Alyssa Ackerman: An Open-Ended Mission to Explore Human Landscapes… From a DIY Van (#69)
Our Guest Today: Alyssa Ackerman
Alyssa Ackerman (@alyrose15 on Instagram) is a Michigan native with a passion for travel and studying humans. From the road, she’s a Digital Marketing consultant, content creator, yogi, hiker, and photographer. In January 2016, Alyssa headed out in a DIY van to explore the United States. She converted her vehicle into a fully functioning unit including DIY sink build, storage shelf and table, cushions and curtains, extending couch and bed, (even) a solar panel installation. She created an entire DIY section on her website.
Alyssa Ackerman also brought her marketing strategy and social media skills along on the road. Instead of traveling like a tourist, she decided to tell stories. Not just her own, but others’ along the way.
Tools and Resources Mentioned on the Show:
- World fest – http://worldfest.net/
- Pema Chodron – When things fall apart
- Ekhart Tolle – The power of now
- Tibetan book – Tibetan book of living and dying
- Brinery – Brinery Hotsauces
- Donnie’s CRV build
- Marie Kondo – LIfe changing magic of tidying – Here’s the video of Alyssa’s cleanse
Show Notes:
(Timestamps are approximate):
- [02:40] Who is Alyssa Ackerman?
- [03:18] What triggered Alyssa to start such an adventure?
- [08:20] How is Alyssa journaling her experience?
- [12:00] Who are the people that Alyssa visits/networks with?
- [14:53] What are the most interesting interactions with Alyssa’s network/followers/family?
- [18:20] How is Alyssa trading of financial stability and spiritual freedom?
- [22:57] Alyssa’s comments about freelancing and the new world trends in working remotely.
- [24:41] How is Alyssa dealing with nutrition and health while on the road? (She wrote this article for MindBodyGreen)
- [32:12] How did Alyssa handled the transition to ‘solo-travel-time’?
- [35:40] How does Alyssa deals with emotional challenges?
[38:01] How to spot a safe place to park/sleep in an unfamiliar place?
- [40:55] Alyssa speaks to the use of technology to fight loneliness
- [43:55] Personal finance on the road
- [45:40] How does Alyssa spend her ‘free time’?
- [51:20] Alyssa’s comments about the future.
Favorite Quotes:
- My family is happiest when I am not posting, because it means I am living and not thinking about capturing and sharing for other people.
- One major thing (this trip) helped me learn is to be intentional about my social circles. It helped contextualizing it.
- The biggest financial mindshift is simply that I can live with A LOT less…
- I’m not so focused on saving more, but I’m learning how to spend very little and that will continue to be a trend in my life.
- The best place to get sick is on a farm surrounded by people focused on holistic living.
- A big lesson I learned is to keep going. When I get lost, I keep driving. The act of driving is what I do when I don’t know what to do… it feels like home.
Transcript
Word Cloud, Keywords and Insights From Podintelligence
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Media Links:
To learn more about Alyssa and stay up-to-date on her journey, visit her blog: http://www.aplaceandallitscreatures.com/ and follow her on Instagram.
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