I know this guy. I grew up in columbia mo. He is awsome.HE is one of the few that made the choice to get out of a "Cursed to poverty town" and make a new life. All those who dislike him or don't believe him are those that are too afraid to step out onto the ledge of life and take that grand leap of faith.

Fantastic talk Colin and I so agree. As a Suitcase Entrepreneur who lives my life travelling and running my business while living out of a suitcase I love the minimalist lifestyle. The one where experiences matter way more than stuff and you are richer than many others because of the lifestyle you live and the adventure you choose to live on a daily basis.

You need to relax and insert pauses in order to relax your crowd and give them time to laugh. He was SOOO TENSE that few chuckles when people tried to laugh were quickly squandered by his continuing stressful speech.

Right on, good job Colin. Perhaps one benefit of this video is that hopefully New Zealand got their act together by now. :)

I agree totally, I can predict after this talk some lives are going to change at-least mine for sure.

Litterally one of the best TEDx talks I have ever heard. Up there with start with why. Beatifully done. I am inspired to stop insanity.

This is just brilliant in every way. Excellent talk, had me hooked from start to finish. Keep it going...I am now a fan.:-)

Just another Me Monster - TEDx is full of 'em.

I have this terrible empty feeling after listening to this guy. Everything is never enough for Colin. Does he ever have any satisfaction? He so manic.

Great talk....I , too, left USA and traveled the world. Amazing journey! He's not only intelligent and creative but gorgeous as well.

Presentation came at a good time in my life.

He is very Confident, Goal Oriented and a Risk Taker! That's Awesome! At his age I was still drueling LOL

Absolutely!

A seed has been planted...great TED Talk.

Great Video!!!!!!!

I know this is probably a controversial opinion (what opinion isn't I guess) but I found this speech helpful to myself because it refreshed the idea of experimentation in daily life to reach to results. I guess I find myself fall into these habit loops as simple as the same type of cereal everyday simpler than finding a different way to start breakfast for a year. Change opens opportunity and finding different outcomes. I think that was the point of the video.

Use imagination, curiosity and willingness to make changes; act on results. What do you want; what resources are available in your area? How can you combine what is around you to make something new that relates to your dreams? If you think outside the box, you can make changes. Everyone is in a box and has to think their way out. Everyone's box is different. Inventory everything you can use. Make changes. Measure results. DO IT! That's the formula. ANYONE can do this. EVEN YOU!

It's "experimental" because it's not very American to try to adapt to multiple cultures like he's doing, though it's many of our dreams. And the topic of the talk wasn't his travels; it was about changing one's perspective so that you or I could accomplish our dreams by allowing us the mindset to do it.

Giving a talk in a Therevedic buddhist country about non-materialism. And discovering that through world travel - which most of the local population in Cambodia cannot afford.

He failed to provoke laughter. He should next learn standup comedy (and getting rid of the ahhs and uhhhs in his speech), because even though the talk was BRILLIANT, there was nothing funny. He should ALSO get an agent and start acting. The last line was DEADLY and I am going to steal it: "if you are not looking at things from multiple standpoints and then making changes, you're insane". This guy has magic like Bob Dylan had at that age. He's a monster. Scary smart. WAY best TED talk ever.

Great talk, inspiring! thank you

This video will especially appeal to anyone who has a strong Uranus in his/her chart. Uranus, the planet of surprise and disruption, is a detached sign that encourages unique self-expression and a concern for society as a whole.

I love these ted talks.

Great talk! Very inspirational.

This is very insightful! awesome stuff!

Very inspiring!

This audience was horrible. Fantastic speech!

"Work Work Work" and "Pineapple" of 2016 music trend back in his talk that time.

I couldn't agree with you more. How did you get started? And what do you do for work/money?

I thought he did a pretty dang good job myself. I would have been a heck of a lot more nervous. More important is the information, which is for people to grab their life by the horns and do what they really want to do...rather than getting stuck in a rut and following the societal norms, because they think there are no other options. The options are limitless.

This guy lends evidence to the statement that beautiful people are successful in life.

OK, smartypants, what you got ? Show us your brilliant TED talk.

excellent advice!

Bunch of people in their mom's basement telling this guy his life sucks.

Its not about what he did, its about what we can do. We all have dreams, at one point our lives we have to stop and think is what we're doing really going to achieve those dreams. Stop doing the same thing and expect a different result in this case our dreams.

Kid's outrageous. WAY more mature than teh average 25 year old I have met. He says he made these changes as a result of carying a camera - true- the necessary ingredient was ACTING on the THOUGHTS INSPIRED BY the camera. The camera was the first change, it was part of embracing change. We have NOT heard the last of this guy. I bet he's big buddies with Tim Ferriss.

What if your dreams cannot be really identified. I've been studying in the UK for 7 years and always missed the simple lifestyle of my small hometown in Crete. Now that I'm back to it I feel this extreme urge to live a cold, urban/industrial lifestlye. Constantly missing what you don't have is kind of childish I guess but it has helped me in many ways in my life. How does someone know what values of himself he needs to change and what to keep intact.

I bet if he did pursue it, he would learn how and excel the way he excels at everything else.

Hmmm, no. From his website: 'I make money by writing and selling my books, subscriptions to my travelogue, consulting with businesses and individuals about their brand, and selling t-shirts that I’ve designed. I also run a publishing company called Asymmetrical.'

