There is one big hurdle other than Internet infrastructure that could hamstring New Zealand’s effort to become a dominant player in international business, and this hurdle has a cute name: Tall Poppy Syndrome.

I’m staring at the ceiling in the middle of a club in a small port town outside of Christchurch. And I’m a penguin.

There’s a place that I really liked here in Christchurch called the Bangalore Polo Club. Too bad they screwed up.

New Zealand natives (‘Kiwis’) are pioneers. This makes them the perfect online entrepreneurs, so long as they can get the right infrastructure in place.

It’s been a big week here on Exile Lifestyle.

The 16th was my 25th birthday, followed by the blog’s first birthday on the 19th.

And today is the launch of a new eBook that is super-special for many reasons.

It was a year ago today that I went live with Exile Lifestyle.

I’ve come to understand that for my 25th birthday I’m supposed to go a little crazy, completely rearrange my life, change careers, take up new hobbies, end relationships, dramatically change my priorities and generally turn into a whirlwind of drastic activity, shocking friends and family with my sheer audacity and lack of respect for the rules.

Capitalism has a really bad reputation.

The title is taken from the legendary Kanye West, when he asks (because he’s not sure) if anybody makes real shit anymore. While the grammar is lacking, it’s a legit question. Does anyone produce real, new, authentic things anymore? Is it possible to be authentic, or are we all just copies of what we see and think is cool?

So when I found out I was moving to New Zealand, I wanted to give myself a challenge for the first month, since I wouldn’t have a new language to learn like I did with Argentina.