One year ago, I began planning last weekend with a small group of trusted friends. As the time drew closer, we transitioned from a planning team to an Action Team. Then, as the weekend really drew closer, we expanded to a much larger Action Team.

When the big day finally arrived, more than 40 people worked closely together to provide a gathering space for the 500 awesome people who came to town, more than half of whom were visiting Portland for their first time. Everyone involved was a volunteer—no speakers were paid, and attendees themselves contributed much of the weekend as we went along.

***

It’s going to take me more time than expected to process last weekend’s epic adventure, but I’ll share a few specific stories and video clips over the next few weeks. In the meantime, you can read attendee wrap-ups here, here, here, here, here, and here (this is a small selection that can lead to many others if you’re interested).

Here are a few highlights from the main event…

Pamela Slim performed an unexpected martial arts demonstration during her opening keynote talk. I said in my intro that “Pam could kick my ass”… not knowing she was actually going to prove that as part of a demonstration for all of us! Nice work, Pam.

I asked Pam to open and Jonathan Fields to close for a reason—I trusted them, and I knew the audience would be in good hands. Jonathan gave a preview of his latest and greatest work, all focused on turning fear and doubt into fuel for brilliance.

Also speaking from the main stage, Leo Babauta skillfully executed a moonwalk and set of pushups for us—nice job. When he wasn’t exercising in public, he shared how he transformed his life through a series of small steps that created significant results.

While Danielle LaPorte was speaking to a standing-room only crowd, I was handed a note that said a fire alarm had been triggered outside and there was a slight chance they would need to evacuate the entire building. Yikes! For 10 minutes I wondered how that would work, before being handed another note saying all was well. (I thought the firestarting thing was just branding… but obviously not. Use your powers only for good, Danielle.)

Late on the first day, Jodi Ettenberg talked about how she went to law school because someone bet her she couldn’t get in, and then moved to New York on a similar bet. Later that night I got a note on Twitter: “Chris, will you bet Jodi she won’t go out with me tomorrow night?” I said I’d stay out of that one.

John T. Unger played the harmonica and talked about his disaster-and-recovery story. Preceding him, Andrea Scher and Jen Lemen earned a standing ovation after hand-writing a personal message to all 500 of our attendees and taping it on the bottom of their chairs. For a great conclusion on Saturday night (and before hundreds of people went out on various city tours) Karen Walrond talked about the beauty of different, probably a better showcase of non-conformity than I provided in my own book.

The Surprise Bollywood Dance Session

We brought in “DJ Prashant and the Bollywood Dreamers” to lead the group in a Bollywood dance lesson. For the rest of the weekend, everyone was walking around performing their best Indian dance moves. (By the way, you should definitely NOT watch this video of two professional bloggers attempting to follow along. When you don’t watch it, you’ll notice that J.D. Roth was cleverly avoiding his own dance attempt… no fair.)

***

The keynote talks were complimented by dozens of workshops, breakout sessions, parties, meetups, tours, and numerous informal activities throughout the weekend. We ended on Sunday night with a massive afterparty on the other side of town, where shuttle buses ferried our group back and forth until 10:30pm. (And apparently the parties continued after that, but by then I was in bed…)

WDS 2012: The Sequel

Yes, we’ll do it again next year, and yes, we’ll need a bigger venue. The team is taking some much-needed down time to work on other projects during the summer, but we’ll regroup and begin planning WDS 2.0 this fall. For our inaugural event we experienced extremely high demand (every ticket sold out five months in advance), and as the word gets out, we expect even more interest next year.

I offered the inaugural attendees a special advance registration for next year, and nearly 70% of them signed up—not a bad conversion rate. More than a year in advance, we already have 285 people confirmed to return, without having a real registration process or even the exact date. So far, so good. The early-early notification list for everyone else is over here, but please note that I don’t expect to offer tickets until at least September.

In their own words, here’s how one of our attendees explained his return to life at home after the weekend:

“Even though I had to take power naps at two rest stops around 1AM to keep from falling asleep at the wheel on the way back to Seattle, it was worth it.

The five-minute walk from my car into work on the day after the summit felt longer and harder than the four hour, mini nap infused drive coming back to Seattle from Portland in the dead of night. Leaving a place and event filled with people that aren’t content with being normal or simply fitting in, brought a tinge of culture shock upon me.

