doing what she loves
When I first started blogging last year, I found and adopted some mentors, these were the people whose blogs I read regularly to see what they were doing, and more importantly how they were doing it. Brooke was one of those people. I wrote a blog post highlighting one of their posts in kind of a Carnival blog. That post is one of the most read posts on this site.
I finally gathered up enough courage to ask Brooke a few questions, and she was very generous with her answers.
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Tell us a little bit about your background
I grew up in Indiana, which was nice and had great people, but I always felt it was a bit too boring and sheltered. I really enjoyed doing outdoor sports and the weather made that a bit challenging. In college, I got my Bachelors of Science in Education from Indiana University. I focused on Environmental Education and alternative learning methodologies. Growing up, I struggled with traditional education methods and wanted to learn more hands on, exciting, and innovative ways of teaching people. I figured life, and learning should be fun, and wanted to teach people in inspiring ways.
What was the turning point in your life?
You might not believe this, but its absolutely true: I had my first midlife crisis at fourteen. My father owns a construction company and I had to work full time there during the summers. Having my first real office job at fourteen was overwhelming. I had to do the typical 8-5 and spend my days doing office work which I absolutely hated. I remember one day in particular that I nearly passed out / blacked out/ died in my chair as I was entering numbers into a spreadsheet for the gazillionth hour.
Describe your transition period for us
I think the transition was trying to sort out how to live in a world where I knew I didn’t like the structure. While my girlfriends all seemed to be worried about their hair, boyfriend, or going shopping, I was concerned with saving my own life. I knew I wanted to do something exciting, or I was going to end up like the people in my dad’s office. I felt like they were all from some kind of zombie movie… Lives Of The Walking Dead, or something like that. They never seemed to be excited about anything, and I knew I wanted to commit to an exciting life. (Editor’s note: Commitment creates magic)
I bought my first plane ticket when I was twelve. I traveled to see my best friend who had moved to Canada. When I was 16, I went to New York to visit my sister. Shortly after that, I flew to Mexico with my friends and vacationed in Cancun.
In college, I led adventure trips all around the U.S. and took people backpacking, kayaking, hang gliding and sky diving. My friends were all into mountain biking, climbing, and other outdoor sports, so I began to get more and more adventurous.
At the same time, I was also on the rowing team. I was learning about traveling, team sports, and leadership. I think this was a really good combination for me, realizing there were other adventurous people out there that wanted to have an exciting life, too.
What made you decide to leave the US and go abroad?
My first trip abroad was at the end of my undergraduate degree. I spent four months in Australia teaching at a variety of schools. Living outside of the U.S. was so amazing. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to just pick up and make new friends half way across the world! I had such incredible experiences then and knew it was possible to buy a plane ticket and live anywhere.
Since then, I’ve taken jobs I could travel with. I’ve been to London, Italy (twice), the Bahamas, Thailand (twice), Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. On each of these trips I discovered more about myself, and more about the cultural differences that make up the world. I think my favorite thing about traveling is that you really feel alive. You are making minute by minute decisions and have the ability to change your fate every day.
I loved travel, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it a more permanent part of my lifestyle.
It took me awhile to figure out where I wanted to live in the U.S. I have been to most of the states and after living in Hawaii and Colorado, I decided that California was the place I would call home. I stopped traveling momentarily to work out a longer term solution. I focused on completing my masters in business (MBA) and starting up a consulting company. I wanted to do something different. Something that focused on creating the lifestyle of your dreams that was fueled by a business you loved to run. Traditional consultants only want to focus on the numbers, but I know from experience, all anyone really wants is the freedom to live their life as they choose, to have freedom of expression and live their individual lifestyle.
Things were doing quite well with my business, I had a great client base, was profitable, and getting more and more speaking gigs. But when the economy crashed, so did the housing market where I lived. Business owners in my area had nothing to cling to, no equity in their homes, business, or investments. It was really sad. I lost about eighty percent of my clients nearly overnight.
