Travel as light as possible. Carry only what you need to have.
I have always struggled with packing way too much. I have been getting better about it over the years. I try to be really conscious of how much stuff I carry around on a daily basis and, even on the smallest of levels, look at ways to reduce it. As an example, in my last post regarding my Circa system note flow, my main goal was to reduce the size of the notebook I carried with me. To me, even 40 less pages of paper matter. I do this with the keys on my keychain. Any key I don’t absolutely need on a daily basis gets taken off and hung up on a rack by the door at home. I don’t even have a fob on the keychain, it is just a ring.
That being said, the main area I have had the most struggle in has been when packing for travel. Perhaps it is because of this I am absolutely fascinated by articles, posts and resources that talk about how to pack lightly and travel well.
I have tried y hard at geting better at this over the years. I have slowly done better. Mainly because I often pack and then take a look at how much crap I am about to drag around the globe and then unpack a lot of it. I go through each item and seriously question it’s need. Even doing this I still felt like I could reduce a lot of weight and bag size if I just was savvy enough.
I recently became newly obsessed with light travel due to these two posts:
* How to Travel the World with 10 Pounds or Less (Plus: How to Negotiate Convertibles and Luxury Treehouses)
* How does a geek plan for 3 weeks in 4 countries with a small bag & a laptop?
These really set a fire under me. I therefore decided to really give the methods laid out therein a serious go. I had a trip to Cancun coming up. I was going for 5 days and 4 nights and was determined to go as light as possible. Here is what I brought:
* 3 Button Down Short Sleeve Shirts. All are light, easily hand washable and quick drying.
* 2 Pairs of Travelsmith Anywhere Pants. Once again, light, cool, quick dry.
* 2 Pairs LL Bean Supplex Cargo Shorts. Light, quick dry, can also double as swim trunks.
* 2 Pairs Ex Officio Boxer Briefs. Light, quick dry.
* 1 Marmot Ion Windshirt. For rain and wind protection.
* 1 Pair Teva Hurricane II Sandals.
* 1 Kiva Keychain Duffle. If needed for a day bag or souvenirs.
I also packed a travel clothesline designed for pin free hanging as my plan was to hand wash things so that I could take less items with me. For instance, one pair of underwear would be drying overnight and I would still have a pair dry and ready to go.
The result? It worked out very, very well. So well, in fact, that I am loathe to travel any other way from now on. The feeling I now get at the thought of even one extra thing being added to my bag is not simply one of question but one of sheer dread. This is largely because I have seen how very possible it is to do without and the feeling of being able to pack for a week in what amounts to an normal overnight bag is an extremely freeing one.
I have a trip to San Francisco for Macworld coming up in January. My plan: Take away the shorts and sandals and add a light fleece and shoes (which I will be wearing) to the list above. Otherwise, I am not changing a thing.
Category: post
My Circa Noteflow
Another in my series of Levenger Circa posts. In this episode, I discuss a recent brainstorm I had about a change to the workflow of processing my notes. Enjoy:
My Circa Workflow from Patrick Rhone on Vimeo.
AwayFind
AwayFind is a new web based service that allows one to set up professional email auto responses and signatures. On the surface, the purpose is to allow you to set appropriate expectations for those that send you email and allow those with an urgent need to get in touch with you right away. It is a very elegantly executed service that provides just the right balance between method and message. I can’t say enough good things about the web site itself. It is elegantly designed and a joy to use.
Now, AwayFind could be just another web service. They could just give you the basic free service and gladly take your subscription money when you are ready to upgrade to the pro level to get more features. But, it seems, founder Jared Goralnick is not interested in solely doing that. This is made apparent by the very front page of the AwayFind web site:
Awayfind is not just a web tool, it’s a blueprint for escaping email, with a handbook and a community to ensure your success.
What Jared really wants to do is to change the way you approach the idea of email. He provides that message, and the corresponding short lessons, at almost every opportunity on the site. As you navigate around, there are videos to watch, tutorials to guide you and a fantastic PDF handbook to download. All with one purpose in mind, to educate and encourage you to do the following:
- Batch process your email once or twice a day.
- Clear your Inbox by processing everything.
- Turn off notifications.
