subject: Cody McKibben Leveraging Currency Fluctuations in South East Asia [print this page] Cody McKibben Leveraging Currency Fluctuations in South East Asia
I have had a splendid time interviewing one of the most interesting characters in the online world today. His name is Cody McKibben of Thrilling Heroics; a blog site about his exploits and travels. He was able to share with me the experiences he had to face before he started living a lifestyle design mode of living.
I asked Cody about the motivation that actually prompted him to pack everything in his bag and start the adventure the he is living now. He honestly said that there were so many factors that influenced hi decision to start a life of a traveler and working remotely. The first thing was when he read Tim Ferriss' Four Hour Work Week back in 2007. He admitted that if it weren't for that said book, he might still be working in a cubicle right now. Another reason was his inert interest in traveling. He said that the greatest thing he had to contend against were his own demons and that innate fear of uncertainty present in all human beings when making a huge and life-changing decision.
He had to sell everything he owned except for his laptop and iPhone. He had both devices configured for traveling abroad for him to use for his online business wherever he went. Traveling outside the United States is different from traveling within especially when there is a great need for internet connectivity for the management of one's business. Cody told me that as long as the area you are in is not so remote, there won't be any problems with internet connectivity, especially when you are situated in an urban city like Bangkok where he is based. Though he had to pay an extra 75 bucks for the fastest DSL connection in Bangkok but other than that, it's all cozy.
For Cody, lifestyle design is a means of living wherein you design the things you do such as your job. It's like deconstructing the daily routine you were used to and re-arranging everything in a more systematic and efficient manner that suits the lifestyle that one wants to live. As a result, the business that he runs today is based on the idea of travel wherein the infrastructure calls for high mobility and allows its management remotely.
Another important theme that occurred during our discourse is the term Geo Arbitrage. For Cody, it is earning through the strongest currencies at the moment and then living into places with a very low cost of living such as Bangkok in his case. With that in mind, he said that it actually allows you to live in luxury otherwise unattainable when you live in a country where you were earning your money. As a matter of fact, he and his girlfriend, also a traveler, were able to own a beach house in Thailand in the process.
Since he has a girlfriend, I asked him if the lifestyle he has right now is also conducive for having children in the future and he said that it poses no problems for him since he has some acquaintances in that situation.
Wrapping up, he indicated that he intends to move out of Bangkok and travel more in the future. It is definitely an invigorating experience being able to converse with a guy who is the perfect example of a lifestyle designer.
