Justin Wright

Panoramic View of John Day Fossil Beds

Justin Wright — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:07:52 PDT

Here’s an awesome panoramic view of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon:

Nice Hike to Munra Point

Justin Wright — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:52:35 PDT

I took advantage of the great weather we had this weekend and went out for a hike. Decided to hike up to Munra Point, which is now one of my favorite hikes in the Columbia River Gorge.

It’s a steep scramble to the top and the hike felt a lot longer than it actually was. I even used my hands a few times trying to get up the rocky sections. The view at the top made the climb well worth it.

View from the Top

View of the Columbia River

Mount Adams in the Distance

View Looking South

Another View of the River

Oregon Has Massive Trees

Justin Wright — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:58:15 PST

I truly love the state of Oregon! The massive trees here blow my mind when I walk by them while hiking. Check out these photos from a recent hike I did out by the coast:

Snowshoeing Season Is Back!

Justin Wright — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:44:26 PST

A few days ago I went out and did my first snowshoe of the year. It’s a great workout and offers a fun alternative to traditional hiking.

Here’s a few photos from the trip up to Mt. Hood in Oregon:

5 Personal Finance Tips for Freelancers

Justin Wright — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:16:38 PST

There are many benefits to being a freelancer. You have no boss to answer to, you can work from the comfort of your own home, and your income is only limited by the amount of time and effort you want to put into making money. However, being a freelancer also comes with a certain amount of serious responsibility – responsibility that you wouldn’t have if you did have a boss, and worked for a company, and had a regular paycheck. This is especially true when it comes to financial matters. Protect yourself and your financial well-being by following these five critical personal finance tips for freelancers:

Budget. Develop a monthly budget and stick to it, so as to avoid being sideswiped by unexpected income fluctuations. Because your income is irregular, you will need to determine an approximate monthly income to use for your budget. Total up your previous year’s income and divide that amount by twelve, then use that figure as a measure of what you can and cannot afford.

Safety net. As a freelancer, it is likely that your income will almost always be at least slightly unpredictable (and sometimes extremely unpredictable). It’s important that you prepare yourself for the tight months by saving during the bountiful months. A good rule of thumb is to keep three to six month’s worth of expenses in an interest-bearing savings account, for “just in case.”

Save for tax season. Don’t allow yourself to be caught off-guard by a tax bill at the end of the year. Set aside a bit of each paycheck you get to avoid tax season shock, and to soften the blow of what could be a hefty IRS debt.

Debt. Avoid it. Period. Keep your monthly expenses down to the bare essentials: rent/mortgage, utilities, car, groceries, etc. This may be the biggest favor you will do yourself as a freelancer. Staying out of debt means freeing up your cash flow, which will come in handy when you have a slow month (or more). This is especially important considering that interest rates for things like credit cards can be very high, and that missing a payment (if the worst happens) can send you into a vicious cycle that will end up costing you way more than you originally borrowed.

Retirement. Don’t forget to develop a plan for retirement, unless you plan on working forever. The time to start planning for retirement is now.

Just like any self-employment venture, freelancing can be a risk. But there are things you can do to hedge that risk. Follow these personal finance tips and set your mind at ease.

About the Author: Dona Collins is a full-time writer and IT specialist who knows how important it is to have a financial safety net. When she is not working she can often be found helping other IT professionals find work through groups like Modis IT recruitment services and other local agencies.

Photo Credit: 401KCalculator.org

Back From the Desert

Justin Wright — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:17:36 PST

It’s been a bit quiet around here lately since I’ve been traveling. I went to Las Vegas and Phoenix and had a great time. It was nice to catch up with some friends and check out some of the places I used to visit while I lived in Phoenix (Papago Brewery is still my favorite!). Also climbed Camelback Mountain twice, which was a nice change from the hikes I’ve been doing at home.

I spent a day checking out some of the hotels along the Vegas Strip as well. Very impressive!

