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Bangkok Adventures

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bangkok-adventures

The Japanese man sitting next to me looks back and forth between the video and me. Finally, he takes off his headphones and asks, “Wrong movie?”

Yes. Wrong movie.

The wrong movie plays for nearly three minutes before it is turned off by a flight attendant. She comes on the p.a. after another three minutes. “Ladies and gentlemen… sorry… we can’t find the arrival video for Japan. If you have any questions about Japan, let us know.”

Other than that, the 11-hour flight across the Pacific is uneventful. I arrive in Narita and quickly transfer to a Cathay Pacific flight for Hong Kong. Another five hours goes by as I fitfully sleep in the back of the plane.


How to Be Awesome

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fort-awesome

The other day I was talking with my friend Phil, a doctoral student in philosophy. Phil is much smarter than me – of that there is no doubt – but he’s struggling with the process of working through a draining series of requirements to receive his terminal degree.


Rerouting Travel Plans

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Rerouted-Stream

It’s not technically last-minute – I’ve changed full itineraries right up to the day of departure before – but two weeks before I was scheduled to fly to Ethiopia, I decided to change directions and go to Southeast Asia instead. In fact, I’m leaving this morning! Yikes – after I write this, I really should think about packing.

This post will explain both the why and how of this decision. The why part covers the details of why I no longer wanted to take the trip I originally planned. The how part deals with Travel Hacking – in this case, how I was able to change the entire trip on short notice using Awards tickets and so on.

Take your pick – feel free to read both or either parts depending on your interest level.


The 5 Million Frequent Flyer Mile Challenge

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This is the true story of how I've earned more than 300,000 Frequent Flyer miles in the past five weeks thanks to mileage bonuses from new credit cards. If you’re up for it, you can do this too – and if you’d prefer a more conservative strategy, you may still be able to earn at least 50,000 new miles.


Site Redesign and New Posting Schedule

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Hi everyone. First, if you’re reading by RSS or email, please come over to the site so you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

As you can see, our new site design is now online. It’s been a long time in the making, and I'm really excited that it's here. For the concept and execution of the project, I’m grateful to the amazing Reese Spykerman who works on location in Michigan and Malaysia. As I’ve said before, if you need a good web designer or ebook layout expert, send her a note.

There are a few more tweaks that are coming in the next few weeks, notably in how we display the categories, but this is the first public display of the AONC 2.0 that I’ve been hoping to have for a while.


How to Get a Duplicate U.S. Passport

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uspassports-duplicate This post is relevant for readers with U.S. passports who travel frequently. If you don't fit in that group, feel free to skip this one – or just read it for the entertainment value.

I've mentioned a few times that I have two U.S. passports, and each time at least one person asks me how that works. Well, I'll you exactly how I got the second passport, and what you need to do if this would help you as well.


The New Year and the New Chance

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I hope you enjoyed the festivities. Now, it's time to start the year. Everyone else is taking three more days off, so if you get started today, you'll be way ahead.


Breaking through the Fear of Failure

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In the Annual Review outline, I wrote about a couple of the objections I hear from people who don’t like goal-setting: Won’t something else come along and change my plan?…


How Much Money Do You Really Need?

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Here’s a good question: how much money is enough? What do we need to have in order to meet our needs and help us be happy? As I completed my Annual Review recently, I finalized a choice I had been pondering for a while. The choice was whether I should continue scrambling to earn a good living as an entrepreneur while writing on the side, or to go “all in” with the project I believed in more – writing full-time.


Wrapping Up the Year of Ultimate Travel

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2567692977_f2d0a78453_z As part of my Annual Review, I count up all the countries I’ve been to and look back at the visits over the year. This time, one thing was clear: I made it to a lot of places in 2008!

For those who are interested, here is the year-end roundup of my adventures, including a few statistics, misadventures, and highlights. For everyone else, enjoy the holiday week and I’ll see you on Monday.