Life of Justin

6 Reasons Why I Ditched My iPhone

Justin Wright — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:25:48 PDT

I’ve been an iPhone user since it first came out a few years back. I even upgraded to the 3G version since I wanted to get some faster internet. But guess what? As of this week, I am officially iPhone free! I just sold my used iPhone on Craigslist for $250 and feel great about it.

Over the past year, I’ve been contemplating on and off whether or not I needed a cellphone. A few times I got close to pulling the plug but then changed my mind. I really don’t like the idea of constantly having a phone on me. Heck, I even saw two people run into each other on the sidewalk yesterday because they were both walking and texting. Have we really gotten this bad?

1. I Have A Land Line

Can you believe it? It’s 2009 and the main reason I ditched my iPhone is because I have a land line. I spend the majority of my time talking on the phone at home, especially when it comes to conference calls. Best of all, I only pay for the limited service which comes in around 8 bucks a month.

Now that I use Google voice, I can still dial out to anywhere in the US without paying long distance fees. Best of all, when people call my Google voice number it automatically rings on my land line. I also installed Gizmo5 on my laptop, which allows me to have my phone up on my desktop when I’m at the coffee shop.

2. I Didn’t Use It Enough

This goes along with having a land line. Over the past few months, I’ve been monitoring my iPhone usage on the AT&T website. For the month of September, I used a whopping 51 out of 450 anytime minutes. And the only reason I used that many minutes is because I was lazy and didn’t take the time to call the person using Google voice.

I also used 51 of my 1,500 text messages. Funny thing is, almost all of them took place sitting at my desk. I’ve now got into the habit of using Google voice for my texting and I’ve actually grown to like it a lot more than typical texting.

3. I Wasn’t Much Of An Application User

It’s true that there are tons of cool applications available for the iPhone. However, of the 85,000 or so available I had about 6 installed on my phone. I really wasn’t a fun of the stupid applications you always see on the commercials. Sure it’s nice to be able to look up a restaurant and see it’s rating. But it’s even better when you take a walk and randomly pick a place to eat.

The same goes for directions. I’ve decided it’s time to get back into the habit of using a paper map to find directions to where I’m going. It sure beats relying on your phone, only to have the battery die before you found your destination.

3. I Was Sick Of The Monthly Bills

Even if you go with the cheapest iPhone plan available, it’s still going to come in over 70 bucks a month. That does include limited data, but I already pay for internet in the form of DSL. The rest of the bill goes to the voice plan that I hardly ever used.

I’ve gotten much more efficient when it comes to email that I no longer feel the need to constantly be able to check it. I actually feel more relieved when I leave the house now because it actually means I get a break from the web.

4. I Bought A Tracfone

You read the right. I’ve upgraded from an iPhone to a Tracfone. Look how badass my new Motorola phone is. Not only is it lighter than my old iPhone, but it’s smaller. It even traveled forward in time from 1997. Best of all, it even has the one application I constantly used on my iPhone: a calculator.

I did a ton of research before canceling my iPhone plan because I wanted to keep the phone number just in case people still call it. So I knew that getting a prepaid cell phone was my best option. When I went to the store I wasn’t sure which phone I was going to get but I ended up with the Tracfone. The main reason being that I only need to add 20 bucks every three months to keep the phone active. That comes out at roughly $6.67 a month for my cell phone.

I also opted for one of the phones that doubles your minutes for life. Even better, I also managed to find a promo code online for some extra minutes and an extra month worth of service. I now have over 280 minutes and don’t have to add any until April of next year. Those minutes will easily cover the call and text messages I make while not at home. It will mainly be used for emergencies or when I really need to get in touch with someone.

Porting my number was really simple. I just went on to Tracfone’s website and started the port process. They automatically canceled my AT&T account once the port came over to this phone.

