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Using My AT&T iPhone While Traveling Internationally

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As much as I don’t want to be tethered to my cell phone all the time, it provides me with a sense of security when traveling outside of the USA.

Not that I’ve traveled to scary places where I felt in danger (knocks on wood), but we all feel just a tad bit safer being able to access information 24/7 from just about anywhere imaginable. Plus you’re supposed to rip selfies at least once a day, right?

Anyways, one question I get asked a lot is how do you get your iPhone to work in random countries around the world? It’s pretty simple actually.

My Quick iPhone History

I have been using AT&T as my cell provider since April of 2009. Before them, I had Verizon, and the only reason I switched is because I just had to have an iPhone. At this point in time, AT&T was the only company offering service for the iPhone, unless you were a jailbreaker, which I wasn’t. So I went straight to a local AT&T store to buy the latest iPhone 3G (of course the 3GS was coming out the following month, but sometimes I like being a late-adopter, so they have time to get all the bugs worked out, so naturally the 3G fit the bill).

When I walked in, I had a Verizon LG VX10000 Voyager phone, and I thought I was the shit. I still remember right after I bought that phone, I went on vacation to Daytona Beach and I wanted everyone to know my phone could stream live TV shows, with it’s fancy pull-out antenna. How primitive by today’s standards.

Giving up one of the baddest phones out at that time was hard. Knowing me, I had to have been stressing over this decision, as that’s what I tend to do. Over-analyzing every detail and researching for days or weeks is pretty common in my life. I need to fully understand every single thing I’m giving up and every single thing I’m going to get. Without all of this information, I delay the transaction or abandon it all together.

The worst part of switching was I had just started using the LG phone, and if I was to switch carriers, I would have to pay a huge early-termination fee. I still can’t believe I paid that, as I know I probably wouldn’t do that today. I can’t quite remember all the details, but I’m thinking AT&T might have been offering some sort of promotion where they pay part of that fee to get you to switch. Either way, I hate unnecessary fees.

After making my decision to move forward with the iPhone, the sales associate rang me up and then set me up as a new AT&T user. Then he asked if I wanted to transfer everything from my old phone over to the iPhone. I said sure. I handed him my old phone and he seemed confused. He turned around and looked through all sorts of drawers filled with various cables, he went into the back to look through more cables I assume, and then he asked a manager cable questions.

When he returned, he said that no one has switched from the VX10000 to an iPhone and that they didn’t make a cable to transfer the data. As if I wasn’t nervous enough switching phones and carriers, now I felt a sense of buyer’s remorse. Was I really one of the only people to switch from that phone to this phone? Did that mean that my old phone was superior and that I had somehow miscalculated everything and actually downgraded?

In today’s iOS world, this isn’t even a problem. Mainly because you can back everything up to iCloud and simply download it to your new phone without any hassles. And even back then, it didn’t really pose any problems, because the only thing you’d really be transferring in 2009 were your contacts. So back to my truck I went, holding two of the latest cell phones, feeling like a boss.

I manually transferred all of my contacts over to the new device (which probably took five minutes, because how many friends does a 26 year old guy really have) and I couldn’t wait to tell everyone about it. Like anyone honestly cared.

Reasons to Need Cell Service While Traveling Abroad

Ok, back to 2019 and why I use my phone outside of the country. Here are the main reasons why I justify the extra costs to use my phone internationally:

  • Full GPS capabilities
  • Unlimited phone calls/talk time to basically anywhere
  • Unlimited text messages to basically anyone
  • Don’t have to search for WiFi connections or hotspots

I have the top AT&T plan (Unlimited & More Premium) so I have unlimited everything. It runs me about $95 a month, which is a lot, but my phone is crucial to my life and my business. Whether I’m always a fan of that or not, that’s the way the world works and the industries I’ve chosen to work in. Sometimes I get annoyed that I always have my phone with me, but I chose this life, and I enjoy it.

The biggest benefit is not having to search around for WiFi connections. I’ve always had unlimited data since the beginning, so I’ve never been someone who closely monitors their data usage or frantically asks everyone for WiFi passwords at every party they go to. I would hate to be lost in the middle of nowhere in a foreign land with no GPS, with no way to contact anyone, and with no way to read information online to answer the millions of questions I always have.

Sure, people 100 years ago, even 30 years ago carried a map with them. They never knew what their friends across the country were eating for lunch, or needed to keep track of how many miles they ran that morning, or read reviews about all the tourist spots. They just stayed disconnected, they got lost, and they tried new things without recommendations. I love that type of exploration, but I’m so glad I have full access to my phone as a backup.

Ok Cool, So How Do I Make it Work?

With AT&T, the easiest option is with something they call the International Day Pass. This allows you to keep using your phone just as you would at home, but in over 100 other countries.

All you have to do is call AT&T and ask them to add this feature to your account. I’ve also confirmed it was still on my account via the live chat on their website (from a computer but also from my phone). And once it’s added to your phone plan, it stays on there, and you don’t have to call them every time you’re out of the country.

It isn’t free, but to me it’s definitely worth it. It’s just $10 a day (for a 24-hour access period) and you can travel stress-free.

Most people are traveling for a few days or maybe a week, and that’s definitely affordable when you compare it to the total cost of your trip. If you are traveling for 2-3 weeks, it starts to get expensive. If you’re gonna be gone for a month or longer, you should look into the other international plans they offer. But the International Day Pass is perfect for most AT&T users. And I’m sure the other big name carriers offer something similar.

When I mentioned that you don’t have to add it to your account every time you travel, it’s really a great feature. When you’re on the plane, your phone is in airplane mode. When you land in a new country, and they tell you it’s ok to turn your phones on, as soon as you turn airplane mode off, you’ll notice your phone is searching and it doesn’t work. All you have to do is go into your iPhone Settings, then Cellular / Cellular Data Options, then turn the Data Roaming feature on.

Once roaming is turned on, your phone will detect the local cell service provider, and you’re good to go. That’s it!

The cool thing about the Day Pass is that it starts only when you first connect to cell service outside of the US. Then it automatically starts the $10/day feature. You don’t have to do anything else except turn roaming on. And then when you land back in the US, just turn roaming off, and you’ll stop being charged the $10/day.

