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The Four Burners Theory — Your Thoughts?

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I did an interview for the nice people at The 99 Percent last month, and Jocelyn shared an idea that has stayed with me ever since. Here's the idea:

I like this quote from a David Sedaris article. Sort of an adapted 'carpenter's triangle': "One burner represents your family, one is your friends, the third is your health, and the fourth is your work.” The gist is that in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful you have to cut off two.


100 Days, 100 Updates, and a Note on the UBT

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I made it home to Portland after walking around Almaty, Kazakhstan for several days. For some reason I didn't have high hopes for Kazakhstan, but I actually enjoyed it... and no one really acts like Borat.

This is the Sunday Store Update, where I share some brief news about the business side of AONC.


Thank You for Not Smoking… in China

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Sometimes I find out about people who read AONC and I think, "Really? They care about what I have to say?" I think it should be the other way around. Dr. Sarah England is one of those people. She wrote in to thank me for the World Domination manifesto and I thought, "Hold on a minute! I should be thanking you for being awesome." After stints in Vietnam, Switzerland, and elsewhere, Sarah moved to China with her family to work against the tobacco industry. As she mentions below, attitudes toward smoking in Asia are slowly changing, but there's still much less awareness than in the western world.


Non-Independence Day

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I didn't write an Independence Day post last week partly because I've been on the road. Burkina Faso is a fun enough place to visit, but there were no fireworks displays at night to celebrate America's intent to withdraw from King George's Britain. But the other reason is that I think of a celebration of independence much like the Thanksgiving holiday. The holiday later in the year is all about eating pie and being grateful. I like both of those things; I just think that being grateful (or eating pie!) shouldn't be reserved for one special day.


Beginner’s Guide to Travel Hacking

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Greetings from Ouagoudougou, winner of the “most awesome city name” contest and also my current stop on the week-long West Africa tour. I came in via Lufthansa, Royal Air Maroc, and Ethiopian Airlines... but more on that in a moment. I wanted to write a lengthy post outlining a few principles of what I call travel hacking. In short, travel hacking is all about seeing experiencing the world on a limited budget. I've been able to visit so many countries over the past decade not by being independently wealthy, but by learning to be creative.


The Journey to Ithaca

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Many of us are on quests, either real or representative. Since my quest is real, I like the metaphor of journeying.

Going on a journey involves unexpected surprises, challenges, setbacks, and rewards. And I tend to think that any good journey is as much about the process as the destination ...


On the Road Again: Next Stop, Ouagadougou

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Of all the 192 countries in the world, Burkina Faso gets my vote for "most awesome capital city name."

If you're ever on Jeopardy! or otherwise need to know, the answer is "What is Ouagadougou?" Hopefully you won't have to spell it for the final round.

Tomorrow I'm headed out on the early-early flight to Denver, over to Frankfurt in the afternoon (just a short transit in both cities), and finally down to West Africa via Morocco over the weekend.


Site Update: June-July 2010

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Greetings once again from the homeland, also known as Portland, Oregon.

I haven't been running as much as I'd like lately, but this morning I made it out to the Springwater Corridor for a fun 10 miles in great summer weather. All is well with the world once again.

Each month once in a while I look back at what’s happened with AONC in the previous month two months. If you’ve missed some articles, you can catch up here ...


Why Focus on the Numbers?

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I've heard the question in various forms over the past couple of years: Why not just travel around the world without trying to go everywhere—in other words, why focus on the numbers?

My answer is that the numbers give you a goal—something to keep in mind as you go through a challenging process. The numbers can't be your sole motivation or identity, but they can be a big help.