Currently...

I have relocated from the UK to Costa Rica.  I split my time between work (http://www.tamarindocomms.com/" rel="nofollow">Tamarindo Communications) and play (diving, surfing and motorcycles), in a bid to readdress the hamster wheel that was becoming London life...

Working on the business, I manage a small team that provides strategic consultancy and communications advice to businesses operating and investing in the international renewable energy sector.

The team live and work remotely, throughout North America and in Western Europe.  We sit down and get together once a month for a face-to-face debrief and, for the rest of the time, rely on some smart technological wizardry to stay connected and in touch.

For the most part though, our remote approach means that we spend the vast majority of our time on the road with clients.

Before I escaped...

For the past ten years I’ve been working in corporate communications in London.

I started out on one of those fast-track impress-your-mates graduate schemes at an independent agency based in North London. The agency subsequently got sold to some chaps with deep pockets and everyone started taking things terribly seriously.

So three years ago, I left and established Chalk.

My moment of truth...

Truth be told, there were several. And they took place year-in, year-out – as regular as clockwork.

Bonus time. Having had the carrot dangled in front of you for the previous twelve months, this was always the moment where I looked at the pay cheque and, as the years rolled on, realised that there must be more to life than this.

Don’t get me wrong, for anyone starting up a business, money (aka cash flow) is always vital, but for me, it was the dawning realization that it need not be the only driving force, that really got me thinking.

Understanding the true value of personal freedom has been a ten-year work in progress.

Planning for it...

Very slowly and very carefully. In the communications and consultancy game, reputations take years to build and can disappear in an instant. Everything therefore had to be planned for in minute detail.

The idea started taking shape about two years ago but it was only in the final 6-8 months when the real preparations got underway.

The notice then got handed in to my employers three months before I left and the last couple of months were spent finalising the stuff I call life administration!

The worst and best bits...

The best thing is the flexibility of the working hours, the sunshine and the benefit of living in one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the world.

The toughest elements have to be all the little things that you can never truly plan for – the internet connectivity suddenly dropping out, the inexplicable software glitch or similar… “Computer says no”.  Agh!

Best advice...

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received was in response to my constant worry about what everyone else around me was up to.

It was less about a fear of failure and more about a fear of missing out.

It was something that bugged me for ages and ages. By stepping off the hamster wheel, would I missing out on the promotion, the bigger mortgage, the uber cool holidays?

And then someone said to me, “Don’t copy. Forget about the competition and in any case, who cares what everyone else is doing?”

It was one the best pieces of advice and it was the catalyst that mentally, really helped me make the leap.

Useful resources and information...

Reading around the subjects of not just starting a business, but living and working overseas is a well-documented and thoroughly researched space. Almost to the point where there’s too much stuff.

The best resources though was undoubtedly http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-4-Hour-Work-Week-Anywhere/dp/0091923727" rel="nofollow">The Four Hour Work Week