I think 7 days is the longest I’ve used it, but again, $70 is well worth it to me for the added comfort and flexibility. Plus if I’m using my laptop overseas, I’ll need WiFi to do most of my work. WiFi is pretty easy to find, but if I’m without it, my phone plan also has the hotspot feature. So if I get cell service on some secluded beach, I can turn the hotspot on and use my laptop, even though I wouldn’t want to risk getting sand in my laptop. (Something all those digital nomads don’t talk about, is that you look cool working on the beach, but is it really practical?) You can learn more about the AT&T international options here:

6 Alternative Options

Of course there are plenty of frugal people that read my articles, so don’t think that you have to pay a $10/day fee every time you travel. You have some budget options if you’re pinching your pennies (why does that sound terribly sexual).

  1. Leave your phone at home. I know, that’s like telling a pilot to fly blindfolded, it’s just not happening. But what if you did? You could print your boarding pass at the airport, read a book on the plane, take public transportation or walk to your hotel, grab a local map to find your way around, ask locals for cool things to do, take photos with a real camera, write notes down with pen/paper, etc. It’s totally doable. It would probably feel super weird the whole time, at least in the beginning, but you might just enjoy the trip even more.
  2. Bring it with you, but don’t use it at all outside of the US. Same thing as the previous option, except you’ve brought a Plan B, just in case. You just keep it tucked away in your bag and never bring it out, unless you run into a situation where you literally have to use it. Which might never happen.
  3. Only use it for the basic tools (minus phone calls and text messages). This would be pretty easy and I can see a lot of people doing this. Screenshot your boarding passes and just show the photos in the airports without needing cell service, use your camera for photo opportunities, jot down notes, listen to music stored on your phone, read eBooks or listen to podcasts that are downloaded to your device, use the calculator and alarm clock if needed, etc. You can take a week off from talking or texting people back home. They’ll be there when you get back.
  4. Use the basics all the time, and only use the other apps when you have WiFi. This is probably the most common option. You can use the basics in the previous option all the time, but you can use the majority of your smartphone when you find WiFi. Need to update social media? Want to find local vegan restaurants on Yelp? Have to check your email? All of these things might be important to you, but they likely aren’t critical. But if you still need to use them while traveling, you can find WiFi in a lot of public places all over the world. Places like hotels, coffee shops, bars, internet cafes, airports, etc. WiFi Calling is also a feature that I’ve never tried, but allows you to make calls back home without turning roaming on and without an international call plan. And if you’re messaging friends on iOS devices, you can use iMessage over WiFi, along with every other app like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and plenty more. You can also use Google Maps (and a few other similar apps) to download maps to use your GPS in offline mode if you want.
  5. Unlock your phone and buy a local SIM card to use in the new country you’re visiting. I think this would be more for long-term travel, but this would be way cheaper than paying $10/day to use everything on your phone. I’ve heard of people getting talk time and data options for $10-$50 a month. This probably isn’t for most people, but it’s perfect for the right traveler.

Do I Really Need Access to Everything?

After writing everything above, I’ve started to question if I actually need this iPhone luxury on my trips, that a lot of us probably take for granted.

A goal for the next time I travel internationally will be to see how long I can go without activating the International Day Pass. I should be able to last for an entire week-long trip, but if I run into a situation where I really need it, I could always switch the roaming on and know that I tried.

Most things can wait. Emergencies do come up, but they are pretty rare. We usually just want to check-in somewhere on Facebook, or scroll through Instagram while standing in line somewhere, or post a video on Snapchat of some ridiculous person yelling at a trashcan.

Sometimes we should remember how people traveled before smartphones. People really explored. They got lost. They walked into random restaurants. They learned how other cultures operate. They listened. They learned a lot about themselves. They lived in the moment. We can’t forget to be present in the short time we get here.

Photo taken in my 4-person dorm at the KEX Hostel in Reykjavik, Iceland. April 2017. This was my first hostel experience, and nobody else showed up in my room, so it technically wasn’t a true hostel experience, but I still slept in a bunk bed (top bunk).

7 Years Without a Schedule

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What is getting in the way of you reaching your goals? For me, it’s likely all of these things: alcohol, a schedule, social media, clutter, debt, sleep, exercise, too many projects, perfection, and probably a few more.

I’d bet we have at least one of these things in common. Most of them can be solved by creating better habits, but that’s easier said than done. After looking through that list, it became overwhelming, but I knew I needed to make some changes.

It’s been almost seven years since I’ve had a “real job.” Back then, I had someone telling me what to do on a daily basis. As soon as that ended, I’ve experienced an insane amount of freedom. Waking up without an alarm, doing zero work on some days, traveling whenever I wanted, going out on a Tuesday night if I felt like it. Basically the kid in a candy store mentality.

After awhile, I realized that I’m very inconsistent with my work. Some days it’s 22 hours of work. Some days it’s 5 minutes of work. While the latter seems fun, it has bothered me a lot. And it’s no way to run a business.

I recently watched a video where an entrepreneur I follow (Sam Ovens) is explaining why a schedule is crucial to anyone that wants real success. A strict schedule. And why most of the things you do are a waste of time and just minor distractions that add up. At first I was like, nope, I’m not going back to that shit, it would feel like I was back in a cubicle where someone is watching over me and forcing me to do things. Nope!

But the more I listened, I became more open to the opportunity. I also started to think, ok, I’m not where I want to be, and I’ve tried a lot of things, why not really listen to these people that I admire, and do whatever they say, even if it sounds stupid or ridiculous or difficult?

In his video, he stressed the fact that you need a hardcore schedule and that you need to keep it sacred. No excuses. You setup your daily schedule and you stick with it, every single day. Consistency is key. I really liked the point about keeping it sacred, and I remember writing it down in my notes to remind myself.

I’m not a religious person, but I thought: this could be my religion. Some people go to church every Sunday, at the same place, at the same time. Maybe I could create my own schedule for the type of life I want, and be religious about it on a daily basis (not just Sunday).

A few months went by, and I never did anything about it. But, I did start building new habits for some of the other things in my list of distractions.

  • I’m on day 46 of no alcohol.
  • I signed up for a new gym membership, and after writing some of this post today, I will head straight to the gym, which will be my 9th day in a row.
  • I haven’t posted on my personal Instagram or Facebook in almost 3 months (and I’ve drastically reduced the amount of posts on my business accounts), I removed the Twitter, Snapchat, & Pinterest apps from my phone, and I deleted my LinkedIn account.
  • I’ve been selling a lot of my old junk to remove clutter from my life.
  • I’ve been more focused on paying off the rest of my debt.

