Does this sound like the title to a scary movie?

It shouldn’t. Taking a vacation with the kids can be an amazing bonding experience. Even just a weekend trip to the lake can bring you closer and give you a real opportunity to make an impact on them. However, this is one of those times you might have to give in and let them do things on their terms.

I am in no way a child phycologist, do not pretend to even be good at parenting ( we let our 10 year old basically roam free at the lake, or beach ) and you should not take any of my parenting advice. But I’m very good at enjoying life! This article is about the later.

As adults we know the value of time, especially free time!  When we finally get a vacation there is a need to cram as much fun into it as possible. Wake up early, schedule every minute of the days with fun and exciting activities. Never waste a vacation.

And this is the problem

We spend all of this time planning and scheduling everything, then the freakin kids won’t wake up in time to see the sun come up over the water. WTF! So you resort to yelling at them to get up. Maybe force them out of bed. She against her will, comes out, takes a selfie with the sunrise and goes to the couch to play on that stupid phone. Why did you even let them bring electronics? You are so annoyed that the rest of the day is shot. Everything you want to do is a battle of you against the kids.  Your attitude is lost and going home is starting to sound like a good idea.

Does it have to be like this

So what if you tried doing the opposite? What if you made your family vacation about all of your family? Do you ever stop to think that what is fun and important to you might not be so fun and important to a 14 year old? We know that teens need a lot more sleep than adults, they work a lot harder than you will ever give them credit for, and possibly could use a few days of sleeping in and naps. Catching up with friends on social, showing the world the selfie they just took with their family and the sunrise.

Lets try something a little different. Before you go to bed say ” Want to get up to see the sunrise with us? You can go right back to bed after.” If they do cool, wake them up, if not, cool enjoy your peaceful morning.If they do get up with you it is a great chance to slip in a life lesson, like “wow isn’t this an amazing world we get to live in.”

Now go on with your day. If your son doesn’t want to go fishing with you, go by yourself. Show him some pictures later, or just some stories. What do you think will be a more impactful conversation with a 16 year old, “If you don’t get off that computer and come fishing I will throw it in the water!” Or “what a great day I had out fishing, didn’t even get a bite but it was so peaceful and refreshing”

Our goal as parents is to raise good adults, not so much good kids. When we punish argue and force them to do something it is going to create a long term impact. When we show them how happy and excited we are, that will make an impact as well. How do you want your trips to be remembered by them?

When you first decide to start renting out your gear it can be hard to figure out where to even start.

To make it better all of your friends, family, and customers will have lots of advice that you “have” to do. A lot of the time it starts to look like it will not be possible, and even if it is possible, not worth it!

I know this feeling well. When I decided to start renting out our RV for the first time it took almost 6 months before we ever took the first step. Then I would get busy with other stuff and make excuses as to why there was no time to take the pictures I needed, or whatever the next perceived road block was.

 Then finally, I did it. I rented it out for the weekend. The first booking was almost by accident! It just happened. The whole thing was one crazy disaster after another.

The rental was for a music event. Channel West Coast was booked to use my trailer as her back stage area at the event. I also rented 3 other trailers to supply the event with.

Here is a bullet point of the day:

• We were supposed to start the day at 5:30 am to get set up. At 5:00 my helper and other driver called to say he had strep and could not make it.
•  I went to hook up the first trailer and realized the lock was on wrong and had to be cut off (my neighbors love grinders at 5:15 am
• Second trailer had a flat, and no spare
• Dropped off final trailer and truck stopped moving. Transmission was done
• The promoter did not get us power to the trailers for the AC until 3:00. It was 118 degrees in Phoenix and we were told to set up on the sunny side of the building
• Trailer AC units could not keep up
• None of the promotional items we were guaranteed happened
• Concert ended with huge fight in crowd

After the concert my wife and I started pulling the trailers home with our second truck. We pulled the last one in the driveway at 6:30 am 25 hours after we had pulled it out. No sleep and tired.

But I realized one thing

We had done it! Our business was started and I was so excited. There is not one thing I would ever want to be different about that first rental. We learned so much.

Most important we learned to just go for it.

There will be some issues that come up, it will be challenging, nothing will go as planned but it will be fun and exciting. It is the start to a new business.

When you decide that it is finally time to do something different gather up some pictures of your gear, make a listing on Campeez and start telling people about it. Everything else you will figure out as you go.

I am told almost daily how “lucky” I am, or “It must be nice”

Most of the people who know me think I either won the lottery, or live on welfare lol. I spend my time on the lake, out camping, or just having fun.

