Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 19

Decide Now How You’ll Evaluate Yourself Next Year

For the past 10 years, I’ve conducted an Annual Review each Decemberto look back on the year and plan ahead for the next. During this time I set a number of goals in different categories of my life.

I’ve written about the review extensively on the blog, and over the yearsmany people have completed it for themselves oradapted it in their own way.

This year I’ll be doing something a bit different. The review is still relevant and very much part of my life, but I’ve felt for a couple years now...

Man Celebrates 60th Birthday by Running 525 Miles Across the Spanish Pyrenees

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

To celebrate his sixtieth birthday, Andrew Townsend ran from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea: 525 miles across the Spanish Pyrenees climbing a total of 104,000 ft (4 Everests!) in 27 days. If that wasn’t enough, in 2015 he ran 8 marathons in 8 countries… in only 8 days!

Surprisingly, he spent most of his life behind a deskand didn’t start running until he was well into his 50’s—proving once more that it...

If You Can’t Learn Math, Maybe It’s Not Your Fault

My experience in higher education was unusual and erratic. I eventually earneda master’s degree in International Studies, but long before that I was a high-school dropout.

One thing I haven’t talked about much is that I’ve never been able tolearn higher math: algebra, geometry, calculus, oranything of the sort. It’s not for lack of trying, or at least it wasn’t for a while. (I have zero interest in trying to learn it these days.)

No, I tried and I justcouldn’t learn. I tried over and over a...

Holiday Sale Starts Today! Save 40% Off Everything from Unconventional Guides

Hey everyone, today we’re kicking off our Annual Holiday Sale!

We only have one sale all year at Unconventional Guides, and it begins now.

This year it’s a big 40% off everything in the Unconventional Guides store, the biggest savings it’s been in three years forever.

The discount applies to combo packs as well—which is a really good deal because they already sell at a discount, so you get to save even more.

Use the discount code “THANKFUL” to receive 40% off everything

The code will be avai...

“You Just Have to Grab the Next Trapeze”: A Former Lawyer Reinvents Himself After Escaping to France

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

It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how far along you are in your career—there’s still time for change. Bill Crow felt like he was living someone else’s life. Even though it was a very successful lawyer’s life, he still wasn’t happy. So he took a year off and moved his family to France. Disconnecting from his everyday world allowed him to discover what he really wanted to do next.

Here’s his story:

I went to law sc...

Get 80,000 Ultimate Rewards Points ($1,000+ Value) from a Brand-New Offer

Large Suite at the Andaz Xintiandi, Shanghai

Link: 80,000 Ultimate Rewards Points

Whoa, a brand-new travel hacking offer has just landed! And this one is excellent.

Long, long ago, I wrote about my adventures in buying gift cards at Office Depot. It took a lot of schlepping back and forth, but I earned at least 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points from the effort. (I was then able to fly Business Class to South Africa and Switzerland from this points, so it was well worth it.)

As of this week, you...

It’s Time to Change the Road You Walk On

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” -Dolly Parton

You could make a big change at any point in your life. The world could be floating along, with or without you, just as it usually does. Then one day you go out for a sandwich, and while you’re eating it in the park, you think to yourself, “You know, I don’t think I’ll go back to work.” That same afternoon, you book a flight to Tanzania and spend the next ten years volunteering in a nature reserve.

It could...

“You’re in this alone and have to follow your own star.”

“Everything worth doing takes time. You have to write a hundred bad songs before you write one good one. And you have to sacrifice a lot of things that you might not be prepared for. Like it or not, you’re in this alone and have to follow your own star.”

Link: Nobel Prize Winner Bob Dylan Breaks His Two-Week Silence

Image: Taylor Durrer

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We’re Not Going to Change the World. You Are.

I’m not sure where to begin, or really even what to say at all.

I just wish I had done more to stop it. I’m not very political, I’ve never given to any candidate. I’ve always voted but never registered with a party. I’m not one of those mythical “undecided voters,” but I certainly am independent.

Still, this election was the easiest voting choice I’ve ever made. I know it’s naive, but I was genuinely amazed when I met or heard from people who thought differently.

Okay, so you don’t like H...

“If you’re going to spend the money anyway, you might as well get something out of it.”

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

Ediza Ferris is serious about travel hacking, and it pays off. A recent trip took her and her husband from the States through Sydney to Dubai—where they were whisked from the presidential hotel suite to the First Class lounge via private chauffeur. Ediza is truly hacking her way to incredible experiences thanks to the world of miles and points.

Introduce yourself!

I’m a Blogger, Snapchatter, Posher, and travel-hac...