Full day of traveling on Saturday:

• 6:30am wake up in Muelle pier, Puerto Galera. Boat leaves ON time 7am, but not a direct boat, it has to make a stop at Sabang pier before
• Arrive in Batangas port 9am, trying to catch a 12:20pm departure Manila to Boracay, In Batangas, try to save time to get a taxi, but so many hustlers changing prices and terms….James, Chris, and I along with Damian (who missed his Bangkok flight already) take the bus. But 2 buses are there, wouldn’t tell us which one was leaving first, but find the bus with more locals and more full and jump on that one. Luckily it was right, and we left after 5 minutes.
• While on the bus, get a call from MikeMo that the 12:20 flight to Boracay has been CANCELLED and they have some other flights available later in the afternoon, at least I don’t have to rush to the airport now, as I have been delayed in Puerto Galera for 2 nights already.
• Arriving at the closest bus stop to the airport, part ways with Damian who is staying in downtown Manila overnight, look to take a taxi to the airport….but the taxi’s refuse to use a meter, and tell us to cross the overpass of the highway in Manila to catch the taxis that will use a meter. James has a lot of luggage to lug around and didn’t realize this wasn’t a “5 star resort vacation”. I’ve learned to travel light and backpack only. Find a meter taxi and head to the airport. Meter only ran up to 60 peso….taxi driver (taxis in Manila philippines I blog about here). Its getting better though
• Arrive at airport, Chris didn’t have a flight booked yet (his mobile data plan hadn’t been working for hours to book online. I am getting phone calls from MikeMo and Attila about flight times, one saying 3pm is available, other saying 3pm is fully booked and move to 3:45pm. I’m flexible, but Chris is booking his flight and wants to fly together….after a series of calls, its determined 3:45 is the flight we will use, and all 4 of us are confirmed.
• Take free shuttle van to the casino near the airport. Chris had to pay an extra thousand or so because he booked his flight in person (his globe mobile data wasn’t working!) so he had to “win it back at the casino”. I’m a watcher not a player, spent about an hour there. Had some japanese fusion lunch, then head back to the airport to catch the 3:45.
• Taxi back t the airport (across the street) in terminal 3…..of course they don’t want to use the meter, asking for 100 peso…churn through a couple taxi, and finally get a taxi that will take us over on the meter….60 peso.
• Go through security, no problems, MikeMo already had our seats reserved and was waiting for us. I don’t need my passport for domestic flights, so was able to use my American driver’s license to get through checkin.
• The 4 of us finally all meetup, ready to start a vacation, “hangover movie” style, in Boracay, Philippines! All of a sudden, announcement – FLIGHT IS CANCELLED! We have to wait in line…..Turns out we cannot fly to the Boracay airport directly, but have to catch a 5:45pm flight to Kalibo airport instead and take a bus to Boracay…..or wait til tomorrow…..so we have no choice, we want to get to Boracay for Saturday night, and we receive free travel coupons for future domestic flights…..sigh….we just want to get on with our vacation!
• Fly to Kalibo on time, and arrive around 7pm….take a 7:30pm bus to Boracay port….that is paid for by Cebu Pacific Air. A very windy rural road up hills, side to side….ran over a dog during the trip….at least we had some San Miguel Light beers we picked up at the airport to hold us over.
• Arrive at the port, take a boat across the port to Boracay island….around 9pm at this time.
• Finally, after arriving at Boracay island, catch a tricycle from Section 3 to Section 1 of the island….catching sites of all the clubs, bars, beaches, and adventure options for this crazy weekend ahead. Checkin to hotel approximately 10pm

So that covers it – boat, attempted taxi, bus, taxi, shuttle bus, taxi, plane, bus, boat, tricyle…..9 methods of transportation and 15 hours of travel time…..yes, it is Typhoon season so I shouldn’t attempt this vacation travel anyway….but it was exhausting.

BUT IT WAS WORTH IT! Used every minute we could to drink, eat, swim, and suck in the Boracay aura. Unfortunately (or fortunately on behalf of the “vacation” part) the hotel only had wifi in the lobby (not even cable internet in the room), so I was not able to do more then reply to emergency emails…..forcing me to enjoy my vacation. (sure I was still tweeting on twitter and checking in on foursquare, but that is my kinda fun!)

Supposed to fly out of Boracay to Manila yesterday (Monday) afternoon, but received a phone call from Cebu Pacific that the flight has been cancelled….and MikeMo is able to get one seat on a later flight that day, but there were not enough flights for all of us….so the three other dudes Chris, Attila, and me had to get a 2pm flight the next day (Tuesday)…..aiya……

But again, delays may be for a reason, and we lived it up on the extra day in Boracay. I had to cancel / reschedule a few phone meetings to Wednesday….and stressing a bit more that more email and work is piling up…..but during the trip met the general manager of a resort here, Discovery, and he and his friends took good care of us, being hospitable filipinos as they explained it. Spent the afternoon eating and hanging by the poolside there.

