Wifi on flights and trains is starting to become common place. It worries me because flights and train rides used to be the only places were I was forced to unplug from everything and just stare out the window. The allure of the next great email is just to powerful to ignore for too long if I know I have access. As one psychologist put it: 

“What the Internet does is stimulate our reward systems over and over with tiny bursts of information (tweets, status updates, e-mails) that … can be delivered in more varied and less predictable sequences. These are experiences our brains did not evolve to prefer, but [they are] like drugs of abuse…”

But when I don’t have access, it doesn’t matter. I get time to daydream. To wonder. To be with my own thoughts, at my own pace. All of which is extremely beneficial for the brain.

But of course now, there’s Gmail Offline so when I’m “stuck” on a flight for two hours, now I can burn through my inbox instead of stare out the window because, on paper, that seems to be more productive.

Soon, I suspect I’ll have unlimited access to wifi anywhere I go. The allure will be to always check in. The real skill then is to learn how to check out. With every new technology comes opportunities and challenges. This generation is going to have to learn the skill of checking out whereas their parents didn’t have to learn it because it was given to them whether they wanted it or not. Maybe purposeful checking out will end up being a good thing because we’ll value the time more because it was our choice to check out instead of being forced to check out.

Without a doubt, ACbert and I have the perpetual travel bug. I suspect she has the bug more than me because she enjoys all the planning leading up to the actual trip. Much of the fun for her is in discovering the perfect location at the perfect price. I just like the trip.

Our trips, however, aren’t how most people travel. Instead of a vacation, we call it a relocation. Instead of seven to ten days of solid vacation where we say goodbye, unplug, and turn on our email vacation auto-responders, we bring our laptops, only rent places that include internet, stay much longer, and continue to do work as usual, except our “office” view is much different and breaks/evenings/weekends are filled with adventure. Even little things like buying cereal are new and exciting if you are in a different country. You’d be surprised how remote you can get and still get internet. While in the past we’ve done an eight month relocation, the last two trips were a month each and that feels about right.

One of our life themes (kinda like goals but more a way of living verses an end point) is what we call The 3-2-1 Traveling Plan. What it means is that every year we do three extended weekend trips, two week trips, and one month relocation.

We’ve already started 2012 off strong with our January relocation to Utila, Honduras and an extended weekend trip to Vermont to ski with friends and another extended weekend trip with friends in the works.

So now back to Utila. It’s a tiny island off the coast of Honduras. Roatan is its bigger brother and where most people who come to the area go. We went one step further by riding on Captain Vern’s catamaran to and from Utila. The island is only seven miles long but has some of the world’s best diving and snorkeling. We spent the majority of our time about two miles outside of “town” in a tiny 250 square foot hut with 280 degree ocean views, and sounds, waking us up and putting us to sleep. We had more adventures than I have time to write about, so instead, below is a list of our highlights. If one sticks out to you, next time we see each other, ask and I’ll share.

