Exactly one week ago, I got back from my trip to Australia and although I'm still suffering a bit from jet lag right now, I can easily say this was one of the best trips I've ever been on!
About a year ago, Darren Rowse from ProBlogger asked me if I could fly to Australia to keynote this year's ProBlogger Event. Darren and his blog were a huge inspiration to me when I first started blogging in 2007, and I was truly honored for the invite, however flying 7,202 miles and leaving the family behind isn't a decision I could easily make on my own.
After some discussion with my wife and a hard look at our future calendar, we decided to all go together and make a family trip out of it! Fast-forward to August 2014, and we're at LAX airport about ready to board a Boeing 777 to the Gold Coast of Australia and what we hoped would become an awesome family memory.
To me, that's what life is all about!
One memory we didn't want to have, however, was a terrible plane ride. 14 hours on a plane with a one-year old and a crazy four-year old, we came prepared. We don't usually let our kids play with iPad and iPhones, but they were perfect for keeping them occupied when they weren't asleep. I had a mophie pack fully-charged as well, just in case.
Virgin Australia, our airline, was extremely accommodating to the kids. We sat in the front of a section with the most leg room, and they even had a bassinet that connected to the wall in front of us for our 1-year old to sleep in.
Thankfully, there were no tantrums and the kids stayed seated the whole time! Phew!
We arrived around noon at the Gold Coast, and after Tony picked us up and the kids got out all of their excitement, we decided to just chill and get situated the rest of the day before starting our 3-day family adventure. After that, April and the kids were going to stay with our Auntie and Uncle, while I do “daddy business stuff” at the ProBlogger conference.
It was going to be interesting though, because it was gray and pouring outside.
Our view from our hotel room:
At 7:30pm, the entire family was asleep.
Family Day #1—DreamWorld
When we woke up at 6:30am (almost 12 hours later!), we finally saw the gold in Gold Coast. The sky was clear and the weather was gorgeous!
Our hotel, Peppers Broadbeach, was perfect for our family. Our suite had a kitchen and living space, which is always good when you're traveling with kids, and downstairs there were dozens of restaurants and take-out places, ranging from Mexican food to Sushi, and even a sit-down chocolate/dessert place called Max Brenner, which April and I were eyeing when we checked in.
I picked up some breakfast and we got the kids ready for our big day at DreamWorld, which is an amusement park sort of like Six-Flags, known for its roller coasters (which we didn't go on), but it had a lot of kid-friendly attractions along with Australian themed shows and exhibits that was perfect for a family like ours.
It was truly a great way to start the trip. The kids had a blast, and a friend decided to have me for lunch…
My son doesn't look too amused.
And now you know why I promote Bluehost over HostGator, hah!
After a good 4 hours at the park, it was time to go back to the hotel. We found a mall with some cool shops and a grocery store called Woolworths where we picked up some breakfast items for the next day, milk and snacks for the kids, and a bottle of wine to go along with our pasta dinner.
I was super stoked! Everyone was full, happy and excited for an amazing 2nd day. The kids went down super easy from running around all day, and my wife and I stayed up a bit longer to look through some photos, and then watch some Australian TV before heading to bed.
Although we were both excited, we were a little anxious because our transport was picking us up at 5:30 in the morning, and all I knew is that we were going to visit some place called Lady Elliot Island.
An island…hmm.
Family Day #2—Lady Elliot Island
The sun hadn't come out yet, but we were all in a van and our driver was taking us to Coolangatta Airport where we were about to meet Peter Gash, the owner and manager of Lady Elliot Island, and our pilot for the day.
When we arrived at the airport, I saw our plane:
And here's my reaction:
Turbulence and Pat Flynn do not blend well together, and although it was sunny outside it was a bit windy too. Luckily, Peter was an amazing pilot and he actually put me up front in the cockpit with him so we could chat with each other during the 2 hour flight to the island. It was one of the coolest conversations I've ever had.
During our flight, I discovered how Peter came to buy the island and what he's done with it. Back in the day, the small island at the southern tip of The Great Barrier Reef was mined and stripped of all vegetation and virtually all wildlife, but after Peter got a hold of it he's transformed it into an amazing, lush and educational place.
Almost all of the island runs off of solar power, and he speaks around the country telling other how he's been able to do it. He's leading a movement. Here's a gorgeous view of the island from above:
On the island, Peter was our personal tour guide during the day, taking my family and I around the island and actually spending a lot of the time with the kids teaching them all about the coral and the sea-life and birds.
What I admire most about Peter is that he's been able to combine his passion for the island (which he once visited when he was younger), his entrepreneurial spirit and technical background (plus his love for airplanes) into one big dream come true.
After a great day on the island, we flew back to the Gold Coast and said our goodbyes to Peter and his crew. My son even called him “Uncle Peter” on the way out and asked me when we would see him again.
What an awesome adventure!
As soon as we got home, the kids passed out and both April and I reflected on how much we had already done during the first two full days in Australia, and how awesome Peter was. He actually took the time later on during the trip to send a package to my hotel room with a little toy car that our son left in the plane, along with a book we talked about while we were in the air. Thanks Peter! You are an inspiration and I'm happy to call you my friend!
We had one more fully planned day before it was time for the family to relax with our relatives in the Brisbane area, while I stay behind for a few days to attend the conference.
Family Day #3: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
Being from San Diego, home of one of the best zoos in the world, whenever we have an opportunity to go to a zoo-like place, we usually pass. We were told, however, that the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary was going to be amazing, and yes—it was indeed!
