The Joy of Travel and Writing

The Blue Whale is one of the most incredible creatures that has ever lived on the planet Earth. They are the biggest animals since the age of the dinosaurs. A Blue Whale can grow to be over 100 feet long and weigh over 150 tons. That means it is longer than a Boeing 747 airplane! It weighs more than a dozen school buses. I am told that fifty people can stand on its tongue! This is one big fish!

Actually, it's not really a fish. Blue Whales are mammals. That's right, they are closely related to human beings. Only a whole lot bigger. Which is why it is so very distressing that we (and I am speaking of the human race, not me personally) have almost hunted them to extinction. Once, there were hundreds of thousands of giant Blue Whales roaming the seas. Today, there are less than 2,000 in all the world's oceans. Yet despite that depressing news, increased public attention is making a real difference. People are demanding that whales be protected and the Blue Whale is actually starting to make a come back.

So if you have a job as a freelance writer and can occasionally pick your topics, please say a word or 300 about Blue Whales. You may not think so, but your writing can really make a difference in the lives of a huge blubbery animal. And all it takes is one person to read what you have written to make a real difference (it helps if that person owns a huge commercial fishing fleet or is president of a medium to large sized country.)

So besides being a great way to earn a living, freelance writing can help you save the world, one whale at a time.

Don't think that because you are a freelance writer you don't have time pressure. You may not have a boss breathing down your neck or a stuffy office to commute to, but a deadline is a deadline. It does not matter if you are an in-house writer or freelance. To be successful (and get paid), you simply must submit your work on time.

Now if you get really sick, most people will understand. But as soon as you are better -- crank out the content! Come on, you have no barriers, and you want to get paid, right? When I have a large backlog and need to churn stuff out, I usually crank up some music, keep a glass of pomegranate juice nearby, and just write.

You may ask how is it possible to come up with loads of content in a hurry. I am afraid, this is something inside you. You either have it or you don't. If you want to be a successful freelance writer, you simply must be able to come up with about 300 words on any subject in about twenty minutes or less. Topics are secondary. A good writer is a good writer. So whether your assignment is about Blue Whales or 21 Trivia , just get your keyboard out and write!

You will find that once you get in a rhythm, you just don't want to stop. And when you are freelance, no one cares if you are writing at 2:00 in the morning in your sweat pants. No one can see. The only thing that is important is what you write. So write quickly and carefully. Spell check and re-read everything. That's really all you have to do.

And remember, writing is fun. It's the best job around! Come to think about it, 300 words isn't so many, right?

After more than a week of a strange and debilitating illness, the doctors decided that I needed one more test to make a diagnosis. Now I can't tell you exactly what this test is, after all, I have no idea who reads this blog, and I don't want to gross anyone out. However, I will tell you that it is an extremely embarrassing test.

The worst part is that it is extremely difficult and unnatural to perform this test. You are told to bring in a sample of something I won't mention and hand it to the medical technician. The collection attempts are bizarre to say the least and then you have to hand the sample off. That's right, "here you go, have a nice day!"

I am sure it is handed off to the lowest medical intern on the totem pole, who then looks at your sample and declares which little friend has taken up lodging in your intestines. It is really not fun at all.

You see, we have made giant strides in the area of medical research. We can analyze and diagnose any part of the body. But along the way, no one has paid attention to how the patient feels about being tested. Wouldn't it be great if some of those highly educated medical students developed new ways of collecting blood and other fluid non-invasively? Wouldn't it be great if they get could everything they need by clipping a strand of hair and performing a DNA test?

Meanwhile, I am anxiously awaiting my test results to see who is living inside me and how to evict them.

Here is a wonderful exercise for freelance writers that I picked up from Robert Dawson. You may not recognize Robert's name, but you have actually read his work. He is one of the most prolific freelance writers around. He regularly writes for dozens of high-visibility magazines under ghost names. He also writes tons of ad copy that makes its way into print, radio, and television. He is always writing on diverse subjects with very little prep time. Here is a little drill that he practices to keep his skills sharp.

