Thanks to the internet, people can work from anywhere. You can live an adventurous life while still making money. You can work by the beach and get your paycheck the next day. All you need is a laptop and fast internet, anything is possible. Join your host Susie Carder as she sits down with Linda Claire Puig on how you can live your adventurous life. Linda is the co-founder of Adventurous Life and she helps people create portable businesses. She is also the author of FREE: Build an Online Following that Liberates You for Life’s Adventures. Listen in and become a virtual nomad!
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Make Your Business Portable So You Can Live Your Most Adventurous Life Today With Linda Claire Puig
Welcome back to another amazing episode. I’m here with my good friend, Linda Puig. Linda, thank you for being here. I’m so excited because you are a Relationship Marketing Expert, which is different. You have a new book called Build an Online Following that Liberates You for Life’s Adventures. I love adventures. That’s why we work so hard. Welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me. It’s super fun to be here.
I’m excited. Tell everybody who you serve, what your superpower is, your magic, and your secret sauce. Give us that.
The people I serve are primarily interested in helping others to transform, whether it’s transformed their business, their life, their relationship, or their parenting, and they’re looking for assistance in getting the word out about themselves in the best ways possible, so I help them with that process.
How do you help business owners? You talk about the importance of freedom to a business owner. How does that work?
You asked about the special sauce, and that’s where that comes in. I think that my special sauce has always been demonstrating and living the concept of freedom. I’ve been traveling with my business since 2007. It was the first time I took my business on the road and that was back in the day when Wi-Fi wasn’t so prevalent. I had to lean over the canal in Venice with my laptop in my hands to try to get a signal. It’s much easier now. That’s something that I love to do, and I spend a lot of time every year doing it, except for pandemic years. Who knew?
In pandemic years, everyone is going, “There’s no more office. Now, I’m going to be the virtual nomad,” which is awesome. We have a lot to share in what that looks like. We have been in this business for many years, finally getting it like, “I don’t have to be stuck here. I can go anywhere.” I love that. Let’s talk about running your business from anywhere because there are challenges with that. What would you say are the five most important things when I’m looking at picking a location or a site to make sure that I can still do my day-to-day business and not have to stick my computer out over the canal?
The first thing that I look for is someplace that I know I can do my work because that’s important. You can’t have this freedom life if you’re not making money to support it. What do you need to do your work? Most people are surprised that most likely, all you’re going to need is a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection that’s really strong.
If you’re going to be staying in an apartment that you’re uncertain about whether that signal is going to be strong or not, you can always go to a coworking space. Those have proliferated over the last couple of years or so enormously. They’re super fun to go to and work at because there are other nomads doing the same exact thing from all over the world. It’s a great community to get to know. That’s the first thing that I do.
The second thing is when I’m looking for my housing, and it’s tricky. These days, we have Airbnb and Vrbo. We have all kinds of different apartment finding services and whatnot, but you need to know where that apartment is and make sure that it’s in a reasonable space. There’s a lot of due diligence that you need to do to find the right spot. It’s easy to do, but it does take time. I want to encourage everyone to make it a part of your plan to look for what the neighborhood is like, what the reviews are like, what the 360 looks like, and what you can tell about that location. I have had a variety of experiences. I love to go into residential areas and pretend I’m a local. My biggest thrill of all is for somebody to think I’m a local, so if they asked me a question in their language expecting me to answer back in that language, I’m like, “I did it.”
Number one is what you need and number two is your housing. Is there anything else?
Yeah. I think that you want to know yourself and it might take a few trips to explore, but are you the type of person that is fine traveling on your own? Some people are and some people even prefer it. There are still times when I do love to be on my own, but I got to a point where I realized one day that I was done with solo travel. I said to myself at the time, “I’m not doing any more travels unless it’s with friends or colleagues.” That wasn’t true.
I have continued to do some, but for the most part, now, I travel with other people who are like-minded. One of the things I did a couple of years ago was to start a little business with a colleague of mine where we take groups of people. It was like the missing link because I was teaching people how to take their business on the road and how to make sure you’re secured in a coffee shop. It was all of the things, but not going with other people and having that experience with other people, so this was the missing link. We take people to cool places around the world and we stay for a month at a time.
That’s your AdventurousLife.io?
Yeah.
What is that about? Share it with us because that’s fascinating. This is a hub for all of us who want to do this. I got back from Costa Rica. My girlfriends moved there, and they’re building an apartment and a retreat center there. They are two single women from Canada. I’m like, “You guys are so brave. This is great.” They’re like, “Really?” They broke ground from buying the property to building this apartment building.