5. I Hated The Service

It’s no secret that AT&T has some issues when it comes to their services. I would constantly get calls that would drop, even when standing in downtown Austin. My internet was also hit or miss in terms of speed. What I disliked even more was using the account manager to access my account. Funny thing is, here’s what I saw when I tried to login just before cancelling my account:

It wasn’t the only time I’ve had issues trying to access my account. It sure feels good knowing I no longer have a contract with them and I don’t have to log in anytime soon to manage my account. Now I just need to move so I can get cable internet instead of the DSL…

6. Google Voice

I’ve already mentioned Google voice a handful of times in this post. It was the one thing that finally made it possible for me to say screw the cell phone. Prior to Google voice, I used Skype but it still lacked some features that I couldn’t do without.

Now that I can easily make calls, forward them to my various phones, and send free SMS messages, I no longer have any issues.

It was awesome when I took a trip home to Wisconsin and simple changed my Google voice settings to forward to my parents land line. It’s amazing how easy it is to bring your phone number with you where ever you go. Plus it made having a land line feasible again, since you can bring the number with you when you are not at home.

We’ll See How It Goes

I plan on doing a followup post a month or two down the road. I’ll summarize how the transition went from an iPhone to a prepaid cell phone/land line combo. I really thing it is going to go just fine without any problems but we will see.

10 Things I’ve Learned From A Year Of Self-Employment

Justin Wright — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:22:19 PDT

(Photo Credit: St3ve)

Today is officially the first day of the rest of my life. I am finally free of the cubicle and all the crap that goes along with it. I no longer have to be the “tech” guy that everyone comes to for problems and stupid questions.

The above quote is from a post I wrote a year ago entitled A New Journey Starts Today. It was officially the first day of my new life after leaving my cubicle job. Well guess what? It’s been a year since that happened!

I can’t believe a year has come and gone. When I first quit my job, my main goal was to make it a year without having to get another job. All I wanted to do was work for myself for a year without having to commute, sit in a cubicle, or answer to a boss. Luckily, I managed to do just that. I learned a lot along the way and wanted to put together a list of some of the things I’ve learned from a year of self-employment.

1. Hard Work: You Can’t Escape It

When a lot of people make the jump to working for themselves, they often assume they will be able to work less and set their own hours. While this can be true to some extent, it’s not likely going to happen this way. Instead, I’ve learned that hard work is necessary to build a successful company (or career). I’ve easily worked more than twenty 75 hour+ weeks since I quit my job.

Heck, I often work more than 12 hours a day. It’s one of the sacrifices I made in making the move to working for myself. However, the hours you put in are much different from clocking 12 hours at your day job. Working for yourself means you can take breaks when you want, work on the projects you want, and work when you want. That’s why I often split my work up and do some throughout the day and some at night.

Plus the work I do is fun so it doesn’t really feel like work to me. It feels more like playing video games did back in high school. You don’t even realize the time is flying right by.

2. Trial And Error Is Necessary

While spending all that time working, I’ve noticed that some things work well while others fail miserably. If everything worked the way we wanted it to, I probably would have retired already. But things fail and this is where we learn a lot about business, as well as ourselves.

So don’t be afraid of trail and error. It’s not as simple as finding a book with all the directions in it because not everything works for everyone. You need to find the things that work for you. Once you do, take baby steps to scale them to be much larger. This is where you will start to see success.

3. Sleep Will Be Lost

With working long hours and failing constantly, you will no doubt lose sleep. I often find it hard to sleep when I can’t get something off my mind. I even wrote a post about my unplanned experiment with sleep deprivation, where I ended up staying awake for more than a day straight.

The good news is since you can set your own work hours, you can easily catch up on sleep by giving yourself the enjoyment of sleeping in.

4. Sacrifices Will Be Made

Regardless if you plan on it or not, you will eventually make some sacrifices when working for yourself. It might be as simple as skipping an event with a friend to catch up on work or saying no to something you really want to buy. It’s just part of life and anything worth having requires some sacrifices.

As I mentioned above, one of the sacrifices I made was working far more than I used to. I also sold my car and got rid of a lot of things I no longer used. These things made it easier for me to make it a year without any problems.

5. Money Isn’t Everything

A lot of people go into business to make money. While obviously this is one of the goals of a company, it should not be the only one. What you should be focused on is proving some sort of value, making a difference, or creating something unique. The goals will lead you to the money you were hoping for.

