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[wpaudio url="http://couchsurfingori.com/wp-content/uploads/movies/05-25-201-The-Epic-Tale-of-One-way-ticket-to-maui.mp3" text="Reading of The Epic Tale of 1 Way Ticket to Maui"]

“Seriously?  I hardly  know what I’m doing next week.”

“Over the last 2 weeks I’ve been thinking about that business idea you mentioned the other month… a lot… and you’re working Terra’s website anyways– why don’t I buy you a 1 way ticket, come stay with us, and if you want to get back, you have to finish the project, and get some sales!”

“Well, damn! For story-telling purposes alone, I have to say yes!”

And thus, I agreed to come visit Craig Allen and Terra Rose Ganem in Hawaii…. Hawaii is one of those places where “You’re supposed to go” — like “You’re supposed to go to college” — it’s the poster-child for vacations.  I’ve always wanted to go, but I never bothered planning.

It was always too overwhelming…. if I would go, what would I do there?  Which Island would I go to?  Where will I stay?  How long should I go for? It’s probably really expensive.  So I never bothered planning it out, or researching it.

Yet, one phone call from a friend, and all those things were cast aside.

I’ve been meaning to write to you about this for the last 3 weeks, ’cause that’s all the notice I had… but there’s been too much reality, and thousands of miles to cover.

“It’s hard to know with you… but are you by any chance going to drive through Dallas on Friday?”  Kathryn asked me.

“No!  I’m driving to Des Moines”

“Dallas is on the way to Des Moines”

“Then, yes, I’m going to drive through Dallas on Friday…. can we make it Thursday then?”

and thus I had a passenger.  My car is generally messy, but lately it’s been more so.  You see, on my drive from South Florida to Austin, to speak at SXSW this March, my trunk decided to stop working.

I have not fixed this issue yet.

Now, instead of everything being scattered across my whole car, it’s all scattered in my front and back seats… which doesn’t make my car very passenger friendly (in all honesty, this happens even when my trunk does work).  Space would have to be cleared out.

While couch surfing with David Gonzalez — I actually just popped in for the evening, because I had my shoes shipped to his house…. I had forgotten 2 pairs in Costa Rica, and Brendan (whom I stayed with in Costa Rica) had agreed to send them — I started emptying out my car, so I can reorganize it and make room for Kathryn.

I was listening to an audio book (Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality – I highly recommend it!), and doing my car-emptying thing, when all of a sudden two cop cars show up, and block me in. Step 1: Pause the audio book.

“Hi there.  How can I help you?”

“I don’t know…. we had one of the neighbors call in.  They think you may be living out of your car.”

“Well…. in their defense, I kind of am.  You see, for the last 5 years, I’ve been traveling around, completely based on ‘Who’s couch am I crashing on next?’  and it’s granted me many awesome adventures– staying with UFC cage fighters, staying at an all girls’ college, finding mentors, meeting heads of industries… and I have all my stuff in my car…. So, you could say that I’m living out of my car.  However… I’m staying right there (point to David’s house), and am about to go on this amazing road trip, but I promised someone I’d give them a ride to Dallas, and since my trunk stopped working, I have to empty stuff out in order to make room for this passenger!”

By the time David came out of his house, waving his arms and shouting “it’s ok! He’s staying with me!”, the cops were already engaged in my story, and were just asking questions about “What are you doing in Hawaii?”  ”What are you speaking on in Iowa?” “So then what happened?”

One lesson that I’ve learned is to be cool to cops… they’re just people. Most people attack them with fear and anger… humor, and dignity are really nice to receive sometime.  Story telling is a wonderful distraction, and I tell them the stories as I would tell them to my best friends.  I entertain, and engage… and you know what?  I’ve been pulled over speeding in construction zones, while speaking on the phone, and the car being a little hazy.

Before leaving Austin, I stopped by Craig’s storage unit, and got his BCD (Scuba diving equipment).  Then I got Kathryn, then dropped her off, then camped out in Fort Worth for 2 days working on projects, then I hauled ass to Kansas.

It was a long drive, and I did need to nap on the side of the road for 30 minutes. I arrived at 1:30am, but Deb, the event organizer, said I could couch surf with her, but not to wake her up if I get there as late as 12:30.

I slept in my car.  Woke up early, changed clothes in the parking lot, and befriended the guy the maintenance guy for the parking facility. I actually was in a hurry, ’cause I was speaking that day, and I still needed to write my presentation…. But I love story telling, and I love helping someone get excited about their passions, and open up new possibilities for them.  So… I spent an hour talking to this guy.

The event was the 140Conf.  I am a big fan of the 140Conf, because it attracts an amazing crowd, and Jeff Pulver is just amazing…. Google him, interact with him, whatever… the guy is amazing.  He’s the reason that you can make VOIP calls for free, and he has a heart the size of the United States. I’ve spoken at numerous 140Conf events. In fact, one of the ones I spoke at was the 140Conf Small Town, in Hutchinson Kansas.

At this point in this blog post, I would like to remind you that the title of the book I’m writing is “Creating Serendipity”… and now back to what happened-

When I spoke at the 140Conf small town, I met Joe Cheray. When Joe saw that I was speaking at the 140Conf in Iowa, she asked if I think she should pitch a submission to the 140Conf in Iowa.  She seemed a little nervous, which of course made me say “Absolutely!”

Why would I say absolutely if someone is nervous? Because it’s a chance to confront a fear, and grow! We should all do the things that make us grow (unless it’s things that create Thyroid issues… ’cause that kind of growth is bad, and I was referring to personal growth, not physical growth)

I offered to help out if she needs to bounce ideas, convert her story to a presentation, practice on someone….   She said she may take me up on that.  She had asked me to review a few notes.  But they were her notes.. I didn’t get the entire story until I saw Joe present.

Joe’s story, in a nutshell:  She was in an abusive relationship, her child has cerebral palsy, and is two years slow.  Her man was abusive to her and their son.  She left him.  She and her son were even homeless for a bit.  Her ex’s cat bit her one time, also, breaking her finger, causing nerve damage…. she had to learn how to type using her non-dominant hand.

Joe had asked me and the organizers if I could sit in the front row, center while she spoke.  I agreed, and made it happen, and was there with a smile, and helpful body language.

After Joe’s speech, during lunch, I told her that she needs to speak.  Professionally, and to more people.  That many more people can benefit from watching her present.

Joe started telling me about her schedule, and some other things.  I interrupted and said that there’s two things she should know.  The first one is that I’m always right, thus, I’m right that she should speak more.  The second thing is that I’ve studied a lot about people, and I can tell from her vocalization and body language that she is just making excuses as to why she can’t… she should focus on why she can.

That night, I couchsurfed with Deb, who organized the event.  In the morning, we were speaking about the event, and I asked about what kind of feedback it got.  Deb told me that it went great, but the most touching thing was that as soon as lunch time, 3 people had already said that Joe’s story made them cry.

I told her of my conversation with Joe the previous day.  We tried to figure out what we can do to make Joe want to be a speaker, and to help her be a better speaker.  Deb suggested we connect Joe with Gigi Belcmonico, who teaches The Bombshell Factor… She teaches women how to have more presence, and carry themselves better.

I thought it was a great idea.  I had seen Gigi present at the 140Conf smalltown, but my schedule was so jam packed, that I wanted to say “Great… good idea… good luck with that… but I gotta deal with my own stuff, so, let me know how it goes.”  I didn’t.

I had never actually had a full conversation with Gigi.  We are friends on Facebook and Twitter… but we’ve never had a conversation.

Now, my conversation with Deb was in person, mind you, not over the phone or skype, or social media.  When we finished that part of the talk, I looked at my laptop, and nothing exciting was new.  I looked up at the TV, which had an all day marathon on Nostradamus, which was quite fascinating.

I glimpsed back down at my laptop, and there was something new.  That small red circle with a white 1 in the center of it.  The notification of a new Facebook message.

