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Sometimes you have to come up for air and Breathe

It’s low season here in Thailand which means it rains just about every day. Gloomy clouds, ponchos on deck, all of that. My business partner and great friend of over 12 years flew in from San Francisco to plot next steps for Core Media Concepts and Core Mobile Apps. While down in Phuket, we got a heck of a lot of work done (not much choice as it rained Heavy almost the entire time). We were on the grind from hotel rooms, to restaurant tables, to cafes and tiny coffeeshops. Our brains were cloudy and burning out from the work. We needed a break to get back in that creative zone. The universe answered. The very next day(and for ONE day only), the sky opened up, a breathtaking day presented itself and we took our meeting offline – happily! We hired a longtail boat to take us to Maya Bay in the Phi Phi Islands where the movie “The Beach” was filmed. Got plenty of sun rays and interacted with the marine life all around. Even got Fiifi to dive in the water and “live a little” too! Haha. A few hours later we were back on land relaxed, grateful and recharged. The next few days of work were even better than the previous. It was probably the best business brainstorm meeting I’ve ever had. Work was done and we enjoyed ourselves in the process.

So, whatever that it is that you are working on or striving for, stay hungry and stay at it… but don’t forget to come up for air from time to time. Live in “the present” as it is truly a gift. Enjoy the moments of NOW as “nows” tends to drift by and turn into “thens” faster than we all realize. Take a break, play with your kids, enjoy nature, tell family members and the people you care about that you love them(and often). Don’t forget to live and love. Have a fabulous day today!

Ps. YES that’s a piece of fried chicken and NO my fried chicken eating self didn’t bring it (our captain had a wing just chilling in the back of the boat LOL).

– All Underwater shots taken with a GoPro Hero 4 Black – 4K camera

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How to get a 30 day visa extension in Chiang Mai Thailand (2016)

Konnichiwa peeps! The visa extension policies and regulations in all countries change frequently so getting the most current information can save you some time and unnecessary headaches. Below is a video on just how to go about getting a visa extension in the new Promenada Mall location(The airport location is no longer handling visa extensions).

Make sure to have 1900 baht cash for the processing fee.

Ps. I misplaced my departure card and it was not an issue at all. For safe measure, I stopped by the police station in the Old City before heading to the immigration office and asked the foreign resource officer on duty if the departure card was truly necessary, and he said it wasn’t. This ended up being true and as a matter of fact, they did not even ask for it once I told the registration table attendees I didn’t have it.

Here is a link to the form needed at the time of filing your extension – Extension of Temporary Stay in The Kingdom Application Form (TM. 7)  I recommend printing this out and filling it in before you get to the immigration office. Make sure that you sign it, as well as the copy of your passport and any other official documents. It is also helpful to put an email address on these items, however, it is not required.

If you have any questions regarding the process, don’t hesitate to ask!

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Snapchat Diary – Googleplex Tour!

In preparation to move to SE Asia, I paid my good friend and business partner Fiifi a visit to catch up and lock in some core business plans for the future. We were lucky enough to get a private tour of some areas of the “Googleplex”. This place was massive and we only saw about 1/20th of the cam犀利士
pus! Enjoy a little peek into one of the world’s most desirable and prestigious workplaces!

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Snapchat Diary – Travel & Style Tips

Hey guys, here are a few quick travel tips you can have in mind the next time you have some domestic travel come up!

  • Gentlemen, wear your blazer (do not pack it). The reasoning is, packing it will fill up a decent amount of space in your bag, and it will surely get wrinkled! Also, for air travel, the plane can sometimes be a bit chilly so it’s a good thing to have with you just in case.
  • Wear your bulkiest shoes while you travel. This will save you luggage space(which is key when packing light and utilizing only a carry on).

    • <犀利士
    li>Buy a hardshell cased luggage piece. The flimsy canvas ones have a tendancy to fold/bend/break or get punctured if something heavy is placed on top of it. Here are a couple of options similar to the case pictured in the video below: Enkloze Carbon Fiber Hardshell Carry-On Bag |Samsonite Cruiseair DLX Hardside Case

  • Wear muted colors or neutrals. Whites, greys, blacks pretty much all go together so make it easy on yourself and pack these colors.
  • Download podcasts or music so that you can have access to them during travel without a cell network or wifi connection
  • If possible, use Uber(or similar) instead of parking at the airport – Saves lots of $$!

