Where's the best place to build?

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Last week, I debriefed you on frequently asked questions about the van.

This week, I'm walking through my current thinking on the best place to set roots.

Plus, I've got 2 stories from the road at the end.

I'm starting with the end in mind.

The van is absolutely awesome. It's a simple and versatile lifestyle. I fall asleep looking at the moon through my skylight, and I wake up to the sun.

I'm also able to spend quality time with people I love without imposing (unless you're my aunt Joanne & uncle Keith who provided me with their guest bedroom for 2 nights...I cannot deny that it was incredibly cozy).

The bottom line: van life enables me to live a simple life where I can ensure quality time with people I love (which is so cool), but full-time life on the road isn't forever.

The plan is to be in the van full-time for 5-8 months, treat the van as my rent expense, then settle somewhere and keep the van as a weekend adventure vehicle.

The question becomes - where to once full-time van living is done? I don't need to have an exact location at this very moment, but having an idea of where I'm headed will help me remain present during my journey on the road.

Where's the best place to build a good life?

I'd like to build my life based upon the following parameters:

• Loved ones - close proximity to family and friends

• Faith community - close proximity to a strong community of Christians

• Service - diverse community that has opportunity to serve locally

• Startup community - people taking calculated risks to improve the world

• Outdoor recreation - still need a place to take this van to on the weekends!!

• Art/History - has historical roots and makes intentional space for creativity

• Airport - within 1hr of a decently sized airport. I don't fly often, but I do enjoy the flexibility of travel (see van, lol)

• Walkability - walking throughout the day is great for my well-being/creativity, and I am bad at going for "mom" walks. I enjoy walking places with a purpose

Based on my categories above, I believe the best place for me to build a good life is in small-to-medium-sized town America and not big city America.

For this reason, I am currently spending time in VA and NC to vet some of the towns I'm interested in - Richmond, Raleigh, Durham, Mebane, Saxapahaw, Carrboro/Chapel Hill, Burlington (just to name a few.)

No updates on the exact location I'll settle in quite yet, but please continue on below for a couple of awesome experiences from this past week.

2 stories from the road.

I'd like to highlight 2 phenomenal stories from the road this past week. One is with a woodturner. The other is with a shoeshiner.

The woodturner

In between my sophomore and junior year at Elon University, I had an on-campus internship. Elon, NC is pretty quiet during the summer. I liked it that way, but I needed something to fill my time outside of the internship. I asked my leadership studies professor if she knew of any woodworkers in the area. She referred me to Jim Barbour or "Dr. B" who runs ShopDog Turnery.

Dr. B is a retired economics professor who lives near Elon. He built a full shop in his backyard. He mostly spends his time on a lathe, but he's skilled in all areas of woodworking. He took me on as an apprentice and we hung out 2x/week in the summer of 2017. I'd watch him in the woodshop to learn about his craft, and he'd encourage me to embark upon projects in the shop to put my newly acquired knowledge into practice. Example projects: a set of wine stoppers as a wedding gift for my cousin, a sign for an outdoor leadership community that I helped create (more on these projects below).

It has been 5 years since I started working in the shop. The skills I developed there ultimately gave me the confidence to build the van. So it was incredibly exciting to call Dr. B this past week and let him know that I was in town...and that I had converted a van using the skills he taught me! I made my way over, and we hung out for an hour to discuss woodworking, remote work, and life. It was awesome.

The coolest thing was that a draft of the sign I built still hangs on his ceiling, and I even had left a wine stopper in his shop so that the glue I used for it could set. I forgot to circle back for it. Happy to report that after 5 years the glue has set.

Here's what I learned from Dr. B - teaching someone the foundations of a craft is a worthwhile investment because the skills of the apprentice compound over time.

I went to Elon to get a degree, but I came away with a strong understanding of the activities that give me joy thanks to people like Dr. B. That's what made my college experience different. Everyone in the community contributed to students' learning - even retired professors who made time for non-traditional learning opportunities.

The rough draft of the sign that we built still hangs on Dr. B's ceiling (check the signature bottom right)

Picture of the wine stopper that I left behind a few years ago. It's now on the road with me in the van!

The shoeshiner

Yesterday, I was in downtown Durham, North Carolina with just 45min to do a self-guided walking tour of the city. My goal was to get a feel for Durham based on the parameters above.

I heard someone from across the street. It was a man sitting on a bucket who yelled "Sir, please let me shine those boots." The man came over and introduced himself. "They call me McCoy," he said. "I'm somewhat of a living legend around here. Down there, two blocks to the right, they got the black history art museum. I'm inducted in there. And then three blocks to the left, they got a bookstore and they talked about me in three books down there. It's really not what I say about my skill. I let others do the talking, but they say I'm the best there is. That's just what they say."

It was such a good pitch. I had been planning to go explore Durham and get to know it a little bit better, and 60 seconds ago I didn't even think I needed my boots shined. Heck, I've never even had my boots shined by someone else, but the conversation was so good that I thought, "alright, we need to make the time for this." So, I walked to his shop with him. Before I entered, I stopped and asked him "just curious, how much is this gonna run me?" Like the good salesman he is, he doesn't say any numbers until he gets me in the chair. And I say "seriously, you know, just before we start on this, how much is this gonna run me because I want to make sure we're on the same page."

He said, "Well, it's 10 for sneakers but 20 for boots." "Sure, that's fine," I say. So he gets to work and he starts telling stories from when he was a boy growing up in Durham. We talk about his family, the transformation of race relations in the city, how he has become a well-known name, and the respect he has for the craft of shoe-shining. In terms of being a living legend or becoming the best at his craft, he says he doesn't focus too much on those things. He just shows up for work, delivers exceptional service, and he lets the people write about it (as I'm doing now). McCoy will tell you a story about anything you want to know and keep you engaged in his chair, but when it comes to shining shoes, his work truly does the talking.

Here's what I learned from McCoy - pair a skill with the ability to tell a story + keep your audience engaged and your product or service will sell itself.

There's no better person I could have run into other than McCoy to get a feel for Durham, North Carolina. Plus, by the time he's done with your boots, you'll willingly pay more than $20 for a great job and even better conversation.

"Take a picture before I work on these. That way, you'll see the difference." - McCoy

The after shot. Well done by my friend, McCoy. If I move to Durham, this man is shining all of my shoes. If not for the service itself, then for the company.

Thanks for reading

Go out of your way this week to have a woodturner or a shoeshiner kind of interaction,

Josh

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