“Uhhh… Deb?”

“Yeah?”

“I got a new Facebook message”

“Yeah, so?  You always get new Facebook messages.”

“Yeah…. but this one is from Gigi Belmonico”

Silence.  We just look at each other in shocked disbelief, and I continued.

“I don’t even know what it says.  Just thought it was very strange that we just mentioned her LESS than one minute ago, and I’ve never had a conversation with her, and I have a message from her.”

I clicked on Gigi’s avatar to see “Hello Ori !Nice job!!
Ori are you coming through KC today?
It would be so fun to break bread with you! XOXOGigi”

I replied that it wasn’t on my original plans, but sounds fun.

It was a 4 hour drive, and it was not on my way.  I looked at the map, and decided that since I was heading to San Diego before Hawaii, LA would be a good target, and half way seemed to be Colorado.  I figured I would find a couch while driving to Colorado…. but I now had a detour, because how could I turn away such a unique coincidence?

Before leaving town, I had lunch with Deb and Ben. Ben had reached out after seeing my presentation – he was watching the live stream – and loved my message, and antics. So, we met up. Even more awesomeness was that he gave me a tour of his office, which was on the 15th or 20th floor of this building, so had a wonderful view of Des Moines. It was a real treat!

I couldn’t stay too long though, because as far as I was concerned, I was given a sign. I was supposed to go to Kansas City , to meet Gigi Belconico, and convince her to help Joe.

The drive was lovely, and I even got tons of Facebook comments from this lovely photo I shot with my phone:

Have I mentioned that my new phone that I got in March is an Android Phone (Samsung Epic — pretty good… I should probably root it to make it work better), has a camera, wifi, and Facebook?  This has been a blast, because I can share photos and videos from my life as they happen… unlike my old Palm Treo 700.

So, I’m driving South to Kansas City, and I decide this might be a good time to figure out where I’ll stay tonight.

The usual text to Ping.Fm (a site that pushes my text out to twitter, facebook, and linkedin) was sent, but I didn’t actually check to see if people were replying…. instead, I texted my little brother.

In March, he had texted me and said that he had a couch for me for when I made it out to Colorado. My 1st thoughts, when he told me, were “Whatever… I have a huge network all over the globe.  Plus when the heck do I go to Colorado?”

Now I was going to Colorado though… why not get some new blood?  Someone who doesn’t know me from the world of Internet Marketing, or from my antics.

Itay (my “little” (6’2 245 lbs of solid muscle) brother) texted me back a name and a number.  I asked for more details, and he just texted back that she’s a psychologist, and liked my story.

That’s good enough for me.  I called Michele, and left a voicemail. When we spoke, she agreed that I could crash there… even when I told her I probably won’t arrive until 6AM, since a serendipitous pit stop just came up.

I met Gigi for Gate’s BBQ — which is reputed as being some of the best BBQ in Kansas City. We feasted on Burnt Ends.

Pleasantries were exchanged, and I proceeded to tell Gigi about Joe.  Gigi had watched the live stream of the presentations – and thus saw mine – but had not seen Joe’s.  When I told her of the strange timing of her communication to me, and all that preceded that, she agreed to sponsor Joe with some coaching– should they be compatible.

We chatted about other things, and I gave her all sorts of resources that she could use for some of her own goals… we chatted for over 2 hours, and then I recalled that I had to get on the road.

It was a lengthy drive, another 13 hours on top of the 4 I had driven that morning.  That gave me time though to finally finish the audio book that I had started in Austin before getting on this road trip.

The news said that it was starting to snow.  It was certainly cold, and rainy.  I took a nap, as to not smash into anything, and arrived at 7AM… now one hour farther back in time (Time Zones do trip me out sometimes– for example, right now it’s 1:15AM here in Maui, and in California, where I just was this morning, it’s 4:15AM, and in Austin, where I was a week or 2 prior, it’s 6:15AM).

Michele was cool.  Her home was quaint, and filled from wall to wall with keepsakes and memories from her world travels.  She had been to so many places, that I feel like a homebody!

We chatted for a bit, then I had to pass out. When I woke, I agreed that I’d help her upgrade her router, and fix her internet.  I definitely love to deliver value to those I stay with, and Michele was not a technophile.

Instant Karma — as soon as I finished doing the upgrade, there was all of a sudden an extra Cat5 (network cable) available, and I was able to use that to get on the internet.

I don’t think I told you yet, but my computer has been having issues for a long time.  In February, the fans sounded like wood chippers, and my WiFi was not working too well.

Not too well evolved into hardly ever.  I came up with a workaround, which was getting my new phone on the network, and tethering in that way.  After a while, that stopped working. I was running out of ways to get on the internet, and my computer was running very hot.  It would actually hurt to use it sometimes, and it would crash often (don’t believe all those people that tell you that Apple computers don’t crash).

One workaround that I came up with for the crashing thing, was to put ice trays on my computer, and manually cool it that way. Michele offered me ice-packs (you know.. those silver baggies that are filled with some gel, that you freeze, and they keep stuff cold.) and they seemed to work wonderfully.

What luck, right?  I got ice packs to deal with the over heating, and I got wired internet and an extra cable to get on the web with.  On top of that, I was told by everyone that I’m basically snowed in, and that it would be foolish to try and make it through the mountains.

Michele and I spent the evening discussing her business, and exchanging stories of travel and adventure. The next morning I was off to Las Vegas.

I quickly got a couch offer by my friends Larry & Oksana, whom I met at Burning Man, though I knew of them previously through Craig Allen & Caleb Jennings.  What was even cooler was that Jim Kwik was also staying with them while he was in town to speak at TedX.

Vegas was fun, as it always is.  I told countless jokes to Jim and Alex, and Larry and Oksana. Other than jokes, I got to impress with my eating skills at the all you can eat Sushi place (I can eat a lot more than most people would think I could).

I was considering catching the TedX talks, but I had to get my computer fixed. The matter was no longer acceptable. Even tethering was no longer working, and the computer was running on ice packs.  I would have to go to The Apple Store.

The “Genius” at the Apple Store ran diagnostics on my machine, and basically decreed that I was spot on– dead airport (Mac Wifi card), and a dead left fan. This was the 2nd Apple Store that I hit that morning, because the 1st one was too busy for anyone to see me.  This store did not have the parts, though the guy did write down the part numbers for me.

I called Frys and Best Buys, they were useless. I needed these parts ASAP, so I got on the road and drove to LA.

China, whom I met in Costa Rica, said that I can crash with her at her new home at the ledge of a cliff.  I’ve been wanting to see it, so I coordinated with her, and she texted me the address, and the phone number for the nearest Apple Store.

The Apple store people would not tell me if they had the parts, “A computer has to come in, be checked in by a technician, and be diagnosed before we can tell you about parts.”

After yet another confirmation, I was told that they too don’t have the parts.  One Apple store near by did have the airport card, but no one’s got the fans.

When I went there, they said that they can not sell me the part. They have to install it for me… except that my case was a tiny bit dinged up, so they wouldn’t work on it.

Get this… Apple won’t work on my computer, and they won’t sell me the parts to do my own work on my computer!  It took 4 Apple Stores to figure this out!   Angry? Yes!

I was told that I might have some luck with a 3rd party repair company… and one of my clients actually sells many OEM (generic) parts.  I thought I’d call him.

Once again, no luck… though he did recommend a store.. a store that I won’t name, because the guy I spoke to was really helpful.

He told me that it would be $104 an hour to work on the computer, and that they can’t sell me a part, they have to install it… and unlike the Apple Store, here I would be billed for the diagnostics.  Frustrated, I pleaded my case, “… and then they wouldn’t even work on my computer, but they won’t sell me the parts!  What the heck am I supposed to do?  I mean, I don’t care how the case turns out!  I’ve been building computers from scratch since 6th grade… I just want the damn part!”