However, working for myself quickly made me realize how unimportant money is. Yes we need it to survive, but that’s it. Other than food/water, clothes, and a place to sleep, we really don’t NEED much else. Instead, we WANT everything we see on TV. The key is to use your money wisely.

Do you absolutely love watching television? If so, then go grab a badass TV. But if you’re only buying the TV to have a bigger one than your neighbor, think twice before you get it. If you’re like me, you’re happy with a 23 inch screen and some rabbit ears. It’s important to decide what you want in life and then focus your money on it.

Neil Patel over at Quicksprout summed it up perfectly in this quote:

So what has all of this taught me? It is easier to save money than it is to make it. You can’t always control how much money you make, but what you can control is what you spend your money on.”

6. Benefits Are Nice, But You Can Live Without Them

One of the things that everyone pointed out to me was “if you quit your job, you will lose your benefits!” I think other people were worried more than I was. It was probably due to that fact that I was just out of college and barely had benefits prior to landing my first two office jobs. So I knew what it was like to not have them.

But the truth is, benefits are overrated. This is coming from someone without a family so I’m sure things would be different if I had a family to support. When you’re young and single, you don’t really need benefits. As soon as I quit my job a year ago, I grabbed a health insurance plan online for less than 90 bucks a month. 6 Months later, I ended up cutting that plan down to a 60 dollar plan that covers me in case of an emergency. Guess what? I haven’t used my plan in over 12 months.

If it’s retirement you are worried about, you can also setup a retirement plan for yourself. This can provide a nice tax break since you can put some of your income into a retirement account.

The key is to do your research prior to quitting your job. Learn as much as you can about your current benefits and see what you can get on your own. This will make the transition a lot easier for you.

7. Bookkeeping And Taxes Suck

One thing I cannot stand doing is the books. I hate accounting and always have. Taxes are a whole other ballgame. When you go into business for yourself, these are some of the things you will have to learn about. You don’t need to know everything, but the more you learn the easier it will be to meet with an accountant.

I’ve slowly been learning more as I go and I’m finally to the point where I have a good understanding of how things work. However, when I just started I wanted to pull my hair out.

You can check out my podcast on bookkeeping and tax tips for bloggers and freelancers for some useful tips.

8. Office Politics Are Shit

If you’ve been here before, you’ve probably read my post about hating office politics. I used to hate everything about them. The gossip, the power tripping, and the alliances that employees make. It used to drive me absolutely insane. Even the whole idea of “climbing the ladder” made me want to cry.

After spending an entire year as far away from an office as possible, I can tell you one thing: office politics sucks. I don’t miss them one bit and I really hope I can continue to work from my home rather than an office.

9. You Will Learn (A Lot)

Of all the things I’ve mentioned so far, nothing has been more enjoyable than learning. It’s absolutely amazing how many things I have learned over the course of one year. I can easily predict that I’ve learned at least 5 (maybe 10) times as much as I did from high school and college combined. I’ve learned valuable things about business, life, and everything in-between.

If anything, I recommend trying out self-employment for the learning experience. It forces you to quickly adapt to what’s happening around you. I think one of the reasons it works so well is because you don’t have a lot of people around to ask questions. If you need to figure something out, you find a way to make it happen (the best saying ever). Whether it’s from reading online or visiting the public library (a lifesaver), the answers are always out there.

10. Freedom Is What Matters

Last but not least is freedom. Freedom is the one thing that made me want to work for myself, as well as build an online business. Why? Because I love to travel and be anywhere at any time. I also enjoy moving fairly often, which might be happening fairly soon.

Having a normal job makes it difficult to live the digital nomad lifestyle because you always have to be at work. Yes you can take vacation but you only get so much time a year. Instead, I decided it would be far more beneficial to create a career that can move around with me.

So the most important thing anyone can have is freedom. The ability to do what you want whenever you want. This is far more important money. People with high-paying jobs have plenty of money, but they don’t necessarily have freedom.