As much as I love the desert, it made me realize how much I REALLY love the Pacific Northwest. Yeah it’s a bit cold and rainy, but the scenery makes up for the weather. I still find myself staring at Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood whenever they come out from the clouds. I can’t wait to bust out the snowshoes soon!

PS. If you’re interested, check out a quick interview I did over at National RV Parks.

Changes – My Decision To Live In A Cave

Justin Wright — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:55:45 PDT

Home Sweet Home

I’m writing this article in response to Justin’s blog just to show that what he is talking about can and does work in practice. My name is Carl and I’m 56, born and raised in the UK although I have lived in Spain and Holland before. I had been living in the north of England and working for the Council in a dead-end office job along with 200 co-workers and hating every minute of it. Working for the Council only to pay back half my wages in Council Tax and rent for a Council flat. I lost both of my best friends to early heart attacks, I lost my mother, my dog died, I lost my father. I began to suffer from depression and ended up on medication.

I decided a couple of years ago that when I received the cheque from the sale of my parents’ house I would move back to Spain. I realised there was no way I could afford a big place or anywhere at all fancy and I didn’t want a flat in a town. I knew I wouldn’t be able to find a job with a Spanish company as there was widespread unemployment and the start of “The Crisis” was upon us. I had a few ideas for selling my own database software (opendatasoftware.net) and that was about it.

I decided eventually to look for a cave in the South of Spain and eventually settled on one in a small town of 20,000 inhabitants in the middle of nowhere. It’s a cave in that all of the rooms are built into a mountain side. Not a cave house where some of the rooms are extended outwards. This was an important choice of dwelling as a cave hardly needs any cooling in summer and very little heating in winter due to heat being conserved by the sheer thermal mass of a 3-metre thick roof, solid stone floor and metre thick walls throughout. The caves were previously used to house livestock but are perfectly habitable and come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. And prices – this was a very cheap one at 25,000 Euros.

Typical Cave (Before)

The Cave (After)

The cave is halfway up a mountain and is subject to extreme heat and full sun exposure in summer and torrential rain and gales in winter. The only heating is a small wood stove and there is only one window and one entrance door. There is a small entrance room with a small kitchen and small bathroom off to one side. Behind that is the living room with the wood stove. Behind that is the bedroom and behind that is a storage room. The garden is on top of the cave and the chimney protrudes up into the garden. When I moved in the garden was completely overrun with fearsome weeds.

The Garden (Before)

The Garden (After)

I decided that the only way I could survive was to live on approximately a quarter of what I was used to getting for a living wage – a drastic cut and one that would involve a complete change of lifestyle. I don’t smoke or drink any more so that helped. I’m a vegetarian and thought I would be able to grow most of my own food.

I don’t go out much at all except for walks and bike rides which don’t cost anything. The nature walk I use for a daily bike ride is just stunningly beautiful and I never tire of it. I realised that the lifestyle I was planning on living would be quite hard work physically and so decided to get fit as soon as possible. I started off just walking every day and now I jog 5 kilometres every day, bike 20 kilometres, train with weights and do Tai Chi, sit-ups and press-ups. I feel so much better for it and I think I will have a six-pack by the time I hit 60! Quite astonishing for someone who spent 8 hours a day sat in a chair in an office and never exercised apart from walking to work. The thing is, it is vitally important to be fit for this kind of lifestyle. I live on my own and if I cannot look after myself then I will have a serious problem. Apart from which, this lifestyle requires commitment and stamina. It is in no way an easy option or a cop-out.

I decided early on to dispose of most of the clutter that I had in my life and in the words of Thoreau “Simplify, simplify”. I have no TV. I sometimes watch Spanish television on my Eee laptop. I have no fridge and haven’t had for a year although I will be building a small Peltier cooler as I like yoghurt and it goes off too quickly in summer. I have a mountain bike – no car – I’ve never owned a car and I’m very proud to be able to say that. I have a wide assortment of clothes as I have to do manual work in all temperatures so anything from padded lumberjack shirts and work boots to sleeveless T-shirts and jeans to shorts and sandals, really. Lots of books, CDs and DVDs as I’m an avid reader.

