About

Hello!

I’m Colin Wright. This is my blog.

A quick bit about me and what I’m up to on this site and in life:

I move to a new country every 4 months. My readers vote on where I’ll live, and I do my best to learn all I can about my new home and its people while continuing to manage my business ventures and seek out new experiences. So far I’ve lived in Argentina, New Zealand, Thailand, Iceland and India (where I’m currently living), in addition to my home country, the United States.

I run a branding studio called Colin Is My Name.

I also run a t-shirt shop called I Have No Shirt.

I’ve written 6 books: one on Personal Branding, one on How to Be Remarkable, and one that is all about Networking Awesomely. I wrote one about how to write ebooks, and My Exile Lifestyle is a collection of stories from the road and my entrepreneurial path. My newest offering, How to Travel Full Time, can be had for a whopping $.99.

I write an everlasting ebook called Exiles, as well, which is kind of like a book full of travel stories that I write from the road that never ends. Subscribe and you receive 5 new chapters every 2 weeks.

I’m a bit of a Stoic, somewhat Objectivist and definitely a Capitalist (not to be confused with a Consumerist) and Humanist. We’ll really have to discuss over a drink if you want to learn more than that.

I prefer slow, socially integrated travel rather than quick visits. What this means in practical terms is that I prefer to get an apartment, shop where the locals shop and do what the locals do, rather than getting a hotel, going to tourist hubs and hanging out with people whose first language is the same as mine.

My last home-city in the US was Los Angeles (where I started up my studio), but I’m originally from the Bay Area in Northern California. I spent most of my life in Missouri (that’s somewhere in the middle of the country, for those of you living on the coast), though.

My Key Focuses

Minimalism

Before I left Los Angeles, I sold everything I owned which didn’t fit into a carry-on bag. My apartment, car, many computers (*sob*), and the vast majority of my wardrobe are all gone. When I moved to Argentina, I got down to about 70 things and now I’m at around 50 things that I own in the whole, wide world.

Minimalism is many things to me – a philosophy, a lifestyle choice and an experiment.

Keep in mind that the point is not getting down to the bare minimum, it’s about streamlining and refocusing your resources on the things you’re most passionate about.

My extreme case of ‘stuff reduction’ is just an experiment, to see which possessions I can live without and for how long; the real purpose is to reduce the worthless while increasing the amount of value I’m able to put out and happiness I’m able to experience.

Mobility

I’ve spent a good portion of my life working and learning, but until 2009 I never had the opportunity to leave the United States.

To make up for lost time, I’ve reorganized my business and lifestyle so that I can operate and evolve it from the road. In essence, Exile Lifestyle is documenting what I learn along the way. Also, there are stories about near-deadly bus rides, fistfights in South American gay dance clubs and homages to snack foods and super-models. So it’s not all laptops and mimosa-meetings.

There are lots of ways to travel and my method isn’t for everyone, but I do tend to bring it up from time to time, since it’s such an important part of my life and a huge part of my education.

Sustainability

Being sustainable is important to me on both a philosophical and practical level.

As a businessperson I know that creating systems with fewer diminishing returns leads to better profits, and as a technology enthusiast and Humanist I know that there are incredible options out there for us to live less resource-intensive lives than we currently are. If we want to continue to enjoy a high standard of living, we’re going to need to make some changes.

I see this as an incredible opportunity – not something to be afraid of – and I think that people (and businesses) who embrace this change sooner rather than later will be much better off in the end than those who fight the inevitable in order to maintain the status quo.

Being financially sustainable is also very important to me, as Exile Lifestyle is just one project among many that I have a passion for, and if I’m not able to continue making money, my fun will come to an end :(

Entrepreneurship

I have a penchant for change and experimentation, and that makes the world of entrepreneurship very appealing to me.

I’m currently running a few businesses and slowly building up a handful of smaller projects that may turn into businesses. I’m also involved with a couple of side projects that are gaining steam.

I’ve been starting and running businesses since I was 19, so I’ve got enough experience to have failed epically many times and to have racked up a few ridiculous successes as well. I’d love to share what I’ve learned (and continue to learn) if you’ll do the same!

Self Improvement

A big part of why I started this project was to document my progress and learn from others as I try to help others learn.

Exile Lifestyle is also, among other things, a great big excuse to perform extreme lifestyle experiments and unselfconsciously figure out what aspects of these different options I can integrate into my life for the long-term.

It’s all about personal development and literally becoming a better person every day; better educated, wiser, more confident and competent, healthier, more philosophically aligned and generally just a better human being.

FAQ

How can I find out more about you and what you do?

You can check out my travelogue, Exiles, which has a lot more stories and thoughts that I write from the road (a half-dozen or so every two weeks, delivered to your email-box).

You can also connect with me via your social network of choice.

Or just shoot me an email and say hey! Ask whatever you want…I’m not a terribly private person (note the nude + laptop photo above).

Who is paying for all this? Are you being sponsored?

I’m paying for all this!

I don’t have any sponsors for Exile Lifestyle, though I do appreciate it when folks who like my work buy a t-shirt or subscribe to my travelogue.

Additionally, I’ve got a bunch of ventures going on at any given time; I’m fortunate in that what I do for fun is also something that earns me enough money to live the the lifestyle I want to live. It’s not a cakewalk and it takes WORK, but I find that having several income streams is the way to go, especially if you get bored easily.

Will you come visit me at (name of country here)?

I would love to!

Shoot me a message and I’ll make sure to contact you when I’ll be heading your direction. Be sure to vote and get your friends to do so as well; that will make it much more likely that I’ll make it to your neck of the woods sooner rather than later.

Who took those fabulous photos that adorn the site?

That would be Kurt Langer of Christchurch, New Zealand. He’s a hell of a photographer and a hell of a guy.

Will you speak at my school/organization/business/etc?

Sure!

I take on a handful of speaking engagements in each country I live in, so if you want me to come visit your group when I’m in town (or if you’d like to fly me out to visit), shoot me a message and we can knock out the details.

What does your family/girlfriend/friends think about all this?

My family and friends have unanimously been very supportive, and my (now ex) girlfriend even more so, especially considering the odd circumstances (we actually had a ‘Breakup Party‘ at the end of August right before she left for Seattle and I left the country…it was tons of fun).

I’m very fortunate to have an incredible (and international) support group and cheering section. Thanks you guys!

How do you decide where to go?

I don’t, my readers do!

Is this a really long FAQ, perhaps unnecessarily so?

Yes. Yes it is.

You didn’t answer my question here…what will I do?!

Relax! You can contact me at the aptly-named Contact page. Easy breezy.