We were invited to his villa in the mountainside where there is an infite pool, private BBQ cook, DJ, totally awesome place….burgers, beers, and a swimming pool overlooking the Boracay beach….not sure how vacation could be better…

Today (Tuesday) I’m writing this from the plane ride back to Manila….only half capacity on this propeller plane because they say the weight limit is tighter due to the high winds recently…..bumping off many people from the flight, like a group of 20 Chinese tourists from Shanghai. They were so angry…..but luckily we were able to be squeezed onto the flight and should land in Manila later this evening.

It is a bit scary here taking off on the runway….thinking it wouldn’t be that strange the plane couldn’t take off and crash….made me think, if I were to die…I would not regret living my life each day. Maximizing my life and waking up each day looking in the mirror to make sure I am doing things I am excited about and passionate about.

But this trip has been exhausting….so many cancelled / rescheduled flights and meetings….its allowing me to “let go” a bit more and learn to relax and not stress about the things I cannot control.

Definitely a vacation I needed….I think I’m ready to work like a maniac again! Lets rock!

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I just can’t seem to stop working and traveling on the road,constant traveling since maybe March last year. Its addicting, and once you create a work environment where location isn’t as important, so long as you have internet (unrestricted, open internet preferred…) and electricity you can get the majority of your work done.

Its been since January that I’ve been to the Philippines, and there is a ton of business to attend to….as well as hopefully some relaxation and a much needed holiday…..even my staff and customers are screaming at me to take a damn holiday and refresh / relax for a bit.

Bringing some chocolates from Hong Kong (Marie advised this is a very popular gift) and will spread the love throughout the first day or two (as I’m sure its gonna melt in my bag extremely quickly down there)

I’ll probably keep on blogging, though I hope I don’t get too many jealous comments from those who are at the office while I’m working and relaxing on the beach!

I’m taking the weekend in Shenzhen now, been trying to cut down meetings (thanks Leon and others), and just learning to better say “NO”, even though I may dissappoint people or miss out on some opportunities. But then so be it.

Here is the upcoming week:

• Sunday – here in Shenzhen, working on preparing for week ahead, also hope to finish a book “Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure”.
• Monday – go to Dongguan at the Fiveislands Chinese ecommerce center, my trusted assistant Amy says everyone misses me….(awwww, I feel the love!) One of our clients of bike accessories needs a bike from his Shenzhen workshop to be moved over to our Dongguan facility, maybe I’ll ride it over (nahhh, not that crazy!) Oh, and yea maybe also catch up on work! (yes, I do work, not just blog and travel guys!)
• Tuesday – Dongguan still, hopefully there will be electricity, hope to have more team and management meetings about the Chinese ecommerce projects and logistics. Plan to head to Hong Kong after the day of work is done.
• Wednesday – in Hong Kong, meet with my friend Vlad introduce him to my Hong Kong business friends, investigate a new web project for the Hong Kong market (still a bit early stage for me to blog details). Also hope to meet some social media gurus like Kitty Cheung and @battlestars Jason
• Thursday – still in Hong Kong for the morning and early afternoon, work in Boot HK coworking, in the evening there is the Shenzhen meeting for networkprd.com re-launch. More name card trading and networking over cocktails.
• Friday – A day between networking meetings, probably stay in Shenzhen and catch up on work.
• Saturday, afternoon meetup for shenzhen marketing, the fifth one, topic on mobile app marketing
• Saturday night, Head back to Hong Kong, my friend Andy Englander from USA is in town for a couple weeks, spend a night on the town w/ him, wish I had more time, but have the Philippines in the morning.
• Sunday morning – fly to philippines from Hong Kong airport, will be in Philippines from the 19th to the 30th. Plan to visit my staff, the scholarship program progress, check on progress of Clear Cafe center, hope to do a meetup, and get some beach time in Boracay (yes, I know MikeMo, finally!)

So there is my upcoming week. I am going to try my best to stick to this schedule….whats exhausting is not the traveling, but changing the plans due to others or some strange circumstances last minute….that is what really drains me…switching gears. I need to mentally prepare and plan.

But I feel more confident…I’ve learned the best ways to get around these locations….that took years of hustling to do…now its about planning and execution! DO IT!

But in a way, everyone wants to buy “exclusive” products, imported good are always more sexy.

