Born In Mississauga, Chris has lived and worked in Ottawa, Halifax, Calgary, and Vancouver.
In 2007 he took a half year off to travel through South East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, China, and Hong Kong), Australia and New Zealand. It was on this trip Chris caught the travel bug and has been craving more ever since.
I asked Chris a few questions:
1. How “exactly” do your make money to “fund” your lifestyle/travels?
Before leaving for my trip I was working as a project manager at a construction company for about 5 years. I came out of university and kept living like I was still there, saved more than half my money and bought next to nothing. I lived with a girlfriend or roommates, bought and borrowed used furniture, and kept eating out to a minimum. I even had the same computer for almost 10 years.
I still went out and had lots of fun, but was sure to do things that cost little or nothing.
At the moment my blog doesn’t provide a source of income. Considering I knew nothing about blogging, writing, and only a little coding until about 2 months ago, I’m pretty happy with where things are at and where my blog is going. That said, I’ve still a lot to learn and a lot of work to do.
I do make a very small amount of money selling stock photographs and hope to grow my collection as I spend more time in amazing places taking photos.
2. If you can change anything about your decision, what would it be?
I would have put more effort into learning Spanish before I came. That’s all though. I don’t regret leaving on this amazing journey. I don’t even regret breaking my foot and getting stuck in Guatemala.
I’ve learned a ton about myself, learned to speak Spanish, and even learned how to play guitar.
3. What does success mean to you?
Being happy first and foremost. Second is making sure I contribute to the happiness of those around me but you can’t do that until you are happy with yourself.
I realized that I don’t need to make a ton of money, have a fancy car, or a big house. Live modestly and enjoy life not things.
I remember reading somewhere that money can only buy happiness in one of two ways.
1) By being generous with others.
2) By spending it on experiences.
Given my experiences to date, I’d say I wholeheartedly agree.
4. What makes you the happiest?
Spending time with those I love, which on a world trip can be a bit difficult. I had my brother visit me for 3 weeks and my mother will be visiting me as well. I’m also hoping to see a few close friends along the way.
When I can’t spend my time with those great people I try to surround myself with other awesome and positive people along my journey. Take time to see amazing places and generally just enjoy my life.
Be sure to check out Adventures With Pedro and follow along as Chris and his penguin Pedro experience the world.
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