Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, get in touch!

Meet Becca Alper. For the last several months, Becca has been living in New York City, working for a real-time media company called Sulia. I’ll let her tell you more, but Sulia filters Twitter content into a series of specific content channels, many of them on timely events and breaking news. These channels are made available to other media companies like Flipboard and WSJ.

I chose to feature Becca (and Sulia) for two reasons. Not only do I adore Becca–she’s a close friend of mine–but I think her situation makes a great point, that not all 9 to 5 jobs are [insert negative connotation here]. Becca raves about her job and had been given a fantastic opportunity to exploit her interests and to provide value in a corporate structure. I applaud her for sharing her experience.

How and when did you end up joining Sulia?

I started at Sulia in October of last year. My friend from high school has been with the company almost since its inception and reached out to me as soon as she learned Sulia was going to start curating Portuguese twitter content.

What are your job responsibilities? What are you working on these days?

When I arrived at Sulia, they had one Portuguese language Channel, Brazil. Sulia has thousands of live, English language Channels, so I had to play a lot of catch up. By now, I’ve built over 300 channels, based on our English taxonomy: sports and teams, fashion and beauty, politics, business and professions, living, etc. Only a few of the channels I’ve built don’t have English equivalents, like samba and Spiritism, a religion that believes in communication between spirits and living people, that is hugely popular in Brazil.

I also build channels around breaking news stories. I recently covered a horrific shooting that happened in a Rio middle school. Combing existing channels about Rio de Janeiro, public safety and national news, I created a live stream of updates from major news outlets, political leaders, and community activists. It’s fascinating to see how these live Channels evolve. In this case, from the time the story broke with few confirmed facts, through the funerals of the 12 school children who were killed, to the discovery of a video the shooter recorded before he executed his plan.

What are your hours? How is the office laid out?

I get to the office by 9:30 am and leave between 7:30 and 8 pm. The Internet doesn’t close after business hours, though, so it’s not unusual that I find myself tweeking Channels that need help or building Channels around breaking news early in the mornings or on the weekends.

You told me you loved your job. Why is that?

I have been passionate about Portuguese language and Brazilian culture, ever since I studied abroad in Northern Brazil my junior year of college. To be paid to know everything that is going on in the Portuguese speaking world and curate Portuguese Twitter content to reflect that is a dream.

I also love living in New York, which, in my book, is second best to Brazil. Part of covering trends and current events in the Brazilian Twittersphere is immersing myself in all things Brazilian, even when I’m not at my desk. I go to Brazilian bars and shows, I take samba lessons, and I even celebrate the Jewish holidays with a Latin American congregation. Not only do I love being able to pursue all these extra-curriculars, but I also appreciate that my co-workers at Sulia encourage and take an active interest in my endevors.

Where has Sulia come from, and where is it headed? What role do you see yourself playing in the future?

Sulia has not always been Sulia. CEO, Jonathan Glick, started TLISTS back in 2009 as list-making tool for web publishers and Twitter clients. Lists are a way to begin organizing twitter to make it easier for users to follow topics, instead of hunting for accounts one by one. We quickly realized that lists need a filter to sift out junk and off topic tweets. So last fall, TLISTS rebranded and launched Sulia, a realtime media company, focused on filtering Twitter into compelling, high-quality content Channels. There are lots of great lists out there in the Twittersphere, and by crowdsourcing lists on topics, we create Channels, filtered streams of Twitter content from only the best-regarded experts on any given topic.

Sulia’s Channels on thousands of evergreen topics, timely events and breaking news are available on its own website. In addition, Sulia makes its Channel streams available to media companies through its API and customizes the channels to their specifications. FlipBoard, WSJ.com, Gannett properties and Everyday Health are some of the companies currently featuring ourChannels. We’re also working on a bunch of different consumer experiences, across platforms, in collaboration with our partners.

Sulia has already proven it can successfully adapt to the changing media landscape, so I’m confident we will be around in some form or another, for a while to come.

I am building our Portuguese language content to the point where Sulia can start working with Brazilian media groups and American media companies with Brazilian users. A little farther down the road, I see myself spending more and more time in Brazil as Sulia begins to work more closely with Brazilian media companies and eventually opening Sulia’s first foreign office in Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo.