Everybody has different levels of courage or different areas that they’re courageous in. I don’t think I would do that either. People call me courageous all the time, but I wouldn’t do what they’re doing. We all have our set points. What I found when I was teaching people how to take their business abroad is that people still weren’t doing it. That’s what Adventurous Life is. We go with the groups. A lot of times, it’s people running their business from abroad for the very first time. It’s easy, but it doesn’t seem like that at the beginning.
You can’t have a life of freedom if you’re not making the money to support it.
It makes me nervous talking about it but excited at the same time.
We had a woman with us and she’s been on several trips now. She has only government contracts. She was like, “How am I going to talk with my generals from a coworking space in Portugal?” She figured it out, and it was not difficult at all. Now, she knows that she can travel anywhere and run her business, but she doesn’t want to go by herself, so she found a tribe of people who want to travel but don’t want to travel by themselves and also have businesses that they need to attend to. The thing is that we want to travel for longer periods of time.
I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the phrase slow travel. Slow travel is going somewhere, sticking around for a while and really getting to know it. That’s what we do. You can go on vacation and spend one night here and three nights there, but that’s different than the experience of living someplace, working there, and walking to work as everybody else does.
What ends up happening is in the first week, everybody is like, “We’re here,” and they act like tourists. The second week is like, “We can do a few other things that we didn’t think we’re going to be able to do,” so then they do that. After the second week and they’ve still got two more weeks to go, they’re like, “This is the experience.” That’s when you really get to drop in and feel like, “I live here.”
They experience the culture. That’s what I love about traveling. I prefer learning about geography that way. When I get on an airplane, I’m like, “Where am I going?” Even going to Costa Rica, we pulled up the map. I’m like, “There’s Nicaragua” We just flew all through Mexico. You take it on differently because you’re there and you’re experiencing it.
What should we watch out for if we don’t use a service like yours? I want to encourage everyone. Go look at it right at AdventurousLife.io. We’ve got a free Insider’s Guide that you can download for free. I sometimes think as Americans, we get comfortable and think everyone’s got our back. That’s not always the way it is.
That’s a good point and question. The best thing that I know to do and that I recommend is to walk briskly like you know where you’re going. Even if you don’t know where you’re going, you want to duck into a little store. If you need to look at your map or open a map, who does that these days? Don’t look like you don’t know what you’re doing. If you can, dress as the people dress there. Dress up maybe for yourself or dress down a little bit so that you look like you belong. The more you look like you belong, the less likely you are to be a target. Also, watch some videos.
We were in Prague in 2019, and I had watched some videos of these guys from Prague who were showing all the different ways that scammers were targeting tourists at ATM stations, and lo and behold, it started happening to us. My friend was the one getting cash out, and all of a sudden, this guy came up, and he started doing the whole thing. It took me about two seconds to flick and remember that’s what’s happening, so I grabbed her, and I said, “Let’s get out of here.”
Stuff happens, so you do need to do a little bit of research in advance. By the way, I’m not saying that to scare anyone away. It’s not. You just take care. Wear your purse across your shoulder with the purse facing in, not facing out to the street. You learn these things, and they become second nature. They become something you have to not at all consciously think about. It becomes part of who you are and what you do.
I love that you talk about how it is an adventure. Even finding a great place to eat, I didn’t learn that when I first started traveling internationally. It wasn’t about necessarily going and sitting somewhere. It was figuring out the transit, the money, where to eat, and how to get somewhere. I had to learn that, and that’s part of the adventure where I was so stressed out like, “I don’t know where I’m going.” It’s like, “Breathe. This is the process.”
It’s so true, and as much as you can, I encourage everyone to get out of the main tourist areas, because the experiences that you’ll have in those locations will be the most memorable ones that you bring back. I remember when I was in Rome with my business partner, Pam Ivy, and we decided we wanted to go find a really well-regarded restaurant but that no tourist knew about. We did a little bit of research, and it took maybe 25 or 30 minutes and a variety of trains and whatnot to get to, but once we were there, it was magical and the food was amazing. We were the only tourists there, and that makes me feel good about having an authentic experience.
They didn’t know you were a tourist. That’s the key.
As much as I tried, they still knew.
Do you speak multiple languages as well?
I speak Spanish pretty well, and I speak Italian well enough to get by, but not have a wonderful conversation. I lived in Italy for about six months. At that point, I’d spoken pretty good at the end of that period of time, but it’s fallen away. I’d have to do a little bowling up before I go back.
Do you use Google Translate? When we were in Costa Rica, I was Google Translating everything. My Spanish is Spanglish. I’m trying to snap the culture. They love when we try. Every culture loves it when you try to communicate and speak to them. Do you have any technology hacks that we should be using while we’re on the road?