I won't get into too many details (because there's definitely hundreds of things to talk about, like the ginormous fake spider above a kids play-net area that nearly gave ma a heart attack), but here are a few pictures from the day to give you an idea of what it was like…
Of course, you've gotta take selfies with kangaroos:
And the kids got involved too!
The day was more than our daughter could handle, lol.
Lots of laughs, lots memories made and a ton of questions from my son, which is always a good sign because it means that he's interested.
The first half of the trip, a major success and already worth the trip over from the U.S., but it was time for us to switch gears. The rest of the family was going to chill with some relatives for a few days, while I hangout at the Gold Coast with my mates and deliver what I hoped to be a very memorable keynote presentation for the ProBlogger Audience!
Conference Day #0—The Day Before the Event
I like to arrive at conferences early. Why?
Not only do I get to scope out the room that I'll be speaking in (which is a strategy I use to help me get over some nervousness before the event—I'll often walk on stage and go through the first 10 minutes to an empty set of chairs), but I like to meet the team who is there setting up so I can thank them for all of their hard work, and also meet some of the attendees who are usually hanging out in and around the hotel.
The room was expansive! There were about 550 chairs, and the stage looked amazing. This was definitely the largest crowd I would ever speak to, which made me a bit more nervous, but more excited than anything else.
The day before the conference was more than just scoping out the venue though—we got to work!
And by “we”, I mean Chris Ducker (who was also speaking at the event) and me.
Chris Ducker, as many of you know, is one of my best friends—both online, and off. Whenever Chris visits the U.S. from his home in the Philippines, he usually stops by San Diego to chill with my family. Also, we often put together a 1-Day event at a local co-working space to mastermind with other business owners, bloggers and entrepreneurs who fly or drive in to hang out for the day and talk business.
Chris and I have great chemistry when we work together at those events. Many attendees (over 100 up to this point), make an effort to point this out to us, so we decided to do an Australian Edition of our 1-Day Business Breakthrough Event at the hotel the day before the ProBlogger event!
20 amazing Australian entrepreneurs came by the QT hotel that morning and we worked until 5:30 in the evening. Doing these events is seriously one of the most fulling things I've ever done, and doing it in Australia was no different.
The interesting difference, however, between the U.S. version of these events, and the Australian version (and Chris told me this would happen beforehand), is that in general, Australians are much more direct with their comments—whether positive, or negative.
All of the event we've done in the past have been outstanding, but this one seemed to really get people moving on their businesses—and it was probably because people in Australia are more direct and willing to provide the kind of feedback that's necessary for someone to realize what his or her next steps in their business should be.
Not that there's anything bad with the U.S. events we've done (it's just an entirely different culture) but it was definitely interesting and noticeable.
It almost felt like the group already knew each other very well, expressing very direct comments (but not rude, and without any offense taken), like one would see in a small mastermind group that's been together for over a year.
Next time Chris and I are in Australia at the same time, we're definitely doing another one.
Our next U.S. based 1-Day Business Breakthrough event is Monday, September 15th, and it's already sold out and we can't wait to meet this group too! The next one after that will not be until sometime in 2015, but you'll hear about it on Facebook or Twitter before anywhere else if you're interested.
Here's a group picture from the day!
photo credit: Grace Hentley
After the 1-Day event, Chris and I met up with some other speakers, including Yaro Starak and Darren Rowse of ProBlogger himself! Yaro and Darren were actually two of the first bloggers I started following online back in 2008, and they were a huge influence on my blogging career.
Later that evening, Yaro, Chris and I walked around town catching up and we shared a nice little dinner together in Surfer's Paradise. At around 9:00pm, I wanted to get back because I wanted to do one more run-through of my presentation before bed, but an ice cream shop said otherwise.
So imagine this: three dudes walking around the beach and watching the waves break at the shore, at night, each eating a small cup of ice cream.
Hah!
After our ice creams, we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.
There were a couple of pre-conference get-togethers happening at the hotel bar, but I had a big day tomorrow and the last thing I wanted to do was lose my voice trying to meet everyone before the biggest keynote of my life!
One more quick run-through, and I was asleep.
Conference Day #1—The Keynote
On the schedule, my keynote was at 9:30am. I woke up at 7:00am and gave myself some time to ease out of bed, grab some breakfast and a cup of coffee, and potentially go over some key moments in my presentation once more before getting on stage.
At 9:00am, Chris Ducker and I each ordered an Americano at the downstairs cafe and I was getting myself psyched up. Usually, now that I've done this a few times, I have a series of exercises I do before I go on stage. I don't do jumping jacks or burpees (it's not those kind of exercises), but I do run through some breathing exercises to get my voice and lungs ready for the performance.
I mentioned “performance” to a few people who I was talking too before I went on, and it seemed to catch a few people off guard.
“You mean your keynote presentation?”
Yes, that's exactly what I mean—my performance.
You see, I see my time on stage as a performance. I have a certain job to do up there, not just to deliver content, but to do so in a fun, exciting and memorable way. It's not just talking, but there's choreography too—certain things that are supposed to happen at certain moments.
Timing is crucial to me. When I watch other presentations (and comedians, who I pull a lot of inspiration from—not content wise, but for delivery), it's the timing that I appreciate the most, and that's what I want to incorporate into my own presentations too.
It's a performance, and because I think it's a performance, I think that's why I train so hard and why I practice so much. Plus, I still get really nervous and want to throw up before I go on stage (and it was the same this time around too), and I know the more I practice, the less of a chance I have of screwing up!
