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!

Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, then drop me a line. I know there are plenty of you out there Hope you enjoy!

Meet the Redpaths. Living proof that just because you’re not a 20-something doesn’t mean you can’t travel! The Redpaths are a full-fledged family, four total; Brenna and Bob, Owen and Eleanor. Brenna reached out to me via email, and when I checked out their site, From Here to Uncertainty, I discovered that the Redpaths homeschool their children.

Truthfully, I knew very little about homeschooling when I asked Brenna about her family’s experiences. Methods. Perceptions. The logistical and psychological trials and tribulations. Brenna was more than happy to answer a few questions for us. If you’re interested in learning more, check out her post on homeschooling or her  interview with Christine at Almost Fearless.

Brenna, let’s get started!

Had you always wanted to homeschool?

We started thinking about the idea of homeschooling when our oldest kid was 3. I did a lot of research, and went to some homeschooling conferences to learn more. By the time he was school age we had decided.

What prompted the decision?

Not any one thing really. Our decision was never about avoiding public school, it was more about being able to dive deeply into interests, and follow passions. Here’s a quote that has helped to form our home school philosophy: “Education is not the filling of a vessel, but the kindling of a flame” -Socrates

Where have you traveled so far?

We have a pretty short list for our 7 months on the road! We slow travel, renting an apartment for a month or two in one city, and taking smaller trips from there. We started our trip in Serbia with friends. We spent a few weeks in Belgrade, and a few weeks in the Serbian countryside. We’ve “lived” in Krakow, Poland; Bamberg, Germany; Perth, Scotland; and Edinburgh, Scotland. We’ve spent a week or less in Vienna, Budapest, Venice, Stuttgart, Isle Of Skye, Oban, Rothenburg, Dresden, Germany’s Romantic Road, and taken day trips to other places.

How long have you been homeschooling?

Owen is 11, and Eleanor is 8, so 6 years (which some days feels like 60).

Are certain countries more kid-friendly than others?

Not in our experience. We’ve only been to relatively tame countries, and we tend to seek out more family-friendly places. We have been surprised at how much our kids have enjoyed more typically “adult” things: the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice for instance, and the ballet in Stuttgart.

Every country does have it’s own way, of course, and the kids have taken a watch-and-learn attitude. For instance, we lived very close to the Town Square in Krakow, where there was a large sculpture by Igor Mitoraj. Local kids as well as tourists climbed all over it, using it as a jungle gym and for photo ops. Coincidentally, just down the street from our apartment in Bamberg, Germany there was a similar sculpture by the same artist. No one even touched the sculpture in Germany.

As far as homeschooling, it varies. Most people assume we’re on vacation until we keep showing up at their cafe day after day. By then they know us. Scotland has a wonderful homeschooling community, and people are really open to it. There is a spectrum of homeschooling acceptance throughout Europe both socially and legally, but from our experience the US is one of the countries at the forefront of homeschooling.

Are there any countries you wouldn’t take your family?

Sure. Safety definitely comes before adventure, and we’re not “Adventure Junkies”, although it does sound fun! Having said that, one person’s prudent destination is another person’s nightmare. We had some family members who weren’t wild about the idea of us starting our trip in Serbia. We try to be smart. For instance, we’re planning a trip to Morocco in March. If we didn’t have kids we would probably fly into Marrakesh and then just figure out the rest. Instead we’re making reservations. We’re planning a month of volunteering in the spring, and I’m looking forward to venturing more outside our comfort zones. It will be good for all of us.

What resources do you use as curriculum?

Owen and Ella both use an online program for basics. We keep notebooks for their work. We do a lot of reading out loud on our Kindle, choosing books that are set in the places we’re visiting. We read The Thief Lord just before we hit Venice. Owen has become addicted to the  Sherlock Holmes series now that we’re in Edinburgh. He loves reading, and I build around that. For instance, we’re going to Stonehenge in a few weeks, and he is super excited. I made him a deal: I’ll spring for the tickets that get us inside the stone circle, and he reads up on Stonehenge so that he can be our tour guide. Ella is pen pals with a 2nd grade class in Illinois. We help her write emails about her adventures, and they tell her about what they’re doing in school. Ella is a lover of art, and I link as much to that as I can. The paintings in a church lead to a conversation about the social climate of the time. History and Geography, obviously, come pretty naturally this year.

Any specific companies, websites, social gatherings?

