Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 70

A Man Saw a Ball of Gold In the Sky

A man saw a ball of gold in the sky;

He climbed for it,

And eventually he achieved it —

It was clay.

Now this is the strange part:

When the man went to the earth

And looked again,

Lo, there was the ball of gold.

Now this is the strange part:

It was a ball of gold.

Aye, by the heavens, it was a ball of gold.

-Stephen Crane

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Image: n.a.t.u.r.e.

Arbitrary Numbers, Part II

After publishing yesterday’s post, I realized I also wrote about arbitrary goals in The Happiness of Pursuit.

Here’s the story:

I use an app on my phone to track my running, especially the longer runs that I do most Sunday mornings. On a recent eight-mile run, I noticed that my pace was consistently around 8:34 per mile. At the six-mile point, I decided it would be fun to aim for an average pace of 8:30 or less. Since I only had two miles left, this would require those final miles to be run mu...

Why Arbitrary Numbers Can Be Very Motivating

There’s nothing fundamentally different about a marathon that takes four hours and one that takes four hours and two minutes. But as the data show, runners will do everything they can to hit 4:00 instead of 4:02.

This isn’t bad. It’s good!

I thought a lot about arbitrary numbers when working on the goal to visit every country. My goal was “193 by 35”–all 193 countries by my 35th birthday.

Without the deadline, which was technically arbitrary, I’m not sure the goal would have mattered as much....

Travel & Quest Case Studies Needed (“Are You Interesting? Do You Have a Great Story?”)

Above photo from Tom Allen’s quest story

Hey everyone! For the past few months, we’ve been running a series of traveler and “quester” profiles, usually each Tuesday and Thursday.

Judging from your feedback and social sharing, here are several of your early favorites:

“Goodbye, Comfort Zone”: On the Road with Marvin and Josephine Abisia
“Life is About Human Connection”: On the Road with Cindy Cihuelo
Turning Fear into Curiosity: On the Road with Audrey Scott and Dan Noll
Travel Hacking Graduate E...

6 Discoveries from Near and Far: Volume XXV

I. Around the World

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

Photographer Uses Renaissance-Era Models with Modern-Day Fast Food — This unexpected paring offers a unique take on art, history, and fast food
“What’s It Like” App Suggests Trips Based on Time of Year — Designed by a digital nomad, this new app could help you choose your next adventure
The New “Sampling Lab” in Portland, Where Everything Is Free — Need another reason to visit Portl...

Blogging for an Audience of One

This summer we encountered some delays in building the blog’s redesigned pages. Basically, we got behind. It was stressful but then it was okay, as it usually is. The most important thing is having a great product in the end.

During the delay, I spent some time working away on stuff that no one would see for a while. I wrote dozens of post drafts, some of which would eventually be published or modified. It was kind of like writing a book—eventually, hopefully, a lot of people would see it, an...

Learn to Walk on Water During Your Next Trip to Hong Kong

This is a reader story. ( Read others or tell us yours .)

I read a long comment by Elena Kim in the 2014 Travel Roundup, and decided it deserves a post of its own. Here’s Elena:

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This year I learned I could walk on water. I was in Hong Kong on my first overseas trip alone, and wound up in a town called Sai Kung. From there, I bought a ticket to Sharp Island. A small boat dropped me off and sped away.

I noticed people walking from Sharp Island to a smaller island on foot. Not swimming—WALKING—acros...

2014 Annual Review: Looking Forward to 2015 (Dun, dun, dun…)

And… the Annual Review continues! Today’s post is all about the future.

You’re welcome to share your lessons too, and—new bonus!—we’ll award a $100 Powell’s gift card to the person who leaves the best comment by the end of the week, as determined by our cats and biased judges.

Right after Christmas, I’ll also share a roundup post consisting of lessons and observations from many of you. Remember: include a link to any AONC Annual Review post, along with the hashtag #AnnualReview. We’ll feature a...

“Always Sticking to the Plan Killed Me”: A Lesson from a Teenage Indie Game Maker

Adam spent 13 years making an indie video game. If you grew up gaming (I did), you’ll like this video and appreciate several of the references.

Even if you don’t care for video games, it’s still a great story.

Of his 6 lessons (cleverly disguised as reasons for failure), my favorite is the one about sticking to the plan. When something isn’t working or you just need to make progress, don’t be afraid of making a change.

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2014 Annual Review: Travel Roundup

And… the Annual Review continues! Today’s post is a travel roundup: everywhere I went in 2014, along with a few lessons and comments.

You’re welcome to share your itineraries or lessons. Next week, our cats and biased judges will award a $100 gift card from Powell’s for the best overall comment throughout the series.

Previous Posts

2014 Annual Review Process & Template
Looking Back on a Complicated Year
Work & Business Lessons

Now that I’m retired from visiting every country in the world, my trave...