Back in 2009, I was offered a job via Twitter for a design agency in New York City. I accepted the offer, packed up my bags and took the 24 hour flight from Sydney to NYC and have been living life there ever since.
However, the time has come for me to leave NYC and pursue something that has always been a passion of mine… traveling. On April 2nd, my wife and I are set to leave NYC and go globe trotting, chasing summer for 1.5 years, over 50-60 countries & 6-7 continents.
sponsored message
We’ve given notice to our employers, donated or sold most of our belongings and have minimized our lives down to a 65L backpack, ready to tackle the world before we settle back down in Australia to have children in 2016/17 – who knows?
We are houseless, with no overheads and no responsibilities.
We’re saddened to leave our friends and life here in NYC but also extremely excited to start this new chapter in our lives.
Below you can read our future plans and highlights from the past 5 years.
Subscribe to our Travel Blog
My wife and I will be running a travel blog, separate to Just Creative to post our photos, stories & tips while on the road. The blog is called JUST GLOBETROTTING (http://justglobetrotting.com) and you can subscribe to our updates.
sponsored message
There’s not much on there yet, but we will building it up as we travel. Please note, it will be much more personal & casual than Just Creative. Business up front, party in the back!
Plans While We’re On The Road
Freelance: The plan is to do some freelance design work while on the road, where it makes sense in terms of Wi-Fi availability and client schedules. This will help offset some of the costs of traveling, as well as the passive income coming in from my sites.
Just Creative: I plan to manage the Just Creative blog to an extent, although unfortunately it will slow down in terms of new posts and comment replies. The same goes for the Just Creative social channels.
Logo of the Day: A passion I have to put on hold. I will cease to post new logos to Logo of the Day while traveling simply because it’s too time consuming.
2009-2015 Personal Highlights
It’s important to look at where you’ve come from, to track your evolution, to know where you’ve failed, to know where you’ve succeeded and ultimately try plan for your future, both in the short and long term.
sponsored message
With this said, I would have to say that the past five years have been the most progressive of my life thus far, both personally and professionally. I’ve learned so much, made a bunch of mistakes and I am extremely grateful for it all.
Excuse my indulgence, but these were my highlights from the past 5 years. I hope that they will inspire and show you that anything can happen if you have the right attitude and JUST do it.
1. Becoming fully independent
Becoming independent, paying your bills and actually living life in one of the world’s most unforgiving cities is something that once you accomplish, is very liberating (no matter the city). The American Dream some may call it.
Whatever you call it, I personally feel like I “Made It” in NYC but this of course could not be done without the help of many others, especially my parents who gave me an extremely loving & fortunate upbringing of which I am forever grateful, and the job opportunity that drew me to NYC in the first place.
Tip: You can’t predict the future, but you can build it!
2. Marrying my Best Friend
I moved to NYC a single man, then my life-long best friend also moved over (for her own reasons). A few months later we hooked up which was extremely bizarre as we were like brother & sister, then we started dating. Fast forward two years and we were engaged and then in 2013, got married. Now, I couldn’t be more excited to go globetrotting with my best friend & lover!
Tip: Communication is key, for any relationship.
3. Becoming Healthy & Fit
A few years ago I was having bad back problems, so I set a very “original” new year’s resolution of going to the gym. I set my goal for going at least 3 times a week and I’ve kept that up and have never felt better, both mentally and physically. I also play soccer twice a week for a more competitive challenge, and eat healthily when possible, although I must admit I do have a rather large sweet tooth.
Tip: Exercise & set quantifiable goals.
4. Pursuing Passions
As mentioned earlier, one of my true passions, other than design, is traveling and over the past five years, my wife and I have been fortunate enough to explore dozens of countries (36+) & cities across the globe. Traveling is the perfect way to get refreshed and broaden your mind.
Tip: Plan ahead, choose a destination and just book.
5. My Personal Mistakes
It’s much harder to define the mistakes you’ve made, as they are not always in front of our face. We learn by doing, by trying and improving and this happens over a longer period of time without specific milestones.
