Bold vs Iphone

Since I decided that the internet is a necessity for my trip, I needed to get a new phone. I got internet on my blackberry pearl, but it just wasn’t going to cut it. After doing some research on the best phones with AT&T, it came down to deciding between the Iphone 3GS and the new Blackberry Bold 2.

Well, in order to decide, I did a bunch of research online. If you google iPhone vs. Blackberry Bold, you’ll see that lots of different articles have been written on the subject. I read arguments from both sides, and it seems like a lot of the opinions seem to say that the best phone can only be determined by your intended use.

Well, for me, I just want a phone that can replace a laptop. If I’m ever at a person’s house and I can’t use their computer, or they don’t have the internet or what-not, then I need to be able to make blog posts and do other things online. So, I know that everybody says the iPhone is better for surfing the web. However, I really didn’t want to get an iPhone because I don’t like how controlling Apple is with their software. I remember the first time I bought some songs on iTunes. After buying and downloading them, I realized I couldn’t use the songs on my Pearl, and that I’d have to buy an iPod in order to use them. That just put a bad taste in my mouth, and so it made me not want to give my business to a company that is so controlling.

Well, I ended up talking to a salesman who had owned both the iPhone and the Bold, and he convinced me to get the Bold. Really, when it came down to it, I just didn’t want to support Apple because I don’t like their controlling ways, and I know that once you get one Apple product, you just start getting all of them because they work well together. So, this salesman helped me feel justified in choosing a product that was “superior” to the iPhone and wasn’t made by Apple. Well, I must say that I was disappointed in the Bold 2. It’s a great phone, it really is. But when it comes to using the internet, it just didn’t measure up to how I wanted to use it. I had too many problems with certain websites, and there just weren’t any applications for me to download for those websites.

So, I decided to take the Bold 2 back, suck in my pride, and get an iPhone. I must say, the iPhone is freaking sweet. For my purposes, it far outperforms the Bold 2. Now, I have found some things I don’t like about the iPhone, but I’m finding a lot less than I found with the Bold. Besides, any time I find something I don’t like, there’s usually an app that I can find that solves the problem. I guess the only question that remains to be seen is whether or not I’ll become an Apple addict after this?

Internet – A necessity?

I went to the mall today between my different jobs. I just kind of walked around and watched people. That’s always a fun pastime for me. Anyway, while I was there I decided to go to the AT&T store and explore my different options for the trip. My friend David Schmidt, who went from California to Rome, Italy without money, told me that having internet on my trip would be a great help. So, I’ve been trying to decide whether or not it’s a necessity. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’m leaning towards having it on the trip. For example, while I was in the mall today, there were things that I could have been doing if I would have had internet on my phone. Without internet, I couldn’t really be productive.

The nice thing about not having a home is that I’ll just go wherever I want. If I have internet with me, I’ll be able to be productive no matter where I am. I can go to the mall or to a park and get things done. However, if I don’t have internet, I’ll always be looking for places where I can get access. Some of the things I’m going to want to do are to find places to stay(couchsurfing), know where I’m at and where I’m going with maps, update my blog and other social media sites, etc.

So, I guess I’ve now convinced myself that I need to get internet. Now, the question remains as to whether or not I should get a new phone. I have a Blackberry Pearl, and I got it around 2 years ago. The guy was telling me that the hardware will just be a lot slower than the newer phones, so I guess I should just try out the internet on this phone and see how much I like it.

The funny part about this is that on my trip I’m trying to have as little as possible. I’m minimizing the amount of clothes I bring and other accessories. But, among all of that, having the internet and  a cell phone seem to be necessities. It’s so funny how our world is so connected with the internet these days. Even without a guarantee of a place to stay or enough food for money, I’m going to have my cell phone and internet. Anything wrong with this picture?

New Blog

Well, I finally got this blog up and running. I’ve been looking around for a good theme for a while. Although I don’t entirely love this theme, I think it’ll do just fine for now. Maybe once I learn a little better how Wordpress works I can find a theme that fits my needs a little better.

I also just bought a new camera yesterday. I bought the Canon SD780 IS. So, pretty soon I’ll be able to post videos and pictures. I’m going to need that on my trip.

I also submitted some different couchsurfing requests for this next week, since I’m moving out of my house tomorrow. I haven’t heard back from anybody yet, but, maybe that’s because they can tell I’m from Utah. Well, it won’t be hard for me to find places to stay, I’d just like to stay with some random people.

