Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 55

The Amazing Marriage Adventure: Liz and Ryan Bower’s Quest

This is a quest case study. ( Read others or nominate yourself . )

Liz and Ryan Bowerare wedding photographers who believe in the marriages they document—and not just that first special day. They noticed that champions who might share the realities of life-longpartnerships seemed to be few and far between.

They decided to hop in an RV and find true stories of loving marriages to share from every state of America.

Introduce yourselves and your quest.

We are millennials, story-tellers, wedding phot...

Paradise by the Runway Lights: Notes from Childhood and 25 Hours of Flying to Melbourne

It was long ago and it was far away, and it was so much better than it is today.

I had an eclectic taste in music when I was a kid. Much of it came from my dad, who introduced me to Bob Dylan before I became more of a fan than he was. There was also Tom Petty (early years), Warren Zevon, and Bruce Springsteen at some point.

I was growing up at least ten or fifteen years late, in other words.

But our generation had an edge on the previous one when it came to technology, or so it seemed at...

Win the Way You Won Before

When you encounter a setback and need to regroup, think back to a time when you won. When you won, you mastered a skill, navigated a tricky negotiation, or otherwise came out on top.

Can you use the same skill or strategy now? Can you adapt that skill or strategy to a new situation?

Sure, circumstances may have changed. But you haven’t always lost or struggled, so think about that time when you got it right.

Jon Acuff lost a job and set out to write a book. At first he struggled, like mos...

Travels With a Hospitality Career Consultant: On the Road with Kimberly Ramsawak

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

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a career consultant specializing in the tourism and hospitality, and I’m a passionate advocate for people of color in this industry. A common misconception is that industry jobs are only available at hotels, airlines or agencies—with really low pay.

As a result I started Tourism Exposed, an online career development community that shows students and professionals how to break into the travel indust...

New! Sign Up to “Make Your Dream Trip a Reality” (A 30-Day Creative Live Course)

Link: Register for Upcoming “Dream Trip” Course

Attention, everyone! My travel hacking colleague Stephanie Zito and I will be teaching an all-new online course starting later this month, and I’d love for you to join us.

We previously taught a one-day workshop that was watched live by more than 12,000 of you. The feedback we got after that one was: “Whoa, this is great—but there’s so much info!”

For this one, we’re teaching everything through 30 short, action-packed lessons (a new one unvei...

6 Discoveries from Near and Far: Volume XL

I. Around the World

Things I found on long walks in foreign cities, or perhaps when someone posted them on Twitter.

5 Secrets of a Successful Ted Talk — Hint: Being a famous person has little to do with giving a popular talk Hacking Weight Loss — What Jeff learned from losing 30 pounds 10 Places to Go Before They’re Gone — Don’t miss Madagascar! I once stopped off in every domestic airport on the island Changing Perceptions of Time While Dying (Video) — A Stanford neurosurgeon who was diagn...

How Much Money Do You Need to Live Abroad? 13 Questions to Ask Yourself

This is an excerpt from Working On the Road: The Unconventional Guide to Full-Time Freedom by Nora Dunn.

Traveling full-time can actually cost far less than it does to live in one place. This is due to a number of cost-saving factors, ranging from working in trade for free accommodation, using frequent flyer miles, spending time in places where the cost of living is sometimes cheaper, and judiciously monitoring your spending.

There’s no template solution to how much money you’ll need to beg...

Giveaway: Stridebox – A Treasure Chest for Runners

Friday is giveaway day. Comment to win!

This week’s giveaway comes from Oregon-based company, Stridebox. This runner-lovin’ business collects the latest racing goodies and sends them monthly to subscribers (…in a box, hence the name). It’s a fun idea and only costs $15 a month.

Even if you’re not an avid runner, you could use this box as inspiration to get started, or just use the reflective laces and lights in your hip-hop dance class.

What you need to know:

Each month’s box is different,...

A Tale of Two Rivers: New Film Documents Journeys in Iran and Patagonia

Link: A Tale of Two Rivers: Journeys on the Karun & Santa Cruz

I wrote about Tom Allen in The Happiness of Pursuit after learning of his bicycle journey through Sudan and many other countries.

Then we did a Quest profile on him to look at his adventure in more detail:

“I’m Tom. Since 2007, I’ve been leaving home in England and going on bicycle adventures to places like Sudan, Iran, Yemen, Syria, the Arctic, Ethiopia, Armenia and Mongolia. The original quest that kicked it all off was an att...

11 Travel Hacking Tips, Stories, and Ideas Combined into One Post

Last year I changed the blog’s format to a style that was more conducive to frequent posting, and my goal for 2015 is to publish at least 500 posts. This change requires more work for me, but it’s also better work.

Besides, it’s always good to change things up.

In an attempt to put the new format to good use, I’ve been sharing a lot of travel hacking tips, stories, and general features recently. If you missed something, take a look at the list below and see if anything might be helpful to yo...