My friend Erin Doland recently published a book that is the culmination of her life’s work over much of the past decade. It’s called Unclutter Your Life in One Week, and it’s one of the best books on personal organization I’ve read.

Because I want to support authors, I paid full price for the book before I even saw it. But Erin was kind enough to send me an extra copy that I’d like to give to one of you.

If you’d like to get my extra copy, hop over to the AONC Facebook Page and leave a comment saying “I want the Unclutter book!” or something to that effect. I’ll pick a random entry and send you the book wherever you are at my expense.

Otherwise, definitely check out the book online or at your local bookstore. As mentioned, Erin is a friend of mine, but lately I’ve been receiving about three books a week from publishers and I almost never review any of them. This one is worth it.

***

In other news, thanks to everyone who picked up Frequent Flyer Master! It’s been a great product launch thus far, and I’ll post a more detailed analysis within the next 10 days or so. We sold out the first 150 copies in the morning and early afternoon on Thursday, which was much quicker than I expected.

The most recurring question I’ve been getting has to do with the worldwide application of the guide. This is hard to answer, because it’s true that many mileage offers are U.S.-only. However, even if you can’t earn hundreds of thousands of miles a year like I do, I’m confident that you can earn at least 25,000-50,000, enough for at least one or two free trips, without much difficulty wherever you are.

And if you do live in the U.S., it’s pretty simple — in fact, in the week between finishing the guide and the launch, one of the offers mentioned has skyrocketed up to 100,000 miles. Meanwhile, another offer came out that allows anyone in the world (not U.S.-only) to purchase miles on a buy-one-get-one-free basis. Normally, purchasing miles is cost-prohibitive, but with this offer you can effectively buy your way into premium tickets to anywhere for about 25% of the usual cost. Business class to anywhere in Europe is $1100, to Asia is $1400, etc.

All that to say that it’s been a very good week for travel hacking. Naturally, I’ll be informing everyone who owns Frequent Flyer Master about how they can take advantage of these deals. If you’re not in the club yet, here’s the link to learn more.

***

That’s all for today, and no more product launch news for another week or two. Later this week I’ll take off for Azerbaijan and Georgia (not the Atlanta one). Wherever you are, here’s wishing you a great week.

###

Find me on Twitter: twitter.com/chrisguillebeau
Join AONC on Facebook: facebook.com/artofnonconformity

Friends and readers, my final business project of 2009 is now available for your consideration.

It’s called Frequent Flyer Master, and the goal is to democratize free travel.

I want to help thousands of people travel for free, and this guide will guarantee at least one free domestic plane ticket for everyone who picks it up.

—>Go here to learn more

Over the past year I’ve been through well over half a million miles. That’s right, 500,000 miles cycled through my long list of accounts in 2009 alone. Before that it was 200,000, then 250,000 the year before. (Check out this video for all the details if you haven’t seen it yet.)

What’s more important, though, are the free and low-cost trips those miles can be used for — and how you can do the same thing. That’s what Frequent Flyer Master is all about: taking the control away from the airlines and putting it in your hands.

What’s Included

A detailed PDF report, an audio session recorded live in the Dallas airport, an extra PDF on Surviving Travel in North America, detailed questions and answers, 17 miscellaneous tips and tricks, reader stories, and complimentary updates for at least six months.

Special Bonus: The first 150 customers will also get an additional MP3 audio session on earning elite status without spending your life on planes.

Update: Frequent Flyer Master is a big hit and this bonus is now gone. Thanks to everyone who purchased on the first morning! For everyone else, the guide is still available and ready to rock your world.

Unlike my other recent guides, there is only one price point for this one. $49 gets you the whole package and a guaranteed domestic trip worth at least $300. There is also an option to purchase an earlier guide together with Frequent Flyer Master, but that’s up to you.

—>To check it out and learn more, hop over here.

Oh, and if you’d like to tell someone about this project, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks for your help!

###

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On November 5th I’ll release my final Unconventional Guide of 2009. The goal of the project is to democratize free travel.

As part of the preparations, I wanted to take you behind the scenes of a few of my own mileage accounts. The screen-capture video below shows my current tally of 676,358 Frequent Flyer miles, complete with screenshots of five accounts.

Before I launch my final product of the year, I want to make sure everyone knows I can speak with authority when it comes to travel hacking.

Check out the video below:

The product will launch on Thursday, November 5… three days from today.

By the way, even if you’re not as travel-crazy as I am, you may want to pay attention to this project. I’ve deliberately designed it to provide info for a range of people, even those who only travel a couple of times a year or don’t know much about Frequent Flyer Miles. As I say in the video, the most important thing about a big mileage balance is the opportunity it offers you to pursue other goals.

Also, all of my products are 100% guaranteed for life, but this guide will have an additional guarantee—more on that with the launch. To make it even more fun, I’ll also include something special for the first 150 buyers.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments on the video. Have a great Monday!