I knew I needed to do something, but wasn’t sure what. California is an amazing place to live, but its also really expensive. I knew I wanted to “go global” eventually, but maybe now was actually the right time to do it. So I sold all my stuff and bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok.
Of all the places in the world, why Thailand?
Krabi, Thailand, where I live, is the most beautiful place on earth. If you were to helicopter around the area, you would see a perfect turquoise ocean meeting up with limestone cliffs that jut straight out of the ocean. People come here from all over the world to scuba dive and go rock climbing on the never ending cliffs. My two favorite sports are diving and climbing, so this is like living on heaven on earth for me.
Also, the Thai culture is entirely different than home. The values are more focused on enjoying your life, dealing with what comes to you and staying calm and relaxed. They’re constant Mai Pen Rai attitude is amazing after the rush-and-go lifestyle of the U.S. Add in great food, cheap accommodations, amazing international friends, and a place by the beach… I was sold!
What has been the most exciting thing since you moved?
I think the most exciting thing has been realizing that I can do exactly what I want and attract the most amazing people into my life. Before, in California, I was running around trying to get in front of people. Now, I have people coming to me from all over the world. I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had in my life, and for the first time ever, I’m being sought out.
I love getting comments on Business Backpacker, doing interviews, being on other blogs, and reaching out to others through Twitter and Facebook. But my favorite part is having other bloggers come to visit because they’ve been readers of my site. Recently, I was contacted by Discovery Channel. I just finished interviewing and filming with them. We did two days of filming my lifestyle here… where I live, climbing, the beach, riding around on my motorbike, shopping, and ended with my birthday party at my friend’s restaurant. It was an incredible experience and great confirmation that I’m doing the right thing with my life.
What have been some of the challenges?
Every day here is a challenge. Maybe the wrong mindset to have is that we want things to be easy. Maybe instead, we should want to get better at handling challenging situations. Paradise isn’t perfect, in fact, it’s far from it. I think the best experiences here have stemmed from me deciding that I’m going to take on bigger and bigger challenges. My life seems to get better when I face up to the difficult challenges put in front of me.
Daily challenges would be…language, internet, banking, visa issues, digestive tract problems, and even driving around on a motorbike using the opposite side of the road. Bigger challenges are how to run a successful online consulting business, how to stay in Thailand, and how to deal with being 18,000 miles away from home. Although it can be extremely hard, I know that every day, I am learning and growing, so it is all worth it.
How has your life been affected by your decision to adopt this lifestyle?
I think every single aspect of my entire life has changed since being here. But, all in a good way. I know I can take on more responsibility, I know I can take care of myself in the craziest of circumstances, I know I can have the time of my life and be myself. I know that by doing this I am hopefully inspiring others to go after their own crazy dreams…. which is all I really aspire to do anyway.
What is the most valuable thing you have learned from your experience in lifestyle design?
Keep doing what you love. This may change, or you might alter the plan slightly, but keep doing it. Then keep doing it more, and eventually, you will wake up, every day and say to yourself, “My God, My Life is SOOOOO Cool! I love my life!!”
Also, I would recommend finding some kind of financial backing for the lifestyle you love. Otherwise, it is just a vacation and you have to go back to square one when you go home. Running an online business and helping others can be done now from anywhere in the world, and you can do it, too!
Any final thoughts?
I would just encourage readers with this: Do What You Love. Get up everyday, and try to do that, and if you can make a lifetime of it, you have achieved Lifestyle Design. If you need any help with this process, or need some inspiration, swing by my site. But mostly, just take a good look at your life and if there is something you want to change, Change It! Don’t wait for someone else to change, or think that they ever will.
You are the only one in your life that is going to make yourself happy. Once you begin to take ownership of that (without the resentment) you will start to see all of your wildest dreams come true. I wish that for you… for all of you!! Making a decision to be happy and live the lifestyle of your dreams is the most important decision you can ever make, so why not start today?