So back to foreign education….many of my friends in China have spent time overseas for the undgraduate or graduate (MBA) degrees. I think definitely traveling abroad, for anyone, Chinese or American or European, is sooooo valuable because you are exposed to different cultures, different setting, and it builds up your “away” time from your home country. It really develops you faster than anything else I can imagine….and for a student it is even better.

While I didn’t study overseas, I did choose a college away from my hometown – Stevens Tech was right next to New York and I wanted to start moving towards the “big apple”. It also meant I couldn’t live at my parent’s house anymore. I remember my parents were sad and also realized living away would cost much more money in student loan debt (sigh). But I knew it would force me to meet new people, get away from the “home nest” and develop my social skills as well as book skills.

I had a meeting with my friend Lavinia and she wants me to help promote Chinese to study overseas. She is representing a set of Canadian universities and has all the resources and tools to help Hong Kong citizens and mainland Chinese to get there.

Here are some of the ways she can help:

• Direct University Admissions – No English required when applying to Dorset. Students are given a placement test when they register. Qualified students are eligible to directly enter University Transfer program. Students complete first one or two years of required University Transfer courses at Dorset. University Transfer year 1 and year 2 can be completed within one and half years
  Students who do not qualify for direct admission can enroll in the Dorset Academic Preparation Program (ESL)
• Letters of acceptance both from Dorset and one of Dorset’s partnering reputable universities – After completing the required courses at Dorset, students will transfer to Dorset’s partnering Canadian reputable Universities, such as Acadia University, Dalhousie University, Cape Breton University to complete their studying Bachelor or Master Degree. University year 3 and year 4 can be finished within 1 and half years
• Reputable university BACHELOR’s or MASTER’s degree – By Dorset’s unique University Transfer program, students are able to gain a Bachelor within 3 years or a Master within 2 years. After graduation, and according to Canadian Immigration Law, students are eligible to apply for 3-year work permit, and plan for immigration.

Anyway, I’m really excited to help promote Chinese and Hong Kong people to study abroad, its a great experience to do international travel and doing it while you are studying is even better. I wish I had done that more when I was in university.

Recently got an email about a new article written about why you should couchsurf this summer, thought it was good enough to share here today:

We would love to share with you an article that we just posted on our own blog! (10 Reasons to Consider Couchsurfing this Summer) is linked below and could be a fun way to share this announcement with your readers.

(http://www.bestcollegesonline.net/blog/2011/10-reasons-to-consider-couchsurfing-this-summer/)

It has been a sincere pleasure to read your great content.

Can’t really tell if this is some “SEO spam email” but heck, it gives me a good topic to blog about.

Even my good friends think couchsurfing is crazy and maybe a bit dangerous. But I get to know people so much more when couchsurfing! Think about it, the most bonding time to get to know people is in the evening, to learn the culture, how they live, their habits, etc. I have learned so much more about different cultures and life perspectives couch surfing.

So for those of you wondering………Its not just a way for cheap travel!, but instead really getting into a culture. Especially when traveling internationally. I have learned so much about Chinese and Philippines lifestyle by living in their home. By living like a local. I know its crazy, but I prefer it over a hotel! I get a connection with the family, the neighbors. See life truly from their angle. Whereas if I were staying in a hotel, Sure I would tour the city with them, visit company offices, have dinner. But for the most part, dinner is over, depending on the people you’re with you’ll go to a bar, or a cafe, etc. Chit chat….but then you separate at night, you stay in your nice hotel, they drive/taxi back to their home.

I think at that critical moment, a lot of experience and culture and connection is LOST.

I know, hosting a couchsurfer is much more difficult than hosting a friend visiting and staying at a hotel. As a host, sure we want some time off talking to people, explaining things, making sure they are comfortable, etc. Its also maybe a bit invading, the couchsurfer is inside your home, using your bathroom things, going in your fridge, etc etc.

Maybe Americans feel more strange than say Europeans. I really think it comes down to culture. Americans are brought up to OWN things take possession, ownership – THIS IS MINE. Where I feel European or most other cultures learn to share and experience other things and people.

Yes, this sounds kind of “hippy” lifestyle, and it is. But again, its also environmental and GREEN. Share instead of your have own things and place to stay, i have my own things and place to stay. Because that means the world has to manufacture and create MORE STUFF (as George Carlin says so well) We have to learn to consume less.

Again, I know its hard for people to change their mindset and lifestyle. But couchsurfing, minimalism, traveling, social and community is a great way to learn culture, be environmentally responsible, and focusing on life instead of numbers in your bank account.

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Its great I blogged about it when I first came, the arrival to Hong Kong, the food poisoning and just reading those old blogs brings back the memories…again I feel blessed I have recorded it.

