Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 33

New Offer: Earn 100,000 Hilton Points (Enough for 25 Hotel Nights!)

Link: Get 100,000 Hilton Points (with annual fee)
Link: Get 75,000 Hilton Points (with no annual fee)

There have been a bunch of great hotel points deals recently. First, the IHG card went up to 70,000 points before dropping back to 60,000, which is still great. Second, the Marriott card is offering 80,000 points. Those deals are solid and I have both cards.

This week another hotel points offer has just landed, this one from Hilton. To be precise, there are actually two offers, one for an...

To Succeed in the New, New Economy, Don’t Mail It In

Ever since I wrote about The New, New Economy, I’ve been having lots of interesting conversations with people about it. Readers have also asked that I share more specific recommendations for “what works” now that a lot of online marketing strategies feel increasingly outdated.

I still stand by the general assertion that building relationships and producing quality work are the most important predictors of success, far more than any tactic or “hack.”

As a good way to illustrate this, last we...

“3 Encounters That Changed My Life”: How a Corporate Employee Gained a New Perspective through Travel

This is a traveler profile. ( Read others or nominate yourself .)

After enduring a life of “glamor and nonsense” (her words) for six years, Clelia Mattana decided to follow an inner calling and travel the world solo.

Here’s her story.

Dagobert D. Ruins said, “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” Isn’t that sadly true?

Imagine this typical scene on the London Underground: A business man reading a newspaper, a teenage boy damaging h...

A New Journey Begins: “Born for This” Is Now Available!

Link: BornforThisBook.com
Support Local Bookstores | Buy at Amazon | Buy at BN.com

More than eight years ago (whoa) I started writing this blog, The Art of Non-Conformity. I wanted to chronicle my adventures around the world and support other people with big dreams.

But the journey actually begin more than ten years before that, when I first started working for myself. I wasn’t a good employee, having been fired from just about every job that I didn’t walk away from after a few weeks. My...

4 People Who Created Their Dream Jobs: Official Trailer for Born for This

How do you find the work you were born to do? For the past ten years, I’ve been exploring this question in many different ways. My new book, Born for This, is the culmination of these efforts… and it comes out tomorrow!

This brand-new video follows Vanessa, Donna, Laura, and Heath as they share what makes them come alive.

"Born for This": Official Trailer

Are some people just lucky—or do they make strategic choices along the way that lead them to their dream jobs? My new book, Born for Thi...

The Light of the Oncoming Train Strengthens the Mind

Dear Self,

Your problem is that you think everything matters. The things that you do every day, the tasks that occupy your mind and draw on your energy—you think they are helping you make linear progress towards a significant destination.

And maybe you are making progress. But what if you’re just making linear progress on something that is ultimately inconsequential?

Your problem, in short, is that you have mistaken productivity for vision. You are a highly organized machine. You would perf...

“It Doesn’t Matter How Long Your Life Is… What Matters Is How You Spend the Time You Have”

Follow Your Fears // By Live Unbound

“How long your life is really doesn’t matter. What matters is how you spend that time.

Why keep waiting? The perfect time is right now.

I just want to build unique experiences. I think of them like trophies of the soul. It may sound weird but that’s what it’s like.

That’s what I live for … it’s creating those moments.”

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Introducing WDS Connect: Join Us in Portland this August!

Link: Join Us for WDS Connect in August!

Hey everyone,

If you’ve read the blog for a while, you probably know about WDS, also known as the World Domination Summit (modestly titled). For the past five years a small team and I have produced this summer gathering in Portland, Oregon, with thousands of interesting people who attend from all over the world.

Last year was our five-year anniversary, and we decided to try something new for 2016. The main-stage weekend (now called “360”) has limited...

What Time Should You Arrive at the Airport?

I’m unusual in that I love airports. I’ll regularly arrive 2-3 hours in advance of my flight, sometimes even at a small airport without a lounge. There’s just something about being around the bustle of people in motion and aircraft on the tarmac that I find reassuring.

But let’s say that you’re a normal person. Assuming you don’t want to live as I do, when should you arrive at the airport before a flight?

Two simple guidelines will help.

Domestic flight (no checked bags, boarding pass pri...

“Problems Don’t Define a Place, People Do”: A Journey into Uganda

This is a traveler story. ( Read others or nominate yourself . )

With NPR news, Instagram, and Netflix at our fingertips, it’s easy to think we understand a place, even if we’ve never spent much time there. Amy Carst and her family moved to Uganda for four months, and they realized the Africa they’d heard about wasn’t the Africa they came to know.

Here’s her story:

It is 5:30 in the morning. I’m sitting under my mosquito netting with a cup of strong coffee while a preacher’s sermon is projected i...