The Average Day Of An Unconventional Freak
February 2, 2009 by Darren Alff
In a recent article I shared what my average day of long distance bicycle touring looks like. But today I want to do something a little different and share with you what my “normal” day looks like – because I know for a fact that my normal day is unlike most. And it’s unlike most because I designed it to be that way!
To start, you should know that I work for myself. In addition to running BicycleTouringPro.com, I also run a company called Silver Mountain Marketing, which helps small businesses and solo entrepreneurs create websites that not only advertise their products and services, but websites that actually make them money. In addition to these two main ventures, I have a number of passive income streams (31 the last time I checked) that provide me (just barely) with the funds to live my unconventional lifestyle.
So how does this relate to bicycle touring?
It relates because I don’t view bicycle touring as something you do just once and then forget about. Bicycle travel is a part of my lifestyle and the way I live is very much based on the way I’ve been traveling by bike for the past nine years. And in many ways, the way I travel by bike is now a reflection of the way I live – so the two are very much mixed together.
Because I don’t have a nine to five office job like so many of my friends and family, I thought I would share with you what my “bicycle traveling entrepreneur” lifestyle is like – as it certainly shows what is possible with a small bit of planning, a lot of hard work and a complete change in one’s mindset.
My average day looks a bit like this:
11:00 AM – Wake up. Yes! I usually wake up around eleven in the morning. Sometimes I wake up even later. I stay up very late at night (as you will see) and I hate getting up early. Because I don’t usually have anywhere that I have to be at a certain time, I sleep in and try my best to wake up before noon.
11:02 AM – After I get up, I check my email to see if I’ve received any product orders or if there are any important issues that need to be dealt with right away. I usually drink a glass of hot chocolate (I don’t like coffee. I think it tastes like tree bark) and may do up to an hour’s worth of work before jumping in the shower.
12:00 PM – Take a shower. Awww…. refreshing!
12:30 PM – After my shower I’ll go out and play. I’ll go on a bike ride, a hike, or do a few runs up and down the mountain on my skis. This is my favorite part of the day – as you can imagine.
4:00 PM – I usually return home around four in the afternoon and immediately clean off my gear and then jump in the shower.
5:00 PM – After having a shower and resting up a bit, I grab a bite to eat (this is usually my first real meal of the day) and get down to work. I plan out all of my days in advance using Google Calendar, so when I sit down at the computer I know exactly what needs to be done and I don’t get distracted by incoming emails, phone calls, etc. I block out my time and usually run ahead of schedule. I’ll continue working (usually with music of some kind running in the background) until about…
9:00 PM – After putting in a few good hours of work, I’ll stop and make some dinner. My favorite meals are pasta, bean burritos, and veggie sandwiches. Pizza is good too, but I rarely have it. If I need to get anything from the supermarket, I usually go after dinner. I might stop by the bank and the post office while I’m out. (The reason I go out at this time is to give me a good break from my work so I can come back and do a bit more work before going off to bed.)
10:00 PM – After returning from my trip out, I’ll continue working until about…
1:00 AM – By this time, most of the working world is fast asleep, but this is the time I usually do my best work. I may continue working until as late as four or five in the morning, but I’m usually in bed by…
3:00 AM – Night night. My eyes are red. Time to go to sleep. But maybe I’ll read for a little bit. Yes, in fact, I usually do. I read about one book per week and usually have about five or six books going at any one time. I might also watch a movie. I’ve a bit of a movie nut. I watched close to 150 movies last year.
4:00 AM - Then I go to sleep and the whole things starts all over again a few hours later.
Designing An Unconventional Lifestyle
As you can see, the life I live is quite unconventional. Not all of my days are like this, but many of them are.
So how did I start designing such a life? And why exactly did I do it?
The why is the easier answer, so I’ll start there.
I started thinking about passive income streams and being my own boss during my college years. During this time I was going to school and spending my summers traveling around the United States on my bike. As I traveled I met hundreds of people who said they wished they could be doing the things that I was doing. They would have loved to have gone on vacation for a week or even joined me for a day of cycling, but their jobs, their kids, their spouses and their other various commitments held them back from going after the things they really wanted.
Time and time again I was told the same story and after a few years of hearing about the drains of conventional living, I started thinking about designing a life that was a little less conventional.
As you can see, I’ve created a lifestyle that I both enjoy and one that revolves around the things I like to do (bicycling, the outdoors, and entrepreneurial endeavors). It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to where I am, but I started early and kept the big goal in mind. That being said, I’m not quite where I want to be (in fact, I’m not even close), but I am getting closer – day by day!
The Benefits Of Unconventional Living
There are a number of benefits to living a lifestyle outside the norm. I tried to make a video where I showed exactly what some of these benefits are, but the video just didn’t live up to what the lifestyle is really all about. So instead of showing you my video, I want to introduce you to someone else who is reaping the benefits of unconventional living.
John Chow is an extremely successful Internet entrepreneur and blogger who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) and he’s one of my favorite Internet personalities. While John is a successful business man and is famous for his online ramblings at JohnChow.com, he’s smart enough to know that life isn’t just about fast cars, big houses, and fancy dinners.
Recently, John wrote an article and produced a video where he talked about the benefits of “The Dot Come Lifestyle” (something I certainly relate to) and I’d like to share his video with you now. If you have five spare minutes, I encourage you to watch it. While John spends much of the video talking about his blog, the core message shows why myself and countless others are choosing to live lives outside what the rest of society considers to be “normal”.
Makes you think… huh?
What is your average day like? And how could you start designing a life for yourself that revolves around the things you like to do?
Who are you guy’s kidding…it’s always about the money and the freedom $$$$ provides.
Mike in WI
Yeah, you want to have both. The money and the freedom. But I’d take the freedom before the money. Most people have neither and that was my point with this article. My point was that you can create the freedom if you really put your mind to it. And you can make the money doing something you actually like to do. You don’t have to work at a job you hate just to make things work. And if you are really smart, you can have both! I’m still working on that, but I feel like I’m getting closer. Most people don’t even work for that, so they stay exactly where they are and never move one way or the other.
In response to you and John Chow: it’s good to know there are people who understand what’s important.
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