“Well… I’m not telling you this as a representative of ___________ (company name), and this is not the company’s answer, nor would I tell you this if you walked in… but if you were my buddy, and we were speaking after work hours, and outside of the office, and you told me that this is what you’re going to do anyways, and you just needed to know where to get the parts… and I was not in the office… then this is what I would tell you.”

He proceeded to tell me a great idea… take the Apple part numbers, put them into Google, and press the Shopping button. I not only bought the 2 parts that I needed, but since I was going to have the computer taken apart, I also got myself a larger harddrive that spins at a faster speed…. thus, my computer should un faster.

My time with China was amazing… she’s also an intuitive reader, and gave me a reading. Between what she read from my energy, and what the cards told her, I was basically very intuitive, empathic, and smart… I have a lot of skills and knowledge, but I need to get grounded, and get past all the noise in my head, and all the other peoples’ energies that I pick up… meditation would help with this.

Additionally, the cards said I need to stop being so self-critical, and I need to trust my heart and intuition more.

When I left China’s place, I went to Hollywood, to SANG – the Speaker Author Networking Group.  I felt like such a mere mortal amongst the superstars that were there.  As Larry Benet, the event organizer, said “70 of the most influential people on the planet” – and invited me to stay for the day (they had more people than 70 during the event, but this was the last day, so some people had to travel back home).

I did not stay, because I had to get my ass to San Diego for the Internet Marketing Party San Diego inaugural event.  I had only dropped by to say hi, and to get Kate Buck Jr, who was in full attendance.

The party was well worth the drive. It was what I wish my 10 year high school reunion had been like.  Tons of talented people who are very business minded, positive, supportive, exciting, interesting, excited, motivated…… Frank Kern was the featured speaker, and I got to get on stage when David Gonzalez (the same one whose house I nearly got arrested in front of in Austin… He is the founder of Internet Marketing Party) gave acknowledgements for those that helped make the party a reality.

It was like a reunion… other than Craig, who was in Hawaii, so many of my friends, and former couches, were there.  I had a most wonderful evening. After a Peanut Butter Burger at 2AM, me and some friends went on the rooftop of a hotel… which was actually locked, but one of our group picked the lock, so we can have this incredible view.  Good times.

The next day, the fan arrived, and my computer no longer needed ice packs! Tethering was also working again.

2 days later, my airport came in, and I no longer needed to be wired in.

I was mostly in work mode, cranking out client projects.  I did not know what I would do with my car yet.  That’s a friggin story!

I thought I was going to lend the car to my buddy Russell… but my plates are expired, and the state of Georgia was being a bunch of pricks.  You see, you can’t get your tags renewed unless you get your emissions done.  If you’re not in town though, you can get an exemption…. or so I was told.

They only give you an exemption if you’re in the military, are a student, or… are on a very specific business trip.

Before heading to Costa Rica in late November, I mailed them everything they needed to give me my business exemption, and they still did not mail me my tags.

This time, I called to see what’s up…. it turns out that business exemption…. your business has to be located in Georgia.

My company is a Delaware company, and I run it from where ever I am.

They do not give exemptions for just traveling, and that since I’m not doing my business in Georgia, that they won’t help me. In fact, when I asked if perhaps I could take an emissions test in California, and mail them the results, I was specifically told that the only way they will renew my tags is if I drive my car to Atlanta, and get my emissions done there.

So.. where to store the car?

After asking, and having some people give replies, I decided that even if a friend wanted to give me their garage, it’s just not worth the hassle….

I looked up Car Storage, and found a place that will watch my car, disconnect the battery, turn on the engine every month….. all for $90 a month– way less than the cost of any inconvenience any friend would go through to watch the car.

Rob took me to drop off my car, and we then went to Lestat’s – my favorite coffee place.  We also brought with us Craig’s surfboard, which was being stored at Rob’s place.

I bought a surfboard case, and I filled it with the surfboard, and my clothes — for padding.  I will now have a surfboard to use in Hawaii– as will Craig and Terra.

The flight was uneventful, and I landed in Maui.  Craig and Terra found me quickly.  Craig lifted my hat off my head, and Terra put a Lei on me.  It was made of real flowers, and smelled incredible ( I am still sniffing it at the moment ).

So… got my bag, got the surfboard, got some lunch — the Mahi Mahi and Ahi here are fresh, so I had some blackened Ahi — yum!

We then went to the beach, since who the hell goes to Hawaii and doesn’t go to the beach, right?

Following that, was a small nap for me next to the saltwater pool, and then work.

Tomorrow morning I start training with Terra…. she says she can get me to a 7 minute mile!  Currently, I run 11.5 minute miles, and she’s been running since she was 12, so I believe her.

It’s just one more thing to be excited about.

So… here I am… in Hawaii, with no return ticket back to the mainland USA.  My plans are to get a lot of work done, get my run way faster, and learn to meditate.

An entire journey was started because a friend knew that I would go for it, because a 1 way ticket would make a great story.  By the way… a 1 way ticket to Hawaii on a Tuesday was only $240 + taxes (total $268).  So… don’t think that a Hawaiian vacation is out of your reach.  If you want to go somewhere, start by planning what you would do there if you could go… the rest will take care of itself.

Is there anywhere you’ve gone with a 1 way ticket?  Any place you’d want to go on a 1 way ticket?

Celebrating 34 with friend and Patron

The brakes don’t work!  We were gliding forward, and I was certain that this is it…. I was going to run over my 1st person ever! Why were they riding their bicycle right there?  It was a good 34 years of being free.

To start off, I don’t know what my birthday surprise is, so don’t let the title fool you. It’s the night before we leave Tamarindo, and I’m in a writy mood (apparently, Writy is not a word, but it’s how I feel– so… screw you red-underliny thing (underliny is also not a word)). I have a funny story, and a good life lesson. If this gets too lengthy for you, at least scroll to the bottom to view my favorite birthday video that I received.

Let’s start with yesterday… my actual birthday. I did not learn to surf (I did that today)… I worked (even though it was by the pool, in the sun, to good techno music, it is called work… just remember that if what you do for work is what you do for play, then you’ll never actually work a day in your life ), then Kathryn came over, then I was given a birthday beer, then Brendan, his dad, Kathryn, and I walked to Witch’s Rock Surf Camp. Which was the farthest I’ve had to walk in Tamarindo so far.

Joe Walsh (not the singer from The Eagles) was written about as having the 2nd coolest job in the world. He just surfs all day.  I met Joe while at Awesomeness Fest, after he spoke about his business, and passion. “I’m not a speaker, I’m just a guy that really likes to surf!” He drove down to Costa Rica in a converted school bus with some friends and family to start a surf-school, and it’s been doing really well since.  Now he surfs all day, and also has a restaurant.  It’s a good life.  One of my favorite parts of his story is that so many people thought it was a terrible idea, but he did it anyways, and now he’s uber-happy.

It was happy hour, so we ordered happy hour food and drinks- I started with “The Witch’s Tit” and Bean Dip, and Wings (I haven’t had wings in quite a while!). We were to have company soon, Rebekah, Kevin, and Yogi were coming, and I also invited Chase.  These are all people (and a pug) that I met at Awesomeness Fest… some of them were still here in Costa Rica. They all have incredible stories, yes, even the pug.

Rebekah has already agreed to be one of my interviews for my business interviews site. She works with one of the best photographers in the world, David La Chapelle. More importantly though, she took an idea of hers to start a business up with no cost, and her idea now makes over $2,000 a day– not including internet sales, and supports over 30 local families, plus is 100% sustainable.

Brendan’s Dad bought us all shots of Tequila. Rebekah had a bottle of Whiskey from her travels. We got Sushi. Chase showed up. I was surprised with cake:

I was amongst good friends (even though I just met Brendan’s dad that day– we get along really really well! He, like me, is uber-fast with the puns, and makes jokes about everything! Gives me something to look forward to), I was in paradise, and I was happy.

