Back to the blog, back to the basics

State of mind: Back to the blog

& back to the basics

FROM MY INSTAGRAM PAGE: @FR33WATER

Hey gang, I’m not sure how many of you are still here from the days of MeetYouThere or if your checking out my blog for the first time through my @fr33water Instagram page -- but welcome one and welcome all. It’s time for me to get back to blogging, I put a lot of my creative energy into my instagram page over the last year and frankly (no pun intended) it’s paid off. It can be challenging to keep pumping creative energy into a blog when you may not necessarily see monetary value from it… but that isn’t why I started to blog in the first place.

I started this blog back in 2015 when I went to travel the world… and during the trip it helped give me a purpose, gave me a mission and set goals behind some things I wanted to accomplish while traveling the globe. This blog can be a great travel resource for those looking for advice on what it’s like backpacking around the world - if you want me to write a new post covering older travel content, just leave me a comment in the comment sections and ask away. For now, I am re-purposing this blog to be my journal as I begin a new creative endeavor in 2020 and although I cannot fully disclose what this endeavor will entail I can begin to describe how I’m feeling through the entire process.

Nervous as fu*k but also confident as can be.

I’m nervous because a lot of unknowns lie ahead, as many freelancers may often think, but I am ready to enter a period of transition again. At the same time I’ve never felt so confident in myself and what I am doing (and thanks to tons of friends, family members, IG friends that have put this incredible wind in my sails) what am I doing you might ask? Well I’m working towards some big things in 2020 and settings some sky high goals as we enter a new decade… if your not already doing the same I suggest you take some time after reading this blog post to write down some goals, dreams and things you hope to accomplish next year, in five years and maybe even ten years (if your the kind of person that thinks that far ahead). It would make more sense if I had twenty goals lined up for 2020 but here’s a little shortlist that I post on my Instagram account:

1. Travel more

2. Freelance more

3. Network more

4. Collaborate more

5. Create more

6. Be more humble

7. Be more self aware

8. Create better balance

This is a pretty loose set of goals but… you have to start somewhere, from here I will identify more tangible things I hope to achieve, map out a plan and start charging towards it. That’s all I’ve done in 2019… set my sights on something and gone after chasing it as hard as I can. Some of things worked out, some of these projects failed epicly and some of them I will continue to work on in 2020. It’s okay to fail — it’s even better to learn from those failures to apply that knowledge to future projects, future clients and future endeavors. Before I didn’t think failure as an option but I’ve had to learn (in running my own business) that sometimes it’s okay to just say ‘No’ if the project isn’t the right fit or if something doesn’t sit right with me… in fact, you gain a lot of power when you begin to say ‘No’ to things you don’t want to do. This goes hand in hand for me when it comes to sitting in one place for too long… I’ve long been bitten by the travel bug, it lives inside me to be out exploring the open road and experiencing new places. One of the biggest things I look forward to traveling in 2020 there some epic trips ahead… I can’t announce all those trips now but here are some visual hints at the first trip for next year:

AS SEEN FROM MY STORY, ON MY IG: @FR33WATER

One massive collaboration that I couldn’t be more stoked for is an upcoming partnership with Dave & Matt camper vans — in January 2020 me and a couple adventures pals will head into the canyons of Utah using one of Dave & Matt’s incredible camper vans. I couldn’t be more stoked for this trip… I’ve wanted to own a camper van for quite some time and for whatever reasons or excuses I have not built one out yet. This partnership is rapidly going to change my decision about owning a van - mark my word… some of my favorite photographers (guys like Thomas Heaton, Quin Schrock, NateIntheWild and Chris Burkard) own camper vans and it seems like photographers and vans go together like almond milk and cookies. I hope you like almond milk

At the end of Summer and Fall I was dipping into a passion project called Mother Earth… unfortunately due to time and seasons change it’s been challenging to get out and make another edition of these. I will keep making attempts in 2020 to bring more editions of this to life.. the overarching goal here is to turn this into a larger project about saving the planet, sustainability and just being more conscientious about what we can all do to make a little impact on our changing earth… learn more through these two posts here (to all the models who reached out, I will be in contact soon enough!!): https://www.instagram.com/p/B4U52fQBDhY/ & https://www.instagram.com/p/B34hGaPhkug/

This year has been a challenging one for me in my personal life and without going into much detail I am confident that 2020 will treat me better… however at the same time I know some big challenges lie ahead when it comes to driving all my energy towards my creative dreams and goals. These are all apart of those ‘unknown feelings’ that you must face when making change and trying to chase the dream in a creative field — nothing is easy, it all takes hard work and I’ve been putting that in for awhile now. If I don’t create some big change soon in my life it will be very difficult to keep my current work flow: working 40 hours a week and freelancing at least 35 hours a week/weekends which can be really overwhelming some weeks and during certain times of the year (like around the holidays, when most are just sitting back enjoying time with their families… I often had to slip away to finish freelance work). I’ve pumped so much time and energy into this over the past year and I know if I keep my intensity at this same level… then hopefully, anything is and can be possible in the future. Hard work and a positive mindset can take you to some incredible places — I can feel that this next decade is going to be no exception and I’m beyond stoked to see where the future will take me. With lots of uncertainties on my mind I will be turning to this blog more to describe what I’m thinking, how I’m feeling and what’s ahead for me… at the end of typing this paragraph I went back up to my goals list and added “Create better balance” because that’s something I really strive to work on in 2020 — balancing work better, balancing play better, balancing being creative and taking creative breaks which will all help me to create better, more successful work in the end. It’s time to slow down and get back to the basics and continue to charge ahead… here’s a quote from Gary Vee who’s continued to help me through some tough times lately.

Life shrinks and expands on the proportion of your willingness to take risks and try new things.

—Gary Vee

AS SEEN FROM MY STORY, ON MY IG: @FR33WATER

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and check out my words — I appreciate your support and look forward to creating some mega vibrations into the next decade. Stay stoked out here

-Frankie Fr33Water