- Let people know your intention while providing a route to get time sensitive and urgent messages to you.
It soon becomes clear that AwayFind is first about education and, also, happens to have a service that, if you would like, can help you facilitate the goal in mind.
What I find most interesting is that, with this message front and center and the lessons provided, there is nothing that would prevent one from simply setting up an auto response on their own that provides the same opportunity. Heck, I have even written here before about doing this very thing myself at a previous employer. Having spoken with Jared, if that ends up being your takeaway from AwayFind, he will have achieved his main goal. It may seem a little altruistic on Jared’s part but that is because it is. His main goal is to set out to try to solve a problem that is a growing concern to us all. If it is a bit of LaMancha-esqu windmill battling then so be it. If one persons life if made a little bit easier, their time a bit more free, due to the lesson taught and, secondly, the service provided, he is fine with that.
There is a certain level of compassion I see in all of this. It is a unique and special thing. That alone will cause me to use AwayFind versus my own DIY solution. I urge you, gentle reader, to have a look and consider doing the same.
My Manifesto: Speak the truth.
The courage to speak your own truth will free others and allow them to do the same
The truth is hard. It can sometimes be hurtful to those we wish not to hurt. More often than not it exposes and highlights things we rather be left in dark corners. There are many who would rather not hear it and would seek to knock you down rather than have you speak it. Speaking truth, in the face of any consequence, takes courage beyond belief.
Sometimes even simple truths about ourselves are hard to face. Even more so when we admit them to others.
Yet we must. We must because it is the only way to be free. When we speak the truths who’s very revelation bind us in fear, not only do we free ourselves of the burden, we engage and encourage others to have the courage to come out of the shadows and say…
“Me too”.
My Manifesto: The problem may be you.
Do not place blame with others. Instead, look inside yourself, recognize your own shortcomings and work to overcome them. That way, others may be able to learn to do the same.
This entry in my manifesto reminds me of a difficult, yet crucial, way to change my thinking. That being, instead of constantly pointing the finger of blame at others, look within myself for the solution. We all carry a measure of guilt and innocence within us. Meditate on your guilt and it may allow you to see the innocence in another. The best way to explain this is to provide the following example…
How many times have you gotten into a disagreement with someone else and said something like “You made me angry!” or “You hurt my feelings.”? Well, let me tell you a little secret – Those statements are inherently false. The fact is that no one has control over our emotions except for ourselves. No one can “make you angry” or “hurt your feelings. The only one who can affect how you feel is you. It is a choice. It may not feel like one at the time, but I suspect part of that is our initial denial of control inherent in the very statements alone. We have choice and control over our actions and reactions. The anger, the hurt, the bad feelings, the negative emotions, they only affect us. By declaring otherwise, we are not only denying truth but we are also denying our inherent ability to change the situation by making a conscious choice to react differently. It is not an easy thing to do, especially when one is emotionally wounded, but it is really the only path to resolution. The more factual way to state these feelings would be “I am choosing to react with anger to this action that you have done.” or “I am choosing to feel hurt over this action you have done”. By doing so, we assume not only truth but we also assume the right to change it if we choose to.
This is just one example. The fact is that many situations would be better solved, and faster solved, if instead of being so quick to point the finger of blame, we looked inside ourselves to ask what we could change to solve the problem.
Vote.
Forty years
Forty years is not a very long time. In the grand scheme of things, it is a blink. In the history of western civilization, it is only but a couple of generations out of the hundreds. Yet, in the history of this young country, it seems so long ago.
Forty years ago, give or take a few, my mother was in a jail in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Her mother was in jail too. They were in jail for a horrible and criminal act – sitting at a lunch counter. You see, only forty years ago in many parts of this country sitting at certain counters in too many parts of this great land was illegal for a number of it’s citizens. They sat at that counter, bravely, with many others for the purpose of being arrested. Their intention was to fill the jails. To make a point. To prove how futile such barriers were in the face of common sense, decency and justice.
Forty years ago, that justice did not include in many of it’s citizens. If you were, say, African-American, that justice did not guarantee you the right to vote, the right to live in many parts of your city, the right to send your kids to any school or even the right to sit at any old lunch counter and grab a sandwich. That justice did not extend to you if your were Black or Brown or Red, “just us”. Justice for all is one of the cornerstones that this country was founded upon. Yet for the first two hundred years it was only guaranteed for some. This is made even more ironic when you consider that it was an African-American that was the first to die for that very cause some two hundred years earlier.