This is a story I heard as a kid that has helped to shape my life. The other day my teenage daughter just heard it from her favorite teacher. Now I will share it with you. I have no idea who is the original author so I copy and pasted it from Google.

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.
As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.
The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”
The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”
“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.
“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.
The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”
The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.
“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continues, “And after that?”
The businessman laughs heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”
The fisherman asks, “And after that?”
The businessman says, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”
The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”

It is what I am doing now, living the Campeez life!

What do you want to do?

I don’t know what do you want to do?

I don’t know what do you want to do?

I don’t know!

Sound like how you make plans?

The end result of this conversation usually has one outcome. You spend another day doing nothing. ( and I’m not talking about the good kind of doing nothing! ) The day is spent talking about all the stuff you cant do, or what you don’t want to do. However it rarely gets you out doing something new and exciting.

Here is the thing though, it can be hard to know what you want to do! Personally I live in the moment most of the time. There is mornings when I wake up and think, its nice out today I am going to the lake. Other times a ride through the trails on a UTV sounds like a good idea. Once I even went to Hawaii for the weekend, and stayed for close to a year.

Campeez.com is perfect for people like me. There is no way I could own all the equipment needed to do the variety of outdoor activities I get myself into. When we are in Florida I want to spend a few nights in a fun Hipster RV . What if today I want go with my wife on a jet ski ride at Apache Lake in Arizona? People like us need options. People like us  are called Campeez. We want to have fun wherever we go.

There is another side to this story though. My wife and I do end up buying some of the stuff we use a lot. We have a camp trailer some kayaks and a few other toys. Campeez makes this possible also. We rent out our gear when its not being used. This is a way to get a great ROI on things we do buy, and also helps other Campeez like us get to have fun!

The more adventures you have the opportunity  to try, the better you will be at answering the dreaded question, “What do you want to do?

Happy Camping!

 

Campeez is a startup that is using technology to help people get out and disconnect from technology.

I understand that this may seem odd, but stick with me and I will explain.

We live in a connected world. According to a recent poll, http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/mobile/ ,77% of Americans own a smart phone. This means we are always plugged in and always available. Once the internet became mobile, so did our work. We now have the freedom to work from almost anywhere. Even now, I am writing this from the back of a houseboat with a fishing line out, it is amazing.

Always being plugged in, however, can also be problematic. When you are accessible 24/7 people become used to it. Then they begin to expect an immediate response and demand your attention. Calls and emails can come in the middle of the night and if you don’t answer, it will result in DM’s, PM’s and even Snaps on your social media.

“Why are you not answering?”  “What is going on?”  “I am a customer and this is how you treat me?” “I just need a quick answer..”.

So, what if you could disconnect from this for a few days?

Imagine setting your auto-responder to “We are currently in training to learn to better serve you. We will be available again on Tuesday and will be reaching out.” then, hopping in your car to go camping for a couple days?

You could spend some time connecting with your kids, playing with the dog, maybe even getting to know yourself again. I can tell you from personal experience, that once you check back into your connected world, your productivity will go way up. Don’t  believe me? Google it! Here is just one of several articles discussing the importance and benefits of fresh air: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/08/tk-ways-fresh-air-impacts_0_n_5648164.html

So, what do you do about the customer, boss, co worker, or family member that doesn’t think you deserve a few days to yourself?

Some people will never accept that you are not on this earth to cater to them, every minute of every day. I have probably even pissed someone off in the time it took me to write this blog. When I turn on the wifi, there will possibly be at least one email from someone who is being impatient and demanding my attention. If so, I will give it a quick swipe to the left and begin with responding to all of the people I enjoy talking to because I have learned that rude, demanding, and entitled people, will eventually fade into the background. They may spam everyone that will listen about how I ignored their messages, but I’ve learned that my time is too valuable to let this affect me. I’ve learned to take my time back.

I know this all sounds a little scary but take it from me, it is worth trying. Even if you don’t have any of the gear you need for a camping trip, no problem, Campeez.comconnects you with hosts that have everything you need. Most will even set it all up for you, making this little get away even easier.

The key to getting away more, putting down the phone and to take back your time is to make it fun and as effortless as possible. That way, you can’t talk yourself out of going with excuses like not having enough time, not having the gear, or whatever reason is holding you back from getting the vacation you need! Take a look at the Campeez Blog

to get inspired and read about some more tips and ideas on how to enjoy the Campeez Life!

