Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 37

How to Earn Free Hotel Stay Certificates Every Year

Hotel stays should be part of your travel strategy even if you don’t usually stay in hotels. Just as you should earn airline miles in a few different programs (usually one in each of the three alliances), so too should you earn hotel points from a few different sources.

Last year during the “Make Your Dream Trip a Reality” course, we featured an interview with Drew and Carrie Macomber, a couple who travels the world and lives full-time in hotels. They aren’t the only ones who do this, but th...

Final WDS 2016 Ticket Sales Open Wednesday, February 10

For six (six!) years now, our volunteer team has produced a global adventure that takes place every year in Portland. This year will be our best year ever—and you should be there!

Here’s what you need to know:

We’ll begin the FINAL ROUND of main-stage ticket sales for WDS 2016 on Wednesday, February 10th, starting at 9am PST. We offer all tickets on a first-come, first-served basis, and we don’t hold back any tickets for sale at the event itself If you haven’t done so already, join the wa...

Online Business Training Returns, More Focused and Better than Ever

Link: Online Business Training

Yesterday I published a long, controversial essay that’s currently making the rounds. In the essay I basically said that it’s no longer business as usual in the world of online publishing, and that what once worked doesn’t work anymore, at least not as well.

Here’s something that’s a clear exception to that. Last year I shared Marie Forleo’s incredibly popular course with many of you. The course is now back in action, or at least it will be soon—and you can fol...

The New, New Economy: How the World of Online Publishing Is Changing, and Why You Should Care

For the past eight years I’ve made a good living through online publishing. I’ve shared much of the journey along the way, but I first documented the overall process in a manifesto, 279 Days to Overnight Success.

This manifesto went on to have a life of its own, thanks to the generous sharing of readers. Every single day—seven years later!—I hear from people who have found it online and enjoyed it.

And guess what? I think at least some of the lessons I taught so fervently back then are wrong...

Why the Best Way to Earn Miles & Points Still Hasn’t Changed

Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred (50,000 Points Bonus)

I’m always on the lookout for new travel hacking opportunities. Even though I don’t need to earn as many miles and points as I used to, it’s still fun.

This year I’ll be flying in The Apartment at 30,000 feet.

I’ll be going back to my favorite country, Australia.

I’ll be heading out on a 30-city book tour. (You can come, too.)

… and I’m sure there will be many other adventures along the way.

For all of these experiences and more, I’ll...

4 Lessons Learned From 4 Years of Being a Creative Nomad

Becoming a nomad isn’t always a conscious choice. For Nathalie Sejean, it was the culmination of moments out of her control — but those moments changed her life, and today she shares what she’s learned since then.

Los Angeles Airport. December 24th 2011. 8pm: I was waiting at a Turkish Airlines counter, armed with a Persian cat, a camera and three overweight suitcases. After a few years growing as a filmmaker, and a whole 365 days trying and renew my visa, I had to depart from the United Sta...

If You Lost Everything, Would You Look Back or Look Forward?

I went to the hotel gym one morning while I was traveling. When I finished on the treadmill, I went back to the elevator to head down to my room… except there was just one problem. Yep, once again I’d forgotten my room number.

I spend 100+ nights a year in hotels and still haven’t perfected a system for remembering where I “live” on any given night. Sometimes I carry the little check-in envelope around in my pocket, and sometimes I take a photo of the door. But at least once every dozen nigh...

Take the “Born for This” Free Quiz: What Kind of Work Style Suits You Best?

Link: Take the “Born for This” Free Quiz

Hey, everyone!

My new book, Born for This, goes out into the world in less than 70 days. I’m very excited about sharing the message of “how to find the work you were meant to do” with lots of people all over the world.

You can now take a FREE quiz to learn more about what kind of work style suits you best.

I developed this quiz with my star editor, Talia Krohn, and we worked with our great team of ninjas to put it together.

The process is pretty si...

Aerial Photos of New York City from a Helicopter Flying at 7,500 Feet

Filmmaker Vincent Laforet describes his recent mission of capturing nighttime aerial photos of New York City as both “the scariest” and “the most beautiful” of his entire eclectic career.

I loved seeing what he captured!

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And here’s a fun video of how the whole thing was made:

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Adventures in Envelope Stuffing Update: There’s Still Time to Earn 9 Free Hotel Nights

Holiday Inn Bratislava, Slovakia—one of 4,900 hotels available for booking with IHG points

Last fall I mentioned a special travel hacking adventure available to pretty much everyone capable of handwriting their name and address over and over on an index card:

How to Spend $46 and Receive Up to 9 Free Hotel Nights Adventures in Envelope Stuffing

If you were skeptical or just missed the first chance to watch your hand shrivel up and fall off from all the handwriting, there’s still time to do...