Want to know one of the secrets to happiness?
Happiness is an attitude, not a thing that happens.
You can’t create it, you have to start with it.
Like sailing, you can either become frustrated fighting the currents, or you can adjust the sails with an excitement towards the future.
I was pretty decent at living this ideal before I hit the road, it’s part of what attracted me to partner up with Chris and join him as a technomad. Was I ready to put my adaptability to the test – just how able to go with the flow was I?
And what a test life on the road has been – I think I’m getting close to earning my degree in serendipity! (I do get to redeem all these experiences for a degree, right??)
This year in particular has been a doozy for us.
Of course the most major life challenge this year was my father passing away in April after a long battle with cancer. We were deeply involved with making sure his life’s ending was as poetic as the life he lived. My father prepared us well to always be positive through it all. Yes, there is grief we continue to go through, but mostly there is positivity. It’s how my father wanted it.
We also recently encountered a pretty major bump in the road when our engine overheated, requiring a 6 week engine rebuild. I think all and all, we navigated that one pretty darn awesomely.
We quickly shifted from dwelling on the bummer of the situation and embraced the abundance of opportunity to overhaul Zephyr’s power systems and learn about her inner workings. We made great friends, and left Billings with a priceless (but financially expensive) experience.
We figure, dwelling on the negative aspects isn’t going to make the situation better. We alone have the power to control how we react to the situations life tosses at us.
And the third major bump…
They (whoever ‘they’ is) say ‘stuff comes in threes’…
Our third big bump is a big business change. Now that we’re passed it, I can talk about it and its impacts on our future.
You may recall back in January we got hit with some unexpected news related to the business I ran for nearly two decades with my parents.
Our major contract was with the US Government – providing a mission critical medical web application that we developed and have supported for many years. I was able to continue being the project manager, database admin, trainer & primary support while we’ve traveled about.
Government contracts come up for renewal every so many years, and ours expired last year and was to be put out for re-competition. While we had to submit a proposal like any other competitor, our unique experience with the requirements made us a likely candidate.
A lot of my attention throughout last year was dedicated towards getting my father into retirement, and transferring his knowledge to a team I was building up to be ready to bid on the renewal.
But come New Years Eve, we got the surprising last-minute news that instead of putting the contract out for open bid, the contracting office decided to assign the requirement to the Small Business Administration’s Section 8(a) program for small disadvantaged businesses. This allowed the requirement to be filled without competition.
They were handing the contract to a company participating in a program we did not qualify for. In an instant, we lost even having the opportunity to bid on a contract that had been the core of our business.
To say we (and our client too!) were shocked, is an understatement.
The issues that would arise from reassigning the requirement to an unprepared contractor without a transition plan (which would take several months!) hadn’t been accounted for. Changing web application developers and hosting providers is not nearly as simple and straightforward as changing which factory to order widgets from.
We launched a bid protest immediately with the US Comptroller’s Office (what fun paperwork that was), which got us a temporary contract issued while the protest was investigated. We were able to continue services and not leave our client high and dry without a transition plan in place.
At first, I was extremely stressed about this situation. This contract has been the focus of my career since I was 20, and my primary income source. And at the time, my father’s prognosis was more hopeful and he was looking forward to being a part-time advisor on the contract in his retirement. We all looked forward to something to keep him active, and help pay for his treatments.
However my father’s diagnosis turning terminal just weeks later – changed everything.
Everything.
When we received the news in early April that our bid protest was tossed out and the SBA assignment would stick – I was shocked that I reacted with relief.
Sure, the guaranteed income for the next five years would have been nice.
But I also knew with my father’s passing it was time for me to re-evaluate my own life and create my own future.
The timing of this whole thing was not lost on me.
This summer has been spent transitioning the application to the new contractor and getting them trained up. We also had to help our other smaller clients transition to their own solutions and off our servers – without the ‘big’ contract the smaller ones no longer made sense to continue.
This summer would have been a very focused and busy time for us regardless. So what the heck, let’s toss in apprenticing during our engine overhaul and doing a bunch of bus upgrades too!