The walk to my cubicle brought me back to normal, but because of WDS, I had a renewed vigor to be different and make my dreams become a reality.”

We had a media team on site, and they’re creating an entire documentary about WDS. For now, you can see initial photos here. Video, speaker interviews, and attendee contributions are in the works and expected to be completed in about 4-6 weeks.

A Personal Note

A few months ago I realized I had underestimated some of the costs of putting on such a production. Registration fees were approximately $125,000, and the expenses at last count—before I started paying invoices without looking at the numbers on them—were approximately $145,000. (Free business tip: ideally, these numbers should be reversed.)

Well, no need to feel sorry for me—I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to have made this investment. It feels a lot like a non-sensible, self-funded, 63-city Unconventional Book Tour that was also awesome and completely worth it in every way.

I said at the beginning of our time together on Saturday that WDS was not a “motivational conference”—a phrase that a media article had used in describing our adventure. I’ve never been to such a thing and have no idea what happens there, but my impression is that you go to a “motivational conference” if your life sucks and you need someone to inspire you. Instead, this was a gathering of awesome people working on remarkable things, all learning from one another.

As someone put it on Twitter, it was “a heart attack of awesome.” Another person called it “the grown-up version of summer camp, ” and someone else said “WDS was like walking into a room with 500 of your new best friends.”

Here in Portland, we’re deep in thought and introspection over where to take this next year and beyond. But rest assured—the best is yet to come.

Thanks to everyone who made WDS an epic adventure. We’re looking forward to doing this again!

###

Images: Armosa Studios

When I heard the news that the rapture would take place two Saturdays ago, my first thought was… wait… how is that possible, since World Domination still has two weeks to go?

We need more time before the planet implodes!

***

Yesterday and today, the first attendees have been arriving in town for the inaugural World Domination Summit. Tomorrow we’ll be joined by 500 people from a dozen countries, meeting at the Portland Art Museum and various other locations around town.

When I announced the summit nine months ago, I really had no idea how to produce such an event. I approached it the same way I did publishing: ask a lot of questions, watch what others did, and announce the plan before I knew how it would unfold.

Since then, I’ve been fortunate to work with a great, all-volunteer team here in Portland, who has been coordinating hundreds of details—gift bags, breakout sessions, speakers, door prizes, negotiating with catering racketeers, hammocks, afterparty, transportation, and so on. (This is a very abbreviated list.)

It’s the first time for all of us to do such a thing. We’re nervous but excited, and it all begins tomorrow night.

Attendees! Here’s what you need to know

Like any AONC event, the best thing about WDS is all of the people who attend. As the host, I want to put on a good show and welcome people to our city, but I also know that most people enjoy the “unofficial” aspects of meetups at least as much as the official ones. Don’t be afraid to meet someone this weekend; they’re all fun people doing interesting things.

We have volunteers to greet you at the airport welcome center starting tomorrow morning at 10am, but if you miss them, no problem—just take the MAX train ($2.35) to your hotel or hostel downtown. Registration begins at 6:30pm tomorrow night, followed by an informal gathering. The main event begins at 9am Saturday morning, with doors opening at 8:30am.

(Everyone attending WDS should know this information already, but I’m posting it here just in case.)

Non-Attendees! Sorry you aren’t here, but we’ll think of you

I know that a number of people are coming to Portland for the weekend despite not having tickets to WDS. I’m sorry that it sold out so quickly (more than five months in advance), and I’m sorry to miss you if it didn’t work out. There are no last-minute tickets and we can’t accommodate anyone else at the summit itself, but you’re welcome to join many of our group on an “UnTour” (i.e., a general meetup) on Saturday night down by the waterfront. Many attendees are also arranging independent activities and gatherings around the weekend as well, and I hope you have a good visit to our fair city.

Numerous people have asked about live streaming the event, but we won’t be doing that this time. The main benefit of the weekend is having everyone all together in one place, and we couldn’t do a good job thinking about both the local audience and the faraway audience.

We will, however, be posting real-time images (hundreds of them) to my Flickr stream starting Friday night and continuing through the weekend. You can also keep up with the group through the Twitter hashtag #WDS. Our media team will be documenting the event for an upcoming compilation, and a few independent media outlets are also on site and will be doing… something (I really don’t know what).