It Was A Great Year

Overall, it was the best year of my life. Not only was it fun and rewarding, but it was also challenging and difficult. I learned a lot and have been making progress since the first day I started. I can only hope that this upcoming year can be just as fun and rewarding. So far, it has been just that.

Mud Fail At Austin City Limits

Justin Wright — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:20:49 PDT

(Photo credit: Stinkie Pinkie)

Over the past 5 months, My girlfriend and I debated about going to Austin City Limits. It took place this weekend, just a short walk down the street from where we live. Due to the fact it was sold out (and overpriced), we decided to skip it.

Another factor in choosing not to go was the fact that none of the headliners were bands we cared to see. There’s no reason to shed out a couple hundred bucks to see some bands we’re note huge fans of play outside.

Anyway, it ended up raining on Friday and all day Saturday. So I enjoyed watching the rain from inside my apartment, where I didn’t have to worry about getting wet, breaking my iPhone (Country USA 2008), or trying to fight my way through the crowds.

Watching Cars Get Towed

Instead of going to ACL, I enjoyed the small things in life like watching cars get towed from my apartment complex. They sent out an email newsletter a few days ago saying that they would tow any cars that tried to park here this weekend. As it turns out, a ton of cars decided to try it and they weren’t bluffing.

I actually sat and watched the tow truck jack a few cars (and trucks) up and haul them away. That’s always a kick in the ass.

Then Comes The Mud Fail

It wasn’t until last night that I saw video footage on the news from Austin City Limits. They showed how bad Zilker Park’s lawn was and how the new grass was transformed into a mud fest. Not only did they show people running and sliding in the mud, but they showed tons of people covering their faces in it. Not exactly something I enjoy doing.

Especially after reading this exact sentence from Austin360.com:

“Based on the mud’s distinctive low-tide odor, most of what surfaced seemed to be Dillo Dirt, the compost made by the City of Austin from yard trimmings collected curbside as well as some treated sewage sludge.”

Wait, what was that again? Sewage sludge? Mmm. To make thing’s better, someone left a comment on that article saying that a lot of people were getting a rash from the mud. Nice.

I definitely didn’t miss out on that one.

A Long Weekend Of Working (aka Fun)

Instead of hitting up ACL, I bounced around to various coffee shops and drank about 8 cups of coffee on Saturday and Sunday. I started working on a few new projects with my new business partner. One of them happens to be a new blog that’s part of a case study we’re doing, but you’ll have to wait to hear more about it.

Other than that, it was a pretty quiet weekend. It was a slow weekend for football since Texas had a bye and the Packers play tonight. Lets go Pack (and Favre)!

What’s Going On?

Justin Wright — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:48:23 PDT

If you haven’t noticed, it’s been a little quiet around here lately. And it’s not because I’ve run out of things to say. I’ve just been super busy working on a few projects, most importantly the new look for ZoopMedia. We just launched the new look this morning and so far it’s been a success.

New WordPress Video Series

One of the biggest changes to the site is the addition of our new WordPress Crash Course. It’s a 16 video WordPress course that covers all the basics to get started. Each video is shot in high definition so you can easily follow along and not have to worry about blurry or choppy video.

Best of all, the course is completely FREE of charge. All we ask is that you sign up for our ZoopMedia newsletter so we can send you WordPress related news and updates.

Now Writing For Performancing

Another thing I’ve started doing is writing over at the Performancing blog. It’s a blog geared to helping bloggers succeed. So if you’re ever in the need for a few quick blog tips, don’t hesitate to check it out.

Interview At Blogger Talks

If you missed my post the other day, I also did an interview over at Blogger Talks. It’s always fun to answer peoples questions when it comes to blogging and it was a great interview. You can read the full interview over at Blogger Talks.

A Few Upcoming Posts

Now that I have the largest project completed, I plan on spending more time working on this blog. I hope to start pumping out a few new posts each week so don’t forget to check back soon!

Quick Interview At Blogger Talks

Justin Wright — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:07:29 PDT

Hey Everyone, just wanted to let you know about an interview I did for Blogger Talks. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a blog devoted to interviewing various bloggers from around the world. It’s an awesome content and something I find very interesting.It’s always cool to see what other bloggers have to say.

