The Guide: X Marks The Spot

The LIP Guide To Living & Working From Anywhere You Choose

The original book which begins with our personal story and and how we got started as location independent professionals, who work from anywhere. For a great overview of this lifestyle, with some practical tips and resources throughout, this book is ideal as a basic blueprint for anyone considering creating this kind of lifestyle for themselves.

Here’s what Leo Babauta, from Zen Habits said about this book:

“I found this book to be incredibly inspiring. While I’ve been working towards similar goals myself, reading just the first two chapters of this book caused me to take a couple of hours out of my day to really look at my life, what I want out of it, and what I can do differently to achieve that.

In fact, I called my wife and we had a great discussion about it! It’s well written, interesting, informative and beautiful.”

The Guide Contents

Here is what you’ll find out in both editions of the book:

How we got started & the main motivations for becoming location independent
The types of businesses that allow you to earn a living from anywhere in the world
The questions you should ask yourself before deciding whether this lifestyle is for you
The main challenges you may face when creating & living a location independent lifestyle
How to “go nomadic” – including the practical preparations before & after you leave your home
The essential tools to keep your business running smoothly
The biggest mistakes we’ve made since being location independent & nomadic
How to plan for contingencies & create your own “mission abort” plan
The recommended tools, resources & step-by-step processes you need to create your own location independent life

The Editions

What are the differences between the 1st and 2nd editions?

The 1st edition of the book was written towards the end of 2007, after we’d been location independent and on the road for around 6 months. We were still very much in learning mode and wrote the book to share exactly what we’d been through and were going through for others wanting to do the same. The 2nd edition of the book was created in mid-2009, after we’d been location independent for over 2 years. Much of the core content is similar but has been updated, refined and streamlined to reflect our greater experience and knowledge.

What the 1st edition has that the 2nd doesn’t:

214 pages, portrait layout (1 column), page size 108mm (w) x 175mm (h).
A more traditional paperback “book” design & layout.
More of our personal story, experiences and thought processes – which may be more suited to you if you’re right at the beginning of your journey.
Summary information for the first few places we visited (includes Panama, Buenos Aires, Toronto & Grenada).
Appendices section with our initial packing lists, more detailed cost of living information.
An approach perhaps more suited to you, if you’re unsure whether the lifestyle is for you and you want a better insight into our motivations and experiences throughout the process.

What the 2nd edition has that the 1st doesn’t:

80 pages, landscape layout (2 columns), page size 250mm (w) x 200mm (h).
A more formatted ebook “book” layout designed for better screen reading.
Fewer of our personal thought processes and a greater emphasis on “how to” information – which may be more suited to to you if you are further along in their own journey & thought processes.
Updated information based on our additional 18 months more experience.
A streamlined & revised chapter structure.
Improved and streamlined processes and resource recommendations.
An approach perhaps more suited to you, if you’ve already decided that location independence is for you and you want a practical, logical, process-driven approach to creating it.

Get The 1st Edition

Available as a PDF ebook for £10 (approx. US$ 15):

Available as a paperback for £11.50 (US$ 19):

Get The 2nd Edition

Only available as a PDF ebook for £15 (approx. US$ 25):

Get Both Editions

Get both PDF ebook editions for £15 (approx. US$ 25):

Full Disclosure: The 2nd edition contains affiliate links to some of the services we recommend. We would not use these if we weren’t happy with the services we include – but if you’d rather not use the links, that’s cool – simply type in the URL of the service manually. If you do use them, we’re extra grateful

PORTAL-Book-Graphics

More Comments About The Guide

Suzy Greaves of The Big Leap Coaching Company & named as ‘one of the top gurus to change your life around’ by The UK Daily Mail said…

“I loved X Marks the Spot – it’s an honest, authentic, practical and inspirational guide on travelling the world and running your business from your laptop. It’s packed with lists, essential advice on everything from what city and countries to choose to how to deal with the fears of your family. Above all, it challenges the mind-set that we have to run the 9-5 rat race, commuting and being a mortgage slave for the rest of our lives – this book is your ticket to freedom. Read this book and you realise you can be a thirty something grown-up and still be free to live your life on your terms – be that in a vineyard in Tuscany or under a palm tree in the Caribbean. This book shows you how. I’m booking my flights now!”

Pier Frigerio from Project:Nomad said…

“It is an easy read and covers a lot of information. The early chapters describe Lea’s background and how she and her husband got into the LIP Lifestyle. It goes over the places they have lived and their rationale for choosing those locations. I like this part because it builds up her “creds”; a lot of authors write about a subject with which they are not familiar; she walks the walk. After this, the book starts getting really meaty. It goes into the rationale for doing it, facing your fears, how to get started, and the basic nuts and bolts of what you need to do and things you need to consider. The book is chock full of tips and hints, and the Appendix has an excellent list of additional resources… I consider the book a valuable resource, and an excellent how-to book on living the Location Independent Professional lifestyle.”

Chris Pinchen from Slow Spain said…

“The book is excellent and as someone who has lived in quite a few places around the world, I have to say that it is worth every penny. In fact that’s not true as there’s so much great info in the book that really it’s just a token price – the true value of what it can save you in terms of time, money, stress and inspiration would be far, far higher… To all you lurkers and potential LIPs out there – I can’t recommend “X Marks the Spot” too highly – and I’ve lived in Bristol, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Crete, New York, Chicago, Barcelona, Madrid, Bath and now a small village in deep Spain so I know what I’m talking about Lea is practically giving the book away, so give the girl some beer money from this great blog which benefits us all…”