All posts by Lloyd Davis

What I'm doing

Solved – not quite how I expected… but…

So the tagline for this trip has been "What happens when I give up control and ask for help?"

I've been banging my head for the last couple of days against my desire to go to Long Beach and hang out again on The Queen Mary with the very cool people of the BIL conference.  It just wasn't working, Silicon Valley to Los Angeles doesn't really work unless you have a car or a rideshare – and finding someone to stay with was tricky too – I had some lovely offers, but I could tell it was going to be difficult to mix it up with being at BIL – I'm travelling fairly light, but I have a suitcase, a shoulder bag and a ukulele so it's not like I can just walk around anywhere, even when I'm in a walking-friendly city.

So I posted three options last night and went to sleep.  Thanks to everyone who mailed, tweeted and commented.  By the time I got up, I had a plan that covers me for the whole week through till I arrive in Austin.  The only problem with it is: it *sounds* insane 🙂  

So here goes – here's the bones of it:

I'm getting my Amtrak vibe back on.  Tonight, I'm going to take the train from San Jose up to Seattle.  I'll be staying with some friends of a friend – I've never met them, but I have seen pictures of them on Facebook 🙂  I get into Seattle at about 11pm, stay overnight and then have until 4pm to take a look around and hopefully get at least one cup of damn fine coffee!  

I then take an even longer jaunt than last year's Austin to LA marathon.  I'll be on the Empire Builder for 43 hours (yes, two overnights again) to get to Milwaukee, WI where I'll be overnighting on the Tuesday with the lovely Tracey @tapps Apps.  

She will be flying down to Austin the day after, while I will be taking the Hiawatha Service down to Chicago and then the Texas Eagle all the way, arriving in town at 6.30pm on Thursday ready to start enjoying the SXSW fun.

So yeah. Not what I expected, but it's what has emerged.  So I'm going with it.  Thank you for helping me see the next right steps.

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman

What I'm doing

Solve it while I sleep #2

OK I'm still in Half Moon Bay but tonight I'm writing at 11.30pm when I'm going to bed, in an attempt to put away stuff that otherwise would wake me at 3 🙂  It seems to me this might be a good regular practice – to write any issues  down before I go to bed and see what you all come up with (if anything) overnight.

I have 3 options for travelling on.  I'm learning from a few hits and misses that I need both a feasible route *and* somewhere to stay where I'm going.  I don't have that for any of the options yet.  Let's see if you can fill any of the holes.

Option 1: Go down to Long Beach, CA – I neither have a ride nor a sensible route for this by other transport – I have one offer of somewhere to stay one night.

Option 2: Take the Amtrak from Emeryville to Denver – I have had promises of contacts there, but no-one I already know to stay with

Option 3: Take the Amtrak from Emeryville to Seattle – I have somewhere to stay provisionally, just waiting for confirmation that the timing's OK

Now that I write it out like that, if I'm intent on moving on out of the Bay Area tomorrow, then Seattle looks like the best idea.  However, that train leaves at about 11.30pm (not my first time joining a train just in time to get to sleep!)  The Denver train leaves at 9.10am – that might actually be too early for me to get there.

So I guess you can help most with places to stay in any one of those cities but also some way of getting from San Francisco to LB

Do with this what you will… Melatonin is dragging me to bed…

I just need to say, I'm not worried about this.  I trust that the perfect answer will emerge in time – and I'll be much more comfortable if I don't try to work it out alone.

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman

What I'm doing

Day 2

I knew that I didn't want my first night to be with friends.  I wanted to be able to do what I did, which was to sit in my room for a bit and then drop off to sleep.  I dropped off to sleep a little earlier than I'd intended, but it's not the end of the world.  But I didn't need to be sociable with anyone.  I was asleep by the time my hosts got back from work.  I did get to spend some time with them this morning, but by then I was more human.

At first I'd planned to stay in a hotel the first night to cover this anti-social time.  But when it came to booking somewhere, I found myself really resistant to everywhere I looked.  That's when I thought I'd have a look at AirBnB.  I'd first heard about it late last year when I was looking for somewhere cheap to stay in Paris (which in the end didn't come off).  But I hadn't really looked at it properly, it seemed a bit odd, I don't know why really.  But when I looked this time, I quickly found something that looked perfect.

And it was. For $89 +$11 fee for AirBnB, I had a beautifully comfy bed in a spacious, light room, in a gorgeously decorated Victorian house a short walk from the BART at 24th St & Mission.

My hosts Tania and Philip made me extremely welcome – I couldn't have asked for a better start to my trip.  I wanted to stay up later to help with jetlag, but by 5pm I was really flagging.  I was able to just shut myself away and slumber and although I was awake for chunks of the night.  