The definition of insanity is: Deciding to leave New Zealand and go live in Iceland because the internet in New Zealand is lousy. WTF!? That tells you something about how low his values are: The bottom line is more important than anything else in the Universe. Being an obsessive workaholic... realizing you're doing something wrong and then deciding to sell all your stuff, travel and then take all your work with you! Talk about a busman's holiday. Letting other people decide where you should live: thus giving up your own freedom of choice and giving up using your own brain to make your own life-decisions. Not realizing and understanding that the reason people sell all their stuff and travel is to get away from the rat race of making money and pleasing clients and get in touch with deeper issues about Life. In essence he didn't change a single thing about himself: he didn't look inside himself: He didn't gain a new perspective on himself, he didn't ask himself the tough questions like: What do you need a million dollars for? Why are you killing yourself for money? Why do you want to get rich? What good is money when you have no girlfriend, no friends, no connections to anything? The last photo is him telling you he's still the dumb little 12 yr old boy who wanted to leave the boring state of Missouri and that boring backyard which he never liked and never noticed for 12 years and that he hasn't learned anything new since then. The first photo is him telling you he's asleep at the wheel. A dog has taken over his life and body: he's a running dog capitalist; running in the capitalistic rat race of dog-eat-dog, working and slaving to make as much fucking money as he can..

Interesting!

Me too!

self-indulgency and narcissism. welcome to the new era

I didn't know they already had TED talks in the 70s.

God, he's cute.

This might relate to the way my life has changed.

Colin, what if one has jumped and missed the hoped-for mark and ended up worse off than ever before? I too did a personal extreme experiment - Iceland sounds interesting - for the summer at least LOL

I'm confused. Did this guy say something imp or was he trying to make "a point" in this video? I'm all for minimalism, extreme lifestyle experiments and being a nomad but I still don't get the point he is trying to make. Most of it seems pretty obvious...unless I missed something. Seems like he had it in his head but couldn't express it...anyhow, good on u matey! Keep travelling.

O good grief, this guy is a genius.

I live in New Zealand (Auckland) and the internet isn't too bad. Not that fast but I can watch HD videos and make Skype calls.

If you're looking for inspiration you could just go and read Sitesh Kumar, Schumacher's Small is Beautiful - they have been around for decades. Or...the Buddha

If I'm not mistaken, did he give this speech in phnom Penh, Cambodia?

"I continually contradict myself to avoid conforming to my own tastes." - Marcel DuChamp

Young Dexter.

Perhaps I should not be surprised that this type A jet setting, high flying mr. "do it all" did not stop and correlate the inverse relationship between the high level of beauty in New Zealand and the low level access of Internet. Perhaps because of his "low" age he does not yet appreciate the "high" value of scenic beauty and the sometimes necessary trade off between technology and life quality.

Shit. I’m terribly envious of my neighbor currently. He’s actually been single permanently. But, he got a catalogue model to say to him she has fallen deeply in love with him in under a month. How is that possible? He said to me he used the Cupid Love System (Google it!) I wish someone gorgeous told me that… I’ve never seen him so content. Kind of makes me feel bad.

Excellent talk but damn what a tough crowd? not one of them laughed ._.

Maybe I'M missing the joke here, but if your comment is serious could it be that his audience in PnomhPenh were mostly concentrating on understanding English. Maybe dozens of people have made the same reply, if so my apologies. Be happy.x

wow

well, that's because his microphone didn't record the audience, mainly his voice :)

What about living without the internet and blogging or cameras for a while...!? Still, a good speaker, particularly for his age.

You do have a point :) He is stressed

Albert Einstein never said that. That quote probably originated in a 19th century novel.

Good

I scanned most of the responses. I really think that is a decent clip. My cousin just wishes to get excellent with gals. He was taught a fuck load from Master Attraction. (Google it if you want pretty good emails on picking up girls.) The ideas on picking up girls from nightclubs from Master Attraction got him his very first intimate encounters in a few years. I became pissed however seeing that I heard them all. Grrrr.

I'll serve you some nice Icelandic food, Colin! :)

This 25 year old is speaking in such a condescending tone that it is grating my every nerve. He speaks as though he has all this experience and intelligence, when in reality we are listening to the ramblings of some arrogant preacher. Preaching what? I have yet to understand. I'm all for minimalism. I like that idea. But then the rest kind of derails into... well, I don't know what. If he was driving toward a point here, I think he never got it across.

Ok so he told us what he did. How about those who are tied down to a place and can't work from our laptops?

The boy is hot! Not discrediting his talk, it is inspiring! But man he is cute!

Identify.Plan.Rules.Jump

the khmers are like what?

Nice talk, amazing lifestyle... but why so handsome??? :D I have been imagining he's an actor from a popular series. XD

New lifestyle experiment idea: Live gay lifestyle with me as my boyfriend. hahahahaha but in all seriousness, this was a really great and thought provoking talk.

Hipsters might like this one...everyone else, next!

hes so funny and really good looking!

I was thinking young Kevin Bacon

Laos song

I just realized i'm insane. Fuck.

I know right?! #whatsupwidat

they didnt laugh or even listen very attentively or happily ( 5:34 , for example ). lame. agreed though - excellent presentation.

This guy looks like dexter

yup New Zealand internet suckas alright, there's thing's happening to improve it, but still way behind where ti should be, atleast everything else is nice

What is it about this guy? At first he comes across as charismatic and confident and then the same thing that was attractive becomes grating. Difficult to listen to and watch this. Even if the message is interesting the delivery is car salseman smarm.

He has a delicious voice

this talk is an example of the type of banality that we have gotten accustomed to from TEDx

nobody works 120 hours a week. This guy makes a living posting a photo, some writing, and a video? Hard to believe. Lot of hot air.

No doubt this guy lives an amazing life, but he strikes me as emotionally vapid.

yukkkk

Definitely do not pursue stand up comedy, sir.

Not much insight here.

this guy is dead i think