***

If you don’t care about the World Domination Summit, here’s the takeaway: I was worried about inviting 500 people to come to town, but I’m glad I did it. If you wait until you feel confident about a big venture (or adventure), you may never do it. By some miracle, this is actually coming together, and I’m glad we decided to go for it nine months ago.

Whatever your own venture / adventure is, don’t hold back! Don’t wait. It usually works out in the end.

Question: whether coming to Portland or not, what are your plans for the weekend?

###

Image: Tammy!

Greetings, friends and readers. If you’re not going to Austin this week, you can safely ignore this post.

Once a year, the whole internet moves to Austin, Texas—presumably for the SXSW Festival, although I’ve never actually been to it before.

This coming weekend, I’ll be in town with everyone else. If you’ll be there too, here are two gigs you’re invited to join me at:

Saturday night, 7-10pm: AONC Party. Join me and 80 fun people for an informal gathering. We’re also doing a signing + meet-the-author for Jenny Blake’s upcoming Life After College book.

The best things in life are FREE, and so are tickets to this party—but you need to be on the guest list, since space is limited. Cool? You can get your invite here.

Sunday afternoon, 11am-12:30pm: Official Gig. It’s called Fear and the Art of Creation with me and @jonathanfields. This is an official SXSW event, so I guess I’ll need to enter the conference area for the first time ever.

Jonathan and I will attempt to co-faciliate a “Core Conversation” (that’s what SXSW calls it) with everyone who shows up. If we have a big group, Jonathan and I will need to do more of the talking—but it will be as interactive as we can make it.

I hope to see you in Austin!

###

Image: Stephanie

It’s actually been sold out for several weeks, but I’ve been laying low and letting it ride for a while. On the advice of my great team, however, I can do so no longer.

Five months in advance, we are (beyond) filled to capacity with more than 450 attendees from all over the world, in addition to the 40 speakers, workshop leaders, action team members, and “ambassadors” who will help us produce the summit to the high standard it deserves.

The site is still here, but registrations are no longer being accepted. There is a (very limited) wait list in case of cancellations, so please join it only if you’re serious about coming and just weren’t able to register in time.

If you missed out, I’m sorry, but I’ve actually tried to avoid promoting the event recently because so many people were signing up without any AONC promo. In fact, most of the final 150 slots came entirely through attendee buzz… which is great, but it also means we really are completely full.

Those of you who are signed up, I’ll look forward to seeing you in Portland for the best weekend of June ever. We’ll be sending more info about flights, housing, cupcakes, and other important matters soon.

Everyone else, I hope to see you another time, and thanks for being a part of the community from wherever you are. The greatest benefit of the weekend will be the chance to talk with like-minded people in real life, but we’re also working on a few ideas to involve the rest of our group from a distance.

###

Image: Monkey

Greetings, friends and readers. Today I’m in Anchorage, Alaska for the 43rd stop of the Unconventional Book Tour.

I’ll be at the University of Alaska at noon, and Metro Music and Books at 7pm tonight. (We’ll be moving to a beer-and-pizza place afterwards, which I’m told is mandatory when in Alaska.)

Today I have a couple of notes on commercial projects. First, it’s the last day of the only-once-a-year sale at UnconventionalGuides.com. Until midnight tonight, you can use the discount code “PUMPKIN” to save 15% on any purchase, and an additional 15% will go to our Ethiopia water project. More details are over here.

The Win-Win, “Ultimate Cyber Monday” Project (Spend $97, Get $1,000, $80+ goes to Ethiopia)

Second, a couple of friends are launching something this week that I think is very interesting. I’ll tell you about it below and include an affiliate link if you’re interested too—but pay close attention to the details.

Here’s the link:

?Big project, super affiliate link, click here

Karol Gadja and Adam Baker (both of them have joined me for various tour stops this fall) have been putting together a monster sale of 23 different business resources. All together, the resources cost $1,000 on their own, but for 72-hours only, they are sold together for just $97.

If you’re an entrepreneur, the very-important-lessons here are a) create a compelling offer, and b) leverage influence from a broad range of people. Karol and Adam did an excellent job with both of these strategies.