9:22am—the coffee's run through me, so I head to the bathroom. Of course, as soon as I get in there someone opens the door and says:
“Are you Pat Flynn?”
Me: Yes.
My brain: I'm kind of busy here!
Man: Darren's looking for you. We gotta get you mic'd up!
Me: Ok, I'll be right there.
My brain: Oh snap! Here we go!
Let's do this.
The Keynote
Mic'd in, ready to go. I have a minute to look around.
550+ people in one room. Mobile phones and iPads in hand, laptops on laps, and all eyes on Darren at center-stage as he introduces me for the morning Keynote.
During his introduction, I creep up the side of the room, stage-left. A few people spot me and wave hello. A few others give me a thumbs up.
Before I knew it, everyone is clapping as my name is called out. I pass Darren on my way up the stage and give him a handshake and a silent thank you.
Then, I place myself at center-stage and look across the expansive sea of people.
photo credit: Nicole Matejic
I begin by asking a simple question…and then I get into my talk about turning your casual audience into a devoted group of raving fans.
Now…I do have a video of this presentation already, however because I'll be presenting this same performance two more times this year. Out of respect to those who will be attending those events (and of course, those event organizers) I won't be sharing it until the end of the year. I apologize!
I can say, however, like every other presentation I've done in the past—including my first one way back in 2011at The Financial Blogger Conference (FINCON), while I'm up there on stage, it sort of feels like an out-of-body-experience. It just happens and goes along.
All of that practice, the run-throughs and the do-overs are all doing their thing now, and at the end I sort of “snap” back into the present time and realize that it's already over.
I experience this every single time I talk on stage. It's weird, but the only thing I can compare it to is when I was in the marching band (Yay! A marching band reference!), and I'd work for days during rehearsal to memorize a new song and remember where I was supposed to be on the field at certain points of the music, and then during the performance on the field in front of the crowd, I do what I need to do automatically without having to think anymore. And then, all of a sudden, it's over and we're talking about the performance on the sideline.
I think this is why I've fallen in love with speaking. It's my way of performing again, like I said before. It's definitely not for a passive income, and for 3 years I've spoken on stage for free. Only recently have I been getting paid for it.
Plus, when you think about it, one 45 minute performance means X number of days at the conference (I don't want to be one of those guys who just flies in, speaks and leaves without getting to know more about the audience and making friends while there), plus travel time, and time to transition back into normal life, etc.
It's a lot of hard work and time to speak, but I love it, and that's why I do it. I don't have marching band or music anymore, and I think this is my outlet for those same experiences at this “stage” in my life.
I will continue to work on my craft and get better. I want to be known as a top public speaker and deliver memorable presentations that get talked about and shared, and hopefully do a TED talk one of these days.
I was really close a year ago, but my connection fell through.
Thankfully, the audience seemed to love this keynote presentation! Afterwards, once I had a moment to check my phone, I saw that there were hundreds of tweets during the presentation, and they all made me smile and made the trip well worth it.
Thanks to all of you who were there and supported me!
My Afternoon Session with Chris Ducker
Chris and I were stoked because not only did we have time to work together on our 1-Day Business Breakthrough Event the day before, but Darren and his team asked us to do a workshop together during the afternoon of Day 1 about podcasting.
To say that we were excited is a HUGE understatement. We were talking about our workshop together for months!
Finally, it was time, and at 2:00pm (after a quick run-though in our hotel room before lunch—you know me), here we were in front of about 200 people talking all about podcasting. Here's our opening slide…
Chris and I both have a lot of experience with podcasting. Both of us have 3 podcasts each under our belt, and a ton of stories to share about mistakes we made, things we wish we had done better, and things that went (or are going) very well.
We took people from the beginning through the launch and the marketing of one's podcast. If you'd like to get a more detailed rundown of what we talked about, I recommend you check out my free podcasting tutorial here.
As always, with Chris and I, there were a lot of laughs and memorable moments during the presentation, but a lot of people came up to us after the entire event and said it was one of the most helpful sessions of the entire conference too, which is always a joy to hear.
photo credit: Nicole Matejic
At this point in the day, I was stoked. Done with my keynote, done with the workshop, and no more presentations or panels to do!
With that said, like I hinted at before, I don't like to speak and leave. I love to participate in the events that go on, from the other presentations (there's always more to learn), and of course the networking events in the evening.
Throughout the rest of the conference, I never had a moment to myself until I was in my hotel room. It was exhausting but everyone was super nice and had such amazing stories to share, and I always did what I could to shift the conversation from my stuff, to theirs and see if I could help in any way.
I talked about my own stuff enough already on stage, and it's always super interesting and inspiring to me to learn about what other's have going on. Plus, I love to talk shop. 🙂
That night ended at midnight, and I don't think my voice could have taken much more. I was losing it, but hey—I didn't need it anymore! 😉
Conference Day #2—One of the Best
Because I was done with my gigs, I could actually pay attention to all else that was going on. During day #2, it didn't take long for me to realize that the ProBlogger Event was one of the most well-run ships I've ever sailed. Darren as captain, and his crew were all incredibly helpful and kept things sailing smooth the entire time.
I sat in on a couple of presentations and got to watch Chris deliver his too, which is always a treat, and by the end of the day when it was all over, it seemed like time flew by faster than ever.