• Taca Airlines Breakfast Service
• Seat Upgrades?
• 2 Hour Wait for Captain Vern
• Expat Robert Johnson (sand flies, cocaine, and toothless)
• Captain Vern’s ‘Front Row’ Seat
• A Whale!
• NYC Cable TV?!?
• Bogart The Cat
• R.J.’s Bar & Grill
• Booze Hound R.J.
• Another Rumanade Please
• The Locals
• Kid Golf Cart Drivers
• Caskets And A Dental Check Up
• Doh! Forgot the Kindle Cable
• Cheap Beer is Cheap Beer
• Imperial Wins Best In Show
• The Island Costco Run
• Country Music Shopping
• The Wednesday’s Boat
• Avocado Everything
• The Bootleg Library
• Island Mas
• Island Annie
• Mary Lee’s Tuk Tuk
• Morning Sunrise
• Bed By 9, Up By 6
• The Bug Infestation (Chuckie)
• “Are we over 500 Lemperia?”
• Eastwood the Eagle Ray
• Paloopa The Dog
• “Paloopa, Don’t Eat My Throw Up!”
• Paloopa Walking To Town
• Sally? Her Name Is Sally?
• $150,000 For All Tradewinds
• Plastic Washed-up Everywhere
• Cocktails On The Palapa
• Icabad, Ebob, Half-Tail, and Petey The Iguanas
• Jingle –> “Annie Colbert Expert Iguana Spotters”
• Tom’s Wealth Of Iguana Knowledge
• Land Crabs
• The Broken Sandal Walk
• Our Electronic Hiding Places
• The Moving Ghost Chairs
• Random Power Outages
• Joshua’s Camera
• Island Time
• Gill the Gecko
• Gecko Poop
• La Hucho Gang
• Bat Swram
• Instagram it!
• The Electrical Shower Handle
• Hopeful Hitchhikers
• Me Casa, Su Casa (Private Property)
• Too Many Drinks At El Picante (John)
• NPR Is Sponsored By The New School and Porgy and Bess
• Toasted Tortilla Shells
• Finally Natural Peanut Butter!
• The Biggest Chip Bag Ever
• Sh*t Mas Says
• Sh*t Annie Says
• Millie The Macaw
• “Is The Water Calm Today?”
• Butterball Turkeys
• Baby Crabs On The Curb Scramble
• The Water Shortage
• Where The Heck Is Coral View!
• The Secret of Coral View
• Societal Division At The Public Beach
• Hammock Work Day
• Oatmeal Mask
• “I Just Got Stung 3 Times, One In The Lip.”
• Roundtrip Private Island Snorkel #Fail
• The Pelicans Are Taunting You
• “Banana Spiders Are Harmless.”
• Jellyfish Killed My Wife
• Haircut On The Palapa
• Plata, The Local Rum ($2 Liters)
• Our Prisoner Passenger
• Let’s Play, Where’s The Shotgun?
• Stained White Diving Shirt
• “Can Glen Adopt Me?”
• “Now That We’re Heading Home…”(Cockroach & Spider)
• Bu-Bye Utila, Hu-Low 200 Student Leaders (Pace University)

ACbert and I are now 26 days into our month long “relocation” in Utila, Honduras, and I thought it appropriate to share another edition (here’s Part 1) of the joyful oddities of this island paradise.

1) Country Music Serenade

The main grocery store in town is owned and operated by locals, but don’t expect to find any local music playing while shopping. Instead they will serenade your ears with classic recordings of country greats like “Waltz Across Texas” by Ernest Tubb and “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” by Waylon Jennings.

2) Cornflakes Meatballs

When I think of all the wonderful ways to consume cornflakes, meatballs and salmon loaf might be somewhere near the never part of my list. But FANS doesn’t think so, so they printed the recipes right on their box. Between Part 1 and Part 2, you’d think I was hating on FANS, but turns out they are a modern company and even have their own website.

3)  Cruising The Strip in a Pimped-out Golf Cart

Utila has one main road with zero traffic signs and no legal driving age. Couple that with the fact that people own Golf Carts to get around and you now know what most of the kids in town do for fun. They cruise the strip in their pimped-out golf carts. Ok, their carts aren’t pimped out, but ACbert and I would love to bring the pictured cart above to Utila and cruise the strip in style…

4) Paloopa our Friend

She’s (actually might be a hermaphrodite) covered in ticks, will bite your feet, go crazy after touching salt water, and might have a mild case of rabies, but if you can get past all that, she’s extremely cute and loving. She comes to check on us 2-3 times a day…every day. She just wants love. This picture is the only time during the whole trip she wasn’t moving so fast that we couldn’t snap a picture! We named her Paloopa on our own because we didn’t know her real name, but yesterday, I met her owner (an expat) and found out her real name is…drum roll…Sally :-/.

5) Avocado Heaven

If I could inject a steady stream of only two food items into my body to live off of, it would be peanut butter and avocados. I love avocados, but in NY they are, at best, $2 per avocado. In avocado heaven, also known as Utila, Honduras, they are just under .50cents for each perfectly rip creamy avocado! You better believe we’ve been figuring out ways to incorporate avocado into every meal.