First, you go to Google. Then you start typing the first word that comes to mind. Hit the search and a stopwatch. You have one minute to find information and digest it. After one minute, close whatever webpage you have found and start writing. You have exactly 4 minutes to write 250 words about the topic. When you have finished, read your work over. Does it make sense? Is it fun to read? Is the spelling and grammar correct? (I mean ARE they correct!) Ask yourself these questions to fine tune your seat-of-the-pants writing.

Let's say you used the word gorilla. Your google search should have picked up a number of pages about gorillas. Did you click on the Wikepedia entry and spend your minute reading information that may not be verified? Maybe you found the Gorilla Foundation. Lot's of information, but is it laid out well? The more you do this, the easier it gets to find useful web pages.

Then you write. You are not just regurgitating what you read. You must be putting the concepts you researched into your own words. The end product must reflect your own personal style. Finally, you must do all this in 250 words, no more. It is difficult at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets.

When last I posted, I was describing the Monday morning that my body kept switching between burning up and freezing cold. No sooner had I thrown tons of blankets on top of myself, when I had to throw them off and run to take a cold shower. Since my family was out of town and I was alone in a friend's house, I had no one to consult about this strange condition.

Soon, all hope of sleep was lost as the bathroom beckoned me. I grabbed the nearest book I could find, the latest Harry Potter volume. I was, alas, to spend that entire night (and the next three!) in the bathroom where I read the book about nine times. (No small feat, it's about seven hundred pages!)

Around four in the morning, I simply could not take it anymore. I guess part of this sickness (which at the time I thought was just the flu) was that you get stupid. Not wishing to wake a friend at that hour, I decided that I was able to drive myself to the nearby emergency medical clinic. I got into the car and started the short drive, normally about ten minutes away.

I thought I was doing pretty good until I realized I was only driving about five miles per hour. Then I heard a big bump and realized I had hit something. I got out to inspect the damage. When I saw what I had hit, I wondered why the sidewalk had been moved into the road. That's when, upon closer examination, I saw that my car was actually not on the road, but ON the sidewalk. At that point. I did a fifteen point turn, drove back down the block and hunkered down until dawn.

The next morning, a friend drove me to the clinic where I was given not one but two liters of fluid intravenously. During the first one, I fainted on the table. Nice, right?

Will our intrepid freelance write survive? Will the medical center make the right diagnosis? Read on.....

While my friend Jordan is lying on his death bead (just kidding), I thought I'd sneak a little something into his blog.

While I have been writing for many years - everything from poetry to training manuals for astronauts - I have only recently tried my hand at freelance writing as a profession. I have to admit that I had no idea how many jobs - or writers - there are out there. Since I started I have had the opportunity to do a larger variety of writing than I knew existed. For example, did you know that Visual Basic programming now falls under the guise of "freelance technical writing"? In addition, I have written high-tech patents, online casino stuff, marketing papers, and blogs. With the internet booming and everyone crying for more and more online content, there seems to be and endless supply of freelance writing work.


However, I finally gave up the proverbial pen (aka keyboard) for something a little more intense - managing freelance writers. And I have to admit that I loved it. Being able to manage scores of people from my office, and becoming "pen pals" with a diverse group of fascinating people I have never met, has been one of the best jobs I have ever had (second only to bartending and working for NASA).


And on that note I must retire from my gig as a blog writer, for I think Jordan is coming back to life…

Getting sick is no fun. In fact, it is basically the opposite of fun. It helps when you are a freelance writer and don't have to call in to a boss and explain why you can't work for a day or a week. But, it still stinks being sick.

Of course, being sick is all relative. Some illnesses are much worse than others. I would never try and pretend that I was sicker than someone else. All I can do is tell my story and let you, my readers, be the judge of whether I deserved a few weeks off.