Darren, as always, closed in a very memorable and eloquent way, and I can't help but just be completely thankful for all that he's done—not just related to this event and for inviting me to keynote, but for all the help through his blog when I started back in 2008, and for being a great example of someone who seriously cares about his readers and subscribers.
A huge thank you to Darren and the entire ProBlogger Event team for a job well done! It's a conference that I definitely would not mind coming back to!
After the event, I was transported back to Brisbane to meet up with the family and spend one more day together before we all head back home. Time to relax, enjoy and of course, pack!
One More Family Day—Before We Depart
Our final full-day in Australia was perfect. I had time to wind down after the event (and get my voice back), and the relatives we have in Australia threw my daughter a 2nd-year birthday party, which was awesome!
Her birthday wasn't for a couple of weeks after, but when you're with a Filipino family, any excuse to have a party means there's going to be a party.
I'm half filipino, so I know this from experience!
Great food, great company, great times.
Before we knew it, the kids were asleep at night and April and I were packing for our flight the next morning.
Farewell Australia! You've been perfect!
Our Trip Back
Our plane ride to Australia was decent in terms of the kids and their behavior. No major melt-downs. No crazy spills or nastiness. I was praying it would be the same coming back home.
Again—iPads and iPhones charged the night before, everything was good to go, and after a few hours spent at the airport and going through customs, we were off.
Luckily, the trip back wasn't all that bad. I only got 1 hour of sleep during the 14-hour plane ride, but after we touched down in L.A., retrieved 100% of our luggage (and kids), and were in back in the minivan headed down the 405 to San Diego, I couldn't help but smile the entire way home because we did it.
We had a successful family and business trip to the other side of the world! I was so proud of the kids, and especially April too who took care of the kids when I was at the conference.
After getting back, it was obvious our schedules were thrown off. The kids were asleep at 3:00pm, and I went to bed at 6:00pm for a few hours, and the kids were up at midnight. It's been over a week back, and we're just now finally getting back into our regularly scheduled program, but it's been completely worth it.
Thanks so much for reading this and following my family and I on our journey. It's been fun to blog about, and this post has reignited my joy for writing again—just writing—and not worrying about always writing epic content or trying to come out with the next best thing all the time, which is a mindset roadblock that I've had for months which has led to a decrease in blog-post production from me, as I'm sure you've noticed.
That, I am hoping to change.
A huge thanks again to Darren and his team at ProBlogger, and also to Tourism and Events Queensland for the amazing experiences around the Gold Coast and Queensland.
I'll be back, for sure!
Cheers!
Great write up and experience. You are definitely a great speaker and the time and effort that you put into your sessions is always appreciated (as I got to experience at SMMW). I also had the chance to visit Australia/New Zealand and do they have some great zoos with very friendly animals and petting conditions vs. USA standards! Looks like it was an amazing event and hope to meet up again soon!
Thanks so much Zac! I appreciate the kind words and I hope we can meet up again soon too!
Wow, sounds like a fun trip and a great conference. I hope to do both some day in the future 🙂
I don’t know how you do such awesome speeches. I would be so nervous especially in front of that many people!
The ProBlogger conference was top-notch, I highly recommend it to everyone who is able to make it! And as far as being nervous, trust me I still get nervous but I’d be worried if I wasn’t, because then that would mean I didn’t care and wouldn’t put in the time. 🙂
This was fantastic Pat and super fun to read! It’s funny because the time I was reading it I kept thinking ‘why doesn’t he write more stuff like this?’ Just hearing your perspective and seeing the conference etc through your eyes is epic in it’s own way. So I hope that encourages you a little. I can totally relate to the whole mindset roadblock thing so way to go on working around that!
Yeah man, like I shared at the end of the post, I think I worry too much about writing the best all of the time. If I just write like I used to back in 2008-2013, great things will come out of it and seriously this was a fun post to write. Thanks so much Joseph!
Wow! I wish I had a day with Darren ! The island was awesome too, It surely was worth going to Australia. 🙂
Have you ever been there before Bappy?
Looks like you had an awesome time. I can’t wait till I earn bank and can start travelling around the world. Guess I’d better start working… 😉
You could potentially travel hack your way there or anywhere else – I’ve been getting great tips from Matt from http://www.nomadicmatt.com, who helped me get to the Philippines for free back in March. 🙂
Great tip Pat, thanks! I just subscribed to Matt’s site. How did you get to the Philippines for free? 🙂
Awesome write-up!
Totally agree with you about that plane…not sure I would have gotten on 😉
Haha. Funny, because now I want to get my pilot’s license. 🙂
Loved reading about the Australian adventure, Pat. Specially about the Lady Elliot Island and Peter, simply amazing.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
If you ever get a change Rod, you should visit. It was seriously life changing for me, and a great memory for our 4-year old I’m sure. Our 1-year old will only have pictures and videos, but that’s okay. A great excuse to go back again in the future 🙂
What an awesome write up, Pat! You do a great job of taking us in and transporting us to the time and place where you had such a great time. I sure can relate to the whole kid-in-plane thing, we’re thinking of heading out to San Diego for my 30th next month and taking our 3 year old. Our iPad & iPhones will be charged and ready!
Thanks John! 3-year olds aren’t bad, typically. We took my son on his first plane right right before he turned 2 and he understood that it was important to stay in his seat and stay relatively quiet. The 1-2 year olds, they have no idea what’s going on, they’re just in this small little space with loud sounds and a seatbelt that stops you from going anywhere, lol. I’ll pray for safe and sound travels for you! And advance welcome to my hometown!