I have a personal goal of living in Brazil by the start of the World Cup in 2014. I’m optimistic I can achieve it with Sulia.

You can reach Becca on Twitter (@GringaInformada) or on her newly launched blog, Manhattanlandia.

Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, drop me a line.

Meet Mark Sawyier, CEO of Off Campus Media. When Mark was in college, finding an apartment was more challenging than he expected. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, Mark set out to improve the apartment-hunting process by launching Moving Off Campus, a search engine for rental units located around college campuses.

Mark is a good friend of mine. We shared a couple of courses together at Washington University and both majored in International Studies. During my last semester, I was fortunate enough to work for him on a data entry project. I saw what it was like to work for a small, dynamic company. Mark may not know this, but those few months were a huge influence on me. To see a friend start a company, to see that friend hustle and land clients and make strategic changes–it was exciting stuff. I remember those days well.

Over the last three years, Mark’s company has evolved quite a bit. I’ll let him tell you more.

So, Mark, tell us about your company, Off Campus Media.

Off Campus Media has two main areas of business: website assets and client services (that also support our assets).

MovingOffCampus.com is a website designed to help college students find apartments. The website will help over 1,000,000 college students find apartments off campus in 2011. We market the website primarily through search engine and campus marketing through our national Campus Ambassador program.

All of the services we offer our clients (campus, search engine and social media marketing) stem from our own experience and dependence on them for success. Put simply, we “eat our own dog food.” Moreover, these services exist in a constantly evolving landscape and there’s no better way to learn than managing your own asset that needs all of them.

Where did the idea come from? How did you originally get things off the ground?

As a college student, I was going through the process of trying to find an apartment off campus and found it to be an extremely challenging process. To solve the problem, I got together with a bunch of friends and launched the first version of MovingOffCampus.com. From there, the business adapted to meet our needs (traffic growth and revenue).

How much has your business model changed from when you first launched Moving off Campus?

It’s been constantly evolving but within an expanding definition of what Off Campus Media is. This expansion has largely occurred in the services area (which are all core competencies we need to grow our websites) but even with MovingOffCampus.com – from membership to referral fees to finally traffic-based advertising, the revenue model has changed. I suspect it will continue to do so but the big picture has more or less remained the same.

What have been some of your biggest entrepreneurial hurdles so far?

First and foremost is building the right team. Understanding the value of experience and working with talent is something that I only came to appreciate as I continued “down the road.” Attracting talent is always one of the toughest challenges for any young company because of a lack of resources.

The lack of resources would definitely be my second hurdle. As an entrepreneur, you will likely never have a shortage of ideas, just the means to implement all of them. Managing available resources (cash and people) is crucial. For me, always keeping a 1, 3, 6 and 12-month goal and priority list top-of-mind has been very helpful combined with remembering when weighting priorities to consider which will have an immediate or short-term impact on revenue.

Finally, staying motivated. Starting any business invariably involves many ups and downs so keeping your team (and yourself) motivated can be difficult.

Anything exciting in the works?

Some of the highlights:

• Expanding our Campus Ambassador program to over 70 campuses nationwide
• Launching a new brand that focuses entirely on the search engine and social media marketing services we offer
• Deepening our management team
• Adding new features to MovingOffCampus.com to improve usability and increase revenue

Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, drop me a line.

Meet David Bixler. He’s traveled a bit. He lives in Washington D.C. and runs his own company. He likes to jump on trampolines. He’s intelligent, relaxed and waxes philosophical on small businesses and customer loyalty. David’s a cool guy.

I met David a couple of months ago, when he came to visit my roommate and crashed on our couch for a few nights. We fended off mice, walked around Boston and sampled some of our favorite microbrews. When we weren’t playing video games or cards, we chatted about entrepreneurship.

After graduating college, David mingled with a start-up company in D.C. and licensed their software, effectively launching his own customer loyalty company. I had fun probing him for details.

So, tell us about your company, Client Rocket.