You can check out the full article here: Justin Wright Talks About Passion, Zoopmedia

Can Your Printer Do This?

Justin Wright — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:49:58 PDT

Who would of thought you could do something this awesome using a couple printers.

An Experiment In Sleep deprivation

Justin Wright — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:05:44 PDT

(Photo credit: Thomas Claveirole’s)

Want to catch up on work? I think I’ve found the solution. Don’t sleep. Ever.

Just kidding, that’s a horrible idea. However, I did stay up for over 35 hours straight over the last two days and managed to get a TON done. Not only did I build two websites from scratch, but I also managed to do some design modifications to a bunch of my websites and blogs. If you’ve been there before, you’ve probably noticed the changes I made to this one. Anyways, I wanted to write a little bit about what it was like staying up so long.

The First Question Is Why?

No I’m not psychic, but I do know that most of you are wondering why someone would go without sleep. Was it work? Sleep? Combination of the two? Well it’s true that I’ve been working a lot lately and have a lot of projects to get done. However, this was not the only reason why I went so long without sleep.

The main reason why I went so long without sleep is because I completely forgot to go to sleep. It’s that simple. I sat down to work and the next thing I knew it was the next day. Which leads us to the next section…

The Concept of Time

(Photo credit: Brandie!)

Believe it or not, ever since I started working for myself I have completely forgotten about the concept of time. Huh? In other words, I’ve stopped following any sort of schedule. I wake up when I wake up and go to sleep when I’m tired. I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be but who knows.

Anyways, this is the main reason why I went so long without sleep. I got in a groove of working and didn’t feel tired so I chose not to sleep.

It’s amazing how easy it is to lose track of time when you work a lot it’s not that relevant. One of my good friends who runs a business could not have summed it any better than this:

Time is just kind of a fuzzy concept right now.

If you couldn’t tell, he’s also someone who likes what he does and spends a lot of time working.

When it comes to a normal day, I would guess that I glance at a clock only once or twice. And that’s only when I know I have to do something. I’ve gone days where I didn’t even look at a clock, let alone a calendar. Heck, even months don’t mean much unless you live somewhere where it’s going to get cold. Thank goodness for Texas weather.

The concept of time becomes even more weird when you go so long without sleep. It felt like a week went by when in reality only 35 hours passed. The sun literally went down, came back up, and then went back down again. Crazy.

The Side Effects

I did a lot of reading this morning on sleep deprivation. I know it’s by no means healthy, which is why I would never recommend it. However, I feel that if you naturally stay up and don’t feel tired then there’s no reason to force yourself to sleep. I eventually crashed and slept like a baby anyway.

Here’s some interesting information from Wikipedia:

According to a 2000 study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers in Australia and New Zealand reported that sleep deprivation can have some of the same hazardous effects as being drunk.^[20] People who drove after being awake for 17–19 hours performed worse than those with a blood alcohol level of .05 percent, which is the legal limit for drunk driving in most western European countries (Canada, the U.S. and U.K. set their blood alcohol limits at .08 percent).

It’s interesting to read that considering I felt anything but drunk. I got a ton of work done, though it might have to do with the fact I didn’t try anything difficult like physical activity or driving. As far as brain function goes, I felt as normal as ever. I actually feel less productive immediately after waking up for some reason. Probably because I’m a night owl.

The After Effects

Like mentioned above, I ended up crashing last night and slept for 9 and a half hours. So how did I feel upon waking? Tired as hell that’s for sure. Had I not had a meeting, I would probably of slept for 2 or 3 more hours (possibly more). So I can guess it’s safe to say that you won’t feel that great after sleeping off a long night. 1 point for sleep.

Will I Do It Again?

Not on purpose. I’ll probably never try and stay up strictly to beat my hours awake record. I wouldn’t even use a bunch of caffeine to stay up, since I know that can cause all sorts of issues. I did that back in middle school but we’re grownups now.

Either way, I definitely recommend living on your own schedule if it’s feasible. It’s so great to be free of alarm clocks!

