I’m One of the “Lucky” Ones

5 Steps To Being Lucky, Too.

Tyler Goelz
Make Your Next Trip Unforgettable
6 min readSep 2, 2014

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Often, I’m described as “lucky” for my lifestyle; one of a full-time traveler.

A full-time traveler is a person that travels or is traveling, as to distant places, on full-time basis. A full-time traveler is usually without a permanent address, travels for pleasure, and travels more than eight months out of the year.

I’m continuously asked how I’m able lead such a lifestyle.

“Damn, you’re so lucky you can travel like that! Are you rich? Do you just, like, make enough money to cover your travel expenses?”

Categorizing someone as “lucky” tends to overlook the path taken to achieve their lifestyle. Similar to pro-athletes, oscar winning actors/actresses, and world famous musicians the process taken to achieve those titles are sometimes overlooked. The fact that a person is “living the dream” becomes the main focus shadowing the hard work taken to get where they. This makes it extremely easy to think the person got where they are due to luck.

Now, I’m no Burt Reynolds, and I definitely don’t have pro-athlete money, but I have chosen a path and a lifestyle much different than the average person. For this, I consider myself lucky, but in a different context than I’m usually categorized.

I can’t give you the path [insert famous athlete, because I don’t know any off the top of my head] took to become the best [enter sport] player, but I can give you a look into the path I took.

Keep in mind, these are ever-changing steps and I must continuously take them. There is no one-stop-shop in the life of the lucky. My path include the following:

  1. Sacrificing.
  2. Dedication.
  3. Planning.
  4. Working Effectively.
  5. Working Harder. Playing Harder.

Sacrificing.

A few years ago, I consciously made the decision to become a minimalist. I know, this buzzword is thrown around a lot and I’m not referring to the pseudo-minimalist that furnishes their upscale apartment with furniture that looks sleek and has more than one function. I’m talking about downsizing to a twin-sized bed, a lamp, 10 t-shirts, one pair of shorts, one pair of jeans, one pair of shoes, one pair of sandals, camping gear, and a MINI Cooper.

To take it a step further, when my last lease ran out I became actively homeless redirecting what went towards rent towards hostels, AirBnB, campsites, and family & friends with extra bedrooms.

I no longer have to pay rent in an apartment I’m not going to be occupying for months-at-a-time while away, don’t have to freeload off my hosts, and all my belongings can come with me without requiring a lot of space.

I can travel longer and farther than I ever could before.

Decisions like this aren’t easy to make and even harder to follow through with, but they have helped loosen the restraints holding me to any one physical location.

Dedication.

Once you’ve made sacrifices, the next step to stay dedicated to them. The challenge comes when you’re faced with a fork in the road that gives you the feeling that things would be easier if you just turned back, got a steady job, and settled down.

Almost every trip I take, at some point, this runs through my mind:

“This is crazy. Am I really doing this? What the hell am I doing?!”

Let’s think of it this way: If you are to ever go on a diet, you are probably going to have to sacrifice some, or all of, your favorite foods. Easy at first, but then one night, your craving is out of control and you just can’t. Your choices are the following: 1.) You cave in and go get a cheesesteak from the late night cafe, or 2.) You stay dedicated to what you sacrificed and continue to keep on keepin’ on.

If you choose the latter consistently, you will reach your goals. If you choose the former, you will fall right back into the lifestyle you set out to avoid.

For some the goal is a beach body that they can flaunt during summer. For me, the goal is the mobility to travel more months out of the year than not. I’ve made sacrifices of materialistic belongings, career paths, and even relationships (both romantic and platonic) with a goal in mind. I still have consumer urges to get a steady job, a “comfortable” paycheck, and go on shopping sprees, but I must keep my end goal in mind.

Planning.

When you sit down to watch your favorite movie, you see about two hours of an actors and actresses cracking jokes, chasing/running from bad guys, and/or making you jealous in a steamy love scene. What can be overlooked is the 12-to-18 months of preproduction, filming, and postproduction.

Similarly, when I take a trip yielding a few blog posts and tens of pictures, there is anywhere from three-to-six months of preparation before the one-to-three months of travel.

One of the differences is movies usually have a strict script to follow as to become Hollywood gold while my travels have a very “go with the flow” vibe. The fluidity of my plans ranges from only knowing which city I’ll arrive in, to when I’ll arrive there, to having lodging paid for, to having actual activities booked and paid for. The key to a great trip is the ability to take things as they come and capitalize on opportunity.

Working Effectively.

Most people that know me, know me as the person that can seemingly do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. I often come across as a person without responsibilities or concerns, someone who doesn’t really work, and can always travel.

The key to this trick is batching. I’ve taken the idea of changing the typical way of checking email and batching it to twice a day, introduced by a man that needs no introduction, and applied it to my entire work life.

Instead of having a set start and end time each day, I consider the amount of work that needs to be done, what the day has to offer (besides work), and my surroundings to decide the most effective time and duration to work.

Sometimes I work from 11 AM to 4 PM, other times from 9 PM to 1 AM.

Either way, when I work, my full attention is dedicated strictly to what needs to be completed. That means, no Facebook, no twitter, checking email once or twice, and no outside distractions. (Well, besides the birds chirping when I’m camping.)

Being so ridged for these few hours allows me to open up the rest of my time to do what I want. I release myself from the typical eight hours of mediocrity that contains only a few hours of real work anyways.

Working Hard. Playing Harder.

Have you ever gone on vacation for an extended period of time, then towards the end felt excited at the thought of going back to work?

I play hard, so I work hard… sometimes.

A few weeks ago, my family and I went to Key West, Florida for four days. The entire trip was very similar to how our first day played out: We took The Key West Express, a 3.5 hour charter boat from Fort Myers to Key West, and began drinking at 8:30 AM. Upon arrival, we dropped off our luggage and continued to Duval Street, bar hopping until 11:00 PM. that night.

After four days and three nights of constant partying, if you’re ever lucky enough to party with my mother, you’ll know there is no skipping out on the booze, I was ready to return to my work.

At the end of the week of my return, I was approached client work which would require an all-nighter. My answer was, of course, yes.

I had no problem dedicating myself to a 25 1/2 hour shift, staying up all night, and delivering a badass product because of the uneven balance in my play-to-work ratio. My time in Key West, although 95% shorter than my normal travel time, allowed me to play hard enough that it made it easier to dedicate so much of my time to help complete a project.

Steps To Take Now.

The steps above are definitely no golden ticket. They have worked for me and continue to work, with modifications as needed. Of course, the actions needed within these steps are dependent on the lifestyle you strive to achieve. I choose to travel. You?

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