Who needs sleep anyway??
Ahh… now we can breathe!
We did it!
Our engine is rebuilt and we’re back on the road.
And as of last Friday evening – all of our mission critical custom software projects are no longer on my plate. I now start the process of shutting down the family business.
For the first time in my career…
- I can wake up in the morning and not wonder if I need to be ‘at the ready’ to handle a client crisis.
- My day can no longer be interrupted with a critical support call or e-mail.
- I no longer have to plan our travel routing around internet and phone connectivity to stay reachable due to ‘on-call’ requirements.
- I no longer have to evaluate if any opportunities presented to us will conflict with my contractual obligations. If a fun gig comes up, we can just do it.
- Want to cross over the border? Sure – we don’t have to worry about figuring out international connectivity if we don’t want to.
Our world just got a heck of a lot larger!
Of course, our income has significantly dwindled too.
But it’s not an immediate concern for us. We’ve always saved and managed our investments well, and we’re completely debt free.
Knowing nearly 9 months in advance that this was coming – we’ve been extra diligent about saving so we could fund a decent sabbatical before having to find replacement income.
We’re good for awhile and we know how to tighten the belt.
And thankfully, we’ve built our residual income up from our mobile apps and eBooks to a point it covers a decent portion of our base living expenses – which keeps us from having to dip much into the savings.
So what does the future hold?
We have a few more app ideas that we’ll be working on completing.
And we’re getting ready to refresh our No Excuses: Go Nomadic series and publish it more formally for Kindle, iBook and print.
We’re still offering the current version as a free blog series and the eBook on a ‘pay as you wish basis.’ Everyone who has ever contributed will be given a free copy of the final version – so keep contributing! Think of it as crowdfunding the re-write without the Kickstarter campaign.
The goal being using our new open time to create more resources and build up the income.
But we are definitely taking a break from any long term contracts or mission critical projects.
Short term? Maybe.
We’re just not ready to dive into another life encompassing project until we’ve had a chance to reground after being in a continual crisis mode for so long. We’re looking at this as an opportunity to really consider what we want out of life and career.
A word about this blog
Many have assumed that Technomadia.com has been a significant part of our business plan – it’s not.
Yes, we have created apps and eBooks as a result of our travels, and will continue to do so. But this blog is, and always has been, our personal journal of our travels and sharing of what we’ve learned. It’s our gift to you and the world, and a continuation of our personal journaling. We don’t want to change that.
As we develop more relevant paid content, we will continue to share about them here – but we will not let the blog become primarily a marketing vehicle. We want the creation of our products to just be a natural part of our story, just like every twist and turn we’ve taken.
So, that’s where we’re at.
It’s been an eventful, life changing year – to put it mildly.
And I am sincerely looking forward to seeing where this river ahead takes us! Trim up the sails, and full speed ahead matey!
Cherie,
We haven’t met (yet!), but I wanted to offer my condolences and send some {{{HUGS}}}.
You’ve been through a lot this year and last and I hope the new chapter provides you with more joy and many grand adventures.
We hope to meet you two on the road soon.
Safe travels,
Steph
I hate it that your father died. I love it that you have decided to honor him by your positive reflection on his passing and all that has happened. Working in the government support arena since 1995, I have seen how contracts go. But you have a lot to teach others from your perspective. I am becoming a big fan of you two. Thanks for sharing this.
This post really spoke to us, as we have also recently felt the freedom that comes from being without work, with low overhead.
Excited to see what’s next! We follow you guys closely…
The Hipster Gypsies
Very well said…shows what a remarkable person you are…now that you have the three things finished you are starting three more…the light house post…and finally meeting Paul and Nina…can’t wait to hear the third, fourth etc etc…what a life you have a head of you both…
Wow, you guys have been through a lot lately but what a fantastic attitude you two have. I know the future will hold many wonderful adventures and venues to make your way through them all. It’s got to be hard to deal with all these changes so quickly, especially the loss of your Dad. This old lady has no advice other than to keep your chin up…which you are doing very well. Looking forward to hearing of your further journey.