Time 4 Learning is an online curriculum, and it’s terrific in many ways. The presentation works well for my kids. They can advance as fast as they like, or as slow as necessary. They aren’t held to a certain grade level. All progress is documented online and accessible anywhere.

Handwriting Without Tears has been a great program for my kids for learning both printing and cursive.

Starfall is a learn-to-read website geared for younger learners.

And then of course there’s Google for all of the obvious reasons. I can’t imagine doing what we’re doing, the traveling OR the homeschooling, without the internet and Google.

We mentioned the Kindle, which we all fight over. It’s a hell of a lot lighter than the wall of bookshelves we had at home.

As far as social gatherings – it depends on where you live. In Southern California there is a vibrant homeschooling community (which I miss very much). Some areas of the US, and of the world, have more going on than others.

What’s the hardest part of home schooling for you, the teacher, and for your kids, the students.

Such a good question! The hardest part for me has changed over the years. I think that in the beginning I didn’t have a fundamental trust that kids learn because they’re built to. Give them the opportunity, and they’re sponges. These days it’s juggling everything: working, traveling, teaching, mothering. Just like everyone I guess.

Owen says: The hardest part is when there’s not always someone available to help me. I’m impatient.
Eleanor says: I don’t know – it’s not really hard.

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You can follow the Redpaths’ adventures in world education at From Here to Uncertainty. If you have any additional questions or comments, feel free to comment below and I’ll do my best to make sure they see them!

Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, then drop me a line. I know there are plenty of you out there Hope you enjoy!

Meet Marc Elliot. A close friend of mine, Marc was born with Hirschsprung’s disease, a rare condition that left him with virtually no intestines. Think eating bad Mexican food will disrupt your bowels? Marc has probably got you beat. At age nine, he also developed Tourette’s, a syndrome characterized by its physical and verbal tics. From involuntary shouts and racial slurs, Marc has spent the better part of his life learning to adapt and deal with his condition. He’s got some stories.

A year ago, when Marc was passing through Boston to visit family, we had the chance to catch up. I was thrilled to learn that he was about to make a big life decision – whether or not to become a professional speaker.

Over the last year, Marc has spoken in 15+ states and reached 60,000+ people about tolerance. His presentation, called “Don’t Judge a Book by its Noises,” is hilarious, informative, and full of passion. Marc is certainly living ” the 9 to 5 alternative.” I’ll let him tell you more about his decision.

So you’re on your way to medical school.  What happened?

I’m still trying to figure it out.  For twenty-three years I was planning on going to medical school to become a pediatric surgeon.  At some point after spending a college semester in London, though, I decided to take a year off before applying to medical school. Thus the first deviation from my quintessential life plan.

During my year off, I felt compelled to do something different, not to work in a research lab or hospital for the simple reason that I was about to spend my whole life doing that.  Up to that point, I had spoken recreationally and at one point wondered if I could turn pro bono speaking into a full-time gig.  Before I knew it, I had a marketing packet in my hand and a presentation to sell: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Noises. The intent was to teach students about tolerance.  It felt great at the time, but I had one problem – I didn’t have a single engagement!

Over the next five months I tried hard to get gigs, but it was tough.  Around November, schools started to bite, and before long, I had booked just over 20 engagements for that spring semester.   It was exhilarating and exciting, selling a speech that I hadn’t even given before!

Tell us about your first couple of speeches. Has the style of your presentation changed at all?

To compare the speech I give today with my first experiences on the road would be embarrassing.  My first engagement, to a small non-profit in Milwaukee, was preceded by a hypnotist.  It was nerve-wracking and surreal and all kinds of exhilarating.  Though my most memorable presentation those first months was at a prestigious boarding school called Suffield Academy in Connecticut.  It was my first standing ovation—500 students and faculty—and while I didn’t know it at the time, that became the true symbolic beginning of my professional speaking career.  My speech, since then, has evolved multiple times, each time incorporating a lesson from the past.

How do you find speaking engagements? What’s your schedule?

Early on, some of the best advice I received was, “Marc, you need an agent… any kind of an agent!”  Luckily I had one, Andreas Thysseen, who happened to be one of my closest friends growing up. In the beginning, he would cold-call schools and say, “Hi, my name is Dreas and I’m representing a young motivational speaker on tolerance named Marc Elliot…” Now, while I still have some people that help generate presentation-leads, I find myself getting referrals.  I also recently joined Coleman Productions, which is a speaking agency that represents me at colleges across the country.  With my own bookings for high schools coupled with this agency’s efforts, I plan on having 150-200 engagements over the next 2 years.