Kevin agreed to drive us to where Kathryn was staying at Playa Grande Surf Camp.  He had also told me about The Fiesta in Villa Real, where I can try to do some Bull Riding… since I’ve already played Bull Poker, this seemed like the next evolution. Additionally, I got to pick his brain as to how he made Yogi The Pug into a worldwide phenomenon. I was blissful, as I love to hear success stories.  Additionally, Kevin also agreed to be one of my interviews for my business interviews site.

I know it might seem like I interview everyone I know, but that’s not the case. I interview people whose stories inspire, and tactics can be learned from.  The very 1st interview is Jason Harty from Pretzel Crisps. If you remember, they sent me a huge Pretzel Crisps gift bag, and so I had to know how they were able to pull it off. Jason was kind enough to share an hour of pure business-secrets gold!

Interviews aside, it was a great time- including the drive home (funny how every few nights, “home” is a different place).

I woke up late today, and took a surf lesson (Age 34, day 1: surf lesson– cool start), and it was a blast! I was able to stand up properly and ride my very 1st try!  In surfing, this is a good thing.  In day trading, this is a bad thing.  A bit of success from the start made me feel as if I can do this, and it’s not so difficult.  In day-trading, it’s a bad thing, because it makes you feel as if you’re good at it… and then you’re not as cautious, or you don’t listen to others… er… so I hear

My surf instructor was this tall, skinny, underwear-model looking guy with decent English. It gave me hope that if I get into surfing, I too can have a 6-packs, and that kind of a physique. I suspect I would have to surf more often than an hour every 34 years though.

Last time I tried surfing was with Jason Moffatt - the day immediately after my 1st ever 30 day raw diet… Jason had taken me out to Benihana’s the night before for some fried food, and beers, and the next morning – right before surfing – his girl made us eggs and spicy fried potatoes… I had indigestion from hell, and puked all over myself… twice.  In my defense, Jason likes to point out that I kept on riding the waves… or trying.

This time it was much easier.  No wet suit was needed, as it is tropical and warm here.  The waves break right at the shore, so I could literally walk the board out to a good distance, then jump on it, paddle, and ride the wave.  The only thing I had to be careful of is stingrays.  They like the warm weather, so you have to drag your feet instead of just stepping… that way, you won’t step on them… as Gerry, the Surf Camp owner did the other day.

All right– so… I promised a life lesson in this post, here it is:

Sometimes it’s better to buy something than to wait on it.

I’ll explain:

Jason Moffatt had introduced me to Billy when I was house-sitting in La Jolla, and said that Billy would teach me to surf… but I was training for a relay race, so never took him up on it. I’ll be visiting Billy shortly. I’ve been excited about Costa Rica, as Brendan and Billy both told me they would teach me to surf while I’m here.  I then injured my foot, so couldn’t even walk to the beach.

Then Brendan was going to teach me, but his family came into town, the laundry people took their time, and … to top it off, by the time the tide was good, there were no waves.

So… I’ve been saying I want to learn to surf while I’m in Costa Rica.  I have opportunities for friends to teach me, but… it was faster and easier to just pay someone to do it right here, right now.

How many times have you used “that hookup” as an excuse to keep waiting on something? I bet there’d been a time when you put off learning or doing something that you really wanted to, because a friend was going to do it for you.

Since one of my services is web design, I hear this often “Well.. my buddy’s going to do this for me… he/she is a designer…” — meanwhile their existing site looks like shit, and is hurting business.

In business we call this opportunity cost… and it’s something that applies to your life as well— you may take that really great paying job, but the opportunity cost may be your free time, or sanity.

So, yes, it may cost you a few dollars to do something, that you could’ve gotten for free… but how much is the time you spend not doing it costing you?  Having a website that is an eyesore and doesn’t use any marketing concepts in the design may cost you a lot more than what someone is going to charge for it.

Last night, when I realized that I’m not going to surf, I was slightly bummed… so I decided I would just pay.  How much did it cost me? $40, well spent.  I’ve spent a lot more for much less satisfaction.  Now I have the next 3 weeks to improve my surfing, and I’m likely going to visit Billy soon.

“How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened.” – Thomas Jefferson

You’re probably wondering whatever the heck I was talking about at the start of this post, about brakes not working, and running someone over.  That was from today.

Kathryn and I went to rent a car for whatever surprise it is that she has lined up for me.  We have a 6 hour drive to get to the Panamanian border. So, after I dried off from surfing, we walked along the beach, took the boat across the river, grabbed a chocolate banana smoothie, and went to Alamo Rent-a-car.

I forgot to mention that my foot was really acting up during surfing, and I was in a lot of pain by this point.  My toe had swollen back up again, and I was having to focus really hard to ignore it.  This was taking a lot of energy out of me.

I passed out in a chair while we waited for our turn at Alamo.  I was awoken to being asked if I had a copy of my passport, since Kathryn doesn’t have her license with her… so I’m the one that’s driving.

Ummmm… no…

Well, we need it.  Where is it?  We can give you a ride.

This girl gave us a ride to Brendan’s, and I noticed that this is the first time I’ve seen someone wearing a seat belt in in Costa Rica.

Thankfully, Brendan was home. He just got back from surfing with his dad and sister, and they were all resting on the couch and relaxing.

I got my passport from the upstairs vault, and went back to the place. I slept again until it was time to sign documents. I did not think I’d be driving in Costa Rica… the roads are not what I’m used to in the USA with asphalt… they are gravel and dirt roads, and we’re going to be driving through mountains and other terrain.Whee! Adventure!

We get in our Toyota Rav 4, I turn the key, release the parking brake, and…. the car starts gliding forward.  Right towards some guy crossing on a bicycle.  I pumped and slammed the brake, and no luck!  This guy was going to get it…

“Hey, maybe this car is stick-shift?” I said, and looked down, and sure enough…. there were 3 pedals! We stopped real quickly as I slammed the middle pedal, which is the brake, unlike it’s neighbor, the clutch. *phew* disaster averted.

“Good thing I sort of know how to drive stick, eh?”

“Yeah! Real good thing, ’cause I don’t know how to drive stick at all!”

It’s been forever since I’ve driven stick, but I did well enough to get us to Brendan’s, followed by a 40 minute drive to Playa Grande. While at Brendan’s we had a discussion about whether or not leaving my passport in his safe is a good idea or not.  I thought so, because it is safe there (no pun intended).

Kathryn and Brendan mentioned that there were stories of federal officers trying to extort money from people for not carrying legal identification (passport) on them at all times.

Ok… screw it.  I’ll take it with me. If that’s the case, I might as well take my suitcase with me, as we have a nice big car, and Kathryn’s checking out of Playa Grande Surf Camp, and taking all her stuff.

Now I was out of my comfort zone…. adventure!

I’m driving stick  - which I am very unused to – through a country with roads unlike what I’m used to, and terrain unlike I’m used to, I am carrying my passport with me, and all my belongings.  There is no safety blanket… you know.. that feeling of “well… at least if the car blows up, I’ll still have my stuff over at Brendan’s, and can get out of the country with no problem.”

But, that’s what I want.  That’s what I thrive on.  Being out of my comfort zone is how I grow.  If I wanted security, I wouldn’t be couchsurfing for 5 years.

“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” – Joseph Campbell

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

“The man who never makes mistakes loses a great many chances to learn something.” ~ Thomas Edison

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing” ~Aristotle

So… screw knowing that my bag is somewhere. In the morning I will be leaving on a 6 hour drive to something amazing with a good friend.  I’m probably going to be off line until the 23rd. I think I’ll be working on my book some as well, but I can’t say, since I don’t know where I’m going, or what I’m doing there.

Brendan’s dad pointed something out… I’m slightly flustered because I need to give up control.  I have a hard time giving it up, and someone else telling me where to go, without me knowing… that’s a loss of control. Reflect upon that in your life. Are you just fine with someone else being in control, or does that drive you nuts as well?