I’ve been following your blog most of the last year or so and knew of your father’s passing and the engine rebuild. I wasn’t up to speed on your business challenges. I want to acknowledge you not only for sharing the loss of your contract, but for sharing how managing the work had become somewhat of a burden. I have owned and operated a number of small businesses (liquor store, construction company, consulting practice, and landscaping business) and I’m always curious to learn of other people’s experiences as small business owners and/or independent contractors. So much of what we do is troubleshooting problems and our incomes are often dependent on things out of our control. After a long stretch of work it can be refreshing to start anew! I certainly felt that way after closing and selling my businesses. I look forward to hearing about your future work endeavors.
Bravo Cherie and Chris…..you both are wonderful examples of the title of this blog post. Even though I have been aware of many of the details you discussed, it was great to see it all boiled down into such a great article. So look forward to crossing your path again.
I relate to your posting. My father passed away also a couple of years ago and I was divorced a year ago. Life changes and sometimes dramatically. I try to teach my daughters one important thing. the secret to life is different for everyone but to me it is “Live Debt Free”. when you hit the unexpected then you can adjust quickly no matter how difficult the situation. you never need to have the weight of trying to figure out how you will pay for that next bill.
@Gary
This needs to be preached from the rooftops, so many are trapped by debt and obligations that they cannot live today!!! I was able to make a lot of the decisions I just had to make for myself and others because I may be “poor” but I have little needs and no debt to prevent me from living.
Debt is like Death only slower.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and perspectives. I’ve maintained for some time that we’re all more alike than we are different. Sharing our stories only underscores that point.
Every time I’ve been faced with adversity, I’ve refused to let it define me in any other way than an opportunity. Sure there’s that initial gut wrenching reaction but staying focused in the past keeps us stuck there.
As a fellow software engineer, db architect and geospatial analyst I know that you are part of a unique group of individuals that can turn dreams into reality. And I just know that your new reality will likely be better than the last one!
Best wishes until we meet on the road some day!
Thank you Marc! So true about the initial gut wrenching reaction. It’s when you can see past it and see the positive side of things that you advance on.
Whatever is next.. it will be exactly the right thing!
The email notice arrived “Technomadia Has A New Blog Posting”. I opened the blog with great anticipation of vicariously living through there of their great travel logs. What I read brought a tear of sadness for your trials and tribulations but then quickly changed to tears of inspiration. Thanks so much for reminding us a failure that results from well-designed and well-intentioned experimentation can be worthy of praise. Creating a purposeful life requires messing up and venturing into the unknown. That’s why the ability to recover from setback and move forward is essential. And this starts with embracing, processing, and even benefiting from failure. I know your will both succeed with your ability to embrace your life, regardless of what obstacles are placed in your path.
And sometimes it’s not about rebounding from failure… but learning that some things are just out of your control and how to best navigate through them.
I don’t consider any of the 3 challenges this year to be even remotely close to being considered failures or mess-ups. Just a few normal big life challenges & milestones all occurring in close proximity to one another.
Holy moly…I kinda knew it had been a tough year for you, but this really summed it up in a whole new package. You’ve shown incredibly strength and positive attitude through all this and I’ve got to believe you’ve got good things coming your way.
Nina
Thank you so much Nina!
I have had similar things happen to me this last year. Not my father, but a very close friend lost her battle with cancer. Last fall my job supporting several application and needing to be on call 24 x 7 and all that stress got its funding pulled. I was angry, many changes to deal with.
You are correct, attitude is everything. I’m almost debt free and was able to take a fun job I enjoy much more for less pay and use my free time building my bus to get on the road. My new line of work, I can take on the road more easily.
Watching you two through this helped me correct my attitude and know that this is life.
Sounds like you’re navigating the choppy waters well yourself.
Well, that’s a bit of a kick in the pants, but you’ve managed to sort it out. All of it.
There are a couple things it reminds me of. The attitude of bureaucrats and/or politicians that, even though something might work just fine, let’s “fix” it! *rolling my eyes here*
It happens way too often.
And…my nephew.