Next, Karol and Adam worked with a number of people to promote the project, in most cases giving them 80% affiliate commission. I don’t usually promote affiliate products because I have friends who are launching things every week, and the purpose of AONC isn’t to sell things all the time. Instead, I try to help people out wherever I can with Twitter, behind-the-scenes advice, or whatever. In this case, I decided to join their affiliate program… but if you purchase through my “big project, super affiliate” link, the money won’t go to me.

I’ve had a good year and don’t need any more money. I’m extremely fortunate, grateful, and even blessed to be able to write for a living and tour the world meeting fun people. Even though I’m an entrepreneur myself and don’t think there’s anything wrong with making money, I always try to be conscious of how much money I need and how much is just extra.

So in this case, the overall project already includes a donation on every sale to our Water for Ethiopia project, and I’ll go further to donate my 80% commission as well. In short: if you pick this up, I don’t get paid a single dollar, and each $97 sale will result in an $80+ donation to the project.

I’d like us to raise at least $15,000 with this campaign, and if we do more than that, so much the better. It’s a win-win, because I’m the one making the donation—you invest $97 to receive resources worth more than $1,000, Adam and Karol get paid a small amount, and we donate the bulk of the funds to our important project.

Fun and valuable? I think so—but check it out at the link below and decide for yourself. You have until midnight on Wednesday to jump on the train.

?Big project, super affiliate link, click here

Of course, if you aren’t interested, no problem at all. I don’t have any other business projects planned until January, and I’ll be focused on finishing the U.S. part of my book tour and going on a much-needed vacation.

Also, a number of other people are promoting this project around the interwebs this week. Just to be clear, I don’t think it’s bad that they are keeping their share of the money—I just don’t feel like I need to do that myself this time.

And now, off to the University of Alaska. Wednesday night I’ll be in Honolulu, Hawaii (big change of scenery there), and then I’ll be getting ready for the big West Coast finale over the next two weeks.

Thanks so much for reading AONC. Have an amazing week, wherever you are!

###

Image: Wonderlane

[If you can't see it above, click here.]

This mini-documentary was filmed and produced in Durham, North Carolina by Crystal Street at StorytellingTraveler.com. Crystal spent a lot of time on this project as a volunteer—check out some of her other great work on her site, or subscribe to her newsletter to stay connected with her.

Oh, and About Writing a Book

I’ve lost track of the number of people who have asked me about writing a book and going on a collectively-organized tour. Aren’t books so old-school? Isn’t blogging easier and better? Why bother going to Durham, North Carolina when we have the internet?

Long story short, this project has been so much fun. Yes, I think writing a book is totally worth it, and I’m going to do it again. Yes, the tour has been fantastic and I’m so glad I did it. I should probably wait until I finish tour #1, but I’m already thinking about how to structure tour #2 when the time comes.

And yes, I really appreciate everyone else who cares and participates, because that’s what it’s all about. My big thanks to Crystal for the fun documentary, and thanks to all of you for joining me on this journey. Details on the next 24 stops are here.

###

Previous updates:

Notes from the Road, Volume V
Notes from the Road, Volume IV
Notes from the Road, Volume III
Notes from the Road, Volume II
Notes from AA Flight 847
Notes from the Road, Volume I

Last week I went down to the Portland Art Museum again, and this time I took along the World Domination Action Team with me.

I normally do most of my project planning on my own, but for a project of this scale, I knew I needed to get some help—so this project is co-led with J.D., Tsilli, Robert, Tammy, Sean, Tyler, and Jolie. (I’ll introduce them more later.)

You may recall that we’re hosting a global gathering next June in Portland. Eight months away, we’re well over halfway sold out, with 240 people registered from 15 countries. It’s like the United Nations, but right here in Portland and so much more fun.

As we met with the museum staff last week, the team and I did a walkthrough of the spaces and asked all the relevant questions.

The DJ can play until 11pm on Friday night, right?

Theoretically, if someone wanted to bring a large RV and park it on the museum steps, where should they do that?

We are planning the most amazing weekend event in the history of meetups. I know the summit isn’t something that everyone cares about, but for those who are interested, remember the Amelia Earhart quote: “When a great adventure is offered, you don’t refuse it.”

This is going to be a great adventure, and I don’t want anyone who’s thinking about making the trip to miss out.