Well… it’s 1:30AM, and we’re leaving in 6 hours, so.. I should get some sleep.  But, I did promise you a funny story (no, it wasn’t one of the ones told so far)-

How did I learn to drive stick shift in the first place?

It was during 11th grade! I was 16 years old, and working at a movie theatre.  There was a new guy that started going to our school. Chris and I got along, though he quickly became one of the cool kids.  His sister, Rachel, started working at the theatre with me. She was hot! Despite that our theatre uniforms were very unflattering, her smile could always brighten my day.

She knew I liked her, but she had started dating Jordan… who was kind of a prick. Jordan always acted high-and-mighty, as if his shit didn’t stink… but, he had to wear those hideous uniforms like the rest of us: black pants, white-plaid shirt, maroon vest, and I think we had bow-ties too.. I can’t remember.

We’d all party together, the whole theatre crew. We’d close up the theatre around midnight-1am, and then go drinking. Sometimes at someone’s house, sometimes at a hotel.  *shrug* there’s a lot of stories about this time of my life, but this one is about driving stick.

Rachel knew I wanted to drive stick.. I don’t remember how.  Maybe I was talking about getting a sports car?  Who knows… anyways, one night she forces Jordan to teach me to drive stick… using his car!

This was awesome.  I could feel his anxiety as his precious car was being driven by a complete amateur.  And yet, if he wanted to get any action afterwards, he had to play nice.

My goal was not to destroy his car… I really did just want to learn, and I did.  But watching your arch nemesis squirm is always fun.  Having someone be nice to you, even if they are forced to, is also nice.

I thought that it brought us (Jordan and I) a bit closer together, as now he had afforded me some trust that he wouldn’t've otherwise offered.

I did stall out a few times, but I’m also a fast learner.

I kind of wish that I could find Rachel, and reminisce about this story, but I can’t remember her last name.  Oh well.

So… there’s the story, there’s the life lesson, there’s some quotes… good stuff!  So, I’m off to adventure-  I”ll let you know what it is that I’m doing when I get on the web next!

On a separate note- I had over 200 birthday wishes on my facebook wall.  It was nice, and beat out last year’s 140.  Last year it took me 3 days to personally respond to each and every one, and send a personal note.  This year, I just pressed the “like” button on each one.  However, there was one video that was so great, I have to share it with you:

Celebrating my 34th b-day
By Couch Surfing Ori - Couch Surfer, Adventurer, Marketer, Photographer, & Fun  |  View on Facebook

1st, since you’re curious as to how I’m celebrating, I am going to learn to surf waves, not just couches.  I would’ve done it sooner, but I injured my foot when jogging barefoot on the beach.

A large branch pierced my foot almost all the way through.  I was going to title that blog post “Getting High and Popping Pills” because while I made a horrendous squeal/roar bizarre sound as I stepped on the branch, I made it home, then the next morning, decided to go jogging (which became more of walking) for an hour and a half, followed by a very tall hike.  The hike ended up with a tiny bit of trespassing to get to the Cell Phone tower, which is at the highest point (thus, “getting high”) and has an amazing view.

Actually, this is the first post where I try a new plugin that allows me to share albums from Facebook – so… the pictures from that hike are included below.  Here is a quick video from the top:

So, we get back after this hike — oh, since it’s my birthday today, and Brendan is younger than me, I have to point out that he is the one who kept having to pause from the exertion of the hike… despite that I am the one with a wounded foot, am older, and had to carry my camera.  The pointing out of this is even more important, as (until he saw that my foot was massively swollen, and my 2nd toe was 3 times the size of the other one, he was making old man jokes as I hobbled / limped around —  back to the house, and my foot is not feeling so good.  In fact, it was hurting like hell.

I was limping around, in pain.  For the next few days I was a bit drained of energy as my body healed itself. My 2nd toe was huge!  In fact, just 2 days ago I freaked out as I woke up and inspected it.  What happened was that I felt it, and there was a bump I didn’t recognize.  A really firm bump!  Oh no!  I hope it’s not some kind of a growth or something!  It turns out that it was just a knuckle… I just haven’t been able to feel it in a few days, as my toe was so swollen

As always, things became better when I listened to Brandie.  I limped over to the store, got Naproxen (the pill part of “Getting High and Popping Pills”, tried to stay off my foot, and I kept putting ice packs on it.  So… now I can walk, hooray! I guess the limp can be a metaphor, because usually when there’s a problem, and I listen to Brandie, things improve. Make sure to check out her blog.

My foot still hurts in the spot of the puncture, but who cares. I can walk without limping, and I’m going to surf today!

I couchsurfed with my friend Kathryn while here.  You can see her and her cool little triangular hut that’s 100 feet from the beach, in the photos below.  If you don’t recall, I met Kathryn in Austin– despite that she saw me speaking in Dallas.  She’s the one who rescued me  It’s entertaining because when I met her, she claimed to be shy and quiet.  Since then she’s sold all her belongings and now travels the world full time.  Make sure to read her blog, as she is traveling, is a great writer, and the reason we met was because her very first blog post was bashing me as an emcee and speaker who asked the panel “What would you tell a shy quiet person to do to embrace social media?” (even though as Emcee, that was my job) — and then I left a comment with solutions… go read… it’s entertaining.  And then she brought me a cake when she came to my rescue (see above link).

In fact, she invited me to Costa Rica before I even knew I was going!  Who knew?  Well, I guess she did.  But, serendipity wins again!  She invited me for a birthday surprise on the 18th-21st.  Then I ended up getting a ticket to Costa Rica for other reasons, and staying till January, and so now I get my birthday surprise.  I’d tell you what it is, but I have no clue.  Brandie knows, Brendan knows, but I don’t know.

I’ve made friends with the neighbors, which is fun and entertaining.  In one day I met 3 different people in different parts of town, then came home and there they all were, drinking rum in the gazebo that’s 20 feet in front of Brendan’s front door.  Serendipity much?  It was funny ’cause I met Dyrk by the pool.  I met Ryan when I tried to reset the neighborhood’s internet router because internet was down (turns out that someone was downloading pirated movies from Paramount Pictures, so ICE shut down the neighborhood Wi-fi), then since WiFi was down, Brendan and I went to this BBQ place that has WiFi.  We had dinner, and did our work on our laptops.  I was on Skype with Brandie when someone says out loud “Who wants to be my friend?”

I don’t think the statement was intended for me…. it was to her group of friends… but I turn around say “You mean, on Facebook?”  - she said yes, and I came over and taught her how to add friends on Facebook.   I then went back to my table, and she saw that I had left a video call to help her out.  I said that it’s ok.  Helping people is fun like that. 10 minutes later, I pop onto Facebook, and see I have a friend request, and her name is Brandie.  So… I introduced Brandie to Brandie.  One is named after the song, one named after the drink.

I closed the place out, since I needed wifi.  When I got back, there they were…. Brandie, Dyrk, Ryan, and a few other characters I’ve gotten to know.  Small world indeed.  So… we stayed up till about 3am drinking rum and telling offensive jokes.  Good times.

Since the internet was down, it was really useful to know Dyrk, since he has his own wifi network, and gave me the password.  The irritating thing is that that network doesn’t reach inside Brendan’s house– just outside of it.  So, I spent the whole evening walking from one side of the complex to the other (not far at all- we’re talking 60 feet maybe) and sitting outside of Dyrk’s getting eaten by mosquitoes.  I finally wised up and put on a long-sleeve hoodie that I brought, as Kathryn’s surprise is supposed to take me to the mountains, where it’s colder.

Speaking of long sleeves…. while I’m watching as the USA is covered in Snow, and my parents are telling me that Florida is at 40 degrees… it’s always paradise here!  I don’t wear shirts.  There’s no need!  You don’t even need them when you go into the grocery store, or to restaurants!  I gotta say, that’s kind of fun.