Clearly you can see moderation doesn’t work well for me. I have to go all in when I want to do something. All of the things at once.

And just a few days ago, I finally downloaded the Google Calendar app (ok, like the 13th time). But this time I forced myself to setup a daily calendar for myself. Before this, I was always turned off by schedules and I dismissed any advice from anyone trying to tell me to make one. When people brought it up, I just rolled my eyes. I said it wasn’t for me, and I used that statement as some sort of ego or pride thing. Like look at me and how cool I am because I get shit done without needing a prisoner’s schedule blah blah blah.

Obviously that’s a terrible way to think. So this time around, I said, ok, what would a fun life look like for me? Don’t worry about what other people think, don’t worry about what you did in the past. What would make me excited to wake up in the morning tomorrow and get to work? By allowing myself to create my dream life, it turned this painful chore into a fun experiment.

One thing I’ve learned is that successful people plan their way to success. And a lot of them block their time out in chunks. Outside of work, they also keep exercise, sleep, nutrition, and rest as top priorities. And they don’t need to spend 24 hours each day working, they understand that most of those hours would be wasted because they weren’t thinking clearly, or recovering with sleep/rest, or eating right.

So I set off on this journey to create my perfect day, and then just planned to repeat it on a daily basis. This is what I have setup now (and it might change slightly as I figure out what works for me):

  • 6:30am – Wake up, drink water, make my bed, do some pushups
  • 7:00am – Write for an hour
  • 8:30am – Go to the gym or some form of exercise for an hour or so (lift weights, run, bike, basketball, hike)
  • 10:00am – Extremely focused work for four hours
  • 2:00pm – Lunch
  • 3:00pm – Nap
  • 4:00pm – Another focused work session, this time two hours
  • 6:00pm – Go for a walk
  • 7:00pm – Dinner and free time
  • 9:30pm – Read, journal, do some pushups
  • 10:30pm – Go to bed, get 8 hours of high-quality sleep

I’m not sure how you will interpret this schedule. Some people might say it’s insane. Others might say it’s pretty relaxed and that I could work harder. Some might say, “Wow, must be nice!” The whole idea was to turn a boring schedule into an exciting daily habit that works for me. I want to do this Monday-Friday, most of it on Saturdays, and part of it on Sundays. I will try to keep the weekends a little more chill, but I want to write and read and exercise and sleep every day.

When I say work, it could be a lot of different things. Most of it will be personal projects but there will also be some client work in there too. Work could be: web design, podcasting, more writing, marketing, working on my merch business, photography, working on my online courses, editing photos/videos, etc.

And as simple as this might look, for my brain it’s not easy at all. Some days I want to work from the moment I wake up until I pass out at my desk 32 hours later. Other days I’m lazy and can’t seem to get anything done, meanwhile all sorts of things come up that distract me even more than I already am.

Of course you might have a different day than me. I work for myself, so I can set my time each day for whatever I want. This isn’t me bragging, I’m well aware most people have jobs working for someone else, and families, and all sorts of other responsibilities. If you don’t feel in control of your time, I hope one day you can get it back, and I hope that’s a goal you have. I’ve been lucky to have a lot of freedom, and I want it for everyone else. But my abundance of freedom has kept me from reaching my own goals.

For the past 7 years, my life has been extremely inconsistent. And I used to love that. I thrived on the randomness, and it was funny telling other people how I worked and watching them shake their heads at how ridiculous I was. But I realized this was contributing to my procrastination (along with my desire for perfection) and I lacked self-discipline in several areas of my life. So it was time for a change.

I want to force myself to stick with this routine and build these habits. No matter what I do, some people will agree with me, and some people will be shocked. Each of these groups are at the extremes, while most people will be in the middle, or indifferent. These indifferent people don’t care what you’re doing, and they likely aren’t even paying attention. Which means, you should experiment and figure out what works for you, your unique life, and your goals. And not worry about what others are saying or doing (or not doing). If you want something extraordinary, you can’t follow the ordinary path.

In future posts, I will talk about all of the topics that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. But I wanted to talk about the importance of a consistent schedule first, and I’m sure my future self will thank me by starting this sooner rather than later.

Even within the first week of casually adjusting to a scheduled life, I’ve already noticed an increase in productivity, and I feel slightly happier, along with a bit more energy. It’s weird what accomplishing tasks and crossing off things on your to-do list can do for you. But just like going to the gym, you can’t go only once and expect a six pack, you also can’t adopt a new schedule and expect your entire life to change overnight. This is all a long game. You have to stick with it on a daily basis.

Put in the work behind the scenes, then look in the mirror every month or two, not every hour. If you are looking in the mirror every day, you won’t see the minor changes, and you’ll get down on yourself, and you’ll give up. It’s like when you don’t see a friend for months or years, and they say wow you look great! If you saw this friend every day, they wouldn’t notice your changes either. Your progress is so small and incremental that you could only see the results by watching a time-lapse of yourself.

Moral of the story: create you perfect day, prioritize self-care, do the work, block out distractions, and keep all of this consistent & sacred. Life will always happen, things come up, but the majority of the time, you should be able to decide how you spend your time. It’s time to regain control and live a life with more freedom!

Breaking Even is Never a Failure

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Everybody talks about taking risks these days. Hell, I have “Risk Without Regret” tattooed across my chest.

When you really think about it, there are really only two outcomes when you take a risk: success or failure.

Risk isn’t always tied to money, but I think the majority of the time, money is involved. If money was removed from the equation, would that big risk you’re about to take really be risky? If you knew you weren’t going to lose money, would you go for it?

In my experiences, I think there’s a third outcome that isn’t talked about enough: breaking even.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but sometimes you break even. There are people that might consider breaking even as a waste of time or even a failure. But I look at it as a success.

So if there are three possible outcomes (failure, breaking even, success), and I see two of them as positives, then there’s a 66.7% chance that I’m going to win, in anything that I do.

I believe that breaking even is a success because I didn’t lose any money, and I gained a lot of experience in the process.

