trip reports : The Art of Non-Conformity

Travel

Runway Running

When I boarded the flight to Nauru, I felt like I was going into exile. The airline that flies to Nauru is called “Our Airline,” which could go down as the most comical airline name I've ever heard. (Runner up: "Jubbah Airways" in Somalia.) I had previously been informed by my visa service that no visa is required to visit Nauru. Unfortunately, that fact turned out to be untrue—pretty much everyone going to Nauru needs a visa. After an earlier failure, I regrouped and made another attempt last week. This time, the visit was successful.

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Travel

Range of Motion: Getting to Tajikistan

After a product launch and a few frantic days copyediting a book manuscript, I got on a plane and left to see the world. It began with a 4:30am alarm and a taxi to the airport. I hopped the early Alaska Air flight down to LAX, took an afternoon American Airlines departure to Kennedy, and another late-night AA flight to Barcelona. Non-stop travel with a lot of stops. In BCN I wandered the empty concourse at 5:45am. Boarding to Madrid was an hour later, but I had to switch to the Euro zone flight area, which means going through immigration and getting an entry stamp.

Travel

Adventures in Somaliland

On my last trip, I made it to a country I'd been wondering about ever since beginning my quest more than five years ago: Somalia. Technically, I went to Somaliland, also known as the safe part of Somalia. Somalia itself is a mess, arguably the world's most dangerous country, and with hardly a functioning government of any kind. (One of its recent prime ministers now works at the New York State Department of Transportation.)

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Travel

2011 Annual Review: Travel Roundup

As part of the Annual Review series, I look back at everywhere I went in 2011. As usual, it’s a long list! Despite a lull when I spent several months at home writing a book and preparing for WDS, I still made it to a decent amount of places. All told, I made it to at least thirty countries, including twenty that were new to me. Highlights included a visit to a gorilla reserve in the Eastern Congo and running a half-marathon in Cuba, my final country in the Americas. I also traveled to every province in Canada for the conclusion of my first book tour, and lots of U.S. cities for various meetings, talks, transit stops, and adventures.

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Travel

The Havana Half-Marathon: Adventures on a Small Island

Last weekend, I finally made it to Cuba! It was a significant trip for me, since Cuba was my final country in all of the Americas. I now have only 19 total countries remaining, and this was an especially fun one. During my time on the island, I ran a half-marathon with a friend, spent another couple days walking around Havana, and made sure to sample mojitos from as many restaurants as possible. Keep reading for the full report ...

Travel

Weekend Adventure

This weekend I went on an adventure that involved running 13.1 miles in an unusual, remarkable location. I'll share more on the experience next week, but for now, here's a preview:

Travel

Midnight Flight to Nowhere

I think it was Pico Iyer who said that every flight to Calcutta arrives at 3am. Whoever it was, they were right, and it's not just Calcutta—all over the world, travelers are coming and going at odd times. In some places, the arrivals and departures happen mostly at night.

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Travel

Detour to Australia

It was all going so well. I had made it to three island countries in the Pacific: Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau. All of them were interesting in their own way, if a bit small. OK, small isn’t the word: they were tiny. There is literally one road in Majuru, the capital of the Marshall…

Travel

On the Road Again: Next Stop, Micronesia

My first observation on the region known as Micronesia is that it takes a long time to get there. With forced layovers, I'll finally arrive at stop #1 after 40 hours of travel—and I'm starting on the West Coast! Fortunately, I love travel and I'm excited. This is going to be a fun trip.

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Travel

Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda and the Congo

Note: This post contains videos. If you can't see them, you can view the collection over here. After flying through the day and night via Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Nairobi (yes, I'm perpetually tired), I made it to Kigali, Rwanda—the starting point for my latest trip. This was a special adventure: a visit to several countries in Central-East Africa, and my first time to trek into the forest of Virunga National Park in Eastern Congo.

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Travel

The Feeling of Landing on a Remote Airstrip

You appreciate the big cities. Tokyo, Hong Kong, London—all of these you visit often and love well. But sometimes, your adventures take you further afield. You fly to a big city, then to a smaller city, and eventually on to an airstrip that could be anywhere. Stepping off the rickety commuter-jet stairs into the void, you're tempted to shout in expectation of an echo.

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Travel

Interesting Facts on Visiting Angola

Chances are, you probably won't be visiting Angola anytime soon ... but it's always good to be prepared. Here's a starting point ...

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Travel

Running in Frankfurt

It’s always a sunny day when you arrive in Frankfurt. You might think this is impossible, but Frankfurt is like Seattle: apparently it rains all the time, but never on your first day. (It helps to arrive in the summer months.) I’ve been here on a dozen stopovers, nearly half of them last year when…

Travel

On the Road Again: Summer Travel Plans

Happy Independence Day to those in the U.S., and greetings to everyone else around the world. I'm writing to you from Frankfurt, en route to Angola and beyond shortly. In the last travel planning post, I discussed a few of my upcoming trips. I've made a flurry of bookings since then and am now underway, so for those who care, here's how it works.

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Travel

Advanced Travel Planning, July-November 2011

I've been stuck in one place (mostly) for the past three months, working on two projects that required focus: writing a book manuscript on unconventional entrepreneurs, and preparing to host the World Domination Summit this coming weekend. During last year's Annual Review, I knew these two projects would keep my feet to the ground for a while, so I had planned on doing the majority of my faraway travels during the second half of the year.

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