A short animation introducing the Untemplater.com community. Stop living the deferred life plan and master the art of lifestyle design. Consume less. Live more.
Actually, I’m just the opposite. I find video frustrating because I can read a lot faster than I can watch someone talk. Added to that, the only real time I have to go online is before work while my wife is still asleep, so I have to keep the volume off. I will admit that I haven’t even watched this video yet, and I’m not sure that I actually will.
Actually, I am not a big fan of extended video either. Watching someone talk doesn’t really add much to the message; other then seeing what the speaker is like.
However, images can often communicate much more than words. I am not sure I accomplished that goal in this video but that is what I am aiming for with these animations. They are meant to be half entertainment, half education.
It is hard to ignore society. In Canada now, I see everyone has tattoos and body piercings. Where is the rebellion and uniqueness when everyone does it?
Even when we think we are creating our own path, we are often living the ideas of others. As I mentioned above, it took me years of living abroad to really understand how much I was influenced by my old culture and society. I still feel pressured to appear successful and consume lots of expensive items.
The only effective way I know to escape it is to live abroad and travel. That probably means I will never have a stable home.
And there’s nothing wrong with never having a stable home! The belief that we need to have a stable home and settle somewhere is also part of the template lifestyle. 🙂
I sold everything to become a nomad a little over a month ago and now I’m exploring India and living out of a single backpack. The freedom and simplicity are incredible. I’m now working on building some online income streams to support this lifestyle because as it stands right now, I plan to continue living like this… indefinitely!
Congrats on your nomadic lifestyle. It is an amazing feeling to cut down personal possessions to a bag or two. It takes away so much complication and stress.
Personally, I don’t like constant travel so I will be doing it a little slower. Maybe wife and I will be staying in each location for a few months. Hopefully, this will allow us to have many, temporary ‘stable homes’ as we travel.
All the best with your online income streams. Please blog about your progress. We all want to hear about it.
I’ve never been abroad, and hate traveling, but that doesn’t mean that I’m stuck in a societal construct of be successful and consume. I have a low-paying job that I absolutely love, and so far this year, I have bought food (mostly store brand), gas for my car, a replacement part for my computer, and a $10 bouquet of roses for my wife’s birthday.
Of course, I have a friend who was all in that lifestyle AND traveled extensively around the world, until he got addicted to coke and his entire life shattered. Now is is a lot happier with a lot less.
I didn’t mean to suggest that it is impossible to be frugal and break out of societal norms in your home country. I always thought I was one of the freaks or outliers in Canada because I didn’t want to get sucked up in a corporate lifestyle after university.
However, it wasn’t until I started living abroad that I fully realized just how much I was influenced by society (Canada). Even when I thought I was charting my own path, I was still following a subset of my own culture. Life abroad changes you in ways that are difficult to imagine.
That is the point I was trying to make with the tattoos and body piercings. People are making superficial changes to make themselves part of a group in the guise of being unique or rebellious. In reality, we all want to conform to the ideas of some group because we want to belong to something. Now I am part of the traveling tribe, so I have adopted their values and consumption patterns. It is socially acceptable for me to be part of that group. If it wasn’t, I would probably be a middle level manager in an oil and gas company in Canada.
I think you really need to travel and live abroad to be able to see just how much we are controlled by the work/consumption cycle. I am visiting family in Canada now and I see it everywhere. Bigger houses, more furniture, newer cars, processed food, junk, junk, junk.
While it is nice to have a comfortable homebase, how much stuff do we really need?
This is fantastic work! It is so easy to get caught up in the work/consume cycle and miss out on life. It’s vital that we spend our time doing the things that bring value and meaning to *our* lives, and I actually just wrote a post today speaking to that point (and outlining why I don’t give a damn how green the grass is across the fence).
I know (from experience) that this is especially true for newlyweds and those getting out of college, so I’m happy to spread the word about the great resource you have here at Untemplater. Keep rocking!
Being a designer I know how long these videos can take to plan, storyboard and create so kudos on such a great job.
Very nicely put together with good transitions. Nice one John.
Thanks Jonny,
This one was the first so it is a little rough. The next one will be better.
Great video Jun (and everyone), it really gets the vision across 🙂
Thanks for the comment Shant. It is great to get feedback.
John, is that your voice?
Yes, Sam. That is me.
Great vid.