One of the stories that people bring up often is the time when I flew to California to buy a truck, then turned around and drove it all the way back to Ohio. That was one hell of a random solo roadtrip! Long story short…

  • I found a 1999 Chevy Tahoe on eBay for $8500
  • I messaged the guy back and forth for a week
  • We agreed on a price of $5999
  • I sent him a deposit through PayPal
  • I booked a one-way flight (that left 8 hours after I bought it) from Cincinnati to Los Angeles for $65
  • I took an Uber (use code “RANDYJ440UE” to get $5 off your first 4 rides) from the airport to meet him at a small beach cafe
  • We went back to his apartment and did the paperwork
  • I drove to Randy’s Donuts and hung out on the Venice Beach boardwalk for a few hours
  • I started the long drive back to Ohio and made it home a few days later

Random events like this are pretty common for me. It’s exciting to visit new places, travel last minute, explore the country, eat at new restaurants, grow as a person, etc.

But one of the main reasons I did all of this, was I needed a bigger vehicle to carry all of my vendor booth supplies and all of my Low Label merchandise. Cramming everything into my small Subaru car is doable, but that won’t work in every situation.

“But Randy, you could have found a 15-20 year old truck or SUV near you for at least half the price. You didn’t need to travel halfway across the world to get this exact one, and pay a lot more for it. I still don’t get why you did this.”

This is true. I didn’t need to do this. In fact, I don’t need to do anything. I chose to do it, for three reasons.

First, I love doing random things that cause normal people to think I’m insane. None of this is crazy to me, I’m so used to it by now. And so are all of my close family and friends. I’ve done enough random things over the years that they expect this kind of stuff from me.

Second, I really bought this one to resell it. I know the value of vehicles pretty well, after owning/selling 20+ cars and trucks over the past 20 years. I’m still deep in the custom auto world, but I still research vehicles all the time. I saw plenty of mint condition Tahoes selling for a lot of money (for what they are) on eBay and Craigslist and various Facebook groups.

I made an educated guess that in a worst case scenario, I’d be able to sell it for at least $6000. So no matter what, I was confident that I could get rid of it for what I had invested in it.

And lastly, I would come out of this experience with a damn good story. More than one story actually. Anytime I do something like this, there are so many lessons learned that I could write a book based on every risk (or trip) I take. And the stories are priceless.

So if I knew that the worst possible outcome was breaking even, how could I lose?

There were other things I considered too. Like the guy who listed it didn’t do a good job of marketing it on eBay, and I knew I could do better. The truck was super clean, and those are hard to come by in the Midwest, where most vehicles that old are covered in rust. I have a big network of like-minded truck fans at my disposal through my personal relationships and my various brands/social media accounts. Plus, even if I kept it, it was badass and I wouldn’t be mad driving it daily.

I picked it up in September 2016, drove it until the snow/ice came, kept it in the garage, started driving it in the spring of 2017, and kept it listed for sale the whole time. I started out asking like $10,500, and I’d let someone talk me down to about $9,000-$10,000.

The best part of selling anything is to not be desperate. Being able to hold onto things until the market is right or the perfect buyer comes along is crucial.

I’m sure we’ve all seen people that are going through a divorce and have to pay outrageous lawyer fees. They are in such a bind that they have to sell everything quick, like today. So they’d try to sell this Tahoe at $8000 and make a profit, but no one buys, so they drop the price to $6000 to move it quick and break even, but no one buys, so they drop it to $4000 just to have some money coming in.

I never try to get into those situations. Desperation is a quick way to lose money. But hey, we all go through shit at some point, just try to minimize it the best you can when possible.

So in March of 2017, I had a guy that was interested in trading for his 1987 Chevy C10. I really just wanted to sell for cash, but sometimes a really good deal just presents itself.

C10 trucks are still selling like crazy these days, so I knew it would be way easier to sell this truck, and if I decided to keep it, it’s more of my type of vehicle. But I basically knew I could get rid of it quick if I had to, and still make a profit.

We met up and looked at each other’s vehicles, drove them, talked some more, then decided to do the deal. Straight up trade. We met a few days later and got the paperwork done and we went our separate ways.

It was a very emotional day, a lot of random things happened.

I got rid of a truck that I had some epic memories in, I picked up a new truck that seemed too good of a deal to pass up, and my oldest cat passed away (losing pets is seriously the worst thing I’ve ever dealt with).

When anything good or bad happens, I usually head to Chipotle. I don’t even know why anymore, just out of habit I think. Maybe it’s a comfort space. So that’s where I went.

While I was sitting there, thinking about my cat, staring out the window looking at this random truck trade I just did, I was thinking, “Life really is fucking short. Why am I not doing more shit that I want to do? I’m used to doing random things. It’s time to take it to the next level.”

So I randomly booked a trip to Iceland while I was in the middle of eating. (I’ll write several posts about this trip in the coming months, don’t worry.) Ok, back to the main story…

So now it’s January 2018 and I still have that truck. In total, I’m still in it for the initial $6000 investment from the California Tahoe. I have the C10 listed for $12,000 and I know I can get at least $9500 for it any day. So I’ve just been waiting on the right time.

Well I think the right time is coming very soon. A lot of people will be getting their taxes back, and normal people can’t wait to blow their tax return the day they get their refund.

My plan is to list it on eBay and push it hard on a few other online marketplaces. I’m pretty confident it will easily sell next month. Which will give me a nice $3,000-$6,000 profit. Not too shabby, for something that I got a lot of use out of, and essentially borrowed it to make money.

I basically got paid to drive a cool truck around. Can’t beat it! But even if I sold it for $6,000 or $6,500 and broke even, there are a lifetime of memories that I have between these two trucks that are worth way more than a few grand in the bank.

Anyways, that’s my story as to why I think you have nothing to lose and everything to gain when you take risks that will cause you to break even in the worst case scenario.

Always be taking risks, but do your research and make them calculated risks. I’m not telling people to walk across a busy highway while they are blindfolded, no one should take those kinds of risks. Just do your homework, try to succeed as best as you can, but if you are afraid of breaking even, don’t be. I guarantee you’ll end up with way more in the end.

If you’re interested in hearing more stuff like this, be sure to check out my podcast here. You can also find it on all of the popular podcast apps, just search for “Risk Without Regret.”

From Tacos to Plants Overnight

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Honestly, I never thought I’d be writing a post like this. I actually debated even writing this at all. It’s taken me at least 10 hours to get all of my thoughts down and edit it.

I’ve heard of other people doing this, and I just knew it wasn’t for me. I always told myself I could probably do it, just to prove a point. I just figured I would never stick with it long term.