I have no expensive hobbies. Most of them are free or cost very little – walking, running, cycling, playing guitar, gardening and reading. Watching the occasional DVD or documentary.

I try to do everything for myself as much as possible. I wash clothes by hand unless they are very dirty or very large items in which case I use the Eco setting on the washing machine about once a month. I use home made cleaning materials mainly made of either dilute vinegar or sodium bicarbonate solution. I always cook for myself using home-grown or locally bought vegetables. I use a home-made solar oven in summer and a home-made updated version of the old-time hay box or the wood stove in winter. I have an electric cooker but I don’t use it.

I boil water in a Kelly Kettle (check their website) and keep it in Thermos flasks and in the summer I use camp showers to heat water. I’ve learned how to sew, how to tie knots (a forgotten art), basic woodwork, electrical work and DIY. I make bricks out of old cardboard and paper to supplement my wood supply. All of this keeps my bills down to next-to-nothing.

I grow a small quantity of vegetables and herbs in the garden above the cave and on the metre-thick windowsill but I’m planning on setting up some square-foot gardens and potato-barrels this coming Spring. It’s early days yet. I use a (self-installed) 120-watt solar panel for some of my power and I’m going to build a couple of small home-made VAWTs as there is a huge amount of wind power available in winter. Half of the mains power in this area is from windmills. I only use mains power for power tools and the washing machine. Most of my equipment is 12-volt or was deliberately chosen for low consumption (like the Eee laptop). I use a Vodafone dongle for the Internet which costs about 4 Euros a week and the same kind of package for a mobile phone although I’m planning on switching the phone to Skype soon.

I have started a local magazine with its own website, I’m making and selling solar ovens and I’m planning on going in for producing Biodiesel for sale once I can find a cheap source of used vegetable oil. I don’t have time for anything else as this is a full-time 24/7 365-days-a-year commitment.

What I would like to say is this. I’m not by any means an expert on anything and I don’t claim to have all or even most of the answers. I have found out how to do these things by researching on the Internet – something anyone can do. And by trial and error in many cases. When I came out here a year ago I struggled to wire a plug. Now I’m installing solar panels!

Most of my ideas came from adapting old 1970s Mother Earth News articles to this century and checking out YouTube. I won’t lie – the learning curve is pretty steep and many times I have had to start projects again from scratch. Anyone who thinks that this is early retirement and an easy option is way off the mark. Anyone who enjoys a challenge and really believes in Learning For Life will love every minute of it. It’s an awesome, inspiring rebirth and a path to self-discovery and I would heartily recommend it to anyone. And as for depression – sorry, I haven’t got the time …

Self-Employment – The 3rd Anniversary

Justin Wright — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:18:23 PDT

One of the great things about blogging is being able to look into your past and see what you were thinking/doing at any given time. For example, exactly three years ago today I sat down and wrote a post titled a new journey starts today.

I still remember writing that post because it was one of the most important days of my life. For the first time in my adult life, I woke up not having to go to work. I felt like my life had unlimited possibilities because there was no longer anything holding me back from giving self-employment a full-time effort.

Now that three full years have gone by, I thought it would be fun to take a look at what has all happened on that journey and talk about some of the things I have discovered along the way.

I’m Still Here!

The good news is I’m still alive and doing well. I’m living proof that you can in fact quit your job and make a living working for yourself. Hopefully you can use my story as a bit of inspiration if you find yourself in a similar situation where you completely hate your job and are planning on creating a new career path for yourself.

