A location independent lifestyle doesn’t have to be a permanent, jet-setting life. While some people are happy to always be on the move, soaking up new experiences and meeting new people, there are others - like me - who like having a base to come home to.

I went on my first gap holiday when I was 21. I travelled to Asia, Europe and the US. I worked as a lifeguard at a summer camp, which paid peanuts, but provided a home, food, transport, lifeguard and first aid training, and many friends who acted as my guides.

I’ve compiled a list of helpful hints for anyone thinking of planning a gap year - I hope you find it useful

• Know what experience you’re after: don’t get a job on the ski slopes if you hate the cold. Don’t work at a summer camp if you hate little kids. Don’t work outside picking fruit if you don’t like the great outdoors.
• Research, research, research: You can never know too much about where you’re going. Because, trust me, you’ll think you know everything, until you get there. Then you’ll realize how much you still have to learn.
• Don’t wait to have heaps of money: I did my trip for about 6 grand AU (about $4500 US), including a RTW airfare (half of my 6K) living expenses for 6 months abroad, lots of yummy food, side jaunts to Miami and New York, broadway shows, a ten-day tourist tour of the US west coast, and some swanky hotels along the way. Cut out the RTW part and you could easily do the same trip on your airfare cost and some emergency money. Especially if you’re working somewhere like a summer camp or winery that supplies food and accommodation, you’re really only forking out for your travel and some spending.
• Don’t feel like you’re “running away” or “avoiding life”: You deserve to have fun as much as the next person. So what if you quit your job and go travelling for a year (ir two, or three)? Get another job when you get home. If the economy is still in shambles in six months, keep travelling. It’s not like you’d be missing much at home.
• Choose travel companions carefully: I cannot stress this enough. If you are going with a friend, there should be NO DOUBT in your mind that you can and will get along with this person in small confines for an extended period of time. I went with my best friend, and I love her dearly, but we still fought a few times. We still went on bitch overdrive when we were tired and food-poisoned and suffering from malnutrition. It may break the relationship. Make sure you are prepared for that eventuality.
• Don’t overpack: This is probably the hardest thing to do. Backpacking is a good deterrent from taking too much junk with you - even if you take it, I guarantee you, every piece of non-essential stuff will make its way out of your backpack. Half my junk ended up staying in hotel rooms or being given to others.

• You can live with bare essentials and be happy: Take a look at the photo above. I was incredibly happy and enjoying life in that photo, and here is a list of my possessions: a few changes of clothes, flip-flops, sneakers, 3 pairs of socks, one going out dress, some makeup and minimal toiletries, a digital camera, a digital video camera, a notebook and some pens, a handbag, a purse, a document wallet with copies of everything, a passport, a small stack of photos of my loved ones back home, a water bottle, and some pyjamas. Oh, and underwear
• Get out of your comfort zone: I took a job as a lifeguard and I didn’t know how to swim. I spent the three months before my departure getting fit, toned and healthy - which helped me pass my lifeguard swimming test and carry a 15 kilo pack around the world
• Don’t scrimp on essentials: make sure your suitcase/pack, electronics, and any other essentials are high-quality and tough. There’s nothing worse than ripping a huge hole in your backpack halfway round the world.
• Don’t be afraid: The world is your oyster! There’s always a reason not to go - the newest strain of animal flu, terrorism, a failing global economy…truth is, its kind of like choosing a right time to have a baby. There’s never really a perfect time.

For more information on Location Independent Living, including how to design your own location independent business, check out locationindependent.com.

Are you struggling to make something work in your life?

It might be your diet, your relationship with your partner or finding time to devote to your passion.

I’ve been through my fair share of setbacks and false starts, and when I find something that works well, I can’t help but feel a little smug

Here are some ways to help make things work:

