How to master life, language and travel with Tim Ferriss

How to master life, language and travel with Tim Ferriss -

When I was teaching English in Bangkok, a friend gave me a copy of The 4- hour week from a guy named Tim Ferriss. Apparently, it was a best-selling book. At the time I had to figure out how to expand my travels, and my friend thought the book would be helpful. I read it and immediately wrote down ideas. It was filled rich life with helpful tips for work-life balance, your own business, and live in a time. The book had to live a great influence on my thoughts about life. I understood why the book was (and still is) so successful.

Many of you have probably heard of Tim and his work. His books have been # 1 bestsellers several times, and he is often considered the original lifestyle designer and life hackers.

Since his book in 07 to read, I have read more Tims work was featured on his website, and got to meet him a few times (I have tried very hard, not for "Fanboy out" for the first time). Today I am beyond excited to share an interview I did with him over the weekend. We talked travel, languages, and his new TV show

Nomadic Matt: You are known for your "4-hour" books, but for those who do not know, can They give us a little background on yourself and how you got into this
Tim: safely. I grew up on Long Iceland, rat tail and everything. I somehow ended up at Princeton studying neuroscience and East Asian studies. I graduated in 00 and to San Francisco headed billion at a start-up, to make the imploding promptly. I started my own sports nutrition company. However, I left my girlfriend and I had to leave a nervous breakdown, the around the world led me for 18 months, the US and traveling. That's when I designed my life anew, the foundation formed, of which The 4-Hour Work Week . It was rejected by 27 publishers, then it hit and stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for 4 + years. Years later, I'm still passionate about travel and shows people how to overcome fear.

My latest project, a TV show called The Tim Ferriss experiment , examines how to overcome fear and to increase the speed of learning over 10 times. It was of the same Emmy award-winning team behind Anthony Bourdain (zero point zero).

filmed and edited inspires you to write The 4-Hour Work Week , because you went on a long journey around the world, so let's talk a little traveling. Why do you stay?
I travel to open my own mind, make my assumptions into question, and to learn. You may not understand or appreciate your own culture without other cultures to experience. Learning the language I was even once as "poor", is also the key for a second soul. It gives you a new and better lens for the entire world. As Ludwig Wittgenstein said: "The limits of my language, the limits of my world."

Like you, I was strongly influenced by our friend Rolf Pott Buch Vagabonding . In the world of life hacks and efficiency, you think the aesthetics of slow travel is forgotten?
If you smartphone notifications every five minutes are always constant, it is impossible not to feel unrushed or reactive. So, I do not think we have so much to "forget" the art of slow travel, as we have wrongly convinced us that we have no time. This is nonsense. If you do not have time, you do not need priorities. What we lack is attention, not the time. There are simple steps that resolve help as you make your Saturdays a "screen-free" day, for example.

Your new project is to learn about new things. Tell us about it.
The Tim Ferriss experiment is kind of like Mythbusters meets Jackass . The goal is the audience tools 10x to give their learning ability, all with effect entertaining

In each episode, I push myself to the breaking point, trying to learn while notoriously criminal skills -. Surfing, professional poker, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, parkour, languages, etc. -. in just one week each

For each skill, I partner with the best in the world, and most unorthodox teacher (Laird Hamilton, Marcelo Garcia, Stewart Copeland, etc.), the train me for a final gauntlet. I did not always win, and there are some spectacular injuries and disasters, but I will show you how to replicate the breakthroughs. The mantra of the show is "you do not have to be superhuman to obtain superhuman results ... you just need a better toolkit." It was to film a brutal show. Many literal blood, sweat and tears ... all caught on camera, of course!

I financed a lot of playing poker my original trip, so I was happy to see to this episode. What was the most interesting thing you learned to play poker?
The most interesting thing about poker the value of "selective aggression" was and how a few tricks you can hold your own against professionals. The most important first step was "fold or raise" the realization of the power of a game plan, in the "Call" as good as ever, and fold 70% or more of the time (your cards to throw away). You have the patience to fold for one hour just before each action. Then, if you "put cards in the war," show no mercy with aggression and use.

language is to travel essential, and I know you have a lot of time spent learning languages. How many do you speak?
I have 10-plus study, but these days, my best Japanese, Spanish, Chinese (which is basically the Beijing dialect), and English. If I prep two weeks I can keep the basics in German, Italian, and a few others. It is important to keep in mind that I leave Spanish in 9th grade, because I had closed, I was "in languages ​​badly." There are hacks for this stuff.

