(This is a guest post from my friend Jason Halbauer. Jason is in the process of starting his own business, so I thought it would be great for everyone to hear his perspective on his on journey.)
Sometimes, big changes in your life or work create an intense need to hit the road. I listened to that instinct and a trip to Portland turned out to be just what I needed to find nourishment… and a couple lessons along the way.
As someone who sees an immense value to travelling, I try to be very strategic with my vacation time. While others take long weekends for camping and extra time around the holidays, I work almost without break for eleven months of the year for the sake of one or two major trips that fill my cup in the way I need.
That was not the case this year.
Overwhelmed with major changes at my job, a new schedule and the laying off of roughly two-thirds of my co-workers, I’ve needed time away more than ever. Hence the reason for my somewhat impromptu July Road Trip.
July Road Trip
Now, this road trip came to be for a few reasons. Stu touches on this idea of BIG things coming from a group of little ones. For me, my wonderful Aunt Vivian’s interment was happening in British Columbia, Canada, approximately a 12-hour drive from where I reside in Edmonton, Alberta. I was also participating in a 165km team mountain race in southern Alberta called the Sinister 7. Finally, I was missing friends I met at World Domination Summit in Portland.
I couldn’t make this year’s WDS for a number of reasons, but my good friend Steve Errey reached out saying he and Stewart (yes, that Stewart. Digital something?) would be in Portland all month. So I hopped in my car bound for southern Alberta, British Columbia and, eventually, Oregon.
Portland Ordinary
It’s amazing how quickly certain places can feel like home. Steve rents the same place every year. When Stewart and I arrived for drinks on his rooftop patio, he talked about falling into old habits. “Portland is like an old pair of trousers,” he said.
Same as the last two years, Stewart, Steve and I set to hopping from coffee shop to restaurant to brewery, talking, laughing and feeling like we’d never really parted ways in the first place.
Long Talks and Coffee Shops
Stewart and I opted to share a rental for cost-saving purposes and got a little closer than intended (a story for another time). This also meant we spent a great deal of the trip together commuting to and from downtown. One day when Stu had work to do, we headed to Stumptown for a work date.
Before he got down to business, we had a two hour talk on yoga, spirituality and what it all meant. He also gave me some sage advice about a project I am working on, a video production/branding/copywriting company called Cask Media.
“You need to simplify your message,” he said. “You can explain other services if you want but for me, the reason I get such consistent work is because there’s no ambiguity about ‘web developer.’ My network knows what I do, so it’s easy for them to say they know a guy…”
This encouraged me to totally revamp our web copy to make it more direct, hence the words “We Make Videos” near the top of the CaskMedia.ca home page.
Heart is Home (but not in the way you think)
He’s always been the more elusive of our group but I was glad to meet up with another WDS friend, John Shultz of Minimalist Baker fame. He suggested the coffee shop Heart which was one of my favourite cups of the trip. He was also quick to offer plenty of good (and free!) advice on starting a food blog, which is another side project I’ve been working on with my partner.
To get such helpful advice (and an offer for more help remotely) from such an established food blogger was a big boost to the project and a good reminder that people generally want to help if you ask them.
Man Seeking Nourishment
On my second day there, Steve and I sat down in his favourite wine bar and had a long chat about work and life and everything in between. I told him I was getting much more out of my extracurricular activities than I was my 9-5, which previously had not been the case. Job frustration had taken over.
“It doesn’t horribly matter where you get it, but what matters is that you are nourished,” says Steve. “If you’re at a 9-5, starting a new business or whatever, you just need to make sure you’re getting what you need.”
Nourished, for Now
And if there was a value to the road trip, it was just what Steve was talking about: nourishment. On our last night, we went out for one of the best meals of my life at Luc Lac, drank some delicious Gigantic beer and talked until it was too late to justify another stop. We parted ways and exchanged well wishes and I embarked on the longest leg of my journey so far. An 8+ hour drive back to just past the Canadian border.
On the way home, I thought about the life I was going back to with much more optimism than I previously enjoyed. I came back with some great lessons and, most of all, exactly what I needed to stay nourished.
Bio
Jason Halbauer is a copywriter, editor and general wanderer living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He’s working for a video production/branding company called Cask Media. In his free time, he likes to write sketch comedy, work on community building and drink beers with Stu. He probably likes you already, so get in touch on Facebook or Twitter!