ACbert and I are now 17 days into our month long “relocation” in Utila, Honduras, and I thought it appropriate to start sharing some of the joyful oddities we’re discovering.

1) Do You Have a Costco Membership?

Once a week (Wednesdays) a boat arrives on the island filled with supplies from the main land that then populates the various store shelves. The funny thing is that most of the product sent over is Costco brand. On Wikipedia it shows the closest Costco locations are in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Florida. I can only image someone going to Costco to buy produce for an entire island of people. That’s one huge shopping cart.

2) 1976 Cornflakes

By looking at the box, you’d think it was made in the 1970′s, but this box is indeed a current box that is good to eat. The manufacturers must have just decided it wasn’t worth their time to update the design because, after all, the best designs happened in the 70s, right?

3) The Bootlegged Library

Believe it our not, our tiny little island has a library with books and DVDs you can rent out. The selection of DVDs is actually rather large and fairly current too. But you’ll notice, by the picture, that 90% of the DVDs are bootlegged copies. If your conscious can handle that, then this is a great resource to kill some nights at home.

4) What’s better than Rum? Cola Rum!

I don’t drink pop (soda for my east coast friends), but if you trick me by putting a little rum in there, I’m sold. Yes, that is a straw coming out the top that I drank it with. Free Cuba!

Blogger James Altucher challenged his readers to create a list of the ten things that make you happy. Here’s my list…

1. Spending time with my wife
2. Spending time with my family
3. Building things people value
4. Building financial wealth
5. Spending time with friends
6. Reading (learning)
7. Traveling for pleasure
8. Being active (soccer, hiking, etc)
9. Daydreaming
10. Connecting with student leaders

Bonus list…

1. Writing my blog
2. Meditating
3. Networking

What would you put on your list?

In person time with my family is the best, but not always possible.

I’m on an overnight bus to Boston for a full day training I’m doing tomorrow with UMass-Boston. She is five rows behind me on her phone. She’s talking loud enough for everyone to hear about how she’s sleeping with a married man that she’s had sex with everywhere from a train to Atlantic City, but it’s all done in private and she doesn’t want to be kept in the dark anymore. Oh, and she might already have a baby with him too. As I’m trying to fall asleep my mind is racing about my program tomorrow with 40 student leaders and my new idea I’m launching soon that will have a massive impact on co-curricular engagement.

We’re both riding the same bus to the same place, but it’s amazing how different we are choosing to utilize our limited time on this earth.

Traveling home from Pittsburgh yesterday, I dumbly left my phone on the bus. Thanks to iCloud’s Find feature, I know exactly where my phone is (see map below). It’s hanging out in Jersey City waiting for someone to help me get it back. Do you live near here or know this area? Let me know. Thanks!

My job entails a lot of traveling right now. Specifically in this season as schools are ramping up their leaders for the year and orientations are in full swing. If you look at our calendar, you’ll see I’m on the road a lot. Every time I’m on my way back to NYC and I start to think about ACbert, I get a warm fun feeling in my heart. I get excited to see her. I smile, like I’m smiling now as I sit on a plane back to LGA because I start to visualize the look on her face when I walk in the door.

Anytime I come home, whether it’s on a long trip like this one, or just a simple trip to pick up cat litter, she welcomes me back with genuine excitement. How can I not help but be excited to come home every time if I know she’s excited to see me. It makes me want to come home sooner.

It reminds me of a story a speaker friend of mine, Patrick Combs, told me a long time ago about two brother who went to the same college. Every time they’d meet each other in the main quad, they’d open up their arms, draw a big smile, and embrace each other like they were long lost friends. He equated it to a dog welcoming his master home even if she just went to go get the mail. You can’t help but feel loved and welcomed.

My oldest brother, Robin, connects with people in a similar way. It’s inspiring for me to see and practice in my own life.