Man. It sounds like you had a great time. I lived in Australia for a while. If you get a chance, I’d recommend going to the outback and checking out Uluru. And people think it’s a stereotype, but there are literally kangaroos everywhere. They’re like deer.
Yeah I’ve heard a lot about Uluru! Definitely have to check that out, and I’d love to do some snorkeling while there as well! Well, not at Uluru, but at the reef!
I was there. I was at the back. I watched you do your warm ups and quietly thought “well if Pat Flynn is dispersing his nervous energy, I feel better about my own nerves being normal for my presentation in 3 hours” lol…. It was the 3rd time I have seen you live and you were already at the top of my favourite live speakers, so you should know that you blew me away just like your wife was blown away by her favourite band in the adorable story you told about how your casual audience evolve into raving fans. You created many new raving fans during that 1 hour, so please know that you nailed it. Your storytelling was stellar. Stellar. Well done Pat and I am SO glad you loved our country. It’s a long haul to get out here but worth it. It was an honour to speak at the same conference as you and I just want you to know that your insights into your speaking journey are an inspiration to many of us!
Thanks so much Donna, that means a lot to me! The audience was amazing and very friendly so I got comfortable real fast, and I’m glad it was enjoyed! I appreciate you Donna and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get to your talk!
This is awesome Pat…thank so much for the step by step. Excited for you and for all the leaders whose lives you inspire. I’ve learned SO much from you!
I plan on being in Australia next year for some speaking engagements in the Melbourne area and my wife and I will be heading to the Gold Coast afterwards. Can’t wait!
Thanks Carey! Melbourne, which I visited back in 2008, is an AWESOME city. One of my favorites still. Gold Coast blew me away though, it was very much like San Diego. Enjoy!
Nice work @patwithspi:disqus . It was good to see you and enjoyed your talk even more the second time hearing it. I think I prefer the Australian version :-).
I enjoyed your post above to the island; I would have been happy just to get on that Caravan.
Thanks for that Kerwin! I knew there was some people in the audience who have heard it before and still got something out of it. I did add a bit more and have changed a few things around, and will continue to do so the rest of the year. Thanks, and hope to see you again at a conference soon, like we always do!
You are welcome. I have to give a presentation at the end of this week, so I was taking mental notes too :-). I am sure I will see you soon at another con as we do :-).
Nice! I think this was a picture of Chris Ducker’s presentation. He uses the giant “The Twitter” icon on a few of his slides, heheheh. Great shot though – GoPro?
Thanks. Yes it was Chris’. And yes, GoPro action. I wanted to capture you capturing the moments :-).
Nice write up, Pat. My kids are 9, 10, and 12 and I am still afraid to take them on long flights. Kudos for the bravery. Glad the trip went well!
Thanks Jayme! April did an amazing job at keeping the kids calm and happy, like she always does. I don’t think I could have done it alone, that’s for sure.
Thanks for the update Pat! As a fellow band-nerd, I always love the marching band references. 🙂 One of these days we’ll actually be at the same conference and get to meet!
Yes! We should start a band…
😉
Sounds like an amazing trip, both personally and professionally! Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I loved hearing how you felt before your keynote – I go through the same exact thing each time I speak, too, and the only things that makes it better is to just get up and do it. Looking forward to reading more of these types of posts 🙂
Yup, exactly! Get up and do it, for sure. Cheers Andreea, and best of luck to you and your next speaking engagement!
Thanks so much, Pat! I am actually keynoting the Handcrafted Soap Guild Conference in April 2015 in front of 450+ people – my biggest group yet…
You got this!
Hey Pat,
So glad everything went well and you had such an amazing time all the way around!
Thanks for reminding us it’s OK to just write without worrying it’s not the next great thing. Just to let it rip and get better with practice!
Jeff
Thanks Jeff! Indeed!
I am glad that you had a good time in Aus. Wish you Much success !
Thanks Ethan! To you as well!
Hi Pat,
Great information, have a great time in Australia. 🙂
Hung
Hey Pat, looking great with Yaro, Daren & Chris! Also the selfie with kangaroo and the view of the island from top was amazing!
Thanks Tamal! You ever been to Australia?
No I haven’t, but I would really love too! Hopefully sometimes soon.
WOW…so epic! Wish I could have been rocking it beside you bro! How do you keep so fit on these trips? Epic!
Gym at the hotel, and the secret weapon, a resistance band. Seriously, best purchase ever. :)Thanks John!
Awesome trip especially with 2 kids in tow. I am having my second child next month and will be doing something like that soon. Good job Pat.
Congrats Ben! That’s awesome!
Hey Pat, glad you enjoyed being with us ‘down under’. And thanks for your candid comments – you are an inspiration. Cheers, Michael.
Cheers Michael!
What an amazing adventure!! I’m ready to book a flight out of LAX tomorrow!! I love that you’ve combined your family & business into one spectacular holiday. There is no reason why we cannot have it all and be happy!
Hehe, thanks Sue! It did help that we have family in Australia that could help out while I was doing business stuff, but the family part of the trip – the first half – was amazing. The Gold Coast was such a kid-friendly area.
Great blog post! Glad to know your family had a great time and you managed to kill two birds with one stone!
Thanks Melissa! 🙂
An amazing trip Pat. I am sure kids had loads of fun too – anyone can tell just by looking at their faces! Would be definitely eager to see your presentation whenever it is available (still waiting for NMX from January, 2014 btw!). 🙂
Cheers,
Pratik!