Doing this made me realize…..wow, I had no clue when I first landed in Hong Kong back in 2007….or I am just an experienced Hong Kong / China businessman veteran now – probably a mix of both….But yes, I am ripping through these trade shows like there is no tomorrow. I used to waste so much time being polite and talking to so many booths…now I know what I want, I know what to ask, and I find what I need. Why waste their time and my time?

About 1 hour ago, I stopped by one of my India suppliers and saw my old friend Shwetabh, he and I met that first time in 2007 when I arrived to my first Hong Kong fair. We just sat down for a cup of coffee and discussed business and life. This is why I love international business…I am talking to an Indian supplier, in Hong Kong, about his travels in Rio, Brazil. He says Brazil is his favorite country to visit and I should definitely take a trip. Yes…I do have this on my list of places to travel too….so many places on my list to travel to.

But Shwetabh said I look so tired….he suggests I take some more time in America. He reads my blogs sometimes (wow, I blush) and he says I have to calm down the traveling a bit. How can I have a base, a life, solid friends if I am every day moving from one city to the next. While I do agree, I believe my base is this travel. I have been bushwhacking these connections, bridging people from various cities, various cultures, various backgrounds….trying to find opportunity and make something different.

I don’t want a normal life.

But anyway, the trade show has been rather slow actually….all the vendors I have talked to mention each year the attendance is lower and lower. I suspect it’s a reduction in buyer’s travel budgets, also suppliers no longer wish to go to such lengths to find buyers, and the internet is making communication and connecting easier and easier.

Yet wow, I realize “what a little boy” I was a few years ago, but am amazed at how I even am still standing at this point. Just keep on going, sure my friends may tell me to slow down, but this is just the beginning.
So many more places to go – India, Brazil, Australia, Russia, Eastern Europe. I thrive in Chaos, and I am more experienced and equipped then ever.

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“Where are you now? Are you in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Dongguan, or?”

So I thought I would share the next few days with everyone….. give an idea of the insane life and that I am actually doing work while this is happening – thanks to technology management and internet advancement….while of course certain country governments try to filter and slow it down, we all manage to keep on going forward. Without further ado:

So there is a day in the life.

Borders seem to always highlight the most extreme cases in people’s lives, the dividing lines in the haves and have-nots.

Just again and again I think when I am crossing borders, its like border checks is profiling and racist, the ability for some to cross and others not, mostly due to the fact of where they were born into this world. I guess that has to be the defining factor of those who can and cannot enter certain countries, and I am thankful again and again for being fortunate enough to have been born to American parents in the United States of America.

I spend my days now talking to people in Hong Kong who don’t have visas to go into mainland China, and then other days talking to people in mainland China who cannot get into hong Kong, or other countries, without a lot of hassle and applications.

Ideally, it would be best to be born a Hong Kong resident for the life I am living now, as a Hong Kong ID holder can zip through borders much easier. Even as an American, I have to get stamped on each side, the Hong Kong side and the Shenzhen, China side.

I am still amazed at the differences between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. sure the gap is closing, you can definitely see that in the prices – with Shenzhen costs for food, real estate, and labor sky rocketing. But even culture, and feeling between these 2 areas is major….and while there is a decent sized expat community in Shenzhen, it is nothing compared to the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Hong Kong…..a truly international city.

People have said that in the next 5 to 10 years there will not be much of a real border between Shenzhen and hong kong. There is big talk of a major metropolis between Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and even up to Guangzhou and Zhuhai. The population in each of these places is bigger than almost any city in the world, all are major….so to see them all combined as 1 metropolis….this is daunting. But that would be so great for me not to have to fill out these annoying customs forms (what happens to these forms anyway) when crossing back and forth, filling up my passport with stamps.

And “us Americans”, especially those who have not traveled outside of USA, have a hard time comprehending what it means to have to get a passport visa to enter a country, we are so spoiled to just fly to any destination and show our passport and get in without any questions asked….the rest of the world population is well aware of passport visas, customs officials, border taxes, and all the other headaches that divide the lines between the “haves” and the “have-nots”.
Just wonder if there could be a “super passport” of highly educated or experienced people in the world, who have to pass some sort of test to receive this passport, and could easily travel between any country in the world. Rather than having country passports where simply being born in one country gives you the rights and priviledges in that country (or the difficulties, burdens, and setbacks). Because during my travels I have met some really intelligent people, truly gifted people who appreciate life and would do great things, but have more hardships and disadvantages because they were born into a country and a system that holds them back.

….Super passport, global passport….that would be awesome.