###

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Virgin Atlantic by Foxy

Friends and readers, greetings from AA flight 84, en route to the Dallas Ft-Worth airport. I’ve been there several times recently, and am thinking of setting up a tent around A-20.

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to our meetup in Washington, D.C. on Thursday night. I had a great time and was humbled as usual by all the fun and interesting people who showed up.

Check out the meetup photos courtesy of Jen Lemen and Roxy Allen. And of course, here’s my thank-you video for those who were there.

The rest of the post is the Sunday Store Update, where I share news about the small business side of AONC.

***

Democratizing Free Travel on Thursday, November 5th

After a flurry of effort, the final Unconventional Guide of 2009 is now ready to go. It’s called Frequent Flyer Master, and the goal is to democratize travel by empowering more people to travel for free.

Lesson learned: if you’re going to create an awesome information product without a partner, I’d advise against trying to edit a full-length book manuscript at the same time you’re writing 15,000 words of content for the manual in addition to several other deliverables. I’ll try to remember that for later, but despite the time crunch, we’re on schedule for the launch on Thursday morning.

I recorded the audio session from a nook in the Dallas airport on the way in to Baltimore earlier this week. Then I went to the print shop in D.C. to pick up the PDF proof from Reese so I could copy-edit on the flight back to Dallas after my three days of meetings.

Side rant on FedEx Kinko’s: I heard about this neat service from FedEx Kinko’s that allows you to email a document to a local store, then show up later and pick up the printout. What a great idea, I thought. That sounds like it could really help when I’m traveling and on a time crunch to proof a long document.

While working at a coffee shop in D.C., I followed the instructions and sent them my file—but then they sent me a release form I had to PRINT OUT and fax back to them. Aside from the fact that no one I know actually has a fax machine anymore, how was I supposed to print the form? If I could print anything, I would just print the document I needed to begin with. I finally just walked down the street and did everything in person.

***

All of that aside, I really hope this guide will help a lot of people achieve their own travel goals through the creative use of Frequent Flyer Miles. The challenge in making the materials was to think about how to help people who don’t travel that often but would still like to fly more often or more affordably.

I think I’ve done that fairly well, and I think forward to tell you more about it tomorrow and Thursday. Next week, I’ll follow my own advice and head out to Baku, Azerbaijan thanks to a Lufthansa award booked with United miles.

Until tomorrow, I hope all is well with you, wherever you are. Thanks for reading.

###

***

This video update was recorded after my recent trip to San Diego. What a great place! Thanks to everyone who came out to welcome me.

Note: my assistant makes a guest appearance early in the video, so even if you were upset about my support for healthcare reform, you still might want to watch.

If you can’t watch the video, here’s a short summary.

1. Why am I writing about politics on AONC? Personally, I don’t think of things like equality and access to healthcare as political issues; I see them as human rights issues. It’s sad (to me) that they have become so politicized, but regardless, I don’t see why I should keep silent about an important issue just because a few people will get upset.

2. Fellow bloggers and anyone else with a platform to share your views: will readers abandon you if you actually say what you think about an important issue? Not really. If anything, you’ll gain more trust and respect. Watch and see.

3. Even if some people leave, so what? Maybe the people who leave weren’t the best fit for your community to begin with. If someone is really so offended about one opinion that they’re ready to write you out of their life, the relationship wasn’t that strong to begin with.

4. When I think about big moral issues (equality, for example), I take the long-term view. Thirty years from now, I don’t want to look back and say that I had an opinion and a platform but never spoke up. As I said in the original post, the truth always emerges over time; the challenge is to get it right before history has been written.

5. Be brave. Take a stand. People care about what you think. Don’t worry!

***

This week I’m in Washington, D.C.. Next week is the product launch for Frequent Flyer Master, then I take a big trip to the Caucauses (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia), then I turn in my book manuscript.

Thankfully, I like all of these things, so it’s not stressful. Hope you’re having fun too, wherever you are.

###

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Join AONC on Facebook: facebook.com/artofnonconformity

I read an interesting article in USA Today recently, which profiled seven people who unexpectedly lost their job, then turned around to create a situation better than the one they lost.

From a bus driver to a piñata maker, each of these very different individuals used the negative experience of being laid off to make an even bigger, positive change.

I know it’s hard to believe, but not everyone who has been put out of work is wasting away. Some of them have completely changed their lives to create a much better situation for themselves.

The interesting thing was reflected in a quote used halfway through the article: “If they hadn’t been pushed, they never would have taken the leap.” In most cases, the people who jumped off to a new adventure had ideas before the push came, but ideas without action are just dreams.

I’d summarize the article, and the decisions these brave individuals made, like this:

1. Change sucks. Most of us will accept a lame status quo as long as it keeps us going.

2. When change is forced upon us, wham! We realize that maybe it’s time to make a better change.

3. All things being equal, it’s usually better to try than not to. Failure be damned.

Here’s another quote that seems appropriate:

“Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: you have no one to blame.” -Erica Jong

Yes, that’s hardcore. But so is unexpectedly losing your job. And so is striking out to do something totally different. Is it any wonder that 300+ of the Fortune 500 companies were founded during times of economic stagnation?

