Software engineers are in high demand, and Eli White had no shortage of opportunities upon graduating from University of Washington in December 2013, after interning at Google and Airbnb, and spending almost two years at Microsoft.
His experience also included a wide range of personal projects — including a World of Warcraft bot, light tubes that flashed to music, web frameworks, and an app that notified users when their friends were close.
But rather than tying himself to a desk at a big company, White decided to travel the world and develop an app on his own.
“Once I graduated I didn’t have school to distract me from the personal projects I wanted to work on and the things I wanted to learn,” he explains. “I turned down my new-grad offers and decided to travel, giving myself the opportunity to build and release a new project from anywhere in the world.”
Meet our new Geek of the Week, and continue reading for his answers to our questionnaire.
What do you do, and why do you do it? I’ve spent the past seven months chasing summer. I grew up in Southern California and have an affinity for warm weather. I left Seattle in winter with a goal to follow warmth, which has greatly improved my happiness and productivity. Over the last seven months I have crossed 4 countries (including New Zealand, Australia, and Japan) and over 30 cities (including Seattle, Hawaii, Boston, and Orange County, CA.)
While traveling I’ve been building a realtime collaborative drawing app for web, iOS and Android. Since it is a project based purely in software, I don’t need to geographically limit myself to be within commuting distance of an office.
What’s the single most important thing people should know about your field? With all of the media attention that Software Engineers receive (through shows like Silicon Valley, and others), plenty of people have their own view of my field. What I want to debunk is the idea that Software Engineers need to be tied to a big company or a desk in order to create.
I have had countless conversations with people who are convinced that traveling is an expensive luxury, and would require too much time away from work. This is exactly what I want to refute.
Over the past seven months, my monthly spending (including flights, lodging, food, entertainment, etc) has been LESS than monthly rent in San Francisco. I’ve also accomplished significantly more work while traveling than ever before. Not needing to commute, inspired by my surroundings, in weather that I like, and able to go exploring as a break (instead of snacking or wasting time on the internet) has led me to be significantly more productive and happy.
If you are intrigued by the idea, there are a lot of blogs about how to travel cheaply, and how to balance it with work. Four Hour Workweek, and Nomadic Matt are two of my favorites.
Where do you find your inspiration? I find my inspiration in travel! Seeing different cultures, meeting new people with different experiences and understandings, and seeing new places in the world are all inspirational. One of my favorite experiences was living a block from the beach in Surfer’s Paradise, Australia. At 8am I would wake up to the warm sun and feel happy to get out of bed. I would go for a run on the beach, play in the water, throw a Frisbee around, and then head back for a shower. When I was ready to go out again it was only 11am.
My friend and I found a high-class churro place that sold churros, ice cream, and fondue. They had free internet and we used that as our office for the week. We paid rent on our office space by buying churros and ice cream. The happiness gained from that experience (and the churros) led us to be excited to work, and kept us incredibly productive.
What’s the one piece of technology you couldn’t live without, and why? I couldn’t be productive while traveling without my laptop (2013 13” Retina MacBook Pro). As I’m a software engineer first and foremost, and a traveler second, I need a powerful computer to make progress. The 13” is small enough to fit in my daypack and light enough that I don’t need to decide whether or not to carry it around. Its battery lasts long enough that I don’t need to bring my charger with me and I feel confident in its ability to make it through the day.
What’s your workspace like, and why does it work for you? I prefer to work outside near a lake or ocean. I can put headphones on and be productive, or take a break and walk along the water. Sometimes though, I find an amazing cafe or dessert place to work in. This picture was taken during our week at San Churro, the place that I mentioned above.
Your best tip or trick for managing everyday work and life. (Help us out, we need it.) The best trick I have learned is to be somewhere you love and do something you enjoy. If there are any parts of your life you are unhappy with, that is going to bring down your quality of work and life. It isn’t necessarily advice requiring immediate action, but rather it is advice that you have to incorporate into who you are and what you want.
Mac, Windows or Linux? I used to be a Windows user, but I shifted towards Mac before I started traveling.
Transporter, Time Machine or Cloak of Invisibility? Tardis.
I once waited in line for … 2 hours to go on the Toy Story Mania! ride at Tokyo DisneySea. It had a long line, so it must be good. Right? :P We finally got on and it was an amazing ride. A trackless system spun and moved the cars around as we shot toy guns at giant screens to accumulate points.
Your role models: My role models right now are Bill Gates and Elon Musk. When I think of people dedicated to furthering the human race, these are the first two that always come to mind. Bill Gates is working to improve health and medical technology for those around the world, most notably in under-privileged countries. Elon Musk is working towards furthering human technology with new energy and transportation systems.
Both of these role models are working in areas that seem impossible to change; however they have the passion, ambition, and resources to make a change that will improve the world.
Greatest Game in History Super Smash Bros for N64. I’ve never seen a game bring friends of both genders together and span the test of time as well as Super Smash Bros has. When I see someone playing this game, or even when I hear the music, I get excited to play.
First Computer: Custom-built Pentium something or other.
Current Phone: iPhone 5
Favorite App: Spotify
Most important technology of 2014: Biotech such as the beginning of 3d printed organs and monitoring.
Most important technology of 2016: New and improved health related technology.
Final words of advice for your fellow geeks: The best advice I can give is to be happy. Learn what makes you happy and what gets in your way, and don’t be afraid to make big changes that will improve your quality of life.
I have seen a lot of friends in tech jobs that they hate and, even when they see the way out, stick with the routine rather than discovering what will make them happy. Go take a dance class. Play with a Frisbee. Eat some ice cream. Your work (and life) will be better for it.
Site: Eli-White.com