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Well, maybe because not many other people are moving around….so I have to (and overall enjoy) travel around to build up relationships and maximize the pros and minimize the cons of doing business in each of these areas.

Seems I will spend my weekdays in Dongguan, on site where this factory, Five Islands is converting into an ecommerce fulfillment center and wholesale buyer’s club. I’m going to build up a dedicated team for their SEO and internet marketing projects there, while also keeping my “fragmented” network of operations in other Chinese cities and in the Philippines.

While I have been learning a lot in Dongguan, being submerged in a pure chinese operation, I do need to get out a bit. But this past weekend was a bit draining….leaving Friday to Hong Kong for the night, having a huge dinner w/ Cindy and Lammy’s friends (still getting facebook tag notifications in my email box), connecting new people, meeting others. Crashing couches, with an occasional hostel or hotel along the way.

I had made more meeting plans in Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon…..but had a last minute invite for a Chinese new year dinner in Guangzhou with Gary and the new Five Islands team….so had to cancel those (even though maybe I thought I had already cancelled), just so busy chatting to people online, email, scheduling…I really need an assistant with me at all times! Hope I don’t lose friends as life is moving so fast, moving city to city…trying my best to plan meetings while also adapting to changing environments. Again, my trying to do too much, being nice, not saying no, and indirectness at times is the main culprit.

Leaving Hong Kong Saturday morning, stopped by Dong guan for a couple hours, as there was a tour of the new facility by the Hong Kong office and Guangzhou office….the five islands Dongguan ecommerce warehouse is a new project and like a “Special operations” or incubator project within this larger network of factories and trading companies. Luckily we had stopped by Dongguan first, so I could change into a suit for the formal Chinese New Years Dinner.

Then driving to Guangzhou, arriving approximately 4pm, visiting the trading company’s product showroom, shaking hands with approximately 300 workers in this factory and trading company network between Hong Kong, Dongguan, and Guangzhou….really overwhelming….and my being the only gweilo, maybe felt some indirect cultural pressure and extra eyeball attention (though I am getting quite used to it being in China / Asia for the past 3 years)

Since there were people going back to Hong Kong, I decided to get off at the Huanggong, Shenzhen border as I had some ecommerce meetings scheduled in Shenzhen on Sunday. Checking in with Dave Ho to see where he’s at, and he wasn’t at his apartment and therefore I met him at a bar in Coco park (yes, in my suit with my luggage….good thing I travel light). Stuffing my laptop and backpack into a locker, I continued my networking….already running out of namecards…..saving numbers on my phone, emailing directly my contact info to people as I got their namecard. Hyper ACTIVE networking….
Unfortunately later in the evening my mobile phone was stolen along with his (wow these theieves are good ,stole both ours in a 2 minute window)…..putting a damper on my exhausting weekend. So Sunday morning head over to China mobile to get a new SIM card, and Dave let me use an old school nokia phone for temporary use….then heading directly to a meeting with Guang Yao for coffee, discussing future ecommerce meetups…..to more meetings with Chinese internet gurus in OCT (overseas Chinese Town). After the meeting, digital boy (David Chang) from geek cook dropped me off at my Australian programmer friend, Leon’s, place in Futian where we talked about domaining and outsourcing management. Bought a phone off him, android HTC wildfire, a much more compact, less flashy smartphone that may not get as much attention by thieves, changed my passwords (well the more frequently used ones), and got back on my “mobile internet life” back in order.

Leon wanted to come see Dong guan operations and came along for the trip, so he’s sleeping in the bus next to me (photo in this entry) and will get a tour of things and stay until tomorrow. I’ll be here till Thursday, then to Hong Kong.

Life in the world of PRD (Pearl River Delta).

This is my life, I’m a living, breathing, social media networking machine…..blogging on a bus, Leon tried working on ths bus here but he said it makes him nauseous…..I have gotten past that a long time ago…realizing I have to learn to work on the move in order to maintain the lifestyle I want.

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Will arrive back in Manila tonight, some last minute setup for the cyber café, meet some friends MikeMo and Attila with his girlfriend, pack, prepare for the apartment lease to end, and head to Hong Kong tomorrow (Thursday) evening. Will then rush to another couchsurfing meetup in Lan Kwei Fong, Central, Hong Kong seeing some friends I already know as well as make some new contacts.
Stay overnight at my friend Alex’s place in Hong Kong, met him at boot hk , and he is fortunate enough to be going to Beijing, China to seal a deal working with Groupon China! Congrats to him! He was originally supposed to accompany me to Shenzhen, China Friday morning, meet some of my contacts there as it would be his first time in mainland, but plans change and I’m happy for him.