But for whatever reason, something just clicked, and I decided to give it a try. So what am I even talking about? Well, just over 7 weeks ago, I decided to give up all meat and dairy products.

Wait what?!?!

I know, trust me, I’m just as surprised as you are. But it was way easier than I thought it would be. Here’s my 4,000 word journey…

So earlier this year, January 10th to be exact (I’m on day 50 right now), it was a typical day just like any other for me. Later that night, I stumbled across a documentary on Netflix called Food Choices. I’ve watched a ton of documentaries, and a lot of them based around food. So I hit play and let it run on one of my computer monitors while I worked on the other.

A few minutes in, I wasn’t getting any work done, I was glued to the movie. It was so intriguing. I had so many questions. By the end of it, I was like, “Wow.”

The film basically was saying how terrible meat and dairy are for you, and that humans were meant to be vegan. I started researching articles online and watching other videos on YouTube. I was actually considering this approach.

After considering all things, I woke up the next day and decided to go for it. I’ve tried various “diets” or “lifestyle changes” before, so this was just another experiment for me.

I never thought that almost 2 months later I’d be writing an article stating that I’m still doing it and that I have no desire to go back to my old ways (eating like 99% of the American population).

Some people ask me if I’m a hardcore vegan now. I guess the short answer is yes. I typically describe myself as plant-based, which is vegan, but the term vegan means so much more, and I don’t know if I’m fully ready to adopt that title.

I mean, I have a leather belt on. I just drove to Houston, Texas (meat country) for an event from Ohio. That was a 17 hour drive, and I sat on leather seats the whole time. Animals died for these things.

So I’m not necessarily hardcore when it comes to all things in the vegan community, and I’ve realized that a lot of people are doing it for various reasons. I’m primarily doing it for the personal health aspect, but the more I do it, the more aware I am of the animal side of things.

I’m essentially vegan, and I usually just say yes during small-talk with strangers, as I know these kind of conversations can get long and drawn out if I try to explain everything. Haha

Oh ya, I didn’t go to medical school.

And this is probably a good time to state the obvious: I am not a doctor or nutritionist. I build websites, sell tshirts, record myself talking to myself for my podcast, and read books in my car in grocery store parking lots. I’m not formally-educated to give you health advice, so take everything I say as my personal opinion.

I’d say ask your doctor before trying anything “drastic” like this, but I assume a lot of doctors would say not to do this. I would also assume that’s because most have zero education in nutrition and they maintain their lavish lifestyles by prescribing crazy medications and potentially dangerous surgeries.

I don’t know how the quote went that I’ve heard several times, but it goes something like: There’s no money in healthy or dead people, but there’s a ton of money in treating symptoms of sick people.

It’s still good to trust these doctors, for the most part. And some people might want to get blood work and other testing done, so they know where they stand before they start a new lifestyle change. That way you can really see your progress months or years later after adopting these changes.

That is, if you want to. I’m not forcing anyone to do what I do. I think this is the correct path for all humans, but I’m sure there are exceptions for pre-existing conditions, allergies, etc. There’s never a 100% one size fits all, but I think this is what the majority should be doing.

With that being said, take all of the information here and elsewhere and make the best decision for yourself. Ok, now it’s time for some popular questions and comments that I’ve already received a lot…

But what about tacos bro?!?!

Well, I will eat tortillas (always corn or whole grain over flour), and you can throw anything on a tortilla and call it a taco. But no, I’m skipping all of the chicken, steak, carnitas, al pastor, chorizo, and skipping the cheese.

Cheese is a funny thing. I thought for sure that would have been the hardest thing for me to give up. But it was just as simple as the meat, despite the fact that I’m pretty sure they add cocaine to cheese to make you addicted to it.

So what the hell do you eat?

I’m sure you’re reading this and think I’ve just been eating heads of lettuce every day. Nope, far from the truth.

Not long after I watched the Food Choices documentary, I read a book called The Starch Solution. It’s funny because for the past 2-3 years, I was all about the NSNG mindset (basically Paleo), and eating carbs with no meat or dairy is like the exact opposite.

While I actually loved eating steak, shrimp, chicken, pork, sausage, fish, eggs, and all of that, I’m glad that I’m “allowed” to eat rice and pasta and potatoes and bread and other grains, without feeling like I’m eating cheat meals.

But I’m glad I started with the NSNG (no sugars no grains) route first. It made me really aware of all the shit they throw into processed foods at the grocery, and I became a nutritional fact guru.

So now, I’m already used to reading food labels that it’s not something I mind. I actually like doing it, except for when I roll my eyes when I see almost every item at the store has a meat or dairy product in it, for no fucking reason.

Oreos are vegan, right?

Yes, most Oreos are technically ok for me to eat, but it’s processed garbage and I try to stay away from all the junk foods. Not to mention they clearly write “produced with genetic engineering” right on the package, which I try to always steer away from that GMO nonsense.

And when I said rice and pasta and bread above, I mean brown rice, rice pasta, whole grain pasta, whole grain bread, sweet potatoes, etc. The healthier options, not the overly processed/refined carbs and white flour items that are at all the fast food places.

Sure, I try a bunch of new vegan things at the store, but just because I’m curious. I don’t want to always be eating a frozen dairy-free veggie pizza, or a frozen tofu breakfast burrito, or any of the other products like that.

It’s cool during my transition phase, but they are not needed, at least not for me. Some people have the hardest time giving up meat and cheese, so they have to eat all the fake meat and fake cheese products. I just don’t have the desire to be stuck on those foods.

You must be rich to afford veganism.

It’s probably cheaper actually. Of course you could go broke buying all the processed foods from Whole Foods every day, but I don’t do that.

My morning usually consists of oatmeal and fresh fruit. My lunch (or dinner) is mostly the meal preps that I make, which is brown rice, black beans, sweet potatoes, veggies, and spices, and maybe some hot sauce. I also make a smoothie for another meal, which is veggies and frozen berries and a few extra things I toss in my Vitamix. Sometimes I have a salad, but it’s not a 24/7 like some people would think.

And then I make pastas (my favorite) for lunch or dinner sometimes. And I snack a lot throughout the day on things like Larabars, handful of nuts sometimes, crackers, fruit, bean chips, applesauce, etc. Again, not rocket science here.

But do you actually feel better?

I really do feel better. I feel lighter (which I always thought was a weird way to describe how you feel). I have more energy and stamina. I can lift more weights at the gym. I don’t feel like I need naps all the time. I just feel better all around.

