Thursday I had the fantastic opportunity to meet-up with Chris Guillebeau, author of blog “The Art of Non-Conformity” and creator of Unconventional Guides (.com).  It was great to be able to meet with someone who is doing so much and has such extravagant goals. Chris, resident of Portland, traveler of the globe, is doing what he wants to do in life (without the 9-5 job).  His goal of traveling the globe and visiting every country enlightens me so much.

Being able to meet with Chris and ask him how he got his start makes me realize that with the right amount of effort, I could do something similar.  Chris gave me some great advice and was kind enough to also point me to some other blogs and helpful books.  What a genuinely nice individual.  If you haven’t clicked on the links above yet, then get on it.  He has some amazing posts (1, 2, 3) that will really get you thinking.  He also has some great guides that are really worth the money and pay off multiple times over (I’ve already earned 100,000 miles off of his Frequent Flyer Master guide).

I am so excited to begin traveling more and seeing the world, and though I am not ready to rid my life of my career in Software Engineering (cause I actually enjoy it), I do realize that life is more than just working. There is so much to see and do in the world, and it just isn’t possible to view it all on just a few weeks of vacation a year. Thankfully I enjoy what I do and am willing to continue working away, growing my career, saving up money and paying off debt.  However this won’t be my mindset forever.  🙂

Here’s to my next journey,

Jason