Andrew Hyde sold almost all of his belongings in 2010 and set out to travel the world with just 15 items. (As long as you’re not persnickety about whether the iPhone and its charger are two different items, he really did it with 15 or so items.)
“The point of the project was to be not overly obsessed with material things,” says Hyde, a Boulder-based web designer geek turned world traveler turned author turned tech startup guru.
He started with a trip to 15 countries throughout South America, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
He wrote a book about his minimalist travels, titled This Book is About Travel, available on Kindle and from Amazon.
“A couple of my blog posts about the trip were doing really, really well, especially [a blog] about Nepal which reached almost a million views,” he says. “It went to that viral level of travel writing … then it just kind of grew. I couldn’t stop writing, I couldn’t stop editing and researching.”
Just a year before his round-the-world trip, Hyde had never been outside of the United States.
Growing up in Sisters, Oregon, Hyde’s family wasn’t particularly into travel, but they were outdoorsy. He became an Eagle Scout and, at age 18, he traveled to Alaska to build a cabin with a friend.
“That was probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever done,” Hyde says, “[Wielding] a 48-inch chainsaw blade in the middle of nowhere.”
He then went to the East Coast to attend Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. After graduating, “I threw a dart on a map,” Hyde says, “and it landed in Red Feather Lakes [in Larimer County]… I decided to live in Boulder a year, and it’s been 11 years.”
In that time, Hyde estimates he has now been to a total of 52 countries. Despite what seems like an unattainable lifestyle for a normal person, Hyde is not a trustafarian. In fact, he believes that just about anybody can afford to travel, even on a dream trip.
“Travel is — when you’re on the road and when you’re kind of frugal about it — it’s really doable. Time is the one [factor] most people can’t afford. I don’t know, I just made it a priority. A lot of people have hobbies and a lot of people have passions, and travel is mine.”
And he has advice for you if you want to do what he’s done.
“If you want to do something, you can probably do it. That’s really generic, but I’ve never met someone who hasn’t been able to achieve traveling to someplace they wanted to go to,” he says. “It can be very expensive but it can be very cheap as well … and that’s what a lot of the book is about. It’s trying to be relatable.”
In his book, Hyde details how to plan for a roundthe-world trip.
“Time is by far the most expensive part of a RTW trip,” he writes. “My RTW trip is costing me less than what my rent and bills would be for my apartment.” Step four in Hyde’s step-by-step guide to planning the trip sums it up pretty well: Budget, save and book.
He practices what he preaches. Hyde took a call from Boulder Weekly just as he was about to launch on a float trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon — which came just a few weeks after a trip to Moscow.
“I’m very frugal and I work very hard,” Hyde says. “Like today: I woke up in Moab camping up in a canyon. I went to a coffee shop and I worked for three or four hours and then I drove for three to four hours and then our call and … my total costs for the day are actually less than if I were in Boulder.”
According to his website, Hyde is a “minimalist, writer, bootstrapper, designer, user interface builder, user experience creator, … buzzword originator, blogger, politico, biker, runner, backpacker and nice guy.”
And while it may seem suspect that someone needs to describe himself as a nice guy, the claim pans out. Ef Rodriguez is a digital marketing strategist and a friend of Hyde’s. The two met when they were both working in the tech sector in Boulder.
“Andrew is frisky, fierce and worth following. … He just inspires people,” Rodriguez says, adding, “The man is sweeter than a bag of Skittles.
“I love that he pushes himself,” Rodriguez continues. “He’s met so many people. he’s not afraid of many things, whether it’s doing Ironmans or trekking.”
When Rodriguez lived in Amsterdam, Hyde was the only friend who visited him. And when Hyde started TedxBoulder, Boulder Ignite and Boulder Startup Week, he recruited other volunteers, including Rodriguez.
“I’ve always been really interested in community,” Hyde says. “I kind of know how to get people together and how to celebrate our achievements collectively really well. I kind of accidentally became a really good conference organizer. [It’s] kind of my way to give back to Boulder.”
Looking at the numbers, some might say the events have been smashing successes. The 2014 TedxBoulder had 2,200 attendees and the 2015 Boulder Startup Week hosted 120 events over five days with some 6,000 in attendance. Ignite Boulder regularly sells out for its collection of five-minute presentations.
“He’s an event master,” Rodriguez says of Hyde. “He’s not out to make a buck … Andrew’s approach has always been steeped in earnest commitment to a community.”
Hyde defines adventure as “where the outcome is unknown.” Rodriguez draws comparisons between adventure travel and startups, whether business or social.
“I think that zeal for seeing the world … does have parallels with startup culture, which is all about taking risk, about taking the road less traveled,” Rodriguez says. “It’s easy to take the easy path and take a job at a company.”
Hyde’s latest ventures include Inside Travel Guides, mobile travel guides that provide three-day itineraries to particular cities or neighborhoods, and Up Global, a nonprofit organization that sponsors Startup events and supports entrepreneurship around the globe.
He still manages to travel regularly, despite his work and entrepreneurial schedule. And though Hyde still lives a peripatetic life, he now owns a home in Boulder.
“Oh yeah,” he says. “Boulder’s home.”
Read blog posts on Hyde’s site at http://andrewhy.de/.
15 ITEMS ANDREW HYDE TOOK AROUND THE WORLD
1. Backpack
2. iPhone
3. Small Camera
4. iPad
5. Long Sleeve Shirt
6. Short Sleeve Shirt
7. Long Pants
8. Boardshorts
9. Underwear
10. Sandals
11. Sunglasses
12. Wallet
13. Towel
14. Jacket
15. Toiletry Kit
