Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 59

Hiking the 7,910-Mile Triple Crown of American Trails: David Getchel’s Quest

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

Earlier this week, David Getchel began the second leg of his three part quest to hike the Triple Crown of American trails: the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. Here’s how it all began—and what’s coming next.

Introduce yourself and your quest.

I call Northern California home. Originally, my quest was to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (affectionately named the PCT ), a 2,650 mile trail spanni...

To Stop Insanity, It’s Not Just About Doing Things Differently

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

-attributed to Albert Einstein, but likely apocryphal

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Whoever said it, you’ve probably heard this quotation at some point. And in one way or another, you’ve probably fallen into the trap of doing the same thing over and over, all the while expecting a different outcome.

I think the real danger of going insane doesn’t come from something new, but rather from something that we’ve been doing for...

Tomorrow’s the Last Day for Online Business Training (+ Free Bonuses & Year-Long Support)

Link: 8 Weeks of Online Business Training

Bonuses: Get Naming Rights to My Firstborn A Ton of Great Bonuses When You Sign Up

(Note: You’ll automatically receive the bonuses when signing up at the above link. There’s no need to do anything else.)

Hey everyone,

Just a heads-up that tomorrow is the final day to register for Marie Forleo’s online business course. I’ve said a lot about it already, so this is just a quick notice and an important explanation.

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Why I Decided to Promote Marie’s Course

A f...

A Family’s Year in Italy: On the Road with Jacqueline Jannotta

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

Getting the gumption to make travel part of your life is hard enough when it’s just you, let alone adding three other people. Jacqueline Jannotta did just that, though—she brought her husband kids into a year-long adventure. Here’s how this family of four did it:

Tell us about yourself.

I worked for both sitcoms and dotcoms in Chicago, L.A. and Florida before becoming a freelance writer and moving to Portland, Oregon. I’ve always...

Brand-New: Discover Miles Card Provides a 3% Rebate on Everything

Link: Discover Miles Card (New Offer for 3% Cash Back)

In the world of travel hacking, you almost never hear anything about Discover—which is totally understandable. When I was a kid, my parents liked to use their Discover card, which usually created the following interaction almost everywhere we went:

Server presents the bill, and my parents present their card.

Server goes away and returns a few minutes later.

Server: “Sorry, we don’t take Discover. Do you have a Visa or MasterCard?”

Parents:...

One Log Cabin and 800 Yoga Mats: Some Unconventional Tax Deductions from My Life in 2014

I’ve been working on my tax return this week, which is complicated for a lot of reasons. First, I run several different businesses which all have their own set of accounting. WDS, our annual gathering, has its own legal structure, including a foundation that is completely separate from all my other projects. Last year we started an all-new event that also has its own legal structure.

So yeah, it’s complicated. It takes about 20 hours just to prepare all the info for my accountant, and as with...

6 Discoveries from Near and Far: Volume XXXV

I. Around the World

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

Why Travel Makes You Smarter — “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you’ve traveled.” – Mohamed
Don’t Waste Those 30-Minute Gaps Between Meetings — How to take advantage of little pockets of time
Quintessence — An essential part of maturing is learning to avoid discontent
Etihad Offering Free Status Matches — May be limited in quantity; don’t wait! (hat tip: Gary)
Don...

Urban Yoga Project Takes Flight in New York, Madrid, and Paris

I like yoga, which means I tell people I practice all the time, but in reality only go to class a couple times a month. When I saw these photos of Slovenian architect Anja Humljan, I was amazed.

Anja has taken her passion for yoga and movement into urban environments—a global experiment in how we connect with cities. Take a look for yourself.

Anja’s Kickstarter project was successfully funded, and you can order the book (due out later this month) by writing to order@theurbanyoga.com.

Hat tip:...

Earn Ultimate Rewards Points By Educating Your Friends on Miles & Points

Here’s a fun thing: many of you already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. It’s a great card for a lot of reasons, and is usually my #1 recommendation when people are just starting to get into the world of miles and points.

If you have the card, you can now earn extra miles for referring your friends.

Here’s how it works:

You’ll earn 5,000 points for every successful referral
Your friends will receive the best offer currently available (the same one we have through our partner, Cards for Tr...

Awesome In-Flight Videos from the KLM Cockpit

Ever wonder how dozens of flights can safely cross the Atlantic at the same time, despite the fact that much of the journey includes no radar coverage?

How do the pilots communicate with Air Traffic Control, and what kind of instructions are they given?

Oh, and what’s the deal with autopilot—does it mean the pilots aren’t really in control?

I really enjoyed watching these in-flight cockpit videos from recent KLM flights from Amsterdam to London and Amsterdam to New York. Even if you’re not an...