The old elevator pitch, huh? Client Rocket is an API driven loyalty platform for businesses, organizations, and entrepreneurs. So if you’re not a techie like me, Client Rocket allows any business to operate and manage their own in-house points, loyalty, or rewards program powered by a web-based technology. My loyalty philosophy is the more you give, the more you have to give. It may sound counter-intuitive, but studies have proven that 20% of customers can account for 80% of a business’ profit. Treat these customers well and they will reward you with a stream of profits and praise. Since loyalty is confusing, we help clients conceive of the right solution for their specific business while fulfilling the need for marketing materials like those awesome plastic cards you get at your grocery store. If it pertains to loyalty, we’ve got it covered.

Client solutions are just one side of the business. Lately I’ve been fascinated with what entrepreneurs are doing with our platform. Loyalty takes many forms, and entrepreneurs around the world are creating stand-alone businesses based on our platform.

Where did the idea come from? How did you originally get things off the ground?

Most people laugh when I explain this, but the idea for ClientRocket actually originated from my intelligent, wonderful, amazing mother. I come from an entrepreneurial family, and right after I graduated from college I was looking for a fun Internet project instead of getting one of those “real world” jobs. At the time, my mother was launching a rewards program for local home builders to earn points for shopping at local suppliers like local lumber, flooring, plumbing, and hardware companies in effort to compete with the national Lowe’s and Home Depots. The web-based software she found to track all this was provided by a startup company based in Washington DC called StickyStreet.com. I thought her idea was brilliant but surely there had to be other applications for this loyalty-centered business model.

Turns out, StickyStreet was about to change their business model to license their technology only to resellers that understand the concepts of loyalty. I was at the right place at the right time so I jumped on this opportunity, drove up to Washington DC, took their 3-day loyalty immersion course and have been obsessed with loyalty ever since.

StickyStreet helped me pick the name ClientRocket and launch a website but I already had my first client lined up back home. It was a big name Spa franchise that was missing the loyalty functionality from their pre-approved corporate software. They had no way of rewarding frequent customers. Luckily, my new gig provided the solution so I spent some time with the owners and listened to what they needed. We designed some plastic cards and kicked off their program a few weeks later.

Being a non-conformist (hence ending up on this blog), I thought this was a dream come true. I could work from anywhere in the world, provide a web-based service, and still make a monthly income. Plus, knowing that I was adding value to these businesses really gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. My next few clients came from the leads I received from my first Google AdWords campaign. I had never done any online advertising, but I was fascinated with its effectiveness. No wonder Google has about $35 billion in cash lying around! My first low budget AdWords campaign resulted in several leads and a few new clients. I got to know them over the phone and through email correspondence and built the loyalty solution they were seeking. Piece of cake.

I’m digging this whole customer loyalty thing. Any fun clients you’ve worked with?

I’m glad you agree, Alan. Loyalty rocks. On a side note, I consider myself a loyal friend and Apple fanboy, but the former generally gets me more points with the ladies. But fun clients you ask? Plenty. One of my first clients is a coffee franchise based in Australia called The Dancing Bean. Not only do they have fun accents, but also the owner has a serious dirt biking hobby, which makes me insanely jealous that we don’t get to hang out on the weekends. Even though we’ve never met in person, I can tell he’s a fun guy. I have the privilege of speaking to like-minded folks all day long. For example, one of my favorite clients (oh wait, I can’t pick favorites) is a chain of Bike Shops in Virginia. They sponsor race teams and have built up an impressive customer list from using our program for several months. They are always reaching out to the community and they see the results through several dedicated customers. In fact, their customers have reached out to me to praise them! I really just love working with positive people, and loyalty has that effect. Other cool businesses we work with include wine shops, salons, fine dining clubs, auto dealerships, doctor’s offices, and an entire school district in Michigan (I made them promise they wouldn’t give me homework).

What have been some of your biggest entrepreneurial hurdles so far? What have you learned?