Forty years ago, I was just barely one year old. I was African-American. I was born in the south. History tells me that, had it not been for the extraordinary efforts of countless others before me, including my Mother and Grandmother, I would likely not have the life I live today. I certainly would not live in the places I have lived. I likely would not have the jobs I have had. I would not have been able to marry the women I have married. Therefore, I would not have had the beautiful children, we have made together. They being a product of many races and colors. Their very faces are the embodiment of the American promise.
Forty years ago, if you had asked my parents if they thought I could grow up to be anything I wanted one day, even president, they might have said “yes” but they likely would not have believed it would happen in their lifetimes. They knew how many challenges were faced. Not just by African-Americans or other people of color, They knew the challenges that the country faced in just having the very conversations and conversions on this topic we call “race”. It could not be solved in forty years any more than it had been undone in the previous four hundred.
Forty years later, we all seem to look back on this with a kind of amazement. We all talk about it as if it is long ago and in a far away land called history. We forget what an amazing thing it is, and in how short of time, that we have come to this point. This is not to say, that many problems do still not exist. They do. Yet here we are. If someone now asks me if I think my sons or my daughter could be able to be anything they want in this country, even president, I will not only know the answer – I will believe.
Forty years on, the very possibility of being able to elect an African-American to the highest public office in this great land is a jaw dropping accomplishment – as is the very fact that I am able to cast a vote. There have been many who have fought and died, even within the last forty years, to ensure it. I think we as a people, and as a nation, forget that.
Forty years from now, I pray this moment is not lost in history on my sons and my daughter. Although, I imagine they will look back on it with that same certain amazement. Amazed that it had to be so hard, for so long, over something so simple, yet made so complex. Perhaps by then they will be consumed with other issues just as important as liberty and justice and the way in which we guarantee it to our citizens. Whatever those fights may be, if there is any lesson to take away from this time in history, it is that anything is possible. Do not give up no matter what the cost as it is no higher a price paid than by countless others that came before you. And, if you must give up everything, in order to see a cause through, never give up this…
Hope.
My Manifesto: Time is precious
Time is very precious. More precious than money. One can always make more money but one can’t have back this moment… Or this one.
To me, the logic seems simple. Money can always be replaced. Time can not be replaced. There is, therefore, no price you can place on time. Time’s value is immeasurable. If given the choice between time and money, choose time.
This entry in my manifesto is a reminder of that. It is a reminder to heavily consider how I am spending my time. It’s inherent value. To make sure that I am not trading it for any less than it is worth. A reminder that, even in the pursuit of money, my time is spent in a way that is productive and has meaning. If not, then no amount of money in the world is worth it. It is for this reason I refuse to spend even one moment too many in a job I do not like or doing something that I do not enjoy. The work we do should add value to our lives in the form of growth, compassion or fulfilment.
Time is precious enough to me not to waste it. Not to waste my time or the time of the people I encounter in the course of this life. I value their time just as much. I have wasted too much in this life and want to make sure to work every day to not feel as if I have wasted any more.
You may notice that time is a reoccurring theme in my manifesto. There is good reason. It is that important.
Design Decisions: Inspiration
I would be lying to you if I told you that all of the ideas for the latest version of patrickrhone.com sprang fully formed from my oversized noggin. It would also be a lie if i told you I was inspired by any single website or idea.
With that being said, here are some of the sources of the inspiration for this design:
B-list
I mentioned before that I was inspired by this post by James Bennett at B-List. What I have not mentioned is that I was also inspired by the idea of having navigation to last and next entires in a minimal way beneath the post itself:
Ryan Tomayko
In the post mentioned above, James Bennett references a post by Ryan Tomayko regarding minimalist design and what the great Edward Tufte refers to as “Administrative Debris. This was also a huge influence, especially in the arena of navigation choices:
Memo
Memo is a graphic design firm in New York City. I am really inspired by their website which features just a bit of contact info and pictures of their work, all on one single page:
Seed
Wow. How can one not have been inspired by the single page design concept for the last Seed Conference. Stunning in both the idea, execution and honoring the past while being fresh at the same time:
Of course, those are just a few. There are way too many to list them all here. These are just the ones that stand out the most to me right now. This is just my small way of saying thanks to all of the great web designers who continue to take great care with the craft and continue to inspire and impress.