There is no doubt that the jobs of the very near future will look a lot different than the jobs of the past.

With the new technology like AI, machine learning, and driverless cars millions of jobs will be changed. So many people will now have the ability to do work that matters. Work that is important, work that they love.

 If your job is in danger due to a computer replacing you, give that computer a big hug, because your job sucks! Machine learning is one of the greatest gifts humanity has seen in a long time. No more will humans have to do the tedious tasks like sending invoices, analyzing markets, transporting goods and so many other jobs that take up most of our time. Seth Godin wrote my all time favorite blog on this idea. It’s a quick read about 23 things AI can do better than us.

We will now be able to focus on doing the things that make us human. Like providing experiences, you can earn a living teaching people how to ski, and writing about skiing, even taking pictures of skiing. Or whatever your passion is. The abundance in our world gives us the ability to make a good life doing the things we care about. Sites like Airbnb, Campeez, and a few others give you the means to make money doing what you love.

 You old timers out there want to call us all lazy, say were entitled and dreamers. Well guess what, you worked at a shit job you hate, 60 hours per week all with the hope that some day you could retire and live the life we are all creating for ourselves right now. Oh lucky you, you retired with millions, and in the process became so unhealthy and depressed that you will spend all that on medication and health care.

You can now live that life right now. I know most people are not entrepreneurs. What I do believe though is everyone can be a freelancer. Even if you love your boss and being at the same place at the same time every day you can still be a freelancer. Find a way to create value to that company and be paid for that value. Do you love to bake? Start offering to bring lunch to the office for everyone. Before long you will be running a catering business. No robot will ever deliver a cupcake like the one you poured your heart into making. The asshole that called you a dreamer will gladly fork over that money he worked so hard for to buy something you enjoyed creating.

 Do you own some camping gear? Wouldn’t it be cool to get paid to go set it up for people? Go out to your favorite spot, set up a camp, visit with your guest for a few then go on with your day. The guest gets to experience something new and exciting, you get to make some money and spend more time in the woods!

When people ask what I do, to my wife’s dismay, I usually respond with “nothing” or “as little as possible” some kind of answer to let them judge me. Sure I spend a lot of my nights finding and fixing bugs in our code, just to spend the next day answering customer service calls and emails. Once a week she will have to tell me work time is over and I should probably have dinner. But I never have a job. I get excited in what I’m doing. Its fun. My work is to help more people get out and experience the outdoors, how could it not be fun? Our office is a boat floating at the lake. I have had to mute a conference call to land a big bass. This is living.

The future will be about creating experiences, making people happy, and living life!

What will you do?

 What is your perfect getaway? When you need a disconnect from your day to day how do you imagine it?

Well if you are anything like me it changes every time I think about it. Some times it is sitting on a beach. Some days I want to boat from L.A. down around the Panama canal. Even going to Cuba has been at the front of my mind once or twice. Currently I am interested in all the local activities right by our house. It is interesting to me that as we are flying off to a new spot, there is a plane full of people passing us to see all the cool stuff in our back yard.

So, I am going to imagine I just flew into Arizona for a week long vacation.

 First step is where to stay?

I love the water so I will always want to stay near it or on it. Canyon Lake is one of the most scenic places in Arizona, possibly the world. It is near so many other great activities that I feel like it will be the perfect spot. For this trip I will have home base be a houseboat. We have done house boat vacations to Lake Powell, but for this vacation it is going to be a little different. We are not going to drive the boat around the lake, just use it as a home.

Day 1

Get all settled into the house boat and spend a little time unwinding. Were all going to be 2 things, hungry and excited. This is a perfect time to take a dinner tour on The Dolly Steamboat . A great way to get to see the lake and some dinner at the same time.

After the cruise it is time to relax a little on the houseboat. Do some night fishing, play boardgames, or just sit around the gas fire on the dock telling stories. I have never seen a better way to reconnect with the kids than sitting around a fire.

Day 2

Why is it we go on vacations just to rush through them? Slow down a little. Enjoy the day. I love being able to wake up and fish while my coffee brews, while sitting next to my wife who is still snuggled in the bed. Cooking is a major event in my family. We work together to make some pretty amazing meals. The morning is spent half lounging around the boat, half cooking. Potatos and eggs on the grill and about 10 other side items my wife has made for us!

Right down the road from Canyon Lake is Goldfield Ghost Town The rest of the day we spend looking through the shops, watching the gun fight shows, and learning about the history of Arizona. Oh and taking a ton of  pictures along the drive. No place on earth has views like the Superstition Mountains. The Mammoth Steakhouse in Goldfield is the spot for a late lunch / early dinner. Driving back to the lake at sunset gets a few thousand more pictures of the mountain range.

