Chris Guillebeau's Blog, page 98

The Filmography of Aircraft

After attending our inaugural Pioneer Nation event, Cathryn painstakingly crafted an amazing print illustrating one-hundred years of aviation in film.

Watch the Kickstarter video (now fully funded) to learn more about her journey from Belfast to Brooklyn:

My favorite part of Cathryn’s work is the incredible attention to detail. Where possible, she even researched the tail number from the featured aircraft and added it to the illustration. Nicely done.

I made a pledge and am looking forward t...

What to Do When You Feel Overwhelmed

Anyone feeling overwhelmed?

It happens. The worst thing about feeling overwhelmed is the anxiety.

The second worst thing is not knowing what to do next.

You can resolve both symptoms through a simple exercise. When you’re feeling overwhelmed and aren’t sure what action to take, the very best thing you can do is to go to a quiet place and take out a piece of paper and scribble. Write down what matters to you.



Then, every day when you’re not sure what to do next, spend 20 minutes working on the...

Unpacking in Hotel Rooms

After losing things in hotel rooms over the years, I learned a critical rule: be careful about spreading out.

If it’s just a one-night stay, I unpack immediately after arrival, but almost everything stays in two places: bag open and on the floor with the clothes I need for the next day. Laptop on desk with mouse, chargers, etc. directly next to it. Wallet and passport go by the laptop or the bag—nowhere else. A longer stay might acquire a third space for stuff, but no more.

At night—or in the...

The Year-Long Honeymoon: On the Road with Jes Albro

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

I first met Jes way back in Minneapolis. She was one of the first readers of AONC! A couple years later, I saw her in New York with her fiancé Josh. Since then, Jes and Josh got married and took off on the road—for a year-long honeymoon paid for almost entirely with points and miles.

I loved this story, wanted to hear more, and now want to share what I learned.

Introduce yourselves!

I’m Jes Albro and my husband is Josh Redsh...

“I don’t stay in any place longer than a month or maybe six weeks.”

Live True featuring Alex Honnold

“There’s no trick. The trick is that I’ve spent 17 years practicing.”

Almost.

You probably thought, well, how about now? Now’s good.

And you’d be right. Now would be really good. A bit before now would have been good, too.

But here we are, and we’re almost there.

It’s going to be great in the end. Soon and very soon.

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Image: Nicholas

How Haruki Murakami Started Writing

Those who are familiar with my favorite novelist may already know this story, but it’s fun to see it in visual form.

“I remember the day clearly. It was April 1978. I was in a baseball game in the stands. That’s when the idea struck me: I could write a novel. I could do it.”

P.S. My favorite Murakami novels, in order:

A Wild Sheep Chase

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Kafka on the Shore

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Playing Safe or Living Dangerously

“There’s a way of playing safe, there’s a way of using tricks—and then there’s the way I like to play, which is dangerously, where you’re going to take a chance on making mistakes in order to create something you haven’t created before.”

-Dave Brubeck via Josh Lee

Hard Work and More Work

I’m not usually a baseball fan, but I enjoyed reading about Tony Gwynn’s commitment to success.

“They just feel like stuff is supposed to happen to them,” he said. “They’re not going to have to work for it. And that bugs me because I know how hard I had to work to get where I got. Sometimes they sit there in amazement at why I come out here every day. But I cannot let their way of thinking into my head.”

This Is Also Not a Post

It’s really not.

Despite our best efforts, it’s still not. But—even so—actual posts are on the way very soon.

Maybe even tomorrow.

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Image: Shasha