I’ll still head into Shenzhen on Friday afternoon, have those meetings with some electronics manufacterers and logistics companies, finish up planning for the shenzhen ecommerce meetup on Saturday and finish my presentation.

Will crash over Dave Ho’s place Friday, and Saturday afternoon will attend and coordinate the “informal” that’s becoming more formal Shenzhen ecommerce meetup in Nanshan’s high tech park.

Not sure about Saturday night, there is a networking event also in nanshan, or may lay low…..normally after my exhausting weekdays, I prefer to sit back and relax when it gets to a weekend or a holiday.

Sunday do plan to get to Dongguan, back to the factory and ecommerce center for fiveislands ***link and work on recruiting and training a new inhouse SEO team in the Dongguan office, which won’t seem to get started until after the Chinese new years, but have to get planning and more inquiries in.

Tempted to plan a meetup in Dongguan, finding more and more businesspeople in the city, but may wait till later next week….Already seems I will have to get back to Hong Kong for a Thursday Chinese New Years dinner and then an American friend, Lily, is in Hong Kong for a few days, as well a MikeMo from Manila on a business trip.

I just think this will be how my life is going to continue to be, but really it will / should stick within these areas – hong kong, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, manila,and cebu. Is that too many places? I don’t think its that abnormal, blogging my comparison of south florida to south east asia, I am sure there are tons of businessmen that cover this type of a region. May have to make it to Shanghai sometimes as well.

Am I being less effective then I was stationed in a fixed office in Shenzhen for the past couple years 2008 – 2009 ? I don’t think so, in 2010 I learned / forced myself to learn how to work remotely off my laptop, in cyber cafes…..dealing with USA IP issues with online banking when outside of the country, and Chinese governments blocking social media websites. Also have gotten my Chinese work permit (after many years of chinese business visas) so I can easily get in and out of China for business all 2011.

The past few years have been exactly this, a learning and development time for me. Its not a waste at all, I built up a great network, learned what I like to do, found my zone…and now in 2011, will just learn how to work on the road.

Luckily technology is on my side….I have ways to manage my files via cloud computing, password sharing and management, workflow and project management……really almost to the point where I can jump on anyone’s computer and get right into my daily work. Think this started coming to be a reality and wake up call for me with Tim Ferris’s “The Four Hour Work Week”, we have to get past the idea that working means sitting in a fluorescent overhead lighting cubicle office….the world is changing and evolving quickly, and I am trying my best to stay on top of it.

It’s strange, to me and to my friends, that I have not earlier been involved in couchsurfing websites, making my couchsurfing.org profile  more complete lately.  I have been “couchsurfing” for almost as long as I have been traveling, depending on how you define it.  And this is why I love twitter and blogging and social media, because you can more closely connect with people as  you travel, meet them before you even go to the destination, and more exponentially expand your network!

But this “couchsurfing idea” start partly off the idea that I didn’t want to wait for groups of my friends  to travel together, as so many times in college we would push friends to travel, and normally people would back out as it got closer and the trip would be cancelled.  So I started traveling solo.

My fraternity network – I was one of those fraternity guys who actually utililzed the national network of university chapters, visiting the Delta Tau Delta chapters in Boston, Iowa, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana (maybe more but I forget) throughout my college career.  A few cases below:

Lake George, Upstate New york, Summer 2001 – A fraternity brother in my Stevens Tech chapter, Rich Hattenbach, had his birthday one summer weekend night in 2001, and wanted to get up to Lake George to his friend’s summer home, but didn’t have a ride. That summer I had my pickup truck down in New Jersey (from Connecticut) as I had to commute to work at AT&T in Staten Island, New York each day.  He pleaded me to go, saying I could stay over his friend’s summer home too and ride their boat and cliff jump, water ski, and party.  So later that Friday night, him, Frank, and I crammed into my pickup and took the 8ish hour drive up to upstate NY and “couchsurfed”.

Los Angeles National Fraternity Conference, 2002 – I was of the few fraternity brothers in my university chapter to get involved with national conferences and leadership training, but I think it was a big part of my personal development and networking expansion.  The national conferences were every 2 years I went to the 2000 one in Minneapolis staying with my chapter brothers in hotel rooms.  But in the 2002 conference was in LA, so I came a few days earlier and met up with other fraternity brothers from other chapters – specifically the brothers from Georgia Tech, such as Scott Taylor.  I met him at a leadership training week long program in West Virginia, as well as a good bunch of future leaders.  He and I were both going to the national conference in LA, so we thought we’d head down to San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico for a few days before the conference started.  I also met his chapter brothers, about 4 other guys, and we had an awesome few days.  I remember his aunt had a house in San Diego, and let us crash in the guest house after our wild partying.  I think I can define this as one of the first “couchsurfing” experiences where I really didn’t know anyone except Scott who I had met a year ago at a conference.