I’ve probably lost a few pounds, but I’m already a small human, and weight loss isn’t my goal. I just wanted to improve my health, even if it isn’t really noticeable to others. And I wanted to make these changes now before I’m 60 or 70 (or sooner) and a doctor tells me I have to do something like this, or be put on tons of meds, which is way more common.

And the more I get into it, I guess I’m naturally helping the animals and the environment. I know I totally sound like a crazy hippie, but I’m not. Unfortunately my long beard isn’t helping my case. Haha

Great, now you’re gonna judge me.

No way. I don’t try to force this on anyone, ever. Everyone can make their own choices for their own reasons. Hell, I ate “normal” for the first 34 years of my life, so I have no room to talk. I don’t expect anyone else to change how they eat and I’m totally fine with that.

Now if someone wants my opinion, I will gladly give it to them, but I’m not gonna be some over the top religious fanatic that is preaching to people about some Kool-Aid that I want them to drink.

Even though I think everyone should adopt some form of this, or go hardcore and give up meat and dairy cold turkey like I did, I realize it’s not for everyone. Most people will never want to attempt this, and even more would never want to stick it out for the long haul.

I have no idea how long I’m going to do this, I’m not a psychic. But I have no reason to go back at this point, so I will continue doing this for as long as I can, as long as I’m healthy and feel great.

How often do you have cheat meals?

A lot of people stick to a strict diet and then they usually have one day each week where they eat whatever the hell they want. While I understand the idea of moderation, that doesn’t work for me.

Everything I’m consuming is vegan. If I eat out, I make the best decisions I can with all the information I have. I’m sure once or twice I have accidentally ate something that had dairy in it, but I didn’t know. If I know about it, I’m not eating it. If they sneak it in, it’s impossible for me to know. That’s why I prefer to eat at home and cook my own food. But that’s not always practical when traveling.

The other day I ate at a taco place in Houston which I’ve had several times: Torchy’s Tacos. So good. I thought I was eating vegan. Later I realized the avocado on my tacos was fried and I think they used butter in that batter. Is it the end of the world? No. I’ll be ok. While it mildly pissed me off in the short term, I went back again the next night and got something totally different that was vegan, per their website FAQ page, which I should have looked at first.

I will still eat various things like cookies and ice cream and chips and processed crap like that from time to time, but they are all no meat/dairy options. Obviously this isn’t really healthy, but they are healthier options. I heard someone say this: there are no good or bad foods, there are better or worse foods. Makes sense. But I literally have zero desire to have a day where I go back to eating everything I used to. So weird to have this mindset, because I never thought this would be me.

Where do you get your protein and calcium?

The short answer, you don’t need a crazy amount of protein like everyone says you need. And you can get protein and calcium (as well as all your other vitamins and minerals) from plant-based foods. The only things you’ll need to get elsewhere are Vitamin D, which you get from the sun. And Vitamin B12, which you can get from a cheap supplement.

If you need more info, you can watch the documentary above (and several others), read the book above (and many others), and research everything on nutritionfacts.org.

There are thousands of places to find this info online, as well as thousands of sources with opposing viewpoints. I think the only thing everyone can 100% agree on is that we need clean oxygen to breathe. Besides that, there will always be two sides to every story and tons of groups in disagreement. The health world is the worst at this. You have to listen to both sides and make the correct decision for yourself.

So I guess I have to give up fast food now?

You already know fast food is bad for you, so I think you answered your own question. But that’s not to say I haven’t had a couple fast food meals over the past couple months, it’s just a lot harder to find vegan options.

Sure, you can eat a handful of items from Taco Bell, but use that as a last resort, not your go to meal. I had Skyline Chili once last month, and I ordered the black beans and rice with onions, hot sauce, and crackers. It tasted almost just like their chili.

Marion’s Pizza is one of my favorite pizza joints and I had it a couple weeks ago. I ordered a pizza with banana peppers, onion, green pepper, tomatoes, and no cheese. I called ahead to make sure the crust and pizza sauce were vegan. I felt awkward asking, as these items should be, but you’d be surprised.

But hey, this is my new life, the life I’m choosing. So I have to understand that this is going to be uncomfortable for a little while, and I’m going to be that annoying customer at restaurants probably forever. Just another reason to cook my own food and always be prepared.

And while I feel ok eating out occasionally, I don’t do this every day, or even every week or month. I try to make it a rare occasion, something you’ll easily remember. Funny example, I like remembering that the only time I’ve had black coffee was at McDonald’s in Nebraska with my friend Lesh back in August 2011. A ton of people think this fact is very bizarre for me.

Chipotle is my main exception. I’ve had it probably 10 times since I started all of this. Here’s what I get these days: bowl, brown rice, black beans, fajitas, no meat (but you can get the sofritas [tofu] if you want, it’s actually pretty good), tomatoes, corn, medium salsa, and guac. Sometimes lettuce, and sometimes I get a bag of chips with a side of their hot salsa. Always drinking water.

Pretty simple, and I love the taste every time. I could literally eat it every single day. And as weird as this sounds, the meat actually doesn’t look appetizing anymore when I see it there. And I get a little grossed out inside when I hear everyone else place their orders, but I’m not gonna judge them out loud. I’m not rude. Haha

There’s no way you can do this while traveling.

I was concerned about this since I love traveling and always want travel to be a big part of my life. Something that helped was not traveling anywhere for the first few weeks of doing this. I built the habit at home, then I was more prepared once I hit the road, or the sky.

I went to St. Louis to see Story of the Year, one of my favorite bands. I went by myself, which is also normal for me. It’s uncommon for people to travel with me. Mainly due to the fact that most people aren’t able to be flexible with their time. But I get it.

My car was stocked with all sorts of snacks and I brought one of my meal preps to eat on the way. It was only a 5 hour drive each way, and I came back the next day, so it wasn’t too much to deal with. And I found a taco shop in STL (Mission Taco, several locations there) that had tofu tacos. They were ok.

I ordered the chips/guac, and didn’t realize it had cheese crumbles on top. So I could have sent it back if I was more hardcore, but it was my fault, so I took a chip and scooped all the cheese off. And I ordered a side of black beans and a side of rice. Simple. And on the way home, I had Chipotle in Indianapolis. Again, simple.