Mexican Coke vs American Coke

Justin Wright — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:54:09 PDT

One of the many things I’ve discovered here in Austin is Mexican Coke. Prior to moving here, I wouldn’t of had the slightest clue as to what it is. Now I can’t get enough of the stuff.

So I’ve decided to have a battle between regular Coke and Mexican Coke. Here we go:

Round 1: Appearance

As the old saying goes, “appearance is everything.” Even when we’re talking about something as simple as cola. Lets take a closer look at the two different bottles and see which one wins:

American Coke

As you can see to the left, the American Coke looks like any Coke you would see at a gas station. It consists of a screw off plastic cap, a plastic label, and a paper (I think?) sticker known as the label.

There’s a bunch of crap on the label about entering codes on the internet to win like a billion dollars or something. Does anyone actually take the time to read the codes off the caps and enter them online? I sure don’t.

Other than that, we have some nutrition facts, bottle information, and that’s about it.

In terms of appearance, it’s not that appealing.

Mexican Coke

Now lets take a look at the Mexican Coke. As you can see, the Mexican Coke features a metal cap (it’s not even a screw off), as well as a SUPER thick glass bottle.

Apparently they don’t bother with the sweepstakes in Mexico, so the label is literally burned? etched? built right in to the glass. Kind of badass if you ask me.

It has far less information on it compared to the American bottle. The nutrition facts are actually on a sticker, which I’m assuming is added once it makes its way to the US.

Overall, this bottle kills the American Bottle.

1-0 Mexican Coke

Round 2: The Ingredients

In round two, we’re going to compare the ingredients. I know neither of them are healthy beverages but we’ll forget about that for now. Here’s a closer look at the ingredients of each one:

American Coke

Water, high-fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, caffeine.

Mexican Coke

Carbonated water, sugar, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, caffeine.

As you can see, there’s only one key difference. The American Coke uses high fructose corn syrup, which is probably one of the worst things on the planet in terms of health. The Mexican Coke uses real cane sugar, which is at least natural.

2-0 Mexican Coke

Round 3: Taste Testing

Finally, time to taste the two and compare them:

American Coke

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a regular Coke so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I took a few sips and really focused on the flavor. For some reason, it tastes a lot more “fake” and has a chemical taste to it. The sweetness is more bitter and sort of reminds me of a diet Coke that uses artificial sweeteners.

Mexican Coke

Once I got done tasting the American Coke, I immediately tried some of the Mexican Coke. Wow does it taste better. It’s sweeter and has a less acidic/chemical taste to it. It tastes a lot more like a naturally sweet beverage such as juice.

3- 0 Mexican Coke

It’s Delicious

Well the Mexican Coke dominated this battle. I’ll continue to spend a $1.25 on bottles knowing that the taste is far better. Now if only I could find it by the case somewhere…Mexico?

1st Saturday At Independence Brewing Company

Justin Wright — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:53:12 PDT

On the first Saturday of each month, the Independence Brewing Company offers a free brewery tour and beer tasting event here in Austin. Once I found out about this, I had to go check it out for myself. Who can turn down free beer?

When And Where?

The event takes place on the first Saturday of each month at 3913 Todd Lane here in Austin. The entrance is open from 1:00 – 2:00 PM and the brewery stays open until 3 PM. The event is free to enter and you get three samples of their beer. However, they do sell merchandise at the entrance and it is worthwhile to purchase a pint glass.

Why you ask? If you purchase a pint glass, you get three pint glasses full of beer for free. If you decide not to get a glass, you only get three small plastic cups worth of beer. Boo!

Make sure to bring cash if you do want to buy one because they don’t accept credit cards and don’t have an ATM.

Be Prepared To Stand In Line

If you don’t enjoy standing in lines, you’ll hate this place. Not only do you have to stand in line to get in, you’ll also have to stand in line each time you want to fill up your glass. Here’s what the line looks like to get your free sample of beer:

It takes a hell of a long time to get a beer but it’s hard to complain considering they’re free!