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Snapshot Check-In: From Corporate America to Freedompreneur

A quick snapshot in time from September 28, 2015 while travelling to/from Dallas Texas. Discusses topics such as morning routines and the overall transition from 9-5’er to Entrepreneur.

If you haven’t already, make sure to like/subscribe to my YouTube channel so that you receive new video alerts!

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Why I’m moving to Thailand… Let me explain

Well hello hello lovely people!

Let me start off by saying I’ve built blogs for other people for yeeears but haven’t really maintained a personal one… like ever. I’m no seasoned vet, so bear with me here. There will be some typos, some ridiculousness(some intentional lol) and some stuff that won’t make sense at times.. so just expect that..ok…? OK!

I’ll keep this post as short and as sweet as possible; most importantly, on topic:

Why am I moving to Thailand?

The quick answer is. Why the heck not!?

I’ve been asked for the past 5-6 months when I made it public that I was moving at the end of the year. “Will, why Thailand?”. Here are just a few reasons…

  1. Live life on the Low-Low – Here in the U.S.(as well as many other parts of the world, we get caught up in the hype of STUFF or what I call “life anchors”. We buy things we don’t need and we spend money on material items that have little to no value just several months after we purchase them. I can’t say I haven’t participated, but I also consider myself “semi enlightened” now. I still have an affinity for nice things, however, the value I place on them has significantly decreased. Bottom line is, that Crap doesn’t matter maaann! I want to save some money to live a more free and experience abundant lifestyle… so I signed myself up!
  2. Bootstrap business – I have 犀利士
    some business ideas/opps I want to explore and I can’t do that nearly as aggressively with a 9-5’er. Living in Thailand will allow me to essentially 2x-3x whatever dollars I make in my current businesses and give me the time to work on new ventures. Bing Bang, let’s do this thang!
  3. “Wanderlust Willie” needs to go to more places –  I’ve been fortunate enough to travel a bit here and there to date, but I want more. Thailand is amazing. I had a chance to spend a few weeks there last year and I absolutely fell in love with many aspects of it. From the food, to the people, to the culture, to the Super Fast Internet(what web peeps consider a mega must!), it all just stuck in my mind and I haven’t been able to shake it.
  4. Easy travel to other Asian destinations – While there, I plan on taking the mandatory visa renewal runs to hit some surrounding countries. My family is in Japan, and I actually plan on spending some time there in south Japan(the same home I lived in briefly as a child) to really focus on my business. Other major POI’s I’ve eyed and planned to visit are Bali, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, and Singapore.
  5. Give Back – I’ve been fortunate enough to help mentor HS and college kids in the technology space. If time weren’t an issue, I’d certainly do more. Currently co-founding a NPO called the Follow Hope Foundation and will be volunteering with various organizations to help younger children gain and enhance their grade level education there in Thailand. I’ll have a whole separate blog post on why I feel giving back is essential. “Create not Destroy”.. help not harm. Serve others.. it’s a fundamental must for all able bodied humans in my opinion. 
  6. Pad Thai – Need I say more?? On to #7…
  7. $6-$8 hour long deep tissue massages – I need to correct this jacked up back of mine from spending over a decade in the corporate world sitting behind a desk. It RUINS your back and legs. This should help, and it sure does beat the $75-$100 per hour massages here in the states.
  8. Muy Thai For Health – One of my mentors got his tail kicked repeatedly by a guy who weighed almost half as much as he and that didn’t even come up to his shoulder in height. Repeatedly. LOL. He warned me.. “Yo, those Thai cats don’t play, son!” – He is a smart man, so I will be heeding to his advice. I plan on getting my butt kicked a bit but mostly to get into better shape and maintain a high level of activity.
  9. Amazing(and cheap) food – (if  #6 wasn’t convincing enough) Not only do they have very tasty food here, but it’s also mostly inexpensive. The produce is off the hook here too!
  10. Coffee Shops and Coworking Spaces – The creative juices flow when I’m in environments that stimulate my mind. For that reason I plan on hitting many coffee shops and have already picked out my ideal coworking space in Chiang Mai Thailand.

So there are about 50 more reasons but those are a few of the top ones. Looking forward to the journey.. but now, back to work!

Ps. For now I plan on spending about 6-12 months in Asia but nothing is concrete. Could be more or less.. depending how things flow!

Anyone else out there thinking to or are currently doing the same? I’d love to hear from you.

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