1. Write down what you really want to do: It could be learning a language, establishing a weekly date night with your beau, or devoting time to setting up your own business. After you’ve written your goals down (and take your time!), cut out any goal or activity you feel is non-essential. For example, does it really matter if your house is spotless by 11am on a saturday morning? And do you really care if you have dinner with your parents once versus twice a week? Does little Johnny REALLY need to go to soccer, karate, piano lessons and painting classes every week? Let the poor kid play some of the time! 
2. Identify what is holding you back: It could be unrealistic goals, such as wanting to save half a million dollars up before travelling the world. Reality: It doesn’t cost that much. Save a couple K  (or sell some stuff) and go now! Or perhaps your attitude is holding you back - you really want to go for a job or apply to get into a college course, but you don’t think you’re “good enough”. There is no such thing as not good enough.
3. Eliminate time wasters: Checking email ten times a day? Try reducing that to 1 or 2 times a day. When I did this I realised that I was saving anywhere between ten and forty minutes a day! Guess what? That 10-40 minutes now goes to one of my “real” goals, like building an online business.
4. Get some outside advice: Sometimes we can be too close to a situation, and it’s hard to tell what the next logical step towards our dreams/goals should be. I have seen a life coach before and it really helped to solidify my action plans and my priorities. I worked with a local coach over the phone, but I’ve since heard of some awesome life coaches on the web including Jonathan Mead.
5. Have a “Fend for yourself” meal night a couple of times a week: This alone has saved me many hours during my week, hours that I instead spend working on projects like my novel. Being the primary cook of the household doesn’t mean you need to prepare elaborate dishes every night. This week I’ve eaten eggs on toast, homemade veggie pizza, and 2 minute noodles for dinner on various nights. Even if you have kids, you can teach them to prepare simple dishes like scrambled eggs or pasta bake, that don’t require too much supervision. Since I don’t have any kids, I call it “fend for yourself night”, because thats exactly what it is - I’m not fending for you! (Note: I happen to be blessed with an incredibly understanding partner who doesn’t demand that I cook and clean every day. Some people may not be so lucky. If this sounds like you, try gently pushing the issue first.)
6. Experiment with your body’s peak output times: This is a huuuge part of making things work. What is the point of rising at 4am to work on my novel when I can barely form a thought? I tried this for many months and got nowhere. Similarly, I kept planning to go to the gym after work, but never got around to it. I spend my mornings feeling guilty for not writing anything (other than garbage) and my afternoons feeling guilty for not working out. Then, almost by accident, I swapped the tasks. Turns out I’m really good at exercising in the morning - no brainpower or life-changing thinking required - and I’m also really good at writing at night (my body is exhausted from the day but my mind is still sharp). I’m not spending any more time on gymming and writing than I would have otherwise, but my results speak for themselves.
7. Don’t balance the world on your shoulders: You don’t have to cook a three course meal every night. You don’t need to bake cookies for your loved ones. You don’t need to check your email incessantly. You don’t need to comment on every blog you read. You don’t have to wash the dished four times a day - once is good (or, if you’re subsisting on sanwiches and noodles, a few days worth of dishes is hardly even noticeable). You don’t have to feel like everything is your responsibility alone. Delegation is an amazing thing, as is elimination.
8. Don’t beat yourself up: Okay, this is the golden tip. So often, we allow ourselves to feel guilty: for not blogging daily, for letting the washing pile build up, for not being a perfect wife/lover/mother/employee. You are human. There will be days when things don’t work. You will be okay.

I’d love to hear your thoughts: how do you “make things work”?

Are you struggling with a particular area in your life right now?

Lately I’ve been struggling with something you may be familiar with: guilt.

I haven’t done anything wrong (that I know of!) and my situation is something so common most people wouldn’t even think about it.

Spending guilt.

I’ve always been careful with my money. I refuse to pay top dollar for something when I know I can get it elsewhere for cheaper. I don’t let salespeople talk me into things. I always clear my credit card balance at the end of the month and don’t pay any interest. My only major debt is my home loan - and trust me, if there was another way that didn’t involve paying 1 million dollars over 30 years for a $400,000 house, I’d be doing it.

I’ve been in a new job for about 5 months with a significant payrise to boot. After being in my first house for almost 2 years I feel like I’m finally getting on top of things. We have an established savings fund, some for emergency and some for a project we’re undertaking in our backyard. I feel mature, responsible, like I’ve got my shit together.

So why the sudden attack of the guilts? Well, two things: I want to go on a holiday and I want to buy a new car. I can afford both. But somehow the idea of spending that much money makes-me-afraid.

The car: The one I want to buy isn’t brand new (2-3 years old), and will last well into my child-bearing years. If I buy it now, I will have paid it off by the time I start planning kids and the ensuing time off without 2 incomes. I mean, I can’t drive kids around in the old bunky car I’ve got right now. It’s small, its been voted the most unsafe car in its range (think: certain impalement on the steering column in the event of a crash) and while it’s done me well for the past 5-6 years, its getting to that age (1991 model) where things are starting to go seriously wrong. If I didn’t have a mechanic boyfriend, I think I would have burned my car a long time ago If I get a 5 year loan for a newish car, it will cost me 70 bucks a week. And the interest rates right now are sooooo in my favour.