What about your finances?

Money!  It is still mind-blowing to think that I get paid to speak, especially since this started out solely as an adventurous place-holder before medical school.  What is even more amazing is that I get paid to spread such an important message.

The first few months, pricing my presentation was an awkward and unchartered experience.  With little market research, Dreas and I made up my fee.  I spoke at engagements ranging from $0 to $1,105 this past spring.  As I embark on my first legitimate year of speaking, my fee for high schools is now $1,500 (plus travel expenses), while for colleges it is bit more.  Charging this much seemed daunting at first, but I am beyond confident that my impact absolutely merits that fee.  Compared to other speakers, my prices are quite competitive.

Any funny “growing up” stories you like to tell during your presentation?

That question is like shooting a fish in a barrel—remember, I grew up with Tourette’s and only four feet of intestines!   My entire presentation is filled with stories and anecdotes that implicitly convey ideas of tolerance rather than me explicitly telling students “how to treat people.”

I’ll end this interview with a classic “growing up” interaction.  One time, before boarding a plane, I told a flight attendant, “Hi, my name is Marc Elliot.  I just want to let you know that I have Tourette’s Syndrome.  I sometimes make involuntary noises and I cannot help it.”  She replies, “Don’t worry honey… we’re all a little bit crazy!”

You can get in touch with Marc through his website at Marc Speaks, or ask a question in the comments and I’ll do my best to make sure he sees it!

Welcome to a series of profiles on alternative lifestyles. If you think that you (or someone you know) would make for an interesting interview, then drop me a line. I know there are plenty of you out there Hope you enjoy!

Meet Nathaniel Olson, an avid traveler and certified teacher currently based in Busan, South Korea. Most people (that I know) who teach English abroad end up in places like Europe, Thailand and Japan, so when I connected with Nathaniel through Twitter (you can find him here), I was interested how he ended up in Busan. Did you know that South Korean schools typically have the highest pay rates for English teachers? Upwards of $2500/mo, a free round-trip plane ticket, free housing, and 50% medical? What a deal!

After college, Nathaniel found a job that took him to 48 U.S. states and 5 Canadian provinces. He eventually wound up in Busan after realizing that education was his true calling, likening the city to his hometown of Seattle. I’ll let him tell you the rest:

How did you end up with a Masters in Teaching?

Ever since I was growing up I had a feeling that some day I would become an educator.  Yet, the draw of making a ton of money sounded pretty nice coming out of High School…so I went the advertising route…after a year stint in Seattle, I realized that money really wasn’t that important to me and I needed to figure out what would make me happy.  After small jobs, I got a job with the Bureau of Education and Research.  The job allowed me to have close contact with many well known educators.  I eventually sat down with my sister and decided that is was time to go back to school to become an elementary teacher….

48 states and 5 provinces? Sounds like a lot of travel. What was the gig?

The gig was working for the Bureau of Education and Research.  I was a program manager, yet it’s easier to describe as a tour manager for educational presenters.  I traveled with a new presenter each week traveling the US and Canada…each day a new city.  It was tiring and fun at the same time.  I would have never gone to some of the places that I went without the job.  It also gave me the itch to go back overseas.

How did you end up teaching English in Busan over other world cities?

Actually, I didn’t know much about South Korea or even Busan before I seriously considered it.  I researched many job opportunities across the world.  What really attracted me was the opportunity to live in a port city, teach in a public school, financially be able to pay off my student loans, and a new experience.  I also liked how group oriented the society as a whole is.  I’ve loved every second of it.

Wait, Busan and Seattle are similar? In what sense?

They both are port cities with mountains in the background.  They have world famous fish markets, eco-friendly people, and are large cities, yet not the size of Seoul or Los Angeles.

What recreational activities do you amuse yourself with outside of school?

I love to go hiking, play soccer, relax on the beach, ride my bike, attend concerts/sporting events, fishing, snowboarding, and anything that gets me outside.

Any long-term plans? Think you’ll be hanging out in Busan for the next few years?

I’m done here in March 2010.  Then me and my girlfriend are backpacking around SE Asia for awhile, back to the Portland, OR area to look for a teaching job, then off to Africa for the world cup, and eventually living in Portland, OR by next fall.  Hopefully I’ll be teaching 5th or 6th grade in the public schools by then.