In an episode of The Tim Ferriss experiment , I Tagalog (Filipino) in 3-4 days enough to do to get to a live TV interview in Tagalog , I do not recommend this insane gamble, but the episode shows what the human brain is capable of a lot of storage technologies such as the vocabulary can 2-10x acquisition.

How to learn so many, so fast? Is there a 4-hour language trick can use people? For daily travelers to Italy only two weeks, what they can do?
Definitely. First, what do you learn is more important than how you study. In other words, they have in common, to study high-frequency words that get the most from the fewest hours. I like www.vis-ed.com flash cards, as prepared for this. With respect to the order, but I would, as follows:

1. , more convenient to obtain start instantly free Duolingo app with basic words, the structure and pronunciation
2. same. learn mnemonic tools like the Link method of Word Gruneberg that gives you more is vocab help to absorb. Memrise uses good mnemonics, and here is their Italian course.
3. Commit to 10-20 www.vis-ed.com cards per day for a week before the trip and every day in the country. Keep them (wait as in snakes, commuting, etc.) in your pocket for downtime
4. Get a Lonely Planet phrase book and remember at least your 10 favorite phrases, including making an absurd locals laugh. Something like "Are you allergic to llamas?" Or whatever works great. To be a lot of friends.
5. Consider American movies or TV that you know well ... with Italian subtitles selected. Do this at least four nights a week for two weeks before leaving. Here is a creative way to find them. Just search YouTube or Google "[name of tv show or movie] sub ita" If you're a techie, you can also sites like TV Subtitle try
6. If you want to get aggressive, and choose up a lot of entertainment and idiomatic expressions, could buy a popular comic like one Piece in English and the target language, in this case, Italian.

on the other side of what they should not do? What are some errors you made, that they should avoid?
Use would no materials you do not consume in your native language. If you do not, that Financial Times in English, why read on earth would you try it in Spanish or Japanese? Barf.

Going back to your 4HWW Book, why it with the people as much resonance? Did you expect such a huge response? I mean, you're the father of the "location-independent / lifestyle design" movement considered.
Nobody expected 4HWW the impact it has to have. I am still amazed and humbled. The most common feedback I get is something like: "I am in a city to work in a cabin I have tolerated (at best), and now I have a laptop in fantastic places like Costa Rica or Thailand my own leading companies. " Literally tens of thousands of people have told me this. It is incredibly rewarding, and I have to pinch myself still.

A few of my readers had questions I wanted to share. This is from Jennifer: "If you could do it again, what would you do differently?"
I would start earlier to meditate. I can be quick to anger and resentment keep more than I should. Men in my family all seem to have rather short fuses. Meditation mitigates that a lot. I do transcendental meditation, but vipassana and others are large. I suggest starting with guided meditations, whether on an app like headspace or rest or audio on a website as samharris.org

This is from another Matt. "What does the pursuit of happiness mean you?"
It does not mean much. I chased "luck" and uses this word for a long time, but I think it is mainly a waste of time.

"happiness" is overused in so many places that the meaning has become unclear. I agree with Nathaniel Hawthorne, who said: ". Happiness is like a butterfly which, when they may be exercised, is always beyond our grasp, but if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you"

I tend to hunt what excited me, and I usually so in the end very happy with it. It does not seem to work in reverse, at least not for me

So, since we are a travel site, please leave us with some lightning rundfahrt questions forming .:

1. window or aisle? If it's a night flight, definitely window. Otherwise, transition always
2. What is your favorite country . 1:.? US (was not always the case), 2 .: Japan, 3.:. Argentina
3. What is a travel article you always pack? A "Wheel Roller" for my feet and forearms coasting.
4. hostels or hotels? Neither. Apartments for at least 1-2 weeks, whenever possible. Airbnb has this incredibly easy, even for shorter stays.
5. They are sold at an airport and can go anywhere in the world. Where are you going? The Maldives! As much as I love diving (what would I do there), I would like to visit before the whole place is under water.

The entire season of The Tim Ferriss experiment is now observed for Binge (there is really no other way to see something in these days?) On iTunes itunes.com/timferriss. Here's the trailer .:

is You can also find Tim ... well, everywhere, but especially on his blog The 4-hour Work week

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