In the morning I emerged and said hello to Philip.  Who knew that the first person I would speak to properly when I hit the USA would be an expat Englishman originally from Dorchester? Tania was a little busier but Philip and I had a lovely chat uncovering mutual interests and resolving to meet up when they come over to London in the summer.

After they left for work, I hung around for a little and caught up with people online.  Then I set out to get some lunch and go up into the city.  I found a T-mobile store and got myself a US sim card for the month.  I now have unlimited calls and texts and 2GB of data for the month you can get me on +1-415-395-6224.

Then I walked along to CitizenSpace the ur coworking space and sat there for the afternoon, sometimes writing, sometimes just being. It was chilly.  I haven't quite got used to the climate and the need for corresponding clothing.

Then I took my first real train – I mean I'd been on the BART but the CalTrain feels like a train – down to Palo Alto where Robert came to pick me up and take me to his home in Half Moon Bay.  It was great to see someone I already knew! After a 45 minute drive we pulled into his garage and then I was into the chaos of a home with two over-excited toddlers.  I was pleased though to have some hot delicious Persian food (rice with dill – yum!)  But I couldn't manage very much longer without sleep.  Took a melatonin and slept through till 3 am when I woke up worried and needed to blog…

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman

What I'm doing

Solve it while I sleep #1

I'm in Half Moon Bay with the Scobles.  It's 3.30am and I can't sleep right now, partly because my body still thinks its mid-morning but also because I'm trying to think through what to do next.  And that's no good, that sounds suspiciously like I'm in control.  So I'm asking for help.

I would like to get down to Long Beach (the other side of LA from here) for Saturday morning so I can attend the BIL conference on The Queen Mary.  I would need somewhere to sleep while in LB.  I don't know how to get there from here – trains are really complicated and the Amtrak site doesn't help much.

An alternative is to skip LA altogether and get going eastward – I have some contacts in Salt Lake City and possibly Denver as well as down in Tucson.

I don't have any strong preferences at the moment, but I think it's important I keep moving – I've got a week to get to Austin.

Please help me think it through, all suggestions welcome – and maybe do some research/ask around friends you might have in the West.

I also have the question of what to do tomorrow (Thursday) – I have the option of going into Palo Alto with Robert first thing (I think he's going to be watching the TED stream) or staying here and seeing the ocean, doing some writing, trying not to think too much.  Maryam has very kindly given me the option of staying another night here.

Thank you for looking after this Englishman 🙂

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman

What I'm doing

Questions & Things to Do on Day 2

Get a US SIM card – last year I got one from T-mobile that was easy to cancel after a month and gave me unlimited data for $50 – is that still available? Or is there something better?

Go into the city, hang out, see at least one person I already know.

Asked about coworking spaces on twitter last night – @citizenspace came up will definitely drop in.

My host Philip just e-intro'd me to the founders of airbnb.com so would love to meet & chat with them.

Relax a little and stop worrying about making everything perfect.

Get down to Half Moon Bay to meet with Robert & Maryam Scoble with whom I'm staying tonight.

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman

What I'm doing

Day 1

Day 1 was a very very very long day.  It started for me at 6am GMT, 5 hours later I was on a flight that lasted 11.5 hours and found myself on Pacific Time (ie feeling like it was midnight, but the clock saying it was 4pm).

My body ached pretty much throughout the trip.  I think I've been carrying a lot of tension in the run up to leaving.  I've only partly let that go so far, but my shoulders, neck and head ache, though it's getting better.

I watched 3 movies: The Arbor, about Andrea Dunbar's family's experience after her death (message: life's a bitch and then you die), Middle Men, about the creation of online payments for the porn industry (message: family's more important than business), and Scott Pilgrim vs The World, comic-book/video game indie-style romantic comedy/kung-fu/coming of age with Michael Cer(message: love is really, really tricky)

I tried to drink lots and lots of water.

I arrived in San Francisco – the line for immigration felt about 3 miles long, especially as it was full of screaming children – I would have loved to have been able to join in.  The only sticky bit was when I told the immigration guy I was an Artist and Musician (it just came out that way – thank god I didn't say 'social artist') .  "How much money do you have on you?" He was happy when I showed him my walletful of cash and cards and waved me on.

I managed to capture a few minutes of my state of mind on camera before I headed for the BART station.

I didn't take in much of the ride on the BART but it certainly felt rapid – I hope to experience it again today.

Then through the wonders of mobile technology, I was able to pick up the details of where I was staying from my hosts and how to walk there from the station.  I arrived and relaxed.  I will write a proper review, but I'd found this place on airbnb.com and it looked a bit too good to be true.  It wasn't.  It was the perfect start to my journey – not as anonymous and lonely as checking into a hotel, not as socially demanding as being with friends – I felt fine just shutting myself in my room, tweeting a bit and then finding myself falling asleep… at 5.30pm.