Mardi Gras 2003 – I went to New Orleans solo in spring 2003, as my friends and I always wanted to go.  I knew a fraternity brother, Danile Pocase, also who I met at the leadership academy in West Virginia, that was attending the University of Southern Mississippi and was about a hour drive (I believe) from Tulane University in New Orleans where he knew brothers in that chapter.  But he couldn’t go, so other brothers in his Sourthern Miss chapter were also curious to go to Mardi Gras and drove me with them to visit the Tulane chapter for a party.  We knew none of the brothers in Tulane, and really utilized the “hey, I’m a delt brother in another chapter” and got into the party.  The first night I stayed on the couch in the brother’s room (living room) but I met a cool guy there who had an off-campus apartment (4 bedroom) that was also closer to the Mardi Gras celebration and invited me to crash his couch.  Spent a week  there, and then returned to New Jersey.  Met so many people there, and still have contact with a bunch (thanks to facebook, linkedin I have re-connected with others too).

Backpacking in Europe Summer 2003 – This trip I won a scholarship from the National Italian American Society for a “cultural submersion” program they sponsored each summer to have Italian American university students go to Italy and experience and connect with their culture in the “motherland”.  It was a 2 week (or 10 day?) trip and was awesome as there were 2 people from each state attending, and I made contacts all across America, as well as in Italy.  But I was able to extend my return ticket a couple weeks and backpacked on my own further into Italy.  Crashed at my cousins house in Trento, Italy, also meeting various backpackers in hostels, sharing apartments in Nice, France – really was exposed to people of all kinds of cultures and backgrounds…and really expanded my mind.  Also, note that this backpacking  trip was supposed to be with my college friends, but all backed out for different reasons, so I decided to solo.  So glad I did still go.

Cross Country roadtrip summer 2003 – Was supposed to be my hometown friends trip, but only Scott Katin and I went.  He had his chevy s10 pickup and he drove from Connecticut to Manhattan NYC to pick me up, and drove all the way to San Diego California and back…..sometimes crashing at friend’s couches along the way, some hotels, and sometimes camping.  Amazing trip I will never forget, and actually a lot of the photos he took are used on my site still!.

I did some Jamaica trip in summer 2003 with  Tayan, but stayed in hotels, I went to London for a new job training for Deutsche Bank, but they put me in corporate apartments.  Still, while it may not be “couchsurfing” its still traveling and networking, experiencing cultures and perspectives. These trips defined me before I started my corporate life at Deutsche bank from fall 2003 to spring 2007.

2008 to 2009 was a little bit of that, but mostly I was stationed in Shenzhen, China opening my office and starting my China sourcing company..that I started to realize I really belonged more to the internet world, and fixed offices were not for me.

Almost 30 years old now, and still finding out about myself.  Takes time, and hopefully all of us in life spend  time exploring who we really are.

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Really, if this was USA, the geographical distance between these places is similar to going from south florida to Puerto rico…..except there are 3 currencies and 3 languages and 3 borders!

I think this is a pretty good correlation of geographical distances, except that hong kong / south china is separated by a body of water, where cities in Florida aren’t. But the temperatures are similar, and the flight from south florida to Puerto Rico is about the same as China/Hong Kong to Philippines.

So while my friends back home think I am traveling like crazy….really it’s a 2 hour flight from Hong Kong to Manila, flight costs approx. $200usd round trip…its just a different country!

It would be more traveling if I were in USA, flying from San Franscico to New York – as that is a 5 (?) hour plane ride and I believe costs around $400usd round trip.

Just want to blog about this to make my friends back home realize the geographical distance between these places, as they see me traveling so much….

Maybe this is a reason USA became such an economical superpower…..once you’re inside the country, its easy and fast to do business as there is less “transition time” for currency exchange, language translation, border crossing.

Really, I wonder how much of my brain and lifetime is spent traveling through borders and in transport…..

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I said, haha yea I’m on a roll with the blog. Then he said, not the blog…just you, business…not giving up…just keep plugging away…day in and day out….

In a way, I feel kind of TRAPPED that I can’t get out, can’t give up….but in a way, I know there are ways out but I don’t want to take those ways….easy way out, or backtracking. I will keep pushing forward.

I think its also due to having positive people cheering for me. Supporting me along the way…..all the couches I’ve surfed across America and China and Philippines….people have supported me along the way…..kind of like running a marathon…people giving me water alongside the road as I sprint by….and those people are who made it possible for me to keep pushing along as a international entrepreneur.

