Longing for travel

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I’ve barely been back a month from my 3 months away, and I’m already jonesing for another experience abroad!

I mean, I love my home, my dog, my friends. AND…I’m so aware of how much traveling feeds me — and positively affects my business — that I’m no longer willing to wait too long for the next adventure.

So I’m checking airplane schedules and home exchange options, looking at maps, dreaming. In fact, I think I just landed a place to stay — a home swap — in Ecuador for the month of March! Woohoo!

What I LOVE about bringing your business with you on the road is you get to indulge your love of exploring other places and cultures WHEN you choose and for however long you choose. This isn’t “vacation” travel, so you don’t have to get back to the office. It’s with you!

Where are you longing to go?

You Can Run Your Biz from an Italian Villa

There’s never been a time on our planet when it was
SO easy to run a profitable business from anywhere
you choose.

A beach house in Thailand. An Italian villa. A hotel in
Belize. An African lodge. An ashram in India.

If you can dream it, there’s a way to make it happen.

In 2014. (Not “someday.”)

You know how much I LOVE running my own business
while traveling abroad, and I’m on a mission to help others
fulfill their “travel freedom dreams” in THEIR dream locations.

Unfortunately, the reality is that for most travel-hungry
business owners, this cherished travel freedom dream
remains just that. A dream. Never a reality.

But it doesn’t have to be that way for you.

Follow me and discover a treasure trove of crucial business-building
strategies — AND nitty-gritty travel tips — that will help you
start living YOUR travel freedom dream today!

Say YES to the journey and your business.

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I want to acknowledge one of my new coaching clients for playing big. I suggested (playfully, in part) that she come do her full-day VIP business planning/strategy session in Rome. And by golly, she did it!! Here we are, planning out a ROCKING 2014 for her.
 Pat Mussieux came a day later, embodying the same spirit of “YES!” that I just love! Pat’s a coach from Canada who’s in a mastermind I’m in, and we discovered we have similar travel styles (the kind that enjoys jumping on a random city bus just to see where you go).

 Pat and I shot a few videos yesterday in a truly magical “aqueduct park” outside of Rome. You’ll get an opportunity to watch them over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.

I encourage you to say YES to the journey. By saying YES to your business and your dream of taking your business on the road, what new opportunities will come to you?

Stuck in Rome Without My…

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One of the most hilarious situations I have ever found myself in happened just a week ago in the Rome train station.

I had gone there, not to catch a train, but to do a little last-minute shopping at a well-known Italian department store that I knew had late night hours. I heard the “closing in 10 minutes” message and headed into a dressing room to try on a couple of dresses. And when I heard the “store is closed” message, I headed out of the dressing room within 1-2 minutes.

I walked from exit to exit to see which one they were letting folks out from and soon discovered that ALL the doors were locked and NO ONE was inside. No other shoppers. No store employees. Just me. Inside a now-dark Italian department store. With only my Italian mobile phone (on which I had only my Italian friends’ contacts, none of whom answered my call).

Luckily, it was in a train station! There were people around! A young woman quizzically approached one door when I beckoned to her from inside the store. Ninety minutes, 4 police officers, 5 recalled store employees and countless bemused passersby LATER, I finally was free to go. OMG!

The only person who knew what was happening to me was my son in Los Angeles, whom I was amazingly able to call from my Italian mobile. He promptly posted my predicament to his Facebook page, asking “Why does she get to have all the fun?”

THE BIG TIP: This would have made a fantastic video. I could have at least gotten photos of my rescue party. BUT I DIDN’T HAVE MY IPHONE WITH ME. Whether you are traveling with your business or just heading to the grocery store at home, don’t leave to go ANYWHERE without your smart phone. You never know what you might need to capture!

Tango anyone?

OK, I made it through my Italian tango class! Listening to really fast Italian is like the first 10 minutes of a Shakespeare play: you just have to let go of your normal hearing processing. And getting back into tango was fun! Especially the move where you have to draw your foot up the outside of the man’s leg before doing a cute little kick and then crossing in front of him. Ooo la la!

Here’s the unassuming entrance to this hothouse of dance. And my magical shoes!

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One tip I love to give fellow travelin’ entrepreneurs is to check out local classes. Why not take a tango, pottery, art, or jewelry-making class? You never know what you may learn – and what experiences you can draw from for your newsletter, business programs or engagement with clients. If nothing else, you’ll have a fun little story to share in your next blog post.

I’d love to hear some of your stories!

Rock ‘n Roll

So freakin’ excited! For the last two years, my favorite music group has been this Italian rock(ish) band named Negramaro. And tonight I GET TO SEE THEM IN CONCERT in Rome!!! At this place…

 

 

Ciao from Italy…and facing fear.

When I came to live in Italy a couple of years ago, I had the choice of swapping homes in Viterbo, a small medieval town near Tuscany, or in Rome. At the time, I was certain Rome would be too big, too chaotic, TOO MUCH, so I chose Viterbo. But I ended up coming to Rome numerous times and totally fell in LOVE with it.

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So I chose to start my journey this time here in this city I adore. As my plane came in for a landing, I really felt like I was coming home! And while having my first cup of oh-so-delicious Italian coffee, my eyes filled with tears of gratitude for this opportunity to live my love affair with Italy.

I’m staying in a flat near Piazza Navona…in a 15th century building. WHICH MEANS…no elevator. You should have seen me getting my luggage up four flights of stairs!

And there was no time to waste when I got in: I had to figure out my phone situation quickly so that I could conduct the first training call for my last offering of the 6-Figure Newsletter Secrets Virtual Intensive later the same evening I arrived!

I knew there was a landline here, but I also knew there was no international long distance. I was pretty sure I could figure it out by “game time,” but I said little prayer for ease and speed as I set off in search of a phone card. Luckily, I found a tobacco shop just a short few minutes down the cobblestoned street. Yes, that’s where you get phone cards!

All set? You bet!

I have so much more to share with you, but it’ll have to wait. I gotta go get some pizza!

Oh wait…one more thing. Even though I have a lot of awesome experiences when traveling and living abroad with my business, I have to face fear every day. Little fears (they’ll laugh at my bad Italian) and bigger fears (what if something bad happens to me while I’m here on my own). It’s normal. AND I think it’s actually good for me.

What fears do you face while traveling and living abroad with your business?

“Find a way.”

Diana Nyad is my new hero. I mean, really.

Swimming from Cuba to Florida, with no shark cage, swimming for 55 hours straight.

At age 64!

Her mantra was “Find a way.”

But she’s not my only hero these days. OK, I’m outing myself here as a “So You Think You Can Dance” super-geek. I LOVE this show!

The final four contestants this week have learned 25+ dances in the last 9 weeks — and performed them beautifully, professionally, in front of millions of viewers.

In both cases — Nyad and the SYTYCD dancers — it’s the drive for their dream that is so amazing and impressive. The commitment to doing what it takes. The belief that it’s possible. The dedication and persistence in the face of failure.

They all started somewhere…with small steps that led to the big stuff. I hope you enjoy the feature article in today’s newsletter on exactly that: the baby steps that you can do right now that can lead you to your dream life, dream business.

LAST but not least! If you have a dream of running your business abroad while you travel to your heart’s content, don’t forget to apply for a complimentary “Business Abroad Planning Session” with me. That’s you and me, one-on-one.

Click here to request an application; it’ll take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

How can I support your dreams?