Here’s a quick run-down of what this whole thing is about:

Goals

Minimalism

I sold everything I own which does not fit into a carry-on bag. My apartment, car, many computers (*sob*), and the vast majority of my wardrobe are all gone. At the moment I own around 70 things and I’m hoping to soon whittle the number down to 50.
Click here for some articles about minimalism and why I choose to be one.

Mobility

I’ve spent a good portion of my life working and learning, though during that time I never had the opportunity to leave the United States. To make up for lost time, I’ve reorganized my business so that I can operate it from the road (it was formerly based in Los Angeles), and now I move to a new country every 4 months.
The country I move to is voted on by my readers, and at the moment I’m in Argentina. The next stop will be New Zealand, where I’ll arrive mid-February.

Sustainability

I’m a sustainable designer, which means when I create something, I make sure that it is as resource non-intensive as possible while still functioning at a very high level.
I try to live my life like this, and my new traveling life will be no different. As I move around, I’ll be making use of the most sustainable options available to me and helping to make positive change where I can.
Being financially sustainable is also very important to me, as this entire project is funded by my business (I don’t have any sponsors or advertisers for the site). As a lifestyle designer I make it a point to provide maximum value with the least amount of effort, and hopefully this mentality will continue to serve me well.

FAQ

What is an Exile Lifestyle?
The term ‘Exile Lifestyle’ encapsulates the a philosophy that I’ve developed and will be abiding by for the duration of this project. Tenets of this philosophy include:

• Frequent travel: I will be touring the world, though not as a tourist. Every 4 months (or so) I will be pulling up my roots and moving on to a new city in a new country. The goal is to get a better understanding of the people, language, culture, lifestyles, etc of each location before moving on. Over time I’m hoping to develop my ability to quickly assimilate into an area, learning the language and building up personal and business relationships with greater ease.
  
• Mobility: While traveling, I will be constantly working to refine my travel skills, with the end goal of having only the necessities (but the best of what I DO have) and being able to pick up and move to another country at a moment’s notice. I also want to be able to run my businesses and establish new ones from the road and basically to become a very capable and culturally conscious traveler. A big part of this will be figuring out how to conduct business virtually, how to automate my finances and how to do business on an international level.
• Self-Improvement: I’m a big believer in improving myself in any way possible, so part of this project is constant self-optimization and improvement. At each location I will be working to improve myself in many ways. I may take up a local sport, try my hand at a native art form, or maybe even settle in and learn to meditate and get a better sense of myself. Whatever the case may be, I’ll be documenting my progress and giving tips on how others can do the same even faster and more effectively.
• Sustainability: My main business is a sustainable design and branding studio called Colin Is My Name. Considering the ethics I use to run my business, I think it would be fairly hypocritical of me to take on a project of this magnitude without considering the sustainability-level of each step. To this end, I will be opting for the most sustainable option available in my gear, travel plans, living situation, etc. I will be taking a very practical stance on this, making use of the sustainable options that are available, inquiring after others that are not (hoping to change things!) and cobbling together new solutions when possible, though in some cases I predict, I’ll simply have to choose the lesser of the evils (though I will make note of my efforts so that others can start to move in a more eco-friendly direction, as well).
• Experience: A big part of why I started this project is so that I can experience new things and encourage others to do the same. I think it’s vitally important that people all over the world expand their horizons, see and experience new things, and mingle with other cultures in an unfamiliar environment. I will be doing my best to document my travels with photography, video and writings on the different things I see and do, while also writing articles about the other components of this project and lessons that I’ve learned.

Who are you?
I’m Colin! Find out more about me here.

Who is paying for all this? Are you being sponsored?
I am paying for all of this. Part of my personal challenge is to streamline my businesses so that I am able to maintain and grow them while traveling the world.

That being said, this project is one of my businesses, so I would have no qualms accepting sponsorship from companies I respect and that share my priorities. We’ll see how it goes. I definitely don’t want to lose any creative control or water-down my message, so don’t worry that I’ll sell out.

So how will you make money while traveling?
As I said above, I will continue to run my studio while on the road, and I will also be developing other income streams as I travel. One idea that I’m currently working on is creating premium eBooks and courses to compliment the free content (like my eBook on Personal Branding and How To Be Remarkable) that I’m providing to my readers.

Will you come visit me at (name of country here)?
I would love to! In fact, I’ll be keeping a list of people to visit when I find myself in a certain part of the world, so shoot me a message and I’ll make sure to contact you when I’ll be heading your direction.

Who took those fabulous photos that adorn the site?
That would be miss Cris Dobbins, who is a fantastic photographer and a hell of a person. Check out more of her work here and hire her. Okay? Okay.

Will you speak at my school/organization/business/church/campground?
Sure! I’m looking to have a few speaking engagements set up in each different country I live in (and even if I’m not near you I’m going to take every opportunity to travel) so drop me a message and we can discuss 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).

How will you be deciding where to go?
My readers visitors vote on each destination (a few months before I leave my current destination). For obvious reasons I will be screening the results to a certain degree (I will not be going to Iraq or North Korea in the near-future, despite how interesting those locales might be!), but I’m a big proponent of the wisdom of the wiki, so in general whatever rises to the top of the poll is where I’ll be going.

Is this a really long FAQ, perhaps unnecessarily so?
Yes. Yes it is.

How can I connect with you on the Interwebs?
Oh, there are a wide variety of ways! Take a look at the Contact page, click on your favorite network, and friend me. Easy breezy.

You didn’t answer my question here…what will I do?!
Relax! You can leave my a question as a comment below and I’ll get back to you lickety-split, or you can contact me at the aptly-named Contact page.