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman

What I'm doing

One last push

Thanks again to everyone who's contributed already.  It's amazing and heartwarming to me that so many people gave without me having to beg.  There has to be an end date for the campaign and I chose today (actually midnight PST which is 8am GMT) so that I'd have the bulk of funds before I went away.  Credit Card donations are held in escrow until the end of the campaign and I won't get them until Friday.  So if you want to give something *before* the trip has started, maybe you didn't realise it was going to close or perhaps you've changed your mind reading this, please do so.

By supporting this project you will be:
* increasing understanding of the dynamics of social capital created through social media
* co-creating an inspiring online adventure story
* helping create a repository for a large amount of detailed source materials, licenced for use by anyone with some rights reserved. 

However, while I've paid for my flights and have enough for basic expenses for the time being, I need to find some other ways of raising money to fully cover my overhead while I'm away.  This is not only my rent (which is due towards the end of the month) and utility bills but also the weekly contributions I make to my children.  I'm open to suggestions on how to do this – I'm not necessarily convinced that it needs to be another indiegogo campaign, it might simply be about encouraging one-off micropatronage donations – I trust that you'll all have better ideas than I can come up with.  

And I'm not up to sorting it out tonight, I have to finish packing and want to be in bed at a reasonable time to get to the airport for 9am…

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman

What I'm doing

If you’re wavering, like @robnonsense how does this sound?

We're into the final hours of the indiegogo campaign and I'm preparing to fly to San Francisco tomorrow morning. 

In the comments of a previous post, Rob Mosley said:

"I'm still making my mind up whether to contribute. Partially that's because I'm not sure I'll enjoy the content that much… I mean, I know it will be interesting, and insightful and potentially funny in places; but my jealousy of your trip may ruin it for me!"

and added:

" How would you feel about a contribution that effectively bought part of the rights to sell the story after? My percentage to be shared proportionally with all other contributors. Say with you owning, let's see… 51%

Would this kill the art? Would you want a bigger cut?! (I'm asking because I find this really interesting, and would love to hear your answer… and because part of me thinks if you want to co-fund something, you should profit share… "

So I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, but don't feel comfortable with the profit-share idea as a solution.  I do want you to benefit from the material I create, I want to share it, I want you to be able to find insights and meaning that I'm not able to see, but I don't want to  feel saddled with the responsibility for making a financial profit – even if that's not what people are expecting, it's an expectation that I would put on myself.

What it shows me is that I haven't made something explicit that I think I made explicit last year – doh! 

I've left something assumed that is actually quite important.  I've said that I will write a book and make a movie out of the material that I will gather on the trip.  What I haven't talked about is what you will be able to do with that material.  Would it change your mind if I were to say that all the material I collect will be made available online under a Creative Commons licence (probably by-nc-sa) ?  So that I'm creating a free to use repository of research material which you can delve into?  I would retain the copyright of it all, but you could use it without asking permission if. you attribute me as the original source, you don't charge for what you do with it and you share it under the same conditions?  

So rather than investing in something that needs to be a business, you'll be investing in me creating a common good.  If you do want to create a commercial product based on the material (or use the material in any other way not covered by the license), then I am likely to agree, but I reserve the right to be asked first.  The other thing I've left unsaid is that I'll do an event for those who contributed and can get to Central London to explain what I found, what happened and what material is available.

This, incidentally, is almost the same as how Tuttle works – any member can make anything they like out of what goes on there but only I get to use the Tuttle name on commercial offers (and those have involved profit-share) – and I think that's why people who know me from that sphere have been more willing to just jump in.

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman

What I'm doing

Service and Presence

This badge is an aide-mémoire – it reminds me both that I am here (right now) and what I'm here to do.  In the excitement of preparing for the trip and talking about it, answering questions and asking for help to just get over to San Francisco tomorrow, something has become a little obscured.

I believe that the most important factor in the creation and conversion of social capital (and that's what this trip is supposed to be looking at) is for me to be of service to those around me, to focus on what I can give to each situation rather than what I can get from it.  So my first question for people I meet on the road will be "How can I help?  What do you need doing?" rather than "What do you have for me?"

Now I will forget this again and I will slip up from time to time – I'm not perfect.  But I will be reminding myself daily that, assuming I have what I need in terms of basic food, shelter and transport, my primary focus has to be on what I can contribute to those around me.

I know from experience that my ability to do this will be enhanced when I'm able to remain present to what is going on right now, rather than what happened earlier on or what might happen next.  That's one of the  reasons for me writing about the trip as I go, it helps me put away things that are done with.  It's also why I change the subject when people talk about planning – it's not that I have a philosophical beef with planning, more that I tend, if I give myself over to drawing up plans, to focus on what's not happened yet rather than the here and now and that means I miss out on important stuff.

So I'm here.  And I'm here to help.

Originally posted on Please Look After This Englishman