Maybe, just maybe, the vid will capture those that are too busy, *cough* lazy *cough*, to read.
Thanks Arsene,
I wonder if people like videos like this more than text posts?
I will keep experimenting.
Actually, I’m just the opposite. I find video frustrating because I can read a lot faster than I can watch someone talk. Added to that, the only real time I have to go online is before work while my wife is still asleep, so I have to keep the volume off. I will admit that I haven’t even watched this video yet, and I’m not sure that I actually will.
Thanks for the feedback Edward.
Actually, I am not a big fan of extended video either. Watching someone talk doesn’t really add much to the message; other then seeing what the speaker is like.
However, images can often communicate much more than words. I am not sure I accomplished that goal in this video but that is what I am aiming for with these animations. They are meant to be half entertainment, half education.
Great video. Stop worrying about what society says. Experience!
Thanks Vinay,
It is hard to ignore society. In Canada now, I see everyone has tattoos and body piercings. Where is the rebellion and uniqueness when everyone does it?
Even when we think we are creating our own path, we are often living the ideas of others. As I mentioned above, it took me years of living abroad to really understand how much I was influenced by my old culture and society. I still feel pressured to appear successful and consume lots of expensive items.
The only effective way I know to escape it is to live abroad and travel. That probably means I will never have a stable home.
And there’s nothing wrong with never having a stable home! The belief that we need to have a stable home and settle somewhere is also part of the template lifestyle. 🙂
I sold everything to become a nomad a little over a month ago and now I’m exploring India and living out of a single backpack. The freedom and simplicity are incredible. I’m now working on building some online income streams to support this lifestyle because as it stands right now, I plan to continue living like this… indefinitely!
Thanks for the awesome video!
Thanks for continuing the dialogue Raam.
Congrats on your nomadic lifestyle. It is an amazing feeling to cut down personal possessions to a bag or two. It takes away so much complication and stress.
Personally, I don’t like constant travel so I will be doing it a little slower. Maybe wife and I will be staying in each location for a few months. Hopefully, this will allow us to have many, temporary ‘stable homes’ as we travel.
All the best with your online income streams. Please blog about your progress. We all want to hear about it.
I’ve never been abroad, and hate traveling, but that doesn’t mean that I’m stuck in a societal construct of be successful and consume. I have a low-paying job that I absolutely love, and so far this year, I have bought food (mostly store brand), gas for my car, a replacement part for my computer, and a $10 bouquet of roses for my wife’s birthday.
Of course, I have a friend who was all in that lifestyle AND traveled extensively around the world, until he got addicted to coke and his entire life shattered. Now is is a lot happier with a lot less.
Hi again,
I didn’t mean to suggest that it is impossible to be frugal and break out of societal norms in your home country. I always thought I was one of the freaks or outliers in Canada because I didn’t want to get sucked up in a corporate lifestyle after university.
However, it wasn’t until I started living abroad that I fully realized just how much I was influenced by society (Canada). Even when I thought I was charting my own path, I was still following a subset of my own culture. Life abroad changes you in ways that are difficult to imagine.
That is the point I was trying to make with the tattoos and body piercings. People are making superficial changes to make themselves part of a group in the guise of being unique or rebellious. In reality, we all want to conform to the ideas of some group because we want to belong to something. Now I am part of the traveling tribe, so I have adopted their values and consumption patterns. It is socially acceptable for me to be part of that group. If it wasn’t, I would probably be a middle level manager in an oil and gas company in Canada.
Thanks Dustin,
I think you really need to travel and live abroad to be able to see just how much we are controlled by the work/consumption cycle. I am visiting family in Canada now and I see it everywhere. Bigger houses, more furniture, newer cars, processed food, junk, junk, junk.
While it is nice to have a comfortable homebase, how much stuff do we really need?
This is fantastic work! It is so easy to get caught up in the work/consume cycle and miss out on life. It’s vital that we spend our time doing the things that bring value and meaning to *our* lives, and I actually just wrote a post today speaking to that point (and outlining why I don’t give a damn how green the grass is across the fence).
I know (from experience) that this is especially true for newlyweds and those getting out of college, so I’m happy to spread the word about the great resource you have here at Untemplater. Keep rocking!
Get rid of the damn TV! 😀 Love it 🙂
Thanks for the comment Benny! I appreciate it.