The holiday: I haven’t travelled since 2006, when I went around the world and spent 6 months abroad working and soaking in the sights of foreign lands. I’ve been cool with not travelling because I feel that I’ve been establishing my house and life with Jed. But now, every time I walk past a travel agent, I see those photos of long sandy beaches and I get suuuuucked in. I want to go to Bali - airfares, a villa with a private pool for 7 nights and spending money will come in at under 3k. I can justify this. I feel like I deserve this.

So why do I feel so silly for wanting to spend money on these things?

Is it because I’m still operating from a scarcity mindset? Or is it because I think I don’t deserve things? On the other hand, am I misinterpreting wants as needs?

It can be confusing inside my head sometimes.

I would loveto hear your thoughts. And don’t tell me what I want to hear (although not too sure what that is). I’m not looking for permission to do these things - I’m looking for some sensible opinions from my valued readers.

What would you do?

(Oh yeah, and the state of the global economy puts me off. I feel relatively secure in my employment, but shit can and does happen. )

Recently I’ve had the pleasure of discovering another talented young thing, Cody McKibben. Cody is a LIP currently based in Thailand, where he runs his business Thrilling Heroics Consulting and blogs about lifestyle design. Here are a few things I’d like to share with you about Cody.

Thrilling Heroics Consulting

If you’re looking for someone to coach you with your blog, social media or wordpress, Cody is your guy. I haven’t worked with him yet but after hearing so many good reviews, I am sold. Once my novel is finished (18 days to go!) I plan on spending a few sessions with Cody getting some valuable coaching on the future of curiousliving and my web career in general.

The Blog, ThrillingHeroics.com

I strongly recommend you check this out. Cody created the blog in 2006 for people passionate about personal development, travel, productivity, personal finance, web entrepreneurship, lifestyle design and beyond. His articles are an awesome way to start working towards designing the lifestyle YOU want.

The new Wordpress Theme

This is exciting stuff. Cody’s currently working out the final kinks in a free theme, called “Thrilling Theme”, which includes multiple colour schemes, integrated Twitter features and stacks more. Go here for more.

The awesome discount right now

Cody’s being pretty generous right now and temporarily reducing his fee from $95/hr to $75/hr for your first consultation. Like I said before, I’ll be booking in for a session very soon.

The lowdown? One talented young thing! If you’re interested in learning more about Cody, his consulting or his new theme, please go to his site Thrilling Heroics.

Credit: Rachel Gaidzionis

Thoseof you who have been following curiousliving for a while will notice the new theme and layout.

I hope you like it!

It’s all part of my revamped plan for curiousliving and for my life in general. I’ll be sharing more details in the weeks to come, but here’s the short version: I’m madly working on a fiction novel as well as an e-book on lifestyle design and finding happiness.

It’s all part of my new lifestyle design. Which brings me to…

What is lifestyle design?

Lifestyle Design means different things to different people. Like, if I asked Jonathan Mead, he might tell me that lifestyle design is about breaking out of the 9-5 environment and reclaiming my dreams. Or Lea Woodward might define it as having the freedom to run a location independent business and work while travelling the world. Chris Guillebeau would no doubt talk about the art of non-conformity. Zoe Westhof might say lifestyle design is about balancing passion with purpose and living somewhere where the cost of living is low enough to work minimal and flexible hours. Erin Pavlina might say its connecting with your higher self and being authentic to your true desires. Steve Pavlina would probably agree and tell you to do a 30-day trial of whatever it is you’re dreaming about doing.

See what I mean? When I first heard of this “lifestyle design” concept, I was a little wary of it, mostly because it wasn’t easily definable. It’s still hard to explain to some people who dont “get” it. You kind of have to define what it means to you.

Lifestyle design for me is finding the things in life that make me happy and eliminating those that are negative, time-sucking or irrelevant. It’s about living deliberately. It’s about using what I’ve got to get  what I want. It’s about forging my own path instead of walking on the one society has forced on me. It’s about acting instead of reacting.

Most importantly, it’s about living true to my values and designing my life around those values.

If I had to put these ideals into tangible goals, they would be to exert a positive influence on the world through my work, my writing, the way I treat people, and the children I will raise. Also, to live in harmony with the environment as much as possible. To think outside the square. To resist the rat-race. To be financially comfortable. To travel to new places regularly.