Of course, entrepreneurship has its hurdles. As much as I love this pirate lifestyle, I always wonder if I missing something that a real job could offer. On second thought, no paycheck could sway me from wearing pajamas until noon. I am always challenged with the ability to be self-motivated. Since I ultimately make every decision about my business, I have to rely on myself to stay on top of my game. Time management can be difficult especially when it’s a beautiful day outside. Everyday I have to prioritize what is important. I am an avid list maker and generally a very organized guy. Making lists is one of my favorite things to do and a must on a Sunday night in order to plan my week. I’ve definitely learned that it is always better to be proactive instead of reactive. There is always something that could be done to keep me ahead of the curve, whether it be reading the latest loyalty blog, or broadening my horizons with a new skill. For example, this month I took a Photoshop class so I can better understand graphic design.

Another entrepreneurial challenge pertains to staying focused on one project at a time. I have a tendency to be an off-the-wall thinker and can easily go off on a tangent if infected with a new idea (Inception reference). I am constantly asking myself if these new ideas relate to my core business model of loyalty. There is nothing wrong with side projects, and a full shelf of them could lead to a breakthrough one day, but if my idea doesn’t fit my core business, I have to put it on the shelf or move it around to one of my peers.

Anything exciting in the works? What can we expect from Client Rocket over the next couple of years?

I am very excited about what’s in the pipeline for 2011. We’ve brought on some extremely talented developers who are going to lead our foray into the mobile market. Tablet devices have only scratched the surface of their potential, and have yet to be fully adopted by the business world. Developing a mobile application or hotsite for these tablet devices would open up a huge opportunity for businesses. I talk to businesses all day that need a loyalty program to fit their current workflow, except they don’t know what they want or how it will work. Henry Ford said, “If we asked our customers what they want they would have said a faster horse.” I think that quote is incredibly accurate in the loyalty market right now because customer loyalty is rapidly changing with new media like Facebook and Twitter. We are listening to what customers want and then hiding out with people that truly understand the technology to determine the next loyalty breakthrough.

As for me, I’m incredibly happy with my role at ClientRocket. I’m working with some of the smartest people in the industry in a city that I love, Washington DC. I’m focused on growing my business for the next several years, but who knows what form that will take. I’m a huge fan of what you do with The 9 to 5 Alternative and share your passion for traveling and micro-goal setting. I want to travel to South America, Thailand, and Australia but I can’t decide in what order. Thankfully, I’m self-employed and can make these decisions for myself. After all, it’s never been easier to be an entrepreneur than right now.

Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, drop me a line.

Meet Dr. Benedict G. Davies. He recently started Iconic Guides, a website that provides downloadable audio tours of world historic sites. While I tend to steer clear of endorsements for specific blogs or businesses, I’m a huge fan of Dr. Davies’ background and philosophy behind this particular idea.

I asked Dr. Davies to share his story—specifically what led him to start his own business, what choices he’s made so far and how he sees himself progressing. Dr. Davies provides us with a great case study in entrepreneurship. Read below to see how he followed his passions and “thirst for knowledge” to create Iconic Guides.

What is your background? What lead you to Iconic Guides?

I originally studied Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, receiving my PhD in 1996 with a study of the royal workmen who excavated and decorated the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Since then I pursued a career in investment management, where I specialized in smaller UK companies. Unfortunately, due to the financial meltdown in 2008 I was made redundant from my job in London. It was at that point, with markets collapsing all around us, that I decided to take some time out to travel to the Middle East and Far East.

I came up with the idea for Iconic Guides whilst I was traveling around Japan last year. The country is home to so many fantastic Buddhist and Shinto temple/shrine sites and mountain-top retreats. However, there is very little information available once you arrive at these sites (especially the most isolated ones). I actually got a bit fed up carrying an 800-odd page Fodor’s guide book around with me every day. As a historian, I have a great thirst for knowledge and really felt that I was not getting enough out of my visits to these fascinating temples. I thought how brilliant it would be to have an audio guide playing whilst one explored the different parts of the temple – explaining the historical background/context of the site, the purpose of each room/building as well as some information on the religious iconography that abounds in Japanese temples. This would mean that one could listen to the audio commentaries without having to continually have recourse to a traditional guide book each time you wanted to look something up. What a perfect solution! Another advantage to the audio guide is that it remains yours to keep – you can listen to it before, during and after a visit to these places – something you can’t do if you’re part of a traditional tour group. Users might also like to use the commentaries to enlighten family slide shows when they return from their travels.