When I was hungry in the airport in Montana a few weeks back, I found a place that had potatoes, black beans, rice, and hot sauce. I’m sure it wasn’t the best thing, but I did what I could with what I had to work with, and it tasted fine. And when I landed in DFW, I found a Mexican restaurant in that airport that had chips/guac, rice, and beans. I guess that’s my go to thing when I don’t know what else to eat. I’m sure there are plenty of places with salads that I could get, without dressing. But I usually just go for the quick meal approach, even though I end up sitting in a restaurant for hours on my phone or laptop or reading a book.

And when I’m road tripping, I usually bring snacks and eat at vegan restaurants (easy to find in huge cities), or stop at Chipotle (these are everywhere now), or stop at Whole Foods (bigger cities). If you are prepared, it’s easy. If you don’t prepare, you’ll end up stuck and hungry and left with no other options but garbage and meat/dairy products. Being prepared is the biggest thing for me. Saying it’s hard while traveling is just an excuse.

I guess you can’t be social or enjoy events.

I would compare this to drinking alcohol. Can you go to a bar or wedding reception or truck show or concert and not get drunk? Of course. But when everyone else is doing it, it just makes it a little harder.

This past weekend in Texas, everyone was drinking alcohol and eating everything they wanted. My willpower was pretty damn strong several times as I could have easily fell back into my old ways. Sure, I still drink alcohol sometimes. It’s been about once a month for the past several months. But I can still have fun with small quantities of it, or none at all.

Same with being vegan. Yes, it’s kind of dumb to be the only person doing it when you’re surrounded by tons of people who aren’t. But if you’re confident in yourself, and can take jokes (probably my strongest skill), and come prepared, and don’t try to jam your beliefs down everyone’s throats, you’ll have just as much fun, and most people who don’t know won’t even notice you’re being vegan.

I will say that I’m more aware how food/drink are the main focus of basically every social event. Every event is based around food: birthday parties, the Super Bowl, weddings, meetings, baby showers, celebrations at work, dating, graduation parties, conferences, I could go on all day.

Try removing food (and alcohol) from these scenarios and watch how people react. “There’s not gonna be an open bar at this wedding?” “You’re not catering your kid’s birthday party?” “So we are just supposed to come over and watch the football game and there won’t be snacks there?” I don’t expect this to ever change, but it’s way more obvious now. The same way you feel when you leave your phone at home and you go somewhere with a lot of people, and it’s more apparent that everyone is on their phone the whole time.

What are the benefits of doing this?

I feel better. I have more energy. I can lift more weights at the gym. I lost a little weight. I feel like I look better. I don’t need medications or a lot of supplements (which I never really needed, but probably would eventually if I continued eating like I used to). I get to try all sorts of new foods and it makes places I’ve already been more exciting. I’m not contributing to the killing of animals. I don’t feel like I wanna pass out right after eating a meal. I’m learning to cook more at home. I’m able to increase my knowledge about being plant-based, as well as help others that are curious and want to learn about it.

I really can’t think of any negatives with this path. I’m sure others could think of some, but I bet there’s a good rebuttal for each reason. It’s all positive to me, at least so far. I honestly see no point in eating animals or products created with anything that has came from an animal. It makes no sense anymore. There are tons of points out there, but I can’t think of a valid point to consuming meat or dairy in 2017 for a US citizen that has access to everything.

I still can’t believe I’m doing this.

Again, this doesn’t seem like something I would do. I might not fit the stereotype, but I’m not concerned about that. Many things I’ve done and still do come off as weird or unorthodox to a lot of people. Sometimes I like that. It sparks up conversations. It keeps me intrigued.

Maybe a year from now I’ll be writing a post called, “Yup, you were right, being vegan sucks.” Who knows. I think it’s ok to reinvent yourself often. Being adaptable is huge for me. When I find something that really makes sense to me, I become obsessed with it. I become a fanatic. But I’m not always set in my ways to the point where I can’t change or be flexible. I think that’s also important for health, business, and life.

So I should probably end this post soon or I’ll never hit the publish button. I’m happy this nutrition approach randomly showed up one day and hasn’t left yet. It was completely random. I was being lazy and couldn’t stop watching documentaries on Netflix one day. Luckily I started this one and couldn’t turn it off. It would be cool to look back on this 40 years from now and say, “That film literally changed my life.”

Whether that happens or not, I’m gonna continue to ride this out for as long as I can. I’ve stuck it out for almost 2 months and it’s been way easier than I ever imagined. If I felt sick or tired or depressed or hungry or like I was compromising too much, I’d definitely reconsider it. But I don’t. I feel better than ever.

So I’ll just keep on truckin and I’ll post updates here occasionally. I’m sure I’ll build a plant-based website/blog soon (once I decide on a name I love) and document everything there. Of course I’ll always be transparent with everything on my social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat). And if you have any questions or comments, reach me there or send me an email. Time to go eat something vegan…

Why Do People Hate Investing in Themselves

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If you tell someone they have to spend $10,000 on something that will make them more successful, they will freak out and likely be extremely skeptical, and probably think you and/or the product/service is a scam.

But if you tell them they will profit $100,000 within 3 months after investing that $10,000, with a 100% guarantee that it will work, obviously everyone would do it, right?

Of course, there aren’t a lot of guarantees out there. Some people offer money-back guarantees, but with ridiculous terms that makes it not even worth trying.

And there are plenty that are really genuine, but all the scammers give those people a bad name, and make everyone fearful out there.

Here’s an example

There’s a SaaS (Software as a Service) that I recently signed up for. It’s an affiliate program that I setup for my online course where I teach others my web design process.

If you’re not familiar with affiliate programs, they basically pay someone for referring someone to the website. So if someone signs up to be an affiliate for me, I will pay them a commission for every order that comes from their unique links/coupon codes. Pretty simple. The most popular one is the program that Amazon has setup, which I’m also a part of.

Anyways, the first year of this WordPress plugin only costs $49/year. I could probably justify spending $49/month on this, so this seemed like a great deal already. But it got even better when I broke it down.

So it’s $49 for the first year, and then you get a 30% discount for each year renewal after that ($34.30/year). Even better.

The current price of my course is $497, and I have my affiliate program setup to reward each affiliate with a 20% commission ($99.40 per sale).

So my profit on one sale through an affiliate would be $397.60, and it’s basically all profit since it’s all digital and I don’t have any materials and I don’t have to ship anything.

