Nomad Lifestyle & Mindful Finances

“Throw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.”

From Business management to being a nomad

After a personal crisis, Alasdair decided it was time for change. He quit his job, sold his belongings and took a one-way ticket out of the country. He traveled through Europe, Asia and North America. Currently, he lives together with his fiancée Julie-Roxane in France, in a tiny home they renovated together. Does that sound ideal? I imagine it won’t for everyone. He had a six-figure income in the San Diego start-up scene, in an e-commerce business. He found his way to the position of general manager of a multimillion-dollar international business. A lot of success after just getting out of college. So why would you leave that?

“Meditation broke down the foundations of the house I was building.”

Zen Mind, Nomad’s Mind

It was a really stressful lifestyle and his health started to decline. What kicked his “awakening” off was a 3-day ayahuasca retreat in Peru. Alasdair came back and ended up in an even more stressful job. In the morning, he found himself waking up to crushing anxiety. He started daydreaming about traveling and studying Zen. He found a zendo around the corner and started visiting, met like-minded people and started to practice Zazen. Zen practice helped him bring his attention to the body and the breath.

The caravan where Alasdair & Julie-Roxane live in.

Time to change

He started to deal with the things that weren’t working. He ended the relationship and ended his business partnership. Alasdair knew he wanted out, and realized that the things that kept him here were gone. He bought a one-way ticket and started to travel. He started to find a new perspective on how to live, admitting failure because things weren’t going well. Time to change. Slowly meditation started to seep into all the aspects of his life.

Mindfulness in waste

Mindfulness of waste is important when living as a nomad. Using organic compounds and manage waste in the right way. Becoming aware of the needs of the environment and ourselves. Being aware of what we eat and what impact it has on our mindset and our health. The interconnectedness of all things happening inside and outside ourselves. The way he manages his finances has become a mindful practice too. He does an awareness practice where he looks at what he spends and how it makes him feel. He has some other insightful methods to transform your finances from an annoying errand into a mindfulness practice. We talk more about this in depth on the podcast.

Want to know more?

If you want to know more about Alasdair or would like to follow his journey, make sure to check out his website: https://www.alasdairplambeck.com/
And if you enjoy his talk, he has a podcast together with his fiancée here:
http://www.thefaroutpodast.com/

If you’d like to talk about this podcast or have comments and ideas, please let me know by joining our community here https://discord.gg/FKWFeYq
Simply use @christiaan or send me a DM! I would love to hear from you.

With warm regards,

Christiaan Neeteson

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