You see, Cloud Living is very straightforward and to the point about making money online. It gives the exact steps I have used to be living in Amsterdam right now with no job. That’s exactly why I created it. However, there are two problems with this being our only product: not everyone wants to make money online, and not everyone who does will take action.

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In fact, just last week I had someone email me saying “Hey man, I really love your guide. I just want to know if you can build my website for me so I can get going”. People with this type of mentality are never going to get anywhere. Well, they are, but only with the right advice.

Most of the successful people I surround myself with are not internet entrepreneurs but people in lots of different industries. They aren’t necessarily location independent, either, but they love what they do and where they work. (Work is a very rare word for us to use in conversation because it always feels like play).

Many of my close friends are millionaires and the people I meet with are doing awesome things in their respective fields. I have learned far more from these people than I’ve ever wrote on this blog about my own experiences. Therefore, I wanted to write about them.

I wanted to write about exactly what it took to go from finding what you love to becoming ridiculously successful and at the top of your field. I wanted to share what these millionaires I connect with have in common and how important certain mindsets are for your success in any field.

Reality Switch…

…is about getting you from where you are now to where you want to be. That’s it. No fluff, no gimmicks, no over-hype. If you don’t like where you are in your life now and want to change that by:

• Moving up the career ladder
• Leaving your day job
• Making a living online
• Travelling the world
• Opening your own business
• Starting a remarkable project

Or anything else as bold and exciting, then this guide is for you.

Why You Should Care

If you trust me or any of the writing I’ve put together over the last year, then you are hopefully at least slightly interested in what I’ve been working on. The reason for this pre-launch post is to announce a special bonus that we have to the first 50 orders.

1. A Live 30 Minute Call About Your Situation

Initially, myself and Bud (the awesome co-author — more tomorrow) planned to do one live chat with lots of people at once, answering questions that any of you may have. Instead, we are going to dedicate 30 minutes of our time on Skype to each of the first 50 people individually (that’s over 25 hours of work for us) and help you with your own change.

2. A $10 (or 27%) Discount

I did this with the launch of Cloud Living and the first 50 copies were sold out within an hour so if you want to get your hands on a copy of Reality Switch for very cheap then you’ll have to get here quickly tomorrow.

Any Questions?

Tomorrow we will of course share a lot more detail about the guide and its contents, but if you have any questions you would like me to answer before then just leave them here.

I’m very excited that this guide is going to be launched to the world and will soon help hundreds of people. The hard work is always worth it in the end.

I can sleep now, right? ;)

Amsterdam is just the first in over 10 planned destinations which will see me visit 3 continents. From there, my plan is to start a ‘home’ in the place that I like the best. I will then use that is my base to continue travelling. I will be with one of my best friends for the first 3 months of the journey, but the rest is just me on my own.

I thought that the day before I leave would be a good time to share exactly what I’m taking with me on the journey. For now, I feel all of this stuff is relevant. After travelling around though, this itinerary may very well change. As this is my first time going solo around the world, I’ not quite sure what to expect.

Holdall

The first item on my list, is a holdall. When I start flying I will need to upgrade to a suitcase, but a holdall is fine for now. I picked up a cheap one last week which is both light and durable which makes it perfect for taking on ferries and the trains myself and Diggy will use throughout Europe.

The one I picked up holds 127 litres which is quite large for a holdall and also has wheels so I can easily lug it around.

Macbook Pro

My previous laptop was a Sony Vaio which lasted me about 2 and a half years before things started going downhill. I think of myself as good with computers, but I couldn’t do much to stop it quickly going from ‘fine’ to ‘sluggish’. I had been planning to try a Mac for quite a while and because I needed something reliable for my trip, and decided to pick up a Macbook Pro just over a month ago.

I went with the 13″ model but upgraded to 2.53ghz. I’m really glad I didn’t get a 15″ as I have been using mine on trains a lot and it only just fits into the space that I have had available. I’m very happy with the Mac although there are a couple of small things that annoy me. Overall, I would recommend them to anyone who wants something reliable with a very intuitive operating system.

Samsung P1000

After my last camera was stolen in South Africa by my best friend at the time (long story) I asked my parents to get me one for my birthday. They came back with an inexpensive but very high-quality camera, the Samsung P1000. It takes 10 megapixel images and it is both very quick and easy to use.

The photos I’ve taken with it are of excellent quality and more than enough for my needs. I also love that, unlike my previous digital camera, it is as thin as a mobile phone and fits easily in my pocket. Perfect for when I’m moving from place to place so much.

Flip Ultra HD

My original plan for this trip to Amsterdam was simply going to be to spend 3 months there and return back to the UK. Myself and Diggy had lots of video ideas for the personal development niche which was one of the main reasons for the trip. Based on the money I make now and have sitting in my bank account, staying in Amsterdam and returning home is no longer the plan.

I wanted to pick up a moderately priced but quality video camera to have some better memories of the destinations I visit. Due to the popularity of the Flip and its size, I decided to pick one up. If I’m honest, I’m not overly happy with the quality that it produces and the zoom is terrible. But at £120, I guess you get what you pay for. If I find that it’s not good enough for my travels and plans, I will get something better and give it to a friend or family member.

