live. work. dream.

OK class, though I still often feel like the student myself, quite a few folks have been asking questions lately through our fulltime RVer contact form. Here’s the rundown of a few recent e-interviews…

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Granted, many readers may be saying to themselves, “Thank God all those ads are gone!” But by the time others read this post, they may be thinking, “What on earth is this guy talking about?” If you’re the slightest bit interested in making little extra spending money by placing Google ads on your own website, or you wonder why we’ve stopped running ours, please read on. If not, rest assured the ads will be back. Hopefully soon.

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I sure like the view from my new office – at least this week. And it sure is nice to take a break from working online to go fishing or for a walk in the woods. Earlier today while desperately trying to catch a large brown trout that was toying with me for hours in the creek coming out of Silver Lake, a kid asked me where I lived. I had to think for a moment. I then explained how I lived in our trailer and was traveling full time with my wife and dog. His answer: “Cool. That must be hard work. eh?”

Yes, hard work indeed. The actual driving is still only a bit nerve-wracking. Setting up and breaking camp has not yet become a chore. And the research, web development, and email communication is still exciting. But all of the above is indeed tiring. At least the view from our office makes up for it.

It is, however, quite surreal to be sitting deep in the woods listening to internet radio while making ice thanks to solar power and Satellite internet service. And I was bit surprised to get online here atop Carson Pass when we couldn’t even get a signal at the Nevada County Fairgrounds. One thing to consider, however, is while the armature of your satellite dish may be pointing directly at a mountainside, the satellite itself is probably about 45 degrees higher in the sky.

We can officially call the trailer ours now that we’ve given it its first battle scar. But it could’ve been much, much worse. When checking out the forest service campground at Silver Lake East, we came a bit too close to the trees. More than once. Luckily, we only put a good sized mark on our awning. It didn’t even tear through. But I’m actually surprised we didn’t rip the whole thing off. At one point prior, I looked back to see another tree about to rip off out range hood vent. That’s when I decided to take it a bit slower and to never get ourselves into a similar situation ever again.

It didn’t help to be confronted head-on with a big diesel pusher coming through the campground loop in the wrong direction. I guess we were both pretty dumb. Or stupid. Thankfully he realized I wasn’t about to turn around. So a few words of advice for checking out campgrounds where you are not certain you will fit:

• Park the rig and walk the entire loop first to see if any spots are available and that you can maneuver your rig all the way.
• Have your navigator get out and walk behind the rig to communicate any unseen obstructions.
• Use walkie talkies to communicate with each other when maneuvering and backing up.
• Know your limitations.

And here’s one more tip for tight spots from Campground Manager Jim at Silver Lake West: Measure the pull rod for your awning against your slide-out when fully extended and use it to identify any obstructions that might be too close.

The new owner of Marcom And POP is smart. She seems to know how to manage a business, has a good designer on her team, and appears to have picked up everything very quickly. She has strongly given us the impression that she is totally confident to run this show and is ready for us to move on.

Our premiere clients must be getting taken care of because I have not heard any bad news. In fact, I have not heard anything from anyone. No news is good news… right?!?! The production schedule is still full and new business keeps coming, so this transition is really working out for the best for everyone. It’s just a matter of time, and that’s hard to keep saying after delayed escrows and rescheduled move dates.

1. If you’re the entrepreneurial type, by all means, start up a business and grow it with a solid exit strategy in mind. Selling a business is an excellent way to reward yourself for years of blood sweat and tears.
2. If you ever get the inclination to sell your home and hit the road for a sabbatical or change of life, just do it. Do it before it’s too late and you look back saying you wish you had.
3. Don’t try to do both of these things at once.

Knowing that we will soon be enjoying all the benefits of our new full-timing lifestyle, is the only thing keeping us sane through the final days of this business sale and vital transition period. Training the new owner, delayed escrows, packing the trailer, and keeping clients happy all while preparing to move from 3,800 sq. ft. to approx. 200 sq. ft. has certainly been a challenge. But hey, we’re crazy that way…

OK, I might’ve jumped the gun a bit with that last post. Needles to say, we’re just a bit excited.

The truth is: We’re currently working our way back to Eureka with our new Fifth Wheel trailer to wrap up the sale of our graphic design and production business – Marcom And POP. We have sold our home based business (and home) and plan to embark on a research and development raod trip to see what the future has in store for Agreda Communications.

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It’s hard to keep a secret in a town like this. Especially when an ad for another local sign shop appears on the the same website advertising this business for sale. We can only assume that owner discovered our ad and helped get the rumor mill going about the sale of our operation. But it was bound to happen soon anyway, considering our new owner just ran her DBA in the local weekly.

Training is going very well. There is a lot to learn about the many aspects of design, production, website management and equipment maintenance, but the new owner is more than capabale to take the reigns. Our escrow is scheduled to close in a couple weeks, at which point we’ll divulge the big secret about who we are … if you haven’t found out already! Now comes the exciting task of informing our clients and officially spreading the word around town.

When we find the time to post again, perhaps we’ll explain the “next big thing” counting down in the header above. Big things are in store for the current management. Big things indeed…

Who’s got time to post blog entries while training the new owner on all the multi-faceted aspects of this turnkey design and production business? Not to mention all the packing, coordinating of storage, planning our next big adventure — more about that later — and increasing excitement of things to come!

I’ll tell you one thing though. Having a yard sale these days is more work than I ever expected. Who would’ve thought the pros and early birds would be lined up and waiting when we went outside at 7:30 a.m.?!?!? One suggestion: A bloody Mary, or two (or three) certainly helps!

Get an estimate for storing all your furniture and crap accumulated over ten years, however, and you’ll quickly have plenty of incentive to purge. Yes, it is difficult to let go of that Pink Floyd T-shirt from the Momentary Lapse of reason tour. But there will be someone out there who falls in love with it and is willing to give you a few bucks!

I just gave this blog a major overhaul in preparation for what it shall become. What will our next live/work dream be once we sell this business? There is no way to tell, but you’ll be sure to hear all about our search here. After a well deserved sabbatical, that is…

Be sure to check out the new Gallery page where we’ve integrated the interactive photo album and embedded video from LiveWorkDream.com. There is also now a contact form on the About page so you can let us know what you think! How do we find the time to do this while marketing our business for sale and keeping it profitable? It’s easier than you think with the WordPress 2 blog platform. (more…)