It started with a meal. It was a Saturday afternoon meal and was quite good in fact. However, little did I realize that along with salmon, a green salad, tuna and egg salads, and various concoctions made with eggplants, I also ingested a small creature referred to by the cute name "Salmonella." (It could also have been his cousin, Mr. E. Coli.)

Anyway, Saturday night was great and so was Sunday. It was not until the wee hours of Monday morning that my little digestive system friend made his presence known. Around 2:00 in the morning, an hour I usually reserve for dreaming, I woke up bathed in sweat. This was somewhat unusual since it was not that hot. However, within minutes my body went from on fire to freezing cold. I was shivering harder than when I ran outside in subzero temperature naked when I was in college (It was part of a bet.)And that is where we will need to take a short break and continue later.

When we last left the story of the freelance writer and the E.Coli, we were
wondering how many times he could read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"
while imprisoned in the bathroom. The medications that the medical clinic had
given me where not quite effective. One came with the name "Stop It" (I will let
you guess what that was supposed to do.) Now remember, at this point, we all
still thought I had the flu. We didn't realize that whole colonies of parasites
were having a big summer bash in my small intestine.

A week later, I had lost ten pounds and been given three I.V.s. I realized
that this was no ordinary virus. Friends mentioned that I looked a
wonderful shade of pale. I normally don't mind losing weight, but this was
ridiculous. Saturday night, (if you are keeping track, this is one week from the
tuna salad), I went from terrible to worse and a friend drove me to an even
bigger medical clinic. 

At this clinic, I was given a blood test. Now, if you have not eaten for a
week and need to have a blood test, you are in trouble. When you don't eat or
drink, your veins shrink a bit. It becomes very difficult for anyone looking to
find one of your veins. Yet this is the key part of a blood test, and they will
keep poking you until blood is found!

After six misses, they finally hit pay dirt, or rather blood. They did their
blood test and informed me that I was fine and sent me home. Although I was
relieved  that nothing was wrong with me, the constant vomiting was getting
annoying.

Dear readers, stay tuned. There is more to come!

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Readers who have been following this blog know that while I sit here writing, I am busily engaged in the process of building a house. I have come up with many observations that I think might help those of you who also may one day build a house. Today, we are going to discuss just what the heck "pergamon" is and why it's in my house.

I went to the store to pick out toilets this week. Now, picking out toilets has never struck me as such a complicated effort. I have never noticed much difference in toilets. As long as it flushes, what more do you need? So I went to the bathroom supply store and said I wanted to buy four toilets. I was the asked:

"What kind would you like?"

"Hmm.. the kind that flushes away all the, eh, bad stuff."

"No sir, I meant would you like ivory or bone?"

"Aren't they the same?"

"No, ivory is white and bone is more like a pergamon."

"Perga what?"

After rolling his eyeballs and letting out a sigh. "Pergaman."

So I was on the spot and felt under pressure. Not wanting to show my weakness, I ordered 2 white and 2 pergamon toilets. When I went home, I googled "pegamon" and found the following:

"The Great Altar of Pergamon is in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The base of this altar remains on the upper part of the Acropolis. Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the Acropolis include: a Hellenistic theater with a seating capacity of 10,000; the Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the Trajaneum); the Sancturay of Athena; the Library; royal palaces; the Heroön; the Temple of Dionysus; the Upper Agora; and the Roman baths complex."

Wow, now I am really excited to see what these toilets look like. I just hope they fit in the bathroom!

As frequent readers are aware, I am currently building my dream house while I
write. More specifically, I am designing and paying for someone else to build
the house, but it is still my creation.

Frequently, when people build houses, they go over budget. How does this
happen? Once they get to the details, they find that for just a "little more"
they can have various parts of the house upgraded: Floors, kitchens, windows,
doors, you name it. It is a dangerous trap because once you start upgrading, you
may not be able to stop. My strategy is to decide where I will upgrade, and
where I won't, and I stick to it.

For example, I wanted a nice kitchen. Think about it. The kitchen is the most
used room of the house. All serious activity within the house happens in the
kitchen. To me, it's worth it to spend a little more to make sure the kitchen is
nice. (Of course, a little more within reason.)

