Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 89

Next Time You Pass Through the Helsinki Airport, Take Time for a Sauna

Regular readers know that there’s nothing I enjoy more than spending hours in a nice airline lounge. Whenever I travel I always plan for an extended connection, especially if there’s a great lounge.

I don’t pass through Helsinki, Finland very often, but now I want to: there’s a new lounge that includes a sauna! I’ve only seen such a thing in one other place, the Doha First Class lounge for Qatar Airways.

From their press release –>

NEW PREMIUM LOUNGE IN EARLY AUGUST 2014

In August 2014, Finnair...

Internal Adventures: On the Road with Betsy and Warren Talbot

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

I met Betsy and Warren in Seattle—and then I promptly saw them again in Barcelona, Portland, and probably some other places. Like me, they get around.

Tell us about yourselves.

We’re Betsy and Warren. In 2008, Betsy’s brother had a heart attack. Then, our good friend Maria had a brain aneurysm. They were both 35. Realizing there are no guarantees in life, we asked one another, “What would change about your life right now if you k...

Scholarships for Real Life: Electric Vehicles & Cross-Country Road Trips

Last year we started a foundation, making an initial investment of $100,000 and pledging to support “Scholarships for Real Life,” a program to enable people to pursue a dream of their own while also addressing a problem that affects others.

In this short series, we’ll highlight our initial grantees.

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Working with at-risk youth is never easy, and finding ways to engage teenagers while trying to help them grow is even harder. For the past four years, Voyager Linda Bucner and MINDDRIVE have sou...

How I Deal with Anxiety

On any given day I’m anxious about any number of things. I don’t relax very well. I feel tense and unsettled at least a couple of times throughout the day. And I worry, because generally I think worry is good.

Of course, not all worry is good, and there’s certainly a case to be made for learning to relax.

The first thing I try to do is figure out what’s wrong.

This is harder than it sounds. Sometimes there’s a clear answer, but often it’s a jumbled and convoluted one. I feel like I’m not doing...

Surrender Yourself to the Great Abyss

So many good things in this one. Best bet is to watch the video.

“When you make something, you wonder: Will it stay at the top? Will it speak to people? Will it lose its relevance? But you can’t worry about those things. You have to create things that are truthful to yourself.”

“Every artist has some form of insecurity about what they create.”

“Creativity is not for yourself. It’s to serve others.”

I’m thinking about these things as I prepare to debut my new book.

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Mini City Guide: Paestum, Capaccio, Italy

I love big cities, and always enjoy returning to Hong Kong, New York, and Sydney—among many others. But what about those unknown gems that are off the beaten tourist path… those obscure places that are just waiting to be explored by real travelers?

Our new “Mini City Guides” are here to uncover those gems, and we’re looking to our favorite explorers—AONC readers—to give us the inside scoop.

Nominate your favorite obscure destination. This city was nominated by reader Nancy Ruff.

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Which accessibl...

You Should Do What Makes You happy

I liked Seth Miller’s post about flying JetBlue on his birthday for no particular reason other than the fact that it made him happy. He boarded a plane, flew for an hour, and then turned around and went back.

“It was a cheap flight. My round-trip fare was about $60 plus $10 for the MTA to get back and forth to the airport. And it meant I’d get to spend some time flying, looking out the window at the world below.”

Why are you doing this, sir?

Because it’s fun.

The story reminds me of when I’d spe...

Giveaway: “Walk n Talk” Tom Sawyer Travel Journal

Every Friday is giveaway day. Comment to win!

Three years later, Nathan Minnehan started making leather journals and selling them in Buenos Aires at the San Telmo street fair. The journals are now sold internationally and in more than fifteen stores in the U.S.

He also has a scholarship called the Dream Box where he supplies journals to intentional travelers and exchange students. It’s a labor of love, and you can win a free “Tom Sawyer” travel journal in this week’s giveaway.

What you need to...

The Top 7 Interviews from Good Life Project

Online interviews are a dime a dozen… except when they’re done amazingly well.

Jonathan Fields decided to rise to the challenge of producing thoughtful, in-depth features on interesting people. He’s kept at it formore than three yearsand is still going strong.

I asked him why he started Good Life Project, otherwise known as GLP. Here’s what he said:

“Though I still consider myself primarily a writer and entrepreneur, witnessing the reaction to the trailer we filmed for Uncertaintyhooked me into...

Putting the Bucket List First: On the Road with Austin Church

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

I’ve known Austin for years, and I appreciate his perspective on combining a number of different interests: travel, startups, teaching, and more—all viewed through a filter of gratitude. Here’s more.

Introduce yourself!

A couple of study abroad semesters in college gave me wanderlust and a chance to write about my experiences. Thinking I was going to be a college English professor, I got an M.A. in English. Then I realized I didn...