However, I do recommend reading the next few points first before making any decisions

It’s Not An Easy Road

One of the main things I mentioned in my blog post three years ago was the need to be challenged. Well, after quitting my job I quickly realized that working for yourself is definitely a challenge. It’s really, really, really hard. I’ve hit plenty of bumps along the way, some large enough to make me second guess my decision (luckily I’ve stuck with it).

Here’s some of the important things I’ve learned about working for yourself:

You Must Be Hard On Yourself

When you start working for yourself, you quickly realize that you no longer have a boss. The problem is you find yourself wondering who is going to tell you what to do. It took me a lot of adjusting to get used to the idea that I had to force myself to get things done.

If you tend to be easy on yourself, you might find yourself playing video games or watching TV everyday instead of getting your work done. In order to be successful at self-employment, you have to be willing to be hard on yourself since no one else is going to make you feel accountable.

No More Paychecks

Once I quit my job, I quickly realized that no more steady paychecks were coming in. I had to get used to the idea of getting paid sporadically instead of biweekly. This forced me to learn a lot about personal finance because you have to be on top of things in order to stay afloat. This is especially true when you have dry spells, which are guaranteed to happen.

The good news is learning about personal finance has changed my life for the better. I now have a much better understanding of where my money comes from and where it goes; two important things to know.

Working From Home Has Its Cons

When I tell people I work from home full-time, they usually respond by telling me how jealous they are. They have a beautiful vision in mind of working in their pajamas, not having to leave home, and not having to deal with co-workers anymore. All three of those things are in fact true about working from home. The problem is that I now look at them as negatives instead of positives (for the most part).

- I do in fact work in my pajamas most of the time. The problem is I often end up wearing the same pajamas for days with no motivation to change. Yes, it’s gross but it’s what happens when you no longer have to look presentable. I sometimes find myself looking like Robinson Crusoe after being stranded on a remote island for a few years.

- Secondly, not having to leave home on a daily basis isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. I often miss the idea of leaving the house to go work for a few hours. It’s easy for me to not leave the house for days because I don’t have to.

- Last but not least, I’ve found myself missing co-workers. I do a lot of solo work where I handle everything and I miss the idea of working with others. Co-workers are also a great way to make friends because you are forced to hang out with them often.

With all that said, I still wouldn’t give up the freedom that working from home does offer. I do love the ability to work from anywhere and wouldn’t give it up for anything.

Plans For The Future

So what’s next you ask? Well, I still love what I do and hope to continue to work on things I truly enjoy far into the future. Everyday I get emails from people who want to say thanks for the inspiration. These emails give me the motivation to keep dong what I do.

Things over at ZoopMedia have been going great and I hope to continue writing here on the blog. I have also taken on an interesting opportunity recently that may lead to something but only time will tell.

Best of luck to everyone out there!

Photo Credit: Cappellmeister

Your Money Or Your Life

Justin Wright — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:50:48 PDT

When it comes to finding a career we truly love, one of the main things that can really hold us back is the lack of money (as well as large amounts of debt). I know this from personal experience because I was in this exact situation a few years ago. It can be really depressing when you find yourself in that “stuck” mode, where you have to keep your job in order to stay afloat even though you hate it. I might still be stuck in that same situation had I not hit my tipping point with office jobs and went through a financial overhaul.

Luckily, there is a solution to this problem and I feel that it can help people in just about any situation. What is it? Taking control of our personal finances. I know, the topic can get really boring, especially if all you do is read the “How to Get Rich” books that rehash the same content (save more money, make gazillions with real estate, etc.). It can also be overwhelming, especially if you find yourself in a tough position. But there is no better time to do an overhaul of your finances than right now.

In my book Life After the Cubicle I cover some of the basic finance steps I took to escape my job, which includes things like reducing expenses and saving up a nest egg. However, I HIGHLY recommend grabbing a copy of the book Your Money or Your Life since it covers these steps in detail. I can easily say it is the most interesting finance book I’ve read and it goes along with my own principles on living life to its fullest. It was written some time ago but all the principles in the book still apply, especially in the current economy.