“I’m Coming to Portland in June”

On tour this fall, I’ve heard from a lot of people in each city who say “I’m coming to the summit next June!” And then I say, “That’s great! Have you registered yet?” And often they say, “Nope, not yet.”

Hmmmm. I always say, that’s great that you’re coming… but you need to register soon, because it really is going to fill up months in advance (probably a lot of months).

There’s no pressure, of course, and I know that most of the people who read AONC won’t be able to come to the gig. But I also don’t want anyone to be disappointed when we close down the registration, which will be sooner rather than later.

Also, my math is not good. In the initial capacity count I forgot to include the team (sorry, team) and the speakers (sorry, speakers). So instead of 240 people on the confirmed list so far, we have at least 270. I still have 22 stops on the book tour where I’m inviting people, so I don’t want it to sell out right away… but it will sell out.

One of the questions we have been struggling with is whether we should expand the event even further. At the museum we talked about changing rooms to make a few things easier, but aside from that, I’m thinking probably not—no more scaling for now. I know, I know; I like to scale everything. But putting on this event is already a huge undertaking, and I want to make sure we do it absolutely right.

Most conferences are still selling tickets on the day of the event. You have my word that we won’t do that. Most conferences cost $500+ just for admission. The WDS is 40% less and includes awesomeness at no extra charge. In addition to the great speakers and workshops, it’s also going to be a lot of fun. We’re adding an optional mountain-climbing day on the Monday after the summit and a (very unofficial) skydiving experience a day or two later.

If you haven’t signed up already, you can join us here. And either way, be sure you check out the profiles of other people who are coming. It’s going to be amazing!

Are you coming? I hope to see you there.

As for me, I’m back out on the road this week—to Boise, Salt Lake City, Missoula, Denver, and Cheyenne. Details and venues here.

###

Image: Tammy

Greetings from the Atlanta airport, where I’m preparing this post before heading home after a 13-stop leg of the Unconventional Book Tour.

In writing the AONC book, I wanted to highlight the stories of other people who have forged their own unconventional lives. Everyone mentioned below was included in the book, already in its fourth printing in North America and soon going out to bookstores elsewhere in the world.

***

DWIGHT. I met Dwight in Bangkok through Cody McKibbon, another of our tribe. Originally from Atlanta, Dwight moved to Bangkok to teach English. He stayed on for several years and is now nearly fluent in the language. Dwight has a quick mention in Chapter 10, but I’m going to do a longer profile with him on the site soon. [Web Site / @insearchofsanuk]

***

SUSAN. I met Susan in New York at Seth Godin’s Alternative MBA class, where she was in the midst of a career change. Susan was highly qualified, but in a tight job market, at least one-hundred candidates would be competing for the same job. What to do? Susan turned the process on its head and decided to “hire a boss” instead of asking to be hired as an employee. Brilliant! Read more in Chapter 5. [Web Site / @susanvlewis]

***

JEANNE + co. People write me all the time and say, “But how can I travel if I have kids?” Jeanne and her family, who have been living abroad on a relatively low income since 2006, is case study #1. They’re mentioned in Chapter 2 and again in Chapter 8. [Web Site / @soultravelers3]

***

ADAM + COURTNEY. Adam and Courtney are the lead story to Chapter 8 on personal finance. Adam took the online world by storm late last year when his young family packed up and moved to New Zealand. I met up with Adam again when he decided to join me as a roadie for four book tour stops last month. Another good friend, J.D. Roth, is also in this chapter… but most of you already know J.D. well. [Web Site / @manvsdebt]

***

TIM. I first heard about Tim from a journalist friend. Tim stood up to the oil companies by bidding on a $1.7M contract… with money he didn’t have. Appropriately, Tim kicks off Chapter 4 on “How to Fight Authority and Win.” [Web Site / @dechristopher]

***

CRYSTAL. I love Crystal’s approach to voicemail. When you call her, you get a message that basically says, “I hate using the phone, so if you need to reach me, I’m always online.” Crystal’s voicemail strategy is included in Chapter 10, and she was my co-host for our fun D.C. stop a few weeks ago. [Web Site / @bigbrightbulb]