On the other hand, as long as the floor is flat, I do not need to have
ceramic tiles fit for a palace. While they sell great looking tiles for $75 per
meter, I am very happy with ones you can get for about $10 per meter. If your
house is a couple hundred square meters, you can really start to save by doing
this.

It's all about your personal priorities. Just decide for yourself before you
start and stick to the plan. You will be much happier in the long run. A perfect
house that ends up breaking your bank account is not really perfect.

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Many people have never experienced a professional massage and they are hesitant to give it a try. If you are a freelance writer, I would say that massage therapy is absolutely essential. And it makes no difference if you are a man or a woman. Anyone who writes for a living needs to get a massage.

Writing can be stressful. Even when there are no deadlines, if you want to eat, you need to write. Just coming up with new topics and projects can add a lot of stress that gets absorbed by the body. Massage is a wonderful way to get all that stress worked out. It is also extremely healthy, according to many healthcare workers.

I am talking about professional massage though. Real massage takes someone who knows what they are doing. A real massage should last at least an hour and cover all major muscle groups. This includes the face and the back of the head. While you may get a friend to rub your back, very few people know just how to give a facial massage to promote better blood flow to the head.

After a massage, you should feel completely relaxed. In fact, you should be relaxed enough to immediately continue writing. The reader of your work should not even notice a gap where you went out for an hour and got a massage. While massages can be costly, you will more than earn the money back through the improved writing which results from your relaxation.

So get rid of stress and find a licensed professional massage therapist today. The sooner you try it, the sooner you will relax. 

In case you have not noticed, people are using the Internet in newer ways every day. To be considered one of the best freelance writers, you simply have to be aware of everything going on in the online world. Almost every day, there is a new medium launched that either flies or dies depending on what the public thinks.

First, as you can tell from this blog, BLOGGING IS HUGE. Millions of people get their news these days from blogs rather than traditional services. There are hundreds of thousands of blogs launched every day from all around the world. There is not a corner of the globe that is not covered in a blog. Want to know what is really going on in Iran or China? Search for blogs written by people who live there. Even the research station at the South Pole has a blog.

But blogging is hardly new at this point. What is becoming the biggest hit is all the video services like Youtube. Millions of people are posting all sorts of interesting videos online now. All it takes is some good subject matter and with a few clicks, you are online.

A friend put me on "Facebook" the other day. Now I have people I have not heard from in twenty years writing to me. It seems that everyone in the world is just a few contacts apart. But once again, to stay on top of your field you have to know about facebook, myspace, and all the imitations.

Don't forget about the dozens of sites that let you share photos, music, articles, movies, you name it. While the Internet has the potential to bring us all closer together, it will only really work for those who take the time to learn it and keep in tune with what is new and what is hot!

When I was in University, it seemed I could eat and drink anything and not suffer ill effects. Pizzas, burgers, beer, at anytime and in huge quantities were always available. I was able to eat and not put on weight. I could eat an extra dinner after midnight, stay up until three in the morning, and still have energy to play football the next day. Today, things aren't that simple.

Let's face it, you have to take care of yourself. When you have a job like a freelance writer and your schedule is your own, you can really either use or abuse the flexibility that comes along with the job. I believe it's an amazing opportunity to eat right and get into shape.

You could, for example, decide that it's really hot and go consumer a gallon of ice cream. No one is "in the office" watching you, and you know that the neighborhood grocery store and a nice supply of  Ben and Jerry's. Yet ultimately, eating like that will hurt your writing.

Instead, go grab a carrot. Carrots tend to be underrated. They are cheap, easy to find, and just packed with nutrition. Even better, you can eat a few carrots and still have a productive day. No post ice cream nap on the sofa (if you know what I mean.)

All this talk about eating too many carrots making your skin turn orange is ridiculous. Do a google search on  'eating carrots' and 'orange skin' and you will see what I mean. You really have to eat a lot of carrots for that to happen.

