Awareness

The grief of getting what you want

  It’s always nice to hear from people who are achieving their goals. Whether it’s getting through school, taking a trip across the world, or even finding a partner, it is always inspiring to hear these success stories. (Or at … Read MoreRead More

The only post about World Domination Summit 2014 on the Internet

  I’m writing this on the morning after the end of the fourth-annual World Domination Summit, my third year of attendance, and my second year of being a volunteer, or “Ambassador”. I still have color powder on my arms from … Read MoreRead More

Shame, or why you don’t do what you know you must

  If you’ve spent any time with this site—or even if you haven’t—I want to ask you a small favor. I’d like you to trust me enough that you won’t skip this post. It’s pretty short. You can skip the … Read MoreRead More

The best deals are hidden

  I landed at Oslo Airport some weeks ago. My destination was the center of town, but Oslo (like most cities) positioned its main airport way on the outskirts of town (over 20 miles away in this case), so I … Read MoreRead More

Travel hacking blunders: The lounge

  Travel hacking is not all about glamour and flying around the world with ease and style. It’s also about trying out schemes and having them totally not work. So continuing on from my post on blowing an opportunity to … Read MoreRead More

Travel hacking blunders: The hotel

  I’ve talked about how I’ve used travel hacking to allow me to have experiences that I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish any other way. I frequently stay in hotels for free, and have on more than one occasion … Read MoreRead More

What I (re)learned from flying Business Class internationally

  I was in the fortunate position of flying international Business Class using frequent flyer miles recently. Yes, it’s hard to complain. And while it was a great experience, a lot of what made it great is that it gave … Read MoreRead More

How to plan for Social Security

  Here in the US, we actually do have a small safety net for the elderly and disabled. It’s called Social Security (technically called “Old-age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance” or OASDI) The idea is that when you reach a certain … Read MoreRead More

Why self-sufficiency is a myth

  The guy at the table was describing his situation growing up. “We were totally off the grid, pumping our own well water and everything. We were totally self-sufficient.” As a suburbs kid, I couldn’t deny that I was impressed. … Read MoreRead More

Travel hacking to challenge your ethics

  The speaker was talking about a particular product, and was asking the crowd how many of this product the members of the audience had. A show of hands. One person in the crowd asked: “Isn’t that product limited to one … Read MoreRead More