So, I gotta go and do some writing.  I’m completely redoing my coaching/consulting site– that will be another blog post – I’m thrilled with the new look and feel that I’ve created, alongside the very fancy technical backend functionality… just need to finish the writing.

So… enjoy these pictures.  I’ll post more later from surfing.  Thanks for all the Facebook birthday wishes (It’s not even noon, and there’s already over 120 birthday comments).

Oh yeah!  I almost forgot! My family has this tradition where we all call each other as soon as the calendar changes to our birthdate… so… midnight generally.  The whole time zone difference sometimes makes it challenging, but it’s always fun, and we’re a bit competitive over who gets the call in right at midnight.  Since my phone is off (apparently, Barak, my older brother got the first call in, AND he left his first ever comment on my facebook fanpage), I called my parents on Skype, we 3-wayed Barak, and to stay in Tradition, Barak sang me happy birthday in Hebrew. It’s cheesy, and I generally groan… and yet this year, I requested it, and I had a smile on so big that I felt my cheeks flush with warmth.  How lucky we are!  We can be somewhere else in the world, and still connect with those near and dear to us, as if they are right there with us! Years ago it would have been a strategically mailed postcard. So… here is Barak singing:

And here’s those pics I promised:

Costa Rica
By Couch Surfing Ori - Couch Surfer, Adventurer, Marketer, Photographer, & Fun  |  View on Facebook

Descending into Costa Rica

What is your destination city?

Ummmm… Guarante or something? Hmmm… If only I can get on the internet…. Do you have the Wi-Fi Key? Can I use your phone perhaps?

Apparently, you can’t zoom out a Google Maps map without being on the internet, and since it seems that people don’t have addresses in Costa Rica, Brendan just gave me a Gmaps link when I asked where to go.

Am I not going to get to enter the country now?

After taking the Greyhound from New Orleans to Austin after Mardi Gras, I’m surprised I’d ever ride it again… Crackheads and other entertaining characters seem attracted to the bus. I needed to get to Dallas to catch my flight to Miami and then to Costa Rica.

The bus was late by over an hour, which wasn’t a huge deal, as Steve – who let me leave my car on his ranch, and then took me to the station – and I were in a passionate discussion about pulling his son out of school in order to home school him, and teach him about marketing! This is something I’m pretty excited about these days. (Update– since I forgot to hit Publish on this post for a few days– Steve has officially pulled his son out of public school, and is now home schooling him, AND teaching him about marketing and entrepreneurialism.  Yes!)

Pavlov + Dog would be proud of me. I have conditioned myself to fall asleep fairly instantly upon getting on airplanes. I slept, but woke up in pain on the way to Dallas. My ear was not equalizing. I went back to sleep. Miami airport required miles of walking to get to the connecting gate. There were these incredible art installations made of fish organized in patterns. I took some photos for you, because these words don’t do it justice.

Sleep…. Pain…. Wake up in time for descent into Costa Rica, where I filled out customs and immigrations forms, except for my destination city… but you already read about that.

Once I asked the man if I could have his wifi key, or his telephone, he finally gave up, and told me to enter the country, but “es muy importante!”

Got my luggage. Went through customs, where they took my dehydrated mangos. So that I don’t eat the crap food on the plane, I bought healthy raw snacks from the Co-op in Austin: Nori Wraps, Mulberries (which they didn’t find), mangos, sprouted sunflower seeds. I’m actually snacking on the last 2 as I’m typing this right now.

So, I made it into the country, hooray! I still didn’t know where I was going. I should call or text Brandie. She knows everything. Oh… no signal, not even in roaming. I was slightly disappointed with myself now, as I had just been focused on projects, and had not really done much preparation. I mean, who the hell enters a country and doesn’ even know where they’re going? Of course I didn’t make it to the ATM to get cash either!

Have I mentioned that one of my talents is bringing out the maternal side of people?  Yeah… I cause people to be worried about me, since clearly I don’t take the time to worry about me. I just figure… no.. I just know everything is going to go great no matter what (I have a portion on this in my book).

There was a swarm of taxi drivers buzzing around me like a cloud of gnats. Then I remembered that Miriam had emailed me the name of the hotel the event would be at, and I had that on my laptop. I’m sure not too many people pull out laptops when asked where to go. Initially I just said “Somewhere with Wifi”

I think I overpaid at $100 US – even though the original cab organizer guy told me $125. My couch, Brendan, said I could probably have gotten $50. Oh well.

It was strange, ‘cause they put me in this cab which was a nice SUV, which had a driver that spoke some English. After a few minutes he gets a call, and says they are switching me to another cab, makes a uturn, and drops me off in this beat up SUV with a non English speaking cabbie.

Despite not speaking English, and my Spanish being equally bad, we had a good drive. He’d keep saying “Andele, Andele” and “Vamanos!” – he was short balding, had a mustache, and reminded me of Cheech.

The roads and surrounding areas reminded me of the Dominican Republic. Slightly busted up roads that are gravely more than paved, but surrounded in green trees everywhere. Green grass, and a huge biodiversity.

Note to self:  Learn how to explain couchsurfing in Spanish.

We passed a cart that was selling coconuts. I love coconuts, but I gotta admit I’m used to Thai coconuts, not these green tropical ones. I’ll have to try some while here in Costa Rica.

I had to play charades in order to explain to Cheech that I need an ATM. He got it, and pulled into this town. I just want to say that I apologize for all those times I got irate at my ATMs in the USA having foreign languages on them. Having English as a language on the ATM was so welcome!

Oooh! Money! That reminds me! So… I had a voicemail from Dad that I got in Dallas “Love you, have a great flight, remember, you’re going to a poor country. People are going to try and steal your stuff.”

Speaking of reminders—we passed a bunch of kids getting back from school. This reminded me that on the customs / immigration form, which isn’t much bigger than a phone memo slip, has all the items you need to fill out, and then has a reminder (in English and Spanish) that it is illegal to have sex with minors. That seems like an odd place to put it… guess it’s a major problem.

We made it to the hotel, and the first person I ran into was Jefreaux, who lives in San Diego, but I keep meeting him in every city but. It didn’t strike me as odd that one of the first people I meet in another country is someone I already know.

I then ran into Vishen Lakhiani, the man who organized Awesomeness Fest. Just as I heard stories, he was surrounded by a flock of stunning beauties. It is the stuff of legends. In a later blog post about Awesomeness Fest, I’ll mention more about this.

I went into the check-in area, where I was greeted with a wet towel to clean my face from the journey, and a shotglass of some pineappley drink.

Wifi was protected. I explained to the clerk that I just needed to get on the internet for a few minutes so that I could get a hold of my friend, and figure out where I’m going. He said he’s supposed to charge me, but just gifted me the code. Isn’t that sweet? “Just don’t tell anyone”

My cab driver from the hotel to Brendan's

I got on Skype, and Brendan was there. Now I knew where to go. The cab got me there ($40), and the journey was not at all what I expected. Google maps showed me the distance at roughly 3 miles, which I could easily jog. The problem is, that is as the bird flies.

The real distance was a 25 minute cab ride to Tamarindo. The cab driver showed me where he was born, where he went to school, where he played soccer, and he even carried my bag to Brendan’s.  He let me take a photo of him.

So, in a way, this is a dream. Alien landscapes, great networking with seriously incredible individuals, learning, new foods, and of course adventures! I am forced to be out of my comfort zone often between the lack of wifi, no cell phone, communication and language barriers, no car, cultural differences… and yet, that is exactly what I’ve wanted for so long. A real adventure!

I had some concerns about finances as well. It took a lot to get here… a lot of luck, and a lot of finances. There’s also a lot going on stateside right now that I have to deal with. So… I have my concerns, but… you gotta do what it takes, and that’s how incredible opportunities present themselves. I’ll end on this wonderful Oscar Wilde quote:

Those who live within their means suffer from a lack of imagination’

Craig buckling in

Steve Siegwalt has been leaving comments on many of my Facebook updates.  I love when people engage, but even more when they are “regulars”.  When he heard I was coming to Austin, he said I have to visit his 16 acre ranch.