The aim of Iconic Guides is to provide independent travelers with insightful, accurate and up to date commentaries to these destinations. It’s also a cheaper and more flexible alternative to joining a traditional tour group or, more importantly, hiring a local guide. I think that’s an important point to make about Iconic Guides in an era of great economic austerity. People will always travel to exotic destinations, but they may now be looking to do so in a more cost-efficient manner. I’ve met so many fellow travelers who have had bad experiences with local (and expensive) tour guides. I too have had my share of poor local guides, especially ones that I hired whilst at Xi’an and the Summer Palace in Beijing. Iconic Guides give one complete freedom to explore the ancient monuments, without the constraints of being part of a larger tour party.

How did you map out the business model?

Upon returning to the UK last summer I was still a bit skeptical about the concept of audio guides. I therefore set out initially to write guide books to the ancient monuments of both Japan and Egypt. Egypt was an obvious choice, given my academic background as well as the fact that I had just visited the country prior to arriving in Japan at the end of 2008. As I researched the material and spoke to other academics, friends and family, it was becoming apparent that the idea of audio guides to sites from the ancient world could indeed prove to be popular. I kept writing the guides to sites in Japan and Egypt, knowing that I could tailor them at a later date into a style more suitable to the spoken word of an audio guide.

Several months into the project I decided to abandon the written guides and solely concentrate on the audio version. By this point I had already covered the major sites of Kyoto and Nara in Japan and was making serious inroads into the Egyptian series. By now, the ambition was to try and build a unique website offering guides to sites from all the major ancient civilizations. However, I knew that this would not be possible, given time and financial constraints. In an ideal world, I would have continued to produce series after series of guides before launching the products onto the market. I decided that once I had completed the major Egyptian sites and made a start on ancient Greece, then I would be in a strong position to go live, having sufficient critical mass to try to attract a serious following.

Who designed your website?

I came up with the concept for the site as well as the graphical elements. Given the type of business, I wanted to go with an art-deco, 1930’s theme – representing the ‘Golden Age of Travel’. I just love those exotic looking travel posters advertising far flung places, which at that time must have seemed totally intoxicating to the public. I wanted to find a web designer who could also do the graphic design of the site for me. I didn’t want to take the project to a large agency so set about finding someone local to Liverpool who could take on the project for me. I was lucky to find Robb Owen, a freelancer who runs Kumori Media in Liverpool. It was an ideal choice and he offered me a very competitive rate.

How did you partner up with a professional voiceover artist?

Initially an academic colleague and I produced a couple of test guides. However, as we were recording from home, the quality came nowhere near to that of a professional and it soon dawned on me that if the business was to be taken seriously, then I would need to find a ‘trained’ and experienced voice for the narration. I came across Della Phillips after I advertised for a professional voice-over artist on the Internet. I received over 60 auditions from VOAs around the world, which made the decision particularly difficult given the quality of many of the frontrunners. I really liked Della’s audition and think she has a great tone to her voice for this style of work. It’s also not a voice that you can tire of easily – which is key with an audio guide. The last thing one wants is to lose the attention of the user as they chart their way around the ancient sites. I also wanted to use a single VOA so as to retain continuity throughout all the series of guides.

Della has shown superb professionalism throughout the entire process. She really believed in the business from the outset and consequently was kind enough to do the work on a substantially discounted basis.

What have been your biggest hurdles so far? Have you seen any short-term success?

Given my love of history, researching and writing, I was never going to be phased by the prospect of producing the scripts for the actual audio guides. I certainly feel confident enough that I can transpose these skills into other historical disciplines, without sacrificing quality along the way. One of the first hurdles that I encountered was ‘how was I going to produce the site maps and plans?’ I wanted them to have a professional look, seeing that they were a fundamental element to the product. Yet, I had absolutely no knowledge of any drawing programs. I did some research and eventually invested in a CAD program called Vectorworks. I then set about reading as many manuals, online forums posts and blogs on the subject so as to immerse myself in the technicalities of the program. After many months of study, trial and error, I am now able to produce professional looking plans both in 2D and 3D.