Problems That Recent Grads Face

I found out about a company that is built around the idea of helping recent graduates learn what to do with their life. They have some really interesting ideas, and I think that this is definitely a problem that is ready for businesses to find solutions to. They are building two different companies, EndeavorPrep and Daily Endeavor. It’s interesting, because although I’ve been struggling with trying to figure out what to do with my life, I never viewed that problem as a business opportunity. I’m surprised by that, because I’m always excited when I see a problem that can be solved by building a business around it. So, on this trip, I’ll continue to think more about the problems that are faced by recent graduates, and I’ll see if there are other solutions that could be put in place to help us. Because really, with all the companies that are out there to help people to find jobs, there really aren’t too many that help people find the right job.

Well, this blog should be getting shut down pretty soon. I’m going to build a Wordpress blog, and I didn’t know any other way to do it except to shut this one down. I’m not exactly sure how long it will take, but hopefully I can get it up and running pretty soon.

Computer Nerd

Well, I feel like I have so much to do before I go on my trip. So, I’ve been working hard these last days doing what I need to to be prepared. I’ve been shopping and trying to find the right sleeping bag, backpack, and camera for the trip. I think I’ve selected what brands and types of equipment I would like, and I wonder if I should wait until Black Friday to try and buy them. I’ve found some pretty good deals online, but I need as much money as I can get right now. I keep being surprised by the expense I’ll have before I leave. I want to pay for everything up front so that I don’t have to worry about any bills while I’m on my journey.

I got this blog up and running, but I think that I would like to do a Wordpress blog now. I just don’t think that Blogger is as robust and adaptable as I’d like it to be. So, I’m going to have to download Wordpress and figure out how to use it. The thing with Wordpress is that you have to have it hosted and so it’s not quite as user-friendly you could say. Well, it’s very adaptable if you know what you’re doing, but I assume there will be a learning curve involved.

While I was getting ready to get Wordpress setup, I realized that my hosting account had been suspended. It has been suspended multiple times because I get a bunch of spam on my forum. I’ve tried talking to the Romanian programmers that I used to build the site, but they hadn’t fixed it yet. So, I decided to go ahead and try to fix it myself. It took me all day, but I learned a ton. I learned about FTP, captcha, phpBB, and many other things. It is pretty elementary stuff to programmers, but I really enjoyed what I learned.

The interesting part is how I enjoyed working on the computer all day. With my jobs, I thought that one of the things I hated was the fact that I sat on the computer and inside all day. Well, I don’t think that’s necessarily the problem. When I was learning and working on my own project, I really enjoyed it and was satisfied when I got things done. I think the problem is me doing the same thing every day and working on projects for other people. I really think that I have to get involved in a startup on the ground floor to be excited about what I do with them. That’s probably why I’m excited about this trip. Because it’s my idea and my project. I might get sick of job-shadowing people, I don’t know.

It’s interesting, because I keep coming up with different ideas for my trip, but I know that things will change once I’m out doing it. I mean, I was thinking that I could probably make enough money every day by just singing and dancing with a hat for money. If not, I could also juggle. I might even be able to write song parodies about my trip and perform them. That sounds like a good idea, but is it something I’ll really want to do while I’m on the road? Maybe not. Well, I’m super tired from my computer adventures today, so, I’m gonna hit the sack.

Entrepreneurship Baby

My birthday party was a success. I didn’t have quite as many people there as I would have liked, but it was still pretty good. I’m sure if I was going to school and I was more involved in the Provo social life, that I would have had a better turn out, but that’s alright.

Now, it’s time for me to start getting focused on my blog. I just registered the domains Grad2Nomad and GradToNomad.com. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get the blog hosted with my own hosting, but it’s hard because of my limited technological knowledge. I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon. Once I get it up and running, I will be able to start marketing it.

Also, I’ve had some renewed interest in RateMySummerSalesJob.com. I think that’s because my main interest is in starting businesses. As I think about the different careers I want, I really just want to start businesses. If I work in a career, the main requirements that I’ll look for are the ability to be extremely flexible so that it will allow me to be an entrepreneur.

Anyway, I’ve been talking with Todd Knight about helping with the rating website. He says he’s interested, but I’m going to try and get the Romanians to fix what they can first. I want to get that up and running before I leave so that I can also market it while I’m out and about. Well, I’m really loving life now, and I’m really interested in getting out and being social again. Now that I’m having some direction in my life, it helps me to be more confident in my personal life.