My kids are still talking about the trip. Well, our 4 year old mostly, but then our little one will come in with words like, “aroo!”, and “oala!” (for kangaroo and koala, lol) – precious moments, for sure!
Haha, great moments for sure. I just noticed yesterday that Kai turned 2 on 7th I believe. Well, mine was on 8th, didn’t knew we just had a day difference merely in terms of birth date.
Love to her and Keoni, beautiful kids. 🙂
Cheers,
Pratik
The iPad trick is huge! We have a 2-year-old who’s been flying back and forth between Boston and Florida since he was just a few months old. We used to be able to just hold him, but for the last couple of trips the iPad has been indispensable. Pop on some Dora and he’s good to go. Glad you had such a good trip!
Wow, since 2 months. You’re incredible! I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do that. Dora is great, and there are a lot of interactive learning apps available, it’s awesome!
I actually think it was easier when he was younger. When he was that small he would just fall asleep on my shoulder. But then again, we never did a 14-hour flight either!
Hi Pat, you sure didn’t look or appear like a 550 people room was your biggest ever, you are a true professional, your topic was so interesting. Well done. And it was interesting to hear your perspective on the 1 day business breakthrough, we all had an awesome day and kept the friendships going through ProBlogger. Now I feel honoured to think I have appeared in a Pat Flynn blog. Bye bye.
So glad you got to make it to the 1DayBB event Lynda, and thank you so much for the kind words! See you in the private FB group!
Pat, since I started listening to your podcast … way back in the beginning I’ve been impressed by your transparency and gentle, generous sprit. Reading about the Australia trip, it’s like you’ve become one of the family, thank you for inviting us in. All success to a most deserving individual.
Tanks Steve, I appreciate that so much! Happy to be a part of it!
Loved reading your story of this trip Pat and the ‘Yay! marching band reference’ had me laughing out loud. Glad it went well!
Haha – are you a marching band alumnus Sandy?
Hi Pat, Great overview of your visit. I was pleased to have been part of the 1 day workshop, which was a great experience – I can highly recommend it! Your talk at the ProBlogger conference was so informative and I am happy to be part of your band of raving fans.
Hi Pat,
Brilliant man! I saw your twitter feed when you landed in Australia. I’m a few hours away in Fiji now. I loved the recount of your experience, and heck your travels. It’s my life. I’ve been circling the globe for 40 months in a row; I know of no more enjoyable, fulfilling and enlightening way to live.
BTW I hear you on the turbulence. That plane looked “wee” to me. A little like the one we took from Nandi to Labasa here in Fiji. The less folks who are traveling the more likely you’ll be popping on to a crop duster. As for turbulence I am not much of a fan either after flying over 50 times in just 3 years. The dips kill me, but side to side stuff and even slower up and down motions are OK. The quick dips? Terrible for me.
Congrats on your speaking success too. I’d like to do a live, in person event one day. I’ll be speaking to a class at NYU in a few months about how to monetize your blog but will be doing a Google Hangout. Not because I’m at a tropical island paradise at the time, because I’ll be back in NJ on that day, but because I’ll have just landed from a Bangkok to NYC flight some 24 hours before.
Roll out of bed, get bright eyed and bushy tailed, and get to it instead of trudging through NYC to lose my energy mojo….better branding for me too, as I’m a digital lifestyle/blogging from paradise/mobile guy.
Thanks so much for sharing Pat. I hope you’re through with jet lag now.
Tweeting in a bit of course.
Ryan
Love this post Pat – I so wanted to be there but the tickets sold out before I could grab one! And I was on the GC only a week or two before that for another conference (I’m from Melbourne) so I was TOTALLY bummed that I couldn’t be there to see your keynote. Anyway, thanks so much for posting this recap – at least I feel like I got to see a little part of it! Leah 🙂
When you post pic of your family (lovely family by the way), somehow it makes it feel like you are just like one of us with a demands of family activities. Makes it real for folks like me. I have always been hesitant of posting family pics in my blog, even the ones i do, i never show the face, but now you make me rethink that strategy. Thanks for the great read. Enjoyed it.
Sounds like an amazing trip. Hopefully I get the chance to hear you speak at an event in the near future.
Wow! Thanks for the recap of your awesome trip! Looking forward to your 2015 Business Breakthrough in the US….in San Diego area? Love to learn more about problogging. I truly so admire your transparency, honesty and all of your helpful resources/tips in your website. I recommend your site to friends who want to be inspired and have proof that anything is possible when you set your mind and heart into it. Thanks Pat!
Been following you for over a year. Great to see you grow your brand and business. Thank you for making a difference. Pat, do you have a blog or a podcast that will give you step by step process on “how” to pick the right online business for you? All my best. Greg
Pat, so awesome to get a glimpse not only of the incredible conference (and your keynote and talk with Chris Ducker), but also your family time in Australia. Thank you so much for sharing with us!
HI Pat, I enjoy every blog you share with us. I hope you come to Melbourne one day. I’m Filo, and looking at your photos and your family, I thought you were. You have this gently nature, and I haven’t even met you in person yet. Your approach to online business is always one step ahead of the rest, and you make sure your followers are not just numbers but people who deserve to succeed alongside with you. A big thanks to you.
Interesting and beautiful!
I normally don’t comment 🙂 but this was a great blog! I like how your combined family with business!!! Congrats on your successful trip!