HD Spycam

Because of the projects that myself and Diggy have planned, we needed a discreet camera to record some of our activities. I had been researching Spycams for a while and when I found this high-defition one for £150, I had to pick it up.

I highly doubt that anything taken with this will be made public, so you’ll just have to trust me when I say that the quality is great. It will mean that we can do what we need to do without having another person hiding in the corner trying to get the footage on another camera.

iPod Nano

I seem to be the only person in the world who can’t work and listen to music at the same time, but I love listening to tunes when I’m going shopping or travelling anywhere. The iPod is an industry leader because it is sleek, stylish and is very reliable (at least that’s what I have found to be the case).

I picked up a blue one about 5 months ago, a few months prior to them releasing a version with the video camera addition. There’s not much else to say about this – it does the job and I’m very happy with it.

Sony-Ericsson something Phone

I used to be the person who would always have the latest phones. When Nokia’s and there interchangeable covers were popular, I was the first to have one and the latest fascias. I used to think having the latest phone showed that I had money and was cool. Now, I see how stupid that was and don’t even care about my phone.

I probably sound like your grandparents here, but as long as my phone can call and text, that’s good enough for me. I care so little about my phone that I don’t even know what model it is. I picked the phone that was the smallest; and this is rather tiny. Some people might be surprised that I don’t have an iPhone or anything else that allows me to work on the go. My response is that everyone who works independently needs to take a break from their tasks and shouldn’t have to be available at all times.

Clothes

What clothes you take to your next destination very much depend on what season that country is in and how long you are going for. If I was going back to Cape Town, for example, I would bring t-shirts and lots of light clothing with me as they are getting towards the peak of their summer months. The temperature at this kind of year can exceed 30 degrees.

For Amsterdam, however, I’m taking a lot of jumpers, hoodies and long-sleeve tops as it is about the same temperature as where I am in England right now – absolutely freezing. Because I’m doing a 36 night in a row partying-challenge, I’m also taking quite a few shirts and jeans and also a couple of pairs of shoes.

Misc

Apart from what I have listed above, I also need to take a few more items such as:

• Passport
• Credit Card
• All the cables & chargers for my gadgets
• Euros
• Travel Insurance Card (I used InsureandGo.com)
• Drivers License
• Business Cards

I think that’s pretty much everything.

What About You?

Now that I’ve revealed what I’m taking, what do you other location-independenters or just holiday-goers take with you? Is there anything I missed? Do you think I have too much?

I would love your thoughts in the comments…

I’m not going to get a job and I won’t be doing much work on my own projects (apart from this site). Instead, I’m going to try and party every night of the week and video the adventures along the way. We also have some very unique ideas for the personal development space that nobody has done before, so stay tuned for those.

Photo Credit

Whilst three months in a country isn’t usually enough to warrant learning the whole language, I still want to give it a go. I’m also not naive enough to think that I really can become a good Dutch conversationalist in just a few months of practice, but I do want to know how far I can get.

That being said, however, I love a challenge. With at least one hour of practice every single day using some awesome software I’ve just purchased, it should be interesting to see how my skills progress.

The Software

I have no doubt that the best way to learn a language is to spend some time in the country where it is spoke. Even though that is the case, I still want to have some understanding before I arrive at the destination for my next epic adventure. I’ve purchased a copy of the world’s best language learning software, Rosetta Stone.

I’m using the Dutch version, of course, but they also have software for over 30 languages including Vietnamese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Russian. What surprised me at first but really makes sense now, is that they do not translate for you. What I mean is that if you are shown a picture of something, you will not be told what it is in your language.

I did find this odd, but I also picked up words very quickly. In fact, after one day, I could remember 99% of the words the next day. In their introductory video, they explain that when we learned our first language, we didn’t use translators. Instead, we used pictures, sounds, and interactions. This format has cleverly been integrated into their software and I believe it will dramatically cut down the typical learning time.

There are 19 parts to my Dutch course, each with more than 4 sections inside. If I tell you that it took me over 2 hours just to finish part 1 A, then you’ll see there’s a lot to learn. The software incorporates:

• Reading and Listening
• Listening
• Reading
• Typing
• Speaking (it records you and matches your voice to a native speaker)

There is honestly nothing else I think I could need in a program and I should have some proficiency in each before the three months are up.

My Case Study

After speaking to a representative from the company, I was told it would take around 450 hours to get up to conversation level. If we assume that I have 90 days, then it would take 5 hours per day to get to this stage. Of course, I don’t have that much time to dedicate, but I will be aiming for at least one hour every single day. I believe this will get me to a decent level and leave me being able to communicate somewhat once I arrive in Amsterdam.

I haven’t decided how often I’ll do updates, but I will let you guys know regularly how things are going. I’m sure tons of readers here are interested in learning a new language and this study will hopefully show what is possible if you remain dedicated over the course of a few months.

If you have any questions or recommendations on how I should update you on my progress then please feel free to leave a comment below (I always read every single one)!