Have your one translator. I have several translator apps on my phone, and I gravitate towards one in particular. I don’t even remember the name of it, but it’s a common one. The other one that’s really fun and not necessarily always accurate is the image translator. I went to see the Northern lights in Norway in this tiny little town of about 50 people way out on the far coast of the Lofoten Islands. There was no one there that spoke in English, so we used this little image translator to see if it was milk. Part of the time, it was accurate, and part of the time, it wasn’t, but that was fun to do.
Walk briskly like you know where you’re going even if you don’t know where you’re going.
Many people are struggling now with the pandemic and with the economy. Your business model completely shifted, so what has been your secret sauce to stay in action and keep growing?
For me, the beauty of it was that I started that travel-related business because I had a business that I would already bring with me on the road. That one is what I have been focused on, so thankfully, I had something to fall back on. I’ve ramped up my focus. I wrote the book FREE. That’s the actual name of it. The subtitle is what you said. It’s what everybody thinks is the title, but no, the title is FREE. I wrote the book, and I did a couple of launches. I ramped it up because that’s needed to be full-income versus partial income. That’s what I did. I luckily already had things fairly well in place. I did stretch myself with a few launches and created new marketing material.
There are exceptions, but most people can do most of their business online. For a lot of people, it was a huge discovery, which I’m so happy that they made. It’s citing that they now realize they can do virtually all, if not all, of their business online. It’s a revelation, I think, for a lot of people. Some people discovered it, some people just used it more, and other people changed altogether what they were doing. For me, it was more of the same and ramped up.
As a business person, I learn when I’m growing and having success, but my biggest, juiciest lessons have been when I’ve had a breakdown. Some people call it a failure or a challenge. What would you say your biggest failure or breakdown has been, and then what did you learn from it? After you got through crying, what was the thing that you were like, “That is why that lesson was brought to me.”
I have had multiple of those, but the one that sticks out and comes right to mind is when I was living in Italy. During that period of time, I did my first big launch with an affiliate partner supporting it. It was stepping out and saying, “I’m here,” and it freaked me out. There were so many things about it that I loved, but there was so much that was new that I’d never done before. The big webinar that I was going to be holding to make the offer from was the first time I had done something like that.
It was 10:00 at night because I was in Italy. I was coming up with the content in a lovely medieval town. Everything about it was very princess and magical, and then it came time to about to give it. This was the night before, and I remember Skyping with my friend and saying, “I don’t think I can do this.” I was almost suffocating. I felt like I could not do this. It was so scary.
She talked me off the ledge and I did it. It was a great success, I had fun, and I learned a whole lot of stuff. I think for me, the biggest lesson was and continues to be, is if you ever reach that point where you think, “I can’t do this. This is not for me. There’s no way,” keep pushing through, because what weights on the other side is amazing. First of all, you grow. Second of all, your business grows. It’s a beautiful thing that happens when you go through that horror.
I think it’s so important that we talk about it because a lot of people speak from their mountaintop and are like, “I’ve grown,” but that fear is constricting. That girlfriend was a ride or die. She was like, “You forgot who you were.” We do. You forget that you’re courageous. You forget that this is what you do. When you’re on that precipice of the unknown, it’s like, “I don’t want to.”
I feel for everyone who goes through that, but we got to go through it.
That’s like what you said. The reward is on the other side. If you could be remembered for one thing, what would you want to be remembered for?
In my whole life or in my business life?
In your whole life.
Being an amazing mother.
How many kids do you have?
I have one son.
What are the attributes when you say that? A lot of people say it, but what does that mean for you? The definition is different for all of us.
I think what I did that I really like and I feel good about is, first of all, I raised him myself most of the time. I was a single mom until he was nine. I was his only parent after his father died. I believe that I attended to his developmental needs in very rich and rewarding ways. The school that he went to addressed his creative self. My son is Mr. Creative. He plays instruments, paints, and draws. He’s also a professional photographer. He sings and acts. He is everything, and I knew to nurture that. That’s all. I didn’t give it to him, but I knew to nurture it. I kept the lines of communication open with him. That was my priority as he got to be a teenager.
If you ever reached the point where you think you can’t do this, keep pushing through. Because what’s on the other side is really amazing.
I think that’s powerful. I remember when my kids left the nest, so to speak, and then they kept wanting to do stuff with me. I’m like, “Do you really want to hang out with me?” I left when I was seventeen and never looked back, so I thought hanging out with your parents was weird. The first time I was like, “They just want me to pay,” and then now, they’re 35 and 32, and we hang out all the time. We’re great friends.
I think that builds on what you do for work. They liberate you and for the adventures of life, which is the adventures of being a mom. That’s important so that you can see what you do in your work is what you did for your son, which is, “Let me develop this thing that you’re passionate about,” versus trying to put it up in a box.