I could also break this down further by telling you some specific projects I’m working on to design my ultimate lifestyle. The past year has been huge for me - I’ve immersed myself in learning all about blogging, I’ve been settled in my lovely house for a year, I’ve almost finished my first novel, and I landed a stimulating, low-pressure job that works well with my interests and skills.

It’s quite amazing how quickly things change when you start designing life on your terms. When you stop being a victom in life and go after what is really important. When you stop wanting to be a writer and start writing :) 

Lifestyle design is hard to show someone. It’s more a philosophy than a title you can attach to yourself. It’s all about living deliberately.

Here’s some thoughts on designing your life:

Dreaming

Picture your dream life. What does it look like? Who is there? What are you doing? And why are you doing it? How does it make you feel? Write down whatever comes to mind. Then think of how you will get there. Don’t let anxieties, pressure to conform or preconcieved notions into your thought process. Just let the ideas flow like water.

Designing

I like to use reverse planning. Think of your destination/goal, and then take a step back to the last action that would be required for you to have achieved that goal. For instance, if you’re planning on going to live in New York for three months, the last step before you were there would be getting on the plane at home. Before that, you’d be packing your bags, and before that, you’d be making a list of things to pack and buying your plane ticket. People often assume achieving goals has an element of “magic” or “luck”. But for the most part, its a logical progression of steps.

Living

Life isn’t about the destination. It’s about the journey. Think about ways you can design your life right now to accommodate your dreams and personal values. You don’t have to make a million bucks before you take that holiday. Your lifestyle design might include a mansion, a location independent business or a fit, toned body. Living your lifestyle design might mean opening a savings account and depositing your first chunk of mansion money. Or registering your business name. Or taking that first trip to the gym. 

Focus

It’s easy to let others suck you into their way of thinking. Before reacting to events that happen, ask yourself - what do you really think? Does this even matter? How does this align with your goals and values?

Take a moment. What does lifestyle design mean to you? No doubt your answer will be different again. Which is kind of the point.

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credit: Billaday

• I’ve never actually finished something - apart from the assignments I had to do for school, that is.
• I’m still very afraid to show my work to people - the less I know you, the easier it is for me to hand over what equates to my first-born child. Actually, I think I would be less afraid to give you one of my future children than let you read my writing.
• I’m having an ethical struggle over my latest novel - the one that I AM about to finish, in 3 weeks to be precise. Predominantly, my inner struggle focuses on the fact that while my story is fiction, certain events in my past have inspired it. And I’m afraid the people featured will see straight through any fancy name changes I’ve so deftly executed.
• My novel can be described as, well, harrowing. Also, bleak. Should I be bringing such a depressing tale out into the world? Will people understand that I’m actually trying to instil hope instead of kill it?
• My inner domestic goddess is working overtime trying to aid me in my procrastination efforts - at the moment its forcing me to choose between the roast dinner and the critical scene, between the subplot and the banana muffin recipe I just found. Of course, I know this resistance is just my brain, but still. Muffins are damn fine. I mean, you can’t eat a novel.
• I’m having real problems telling people what my novel is about. Yesterday my 75 year old grandmother wanted a quick rundown of my story, and I just had to shrug and say, “I’ll be done in three weeks. Then I’ll tell you what it’s about”. Hmm…
• I know why I’m having trouble telling people what my novel is about, but that doesnt make it any easier to say, “Yo dad, my novel’s about three girls. One gets addicted to crystal meth, starts stripping for a living, induces her own late-term miscarriage and sleeps with her sisters boyfriend, all before her kid accidently eats an ecstasy tablet and nearly dies! The second girl goes to rehab, which is good, until her boyfriend dies of an overdose, which is not so good. The third girl finds out that her dad has been abusing her little sister and at the same time she finds out she’s knocked up! It’s your all-round depressing story with a glimmer of hope thrown in for good measure. Here, if you feel like crying, read it!”    Yeah…
• I am afraid people will think the story is based on me. Specifically, that people will think i have a) been a junkie (not so bad), and b) think I was abused by my parents (awful! My parents were fantastic, and normal!).

My solution to all this? (I hope Susan Jeffers doesn’t sue me, crikey):

Feel the Fear, and do it anyway.

Yes, I’m scared, but most things worth doing have an element of scary.