Well, that's my advice for today. If you are a fellow freelancer, I am sure you will agree that diet and exercise are a very important part of this wonderful job.

Everyone needs to take a vacation at some point. I mean, after all, we all need to see new places and "recharge our batteries." The question is, how do you take a vacation without missing work?

For most people, this is impossible. They have to submit their requests for vacation days to the human resources department several months in advance. Then, their whole schedule depends on the whims of some nameless, faceless administrator. Maybe they will get the days off they want, maybe they will not. Point is, they have no control.

However, when you are a freelancer, you decide which days to take off. Your schedule is completely up to you. You can plan a vacation to the Arctic a year ahead of time, or take off to the jungles of Kenya one morning with no notice. That's how much flexibility you have.

So what if you really need to finish a writing assignment? Easy, take your laptop. You can plug in anywhere and finish up your work. All you need is about forty minutes in some nice hotel lobby and you can do what you need to do, without it upsetting your plans. Since many hotels have wireless internet access, you can even file your stories from your vacation. Just click send and you are all done.

So next time you are in a hotel lobby and you see someone hanging out with a laptop and a nice cold glass of pomegranate juice, chances are it's me on vacation doing some writing. Make sure to say hello.

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of writing freelance is finding good
material to write about. You want your subjects to be fresh, compelling, and
interesting to someone who is not an expert in the field. For example, let's say
you were writing about the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest. Now this is a
very peculiar event that many people would be interested in. Yet, if you write
it as if you were writing for the Association of International Speed Eaters
(AISE), you would lose most of your audience. They don't want to know the times
of the top ten finishers. They want to know how the heck one guy can fit sixty
hot dogs with buns into his stomach. They also want to know who came up with
this nutty idea of speed eating anyway.

I always try and write about events that I would talk about. Instead of
discussing stuff over a beer with friends, I am writing about it. Yet the
subject matter is the same. You wouldn't bring up something to make everyone
depressed or even worse, bored.  You would stop getting invited to cool parties
if you did that. No, write about stuff people want to know.

Every day interesting stuff happens. In fact, every day far more stuff
happens than you could even write about. The trick is to grab onto a topic and
just put it in your own words. You will soon develop a personal style that
people will appreciate and expect. As long as they feel that reading your work
is like speaking with you, you will develop a good following. And that's all it
takes. 

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As I have mentioned before, writing freelance gives you a very flexible
schedule. How you fill that schedule is up to you. For me, I have a mountain
bike that I keep in my home office. Whenever I have some downtime, I grab my
helmet and hit the trail. I guess it helps living in an area with trails all
around. Five minutes from my house, I can be all alone zipping along a rocky
trail. Of course there is a slight element of danger along these trails. That's
why I always consider a gun to be as important as a helmet if you are riding
through certain areas. (You MUST check the laws where you live before doing
this. Some places ban personal weapons, other places encourage people to carry
them.)

Let's talk about the basic requirements for a good mountain bike. First, you
need a frame that is specifically designed for rough riding. You may have to
spend some money, but you won't regret it. There are lots of good companies
making fantastic products right now. While there is no upper limit to what you
can spend one  bike, you should be able to find something decent for about a
thousand dollars.

The two components that I feel are critical are a good front fork and
hydraulic disk brakes. The front fork is key to getting up and down really rocky
areas. It will also keep the road vibrations away from your arms. The most
common high end forks are made by  a company called "Rock Shocks."

The disk brakes are also very important. In trail riding, you do a lot of
braking. Sometimes you need instant stopping power very quickly. Disk brakes
also mean you don't have to worry about getting mud caught between the pads.

As long as you have a bike with a good frame and these two components, you
will probably do all right. Now, get back to writing!

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So usually I write how wonderful it is to be a freelance writer and work from
home. Now, to be honest, let me tell you about some of the downside of working
from home on your own time.