I’ve found that establishing the best keywords for the site in order to maximize Search Engine Optimization has been a considerable challenge and something that I am still refining even now. This is not an area in which I have any experience, but one that is essential to the future success of the site.

The website is in its infancy, being little more than a month old now. Until I am able to get more publicity for the product I am not expecting to make serious inroads into sales. However, the major hurdle is getting the concept of the audio tours more firmly embedded into the public conscience. I think right now, most people who may be considering traveling to these kinds of destinations just don’t appreciate that this type of product is out there in the marketplace. In these terms, there is a long road ahead. Ultimately, if we can educate the target market effectively enough, then I believe that IG has a good chance of a successful future.

What differentiates Iconic Guides from the oodles of other travel guides out there?

There certainly aren’t oodles of other audio guides out there that cover ancient destinations. Yes, there are some sites that specialize in one particular area or other, or the city guides (such as Athens) that cross-over into my material. However, there is no other site quite like mine currently that offers such a range of guides purely aimed at travelers who are going to be visiting archaeological sites and ancient monuments. Furthermore, I have yet to see anything in the audio arena on Egypt. The beauty of my product is that I have a strong academic background, having studied Egyptian and Greek history at a high level. I’ve also written many academic books and articles, which gives me an edge in terms of the preparation and presentation of the material. The guides are not only hugely informative, but they are intensely researched, using the most up-to-date source academic source material.

I’m not intending to compete with traditional guide books. My guides can be used as an accompaniment to a guide book. I really want to capture the imagination of travelers who are seriously interested in visiting these places. I want these guides to enliven and enrich their visits to the ancient world. I also think that my guides could be extremely beneficial to people who are more comfortable travelling as part of a tour party. They could listen to them either before or after they’ve been on their tour of a particular site.

Any plans for the future?

The main areas of focus going forward will be to complete the major sites of Greece (e.g., Epidaurus, Delphi, Olympia, Pylos, Corinth – all of which are currently in preparation) and to move next to ancient Rome and Turkey (e.g. Ephesus, Troy and Miletos). Personally I am working on a series of Aztec and Maya sites in Mesoamerica (Teotihuacan, Palenque, Chichen Itza and the Templo Mayor in Mexico City, to name but a few). I have begun to enlist the support of academics from other fields in writing future guides. The aim is for them to provide a written script. I will then produce that as audio in additional to drawing the required plans and maps. The guide will then be marketed on IG and any net revenues split equally between the business and the contributor. It’s certainly the best way to built the scale of the site, especially seeing that I am spending more time and energy on promotion. As I mentioned earlier, the ambition to turn IG into an ancient world audio guide library par excellence, a first port of call for all travelers when they begin to plan for a new adventure.

As I said earlier, my main target audience is really the informed and independent traveler. However, I would love to be able to do a licensing deal with one of the major Nile cruise tour operators for example. I do believe that the detailed information contained in my guides could prove to be an extremely useful adjunct to their own local tour guides on the ground.

Many people ask me whether I have developed an Apple App for the guides. I would love to move down this road, but my priorities now are to promote the product/website in order to generate a reasonable income, which can then be used for future initiatives such as an ‘App’ or a GPS-enabled audio guide.

Check out Iconic Guides. What do you think? Is this something you might use?

Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, drop me a line.

A couple of weeks ago, I get an email from a guy named Mark. It reads:

Hey my name is Mark Lawrence. Friday was my last day of work. I have left the corporate world. I plan to bike across Africa.

How’s that for an introduction?

Meet Mark Lawrence. Currently living in Chicago, Mark recently left his job as a banker and is currently training to cycle across Africa. Besides salsa dancing and “urban exploration,” as he puts it, Mark’s likes also include couchsurfing and languages–he speaks Spanish and is currently learning French.

