I have been experiencing an extreme case of wanderlust ever since Claudia wrote in to share her story with us a few weeks ago. Claudia and Tassio have been sailing the world as a part of a long-term independent film project to capture the stories and inspiration from the nature around them and the people they meet. Perfect? I thought so, too. Here's a note from Claudia:

The more I get to know and love something, the more I respect and connect with it. This is a thought that pushed me to move on a sailboat and get out there to meet the world, powered by the wind. My voyage with Tassio is a search of happiness for myself and consequently for others around me. Inspiration is everywhere along the way, with the people and nature that fuel our beings with positive thoughts. Sharing these stories is one of our ways to help transform this world to be happier and therefore a better place--we are dedicating our journey to it. Hopefully, it will leave you more inspired and motivated to keep walking with your dreams.

You can find more about Terra D'Agua on their website and check out the blog to follow their exciting voyage.

We are thrilled to share this guest post from our friend Brady Paron. Brady has long been a rockstar member of the Holstee community and we have been super excited to see him traveling and living the dream in South Korea. He wrote to us last week that the Manifesto had been on his mind through his travels and put together this post to share with us. Thanks Brady!

Travel often; Getting lost will help you find yourself... For the past one and a half years, I’ve been living on a volcanic island called Jeju-do, which is off the Southern coast of the Korean peninsula. Before I came here, I was working at home in Canada (shout out!) but wanted a change. I didn’t know what my next career choice would be, but I was ready for something new and I also wanted to travel.

I made the decision to move to South Korea to teach English and to travel. When I made this decision, I had been dating my girlfriend for only a few months, and we decided to go to South Korea together.  Because of both of these decisions, I faced some resistance from people close to me, who only wanted the best for me but didn’t understand why I was making these decisions. I also got a lot of support from friends, family, and even strangers who I met while working.

Now that I’ve been here for 18 months, I can confidently tell you that living abroad has been the most educational and life-changing experience I’ve ever had. My adventure has taught me many things as I’ve dealt with the many challenges that you face while you are in a country other than your own. But I’m not writing this to tell you about my own learnings. There have been many, but that’s not the point.

Just as the inspiring quote on the Holstee manifesto suggests, travelling will push you to your edge and allow you to grow in such a way that you feel clearer about your values and more confident with your interests and passions. It has a profound effect on you, if you let it.

Here’s the catch, though: you need to be ready to take it on. Just like everything in life, when you commit fully to something, you learn from it. You need to be open, and accepting, and adventurous, and bold, and shy, and scared all at once. The beauty of the experience is the ups and downs. Usually the things that make you think “If only this wasn’t happening right now...” are actually the things that teach you the most. If you let them.

Challenge yourself to step outside of your comfort zone. If you want to travel, do it now. Be unreasonable with yourself and make it happen. In fact, make it happen often. I promise. If you are ready and you are open...you will learn much more about yourself and the world than you ever expected. And isn’t that just the best?

photo of fields and Halla Mountain on Jeju Island by Britt Neufer

Happy Friday! Dave is headed off to Berlin this weekend for Hello Etsy, A Summit on Small Business and Sustainability, where he will be joining a panel of brilliant minds including Matt LeMay (Bit.ly), Caitlin Coble (TOMS), and Charles Festa (Formerly of Threadless). The panel will discuss topics including how to use social media for social good, best practices, and how to build community for brands large and small, moderated by Etsy's amazing Dave Brown. 

We are thrilled & honored to have Holstee represented at such a great event, and Dave is stoked for all of the creativity, energy, and great food (of course :) to be found in Berlin this weekend. He will also be visiting Prague and Rome on the trip, so if you know of any stores that would dig the Holstee vibe, be sure to connect with Dave through email or twitter. Thanks!

Do you have a question for the panel to discuss? We'd love to hear them! Post a comment here or tweet using the hashtag #helloetsy.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

We are off to Burning Man this wkend with open minds, arms and hearts, and will be bringing with us this giant 10 ft. Manifesto recreation by #Agent99 that is inspiring us to stay on our A game, especially since this past month has been one of the best yet.

Our entire Holstee family finally got together for a looooong overdue celebration, we're happily expanding the family, and we're on one of the biggest forward kicks in terms of community growth and outreach, thanks to the collective efforts of our team and, in particular, Mr. Agent 99 himself- Ilya Spektor.

Now, we're off to Burning Man thru Sept. 5 with the intention of following our genuine intuition and continuing to spread our mission + values. 

To all our fans near + far, old + new, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

Your amazing support + encouragement keeps our collective dream alive and adds fuel to the fire burning in our hearts for a more conscious lifestyle with all those we touch. 

Best wishes + let's keep this RockNRollstee Holstee train movin' movin' + groovin'! 

:D 

Brilliant + poetic + awe-inspiring. 

Go where you want. Eat what you crave. Learn what you always wanted. 

Live your dream.  

Rick Mereki and friends- this is unreal. Thank you. Keep creating.  

And a special thanks to @skinnyvinny and Bonnie Calvin for sharing the link with the Holstee team. 

Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself. 

Happy Friday :D 

My favorite part about social media is the process of discovering other people out there who think and act just like you do because when you decide to take the path less traveled with your life, at times, you feel all alone. Like totally alone. And that can be a real bummer. 