The first problem is the refrigerator. You are sitting down trying to write
something, like now for example. Then you get a bit hungry. If you were at work,
you would never think of going to eat just a few minutes after finishing your
breakfast. Yet the refrigerator is just a few meters away, and last night's cold
Chinese food is calling your name. So you get up and take a short break.

Now when you return, you decide, you better check out the news on the
internet. So you take another break and read what's happening in the world. Just
then, the phone rings and your buddy wants to talk. At a real office, you
couldn't spend the next hour chatting about sports. But wait, you are not going
to get in trouble, after all, you are your own boss! So another hour goes
by.

After your phone call, it is time to take a short walk around the
neighborhood. On the walk, you decide to pop into the grocery store and get some
chocolate. Why not, you have plenty of time to get the work done, right? So
another hour slides by.

Of course, now it's lunch time. Why not go and get some pizza? While at the
pizza place, you stop and talk to the owner. Before you know it, it is
afternoon. You jog home and get ready to write.

Of course you realize, some interesting news might have happened since the
last time you checked. So you jump back on the internet. Nothing new, but while
online you decide to read a few interesting blogs and maybe see if Tiger Woods
has won any more golf tournaments.

Before you know it, the sun has set on another day. Whoops, you just realized
you got nothing done. But don't worry, there is always tomorrow. (At least
that's what you tell yourself.)

The lesson is, if you work from home you need discipline. I would love to
write more, but I think I need to eat now (and see how Tiger did over the
weekend!). 

 

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I am now in the process of building my dream house. Yes, as I write these words, the stone and cement are being lifted to the roof to frame the third floor. Now, ideally, I would be the one up on the roof hauling buckets of concrete and hammering nails, but there are several reasons why I have hired someone else to do these things:

1) I don't know anything about building. If I built the house, it would end up looking like a partially constructed igloo.

2) It's hot. Outside work in the heat should involve a beach in my opinion.

3) Don't even own a concrete bucket.

4) I'm a better writer than a builder.

So while I know it's not ideal, at least I am paying someone to build my house. The more I write, the nicer the house will be. Every article I publish is basically another section of the house. That sentence just paid for a door knob. This paragraph is the little window above the toilette. My next novel? That's the outdoor shark pool.

Of course the best thing about my house construction is that I now live just four houses down from the construction site. Since I am a freelance writer, anytime I want I can take a break and check on the progress. Guess what? I just did. Bet you didn't even notice I was gone.

They tell me that the house will be done in another three months. Of course, they told me that two months ago also. Unlike in writing, deadlines are not quite as serious in construction. But I had better finish this entry since they are important in writing, even writing your own blog!

Today's subject is the thrilling sport of mountain biking. Now, you may ask how such a topic fits in a journal of my travels as a freelance writer. Good question. The answer is that: 1) I am an avid mountain biker and spend as much time in the saddle as possible; and 2) it is my blog so I get to choose the topics. :)

Actually, being a freelance writer means that you can set your own hours and be your own boss. You write as much or as little as you want/can afford. So if the day is slow, I just grab my bike (which is kept next to my desk in my home office) and within minutes I am barreling down rock filled trails and going up and down nearly impossible hills.

In the last few years, mountain bike technology has progressed so far that you would be amazed what can be accomplished on a good bike. Trails which you would think twice about walking can be ridden down (or up). All it takes is a good bike, some technical know-how, and a fearless (or stupid) disregard for personal injury. 

In terms of a good bike, find a reputable bike shop and build a relationship with their mechanics. This is extremely important because the serious mountain biker must bring his (or her) bike in for maintenance much more than the road biker. Riding trails means riding through dust and mud. Hoping rocks can throw things a little off. A good mechanic will be able to identify and fix anything long before you would spot trouble.

The key to developing the skills lies in riding as much as possible. Every time you ride you can learn something new. Don't be afraid to tackle really hard hills or open up the brakes on a long descent. Sure, you will fall a bunch at first. But that's the only way to learn.

I will write more on the equipment you need in the next entry