Cascais, Portugal

ProTip: Don’t listen to people who tell you no.

I’m always stuck in these weird little cracks in the system because of the unusual lifestyle I lead. People are constantly telling me no, no, no… Over the last couple of years I’ve been location independent and that invariably means I don’t fit into the little check boxes bureaucrats love so dearly. It’s frustrating at first but you really just need to figure out how to handle it.

There is always someone who wants to tell you no. No that’s not possible, no we don’t offer that service, no that’s not how it’s done.

It goes like this:

“No we don’t offer that service and you can’t do that.”
“Oh wait my supervisor said that yes in fact we do offer that service but you have to pay extra.”
“Oh wait in fact you don’t have to pay extra.”
“So yes you can do that.”

Whenever you’re trying to do something unusual people will tell you that it’s not possible for a number of reasons.

Sometimes they’re just covering their asses and don’t want to get in trouble for doing something unusual. Yes that’s right get in trouble! They feel like they’re in grade school and their bosses will slap them on the wrist for doing something wrong.

The default position of some people is no. They just have a fundamentally different world view. Fall in line, do as your told, don’t rock the boat… No, no, no, no….

Often they’ll say no because they don’t want to acknowledge that you may in fact know more about the current situation than they do. Another reason people will say no is because they have an agenda. Case in point, any salesman that works on commission. A common excuse people go negative is “that’s just not the way it’s done.” If it’s not the status quo it can’t be done! When you’re doing something unusual it freaks people out and their first reaction is to just tell you NO.

The trick with all these types of problems is to think creatively and be polite. Kill them with kindness and know your stuff. If that doesn’t work just be such a pain in the ass that it’s easier to just let you do what you’re trying to do than to keep saying no.

Whatever the case, don’t take no for an answer if what you’re trying to do is important to you. To find your solution be polite, persistent, knowledgeable and creative.

Homeless Woman Bent Over Begging in Front of a Mega-Yacht, Venice Italy.

It’s jarring when you see extreme poverty and incredible wealth at the same time. The yacht (one of the largest) is owned by the defence minister of Saudi Arabia.

Peter and Karen at their farm in Western Australia. Note the epic ride. (view full size)

Several years ago Peter rode a horse all the way across Australia to raise money for abused children. That’s right, a horse across a country that is geographically larger than the United States. He did it lengthwise too, the harder and longer way. All he had for support was a young lady driving a pickup truck full of hay for the horse. He almost died doing it. It was a pleasure to meet him.

Dorothy and I Climbing The World’s Tallest Fire-Lookout Tree, Gloucester National Park, Western Australia (view full size)

According to wikipedia:

The Gloucester Tree is a giant karri tree in the Gloucester National Park of Western Australia. At 72 metres in height, it is the world’s tallest fire-lookout tree, and visitors can climb up to a platform in its upper branches for a spectacular view of the surrounding karri forest. It is owned by the Shire of Manjimup.

Built in 1947, the Gloucester Tree was one of eight karri trees that between 1937 and 1952 were made relatively easy to climb so that they could be used as fire lookout spots. The suitability of the tree as a fire lookout was tested by forester Jack Watson, who climbed the tree using climbing boots and a belt. It took Watson six hours to climb 58 metres, a difficult climb due to the 7.3 metre girth of the tree and the need to negotiate through limbs from 39.6 metres up.

Another forester, George Reynolds, pegged the ladder and lopped branches to facilitate climbing the tree, and a wooden lookout cabin was built 58 metres above the ground. The Governor-General of Australia, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, visited the site during construction, and the tree and national park are named in his honour.
The wooden lookout cabin was demolished in 1973 for safety reasons, and was replaced with a steel and aluminium cabin and visitors’ gallery. Currently the climb is done by stepping on 153 spikes that spiral the tree.

Only 20 percent of visitors climb to the top of the tree; most make it only part of the way before turning back.

More photos of Gloucester Tree Western Australia

The quintessential Outback experience in Australia is crossing the 1100km long Nullarbor Plain. It was hot, extreme, remote, and totally incredible. View full size.

More photos from the Nullarbor Plain.

Raining Sunset Melbourne Australia (Full Size) or on Photoshelter

Girl Pulling a Horse Into Water, Kwinana Beach, Australia.

View very large. (25 MB photo)

Dorothy and I always try to take a photo of ourselves so we can remember the special moments. I put these together into one great big collage as a gift for Dorothy. These photos we’re taken in the last two years.

Surfer catching a wave below the Moon and a Rainbow. Torquay, Australia 2011.

I took this photograph in Torquay Australia just before we drove the Great Ocean Road.

There is something wonderful and playful about the excitement of these young girls running out to go surfing! It was quite a scene at the beach here. The surfers were catching a few last waves as the sun was setting. To top it off a rainbow was forming. It was one of those little magic moments of travel-bliss that you cannot convey to someone who wasn’t there.

Dorothy and I went surfing in Australia and it was very very awesome. It got me to thinking about fear.

Anyway, I have roughly a bazillion photos to process from Australia. I’ll git-r-done soon enough and post them up.

Also this photograph reminds me of the song Let’s Go Surfing by the Drums.

Nothing new to report from Key Largo. We’re just enjoying our little RV and getting some work done.