Craig Allen (whom I was staying with again, since we are working on a marketing project together) had his nephew come into town.  We all went to Steve’s ranch, which apparently has great hospitality, great food, a professional go-kart, a quad, and a mile and a half home made track.

The thing about Craig is that not only is he the first person I said that I could actually be long-term roommates with, the first person to get me to try raw food (and stay with it for 30 days), considered by me to be family, but he also happens to have driven in the Baja 1000 (a crazy off road dune-buggy race in Baja, Mexico).  So- here’s yet another random adventure:

ONE of Craig’s Baja 1000 videos.

Additional highlights from the evening– Great tequila, Tito’s Vodka, delicious home cooking,

Justin kept the fire going all night

What 11 year old wouldn't want to have a fun pic with a chainsaw?

Craig & 2 Bentleys by the fire

Did I mention there was a Hammock?

WiFire = WiFi by the fire

a bon-fire, lots of dogs, great weather… oh yeah… and wi-fi next to the fire.

Sarah enjoying her 10th birthday at Pops

Lately I’m noticing a major trend in helping people.  I’m kind of addicted. This set of stories is almost in order, but the shorter story that happens later, I’m putting in the front.

While at dinner at the 140Conf Smalltown, I got to talk to Sheila Scarborough, who was telling me about how on her drive to Kansas, she stopped by Pops Soda Shop in Oklahoma.  This place has over 500 flavors of Soda from all over the world!

This of course fascinated me, so I decided I would go on my way to Austin.  I went and it was pretty cool (and that will be another blog post- I took video and photos). In this blog post I’m not writing about the soda.  I’m writing about Sarah.

While I stood at the register to pay for the sodas that I was purchasing as cute gifts for my Austin family (friends), the speakers blasted “Attention.  Attention.  We have a very special announcement.  Today is Sarah’s 10th birthday!  She is sitting in the 3rd booth on the left.”

I quickly asked the cashier if she could watch my cases of soda, and quickly went to find the 3rd booth.  I asked the little girl there if she is Sarah.  When she confirmed that she is, I wished her a happy birthday, and then offered a birthday portrait.  Her mother wrote her email address using crayons

I told them that I would send in the morning when I arrive at Austin (I arrived at 6am), but what I ended up doing was going to my car, getting my laptop, and processing the photo, and sending it… right then, from Pops.  I figured that getting a birthday present would be more fun on your birthday, as compared to the next day.  I sent it without my Couch Surfing Ori watermark.  So that Sarah also has proper bragging rights, I informed her of my photography background (that I’ve shot such celebs as Nikki Taylor, Hulk Hogan, Rob Zombie, Wycleff, etc…) and some links to see my work.

THAT is the majority of the point of this post. When was the last time that you did something nice for a complete stranger?  When was the last time you did something just to make someone happy?

These days the media is constantly trying to teach us that all strangers are evil.  That people are out to kidnap us (You should see the length of the email that I wrote to ask permission to use Sarah’s picture in the blog post) and kids.  There are numerous cases of people being harassed and even arrested for feeding other peoples’ parking meters!  The negative media hardly delivers good news… just fear fear fear…. and while I understand that that gives them viewership, it is actually hurting the world by convincing people not to nice or helpful!

My travels have taught me that people are awesome!  People are friendly, and helpful, and fun, and definitely worth going out of your way to help.

More than that though, you know my theory on serendipity– the more people you interact with, the better your luck.  You never know who someone is.  Not to mention Karma is always a good thing. It works better when you don’t expect anything back, and you generally get yours back in ways you didn’t expect.  I also love good stories, and events that make for good stories.

This is the equivalent of “No regrets”– the equivalent of seeing a beautiful girl, and then kicking yourself in the ass later for not having gone up and said hello because of some internal dialogue in your head that told you why you would get rejected.  Take a chance people!  Get involved with other people.  Yes, I thought “Geez, if I go up to these people and start talking to their 10 year old, they’re going to call the cops.”  ”Should I go say anything?”  ”Should I offer a photo, or is that too creepy?”  What the hell?  I’m an award winning photographer, and I’m feeling creepy for offering to do something nice?  Thanks a lot media!  Yes, I almost did not do anything… but then I thought about the whole no regrets thing, so as Anthony Robbins said “If you can’t, you must. If you must, you can.”

Was it the coolest present Sarah ever got?  Probably not… but I didn’t see other people going to wish her a happy birthday after the announcement, so I’m sure that wishing her happy birthday at least made her birthday better, and the photo added to that.  But even if it did nothing, I tried, and that’s what counts.  I did something nice for someone for no reason, with no expectation of something in return.

Yesterday morning in Austin I was having coffee, and this woman was carrying her coffee, and her kid’s hot chocolate.  My hands were full with my coffee (I had put Sriracha – a thai hot sauce – in it! Adventure!), but I opened and held the door for her with my foot.  I could see the relief on her face as she thanked me for that.  Holding the drinks was tough, because she was also trying to keep an eye on her hyper child that was running every which way. And now back to Detroit:

As I was driving towards Kansas to attend the 140Conf there, I got a DM (Direct Message on Twitter) from Becky McCray “I think you should present at the 140 Smalltown, and Jeff Pulver agrees!” I enjoy public speaking, so… sure I agreed.  Many speakers just repeat the same presentation over and over, but since I loved the concept of the 140 Smalltown when Jeff told me about it in LA, I started thinking about what I could say that would help.

I not only wrote a presentation, but I then presented it to some friends and got their feedback, then I conferred with one of my couches (Katherine Hoppe of Coos Bay, Oregon) who represents a small town (3 counties that together have a population of 16,000 people).  I picked her brain about what goes on with social media use in her area.

Kat teaches other counties how to use social media, as well as businesses in her area.  She is a genius when it comes to this.  After I presented, people were talking about Coos Bay for hours.  I guess that’s Karma, eh?  She helped me with the questions I had for my presentation, and in return I totally pimped her and her town out.

A saying that I really love is “If at first you DO succeed, try not to look so damn surprised!” (Spoofing “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.”) –  Well… my presentation achieved its goal: it gave solid usable ideas for social media usage that would be easy to implement, and not overwhelming, for people in a small town.  The reason I mentioned that saying is because I was caught off guard when all these people were thanking me.

I’ve gotten “Great presentation!”  or “I’ve enjoyed that!” before… but being thanked so profusely by the people whom I wrote it for, about how helpful and useful it is, that was exciting.

I spent the evening mingling with the people, giving them further ideas, and of course telling my various stories of travels and mischief.  After the 140 Mixer, I skipped out on dinner with everyone at (If all the girls with big boobs get jobs at Hooters, where do the girls with one leg work?) IHOP so that I could encode and upload the video clips from the event.

That too was something helpful, and I’m still being thanked for that.  The speakers now have a venue to share their presentations.

The next morning I got a tour of the Cosmosphere – a space museum in Kansas.  Seriously, who knew?  I felt pretty rockstar, because I got a 1 on 1 tour from Patsy, whom I met the night before. It was mindblowing seeing the ACTUAL crafts that were in space.  The SR-71 was my favorite.  It’s friggin huge!!!  These things look so much smaller on TV when there’s no people next to them for perspective.

After the tour, I gave Patsy some of my consulting for free because I had such a blast in the museum, and these solutions would help the museum grow their collection, grow awareness about the museum, and do things that no other museum is doing.  She was pretty excited, “I’m stealing that!”  ”ummm… you can’t steal it, I just gave it as a gift!”  *chuckle*  She also has my permission to buzz me whenever the museum needs any ideas.

I can’t blog my every single deed… I’m just writing a few, because I just noticed that I’m doing it more and more…so I thought I’d write.  Hopefully, it inspires you to go and do something nice for someone else.

