Last month I attended SXSW for the first time. For those of you unfamiliar with SXSW (the ‘Interactive’ week specifically), it’s when an estimated 20,000 techies, designers, and entrepreneurs descend on Austin TX for a week to discuss emerging technologies, cultivate new ideas, feel cool, etc. My main reason for going to SXSW was for the benefit of my user interface design company and my software startup, but there was plenty of RV-lifestyle inspiration to be found.
Technomadia
I was pretty excited to learn that Chris Dunphy & Cherie Ve Ard were actually doing a session at SXSW called Technomadism – Becoming a Technology Enabled Nomad. I’ve been following their blog for a while and have been reading their book, so it was nice to actually meet them. They’ve been living on the road for 5 years now, doing their tech jobs remotely.
The SXSW crowd is already an eccentric lot, and a session about technomadism brought out a few extremists (one guy only owned what he could carry in his backpack; another guy claimed to have no identity and lived totally off the grid) but it was otherwise an enlightening discussion.
Tim Ferris
Tim Ferris is the author of the best seller The 4 Hour Work Week, which I’ve read a few times now. Truthfully, that book is a mixed bag of rubbish and brilliance, but I also consider it the most influential book on my work/life philosophies. In fact, I could probably trace our whole RV trip idea back to that book. I missed Tim’s session, but snuck in at the end to at least snap this photo.
Man vs Debt
I’ve only been following this guy’s blog for a couple months, but he and his small family are living full time in their RV, touring the country to promote his message about living debt-free. His motto – “Sell your crap. Pay off your debt. Do what you love.” – resonated with me, so I had to meet him. Great guy.
Looking forward to next year
A week at SXSW was both exhausting and awesome. We’ll plan our route so that we’re in Austin in time for SXSW 2012!