Hi Pat, it was a pleasure to have you at PBEVENT. What a great wrap-up post, I loved reading about your time here as a visitor to Queensland as as one of our keynote speakers. Lady Elliot Island looks like an amazing experience! Thanks so much for giving us feedback on the smooth running of the event (it didn’t feel smooth from where I stood but that’s event management for you! Our team worked hard so that everyone could have a wonderful experience so I love hearing these stories) Thanks again and lovely to meet you 🙂
As one of the 550 in the audience, thanks for coming out and it was great to hear you speak!
You were worth waiting to hear speak and meet. Thank you so much for honing your performance and entertaining us with stories, video and song. For coming all the way to Australia so see us and for wearing a tie. We were honored and I know the information and inspiration you gave us will keep us in action for a long time!
I got a lovely photo of us together which I’ve share on Get In the Hot Spot and am so glad to see you got to enjoy some R&R with your lovely family too. I think everyone has a lot of happy memories to share 🙂
Great Post Pat, was so dissapointed to miss ProBlogger this year and not catch up with you and Chris, sounds like it was epik! Glad you enjoyed Australia too, next time I’ll show you around Tasmania! Also awesome to see your natural writing style back 🙂
Good to know you have worked hard to be where you are now. Your story is really inspiring a lot.
Saw both your presentations at ProBlogger, Pat. Highlight of the conference! And pleased to meet you briefly at the end. Appreciate you travelling all this way to be with us. Got a lot out of your “performance” 🙂 PS Beautiful family! Glad they all enjoyed their time in Australia.
Wow thank you so much Michelle! Fantastic, smile-inducing comments. Cheers, and we’ll definitely be back!
I absolutely loved your talk at Problogger! I felt so inspired walking out of that room on the first morning and it was all thanks to you. Since coming home I’ve already been implementing your advice and I know what a big difference it is going to make to my blog. Thank you so much! Wonderful to meet you as well, I was one of the many people who came up and said hi at the Friday night party. Hope to see you back in Australia again soon 🙂
Thanks so much Michaela! Way to take action so quickly – and was great to meet you in person! Hope to see you again soon someday!
I was in the audience for your ‘performance’ Pat and what a great performance it was. I love your approach to public speaking – it was the perfect balance of entertainment with information and (much like the whole Problogger event) super slick. Thanks for coming all the way to Oz to impart your knowledge. From a newly converted raving fan 🙂
Thanks Jayney! You rock and I hope to come back to Oz again soon! 🙂
Hi Pat, I couldn’t make it this year to the conference, but I’ll be getting the videos that they do. Can’t wait to dive in! I’ve never visited your blog before and I just want to compliment you on the natural way you write.
I blog for pleasure, sharing what I’ve learnt with my peers in non-profits on marketing and communications. The way you write just seems to shout that you love what you do too!
God bless!
Steve
I definitely love what I do too Steve! 🙂
Sorry you couldn’t make it to the conference this year, and thank you for all the kind words!
Great story Pat and made we wish do the same with my family. Thanks for inspiration.
Kangaroos selfies rulez!
And a pinch of salt: you look round in the suit.To consolate you, Yaro, Darren and Chris look even more round 😉
Haha – you’re right. Perhaps it was just the angle or lighting, or both. 😛
Its awesome to see your family pics. I have been following you for more than 4 years. You are a great inspiration for me and other bloggers out there.
Thanks so much!
I’m going to be yet another person who enjoyed your ‘performance.’ I read a lot about word of mouth and marketing and know that you took complicated information and made it really accessible. It tied in with a lot of the other presentations and really enforced the vision that Darren has been trying to create for the blogging community. I was also impressed with how accessible you were to others. I tend to just observe at conferences instead of interact and both you and Chris really helped set the tone. That everyone is on a journey.
I also may have talked to my partner about you. He was slightly annoyed that I didn’t win the lego Delorean for him.
Thanks for the support Jade, I remember us chatting with each other on twitter 2 or 3 years ago, and you’ve always been a huge supporter so thank you! Glad I got to see you again in person and hope it’s not the last time!
It was awesome to both see you speak and get a chance to meet you Pat. Thanks for making the long trek to Australia and I hope you and your family can get over the jet lag quickly now you’re home. Duck Duck Goose!
Haha! Definitely the most memorable shirt of the conference for me – thanks again for the support Corey!
I kind of regret not going as you have been one of my key inspirations and still are. But I’m in Singapore so it would be quite a trip for me too. When are you coming to Asia Pat? I would love to attend one of your day events that you do together with Chris!
Yeah, that would have been quite a trip, but hopefully I can come to Asia at some point and do a workshop or two, or perhaps a presentation. You’ll hear about it if it’s going to happen! Thanks Sylvia!
Pat, you are so genuine in your posts, and in everything you share with us. I really love your style.
To comment on the email you sent, yes! We want more frequent posts!
Thanks Lau!
I enjoy posts like these! Great to see that you and your family had a great time down under!
I was there too and you were fantastic Pat. I would have thought that you did ‘performances’ every other day you were so polished. A born ‘performer.’ Don’t tell the others but I think you were the best that I saw and I definitely took the most notes in your presentation sorry performance.
Wow, thank you so much Claire! That means so much to me, yet I will continue to improve and strive to become even better! All the best to you and hope to be able to present (er, perform) for you again in the future!
Very interesting Pat. One lesson I got from your write up – you do’nt have to be an author of a best seller before you write an article!
I have been listening to your podcasts for some time now Pat – and am really touched by your genuineness. Your desire to give something of value is really nice.