Best of luck, Nathaniel!

If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask in the comments and I’ll do my best to track him back down. He’s a busy guy, romping around Busan and all.

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

Meet Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil, by far the coolest adventure travel couple I’ve ever come across. They have traveled to over 35 countries, with extensive experience in southeast Asia and Africa. Last year, they cycled from Cairo to Cape Town and climbed Mt. Kiliminjaro!

Though as interesting as their experiences are, I am much more impressed with how they have completely transformed their Internet presence over the last few months. From knowing nothing about Google Adsense, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc., Dave and Deb now maintain one of the more popular travel blogs on the web. You’ll hear it from them–that’s not an easy feat.

Read below to learn about how Dave and Deb met, about their recent trip to Africa, and about their strategies for building a successful blog. I look forward to following their upcoming adventures in Central Asia. Apparently they have all kinds of surprises for us.

Let’s hear it. How did Dave and Deb meet?! What are your respective backgrounds?

Dave and I have been together for 18 years. We met in college at the young ages of 20 and 21, and it was love and adventure from that moment on. After graduating, we settled in Toronto, but the wanderlust had already hit us and we packed up to move out west to Vancouver. We lived there for 3 years and that is when we started working in the film business. The industry was booming and it was easy to get a job at the ground level. We worked on such projects as Rumble in the Bronx, Jumanji and The X-Files. We had never been out of North America at that point and had listened to all of the older veterans of the film industry talk about their travels. They would work during the summer and leave for exotic destinations during the winter. It was inspiring and we wanted to have the life that they were leading. We have fulfilled that dream and for the past 10 years have been splitting our time between movies and travel. Dave works as a Rigging Gaffer which is the head of the lighting department and I am a Make-up Artist.

Tell us a bit about your most recent expedition, the Tour d’Afrique?

We took on the Tour d’Afrique with the intention of turning our part-time travels into a business. It is a 12,000km cycling expedition from Cairo, Egypt to Cape Town, South Africa. We entered as racers with the hopes of raising our profile as adventurers. We had always been very adventurous, the rest of the world just didn’t know it. We are avid snowboarders, skiers, rock climbers and mountain bikers. We can paddle and navigate canoe routes and we love camping and the outdoors. Whenever we travel, we always make it an adventure. From Paragliding in Peru, climbing South East Asia’s highest peak; Mount Kinabalu in Borneo, or swimming with sharks in Belize, we love to add elements of adrenaline to our itinerary. People really seemed to enjoy the idea of a couple racing down a continent together and we gained a lot of publicity. We ended up having a great finish as well. I was women’s champion and Dave came 5th in the men’s race. Our intent before leaving was to pitch a travel adventure television series when we returned. Between our newspaper articles, television and radio interviews and our fabulous finish, production companies were willing to meet with us. It was much easier to pitch an adventure show when you had already received a lot of publicity as adventurers. It was a really brutal tour. We rode through the desert in Sudan, rocky mountain roads in Ethiopia, We had mud and rain in Tanzania and long mileage in Botswana. We would cycle for 6 days in a row and then have a rest day. This lasted for 120 days. Being on a bicycle for 5 to 8 hours a day was difficult, but since finishing, we feel that we can accomplish anything. There was civil unrest in Kenya while we were in Africa, so unfortunately we had to bypass that country. Our support trucks drove through without us as we flew ahead to Tanzania. We had 2 weeks to wait for them, so we decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro while we were there. It was an incredible experience, and another one of those moments that make you feel that you can achieve anything in your life. It also was important to us to add another adventure to our repertoire.

When did you decide to take blogging more seriously? To transform your Internet presence?

We started seriously blogging again about 2 months ago. We had been blogging while in Africa but stopped when we returned home. We felt that since our trip was over, we didn’t have anything more to say. It was while we were doing research on travel writing for our next trip that we stumbled upon some articles about blogging for a living. It never occurred to us to run our travel blog as a travel website that we can share information with people wanting to travel like we do. We realized that we had a lot of experience under our belt, and that we had a lot to say. We felt that we could reach a wide audience with posts on our favorite places, information on destinations and advice columns. When we saw other people actually making a living out of it, we decided to concentrate on having our blog up and running and making money by the time we leave at the end of this year.

What strategies did you use to revamp your blog and connect with new readers?