This said, the biggest way to see how you’ve improved and the “mistakes” you’ve made is by looking at the quality of your work & skills from 2-X years ago. Not just design work, but how you’ve improved your relationship skills, your business skills and overall presence in the world.
These would be my greatest “mistakes”. Oh, and getting deported from the USA.
2009-2015 Professional Highlights
Following on from the points above, a great indicator of growth is looking at the caliber of your clients and work being completed. These were my professional work highlights from the past five years:
1. Rebranding Just Creative
In 2010, I changed my business name from Just Creative Design to Just Creative, bought a new domain name and rebranded my business into what you see now. Since doing so, my freelance business has flourished and I’ve had the opportunity to work with hundreds of clients from all over the world, the vast majority of which come through my blog or word of mouth.
2. High Profile Clients
Moving to New York City and working at multiple agencies has given me the opportunity to work on an amazingly diverse range of clients.
Some notable brands I’ve worked with over the years include; Jerry Seinfeld, Nintendo, Powerade, VitaminWater, Disney, Red Bull, Nike, Vibram, Capcom, OMEGA, Cutty Sark, Cannondale, Seagrams, Zynga, Pirates Booty, Sweet ’N’ Low, In The Raw, Labatt, SmartWater, Jimmie Johnson and some smaller clients: Ligne Roset, Edrington, Energy Kitchen, GrimeBoss, Nice Pak, Brooklyn Bowl, TFC, FXDD, Brodsky, BCorp, BMC, CableFax, CitiHabitats, CoffeeShop, Crestron, CSG, Montauk Brewery, Prolo, DreamDry and Guru.
Below you can see some completed websites that I did the design / UX / UI for. Development was mainly completed at Ammirati.
- Vibram *Fav
- TFC Real Estate *Fav
- Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee *Fav
- Prolo Finder
- FXDD Mirror Trader
- FXDD MTClear
- Montauk Brewery *Fav
- Cannondale Synapse
- Seagram’s Escapes
- Bridgehampton Motoring Club
- ICV
- B Impact Assessment
- Union Square Ballroom
- Live Bait
- The Coffee Shop NYC
- CableFax
- Sweet N Low
- Flywheel *Old Fav
Nintendo Websites
- Fossil Fighters Frontier *Fav
- Code Name S.T.E.A.M. *Fav
- Bayonetta 2
- Bravely Default
- NES Remix *Fav
- Mario Golf
- Lego City Wii U
- Lego City 3DS
- Mario Party Island Tour
3. Won the Young Alumni Award
sponsored message
Early in 2014, I was nominated for the Young Alumni Award from The University of Newcastle Australia and in September I was generously flown back to go to the award ceremony and to my surprise, actually won the award for being a “game changer”. The award recognizes “innovation, creativity, exceptional leadership and those who inspire others through their local, national and international achievements.”
I’ve also just been told I will be a ‘featured graduate’ in thee 2016 Undergrad Prospectus which is sent out to all Year 12 high school students.
4. Published in Newspapers, Magazines & Books
Although not a motivation for my work, it’s always nice to be recognized and have your work published. A good handful of my client’s logos were published in Logo Lounge’s amazing logo book series and I’ve also appeared in the New York Post, Wall Street Journal and front page of The Newcastle Herald, amongst many more.
5. Spoke at TEDx
Public speaking is far from my forte or passion, however when I was asked to speak at a TEDx I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. I spoke at TEDxCMU about personal branding, social media and how to handle being deported from the USA.
6. Free Logo Design Inspiration eBook
Earlier in 2014, I put together a free logo design inspiration eBook highlighting over 1000+ amazing logos and since then it’s been downloaded over 16,000 times. A huge thanks to all the contributors and sharers!
7. Social Media Growth
All of the above would not have been possible if not for the valuable design community, so thank you for following and sharing the love!
