Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 22

“Even when something’s gone wrong, you have a chance to hit reset.”: Caroline Webb at WDS

This week (Wednesday, October 12th!) we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2017, a week-long gathering of creative, remarkable people—taking place next summer in beautiful Portland, Oregon.

But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2016 event. Caroline Webb has an extensive background in economics, management consulting, and coaching. She’s currently the CEO of Sevenshift, a firm that shows people how to use insights from behavioral economics, psychology, a...

New Opportunities in Travel Hacking: Free 30-Minute Presentation

Link: Free Travel Hacking Presentation

My inbox has been crowded with a lot of traveling readers asking the same questions recently. Some people are worried and others are just confused. Why?

Well, if you’ve been travel hacking for a while, you know that a few things have changed recently. There’s a big 100,000 point offer, but a) it’s expensive, and b) a lot of people can’t get it. One of the main card issuers now has a “5/24” rule, meaning that you can’t get any new cards from them if you...

Be Careful of Telling Your Origins Story Over and Over

The time came for the interview and I logged into Skype with my headset. After a few minutes of small talk, the host pressed the record button and began with the usual question: “Tell our listeners a little about you… how did you get started?”

It’s a fair question. The only problem is that I’ve answered it over and over—and over and over. Whenever I have a book out, I do at least 50 podcast interviews and usually another 50 radio interviews. At least 30% of the time, this is the first questi...

One Man’s Quest to Leave the Oil Industry and Complete a 100-Item Bucket List

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

Matthew Bailey left the opportunities of the booming oil town that he grew up in to live a more authentic life. Ten years later, and with over 100 bucket items checked off, a new, bolder Matthew is still dreaming up more audacious quests to accomplish.

Here’s his story:

I’m a small town guy who grew up in Northern Alberta. Although it seemed normal to me at the time, the town I grew up in is anything but – it’s an oi...

“I’m able to embrace every struggle that I’ve had with a spirit of gratitude.”: Zach Anner at WDS

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Later this month we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2017, a week-long gathering of creative, remarkable people—taking place next summer in beautiful Portland, Oregon.

But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2016 event. Zach Anner is the author of the comedic memoir If at Birth You Don’t Succeed. He is an award-winning comedian, show host, and public speaker who won his own travel show on the Oprah Winfrey Network called “Rollin’ With Zach.” He’s also h...

“The Beauty Is That It Could Fail”: A Real-World Story of Risk

Chris Thile, Garrison Keillor and Heather Masse in June, during one of Keillor’s last performances as host of “A Prairie Home Companion.” Credit Mark Peterson/Redux, for The New York Times

The new host of Prairie Home Companion steps in after forty years of someone else running the show.

Toward the end of the meeting at the Fort, in St. Paul, Thile suggested a new idea. He wanted to perform a live request every week with his new house band. The rules: A minimum of two of the players should h...

“The key to optimism is how you explain what happens to you.”: Emiliya Zhivotovskaya at WDS

Later this month we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2017, a week-long gathering of creative, remarkable people—taking place next summer in beautiful Portland, Oregon.

But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2016 event. Emiliya Zhivotovskaya is a leading voice in the world of positive psychology and the science of flourishing, as well as a widely sought-after speaker, educator, facilitator and coach.

At the age of 5, Emiliya and her family fled from Kie...

Another Bonus Offer: 50,000 American Express Points Now Available

The interior of the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, Barcelona, Spain

Link: 50,000 Points Up for Grabs

Last week I mentioned an upgraded bonus offer in the world of travel hacking. There’s one more that I left out while I was doing some travel hacking myself, flying off to Barcelona, Doha, and London.

For a limited time, the American Express Gold Card is offering a 50,000 point signup bonus. Last week, if you applied for the card, you’d get 40,000 points. Not bad… but this...

Five Weeks with Syrian Refugees: One Man’s Quest to Promote Cultural Intelligence

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

Having lived abroad both growing up and as an adult, David Durham has dedicated his life to promoting cultural curiosity. Most recently his adventures took him to Greece, where he and his wife, Becky, observed the refugee crisis in Europe first hand. Though they were already veteran travelers, they were profoundly impacted by this experience.

Here’s his story:

I am a lover of culture. I write, speak, and podcast abou...

“The purpose of work is to create.”: Mr. Money Mustache at WDS

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Next month we’ll release the first round of tickets for WDS 2017, a week-long gathering of creative, remarkable people—taking place next summer in beautiful Portland, Oregon.

But first, we’re rolling out a series of speaker videos from the 2016 event. Pete Adeney, or Mr. Money Mustache as he’s more commonly known online, retired at the old age of 30 in order to start a family. Six years into this new life, he realized his peers were still not only stuck in their well-paying jobs, but barely...