Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 101

A Quiet Dinner on the Beach By Yourself

Last year for my birthday I went to Norway with 200 of my closest friends. Fun times!

This year I went to Bali… by myself. It was a very different experience, but also good.

Being alone is good for you—or at least, it’s good for me. I needed some time away to reflect and recharge.

I don’t have 36 lessons for turning 36. (Those posts are easier to write when you’re 25, I think—though I did try one a couple years ago.)

But even without the 36 lessons, I’m excited about the future. Pioneer Nation...

The Magic Happens Backstage

Ten days ago we produced Pioneer Nation, our new event for independent entrepreneurs.

I was worn out afterwards, as is usually the case after such an endeavor, and headed to Southeast Asia for a few days of alone time.

As I said in the short recap, it was a fantastic experience. I was tremendously proud of our team.

In fact, that was my overriding thought as I boarded the Cathay flight to Hong Kong and beyond: Look at all these great people! They give so much.

The backstage work supports the fr...

Pioneer Nation: We Did It!

One week ago we kicked off our inaugural event for solopreneurs, Pioneer Nation. Here’s a very short recap of how it went.

You can see hundreds of other photos on my Flickr stream, and also check out a number of blog posts written by attendees (linked at the bottom of this post).

We did it! It was a grand success, in large part because of the team who put it together and the attendees who traveled far and wide to come.

We spent months planning everything about this event: designing mugs, plan...

On the Road Again: Next Stop, Southeast Asia

I had a wonderful time with hundreds of friends at the inaugural Pioneer Nation last week.

The event exceeded all of our expectations—check out the initial batch of photos for an idea of what happened, and at some point soon I’ll share more of my impressions.

Today I’m on a plane to Hong Kong and then a bit further beyond. I’m taking a few days to decompress last week’s big experience, but I’ll be working from afar as always.

More adventures are in store… we’re just getting started.

Wherever y...

Pioneer Nation Begins in Portland

Greetings, everyone. Here in Portland this week, our team is kicking off the inaugural gathering of Pioneer Nation.

For years I’ve wanted to produce an event more specifically focused on independent entrepreneurs and people who work for themselves. This is it!

Tickets are completely sold out and we’re already underway. A few photos from our opening party (last night!) are below, and I’ll share more news about the event next week.

If you’re not in attendance, you can follow the haps on #pdxpionee...

How Has Travel Affected Your Life?

Tom asked me what lasting impact travel has had on my life.

I thought it was an interesting question. After I came home from Norway (country 193/193), I did a number of radio interviews where the host asked me similar things.

I didn’t always know how to answer these questions. I usually ended up saying something trite (“It’s been amazing!”) before realizing that the better solution was to tell a few stories. I may not be able to sum everything up in a pithy response, I reasoned, but I can talk...

The Great “Dining Dash” Adventure of 2014

The other day I took on a mini-quest with my friend and fellow traveler Stephanie. We went to ten restaurants, cafes, and food carts in six hours as part of a challenge to earn dining miles. Here’s how it went down.

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Goal: Achieve VIP Status in One Day

Thanks to a company called Rewards Network, you can earn bonus points and miles at more than 10,000 participating restaurants throughout the U.S.

It’s a nice deal that requires no ongoing action from you once you register, which is free. You ca...

“It’s More Personal On Your Own”: Readers Comment on Traveling Alone

Instead of toiling away in a basement, writing boring posts that no one reads, I’m fortunate to write boring posts for a lot of great people.

Last week’s post on How to Travel Alone elicited a lot of opinions and stories, and I thought I’d highlight a few of them.

The vast majority of AONC readers receive posts by email—which is a great way to keep up with the blog! A smaller group reads by RSS. Either way, though, if you don’t come to the site on a regular basis, you miss out on the comments....

How to Travel Alone

Last month in Hong Kong, I went to the New Territories, a part of the region I’d never visited before. It was only half an hour from bustling Kowloon, but it felt like a totally different part of the world.

On the eve of my departure, before I’d fly to Tokyo and then to Los Angeles, I was feeling anxious.

I went for an hour-long run, my longest in a while. I set out just as the sun was setting and ran along the water, looking at the Kowloon skyline just across the narrow harbor.

I felt as if I...

The ATM Machine on Your Phone

Like many of you, I enjoyed a recent article about an iPhone photographer who made $15,000 in one day by selling his Instagram prints for $150 each on his birthday.

“I’m not an entrepreneur,” he says in the article. But essentially, that’s exactly what he was—he acted on an idea and people responded!

It was an experiment to sell prints at a low price point. The birthday tie-in was a fun twist. When people continued to respond, he decided to keep going.

A while back I wrote about how business opp...