how to hack your own
travel channel life

it all starts with adventure
all text and photos by:
Adrianna Tan
http://popagandhi.com
http://fortylove.tv
http://twitter.com/skinnylatte
hi, i’m a traveller, photographer and
writer from singapore. i also dabble in
film and internetty stuff.

it all starts with adventure
(which has nothing to do
with these things:)
pantsuits heels
sensible shoes
proper shirts
... or waking up
before noon

adventures such as
riding a rocketboat
missing two
to laos (+crash
helmet+ lifejacket) drinking enough
driving al qaeda tuak, langkau
and moonshine
autorickshaws to bombs in a longhouse
pondicherry to swear off
wearing a burqah alcohol
... to sneak into
bathing in a river in which i’d
just killed and bled a pig
buses in yemen

how did i do?i’m
not dead. or broke. yet. { take that,
}
‘kiasi’ & ‘kiasu’)

this is what i spent my 4
years in university doing. { but YMMV
}
year 2: started taking buses
to places like Cambodia
year 1: absolutely nothing
(i went to calcutta, though)

this is what i spent my 4
years in university doing. { }
but YMMV
year 3: lived with a rock-
and-roll lovin’, betel-nut
chewing tribe in the world’s
it made cover!
wettest place

this is what i spent my 4
years in university doing. { but YMMV
}
year 4: went to india. then i went to india. then i went
to india again. then i went to india again. and again.
and then i graduated!

immediately, i got a tattoo
and left.

these days
eat(ing)
write
shoot i spend my time
travel
and
stuff.

here’s how you can do
the same (or similar).

take
stock of kids
spouse(s)
your age
boyfriend(s)
life. mortgage
girlfriend(s)
where bills
dogs
are you debt
at? cats

job =
unlearn
security =
everything salary = you
be really preferably
good at something
portable.
something

get used
to being
alone. and
to being
shameless.
ask, ask, ask = receive!
and (ask the right people, doh)

take like...
stock of what makes
‘the you happy?
other’
stuff.
are you doing it?
stuff
you’ve
why not?
put off

my list, shortly
know
before graduating...
what ✓financial independence
you ✓not have to be anywhere
(including any country) on
want to someone else’s schedule
✓wake up in a new country
achieve every day
‘goal- ✓develop my skills in a
meaningful way
setting’
✓write books
sounds ✓do only stuff i care about
wanky ✓even the really random stuff

then do it.
(don’t miss this step!)

“i want, i will”
{stuff that people i know have
“i am” done in the last 6 months}
➡travelling for 5 years
➡opening a pork burger shop in a muslim country
➡setting up a bakery
➡designing the Boeing Dreamliner
➡making gourmet ice cream for a living
➡designing a yacht for Porsche for the America’s Cup
➡moving to london/berlin/istanbul/helsinki/oslo/
bombay/tokyo/bangkok
(the -ing makes all the difference)

what’s stopping you?

fear
lack of plan
can’t make money
don’t know how to
scared
blahblahblahblahblahblahblah
do you want
it enough?

“if you want something badly enough the
universe will conspire to make it happen
although you will probably make less
money at the start.”
- what confucius didn’t say

the secret sauce
✓be shameless
✓know what you’re worth
✓don’t ever, ever pass up opportunities
✓surround yourself with brilliance that inspires
✓someone’s always better. don’t waste time
obsessing over this irrelevant fact
✓don’t be evil. really.
✓spend A LOT of time doing what you’re doing
✓criticism is a good thing
✓remember the boring stuff like taxes, CPF,
insurance, are important too

case study
“I love travel shows. I want to have my own.”

case study: http://fortylove.tv
“I love travel shows. I want to have my own.”

what is fortylove.tv?
a DIY travel show
may and adrianna: in london and dubai separately
travelling around the UK, Europe, Turkey, Dubai, the Middle
East and India independently
distributed free on the site,
iTunes, as a podcast feed
excuse to meet cool people, do strange things:
winemakers in lebanon, rickshaw competitions in india,
fortune tellers in turkey, heavy metal bands in syria, beer-
making monks in belgium... and more

process
all our crazy ideas start with a snappy domain (we now
have 35, and counting).
talked our way into career positions abroad: LON/DXB
didn’t keep the idea to ourselves: we’re big mouths, we told
EVERYBODY. agencies, nokia, credit card companies, camera
companies, VIRGIN, sony ericsson, and lots more.
WANNA GIVE US CAMERAS? HOSTING? MONEY?
AIRTICKETS? ADVERTISING??
(nope. good!)

a diy travel show was born
the idea: quirky, random stories in our many cities
the basics:
reliable hosting
a decent domain name
a decent website
twitter+facebook
distribution channels: site+vimeo+youtube+rss/itunes
wordpress!

actually travelling
tickets: we bought most of our plane/train/bus tickets ourselves!
ryanair, easyjet, airarabia... low cost carriers = our best friends
roof: we have friends in almost every major city in the world.
when friendless, couchsurfing helped
twitter: helped us meet wonderful people from dubai to
damascus. (“world’s loneliest tweetup” was between
@skinnylatte and @anasqtiesh in damascus)
blog: surprisingly still useful (yemen!)

why you should make your
own travel show
almost free distribution
word of mouth
people LOVE to travel - common shared interest
document your travels in a not-boring way
travel is so accessible now
most of all, it’s fun
AND A GREAT EXCUSE to do stupid things
it’s also opened many doors

watch it: http://fortylove.tv