I’m interested to know what you’re scared of? Please email me or share in the comments! I want to feel like I’m not the only one…

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my favourite bloggers, Zoe Westhof of Essential Prose. I first discovered Zoe’s blog by accident and was immediately struck by her unique writing style, her lifestyle choices and her honesty. Zoe is a talented young thing who decided to forge her own path instead of following the rest of the sheep. Zoe lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand and when she isn’t writing articles in the bathroom after midnight she’s swimming, playing soccer, freelancing and drinking tea.

Zoe grew up in New Jersey (one of my favourite places!) and moved to Thailand after graduating with a BA in Comparative Literature. She inspires me on so many levels - her ex-pat lifestyle, her freelance writing career, and her fledgling blog. Make sure you visit Zoe when you’re done here!

So Zoe, how did you end up in Thailand? Was it always your plan or did it just “happen”?

I moved to Thailand a few months after I graduated from university in 2007. It looked like the idea to move to Thailand sprang from nowhere, but it wasn’t actually too surprising. Hefty doses of travel and a year spent studying in Spain had left me pretty keen on the idea of living abroad. But in that pre-graduation confusion, it was hard to know what I really wanted to do. I had to actually accept a teaching fellowship offer before I realized that what I wanted to do was move abroad and work on writing more. I wrote a very polite letter un-accepting the fellowship, and here I am. Read the rest of this entry »

A lot has happened for me this past year. I bought my first house, moved out of home and changed careers. I feel like I’m a different person than I was just twelve short months ago, and not just by accident. (well kinda by accident…you’ll see what I mean)

February 2008: I was working myself into the ground managing a cafe, stressing non-stop and churning over being in control 24-7. The responsibility was probably too much for a 23 year old uni student, but I wanted money and I was sick of being at someone else’s mercy. I figured if I was the boss, I could pick my own hours, have lunch when I pleased and take weekends off.

Only it didn’t work that way. I was the only full-timer working with a bunch of high school and uni part-timers. Honestly, I can say that karma came and bit me on the ass in the biggest way imaginable! In my teens I constantly skipped from one job to the next, frequently calling the morning before a shift to quit that job in order to turn up to my “new” job. So, I probably deserved some of the sh*t the staff pulled on me (and by sh*t I mean not turning up, turning up late, calling in sick at 6:05am for a 6am sunday shift, forcing me out of bed on my day off to cover them, etc)

But still, it was such a toxic job. I was eating a sausage roll or cheese bagel breakfast every day, same kind of crap for lunch and by dinner I was so unresponsive from the 4am starts that it was ften just pasta with a jar of sauce stirred through. I put on about 6kg (still trying to shed the last few) felt like crap, probably looked like crap, and got more miserable as the days dragged on. A new house should have provided a welcome distraction, but it only added to my stress. I didn’t get any work done on my personal projects and my relationship started to suffer since I’d “shut off” after work, unwilling to speak one more word after being sweet to customers all day.

It was during one of these days that I was googling at work, during a quiet period. I figured I worked hard enough when it was busy, so I could take ten minutes to search stuff. Out of nowhere I typed in “personal development”. and landed on Leo Baubata’s site, ZenHabits.net. I know it sounds awfully cliched, but after reading a few sites I was well and truly hooked. One of the first posts I read - I still have it pinned up behind my desk - was Review Your Goals weekly at Zen Habits.

Here are some more golden posts I read that really helped me in that difficult time:

Think about your life goals @ ZenHabits

Jumpstart your day @ZenHabits

Big Rocks 1st - double your productivity @ZenHabits

How to do a weekly review in under an hour @ZenHabits

Darren Rowse’s undisciplined creativity @ZenHabits

Choosing the right career @StevePavlina.com

Setting your primary focus @StevePavlina.com

Why Vegan? @StevePavlina.com

Regretting Tomorrow @StevePavlina.com

As you can see, I ended up spending more than ten minutes devouring all of these articles and more. Some other sites that helped me are: The Change Blog (was then known as I will change your life.com), Think Simple Now, The happiness project and Illuminated Mind.

I honestly hadn’t realised until quite recently what an important time this was in my life. Ironically, by slacking off and googling at work, I gained a whole new perspective on life. I became emboldened by this power I hadn’t realised I could have. I became more confident as I started to try new things, like starting this website (I bought the domain over a year ago), immersing myself in learning the art of blogging, signing up for SiteBuildIt! and building a webpage, taking a closer look at the food that was poisoning my body, re-thinking my career (I think you know why now), and just embracing the possibilities that stretched out before me. I even tried vegetarianism for 2 months and those who know me realise how hard that was! 

