Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 16

Couple Earns 1.8 Million Frequent Flyer Miles, Sets Out to Visit 100 Countries

This is a reader profile. (Read others or nominate someone to be featured.)

Nate Buchanan and his wife Kara had been talking about traveling for years. They finally stopped discussing and started planning. Before they left, they travel hacked their way to 1.8 million frequent flyer miles, which they’re using to travel to 100 countries.

Here’s his story:

My name is Nate. My wife Kara and I are from Nashville, Tennessee. But right now we’re currently traveling the world full-time using the 1.8...

Swiss Man Finds Dream Job Mushing Sled Dogs in Alaska

This is a reader profile. (Read others or nominate someone to be featured.)

Sven Haltmann went from a miserable office job existence to living his dream life in Alaska, with not just one but two dream jobs. He now spends his winters mushing and his summers running a hostel, meeting guests from around the world.

Here’s his story:

I use to work for a health insurance company in Switzerland. Even though I loved everyone that I worked with, I hated the job and wanted to leave however I could.

S...

Swiss Man Creates Dream Job While Mushing Sled Dogs in Alaska

This is a reader profile. (Read others or nominate someone to be featured.)

Sven Haltmann went from a miserable office job existence to living his dream life in Alaska, with not just one but two dream jobs. He now spends his winters mushing and his summers running a hostel, meeting guests from around the world.

Here’s his story:

I use to work for a health insurance company in Switzerland. Even though I loved everyone that I worked with, I hated the job and wanted to leave however I could.

S...

Use this “Freedom Calculator” to Project Your Retirement Date

Link: Freedom Calculator

Will you be ready to retire when the time comes? To some of us, it sounds like the beginning to an ad, or a question from another era.

Personally, I don’t care much about the idea of retirement. I believe in finding meaningful work that you’re excited about! Why would you stop doing something you look forward to every day?

I do, however, believe in financial freedom—the ability to retire even if you go to your grave typing furiously on your MacBook Air from the ba...

Reporting Back on the First Set of Side Hustle Workshops

When I started Side Hustle School, the main commitment was the daily podcast, which is still going strong 60+ episodes in. People are responding to it very well, and I’m having fun. Yay!

But I don’t do small very well, so in addition to the daily show, there’s also a traveling workshop series and an upcoming book. I recently completed the first set of workshops and I learned a lot.

Here are a few reflections based on stops in four cities: Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and Phoenix

(And yes,...

Earn 430,000 Miles from the Best Current Travel Card Offers

Every year I earn well over one million Frequent Flyer miles and points. About 250,000 of them come through actual travel, but the rest come through travel hacking: the art of seeing the world on a budget.

One of the easiest ways to earn a lot of miles all at once is through credit card signup bonuses. When managed carefully (i.e., you pay your bills on time), there’s no downside and you can keep the miles coming for a long time.

We’ve had a bunch of new offers recently, and it’s been a whil...

“Everything Is Figoureoutable:” Notes from Paris to Doha

On a recent trip, I had to get back to Doha from Paris, a 5 1/2 hour flight. I was transferring via an initial connection from Zurich, and I booked the Zurich flight to arrive less than an hour before the Qatar Airways flight departed.

You might think that’s cutting it close, and it was. In the worst of times, Charles de Gaulle airport can be an absolute nightmare to navigate for transit. It’s not unreasonable to walk more than a kilometer between terminals, and some terminals are reachabl...

Limited Time: The $100 Startup Is Just $1.99 from Major Booksellers

Link: Get The $100 Startup for $1.99

I just heard from my publisher that they’re running a promotion to discount the digital version of The $100 Startup to just $1.99. The book has never been discounted before—not once in the 5 years it’s been out!

Order from Amazon Order from Barnes & Noble Order from iBooks

Feline Approved!

I wrote this book in 2012, and it became a bestseller right away.

In addition to the U.S. and Canada, I went to Japan, India, Korea, and the U.K. for independent m...

Even When You Aren’t Sure What to Say, Don’t Be Silent

I recently had the honor of introducing Emily McDowell and facilitating a Q&A session with her at Powell’s for her new book, There Is No Good Card for This.

You probably know Emily’s work even if you don’t know her yourself. She’s the creator, designer, and entrepreneur behind a line of greeting cards and related products, all with the goal of facilitating interaction between “the relationships we really have.”

Here are a few of her popular cards (order yours online or from one of 2,000 stor...

How One Woman Left A Busy NYC Life To Become an Accidental Entrepreneur

This is a reader profile. (Read others or nominate someone to be featured.)

Rosie Yakob calls herself an accidental entrepreneur because she’s loved nearly every job she’s had, so never really considered starting her own business. Right out of school she worked for for Jay Z and Steve Stoute at their entertainment branding company.

But eventually, the constant busyness of life in NYC became too much.

Here’s her story:

I loved my job right up until the very end. Which meant I had a lot of ex...