***

SCOTT. I met Scott Harrison on his first day in Africa back in 2004. We drove around in Land Rovers and ate at Lebanese restaurants. He took half of the photos of me in Africa that you see on the blog. Then when he left, he said he was going back to NYC to start a water charity. “That’s nice,” I said, thinking of the 50+ water charities that were in Monrovia, Liberia alone. One million people later, and I began to see why everyone should listen to him. Scott’s story is in Chapter 7, and the Charity:Water partnership is explained more over here. [Web Site / @scottharrison]

***

SEAN. I met Sean Ogle almost two years ago in Portland. At the time, he was clean-cut and wearing a tie—definitely out of place in the Southeast neighborhood where I live and work. Now he’s semi-retired at age 24, and wears whatever he wants… which is not usually a tie. You can read Sean’s story in Chapter 3. [Web Site / @seanogle]

***

SLOANE. I liked Sloane’s story of moving to the Philippines to volunteer for Kiva, and her audacity at creating multiple charities starting at a young age. She is also in Chapter 3, where we look at how to engage with our fears instead of pretending to be fearless.

Sloane and I share a philosophy on fear: don’t ignore it, but don’t let it make your decisions for you. [Web Site / @sloane]

***

DAVE. I don’t know Dave personally, but he is one of the original “100 things” guys, where he determined to live with only 100 personal items. Dave isn’t on a crusade to get people to change their behavior—he calls it his own little mission against consumerism. After reading his story, I began a more active uncluttering strategy of my own. [Web Site / @guynameddave]

***

MICHAEL. Among other things, Michael Bungay Stanier wrote the fantastic book Do More Great Work. He sent me five copies, which I’ve since given away and ordered more. [Web Site / @boxofcrayons]

***

AONC has grown immensely since I started writing about my crazy trips back in 2008. Much more is on the way, and whatever turns out to be good will undoubtedly be the result of the amazing community. One problem I had is that I wrote the book more than a year ago, and since then I’ve been meeting a lot more amazing people that I wish I had put in the manuscript. I guess I’ll just have to write another book! (I’ll actually start working on that in January—stay tuned for details.)

We also have the Postcards project that now includes notes from 20+ countries, and the upcoming World Domination Summit that will bring 440 of us together in Portland.

Oh, and if you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard about the actual book, here’s the Amazon link and here’s the independent bookstore link. Translated versions are forthcoming in China, Korea, Bulgaria, and Poland—and we’re not stopping there, of course.

You can also join me on tour as I roam throughout the U.S. for 30 more stops, then 10 stops in Canada after the holidays. I’m having a lot of fun, and I’m so glad that all of you are a part of it.

Question: Who has influenced you in your own unconventional journey?

###

Main Image: Elizabeth

Greetings from the road between Little Rock, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee… soon to be Oxford, Mississippi.

I’ve been on tour for five weeks now, and a number of people have asked, “What kind of travel hacking are you doing on this trip?”

The best answer is: Not much. The schedule is fixed. One day per city, with no flexibility on dates. I’ve done 32 stops over the past five weeks, usually back-to-back, and the priority is to structure everything around the meetups. In addition to that, I’ve done media interviews every day, all of the work I do on an ongoing basis, and some planning for two bigger projects that I’ll be announcing soon.

All that to say I haven’t really been hacking my way around America. I’m usually crashing at the Hampton Inn or Hyatt Place, and I’ve also had several late-night stops at the Motel 6 and Econo Lodge (fortunately, I have no elite status with either of those chains) before breakfast at the Waffle House the next morning.

U.S. Travel Hacking

Travel hacking, for anyone who is new to it, is my process of venturing out around the world on a low budget, using tools such as Round-the-World airfare, a big stash of Frequent Flyer Miles, mistake fares, elite status matches, and more.

My next business venture, the Travel Hacking Cartel (coming in early 2011), will provide an ongoing alert service of major hacking opportunities. But for now, I write about it occasionally here on AONC, and more frequently to owners of Frequent Flyer Master.For those who care, here are a couple of current opportunities.

First, the Chase Checking Accounts (U.S. only) offer a very easy 50,000 miles with Continental, which will then be converted into United miles in 2011 when the two airlines merge. Continental/United miles can be used to book flights on any Star Alliance carrier.

Here are the links, but don’t wait long—the offer will disappear for good in just a few days on October 31:

*Personal Account

*Business Account

(Anyone can have a business account; just use your name as the business name.)