And of course my parents are the biggest supporters….attaching a clip from a horoscope they cut out of the newspaper. I think when I was younger they tried to guide me…..I remember getting pushed a bit one way or the other from my dad….but I’m a stubborn kid…and still am stubborn. Of course it was hard to leave my well paying job with benefits on Wall Street in New York City…..kind of a dream job for many I’m sure….but one not for me….and one my parents’ had trouble seeing me leave behind.

And then for me to leave USA a couple months ago….my mom was a bit dissappointed, but they have overall supported my “pursuit of happiness” and international business and travel. And having them accept it and my pursuit has helped me move forward more firmly. Sure I miss my family and friends back home.

But back to my change in thought process….I really have lived to feel like there isn’t such thing as failure. Maybe finding out something isn’t right for your life, and you should move on to something else. but is that failure? What I have learned and been told so many times, a big part of life is FINDING WHAT YOU DON’T LIKE TO DO.

Like college internships, that is a great way to try a job and see if you like it, for only a couple months. I remember hating go to some of those internships….and my fraternity brothers would tell me, “hey man, finding out what you don’t like is half the battle”.

And just like finding a job, as an entrepreneur its about finding projects and services you like to do, and you are good at……and going through many projects and experiences you hate….but getting through them……and surviving cash flow crunches…..and insanity of workers, international law. It just makes life that much sweeter.

Sports players always have great motivational quotes about not giving up, and not accepting failure.

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth (baseball player)

“One hundred percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in.” Wayne Gretzky

And that is how I’ve been living my life lately…..Just accepting you never fail, but discover what you don’t like to do, and focusing on what you do like to do. What you can succeed in. Surrounding yourself with like minded people who will support you in achieving the goal.

Anyway, kind of rambling, but Dustin suggested I blog about this thought process.

I met some of his friends here from Ethiopia, lawyers here visiting…talking about the growing and booming Ethiopian economy….buildings, developments, opportunities.

Abiy is also doing web marketing and has some projects going, even back in Stevens, he was doing web design, realizing there is a lot of opportunity. So it was great to talk to someone who also had this knowledge and experience, from a bit of a different angle as a web designer.

Another interesting thing about Ethiopia is the large influx of Chinese people coming there to live and do business. Abiy and Kiddy were telling me about the mixed Chinese-Ethiopian babies there, and the growing population and market to this group.

I am just more and more amazed at how much CULTURE is out there in the world. And while I have learned more in China, Philippines, and a little bit in Thailand…..Africa is a place I have no idea. I do know more people in India too, just went to an Indian Wedding and have learned more about culture of my university friends. Strange I am learning more about my college friend’s culture years and years later….guess its in a different setting now…real life, not “bubble college” life.

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Shanna inviting me to Korea for Christmas, as she is there 1 year teaching English…..I met her in Italy, she is another American traveling globally, looking for what she really wants to do still.

And I reconnected with a friend Amit in India saying he has a 5 star guesthouse waiting for me in Mumbai, India – and in December he can introduce me to his call center company there, as well as show me to the factories I have been buying from for stainless steel. Opening more doors and opportunities in India.

In China, I have a pretty decent, hard working freelance network for internet marketing, SEO, and factory inspection. I have invested 3 years to build a network of friends and business contacts in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing – all willing and interested in working with me on projects or business…..and helping each other out.

Of course the recent Philippines, with Mike Morelos who wants to do some travel excursion business, and my loyal team
The more I travel, the more addicting it gets. And the more friends I meet and make all over the world….therefore further “spreading myself out”….when I go to a new place, I already have been talking to people in that area via twitter, email, facebook, business connections, etc already. I can “hit the ground running”. I really want to keep on doing it…I am really connecting people, is there a way I can make a living doing exactly what I am doing, all day and night long?

Or am I “living by the seat of my pants”? Making life decisions on a whim – This is what some of my friends and critics seem to say….is that really me? WHAT AM I RUNNING AWAY FROM? Am I running away from reality? From “real world”, from being a grown up?
Or am I not patient enough? Here is an email from a friend (not going to disclose, didn’t confirm if its ok to post, but I like it)

you just got back…and people always think you’re going onto another adventure so maybe they don’t just stop themselves for you. So maybe your friends more less expected you to leave. And while you are away, just as we all are, life continues….networks/friendships widen, and if you’re not here then how do you fit in? You just have no patience….I mean I’m from Jerz….I’m going to give to you straight

I AM NOT PATIENT…..true….

So is that why I may not “Fit in”…..people don’t expect me to stay that long? Don’t trust me anymore. Anyway, I’m exhausted from running around like a maniac….time for an early night

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