- Facebook: 41,000 followers (Follow)
- Twitter: 72,500 followers (Follow)
- Email Newsletter: 16,000 subscribers
- Just Creative Traffic 500,000 hits per month
A Reminder to Subscribe to JUST GLOBETROTTING
We’re planning to visit 50-60 odd countries over the next 1.5 years so check out our rough itinerary to see if our paths will cross and subscribe to get our updates!
Let me know if you have any questions and what you would like to read about on our travel blog!
Congrats Jacob! It has been an honor and pleasure knowing you and following your journey, I just know you and your wife are going to kill the next few years – good luck on the next chapter!! Keep up the good work man
Thanks Andy, thanks for following for all these years! Really excited for this new journey!
Jacob, I’ve followed your journey since before you made your way to NYC..I’ve always admired your talent, passion and work ethic. If anyone you are truly deserving of this. I wish you and your wife the best in your travels. Go explore and experience the beauty the world has to offer. Can’t get any better than doing this with the of your life. You’re living the life most only ever dream of. What an inspiration. Looking forward to keeping up w/your adventures ahead!
Thanks Khoi, very humbling summary and kind words there! Really can’t wait, thank you!
Hi Jacob
Enjoy every minute of your circumnavigation. You are an inspiration to me, ( even though I am much more your senior ). I enjoy reading your emails and the articles.
Have a very good time
Hayden
Hi Jacob,
Great to know a deep about you. I’m a web designer and running few things simultaneously and finds hectic sometimes 😛 . I mean how do you manage your time doing all such great activities? I think I’m a bit bad when comes to managing and dividing my time, thought of getting some tips from you on time management 🙂 really! you doing well.
Great time ahead
Dinesh
Hi Dinesh,
Oh it certainly is hectic, don’t get me wrong! Time management can certainly get the best of me, just ask my wife! But she does help keep things organized though. As far as tips go, there are hundreds of productivity posts out there. Some worth reading! I’ve saved a few links here:
https://delicious.com/justcreative/productivity
Hi Jacob! Congrats it’s a big step and I’m sure you will learn a lot through your journey!
Thank you for being a beacon of inspiration these past few years.
Wishing you both an amazing year ahead!
Hey Jacob,
Its a great thing following your true passion and I am really happy for you. One day, I would also go out and follow my true passion. Best wishes to both of you and safe journey!. Thanks for all your helpful articles and tips. I’ll be following your travelling blog for sure.
Hey Prestom.
No worries and of course! Thanks for following and I do hope that you get out and follow your passion too! Which may be?
Travelling, but historical places only. I love visiting historical places and learning more about them, like Egypt, Israel, Rome, India, Greece, and others.
Congratulations for the successful life journey Jacob! There are few people who love to share their story of success which makes other inspire and give a right path.. Wish you all the best for your future and hope that we get something new, inspiring and helpful stories near in future from you…
Hi Kristina,
Yeah I love reading about other people doing what they love, it can be very inspiring! Thanks for the best wishes and yes there will be many stories, I’m sure!
Hello, Jacob, Great to read your post , Thanks for sharing.
Best wishes to both of you.
Just Subscribe to your “JUST GLOBETROTTING”
Thanks for following Rupam and subscribing!
What a great story Jacob!!! Very few people are there who give their real stories of success that inspire others. Such stories are to do innovative idea concepts with others.
I’m sorry I missed saying goodbye officially, but looking forward to keeping up with your travels! Stay in touch.
No worries and I saw you subscribed! Bye, officially!
I do not regret the minute I started liking your Facebook page after reading you profile while i was goggling bet graphic designer and you name came up..I truly felt inspired as a young graphic designer myself who has recently started her own business and you keep inspiring me. What I picked from what you wrote above was ‘Travelling is good as its refreshing” A very good way of looking at traveling since I was having doubt about change of cities. All the Best and may God keep blessing you.
Congratulations!
Great decision I wish you all the best on the journey!
Great article Jacob! You have always been a great inspiration and this time you have taken it a notch higher. I have been checking out your blog since around 2008 and its was really inspiring to follow your journey as a designer. In fact, being a self-learnt designer with a stable career (finally!), I have learnt so much from your articles.
