I have to stop traveling at so much. In 2004, I was in the studio 50 hours each week for 52 weeks. That might seem like an unimpressive time sheet for an over-achiever, but consider that I spent 43 of 52 weekends on the road. That’s a lot of work. I am proud of these numbers, but I’m beginning to feel stunted by the grind.

In the three years since I’ve graduated college, I have been in a creative gridlock. I have tremendous creative freedom at lifeteen.com, and I love every pixel of it. I have creative freedom when I travel and speak. So what’s the problem? I have no time or energy to be creative with other projects. I could keep doing this work/travel thing, but I will inevitably keep doing the same thing. I’m ready for something new.

Maybe all kids from “The Real World” deal with this problem–the inability to see beyond the present “good life”. In a society that adores fame and fortune, most people wouldn’t think twice about going on a TV show. You just do it. And that’s what I did. If you have a chance to do another show, you better damn well do it. What could be better?

I meet random people on the street, and they are always ready to tell me who’s on the new Road Rules Challenge. It’s fun for me to hear, because a lot of these people are my friends, and it’s always good to hear what friends are up to. But when you see the same people going back on yet another show, I can’t help but wonder, what are you doing with your life? Will you be doing this when you are 30? 40?

It seems like the Road Rules Challenge has become a career for some people. For other kids from reality shows with no sequels, the thing to do after your show is to travel and speak at universities. This is the ultimate affirmation for someone who’s trying to sort out their identity. When you have a booked speaking schedule, you know that you were cool on television. People like me, they really do! But you’re not just an airhead celebrity, you are smart and eloquent. You are worthy of standing behind the podium at a university, commanding the attention of academia.

And that’s what I’ve done for the past four a half years, and I am ready for something different. After clocking in over 225 talks, I am ready to slow down. That means only two weekends a month. This is a difficult decision, because speaking is a ministry, something I love and share with my whole heart. It’s not just a gig. It is my passion! But, it’s time to have a little faith and stop a good thing.

With two weekends free each month, I can make nomoho.com and kustoms.com into very big websites. On the other two weekends, I’ll travel and speak, and have some cool sites for people to check out when I leave.