It turns out that I’d be here Halloween weekend, so I was wondering what we’d do for Halloween. Thankfully, Jeff Pulver does things with style- he arranged to have a private costume party at the local salt mines! We were hanging out 650 feet beneath the ground.

I wondered what I’d wear… so I put it out there on Twitter and Facebook. I got many obvious suggestions: “Couch” “Photographer” “Wizard of Oz character”. None of them moved my soul, until Alissa (my latest couch in Gladstone, MO) messaged me this:

“costume idea-all in black, white face/gloves, NaCl on your chest& act like you are stuck in a box all night….be a salt mime! Happy Punning”

So… I don’t care that Target thinks I’m a loser because I made my own costume:

Everyone at the Salt Mine thought it was awesome!

So… here’s my picture!  I went to the Salt Mine as a Salt Mime!  I have to go prepare for my 140Conf Smalltown presentation now, so make sure to tune in to http://140conf.com/ and watch the event.  It’s wonderful information by wonderful people.  I personally go on at 4:45pm CST- and you may see my ad before that. Shhhh  There’s never been ads broadcast at the 140conf before.

Tell your friends too!  This is the kind of information that can help change lives.

Alissa and Lexi

Greetings from Gladstone, MO.

How did I get here?  Well, I drove of course… but, why am I here?  ’cause Alissa invited me.  So, who is Alissa, and why am I telling you to keep on blogging?  Read on, and find out (I also had a run in with Mark Twain, and had the luckiest car breakdown ever)!

I had just driven from La Jolla to Vegas to Detroit, and had met incredible people, and heard incredible stories at the 140Conf Detroit, and was about to head towards Hutchinson, Kansas to attend the 140conf Smalltown. I had too many opportunities, and wasn’t sure which way to head.  Should I head to Hutch?  Should I swing by Nashville and shoot (pics) some country stars?  I posted on Facebook / Twitter my thoughts, and got a contact form e-mail:

“I don’t have a chic cottage on the lake but I have an open guest room, with a bed, if you are in need. I started following you/r story when my good friend and former room mate, Holly, mentioned meeting you awhile ago. My house is just outside of Kansas City in Gladstone, MO if you are needing a place to pass through on your way to Hutch. Not promising breakfast in bed… but there is a room and wifi and offstreet parking Safe travels!!”

In early 2009, I met Holly, whom later became one of my couches, and even went on adventure with me in Oregon! It was thanks to Holly that I discovered most of the springs, waterfalls, and parks that Austin has.  She probably also makes the best margaritas in Austin, and as far as I am concerned, better BBQ than Kansas City.  How can I say that? Because I’ve finally eaten BBQ in Kansas City.

Alissa had heard of me through Holly, and for 1.5 years has been reading my blog, but not saying anything… until I was sort of in need.  

I don’t know who reads my blog all the time.  I watch my server traffic, and I know that more and more people are always arriving, but I don’t bother much with analytics, because those are numbers… I like people.  This is why I enjoy Facebook and Twitter so much.  I get to interact with the actual people.

But the fact remains that I keep writing, whether people let me know that they are out there or not.  I tell you what though, it’s frigging great to hear that someone’s been reading your blog for over a year!  It’s great to meet those people in person!

I was Alissa’s “Boredom Buster” at work.  She told me that after reading my blog for so long, she felt she knew who I was, and thus had no problem letting her boyfriend know that they’re about to have company for a little bit.  As far as I go, I am grateful, because all this driving has been wearing on me a tiny bit, and I definitely needed to catch up on some projects.

So, all you people that are reading this… please, let me know who you are.  I love getting to know my readers.  Leave comments, let me know what you think about what I write.  You are the reason I’m writing! You are part of the reason I keep on trucking… I keep moving on, to see what’s out there, and I’m actually stepping things up now.  There will be much more details on this soon, but I’m definitely trying to get my message out there, and help more people (something I never thought I’d be saying 4 years ago).

The breakdown and Mark Twain:

I was in go mode!  I was sleeping in my car for quite a while, and just wanted to get to my destination.  I was not stopping to take photos.  I was only stopping to fill up gas, and on occasion stop at a McDonald’s for some internet.  They have free wi-fi, which can often be had from the parking lot.  I’ve been eating my raw food snacks rather than McPoison this trip.  I did have their new Real-berry smoothie, and their Mocha-Cappuccinos with extra shots of coffee.  No food though.

Other than that, I wasn’t even couch surfing.  I just wanted to get to where I was going.  I was tweeting from the car when I’d get somewhere interesting.  When I entered Missouri, for example, I tweeted that there’s a Flower Portrait of Twain (in hind sight, I wish I took a photo of it, because I think it’s new– I can’t find it on Google Images). I was not going to stop.

Shortly after that, my Battery light had turned on, and started flashing.  My “eye in the sky”, Brandie, had advised that I pull over in the next exit, and get it looked at.  I kept my chillaxed manner, and kept going, “What’s the worst that can possibly happen?  I mean, the car’s still going, right?”

Well, we agreed I’d at least look under the hood.

I exited, and there were signs to Mark Twain’s childhood home. Interesting.  I followed those signs a little bit, since I was now not completely in Go Mode anymore, I might as well head towards the source of some of my favorite quotes.  I pulled over at a BP Gas Station (my way of supporting Dispersent-Flavored Shrimp at restaurants), and looked under the hood.

There was no corrosion, and the cables were on tightly.  Hmmmm… crap… that’s about the only two things I knew how to check!

The car would not start.  The key would turn, and the sound of a machine gun without ammunition rattled “rat a tat tat tat”.  Most people would think I was screwed, but… if you’ve been keeping up with my recent posts on serendipity, you’d know better than that!  My luck is too good for that to happen.  But, as I say, being a blogger turns you into an optimist.

Turns out the BP station I stopped at was right across the street from JC’s automotive parts, JC’s Auto Repair, and a Chevy repair shop (I happen to drive a Chevy).

I walk into the parts store, where one gentleman proceeds to summarize for me “Your battery’s dead”, and then continue to speak on the phone.  The other gentleman concluded in 1 second that my alternator’s gone, and to try next door.

JC’s repair informed me that I could be repaired… if I wanted to wait until after dinner.

The Chevy shop was looking even sexier than before, as I wanted to be at my destination already, and dinner sounded a bit late…. although, I was open to it, because that would turn into a neat story later.

I walked into the Chevy shop, got led to the repair garage in the back.  I explained the issue, and two mechanics got in their pickup truck, drove across the street, jump-started my car, and then worked on it once I got it across the street.

It was the alternator.  They billed me $164 for a new alternator (which came from JC’s parts), and labor.  Just the alternator would’ve cost me near $400 – not including labor – if I was in a major city at a GM repair shop.

The entire process took about an hour, including charging up the battery once the new alternator was on. Additionally, I had earned myself 4 stops on my new 4Square account.  Hooray, I was back on the road!

Since I had coincidentally pulled over on the exit that had signs for Mark Twain’s home, I went towards it.

I felt this was a sign from the universe to take a break, and go check out some place cool.

I drove there, enjoyed the view of this wonderful lake, and entered the museum, where I learned about Twain in a way that made me like him even more than before.

There was a 24 minute biography film that gave his life story. I really enjoyed that.

I also enjoyed taking photos of various Twain Quotes, and his various busts.  The guy was just cool!  Twain is definitely on my “People I would’ve liked to have met when he was alive… but, I suppose that’s what our blogs, books, and interactions are for…. they leave a legacy for people to feel as if they know us, long after we’re gone.

Here are some of the photos I took:

The biography ended with “Mark Twain had done something most men do not ever achieve, he achieved immortality!”

I agree, and I think this is awesome.  The man had stayed true to his passions, his diversity of interests, his friends, and his family despite many hardships.

He was a legend, and his quotes live on forever.  The state of Missouri brands itself with the fact that he’s from there.  He kept on trucking!  He kept on blogging! (well.. he kept on writing… they didn’t have blogs back then).