And as far as Globetrotting is concerned, I’m jealous! xD (I want to strike that off my wish list as soon as possible)
Subscribed to your new blog to follow your new journey =)
I hate to be the downer. I am a huge fan of your work and your site/ I’ve been following your blog for YEARS (probably over 6 now). I think what you’re doing is awesome in every way.
I am just finding it REALLY hard to swallow the title of this blog post. “Homeless and Happy”. It is a huge irk of mine (and a lot of the non profit / shelter community) when well off people call themselves “homeless” because they’re either between selling houses, or whatever. Homelessness is NOT something you choose. It’s not a “freedom from burden” and it’s definitely not something that you are when you’re globe trotting with your awesome wife. You have a home. You like have a family. If you needed somewhere to go you would have a BUNCH of doors wide open for you. Being you, and calling your self or situation “homeless and happy” just seems like it completely and totally ignores the REALITY of homelessness.
Like I said, I appreciate and respect you, but this post and it’s title just seems wrong in many ways.
Totally get you’re point of view Lindsay, however at no point we referring to being homeless in the context of not having shelter or no family, we were referring to being nomads & being free! Apologies if we offended but this was not our intention.
That is the problem though. I knew what you MEANT but the problem is that people are trying to redefine the word “homeless” which is only detrimental and offensive.
You are not homeless. You are houseless. The reason you chose the word “homeless” in your title is because it was more “catchy” and more “edgy” (whether you consciously or subconsciously meant to). I would urge you to use “houseless” over homeless whenever people refer to themselves as such when they clearly are NOT homeless.
I mean, are you going to seriously explain to me that you have absolutely no home to turn to? Are you really homeless?
I’m just saying. It’s something worth thinking about a little more deeply than a headline in an article happily claiming your chosen “homeslessness”
Hi Lindsay, thanks for getting back to me. I don’t believe people are redefining the definition of the word ‘homeless’, it’s just the context that’s different. Even Dictionary.com says it is ‘without a home’ which is exactly what we don’t have right now. We don’t a home, apartment or regular housing at all, anywhere. We simply move from place to place around the world which is the context in which I talk about being homeless / houseless. But note taken and will be more wary in the future. Thanks!
Sorry, but resorting to posting a definition from a dictionary is the bottom level of internet debate.
I am not sitting here arguing that you are submitting a new definition to Merriam Webster for the word “homeless”. Words are constantly redefined LONG before they’re in the dictionary as such. However, SINCE we are going there:
“A homeless individual is defined in section 330(h)(5)(A) as “an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.” A homeless person is an individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets; stay in a shelter, mission, single room occupancy facilities, abandoned building or vehicle; or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation. [Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C., 254b)]
An individual may be considered to be homeless if that person is “doubled up,” a term that refers to a situation where individuals are unable to maintain their housing situation and are forced to stay with a series of friends and/or extended family members. In addition, previously homeless individuals who are to be released from a prison or a hospital may be considered homeless if they do not have a stable housing situation to which they can return. A recognition of the instability of an individual’s living arrangements is critical to the definition of homelessness. (HRSA/Bureau of Primary Health Care, Program Assistance Letter 99-12, Health Care for the Homeless Principles of Practice)”
As defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
It’s clear you had no desire to understand why this is so offensive and why it just sounds ridiculous, so I am going to leave this conversation with this.
Gleefully proclaiming your “homelessness” is a pretentious move. You aren’t a homeless person. You aren’t struggling the way true homeless people struggle. Being homeless is not fun. Carry on with your HOUSELESS living.
Lindsay, at this point you are being rude and ridiculous – clearly he understands. Please if you care so much about this issue by all means use your time wisely and contribute to the homelessness problem – attacking people with internet comments never fixed anything.
Hi Lindsay, again the definition comes down to context, you’re stating a definition from a health & human services board which is catered to people being forced to live on the streets which is not my case, yet I’m still without a home. This said, I’ve changed the post title and proclamations to being ‘homeless’ instead to ‘houseless’ so as not to offend any that may feel the same way.