Create Our World

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

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Create Our World.

Ben

“A wise traveler never despises his own country.” – Carlo Goldoni

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” -Henry David Thoreau

Check out a recent interview at Our Brightest Fire.

Check out an interview I did recently with Rob from the website, Our Brightest Fire.

Create Our World.

Ben

“Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake.” – Henry David Thoreau

43 Avocados.

“When planning for a year, plant corn.  When planning for a decade, plant trees.  When planning for a life, train and educate people.” -Chinese Proverb

Are You Collecting Avocado’s?

Before I had went to the ‘wilderness’ I stocked up on some food.  Today, I feel like doing some math.  I loved math when I was younger, not so much anymore, but this was fun.  The point of this is to show you the amount of calories of food I had when I was up on my little mountain. The mistake I made.  This will then lead into my point about whether you are collecting avocados or not.  Stick with me if you like details or skip to the end for the message (it is in BOLD).  Here is the food I brought with the amount of calories, that I hope to last for two weeks:

1. Carnation Instant Breakfast Essentials powder drink. Rich Milk Chocolate Flavor. 14 servings x 130 calories per serving = 1520 Total Calories

2. Chunky Peanut Butter. 16 servings x 210 Calories/serving = 3360 Calories

3.  Welch’s Concord Grape Jelly. Reduced Sugar. 31 Servings x 20 Cals/serv = 320 Calories

4.  A Loaf of Nature’s Own Whole Wheat Bread. 22 slices x 50 cals/slice = 1100 Calories

5.  Quaker Oats Granola Bars. 10 Bars x 100 Cals/bar = 1000 Calories

6. Trail Mix. 4 servings x 150 Cals/serv = 600 Calories

7.  2 Packs of Instant Oatmeal. Apple Cinnamon Flavor. 2 servings x 160 calories = 320 Calories

8. Bag of Bolthouse Farms Carrots. 2lbs. 12 carrots x 30 calories = 360 Calories

That is a total of 8220 Calories.  I was planning on being gone for 14 days.  That’s 587 Calories a day.  According to Hpathy, I need 2203 Calories needed per day to maintain my current weight.  (Hpathy is an online calculator that takes my gender, age, weight, height, and how active I am and spits out how many calories I need to maintain my weight.  I plug in Male, 29, 140, 68 inches, and low activity because I will be sitting a lot, but will have to hike to get places).  

I didn’t have the calculator with me when I was out there, but I knew by my shrinking sack of food and hungry belly that I would be running out.  So I collected some:

9. Oranges from a nearby tree (AWESOME! by the way). 11 oranges x 60 calories/orange = 660 calories

This brings me up to 8880 Calories. 634 Calories per day.

Problem… Solution?

I realize I am not going to make it.  I try to make my food last, but I like to eat.  At about 4 days, I was eating a peanut butter sandwich a day.  Not enough.  BUT, below my mountain hideaway are Avocado Farms!  Ben, a pool cleaning man, I had hitched with to get to Temecula, had told me that Avocados were a fruit you could live off solely.  BINGO!

On the fifth day, I hiked down and collect 43 avocados from the ground of a farm.  I thought I was in there.  

1 avocado has about 322 calories! 43 avocados x 322 cals/avocado = 13846 Calories. 

13846 Cals + 8880 Cals = 22726 calories total. 1623 calories per day.  

Not 2203 calories, but close & I figured I could always climb down for more.  

The Lesson of Avocado’s.

On the eighth day away, I had to return to town, because I was out of food.  The problem: All 43 of my avocado’s were not ripe (I ate two that were raw… not good).  Avocado’s take time to ripen (they are ripe now and I have been eating the 13 that I saved and brought down the mountain).

The point: Be wary of putting your dreams in the hopes of your avocados ripening.  Or your current job providing security for you for the rest of your life.  Or your 401k providing you retirement in your golden years.  

A recent article by Chris Anderson, in the magazine WIRED, The New Industrial Revolution, discusses how the future of manufacturing and business is small Do-It-Yourself-er’s whom can meet the needs of a tiny niche of people.  The technology now exists to make small quantities of products affordably.  And it will only continue to get more affordable, opening the gateways for anyone to start a small business.  

The additional point:  There is a lot of opportunity for single individuals and small businesses with a small initial investment to pursue something they are passionate about and make a living doing it.  

What are your thoughts?

Create Our World.

Ben

“…If you are successful, you will win some false friends, and some true enemies: BE SUCCESSFUL ANYWAY…” – Mother Teresa