The Art of Nonconformity
Chris Guillebeau's blog is all about living life in an unconventional way. One of his major personal goals is to do as much international travel as possible, and he plans to visit every country in the world. (Interview with Chris)
Features
From Easter Island to Beirut, Lebanon
Before the plane takes off for the 10 ½ hour flight to Santiago, the LAN Chile flight attendant wants to take my entire food and drink order while we’re still waiting to take off at JFK. I tell her I’ll have the pasta, but I can tell she’s waiting for something else.“Do you want bread with that?” she finally asks. Sure, OK. “Brown or white?”
“Uh, brown is fine.” Dinner is three hours away, but I need to place my order now in great detail.
This conversation goes on for a while in a mixture of Spanish and English. She asks if I’ll want breakfast in the morning, which is nine hours from now. “What kind of cereal? Café con leche or tea?”
I find it amusing that I have to order everything I want over the next 10 ½ hours before we even leave the ground. What if I want a Diet Coke in the middle of the flight—should I page the attendant again to let her know now?
Three Days in Amazing Calcutta
After traveling around by land during my first week in India, I arrive in Calcutta on a late-night Kingfisher Airlines flight from Hyderabad. The flight is great, and serves as a good model for what U.S. airlines could learn from if they were interested in learning anything. Everyone receives a full meal on the all-economy flight, we have Bollywood movies on our own individual screens, and the flight attendants are extremely gracious. It’s just like Jet Blue, except they actually deliver what they promise.
Due to air traffic control delays (something all too universal, unfortunately), we are about an hour and a half behind schedule, putting us getting into CCU airport close to midnight. I think Pico Iyer once wrote that all flights to Calcutta are destined to land at 3:00 a.m. By that standard, I suppose, we’re three hours early.
Recent Updates
Candlelit Notes from a Dismal Hotel Room
I’m sitting in what may be the most dreary hotel room I have ever stayed in, which is saying a lo
Art and Sacrifice: Interview with Robert Bruce
Robert Bruce says that the most difficult thing about his chosen art form is having the title poet
The Land of Too Much
Two years ago I was working in Liberia, West Africa and came to Chicago for a three-day conference.
The Road to Damascus
Sometimes it seems that wherever I go in the world, I’m always too early or too late to the party. O
From Easter Island to Beirut, Lebanon
Trip Update: I haven’t had a lot of time to post reports from my trip to South America and the Middl
Questions to Ask When the World Isn’t Going Your Way
Even on the path to your ideal world, things don’t always go the way you would like them to. All of
28 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Traveling
When you first head off to places in the world that are a lot different from where you live, a numbe
Site Update: April 2008
Live from Syria This month’s Site Update takes place from Damascus, Syria, where I’ve just arrived a
Selling Service and Shoes: Interview with Tony Hsieh of Zappos.com
As a new feature on The Art of Nonconformity site, I’ll be posting profiles of individuals, compa
How To Fall Down and Get Back Up Again
Photo credit: Elbeardo This is a lesson on how to look absolutely ridiculous in front of a crowd
