Digital Nomads

Digital Nomads

We’ve spent the past six years traveling, studying and taking retreat in Colombia, India, Nepal, Thailand, the UK and recently, traveled by bicycle, from Málaga, Spain to the island of Santorini, Greece. Then we were destined for North Africa before we flew back to the Americas.

We both have work we can do over the internet, and travel with laptops and other things that talk to the internet. Quinn operates Strangecode, a company offering website programming and server management, and Alma is the founder of ContemplArte where she teaches meditation, yoga and contemplative art through online courses, blog and youtube channel, she also works on different projects as a contemplative artist, illustrator, architect and graphic designer click here to see her portfolio.

We are currently on our way to become certified teachers of “Cultivating Emotional Balance” and we’ll continue traveling around the world offering workshops and developing an online community of students.

We’re certainly aware we are socially advantaged compared to most of the world. We have compassion for people suffering from political oppression or lacking basic human needs and know the freedoms we enjoy really are only a dream for some. For others, freedom is obtained by choosing it: by releasing attachment to comforts, redefining your role in life, being open to others’ graciousness. History provides many examples of travelers circling the world, village by village, before the days of ATMs and travel insurance.

Some people think we must return to a normal way of life someday. Our bodies will become old and broken eventually, regardless of our way of life. It would be foolish not to benefit from society’s support networks, and invest in finding pleasant places to wind down. This leaves many options beyond the quotidian: a monastery in Nepal, communal farm in Thailand, a little fisherman’s hut on a Greek isle. Why be normal?

We like to motivate people to consider a life lived freely, to go and do and be and feel as one chooses. What would it take to succeed in this? Many presume living a materialistic lifestyle will provide the ultimate basis for freedom. Certainly there are many levels which support a flourishing existence, each an area for growth and development. If you would like to learn more about living lucidly, with freedom and more time for your dreams and your loved ones, please subscribe to our newsletter and youtube channel.

 

Bicycle explosions

Bicycle explosions

Two atoms of Al grasping to each other with theoretical forces as the vacuum of energy between them lengthens. Once their gap expands to a certain distance their relationship changes, and the possibility for new relationships opens. A stray molecule of NaCl winks shyly as he passes. Bond. The failed Al relationship causes a schism in the community; neighboring Al families likewise begin to unwed, first a few, then thousands, billions. A threshold is reached and the microcosm instantly becomes macroscopic, and a sound emits into the calm morning air.

The 18-year-old Edco hubs of our Argos tandem spontaneously disintegrated with help—it has been suggested—from the salt air. These failings could have occurred at any point during our 3000km journey, but mysteriously failed post-trip, while the bike was resting. Are aged hubs and salt air suspect enough—or should we think ghosts?

We have new hubs and are in search of a wheel builder in the Greek arcipelago.

Update: Everything was fixed. We are very happy and ready for our next trip.

Presenting our dreams

Presenting our dreams

Today we gave a presentation to the students of Jeremy’s university journalism course in Marseille. We spoke about the motivation for our trip, our goals, logistics, and the meaning and realizations we’ve found along the way, and then were interviewed by the students. Their project is to write articles using us as their subject. We felt very well received and the students asked excellent questions; I think perhaps because the French love both cycling and discussing lifestyle choices.

To the students reading this post, thank you for having us, and for your incisive questions. Here are some links related to our talk that you might find useful.

We have a page with resources about lifestyle design and living lucidly.

Links to information about bicycle touring:

You can find many other’s stories of tours at crazyguyonabike.

Hospitality exchange networks we use:

We also have used Airbnb instead of hotels.

When we arrive in Greece we will be staying with our friends at Atlantis Books. It was inspired by Shakespeare and Company in Paris, where I first met Jeremy.

UPDATE: Eugénie’s paper has been published online with lexpress.fr.

The essence of travelling by bicycle

The essence of travelling by bicycle

The essence is travelling.

We’ve had our wheels on the road now for seven weeks, passing through 1500km of other people’s lives. The bicycle brings us great joy, but the significance of this trip has not manifested as cycling. This trip has been about adopting a new lifestyle, new frames of mind, and new connections to the land and people we meet. We’ve transformed in ways that would occur similarly if we travelled by sailboat, horse, or shoelaces.