What To Bring

Another thing I recommend is bringing a chair. The place was a lot different than I was expecting. You’re literally hanging out in the parking lot and there aren’t many places to sit. They do have an inside tasting room but it fills up pretty quickly as you can see here:

You can also bring your own food, water, and soda which is nice. I saw a lot of people eating subs from Subway and I was pretty jealous. Bringing a pizza wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

Another cool thing is the fact that the outdoor section is dog friendly. If you’re dog can handle crowds then you can bring them with. Just remember that they are not allowed inside the brewery.

Brewery Tour

Besides offering beer tasting, they also have a few brewery tours where you can see where the beer is made. I ended up doing it since I was curious to see what it was all about. Here’s a few photos from the tour:

The tour isn’t very long but it is fun to see how beer is made. It’s pretty amazing how the process works and how delicious the end product is.

Worth A Visit

If you’re in Austin, I recommend checking out 1st Saturday. It’s not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon, especially if the weather is nice. As far as beer goes, I HIGHLY recommend trying their Bootlegger Brown Ale. It’s one of my top 5 favorite beers.

Vibram Five Fingers: Not Your Average Shoe

Justin Wright — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:40:29 PDT

What in the hell are those? That’s what most people seem to think (and say) when they see the Vibram Five Fingers. So I decided it was time to grab a pair and see what they are all about. As it turns out, they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn in my entire life.

Quick Introduction

If you’ve never seen these before, they are a unique shoe made by Vibram. Vibram is most known for making the soles of popular hiking shoes. The reason they are so unique is because they feature five toe sections and fit much like a glove.

Here’s a quick video I put together about the shoes:

As you can see, they are MUCH different than typical shoes.

First Impression

About 6 months ago I first saw these shoes on a few websites. I immediately thought they looked cool but never really thought much about them. I think I was scared off by the $85 price tag.

However, I’ve come to learn that paying a decent amount for shoes is WELL worth it. Life basically sucks when you don’t have comfortable shoes to wear around. Just think of that one beach vacation you took where to took some brand new flip flops, only to be left with blisters on your feet from walking so much. Exactly.

Anyways, when I first saw these shoes at the store, I was pretty impressed with the build. They are super lightweight but still feel like they are well made. The material they are made out of sort of reminds me of a pair of cycling shorts I own (yes, the funny looking ones with a butt pad in them).

They do offer a few models, some feature a velcro strap while others do not. I went with the sprint model since the velcro strap comes in handy if you run a lot.

Here’s a few photos of the shoes, including one of me wearing them:

As you can see, they fit like a glove. Which is great because after awhile you forget you’re even wearing them. It’s hard to say that about a pair of uncomfortable shoes.

One Week Later

It’s been a week now since I bought a pair and I’ve been wearing them every single day. I’ve literally worn them for at least 4 hours a day. The first two days I wore them the entire time I was awake to try and get used to them.

Besides wearing them to the grocery store, I’ve also used them to play tennis, hike, play football, and walk around town. I can honestly they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned. They really do remind me of being barefoot as a kid, but without any of the cuts or scrapes.

It’s amazing how much different the ground feels when you are wearing these. You really notice the terrain more. When I’m walking on grass, it feels like I’m walking on grass. The same goes for dirt, concrete, and so on. It seems to bring you closer to nature, which is an amazing feeling.

I plan on wearing these as my every day shoes due to how comfortable they are. I’m now used to getting a few weird looks and an occasional question from a stranger so I’m no longer worried about that.

Health Benefits

Besides being comfortable, the Vibram Five Fingers are also good for your health. I’ve read time and time again that your feet tend to morph into the shape of your shoes. This is bad for a few reasons, mainly because it changes the way you stand (and walk).

The best option is to go barefoot. Unfortunately, it’s hard when you live in a city full of concrete, glass, and a whole bunch of other random stuff laying on the ground. These shoes are a great alternative.

Awesome Shoes

Overall, these shoes are a great investment. Especially if you do a lot of outdoor activities like walking, running, or hiking. I’m going to continue to wear these every day and see what happens over the long term.

I’ll be putting together a followup post a month or so from now to summarize how they shoes are doing (as well as my feet). If you’re interested in these shoes, you can learn more about them on the Vibram Five Fingers website.