Design Decisions: patrickrhone.com 2.0
I thought it would be useful and fun to walk through some of the choices I made while considering the new design of this site. My goal was not to create a site that was even more minimal, simply for the sake of doing so. My goal was to honor the idea of having everything the site really needed and nothing that it did not and to put the content first are foremost. Especially on the front page.
In the previous version of the site, the front page was a splash page of navigation choices:
This actually was a popular design and was featured many places including online web design features and even in a real honest to goodness print magazine (the dead tree kind).
The question I often asked myself was if anyone actually used this. As a matter of fact, this question was a driving force when coming up with the current design. I did not want to assume the answer to these questions because, if it was used and I removed it, I would hear about it from visitors to the site.
Therefore, I decided to take a look at Google Analytics, which is a service used to monitor traffic to, from and on a website. I have had it installed on the site for a while in order to have some idea of where my traffic was coming from. That being, a map of where people are clicking on your site, how much they are clicking one site element verses another, and also how long of a time they are spending once they get there. Here is what I found: No one really used the front page navigation.
Most people would either click on “journal” to go to the blog or they went to the blog directly (via a bookmark or a link from another site). That being the case, why not land them on the blog directly? So now, patrickrhone.com lands you on the main journal page.
Next came the question of the navigation on the journal itself:
Once again, noted for it’s design. By 37 Signals even!
The question must be asked though. Did anyone use this? I mean, I was pretty sure if they were not using the navigation on the front page they would not be using it here but what about the navigation to the individual categories? For instance, surely there must be sometimes people want to see all of, and only, the productivity posts. Once again, the analytics told me that it was used from time to time, but not often enough to warrant it’s inclusion on the front page. As it turns out, you know who the biggest user of the category navigation was? Me. And even I did not use it enough to warrant it’s placement here.
That being said, it was being used sometimes (i.e. mainly by me) so I did not want to lose it completely. Therefore, I moved this navigation to the archives page, where I could also provide a more complete navigation to the rest of the site.
Furthermore, I asked the question, what content were most people coming to the site coming for. The answer I found was that, more often than not, people were coming to see the latest post. Those that subscribe via RSS are subscribed for that reason – to be notified of, and read, the latest post. Therefore, why does any other post beyond the latest post need to be on the front page? If someone wants to see other more recent posts, why not simply provide a link to the post before (or after as the case may be) directly under the post itself? Then again, if someone wants to see a listing of more recent posts, why not provide that on the “archives” page? So, this is what I did. Hence the “one post” design.
The status section was a neat idea to me at one time that apparently, from my research, no one else (outside of friends and family) ever really looked at.
This functionality for them has been largely replaced by Twitter which, even at only 140 characters per post, provides a much more detail rich account of “what am I doing” than this ever could. Therefore, it was dropped.
So, what then to do about the colophon and contact sections:
Believe it or not, people actually did look here from time to time. People who wanted to get in touch or find out a little more about the site design (i.e. “Is there a template I can download?” or “I love it. Do you mind if I ‘borrowed’ it?”). Therefore, it was important for me to keep this information but it did not have to be broken out into two separate pages. Thus, the info page was born.
Not all of the changes happened on the front, user facing, end of the site. Some of them happened on the back end. The move from Moveable Type to WordPress being one of them. There were several reasons for the move. The first one being that I was on an older version (3.3) of Moveable Type to begin with. So I knew I would probably want to upgrade to MT 4 as part of the redesign. If I was going to have to do a major upgrade anyway, it would be a good time to switch if I choose to. After having done several WordPress installations for clients with Michael, I had grown to enjoy the interface and more intuitive (to me at least) admin management features it had to offer. Also, since it is in wider use and is open source, there seems to be far more in the way of plugins and extras available.
Well, there it is, some of the design choices I made when coming to the current look and feel of the site. Once again, comments are off for now but I welcome feedback via e-mail or Twitter.