Below is a breakdown of the five main principles shared in the book. While the book does cover a few more, I believe these to be the most important ones. Especially if you are new to the topic of personal finance.

Making Peace With The Past

Your Money or Your Life starts out with an introduction about why the “old road map to money” is no longer a good one. I completely agree with the authors and feel that a lot of us force ourselves into the money trap where we work ourselves to death in pursuit of money (myself included).

The book also addresses the problem of thinking we are our jobs. I have always hated the question “what do you do?” because it makes me feel like what I do for work is who I am as a person. This does not have to be the case. There is far more to us as human beings than what we do for a living.

Last but not least, it’s time to make peace with the past. Regardless of what situation you may find yourself in, just remember that going forward it can only get better.

Being In The Present – Tracking Your Life Energy

The next principle in the book is all about tracking the time you spend earning money. This is referred to as “life energy” in the book. If anything, it makes you realize that we do in fact exchange our life for money. We do this everyday when we perform paid employment, whether we like it or not.

However, the book takes it a step further and has you calculate the actual cost of time and money required to maintain your job. This includes things like transportation time and costs, the price of eating lunch at work, and other job related expenses. Once the total time and money is calculated, you then figure out how much per hour you actually earn. The number can be shockingly small, especially if you commute a lot.

Where Is It All Going?

Of all the principles in the book, this is my favorite one. Creating a monthly tabulation of every penny that leaves your hands is an amazing way to get a grasp of where all your money goes. You might even go into shock when you realize that small, frequent purchases can really add up over the course of a month.

As I mention often on this blog, one of the things that allows me to continue to work on things I enjoy is reduced expenses. And no, this doesn’t mean I live with my parents and eat rice and beans for every meal. I simply choose to spend my money wisely on the things I truly get fulfillment from. Tracking my spending every month allows me to keep my expenses in check.

I highly recommend giving it a try. At the very least, you will have a rough idea of where your money goes every month. From there, you can make adjustments and fine tune your expenses so they fit your lifestyle.

How Much Is Enough?

This is where the book really aligns with my personal way of living. There is a chapter in my book titled “A Million Is Not The Answer” where I talk about the idea of making “enough” instead of trying to make millions. If you do want to make millions, then by all means go for it! I personally feel like I can live my desired lifestyle on far less than a million dollars.

The real key is figuring out how much is enough for you. You might have a family and require more income to get by or perhaps you have little to no expenses so you can get by with very little. The important thing is to not go too far past enough. It’s been proven that a certain amount of excess money is a positive enhancement on your life but after a certain degree it can actually decrease your fulfillment. This is usually due to the fact that as you earn more money, you tend to sacrifice more life energy to get it.

Tracking Your Progress

Last but not least, it’s time to track your progress. Once you start monitoring your expenses, you can see how they compare to your income every month. The goal is to take the difference and invest it each month (retirement accounts, savings, etc.). You could also use the difference to get rid of any debt you may have. I did this for a long period of time and can honestly say that getting out of debt was one of the most liberating feelings I’ve ever had (even more than quitting my job).

Time To Get Started

While those are only a few of the principles shared in Your Money or Your Life, I feel that they are the most significant ones.

Being aware of your spending habits and defining enough are the two most important things you can do for yourself. You might just find that you can get by on a lot less money, which will open up doors to job opportunities you may have overlooked in the past.

Photo Credit: AaronPatterson

The Primal Blueprint

Justin Wright — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:31:53 PDT

When it comes to eating, I have always tried my best to eat as healthy as possible. Almost two years ago a I switched to a natural food diet where I eliminated all the processed stuff and focused my diet on meat, fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. It was a great transition and I felt better after making the switch.

However, I’ve taken it one step further since then and have removed all grains from my diet. Why would I do such a thing? Well, I’ve been doing a lot of reading regarding health and fitness lately and one of the books I read was The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. I’ve followed Mark’s blog for a few years now and have always considered giving his diet a try.

