Taking Life on the Road: Jim Nelson & René Agredano Interview
By Alex Fayle

When I heard about Jim and René I knew I had to include them in the Someday Interview series. So often I hear from people who say they would love to just pick up and go living a nomadic life, but their responsibilities and need to earn money hold them back. Jim and René didn’t let that bother them - they simply sold off most of their possessions and off they went. Here’s their story…

Who: Jim and René  of Live. Work. Dream.
Jim and René have been living in their RV and working from the road for two years since selling the graphics business they grew ­ and were slaves to ­ for ten years until their dog Jerry was diagnosed with cancer, when they sold the business, their home, and nearly everything they own to hit the road and enjoy life together as a pack.

Name one moment in your life when you threw a pity party for yourself and the reasons why you felt you weren’t able to achieve your goals. Were you feeling stuck? Had you felt you failed? What wasn’t working in your life?
Living on the road full time presents many challenges. Most pertain to the various systems that must be consistently maintained to avoid trouble ­ trailer brakes, satellite internet, power and water, just to name a few. Shortly after losing our dog Jerry to cancer after nearly two years on the road with him, a number of these challenges piled up on us, and we broke down.

An issue with our brakes was the final straw, and we no longer had our calm pack leader to keep us in check. We felt like everything was going wrong for us, we were spending too much money, and getting fed up with repairs and maintenance. All of this, on top of recently saying goodbye to our beloved pup, made us feel sorry for ourselves. We just weren’t having fun anymore. On the side of the road, in some small strange town, without a support circle of friends and family, we threw ourselves a pity party. And nobody came.

Even our lowest moments fulfill a need in us or express our desires. When you threw yourself that pity party, what did you hope to gain? What need did you fulfill?
The pity party was a blessing in disguise. Once we calmed each other down, we realized we were in this position by choice. We chose the lifestyle which was causing us stress. And we had the power within us to change it. We needed this reality check to confirm that we did (and do) like the way we live, even if it does present challenges from time to time.

Our little pity party also helped us figure out how to deal with such stresses on our own. We always had our inspirational canine cancer hero Jerry who taught us to roll with the punches life throws, and to enjoy each day to the fllest, no matter what. But now we had to learn how to cope on our own. Which we did, after the tension released a bit and the tears dried up.

Tell us what you did to break up the pity party. What actions did you decide to take? Did someone help you buoy your spirits? Push you along?
Whenever we have periodic pity parties now, we simply ask ourselves, “What would Jerry do?” His answer would simply be to make the most of it and move on. And that is what we do. We understand now that getting upset only makes matters worse. This time in particular, we agreed to address technical matters one at a time and acknowledge that certain circumstances are simply beyond our control.

Can you look back on that moment and tell us how you felt when you did decide to take action? What results came about from your decision to take charge and move on?
Self empowerment can be extremely difficult to attain, but it is incredibly uplifting once you do. After we were able to pull ourselves up from our pit of despair, we felt immediate relief. Then embarrassment set in, thinking about how stupid our initial reactions to the situation were. But that can lead to more self pity, so we empowered ourselves to put it all behind us. And once we did, we felt like we could confront any future challenges. Of which there have been many, without need for a pity party.

Everyone has a Someday problem hiding deep inside, even little ones. What variety of the Someday Syndrome do you currently harbor? What would you like to achieve but haven’t yet?
We can honestly say that we snapped out of our someday syndromes, before even realizing they had such a name. We are currently “Making Our Own Ship Come In” by pursuing our dream to find a little piece of mountain property to call our own. After traveling the country for two years, we have narrowed our search and are actively researching real estate options in rural Colorado where we plan to set up a seasonal home base for our continuing travels.

Jerry’s cancer diagnosis over two years ago was the impetus for us getting over the “Get Around To It Someday” syndrome. It was a reality check that made us put into motion our plans to sell the business which had sat idle for years. And, we took care of the whole “Might Need It Someday” syndrome with the mother of all yard sales we had when selling our home.

Examining your Someday Syndrome problem, what are you currently doing to resolve it and eliminate it from your life?
Years ago we drafted a prospectus for the “someday” sale of our business. Later when our dog was diagnosed with cancer and given only a few months to live, we immediately put the plan into action, hoping to spend our remaining time together traveling the country.

Within six months, we had sold our business and home and were enjoying every day to the fullest, experiencing new adventures everywhere we went. All along, we thought we would get some property “someday” where we could set up a home base. Someday has come as we are currently investigating potential properties around the small mountain towns of Colorado.

Many people suffer the same problems you do. You’re not alone, and neither are they. What would you tell people in your situation right now to help them avoid what you’re going through?
To others facing their own “Someday Syndromes” we say… Snap out of it! Acknowledge that by not taking action to fulfill your dreams you are only ensuring that they will never come true. Realize that we each must manifest our own destiny. No one is going to give you what you want on some silver platter.

If you just wait, you will be waiting forever. As Jerry taught us, life is meant to be lived. For instance, there are many who believe they will retire someday and then take the trip they always wanted to enjoy. These people need to realize that retirement may never come. Some people learn this from a near death experience, or the serious illness of a friend. We learned it from our three-legged dog.

If you could ask for one thing, right now, to help you overcome your Someday Syndrome, what type of help would you ask for?
Our “someday” is not some distant dream but rather something we are actively manifesting for ourselves right now. With this in mind, aside from winning the Lotto, what would help us most to attain our depest desires right now would be a listing for the perfect property which meets all our requirements. That, or the confidence to believe we are making the right decision about a property which may not.

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Get rid of your Somedays and make the big change you’ve always dreamt about. Check out:

• The Someday-Busting Coaching Services
• The Dream Discovering Ebook by Alex Fayle

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