I have been a fan of Steve Roberts (Nomadic Research Labs) for years, meeting him some two years ago was the highlight of a summer trip that covered almost 10K miles, culminating with a sailing adventure from Seattle to Vancouver with venture deal-maker extraordinaire Christian Eyerman. We tied up to a buoy just off Camano Island, Washington and rowed ashore in a small dinghy. Quietly, we dragged the boat up some persons lawn - stashed it, walked through well trimmed yards to the road and gave Steve a call. Picking us up in a beat up 4x4, we went to his house where a tour of the lab was in order. The Microship touched me deeply - it was creative, with a craftsmanship I have not seen outside maritime museums - incredible work that appealed to the gadget freak and scientist in me. Steve later prepared a fantastic pasta dinner and we all talked though the early hours of the morning. It was a night to remember. Steve has taken the labs to the water in his new boat, the Nomadness - a name you can interpret any number of ways. Given the insanity of world events, most people I know with the means and a spirit of adventure are investing in some form of Escape Option.
The Escape Option means different things to different people. It's tempting to launch into a bunch of pointless ranting about Bush, the US economy, worthless currency, moral bankruptcy, the war machine, being just another hamster on the tax wheel and all. I'll leave these discussions to those passionate, erudite and personable subject matter experts who always manage to zero in on me at cocktail parties. Suffice it to say that I needed a change of scenery and have been looking to make a major geographical shift for some time without making too many psychological sacrifices. My solution to these problems is to go where you can truely live a more interesting and dynamic lifestyle vs. the CNN neuralized suburb to Wal-Mart Matrix most of us are plugged into. Steve Roberts, on the other hand develops technology and tools that allow a much wider range of freedoms by making the infrastructure portable and flexible enough to take with you. In the two years or so that I have known Steve - I've incorporated many of his wireless and nomadic infrastructure projects / principals into my own Escape Option. I suppose this is a long winded pitch to support Steve and his projects by offering him consulting gigs, writing assignments, speaking opportunities and integration projects. Steve may be contacted, anywhere in the world by sending email to this address.