50,000 miles is usually a very good return-on-investment. The worst case scenario is that you use the miles for two round-trip tickets within North America; a better scenario has the miles going towards a more valuable overseas trip. There’s not really any downside, but you have to sign up soon.

Next, the Grand Slam Promo from U.S. Airways is still open for the next few days. So far I’ve earned 30,000 miles from it myself, and have heard reports of many people earning 50k or more.

*Grand Slam Promo (overview and sign-up)

*Grand Slam Promo (list of current offers and how to rack up the miles)

On the tour I’ve been meeting a number of people who have taken trips all over the world thanks to travel hacking. I hope you’ll be the next success story.

Train Hacking?

The other day I met a guy at the gas station who needed a ride from Ft. Smith to Little Rock. I don’t always offer rides, but he had a good story—“I just don’t want to get a job”—so I invited him to hop in my rental car for a three-hour drive through non-stop pouring rain. It turned out that he doesn’t usually hitchhike; he usually hops trains all across America. He’s been back and forth across the country five times, usually from L.A. to New Orleans and up to New York.

He had a girlfriend in Canada, but that relationship didn’t work out when he was deported back to the U.S. for illegally entering the country. Apparently she had been deported from the U.S. for similar reasons, so now he can’t go north and she can’t go south. (Such are the consequences of international train-hopping relationships.)

For most of our drive together, I asked him how the train-hopping business works. I had lots of questions: How do you avoid the railroad employees? (Some of them are helpful, but others are rewarded for turning in stowaways, so it’s tricky.) How do you know the schedule? (Sometimes it takes a day or two before you find a good train. It’s especially difficult on the East Coast, where there are lots of trains but you can’t always tell which direction they’re going.) What do you eat on a long journey? (It’s best to self-cater when hopping trains.)

The conversation got me thinking… maybe for the next book tour, instead of rental cars I can hop on a train somewhere between L.A. and New Orleans. Or maybe not.

Running in Little Rock

After arriving in Little Rock and setting up shop at the Hampton Inn, I went straight to bed and somehow managed to get up early for a run the next day. From my hotel room, the weather didn’t look promising. The flag outside the hotel was whipping around like crazy, and all the trees were bending in the wind. I was expecting it to be freezing cold, but I learned long ago to never let the weather determine my exercise routine. (These days I don’t really have an exercise routine, so it’s all the more important to get out there whenever I can.)

I stepped outside and braced for the cold… but it wasn’t cold at all. Instead, it was perfect. The wind was just a nice breeze, and the temperature was much warmer than I expected. I ran along the railroad tracks (no sign of my friend from the night before) and down by the river. I ran past the Clinton Presidential Library and around the downtown area. I ran out on a quiet road for a while and thought about where I’d been and where I still had to go.

And after I ran about 20 minutes, which is my turnaround point for most runs these days, I realized I had also come to the halfway point on my tour. Thirty-two stops down, thirty-one to go!

Much of this adventure has gone by in a blur, without a lot of time to reflect. At the end of the U.S. portion in December, I’ll go on vacation for a week and think more about it then. But for now I keep going: to Oxford, Mississippi and Birmingham, Alabama on Tuesday and Wednesday for two smaller meetups before heading on to a big event in Atlanta on Thursday night. The schedule is posted here and everyone is welcome to come out to the stops.

Here’s wishing you well from the road, and I hope all is well wherever you are.

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Image: Paul

Greetings from Minneapolis, Minnesota—stop #21 on the 63-city Unconventional Book Tour. I’ve been on the road all week and getting ready for the latest event here in a few hours.

Previous updates here:

Notes from the Road, Volume III
Notes from the Road, Volume II
Notes from AA Flight 847
Notes from the Road, Volume I

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Louisville, Kentucky

Driving in from St. Louis, I discovered two interesting things about Kentucky: first, Louisville is a long way from Missouri. Second, the state of Kentucky operates in multiple time zones. This meant that instead of being 20 minutes early, I was 40 minutes late. Oops.

I was stressed about having people waiting for me, but they were very kind and we had a good talk at Highland Coffee after I finally made it in. Thanks, guys!

Bloomington, Indiana

After hanging out at the Louisville coffee shop, I drove most of the way to Bloomington before crashing in a Motel 6 (I have no elite status there, which is probably for the better) about 30 miles out. The next day I came all the way in and met up with Bloomington co-host Adam Baker, also known as the great ManVsDebt. The photo in this post is of Adam’s daughter Millie, who joined us along with Courtney for most of the evening.