For a few years, he’s had a “computer guru fix-it” type of business, dealing with both software (some of which he wrote himself) and hardware. So fine. Did a good job of it. Made a decent living. BUT, he just got tired of that thing you mentioned about waking up in the morning and wondering if there was a fire that needed to be put out. He’d get calls any time of the day, pretty much whenever businesses were open. Mobile phones can be a mixed blessing.
So he took a job with a computer software firm and is quite content to “man the help desk” a couple days a week. He can do that sitting by the pool in his house coat….
Anyway, I got a little long winded there. Sorry. You have your sh*t together, which is probably why I come back to this blog over and over again. I ain’t got no bus, and have no plans to get one. Doesn’t matter.
We’re glad you’re here and keep coming back – thank you!
“‘Tis the set of the sails, And Not the gales, That tell us the way to go.”
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Beautiful!
Cherie:
I am impressed with your zen-like calm in the face of so many challenges. Attitude is all. I am not sure I could have managed all that you did with such aplomb.
I will continue to follow your further adventures. I am especially interested in the lighthouse sitting gig that you mentioned and will look forward to your posts regarding this.
All the best to you, Chris and Kiki
Bmcd
Thanks Brenda. That’s not to say of course it’s been ALL zen-like 😀
Yeah! I want to hang out with people like you and Rob K. I’ve been reading your e-mail for years it seems and I am finally selling my business and getting ready to put my house on the market for sale. I want to full time if I can and work here and there. I’m both afraid and excited. I’ll be reading your book and following your advice, adventures, and challenges. Thanks so much for being there and all you do for us!
Being afraid and excited at the same time is pretty natural. It’s a big change. Let the afraid part have its voice, and then reason it out with the excited part. See you out there on the road…
It’s a Wonderful Life, so Now What?
Life is, simple as that, it is! It can be wonderful, it can be boring, it can be anything you want it to be. There are a wide range of adjectives we attach to life. Each day it is usually a different one we choose to express the kind of days that make up our life.
I like to think of my life in four different quadrants. The first being a new born and growing into a tiny human being who loves life and looks at it with awe. The second being the beginning of early childhood soaking up everything around and deciphering it all. Keeping what felt good to me and discarding the rest. The third stage was growing into adulthood. Living life to the best of my ability all the while I added to my knowledge bank. During this part of my play I was really learning who I was, what I came here to do, and just basically figuring it all out. The fourth is the one I am living now. I have learned and continue to learn more and more each day. I filled my life-book full of cherished memories and now I share what I hope will help those going through the four transitions in life too in order to live a wonderful life.
This last stage of my life I vow to enjoy, love, and help others without interfering in their life. I found peace within this last part of my journey and I look forward to sharing it with everyone on my path. Heck even the ones not on my path, smile. So my answer to “now what?” is enjoy every stage! Take from it, give back to it, leave what you don’t want, and be happy with where you are now. If things need changing, then change them. If you feel the need to reach out and embrace the heartache from the past, do that. But most of all make the now count! It’s a Wonderful Life! “Now What” all depends on you!
Words to live by, Rob! Thank you!
Actually, wonderful reading about your story today, it really hits home with me as I just lost my dad a little over a week or so (and he was FAR less organized) so, as I have been going through this I keep going back to the process of jettisoning all the excess baggage and looking more and more of heading out and enjoying life.
I figure I have survived this long, I can adapt…
It is really nice reading about people that are doing some pretty amazing things that also include all those bumps along the way. Too many only talk about the good things and then folks try to head out and the first time something goes wrong, they are lost. In life thing go wrong but it is at that point where the real decisions of life come in are you going to build something better (and “better” changes over time) or let it destroy you. Most choose the later and then really life ends for them.
Michael
I’m so sorry to hear of your dad’s recent passing, Michael.
Cherie, You’ve got “great attitude” so I know you’ll be fine! Thanks for the blog and everything else that you do to promote and explain your lifestyle. You are helping way more people than you can possibly know get their “stuff in order.” Now get out there and keep having fun! Bob
X2
Thank you, Bob. Really appreciate hearing that and hope sharing has some positive impact for others.