8000 Miles on a Spyder Motorcycle!

That's right, yours truly is taking a cross-country motorcycle trip this summer. Nope, I've never driven a motorcycle.

Why? Because I'm writing a book, of course!

OK, that was a smart alec response. This roadtrip will help me conduct research for a book I'm co-authoring, Tradeoffs: Leveraging the Longs & Shorts of Life.

Financial trader Matt Davio and I will use the language and practices of those who trade for a living to frame life's tradeoffs: time for money, freedom for convention, risk for reward, and money for goods and services. Matt's been interviewing subjects on his website for about six months now, and I'll do my part from the road (mostly).

Itinerary? From NC I'll travel through TN and AR to pick up what's left of the old Route 66 beginning in OK. I'll travel through TX, NM then veer north in Kingman, AZ to take in the Hoover Dam en route to Las Vegas for a layover with my parents and sister.

From Vegas, I'll head west-northwest via the legendary Pacific Coast Highway to Eugene OR. After a layover with my co-author and his family in Bend, OR, I'll head to Denver, CO to visit friends before heading east.

On the way back I'll visit Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments, interview executives at the CME Group in Chicago, then head south to a suburb of Columbus, OH where I'll visit with my brother (who rides a BMW) and his family.

The final leg of my journey will carry me through the West VirginiaTurnpike (Blue Ridge Mountains) and western VA before landing home in Charlotte.

That's at least nineteen states, three time zones and a good 8000 miles. 

Along the way I'll frequent Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins and other famous Roadfood joints and occasionally couch surf with the community of financial traders who follow me on Twitter and my blog. I'll include videos in my blog a couple of times a week and tweet daily. Most people will never take a trip like this, so I'll do my best to bring you along (in the virtual sense).

Want to be interviewed, host an event or suggest a layover? Want to sponsor part of this great adventure or know a company that might? Hit "reply" and let's talk.

And clients, I'll be able to work from the road. I've got your back -- even from two time zones away.

A Refreshing Presentation

I recently partnered with a couple of other freelancers to deliver a pitch that was SUPPORTED by a Keynote presentation (Apple's equivalent to PowerPoint).  

Nary a bullet point.

Lots of images.

Here's a video on why this type of presentation works so well.

Major takeaway: if the slide helps the VIEWER understand your message VISUALLY, keep it; if it helps YOU remember what to say, scrap it.