Degrees of Freedom: Bedouin and Full Nomad

I have been traveling a lot recently. A real lot. Ever since my providential departure from Corante in December, I have enjoyed one of the side-effects of turning away from the mundane: a flowering of creativity that has led to a long series of positive results. And a lot of travel, as various clients, potential clients, and partners want to spend time with me.

Since I am the soloist, it is always more economical for me to join the trio, combo or orchestra wherever the concert hall is located. So in recent months, I have become more and more of a nomad, a digital Bedouin, as Greg Olsen has styled it:

[from Charter Street : Going Bedouin]

I'm interested in something more radical. By focusing almost exclusively on service-based infrastructure options, a business could operate as a sort of neo-Bedouin clan - with workers as a roaming nomadic tribe carrying laptops & cell phones and able to set up shop wherever there is an Internet connection, chairs, tables, and sources of caffeine.

I have long since moved to all manner of web-based tools to coordinate with the world. I no longer have a business line, just a cell phone. But I am not merely a regional wanderer, like the city-dwelling Bedouins in Greg's piece: I am wandering the Earth, like Kung Fu.

Among other things, I have taken up geotagging everything: my posts, my emails, and my IM presence.

I have acquired better gear: a bigger backpack, so I can have two pairs of shoes and a sportcoat (admittedly unlined and very informal) just in case. I have a Nano.

Yesterday, I discover that new underwear at some pharmacy chain in Palo Alto cost less than having the old ones washed at the hotel. Strange nomadic economics, where you might throw away clothes and just buy news ones, all the time.

But the reality is that a lot of this travel is here, to the Bay Area, the belly button of the Universe 2.0, so one option is to just rent a room out here. I am starting to consider that, since there is a certain appeal to the idea of a tiny -- but known -- cubbyhole in which to rest, a closet with a selection of wine, a scooter in the garage, and a corner restaurant where the maitre'd knows my face. Although that wouldn't help with trips to San Diego, Mexico City, Toronto, and Ft Lauderdale (just a selection from the immediate past and near future).

So I am on the scout for a sporadic living situation out here that fits my personality and pocketbook. A tiny bedroom, with a tiny cubboard. I have experience with small set ups:

Near the Caltrain, somewhere between Palo Alto or San Francisco, preferably. People involved need to be broadminded, tolerant of erratic comings and goings, and foodists. Let me know!

tags: new+bedouins, geotag:palo+alto+ca, seeking+cubbyhole

Comments

[Zoli Erdos]

Stowe, get this and you can provide the flow-over place for the next TechCrunch party :-)

[Christopher Carfi]

>But I am not merely a regional wanderer, like the city-dwelling Bedouins in Greg's piece: I am wandering the Earth, like Kung Fu.

heh. reminds me of one of the best scenes, evah...

--

Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures..."
Vincent: "For how long?"
Jules: "As long as it takes."
Vincent: "As long as it takes for what?"
Jules: "Until God puts me where he wants me to be."
Vincent: "So you decided to be a bum?"