I also read Gary Taubes book Good Calories, Bad Calories, which was a very interesting read about the science behind our diets. It digs deep into the studies that have been performed and challenges the conventional wisdom about what we should eat.

It turns out that a lot of the foods we think are bad (saturated fat, bacon, beef, etc.) are not actually bad for us. It’s the high amount of carbohydrates we typically consume that cause most of our health problems.

I’m always up for trying new things so I figured there was no risk in giving the Primal Blueprint a test to see how it works. I have been following the primal diet and workout schedule for roughly 3 months now and thought I would share my experience making the switch.

The Diet

Before I talk about the diet, here is the official primal food pyramid from the book. It demonstrates what foods should be consumed and in what quantities.

With any diet, there is always a transition phase where your body needs to get used to the new way of eating. However, when I eliminated the grains from my diet I was surprised that I did not notice any major side effects. If anything, I actually felt like I had a bit more energy.

Instead of eating my usual bowl of oatmeal, which never filled me up or gave me energy, I started eating whole eggs and bacon cooked in butter. The first thing I noticed is that this meal tastes a hell of a lot better than the oatmeal. Plus it makes me feel full and gives me energy.

For lunch and dinner, I started eating a big ass salad with some chicken or grass-fed beef. I started eating far more vegetables than I used to and now like a lot of the vegetables I used to hate. I stick to one serving of fruit a day, which typically consists of either blackberries or blueberries. I also eat some coconut products such as coconut flakes and coconut milk.

When it comes to cooking, I now use either Ghee (clarified butter), coconut oil, or bacon fat to cook with. I only use olive oil as a salad dressing as opposed to cooking with it like I used to. One thing I have noticed is that if you cook anything in bacon fat, it’s guaranteed to taste good.

The great thing about the primal diet is the amount of fat you get to eat. It is far more filling than carbohydrates and also taste a lot better. Honestly, who would eat oatmeal over bacon? Not this guy.

The Workouts

Along with the diet, the Primal Blueprint also has a workout schedule that is designed to get you in the best shape possible without overdoing it. Here’s the workout pyramid from the book:

The thing I love about the workout schedule is that it does not promote chronic cardio. Instead, it gives you a brief overview of why you should avoid chronic cardio. Instead, it suggests lifting heavy things 2-3 times a week and doing sprints once every 7-10 days. It also suggests doing a lot of low level aerobic exercises, such as walking or hiking (two things I love doing).

For the past 3 months, I’ve been sticking to this schedule and have noticed a huge increase in my strength despite spending less time in the gym than I used to. I focus my lifting routine on doing a lot of bodyweight exercises like dips and pull-ups (with a weighted backpack). A typical lifting session consists of 4 sets of 4 different exercises.

Running sprints is also a very fun workout that only takes 15 minutes to complete yet I feel drained every time I do them. They also give me a runner’s high that last throughout the day.

The Results

After 3 months of following the Primal Blueprint, I can honestly say I feel like I am in the best shape of my life (even better than after P90X). I ran a 5K in 27 minutes despite being a terrible runner and not training for it. I can now do a ton of pushups and pull-ups and can run a mile two minutes faster than I could in high school.

Best of all, I managed to get my body fat down to the lowest it has ever been. Here’s a before and after picture to give you a general idea of the change that took place:

I have tried many “cutting diets” in the past to lean myself out. I would constantly weigh all my food out on a kitchen scale and write down every calorie I consumed and still could not get past a certain body fat percentage.

With the primal diet, I ate as much food as I wanted and lost body fat without even trying. Heck, I actually lost too much body fat and am now trying a new bulking diet where I eat the typical primal diet foods but with a ton of whole milk added in (I’ll be writing a new post about my bulking attempt in the near future).

Overall, I highly recommend the Primal Blueprint. Not only is the book a great read, but the plan does work if you stick with it.