt. It was about Carlos Hathcock,  a USMC Sniper. Other than that, I stick to manuals and things I can learn from.

However, Emergency was a gem that I didn’t want to put down. I snagged the book from the library thinking it was going to be an odd story/survival manual. This is not exactly what he was going for.

Neil’s decent into a paranoid end of the world existence comes out at times, rather humorous and makes you want to turn the next page.

Some favorite parts are when Neil attends Tracker School, builds several backyard contraptions, and escapes from a large city using several different and unique methods.

Growing up in Central Oregon I can relate to a lot of the skills Neil learned. After the reading this book I value my skills much more. Knowing how to fish, hunt, and even perform the simple task of pitching a tent may come easy to me but I can see how it might be difficult to a city dweller. On the other hand if I were to ever get dropped into the middle of a fancy dinner party, I might revert to my primal instincts and start grunting and throwing rocks. I would be 100 percent out of my element.

Having only really read 2 “real” books in my life, this book makes the top 2 by far. Buy it, check it out, or borrow it and take the time to read and enjoy.