This has been a challenge. We didn’t know anything about SEO (search engine optimization) or monetizing our blog. We didn’t know about keywords or tagging. So we have had to go back through all of our posts and basically start from scratch. Our first order of business was changing our theme. Our theme was originally set up as more of a personal blog and we needed to make it look more like a website. We had to submit our site to search engines like Google, we joined travel forums like the Travel Blog Exchange and social networks like Twitter. We applied to Google Adsense and Commission Junction and others and put some ads on our site. And as time went on we refined our choices to fit our content. We learned how to connect with our community. We have found this to be invaluable. Speaking to and learning from other travel bloggers has been a huge help and we are building friendships that we feel will last for years to come. The support system out there is incredible, but you have to work at it. You can’t just expect people to help you out if you aren’t active in the blogging community. We have really enjoyed reaching out to other travelers. We didn’t know the first thing about Twittering, networking in forums and had never heard of StumbleUpon or Digg. It has been a lot of fun watching our community grow as we learn how to utilize these tools. The learning curve has been pretty fast because we have put in a lot of time. Almost every spare moment is spent at the computer, but we still have a lot to learn. Each day we find new ways to gain viewers. We just discovered Reddit and have found that our numbers have risen dramatically.

Have you run into any problems?

Yes, not having any Internet background whatsoever has been difficult. Editing HTML to change the website is a slow process for us. It has all been trial and error. We think that we have found the perfect set up one minute and then we discover that it could be better and need to change it again. Learning and understanding SEO is a big challenge as well. We have to rethink how to write our articles to optimize them for search engines and we are learning how to tag our posts properly. We are still not sure if we are doing everything optimally yet, but at least we have the general idea as to what we are doing and heading in the right direction.

What can we expect from theplanetd in the future?

You can expect to see a lot of us. We are taking this as far as we can and have no plans on giving up. We will be leaving on a journey at the end of this year for an indefinite amount of time. We will be traveling through Central Asia, Europe and Northern Africa writing about our adventures as we go. We have big plans on how we are going to travel, but you will have to wait and read about it once we are there. Expect a lot of adventures that are unique to each country along the way. Our travel show is still in the works and we have signed with a production company. They are still working on development and distribution at the moment. These things take time and we don’t need to be here for that so we can go off and keep the adventure alive until the first episode starts filming. We are jumping in with both feet and not turning back. We believe that if you give yourself an ultimatum and set a definite goal, with enough hard work and persistence things will work out in the end.

You can follow Dave and Deb’s adventures on their personal website, theplanetd.com, as they paddle, hike, climb, scuba dive and trek their way around the globe. You can also follow their micro updates and say hello at twitter.com/theplanetd. All images in this post come from their personal stash

*Update: Check out John’s interview at Jet Set Citizen to learn more!

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

Meet Dan Pierson, an entrepreneur/digital nomad currently “planning world domination.” Originally from New York, Dan has been living in Buenos Aires with his dog Nevada, practicing his Spanish and running BsAs Copy, an Internet marketing firm specializing in sales copy and SEO articles.

Last year, I wrote a handful of SEO articles for Dan and we got to know each other through email and Gchat exchanges. Among other things, we chat about entrepreneurship and travel, so I was very excited to hear about his plans to travel on a round-the-world ticket.

Dan, in preparation for his future travels, used a frequent flier technique called “mileage running” to nudge himself to the top of American Airline’s elite statuses. Over the course of a week, he used my apartment as a launchpad for trips between BOS and LAX  (Dan, thanks again for cleaning up after yourself). I’ll let him tell you more.

Tell us a little bit about what you are doing. What is mileage running?

I’m flying back and forth between Boston and Los Angeles (there and back) for five consecutive days. On the sixth day (tomorrow!), I’m once again flying to Los Angeles, but only as a stop-over on the way to Maui. Aside from earning a butt-load of miles, my goal is to reach American Airline’s holy of all holies: Executive Platinum. This status entitles the holder to various perks, including free upgrades to first class more or less every flight, increased award availability, priority boarding, etc… and some bad-ass luggage tags.

First things first: I’m a novice when it comes to mileage running.

A “pure” Mileage Run (MR) is a flight taken solely for the purpose of earning miles or status on an airline. Aside from cost and whatever particular promotion might be running, the destination doesn’t matter. In fact, if the fare allows, the mileage runner will likely turn right around and hop back on the same plane to avoid having to pay for accommodation.

