New to Digital Nomadism

Christophe discovered his passion for music at an early age, and became a producer and songwriter in several bands. After this, he had the opportunity to write some music for Audi and decided to launch my company Dynamite Laser Beam.

He was born in London and moved to California at 4 years old. He describes his mother as "a bit of a gypsy" as they moved around quite a bit -- and he is still at it!  

Christophe creates original music and sound design for leading brands like EA, Dreamworks, Nike, and Disney. He's built the company around his nomadic lifestyle - with team members in Los Angeles, Denver, New York and London who work remotely. 

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Outsite: How long have you been nomadic and what was the inspiration?

Christophe: A few years back, I found myself with a successful creative business living in a nice pad a couple blocks from the beach. I had all the modern trappings you’d expect, from cars, furniture, tech toys etc..

I had worked hard to build a profitable company. It had been a long and difficult journey to reach those goals. Like many others I was seduced by the cultural ideologies of working hard and using external markers as a way to measure my success and happiness, but I still felt something was missing. I felt there was something more to life than working hard to stay in one place. 

After leveraging Airbnb on business trips and discovering some amazing places, I realized that I could just as easily live between a few favorite places rather than living the “single lease paradigm.” I could have access to Thousands of homes rather than being stuck with one. 

It was a bit of a psychological leap away from the life I had worked so hard to build, but I was willing to experiment with a new way of living and accepted the call to adventure! 

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What was your experience using Airbnb for one year? Any horror stories?

Early on in the adventure I went to visit some friends in Ojai California for the weekend and found an airbnb in a twelve bedroom mansion complete with saltwater pools, hot tubs and beautiful grassy grounds.  That’s what really got me excited. It was sort of like a treasure hunt. I had access to all these amazing places and experiences, and was even keeping my costs down in the process. 

Here are some other key ideas that I learned on the journey.

+ Disrupting my patterns and putting myself in new environments increased my tolerance of others, and exercised my creative muscles. There’s a lot of research in this domain around increasing Neural Plasticity with Pattern disruption. 

+ On the flip side staying in the same place and living the same patterns can lead to stagnation and mental / emotional deterioration. 

+ The more “stuff” we own, the more time and energy we have to spend maintaining that stuff. It found it incredibly liberating to travel light and free myself of the possessions that weighed me down ( cars, furniture, etc.. ) 

+ Staying in over 150 Airbnbs showed me that people are mostly decent and caring. It was amazing to connect with people from all backgrounds. It was like snorkeling the great barrier reef of humanity. 

+ I’ve been able to leverage the nomadic lifestyle to grow and optimize my business. Rather that fly into a city for a couple of meetings, I’m able to take my time and cultivate meaningful relationships with clients. The mobile lifestyle isn’t for everyone, but for me it’s a great way to explore new cities and and create new opportunities. 

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What would you say is the main differences between Outsite, Airbnb and hotels?

Airbnb can be a a roll of the dice in terms of quality. Pictures do not always reflect the reality, which is fine if you’re up for the adventure and willing to tolerate some less than ideal circumstances. 

With Outsite you know what you’re going to get.. Access to an amazing community in an impeccably curated environment. Outsite seems to attract a special group of international entrepreneurs. Everybody is sharing information about what’s going on in the area, yet there’s also a code of conduct that really works well for me. You can find quiet spaces to focus in on work and be productive. I really appreciate that balance, especially when I need to focus in on important projects. 

With Airbnb if you aren’t staying with a host you may get a manual with some suggestions and a wifi password. 

I feel Outsite truly embodies the wisdom and power of a shared community. To quote Aristotle “ The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

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Favorite destinations/cities?

For work I’m in LA a lot and usually stay in Venice. I love to grab a surf board and walk a couple blocks to the beach, or a jump on a bike to hit a meeting in Santa Monica. Best of all worlds!

When It’s time to chill I love Santa Fe, NM and Oaxaca.

Eagleton's book titled "A Year On Airbnb" will be available soon. 

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Words: Annie Brown // Outsite Fangirl

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