The Good Student
69 CommentsA while back I needed a reference letter from a professor from graduate school. I went to see the first guy I thought of, who was widely-known in the field…
Author Archives for
Annual Review, Portland Run, Thanksgiving
Leave your thoughtsI hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving (fellow U.S. citizens) and enjoyed the quiet internet (everyone else) while the folks over here ate birds and went shopping. This morning I completed my final long run in Oregon until the end of the year. I made it about 15 miles and thought about all the things that have happened in 2009. It’s a long list, and I could have kept thinking, but 15 miles is about my limit these days in terms of running. Afterwards I came home and started packing a bag, also for the last time this year ...
Happy Thanksgiving from the Art of Non-Conformity
5 CommentsFriends and readers, I’ve returned home to Portland, Oregon just in time for Thanksgiving. I try to live a life of gratitude every day, so I don’t have much to say about the Thanksgiving holiday in general ...
Follow-Up on FOIA Request for Travel History
Leave your thoughtsA while back I completed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any governmental records related to my travel history. You can read the original post, including all the info you need to make your own request if you carry a U.S. passport, over here. As mentioned at the time, I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I was curious to see exactly what kind of records the Department of Homeland Security keeps on an active traveler.
Frequent Flyer Master Reviews and a Note from Armenia
Leave your thoughtsGreetings from the Caucasus, where I’m wrapping up my two weeks of travel in Azerbaijan, Georgia, and now Armenia. I’ll post more on the trip at some point, but this afternoon I’m getting ready to begin the long journey home (EVN-VIE-FRA-DEN-PDX). My first flight departs Yerevan at the lovely hour of 5:45 a.m. tomorrow, but I decided not to sleep on the floor of the airport the night before. (I know, I’m probably getting soft … but remember I took the 15-hour Russian train last week.)
Mountain Climbing, Motivations, and The Deep-Seated Fear of Failure
60 CommentsWhen I first started doing media interviews in 2008, I noticed that one question would almost always come up: “Why are you so obsessed with travel?” (I learned to call it the mountain-climbing question, because it's the same one climbers are asked about Everest and K2: “Why?”) The question bewildered me until I got used to it. For a long time, I didn't know how to answer; the quest to see the whole world was just something that made sense to me intuitively. I like travel, I like goal-setting, so why not put the two together?
Midnight Train to Tbilisi, Georgia
28 CommentsGreetings, friends and readers. I've been traveling in the Caucasus this month, and over the weekend I took advantage of the opportunity to go from Azerbaijan to Georgia on a 15-hour overnight train. Here are a few notes and several videos from the trip ...
Endorsement for Mondo Beyondo
Leave your thoughtsGreetings from the only coffee shop with WiFi I could find in Baku, Azerbaijan. Not speaking Azeri, Russian, or Turkish doesn’t help with getting directions, but I’m holding up OK. More on the trip next week as I continue to Georgia via overnight train, assuming I can figure out how to get to the train station.
Technology and Travel
50 CommentsGreetings from somewhere in between Frankfurt airport and Baku, Azerbaijan. (This post is going up in advance, since I’m not sure I want to rely on in-flight internet.) Approximately one billion people—perhaps slightly less—have recently asked me about what kind of travel gear I use to roam the world and work.
Next Stop, Azerbaijan
36 CommentsAfter an extended time at home with no international trips, I'm headed back out on the road this week. My journey will take me to the Caucasus region, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Here's how I arranged the trip and what I plan to do.
How to Earn Up to 200,000 Frequent Flyer Miles a Year and Travel for Free Anywhere in the World
26 CommentsFriends and readers, my final business project of 2009 is now available for your consideration. It’s called Frequent Flyer Master, and the goal is to democratize free travel. I want to help thousands of people travel for free, and this guide will guarantee at least one free domestic plane ticket for everyone who picks it up ...
676,358 Frequent Flyer Miles
31 CommentsUpdates: See more recent posts on the Frequent Flyer Challenge or visit our companion site for the latest card offers. *** On November 5th I’ll release my final Unconventional Guide of 2009. The goal of the project is to democratize free travel. As part of the preparations, I wanted to take you behind the scenes ...
Extreme Gratitude, D.C. Edition
Leave your thoughtsFriends and readers, greetings from AA flight 84, en route to the Dallas Ft-Worth airport. I’ve been there several times recently, and am thinking of setting up a tent around A-20. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to our meetup in Washington, D.C. on Thursday night. I had a great time and was humbled as usual by all the fun and interesting people who showed up.
Video Update: Will People Abandon You If You Share an Opinion?
83 CommentsThis video update was recorded after my recent trip to San Diego. What a great place! Thanks to everyone who came out to welcome me. Note: my assistant makes a guest appearance early in the video, so even if you were upset about my support for healthcare reform, you still might want to watch.
“If they hadn’t been pushed, they never would have made the leap”
65 CommentsI read an interesting article in USA Today recently, which profiled seven people who unexpectedly lost their job, then turned around to create a situation better than the one they lost. From a bus driver to a piñata maker, each of these very different individuals used the negative experience of being laid off to make an even bigger, positive change ...