When I asked Mark to provide a little background behind his decision, he wrote:

I went to school. I graduated. I got a job at a bank. I was doing everything “right”. And then it hit me; I asked myself: What do I really want to do? How do I want my life to turn out? Is what I’m doing now going to get me there? I saw many people at work that weren’t happy. They had been working there for so many years. They got their few weeks off a year and that was it. I started contemplating a million other ways of making a living besides sitting in a cubicle. This included learning French, teaching English in Asia (or elsewhere), but my mind kept wandering back to a solo bike ride across Africa.

Well there you have it. I’ll let him tell you the rest.

So, you left your job, and now you’re going to be cycling across Africa. Why?

The African continent has always fascinated me every since I was a kid. From a real young age, my grandfather would show me maps and pictures from around the world. He’d show me a figurine or something and then point out in the atlas where it was from. The photos and stories were relentlessly interesting. I wanted to go on a journey through Africa so I can see and experience it for myself. Taking a two week vacation can be tiring and expensive. Now that I don’t have to be at work, I can take as long as I want to soak in the African continent. This bike trip is not a race. It’s about doing Africa at my own pace.

Let’s talk logistics. What’s your route? How are you going to handle visas? How long will this take?

I plan to start in Cape Town and end in Cairo. No scratch that, Ill end in Alexandria. Whatever happens in between, nothing is set in stone. I’d like to spend some time in Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Malawi. Then I’d like to head through Tanzania (with a jaunt to Zanzibar), head through Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia up through Sudan and end in Egypt. I will head from the bottom of Africa to the top. This will definitely not be a straight line across the continent, but a zigzag across places as they unfold. I don’t want this to be a trip with a set itinerary where I have to be at certain points at certain times. With all the unknowns, and with such a long time frame, this would also be unrealistic. I am excited to see where the road will take me.

As for visas, countries like South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana don’t require a visa if you are staying in the respective country for less than 90 days. For other countries, most visas can be obtained at the embassy in the bordering country and will be issued within 24 to 48 hours. I don’t expect everything to go 100% smoothly, but since I have no timeline or flight home I have to catch I don’t have to worry about time delays. A visa delay might even be a good thing as it would allow me to stay meet people and have experiences I otherwise wouldn’t have had. I approximate that this trip will take about a year, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I could fall in love with a certain city or country and stay much longer. I might cycle much faster than I could have previously thought. I won’t know until I’m on the road.

How do you prepare for a trip like this, both mentally and physically?

I don’t think there is a way. I will be fueled by my excitement and passion for the experience and the journey. I have spent countless hours researching a million different topics related to this trip. I have read Riaan Manser’s Around Africa On My Bicycle. I follow cycling blogs like my former roommate who is biking from Berlin to Beijing or The Big Africa Cycle. I plan to do some practice cycling in Europe before I head to Africa, and I have some rudimentary biking “experience” down in the US. However, nothing will prepare me more than just getting on the ground and doing it.

How are you financing the trip?

I am financing the trip through savings that I have amassed over the past two years. I read and was influenced by the book Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. Rolf Potts dispels the idea that long term travel is expensive and for the rich or retired only. He advocates how long term travel can be achieved by anyone with an adventurous spirit and is actually much cheaper than you would think.

When I first started saving as much money as I could, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was saving for, but I knew that it would provide a cushion of freedom that would allow me to explore opportunities without having to be tied down to a 9 to 5 job. I had a number of ideas for what I wanted to do and finally decided on a bike trip through Africa. Every dollar I saved excited me as I knew that it I was closer to being able to “buy my freedom.” I would not have to stay in job I didn’t like just so I could pay the bills. I had successfully “bought my freedom” and decided to use it to bike across Africa. I’ve never been happier or felt more free!

Any other ridiculously awesome plans for your future?

Before Africa, I plan to do some practice cycling in Europe. The only plan I have is to visit certain friends in France. Besides that, I’d like to jaunt off and explore Europe without any particular plan, course, rhyme, or reason. I’m going to let coincidences and random events dictate where Ill head. When the time feels right, Ill head to Cape Town. I’m looking forward to taking in the world.

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You can follow the Mark Lawrence’s adventures around Africa at Lifestyle Ignition. If you have any additional questions or comments, feel free to comment below and I’ll do my best to make sure he sees them!