On Words and Business

Just this week I’ve been thinking a lot about finding time. You know, with all the marketing and running of the business, exactly when is it I have time to do the thing (in my case, writing) that I tell everyone I do. Some weeks it all seems about marketing. Other weeks it’s all about the billables.

Finding the balance can be tricky. So thanks to FreelanceSwitch for some advice about how much time to spend working each day.

As for number 6, finding time for relaxation and recovery…I’d like to relax and recover aboard the Queen Mary 2 (which I just had the incredible, and relaxing, pleasure of being on board three weeks ago for a transatlantic sail) or in Paris. Now I have to figure out how I can make that happen.

What would you like to do, or where would you like to go, to relax and recover?

(Can you tell I’m still basking in the afterglow of a fabulous, restorative vacation?)

Taking the cue from Seth Godin (and who better to take a cue from?) and his random travel thoughts from a few days ago, here are some of my random travel thoughts.

If cell phones are supposed to be so dangerous (and according to Mythbusters they aren’t really), how come no one in the cockpit knows when one is left on?  Like I accidentally did when I got a stand-by seat on an earlier flight and didn’t go through my regular preflight routine.

How come I have to take off my shoes while the woman in the micro-mini skirt in front of me is not asked to remove her thigh high stiletto heeled boots? Okay, I think I know the answer to that one. But if shoes are so dangerous, everyone’s shoes should be considered equally dangerous, n’est-ce pas?

Why don’t hotels that give you a clock radio ever provide a list of call numbers and formats of local radio stations?

Why can’t all customs agent be like the one who greeted me in Mexico City? When she read on my form that I’m a writer she said: “You are the second writer I’ve had today. That is so cool! Welcome to Mexico City. Have a great time.”

And lastly…don’t you just love coming back home and having the U.S. customs agent say “Welcome home”?

For many freelancers, the dream is to have the freedom to work from far off, exotic locations.

While my travel life routinely find me working on the west coast instead of my home base here in the east coast, here’s a freelancer taking it to the next level. He’s been working remotely, traveling around the world for months now. And it’s working for him, so he shares some tips to help the rest of us make it work.

So…if you ever read an entry I posted at 4:00 a.m., stop to think: Am I in Boston and actually awake at 4:00 a.m. or am I in another time zone, living the dream.

Here’s a brief reminder about the importance of taking vacations. No matter if you run your own business or work for someone else.

Please…go away.

On a slightly related note, I was looking for the lyrics to the Go-Go’s song Vacation:”Vacation. All I ever wanted. Vacation. Had to get away.”

Since I recall when the song hit the radio stations and the charts, I was dismayed to find it on Oldie Lyrics.

Now I need a vacation. Oh well, eh!

As information consumers, it used to be fairly easy to identify authoritative resources. If it was printed in the New York Times or Encyclopedia Britannica, we could trust the information. We counted on the publishers who, by reputation, delivered accurate and authoritative content.

These days, the internet, as with all things open to everyone and without oversight, is filled with much content of questionable quality. And, like with most things human, we seek ways to categorize and to trust. Sites like Technorati allow users to categorize content and provide authority by dint of a large number of people agreeing that a site is worthwhile. Bloggers like Seth Godin and Michael Stelzner are trusted because of the expertise and reputution of the bloggers themselves. And groups like the open-source Trusted Travel Blogs Network are created as a way to provide industry specific, independent validation.

Of course, this primarily deals with sites that are free and open to everyone. Traditional publishers who’ve adapted to the new media model are still out there, and still authoritative. And like before, still not free.

What do you think about all this validation and classification? Does it help you understand more about the information you get from a site?

One of the reasons I enjoy traveling so much is that I delight in experiencing local media–what stories lead the t.v. news reports or are above the fold on the newspaper; what kinds of ads are in the local magazines, on buses, or posters. Other than basic French, I only speak and read English, though, so I imagine my own meanings based on the word or two I may know, the graphics, or the product itself.

It’s fabulous to visit other cultures and see what works for them. I have vivid memories of t.v. news reports and free magazines in Japan, and of CNN Europe reporting the 2004 tsunami, and French variety t.v. show honoring Johnny Hallyday. I like to think that these experiences make me better able to consider my audience and communicate more effectively.

Do you find this is a side effect of your travels, too?