It’s purely an economic proposition; how many dollars will garner how many miles. That’s a bit simplified, and there are other considerations (am I really sitting in coach for that 14 hour flight to Bangkok?), but it’s a good, basic definition to start with.

It all comes down to the “CPM,” or Cost per Mile. A “good” mileage run will usually come in at under .02 cents per miles. For example, the current mileage run I’m on nets me 21,000 miles per 180 dollars spent.

I still don’t get it. What are you using these miles for, free tickets?

Let me preface by telling you a bit about my life these days. I’m pretty mobile. I’ve been living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for about 6 months, and plan to devote the next 6 months or so to travel. I have no schedule: generally, May 5th is as free as May 6th is as free as May 7th. That’s the opposite of most folks with 9 to 5 jobs.

People assign “dollar values” to frequent flyer miles, but I think that’s a mistake, on a number of different levels.

1. First of all, there are 1001 ways to accumulate miles. For example, opening a credit card could net you 25000 miles (essentially free). You could also go on an airline’s site and purchase 1000 miles for 30 dollars. Therefore, I don’t think it makes sense to say that x miles cost x dollars.
2. For the sake of argument, let’s say that one mile costs one cent (an arbitrary number). A typical “saver” roundtrip fare within the 48 states “costs” 25,000 miles. Here’s the thing: it’s only available three flights per week. Most people can’t take advantage of any of those flights due to work, family, etc. Fortunately, I can.
3. Airlines frequently announce frequent flyer sales, in which they’ll discount the number of miles needed to travel to a specific location. “Wow, they knocked Sydney down to 40,000 miles? I’m there!”.

To sum it up: the more flexibility you have, the more your frequent flyer miles are worth.

How did you find out about this promotion? Where should my readers look for information like this?

As I mentioned before, I’m a novice. The leading site for all things miles is FlyerTalk.com. You’ll find gurus who know how to work the system to a tee. This particular mileage run is pretty straight-forward, but there are others that require significant tweaking; I’m still learning myself. Don’t be intimidated by the abbreviations, acronyms, and words you don’t understand. You’ll pick it up soon enough, if you lurk for a little while.

How do you stay organized?

I entered all of the flight info into a spreadsheet: cost of each flight, miles flown, miles accrued, status points, etc.

Have you run into any problems so far?

Surprisingly, no! My third day of BOS-LAX, I arrived at 7:45 AM, only to find that I was on the 4:30 PM! Luckily, I was able to get on standby on the earlier, 8:20 AM flight, so I didn’t have to wait around the airport all day.

On the other end of the spectrum, I sweet-talked an off-duty gate agent (incidentally doing the same run to earn miles for her niece and nephew), and she “bumped” me up to the little cocoon where the flight attendants hang out on Trans-Atlantic flights. Way nicer than coach, and we enjoyed a nice conversation about the different destinations in Latin America.

Let’s talk some numbers here. How many flights? Days? Miles? Cost?

I’m factoring in some travel done aside from these BOS-LAX runs, including trips to North Carolina, D.C., New Orleans, Miami, and Europe. But the vast majority of miles earned and status gained will come from 7 round-trip Trans-Continental flights, as well as a trip to Hawaii.

Redeemable miles: 155,450
Qualifying miles: 100, 377 (100,000 necessary for Executive Platinum)
Butt in Seat miles:  (50,185)
Cost: $2,483.00

This cost includes a $100 change fee on my Hawaii ticket (“you know what, I’m gonna need that extra week on Maui after all these flights”), as well as a $150 Platinum Challenge (needed because of time constraints-normally, I could have waited for the miles to post and status to be attained organically). I also factored in the trips to both domestic and international destinations. The Pure “mileage run” cost came out to a little over one thousand dollars.

Here´s an example of what this all comes down to:

I´m sitting in an Internet cafe in southern Spain. I just got off the phone with AAdvantage after booking my flight from Thailand back to the United States. I´m going to fly Qantas BKK-SYD, and then SYD-JFK. In first class. On the new A-380.

Total cost=67.5k frequent flyer miles (three round trips BOS-LAX, or about $600).

Each of those first class tickets would normally cost about $10,000.

In a nutshell, that´s how to work the frequent flyer mile system. It´s not for everyone, but if you can make it work for you, those worthless miles you hear people complaining about can be turned into golden flights of Dom Perignon and world class service.

You can follow Dan’s travels on his personal website danpierson.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/danpierson.