That’s beautiful. Thank you for making that connection.
It’s what’s beautiful to hear. I love to see adult children honoring their relationships with their parents, and you do have to cross over to this different relationship. You’re no longer the parent you were when you were a kid. You were their protector and provider, especially as a single mom. I was a single mom for years, and to go, “I have to let you have your own failures. I have to have let you have your own successes.” I let them discover this is adulthood.
I happen to be at his house now.
I love that. That’s beautiful and healthy. Whatever our idealistic lifestyle was of what parents were, we got to reinvent it. You got to reinvent your life, your career, and your relationship with your children and then the parents of adult children to go, “How do we create an adventurous life together?” That’s very exciting.
I love that. You’re right. An adventurous life is not just about travel. The adventurous life is adventurous life.
Don’t put that in a box to go, “This is my life.” We only have one to go, “I don’t want to follow the rules.” “I’ve never been a rule follower. I want to make my own rules,” and then figure out how do I bring my community to play inside that sandbox with me. It’s not fun being successful alone. I realized that. I was traveling in Italy, and I was on a couchette. I’m like, “I want to travel with my girlfriends.” I was journal writing and having this whole epiphany, and then I was like, “I need to find girlfriends with money that could travel with me.”
I think it was this whole realization that there’s this whole world that’s waiting. As you said, it’s not a vacation. The world is waiting. Now, we’re such a global economy, and with the help of you and this Adventurous Life site to go, “Let me pave the way to show you to not do this, but do this.” That’s what I love about being a business coach.
It’s like, “Let me shave ten years off of your running career because this shit is going to be hard. Let me help you.” Travel can be stressful or it can be fun. When you have a guide or a group of people that not just have been to that country, but have been there, and know that this is part of the fun, you’re like, “What do you mean? Figuring out the train is part of the fun. This is not fun.”
You’re right. You have to get into that mindset that even figuring out the train is fun. Sometimes, it’s the stories that you generate from the not-fun experiences when you’re traveling. I have so many, but the funniest one is that I got locked in a department store in Rome at night.
Did you have to stay the whole night?
I might have, except that it happened to have been located very close to the central train station, so there were people walking by. I’m inside the store pounding, going, “Help.” About an hour and a half later, five police officers, four department store officials, and everybody came and finally rescued me. It was pretty funny.
Were you in the changing room? I need more information.
I was in the changing room. I speak enough Italian that I understood they were saying that the store is closing. Here in the US, the store is closing means get your stuff together, come to the checkout stand, etc. I got my stuff together and came out, and there was nobody there at the checkout area, so I walked to the next one, and I walked upstairs, and there was no one at all. The doors were already chained shut and locked.
They were serious. They were like, “Get out. We’re closing.” Italy is one of my favorite places. It’s the only place in the world that rings a bell to say, “Go take a nap.” I’m like, “I love this country.” What’s one question you wish I had asked you?
I don’t know. What do you do for fun?
What do you do for fun?
That was a dumb question. I really like road trips. I got back from a road trip. I’m trying to continue traveling even though we can’t travel. I love dogs. How about that? That’s what I love. You can ask me anything.
Anything about the business, in particular, we need to know. How do we play with you? How do we find you? I know that on your site, you have Expert Travel Insiders that you can get a free download.
You can connect with me in a couple of different ways, depending on when this is being released. I do a boot camp that’s for people that want to understand how to establish this freedom and build an audience that will support that freedom. That boot camp is one way to get a greater taste of what I do in my one business, and then in Adventurous Life, you can go to AdventurousLife.io and take the trip with us.
How do we find you on social?
I don’t do a lot of social. I know I’m a unicorn in that way. I use it a little bit for personal things, but I don’t use it for business. That’s one of the things I teach in my freedom following formula program, which is how to build that audience without using social media. Not that I’m trying to talk you out of it. If you like it, great, but if you don’t, and I know a lot of people that don’t, you don’t have to. There are other ways.
Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for your wisdom and courageousness in showing us how to be courageous and adventurous together. I appreciate you and I appreciate all that you do for us to help us have an amazing life.
Thank you. I appreciate you too.
Important Links
- Build an Online Following that Liberates You for Life’s Adventures
- AdventurousLife.io
- Insider’s Guide
- https://www.Facebook.com/lindacpuig
- LinkedIn.com/in/lindacpuig/
- http://freedomfollowingbootcamp.com/
About Linda Claire Puig
Linda Claire Puig is an internationally recognized relationship-marketing expert and author of FREE: Build an Online Following that Liberates You for Life’s Adventures. She’s also co-founder of AdventurousLife.io, which brings groups of professionals and entrepreneurs ages 40+ to international destinations to live, work and travel in community.