I’m Doing It

I decided today that I’m for sure going on this trip. Of course there could always be something that comes up that would prevent me, but I’m planning on it, and I’ll start making preparations for it. I’m going to need to get my blog up and running.

Last night I decided that I wanted to have a birthday party at our house this next Thursday. I made an event on facebook and I’ve been inviting a bunch of people. In my invite, I mention that I’m planning on going on a trip soon. Everybody has been asking me what trip I’m going on and what-not, so I need a place to refer them to. I want to get my blog up and running, so that I can start referring people to it. I’ll probably take some of the thoughts that I’ve recorded in this blog, and put them in my other one so that there is an explanation of some of my reasons for wanting to go on the trip.

I feel so much different today then I’ve felt in a while. Now that I’ve decided I’m going on the trip for sure, I’m so much more excited for life. I’m more interested in being social and active in Provo, because I know I won’t be hear much longer. I’m actually excited to tell people about what I’m doing, rather than dreading the inevitable “what are you doing now that you’re graduated” question. I think that’s a good thing. I’m excited about it, and I think it will help me get rid of this restless feeling that I’ve been having. I’ve been wanting to make a decision for some time now, but I just wanted to make sure that no other options interested me enough. Well, I think if I don’t go on the trip, I’ll always have a nagging in the back of my mind. I have to live my life so that I can look back at it and have no regrets.

If I had a million dollars?

On Thursday I ran into a friend of mine at 24 hour fitness. He also majored in Entrepreneurship, so we started talking about what both of us are doing. He is still living in Provo, even though he has graduated, and so I thought our situations were pretty similar. The part that kind of bewildered me was how he feels content with what he’s doing in his life and I feel so restless. We talked about a bunch of different things, but there was a question he asked me that kind of stuck with me. He asked me what I would do if I received a million dollars a day? Essentially, if money wasn’t an issue at all, what would I do with my life? It’s a very valid question, and I’ve been thinking about it.

I’ve been doing research on careers and post-graduation life, and I found out that there is quite a bit of literature aimed at recent graduates. I guess what I’m going through right now is referred to as the Quarter Life Crisis. There are quite a few books that talk about how twenty-somethings can get through that period in their life that follows graduation. A lot of the things I feel are characteristic of what many recent graduates feel. It was interesting to find this out, because it opens my mind to some possibilities I might have with my blog. Also, some of the literature also mentioned that asking yourself the question about what you would do if you won the lottery is helpful in deciding a course of action.

See, on Friday I made friends with a guy over the phone, who I ended up selling. He is a president of some company out in PA, and I told him how I’ve been having a hard time deciding what I should do with my life. He posed the same question to me that my friend posed, what would I do if money wasn’t an issue? Well, at this point, I had thought about the question, and these are the two things I think I would do if money wasn’t an issue. I would travel, and I would start businesses. Starting businesses is just a big interest of mine, as well as traveling and seeing the world. So, what I told this guy is that I would probably travel. He started questioning me about what information I could gain from my travel that somebody would want. He said I might be able to get hired by a company for that information.

Well, that got me thinking, which led me to do research and find out about the Quarter life Crisis literature. I think if I have my blog focused on career exploration from the eyes of a recent grad, I might have something that could attract the eyes of recent grads and college students. There are plenty of websites out there that give tips and strategies for helping recent grads know how to get through their transition. If I have them as my target market, I might be able to set up some sort of job or sponsorship before I even leave.

So, I really think that if I’m going to get anything rolling with this trip, the earlier I decide to go the better. I’ve pretty much made up my mind that I’d like to go on the trip. I’m probably about 90% sure of it. The job with Launch Sales and Marketing isn’t going to work out because he said I don’t have enough experience. Also, I haven’t heard back from Ragnar Relays, and I just don’t anticipate hearing back from them at this point. So, I think I’m just going to start making plans and getting ready for the trip. Even if Ragnar does contact me and wants to hire me, I really think going on this trip will be the best thing for me. It will help me explore and see some of the world, so that I will be better able to commit in the future.

Also, as I was talking to a friend at a party tonight, I realized I’m kind of going about this thing all wrong. I mean, in terms of my career exploration. I’ve been looking for a job that I can enjoy. Well, I think the reality of it is that I don’t really enjoy working for other people. I’m too entrepreneurial. So, I need to find a business I can get into that will pay well enough that I can have the time to work on businesses. I think that’s where real estate comes in. I always had an interest in real estate, but mostly because of the money. Well, if I’m able to live at my parents house(they might be leaving on a mission and they want me to live in their house by myself), and I don’t have rent payments to worry about, then I should be able to find enough stuff to keep busy until I get some real estate deals worked out. I’ve already talked to some guys that will mentor me. It benefits them because we’ll split the profits, and they’ll be able to do more deals than they could on their own.

