Hello again my fellow lifestyle igniters! Last month I first took the leap and met David Crandall of Heroic Destiny in person. Recently I expanded this real world meet up of bloggers in my home city of Chicago to include Joel Runyon and Nina Yau.
Brandon James of New Life Travel had started his epic hiatus from a world bike trip, and Joel Runyon from the Blog of Impossible Things was in town for the Chicago Triathlon. We met up with Blogger and Minimalist Nina Yau of Castles in the Air for some good eats at the delicious Peruvian Restaurant Rosa De Lima.
Connecting online with like minded individuals has been one of the greatest benefits of writing this blog. Watching twitter and comment streams I can see many interactions happening publicly. However, some of the connections can get to be stale and repetitive. While the internet space is great for interacting, nothing takes the place of real life meet ups and face to face interactions. The conversation is less robotic, and tends to be much more authentic. As the four of us met, words flowed with ease, as it felt like I had known Joel and Nina much longer than I actually had.
I have already known Brandon James for years, so adding Joel and Nina to the list of Bloggers I have met offline has been incredible. While there was much “blogspeak” we were able to break into conversation as friends on a wide range of topics. As Nina showed off her martial arts moves (see below), Watch out Chicago, Nina has got a mean right high kick! Her round house kick to the face is also rumored to be just as painful though, this has never been confirmed.
We discussed the striking resemblance Joel has to Tim Ferriss (also see below). Tell me that doesn’t look like him!
As we discussed our own life paths, we had a mutual understanding. We were all shaping our lives how we want, but in different unconventional ways. As all four of us are in different stages of our life journey, we had a common understanding that we want to live life doing what we love and will go out of our way to make our dreams become reality. Sometimes it can be difficult doing things unconventionally as this goes against the way we were brought up and the value system we considered “right” for so long. It’s amazing that the internet can bring together like minded individuals in such a way. No matter what you’re thinking, someone out there thinks and feels the same way. The internet is a great tool to bring people together in whatever realm they’re from, yet nothing beats face to face interactions. Great meeting up with you all!
Intense conversation and pondering
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And same goes for you, Mark! Yes, the rumors are true. Round house kick to the face is pretty cool, though I wouldn’t recommend volunteering as a demonstratee.
HAHA thanks Nina. I worry though about a second encounter… I would definitely not want to be a demonstratee of that round house kick to the face!
Contrary to the photographic evidence…the roundhouse kick did NOT hurt…in fact i probably could have toppled her she was so off balance…
Poor form for a so-called “black belt” =)
Such a good time. When are you leaving for your trip mark?
Ha, the photographic evidence shows a deadly and painful high kick to the face. Your ability to complete a triathlon the next day proves the contrary.
Good times indeed. Still no set date on when I leave for my trip. I’m enjoying my freedom too much at the moment in Chicago and still have trips in North America I’d like to take. I will purchase a plane ticket soon though. It’s getting brisk outside. Summer is coming to an end.
Gee, thanks for throwing me under the bus, Joel, you didn’t have to tell everyone! lol. Just watch me at one of my practices and you’ll see some pretty deadly stuff!
Couldn’t agree more, real life trumps online every time. If you every make your way down south to Atlanta, let me know… I don’t know any Kung Fu moves though.
Yeah, Joel could easily have a side business as a Tim Feriss impersonator.
Hell yeah Joel could have a job being a Tim Ferriss impersonator. All it would take would be some watching on youtube to get his mannerisms right.
If I’m ever down in Atlanta I will surely hit you up! Good to know I don’t have to worry about any high kicks to the face.
How much $$$ do you think I could pull doing that?
You never know how one seemingly small or ridiculous and insignificant idea can grow into a large empire. I think you should try and embark down the road of a Tim Ferriss impersonator. Only then will you and the world know how lucrative it will be
Mark,
This is awesome. It was your great trip to Crandall that started all this traveling. After your leading, we all got the bug. Josh Crocker, David Crandall and I all traveled and met in NYC for the day yesterday. What a day. We all brought our wives, they really seemed to hit it off and it was awesome.
Thanks for taking the step and proving that online relationships can be taken offline. We are paying attention and you are changing our worlds.
Thanks man.
Tim, I am honored that my trip with David sparked this frenzy of travel and real world interactions! I am so glad the trip is going so well for all of you! Your friendship will be uncountably strengthened and I’m sure there will be many more meetups of the sort!
Your trip further proves that online relationships can be taken offline with such gusto. Thank you for continuing this trend! I hope all you enjoy the rest of your time in NYC!