We decided to award Bloomington the prize of “most random bookstore” thus far on the tour, for reasons I’ll have to explain at another time. But the good news is that a nice group of readers came out, including someone who drove five hours to get there. Several people brought cupcakes and Adam had brought several bottles of wine, which we shared with the group. All in all, it was a great stop with great people.

Cincinnati, Ohio

That same night I decided to drive on to Cincinnati instead of going there the next morning. Adam joined me for the drive and I wrote emails from the passenger seat for most of the way. The next day he had to do a radio interview, so I did the driving while he talked to the show.

Adam and I stayed with Matt Gartland (great guy) who also arranged the venue for our Cincinnati meetup with Jane Friedman, another friend. The four of us were joined by Todd Henry, producer of the Accidental Creative podcast and upcoming book, and then with a nice group of about 30 readers.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

After Cincinnati, Adam decided to come along to a couple of other stops as well, so we drove up to Ann Arbor together. I was also joined by my brother Ken, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. Adam and Ken together were a great help—we said that Adam handled the P.R. stuff and Ken was security. The crew got even bigger with Karol Gadja, who pitched in with an introduction at the Ann Arbor event, and Johnny B. Truant, who drove a couple of hours to come up and hang out.

The Borders where we did the Ann Arbor event (flagship store #1) was very welcoming. The event planning staff had written me in advance to find out what kind of pens I wanted to sign books with. At first I thought that was an unusual question, but later realized it was representative of the kind of attention to detail they showed. At the end of the night I signed a large banner that was then posted in the stairwell, and I even got to select a “Guest Pick” author book that would be displayed for other readers downstairs.

After the talk and book signing, a few of us went out for drinks at a nearby bar, a venue that wasn’t hard to find since we were directly on the U. of Michigan campus. Ken and I then went back to the hotel for the night, and headed on to Chicago the next morning.

Chicago, Illinois

In Chicago, Ken and I showed up at the restaurant where we were all supposed to meet. The hostess came out and I said, “Hi, I’m Chris and I’m here for the book tour event tonight.” She said, “What event?”

Hmmm. Apparently there was some confusion, and the venue we had confirmed two months in advance was no longer confirmed. Thankfully, everything worked out in the end as it usually does. We did the meetup outside on the patio, and although it was a little challenging with 75+ people and no microphone, we made it work.

My thanks to Alexandra Levit for co-hosting, to Adam who had taken the bus over from Ann Arbor to help out yet again, and to the Rockit Grill guys for being flexible.

Madison, Wisconsin

After staying the night in Chicago, Ken and I got back on the road to drive up to Wisconsin. This meetup was scheduled for 2pm and billed as a “Wisconsin Cocktail Party” hosted by Ryan Paugh of Brazen Careerist (and other) fame, along with Caitlin McCabe. Five minutes before 2pm, no one was there. Then I walked outside and saw a big group lined up by the door—apparently the door was just locked, and a few dozen people had come out from around town and beyond.

I really liked Madison and had coffee with Ryan and Caitlin after the meetup. Ken had to fly out of Milwaukee, and Adam had returned to Indianapolis. Saying farewell to both of them, along with Ryan and Caitlin, I got back on the road by myself for the final long drive of the week: Madison to Minneapolis. Five hours later, I made it to MSP airport where I dropped off the rental car I had picked up way back in Des Moines, Iowa. I took the light-rail into town and set up shop at the Hilton Garden Inn, where I’m posting this update.

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Over the past week and a half I’ve done 11 meetups in 11 days. At most of them I either stay for a couple of hours late to sign books and talk with people, or we all go out for drinks somewhere. Despite the busy schedule, it’s been rewarding and I’ll have more to say about the whole process at some point. For now I’m just plugging away on the road and trying to stay as caught up on my other work as possible.

This week I’ll be in Fargo and Sioux Falls before heading home for a few days. Next week, I’ll be on the East Coast again, hanging out in Baltimore, Washington, and Alexandria before heading south for the next part.

Wherever you are in the world, here’s wishing you a great week. Thanks for your support of the book, and thanks for being awesome.

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