Most guys end up asking you to buy something! One tends to quickly scroll down to see what he is selling and for what price! Not – not – Pat Flynn.
Only thing is that I now have too many options ( from many of your podcasts) and don’t know where to start. Whenever I think of starting, I listen to one more inspirational podcast of yours and go off on that trail!! Something like a kid in a toy store.
Will keep in touch – and yes – keep it up Pat – you are a great help.
Raghavendra Rao (India)
Pat – where to start? Seeing you successfully combining a family event and business event was, alone, worth the read. My kids are grown and gone but I’m doing all this to get the time freedom that you enjoy. I’m glad to see it actually can work. The other part of this post that hit home is the “just write” theme. I am having such a hard time getting time to write, and the time I do allocate, I want every paragraph to be momentous. Wrong idea! Thanks for pointing that out. I just have to write and it will flow.
Thanks Johnny – like you, I’ve been trying to make every word, every paragraph absolutely perfect. I have to follow my own advice I often give to others, and that perfection is just a sign of procrastination. Don’t hold back, and just go. When I write in edit mode, my writing doesn’t happen. Be creative, write, and edit later. It will flow, indeed. Cheers, and best of luck to you Johnny!
Well deserved vaction for you and your family Pat. Glad everything went well. Thank you for all of the wonderful content that you are producing. It has helped me tremendously as I prepare to launch my business. Keep up the great work and God bless! 🙂
Thanks Chris, I appreciate that, and best of luck to you and your biz!
Can I just say – Thanks so much for visiting us down here! I’m so grateful for the opportunity to say G’day! Your Keynote and Session with Chris were exceptional, both entertaining and informative.
I don’t know about the rest of the Aussies reading this, but I’m stoked you enjoyed our landscape and culture!
Thanks so much Pat! Looking forward to next time!
Pat,
Great recap of your trip and loved all the pictures.
My wife and I took our baby on his first flight recently (a 1 hour flight to San Jose) and I can’t even imagine flying to Australia with our little one.
One thing my wife did that I thought was cool was she kept the boarding passes from our trip. She is keeping an album for our son so one day he can look back and see all the trips he took.
And maybe by the time he grows up he can find his own Dr. Emmett Brown to take him back to those exact trips!
Enjoyed the post and love what you are doing. I’m almost through all your podcasts and I just uploaded a review of Let Go to YouTube so I thought I would drop you a note and tell you to keep crushing it.
George
Yo pat, this is Cy from Hawaii! (from AP#149). Wow, sweet views of the private island that’s so awesome, kinda reminds me of home…..speaking of which, did you figure out when your coming out to Hawaii next year? Which island are you coming to? I will take you up on that coffee or surf session, I’ll take you to all the local spots, let me show you around the island!
(Ask Pat T-Shirt photo with my coach/mentor Dan Miller!)
Hey Pat, great to hear that things went well! It looked like an awesome trip and a great balance of family/business trip. I’m just curious what you were running on your idevices that kept your 1 year old entertained, if you don’t mind sharing. My wife and I will be traveling in a few months and I’m a little nervous about our little boy who just turned 1.
Thanks for sharing this story. I enjoyed reading it. More stories like this that lets us connect to you in a more personal level 🙂
I think I stayed at the same hotel when I visited Oz as a 21 year old. Nice work Pat! You and the fam are killin’ it!!!!
that’s so cool
There you go Pat, just worked on me once more – like you always do. I essentially looked forward to a vedio of your presentation. And I fully understand why it’s not out yet.
Oh, talking of Woolworths, the shop you visited; it is one of South Africa’s major retail stores – highly specialised in thier selection of products. You would love it even more next time when you visit SA. And yes when you do, I’ll be one of those who’d love to shake your hand.
And your family man…#speechless!
Thank you sir, always!
Hi Pat!
Didn’t know you were half-Filipino. I am too! Just started following you on this blog just a few days ago. Very candid. No BS, no fluff. Why don’t you try to come to the Philippines and host an event like this as well? I’ll be one of your fans haha!
Kudos to your ‘performance’ in Australia! I’m sure you’ll inspire more people to improve their craft!
I’d definitely recommend the 1 Day Business Breakthrough format to anyone interested in working towards success. It was fantastic to be in a room with so many people at different stages of success and with so much positivity. If you’re booked for it, I strongly suggest try to engage with the rest of the group as much as possible before the day. We formed one mastermind of 7 people and we had 6 fortnightly meetings prior the event. This gave us quite a heads up on how these things work and gave us a good boost before the event. Since that we’ve now extended our group with 2 new members from the 1-DBB and we’re all keen to see how everyone there develops in the future.
Great travelogue Pat. Glad you enjoyed yourself in our wonderful country. Come back soon.
Hi Pat! I have been reading your blog and going through your site lately and I am a huge fan of yours and your success in online business. I would like to start some kind of passive income myself for my family and unfortunately English is not my native language and I am not very good at it and I am confused and don’t really know where to start. Please help me Pat. Thanks
Hey Pat, big fan of yours. Especially when I am going through a similar journey in terms of employment etc. I am so glad you had such a great time in the land of OZ, I love the photo of Chris, Yaro, Darren and yourself. I feel like a fanboy, patriotic and connected when I look at the photo.
Thanks for sharing so much and being so open. I am inspired.and will keep going.
I think this trip to you and your family will enjoy, and it’s very good.
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Interesting photos taken in this trip. I think the trip has been very good for you and your family
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