I think people often get the wrong idea about “personal development”. My philosophy is simple - take what works and leave the rest. Thankfully, these wonderful bloggers I’ve mentioned before have provided me - and so many others - with an abundance of free, high-quality content. Leo, Steve, Jonathon, Peter, Tina, Gretchen…thanks for everything. Who knows how many sausage rolls I would have eaten today in my crappy stressful job if I hadn’t stumbled upon your words

I’m constantly getting into moods where I’m eager to create something. Creativity comes in countless different forms, some of which I will attempt to cover below. Being creative and expressing ourselves is a trait that we human’s can take for granted, when in actual fact it’s an amazing gift! Taking the time to create is so beneficial to your mental health and outlook on life - it can allow non-verbal expression, induce relaxation, exercise the brain and allow for wonderful feelings of positivity, personal growth and achievement. 

• Photography You don’t need a fancy camera or any skill to start snapping pics! The best photo’s are often those spur-of-the-moment situations that are priceless when captured. You don’t even need a model - follow your dog or cat around, take your camera to family get-togethers, visit a nearby retirement home or playgroup (with permission, of course), get up close with your flowers, the possibilities are endless. You can even take photos of yourself and call that art. If you don’t have a camera, you can always borrow one from a friend or buy a cheapie from ebay. You can get a single-use underwater camera that takes about 30 shots for under twenty bucks. Imagine what you could capture at the beah or hell, even in your own swimming pool! 
• Writing You might think you’re not good enough to write, or that you can’t spell the big words properly. Start off by writing in a journal, something that is for your eyes only, and you might become hooked like I am. Journalling is a great way of unwinding, and it doesn’t have to be in a “Dear Diary” format; you can collect all your favourite recipes, photos, magazine clippings, food wrappers, stamps and anything else that takes your fancy, and collate them into something that pleases you.   
• Scrapbooking Kind of like journalling, but with more emphasis on photos and visual storytelling. Scrapbooks are usually something you would be proud to show off, and the subject matter can be found far and wide. You can scrapbook your kids, your family tree, latest holiday, school reunion, garden, books you’ve read, things you’d like to buy for your house…Basic scrapboking can be as cheap as a stick of glue, some scissors, and an inexpensive blank notebook. They are always a fun ice-breaker at gatherings and go well on a coffee-table or well-used bench. 
• Painting and Drawing Can be loads of fun! You can get paint fairly cheaply at art supply stores or even the supermarket, depending on the quality you’re aiming for. Oil pastels, watercolours, crayons and coloured pencils work well, too. Even if you’re clueless when it comes to drawing or painting, it can still be relaxing and fun. A whole lot of stripes on a canvas can turn into an abstract piece for your lounge-room wall. Most libraries and book stores have Paint or Draw books for beginners, and they are surprisingly easy to follow.  I am an appalling visual artist, but I still love to get the easel out and muck around without having to create a masterpiece. And believe me, mine aren’t masterpieces :) 
• Gardening Getting down and dirty in the garden is one of my favourite ways to spend a few hours! In minutes you can plant flowers, sow seeds for herbs and vegies, plant a new tree, pull up a few weeds, or pot some pretty bulbs. Seeds are so cheap to buy, as are terracotta or plastic planter pots, and the rewards to be reaped can be substantial. Plant just one basil plant, for around five bucks (including potting mix, pot and basil plant)and you’ll have enough leaves to chop and add to your meals for ages! The more you pick off, the faster they grow, which is great if you’re into making tomato sauce, bolognaise, salads, lasagne or any kind of pasta. Yum!  You can even garden if you live in an apartment - a windowsill or balcony works well. 
• Cooking Cooking is loads of fun. I love to turn up the stereo, pour myself a wine or juice, and cook yummy things. It can be anything! I love to fill a wintery afternoon preparing pasta sauce, baking delicious chocolate or raspberry loaf for weekday snacks, making a big batch of vegie soup or just creating new dips with my food processer. Most weekdays I’m so tired I can’t be bothered cooking nutritious food - which is where this comes in handy! A big cooking session on your day off can theoretically free up a few hours each weeknight that would otherwise be devoted to preparing, cooking and washing up. 
• Blogging  Take advantage of new technology and set yourself up a blog. You can go for a free, hosted blog through wordpress or get a little more complicated and sign up for hosting and choose a domain name. You don’t have to be a technical whiz these days - I’m certainly not - and you can still create beautiful webpages for family, friends or the world.

What makes you passionate? What do you work on that doesn’t “feel” like work? Please share in the comments!