Meet Caroline Mikolajczyk and her newborn blog My Train B. 

After being raised and schooled in France, washing toilets in Australia, and working as a marketing executive in London, she's decided to return home to start a shoe company with her Mum. 

Why/how do I know all this you ask? Her blog. It's short and sweet as she just started in April, but the post below is still rattling my heart and soul and I felt it was most appropriate to share considering the Manifesto we try to live by everyday. 

Caroline- Thanks for the inspiration and heartfelt stories. It's nice to know we're not alone as we venture off the beaten path towards a life of our own footprints. Please keep creating, and cheers to living your dream. 

And PS- I'm guessing that's not Caroline above. :D 

:: :: :: :: :: 

Say “Au Revoir” to Your Gold Prison

As you have already guessed with the title, I’m leaving (I hope forever) the corporate world and it feels damn good! Today was my last day as Marketing Executive for a translation company to the North of London. After 1 year and half, I’m finally leaving my desk, the 9 to 5 pattern, the rules and the feeling of being trapped.

It was a long journey to arrive to this point because there is always a ton of facts and reasons why you should stay at your job and some people are here to remember you. Fortunately, I don’t really have this kind of people in my life, I actually feel blessed to have such an amazing support from my family and friends. But in the case you do, you need to keep fighting and do what you think it’s best for you because at the end of the day, as Colin Wright says, you won’t be able to get your time back.

You know what? He is so right that I can’t believe I didn’t realize it before… We all live for a hypothetical future that might never happen. We work at jobs that we don’t really enjoy in the hope of getting another better one someday. We try to save money in the hope of traveling again someday. We don’t exercise and eat healthy because we will do it someday (I struggle with this one myself!). So of course, there is nothing wrong with that but what if “someday” never comes?

Instead of planning things on a long term basis, try to do them right now because you never know what might happen to you in the meantime. Can you say that at this time in your life you could die happy? That you are living the life you’ve always wished for? Right now?

If yes, then I’m truly happy for you, you are living your dream. If no, then you should think about what you’re missing in your life and how you can change that. Remember, possibilities are endless and your decisions shouldn’t be dictated by what everybody is doing or by what you feel it’s the “right” thing to do. Become the person you’ve always wanted to be today rather than someday.

What is holding you back in your gold prison?

The Nomading Film Festival (NoFF) believes that stories caught on film, while traveling, are some of the most entertaining, educating, beautiful and authentic, and that these stories should be shared, acknowledged and awarded. NoFF thinks of travel less as a leisure activity and more as a chance to explore the planet and engage those living therein. NoFF believes traveling shapes us, traveling defines us, traveling connects us. 

At Holstee, we also recognize the power of travel to further push one's cultural, emotional, physical, mental and spiritual horizon lines and echo the same thoughts in the Manifesto. 

Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.

This Saturday, June 18, will be the inaugural event for NoFF, so if you happen to be in New York City, don't miss out! Tix include live music, tacos, beer/wine, giveaways, 2 screenings, games and more. 

 A photo from Jeju, courtesy of Brady.

A guest post by a Holstee fan and in turn someone we are a huge fan of at Holstee, Brady Paron. Brady is currently living on the beautiful Jeju Island in South Korea and teaching English. You can follow his adventure on his blog.

Right now I’m living on a beautiful island in South Korea called Jeju-do and I’ve been reading a lot about entrepreneurship, defining work environments that make you thrive, and figuring out how to combine that with what you are deeply passionate about. My sister’s boyfriend has similar interests to me, and referred me to whitehottruth.com, a website and blog by Danielle LaPorte dedicated to helping you kindle your own creative fire. The other day, I was quickly grazing over Danielle’s blog and at the end of an entry, she wrote, quite simply:

Raise your frequency and let the world meet you there.

It instantly struck me. I Facebook’ed it and decided that I need to share this via my blog because it was another perfectly timed reminder (the Universe has a way of doing that, doesn’t it?) to continue playing full out in the world. The ultimate message is that you need to be powerful, be strong, and be a stand for yourself. When you do what you love, when you say what you mean, and when you challenge yourself to grow through new experiences and tough situations, the world will always support you. Whatever frequency you choose to vibrate at, the world will match. If you are negative, you will attract others who indulge in your negativity and feed off it. And on the flipside, when you are open to a fully-expressed YOU, you will attract people who are open and interested in growing through life with you. You will create and attract opportunities that add value to your daily life and allow you to realize the joy all around you.

Even thinking about Danielle’s quote…I suppose many people have read that quote and found it just as interesting as me. There are probably a lot of people who read it and didn’t think twice about it as well. But that’s a perfect example of being open. While reading the blog entry, I was open to receiving and considering whatever she had to share. As a result, I read her quote and then found a deeply profound meaning for myself. It was perfectly timed.

When you raise your frequency, the world opens up for you, but it’s not by chance; it’s by choice. That’s the beauty that struck me in that one line.

Big love and huge smiles, 

Brady Paron

We love our bicycles at Holstee and encourage biking whenever possible as we think it helps alleviate stress, maintain good health, and contributes to a more conscious lifestyle... besides it being one of the most pure forms of fun+freedom!