I could use that as my revenue source, and then with any other extra time I have, I can work on businesses I would like to start. I still want to go on this trip first, so, that will be my focus for now.

Commitment Issues

I talked to my little brother Matt today on the phone and he asked me to be his best man. I’m pretty excited about that. I’m not sure why, but I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I would probably be his best man. Anyway, we started talking, and I told him about my plans to be a nomad. It was kind of funny because he sounded SO nervous for me. He didn’t say a whole lot, and I knew that meant he was thinking this in his mind: “Whoa, what’s wrong with Aaron? He’s going A-wall. He’s never going to get married with the path he’s taking. I don’t feel so good about his plans.”

His silence basically came off like the same response that I got from my Mom. Worried that I’m throwing my life away and running away from something. Well, I’d probably think that if I was somebody else. I mean, usually when I hear somebody is doing something kind of different, I am jealous of them. But, I think most of my siblings are just wondering what my long-term plans are. I don’t blame them for worrying, but I just think it’s a waste of their worry muscles. Worrying never does anybody any good.

While I was talking to him though, he brought up kind of a good point about what I’m doing. I was telling him how I just lose interest in things pretty quickly, and it seems like I have an interest in something, but then I lose interest, and I move on to something else. He mentioned how that was kind of like my Dad. That was something that bothered me about my Dad growing up. He would get interested in something, spend a bunch of money on that hobbie, but then it just wouldn’t last. I always thought the use of money on the Hobbie was a waste if you weren’t going to stick with it. Well, I see the same kind of patterns happening in my own life. It’s not even the fact that I lose interest completely, I guess I just get bored and I’m ready to move onto something new.

For example, I remember when I wanted to learn the guitar. So, I got a guitar, I learned a few songs, and then I lost interest. I mean, I still like to play the guitar once in a while, but now that I basically learned it good enough so that I can learn a song whenever I want to, I just don’t enjoy it enough to pull it out every day. See, the question is how that tendency will translate to my professional life. Am I just going to need to switch jobs every year to keep things interesting?

Well, after thinking about it a while, I’ve realized it’s not all that bad. I mean, I have an eye for opportunity. I really think I do. I have a few entrepreneurial friends who just feel like once they get a good enough idea, they’ll be able to start their own company. For me, I feel like I have pretty good ideas fairly regularly. So, for me it’s not about having the idea, it’s about execution of the idea. I love having a new idea and trying to go after it. I could see myself being a serial entrepreneur, but I need to pursue my ideas further, until they are successful. So, this kind of goes back to what I wrote about before: I should never drop something before I am successful at it.

After thinking about all this, I’m wondering if my travel idea is just one more of those ideas that I need to get out of my system so that I can move onto the next one. I wonder if once I get out and I’m on the road traveling around, I lose interest, and I only travel for like 2 weeks before feeling like I’m done doing that. I could see that happening, and I wouldn’t put it past me. That’s why I need to make the decision right now, that whatever I decide to do, I need to stick with it.

If I decide to travel around and have a blog and what-not, I shouldn’t be done with my trip until I have created a successful blog and I’ve seen some of the things that I want to see.

I also wonder if my desire to move has affected my ability to finish some of the ideas I’ve had. If I know that my location isn’t permanent, and that I don’t want to stay in a place for much longer, then it doesn’t make sense for me to start any sort of sustainable business. Like RateMySummerSalesJob.com, I would probably want to stay around in Utah somewhere to make that a success. If when I’m working on that project, I have a feeling that I don’t really want to stay in Utah for much longer, it might be hard to actually push through on the project, because I know it’s something that just won’t last. I think that’s also true about the other jobs that I had. When I worked at Qualtrics, I knew that I would need to be there for at least a year if I wanted to be a successful B2B salesman. Well, I didn’t really want to stick around in Provo long enough to be successful there, so that’s probably what led to me quitting my job.

It seems that my desire to live in a certain place is strongly connected with my ability to see things through to the end. The more I can plan on living someplace long-term, the more I will be able to start businesses that will endure. So, it seems that for me to be able to find a place that I can see myself living long-term for, one of three things needs to happen. First, I get married. Then, I make a decision with somebody else involving where we want to settle down. Second, I just make a conscious decision about where I would like to live for a year or two. Third, I make some sort of long-term commitment in a location where I feel obligated to fulfill my commitment. I guess this would be like a job or something.