Now if you take my profit, and subtract the first year, you are left with $348.60. If you take that and divide that by the renewal price, you get 10.16.

So what does all this mean? That means if I invest just $49 one time into my business, and I get just one person to make just one sale for me, that will pay me back for the first year, and pay for the next 10 years of the product/service. Awesome!

A simpler example

To me, the above thought process makes so much sense. It’s a no-brainer. But what about if you just want to learn a new skill or become an expert at something, what are your options?

Well, a lot of people think the only way to learn anything is by going to college. While college can be an awesome experience and be extremely beneficial (and required for some fields), some people are wildly successful without it.

Full disclosure, I went to college. Just a 2-year art school, but it was still expensive. I’m glad I did it, and I learned a lot about graphic design and a lot about myself, but it was totally not necessary, and definitely not required.

So what else could I have done? Well I could have saved that $30K and spent maybe half of that on an accelerated course that gave me all the info in half the time or faster.

Or I could have bought a course like mine from an expert in the field. Maybe that would have cost me somewhere between $500-$5,000. On the expensive end, that sounds like a lot of money, but that’s a savings of over 80% off of my formal education. Well worth the risk in my opinion.

But what about that piece of paper, is it worth the extra $25K? To some, yes. Even to me back in the day, it was. But now, I think about all the times I ever had to prove I had it or show it to someone. I always end up with the same number: zero times.

Now I know, if you want a regular 9-5 job, you need a degree. I definitely worked several regular jobs over the years, but the person I am today is totally different. If you’re like me, that piece of paper doesn’t mean shit. I’m actually thinking about having a diploma burning celebration one day. Are you coming with??? Haha

What do I do with no degree

My advice is to invest in yourself as soon as possible and as often as possible. Knowledge is extremely powerful, especially when it’s laser-focused on a specific topic. You can become the expert at one exact thing.

I would recommend learning the basics about something, then getting to work as soon as possible. Learning is awesome, but nothing beats taking action. Learn something, take action on what you just learned, repeat. It’s that simple. Start now, and by this time next year, you’ll be amazed at what you’ve accomplished.

Do work for free for a client or two. Then get better. Then charge a little bit for a couple more clients. Then get better. Then charge even more for the next batch of clients. Keep getting better, and keep progressing. The more skilled and confident you are, the more you can charge.

And the more you can charge, the more bills you can pay off, which means you’ll pay off your debt quicker, until one day you’re debt-free. And the lower your debt, the more you get to say no.

Keep saying yes, until you can afford to say no

Early on, I was investing in all sorts of things, and my debt was piling up. How was I ever going to get out of this?

Well I kept increasing my skills, which allowed me to do more things, which made me comfortable saying yes to almost every single job that came my way. This helped me keep my finances stable and it definitely kept me busy.

The more debt I got rid of, the more freedom I felt. This became addicting. To the point where money obviously still mattered, but not as much. It finally gave me the confidence to start telling people no.

“Sorry, I’m not the best designer for you.” Or they weren’t the best client for me, or the project wasn’t something I believed in, or it just wasn’t something that I felt like working on at the time. Or maybe I already had 1-2 clients at a time and I was done working myself to death on no sleep.

So I simple said no. And the more times I said no, I had even more freedom in my life.

More investments

Some people will tell you that you need to invest in everything. I don’t agree with that.

Back in 2015, I attended Podcast Movement in Texas. It was an awesome conference for podcasters, and I was just starting out with podcasting, so I felt I had to go. It really helped me the first year and I think it was beneficial. Of course there was a lot of costs involved, but I felt it was worth it.

I went back again last year, but this time it was in Chicago, so much closer to home. There were still a lot of costs involved, but I did everything almost as cheaply as I could. It was a great time, but I don’t think I got as much value out of it as I could have. I think part of it was my fault, because I felt rushed, and I didn’t interact with as many people, but it was still a great experience.

They just ended the early bird special to register for Podcast Movement 2017 in California, and I really wanted to go, but I decided against it. When I wrote down all the pros and cons of going, alongside the costs involved, it just didn’t make sense for me.

With my podcast, I have all the skills and information I need. Of course there are always going to be new things out there that make my life easier, but I can find and learn about those products/services on the internet from my couch. Not to mention this trip was going to set me back at least $1,500, probably $2,000+.

When I figured out all the costs (ticket, flight, hotel, transportation, food, drinks, misc), I started thinking of what else I could do with that money. Books, private coaching calls with mentors, courses, ebooks, cheap vacation to reboot, pay off debt, new premium services/products for my biz, etc. So many things that I would probably get more value from, and for far less money.

Final words

I think a lot of people graduate high school, then they graduate college, then they get a job, then they just coast for 40 years. In my teens and most of my 20’s, I started to think this was the only path. And I was beginning to think I was a failure.

It really wasn’t until I started investing in myself that things started to change.

Now I’m nowhere near where I want to be (and will be), but I’m constantly pushing myself down the right path. It’s up to you to figure out what your path looks like.

It’s never too late, but the sooner you start, the better. Think of it like compound interest.

And while I don’t think everyone should be an entrepreneur or start their own business or quit their job to follow their passions, I do think that everyone should have at least some sort of side hustle. Something they love to do that brings in a little extra money in addition to the money from their full time job. Some people love their jobs, so this is the perfect route for them.

Anyways, I hope you at least got something out of this random post, even if it was 15 minutes of entertainment. But if this got the gears in your head turning, or it even changed part of your mindset, do me a favor and share this. My goal is to help as many people as I can when it comes to web design, online businesses, personal freedom, and more.

I may not be the best in the world at any of those things, but I’ve lived it, and I’m still living it. These are some of the things that get me out of bed in the morning, and I will do this for as long as humanly possible. And as always, if you ever have any questions for me, send me an email (randy@eightdeuce.com). I respond to everyone, and most people are surprised with the long emails I send.

“Dude, we don’t even know each other personally, and I think you helped me more in one email than all the other crap I’ve came across.” Emails like this and client testimonials are some of my favorite things in the world. I hope I can add some value to your journey at some point, and I look forward to hearing a quote from you like this. Take care, and thanks for reading.

PS… I wrote this from my $400 laptop that I’ve had for five years, sitting in my rusty 1998 Subaru, in the parking lot of a Panera Bread while stealing their wifi, and listening to free music on my phone from YouTube. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to take action and crush your goals. You just have to think differently, and be ok with being a little weird in the process. Cheers!