Day 3

Every morning is spent about the same so I wont go through the steps again. Most important for us is just to relax and let everyone do the morning at their own pace. Getting frustrated with the teenagers for sleeping in will not make anyones vacation better! Chill out man!

To explore more of the Superstitions, and attempt to find The Lost Dutchman’s Mine we rent a couple RZR’s to drive around. There is a ton of dirt roads and trails to explore.

The Evenings are all pretty similar as well. But tonight we have a cookout on the boat! There is a BBQ grill set up on the dock and by now we know all of the other houseboat neighbors on the dock so it is one big cook out! This is the plan for the rest of the trip!

Day 4

This is no plans day! We all just freestyle it. The kids play in the lake, we eat at the boat, maybe even a nap. Just do whatever, we’re  at a lake on a houseboat, live the Campeez life! Oh and maybe run into town for a few groceries.

Day 5

Man day 4 was awesome, but we didn’t finish! So lets do that again! With one exception. We rent a couple kayaks to play around with.

Day 6

One final big day. Were going to have a little fun out on the water today! We rent a wakeboard boat from the same Host ,Travis, that had the RZR’s. The kids have a blast riding the tube around and we get to see even more of this beautiful lake.

One more big cookout with the neighbors and its time to start packing.

Day 7

Pack up and head home with thousands of amazing memories and pictures!

We will be back again real soon!

 

 

So we have probably all spent a night or two in a less than ideal situation. On a friends floor, in the back of a truck, jail, or a bad tent. Some of us all of the above! It sucks. There is nothing relaxing about camping in a tent with a deflated air mattress and a rock in your side.

Here is a few quick tips to make camping a lot better! For you or your guest.

Step one: Clear the area under your tent! Rocks and sticks do not make good bedding. Move them.

Next you are going to want to clean out your tent:

sweep out the inside before you start to bring stuff in.

Set up a carpet area in front of the tent:A small piece of green carpet works great. This will keep you from tracking dirt and debris into your tent.

Set up your bed:

The tote I store the bedding in makes a great nightstand.

Make the bed area clean and cozy:

A Rug, coffee table and chairs make it a room:Again, use one of your totes as the coffee table. An ice chest will also work but make sure it wont leak and get your stuff wet!

Enjoy:

Rent this tent fully set up and ready to enjoy at

https://campeez.com/properties/camp-in-comfort/

How to Be the Perfect Campeez Guest

Renting On Campeez

Camping, boating, climbing and other outdoor recreation is a great way to get out and enjoy your life. But all the gear is expensive and time consuming to set up.

 Now thanks to the amazing host on www.campeez.com you are able to rent gear right from other enthusiast. These people are willing to share the equipment they own, and usually love, so more people can enjoy the outdoors.

Of course, the flip side is that there’s a totally different set of expectations than a lot of people are used to. If you don’t follow a few simple guidelines the next trip you want to go on might have to start at the sporting goods store!

We want you to get out and try as many fun activities as you can think of, without breaking the bank. It’s why we started Campeez so we’ve put together a guide to being the perfect guest.

Communicate

Talk to your host. Before you even book the trip ask some questions. If you have any particular expectations let them know. Our host are great at catering to different needs but they have to know your needs. Also go over everything when you arrive to start the trip. This is the time to go over everything one last time. It is also important to be sure you understand how to use the gear you are renting. The more you talk with the host, the better your experience will be! (You might even talk your way into an upgrade)

Treat It Better Than If It Was Yours

Campeez is a peer to peer site. This means that the gear you are borrowing belongs to a person. They are usually only renting it out because they are passionate about the sport and want to share with the world. If you abuse the equipment it is not some big corporation paying for it. On the same lines, we all understand that regular use is hard on stuff. We use our gear, stuff breaks, this goes back to communication. Just let the host know.

Leave No Trace

This one is most important. First of all is the obvious. Return all gear in the same or better condition than you found it.

Even more important is to remember you are also a guest of mother nature. This worls is the best one we have. Imagine how much better it could be if every person picked up one extra piece of garbage after a camping trip! It is a long tradition in my family to spend the last hour of every trip picking up garbage. Not just ours, but anything the person before us left on accident. I have tried to take care of the earth and have been rewarded for it 100x over.

You will be amazed at what being a great guest can do for your trips

Happy Camping,

Campeez