Basically, this analysis has helped me to see that I do think it would be beneficial for me to travel, because I think it can help me to make a decision about where I want to live next. Once I have made that decision, I think it will help me buckle down and follow through on the ideas that I have. Besides, if I don’t follow through on this travel idea, it will be perpetuating my bad habit of having a great idea but never following through with it.

Work or not to Work?

I’ve been thinking some more about my trip, and analyzing the different options that I have and what would be the best. I’ve been thinking more about how to make money on the trip. By going on the trip without money, I’m making the trip a very entrepreneurial venture. I’m forcing myself to be creative, scrappy, and to find ways to make money along the way. Those are things that I really like about that option. But, is that too much to worry about every day? Even if I have enough money in the bank for food every day, that still leaves me plenty of things to worry about. How am I going to get to my next location? Where am I going to stay? etc.

So, the other option, which I’m really liking right now, is trying to do my sales job while I travel. Right now, I’m working 4 hours a day doing phone sales. Everything I use to sell the service, I have access to online. Even the phone calls I make are on a business Skype account. It would be very easy for me to bring my laptop around with me, and to sell remotely. Well, it might still be a struggle because I’d have to find good Wi-Fi in a location where I could talk out loud on my phone. I also don’t even know if this would be a possibility for me. I’m not going to talk to the company about this possibility until I’ve been there for a while, and once I really start doing well with the sales. Once I’m really good, I’m sure they’d be willing to work something out with me.

Anyway, that option appeals to me because money would be something I wouldn’t have to worry about. It would be easier for me to travel more frequently and to see more sites, because I wouldn’t be dependent on my ability to make money. Also, if I have no money on the trip, I might end up getting really crappy jobs that kind of suck to have. I mean, since I graduated, I have kind of been scraping by and doing some random jobs that really haven’t been that great. Although having to use my imagination to find jobs would give me lots of experiences I wouldn’t have otherwise, I’m not sure those are the experiences I want to have. For example, let’s say I get to Cali and I want to go to Hawaii. Although it would interesting to try and find out ways to make enough money to get to Hawaii. What if it takes me a month to get enough money for a plane ticket? Then, I’m in California for a month, and I might get sick of it. Whereas, if I’m working daily, and I have money to travel when I want, it might be more interesting and fun.

I’m not sure which option I would like better. In reality, I’m not even sure doing phone sales remotely is an option. But, there are good and bad things about both options. It really just boils down to what reasons are the most important to me for this trip. If my main reason is to get out of Utah, see and experience as many new places as possible, then it would be better to have a job and money. But, if my main reason is to face all of my fears, learn as much as possible from my experience, then going penniless is the best option.

Another thing I just thought about is how me having to worry about making money every day might actually not be the most entrepreneurial way to go. On this trip, I plan on creating a blog and trying to get as many people to follow it as possible. I can learn a ton from the whole process of creating and maintaining a blog. I’ll want to write good content every day, continue to adapt the blog to meet the wants of my growing number of readers, learn better ways of monetizing it, figure out new ideas to market the blog, etc. If I have to worry about money every day, then I might not be able to spend as much time figuring out how to make my blog a success. Some of the travel blogs I have found have turned into full-time jobs for the writers.

As I was thinking of any new ideas I could use for my blog today, I gained some inspiration from a blog I was visiting called WhereTheHeckIsMatt? The guy does a little jig at all of the different places that he visits. I mean, it’s kind of funny, but the cool thing is how his little jig became viral, and people started telling others to watch the goofy guy dancing. Well, somehow, Stride gum ended up getting a copy of one of his dance videos. So, they paid for him to travel around the world and do dance videos, twice. Anyway, as I was thinking about something unique I could do, I thought of doing music videos. I don’t know exactly what I could do, but I was thinking of just making music videos about different portions of my trip. The would be parodies on existing songs, and then I would just post them on my blog and online. My first idea is to make a parody of the song by Miley Cyrus, Party in the USA:

Instead of Party in the USA, I would make the song be “Couchsurfing in the USA”. And let’s admit it, Miley Cyrus songs and music videos are perfect to do parodies of. So, I’m not exactly sure how my music videos would turn out, but I think it would be fun to do parody music videos about certain aspects of my trip. If I do a somewhat decent job, that might be something that could go viral. So, I might have to learn some video editing skills before I go.