Think about this:

• Instead of being a complete catastrophe, a global meltdown is an opportunity for positive life change.
• Instead of finding security in a job, find security in your own competence.
• Instead of defining self-employment as inherently risky, maybe conventional employment is the real risk. (I know I certainly wouldn’t risk putting my future in someone else’s hands.)

***

An article in USA Today naturally profiles Americans, but those of us in this part of the world aren’t the only ones experiencing a blend of hardship and growth. Valur in Iceland sent me this note recently:

I got fired in the economic collapse in Iceland last October. Although a tragedy for my nation, this has proven a stroke of luck and source of inspiration for my personal growth for both me and many of my fellow countrymen.

A few weeks after the crash in October 2008 I created what you could describe as a small legacy project that even got featured in the Financial Times. It also made me the highest monthly salary I’ve had so far. All this, thanks to losing my IT job in the finance sector.

Best regards,
Valur Thor, Iceland

Not everyone who gets fired will get in the newspaper, of course. Not everyone will start a business or find their dream job.

But hard times force us to take another look at what we’re really doing. Are we waiting for a push to take our leap?

###

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‘Recession Is Just a Word’ Image by Rich

Last weekend I completed my 2009 running goal by running my second half-marathon of the year. The weather was bad and I actually got lost on the course, ending up with a “half-+-2-miles-marathon.” Overall, I like the half-marathon distance much better.

Welcome to the Sunday Store Update, where I share updates about the business side of AONC and any other relevant announcements. In this case I’m putting several things into one post.

***

Washington, D.C. Meetup (Thursday night)

I’m still confined to the U.S.A. for a few more weeks as I finish writing my book, but at least I’ve managed to break free for a couple of domestic trips. This week I’ll be in Washington, D.C. and will be meeting readers on Thursday, October 29th from 6-8pm at Busboys and Poets (5th and K Street location).

The best part of an AONC meetup has nothing to do with me; it’s all about the other fun people who come. This event will be co-hosted by a few of my friends, including Jen Lemen, and I’d love to meet you if you’re in the area.

To get on the guest list, send me a note. (Everyone is welcome; I just need to know how many people are coming.)

676,358 Frequent Flyer Miles

Thanks to everyone who recently contributed tips and stories towards the upcoming Frequent Flyer Master project. I received a number of good ideas, including several that will make it into the final guide. As promised, I’ll be awarding five free copies to the best contributions.

The goal of the project is to democratize free travel. I recently tallied up my current mileage from eight different accounts, and saw that it was more than half a million — 676,358 to be precise. I’ve been busy over the weekend making a detailed video where I log-in to each of the accounts and show the exact data for all of you to see.

Most of the mileage hasn’t been earned by flying; I earn it through creative travel hacking, and I want to help hundreds of people gain the same travel freedom that I have. We’re now in the final two weeks before the launch, so stay tuned for more info soon.

Tribal Author Launch

When I started AONC last year, one of my main goals was to get a book contract with a major publisher. I knew that it would be hard to attract attention without an established audience, so I decided to build my own platform where publishers would come to me instead of my having to knock on doors all the time.

This week I met with my literary agent, who told me that he receives at least 25 unsolicited queries every day from aspiring authors. Over the course of a month, more than 700 people pitch him on projects. He accepts an average of one of these prospective clients per month, and most new clients he finds strictly through referral.

It’s a hard industry to crack, and a friend of mine and fellow author, Jonathan Fields, knows the ropes better than me. A lawyer-turned-entrepreneur, Jonathan has founded a yoga studio, published a bestselling book with Random House, and is getting ready to work on his second book. In other words, he’s cracked the code and is in the club.

Jonathan recently announced a new workshop called Tribal Author that will be held on November 14-15 in New York City. The goal of the workshop is to help aspiring authors take control of their career and actually sell books—a goal that I naturally identify with.

I know there are a few aspiring authors out there among our readership, so I bribed Jonathan to get a $100 discount for any AONC readers who want to come. The discount code is “aonctribal.” It expires on Wednesday night at midnight and the workshop is already halfway booked, so don’t wait long if you’re interested.

When I wanted to establish a new career, I did everything I could to break into the industry. If I didn’t already have an agent or publisher, I’d get over to NYC for this workshop.

Here’s the link to learn more – remember to use “aonctribal” to get $100 off

By the way, I don’t receive any payment or benefit from mentioning Jonathan’s project. A few people have asked what I think about the new FTC requirement that bloggers disclose relationships where they receive free products or are paid to endorse something.

Personally, I have no problem with disclosure. Imagine the concept: bloggers now have to be honest with their readers. I’ve been upfront about how I make a living all along, and if you’re in a similar career, hopefully you have too.

***

That’s it for this week’s update. I’ll look forward to seeing some of you in D.C. on Thursday night.

Thanks as well to everyone who hosted me in San Diego last week—David, Erica, Sophia, and those who came out to our small meetup on Wednesday.

###

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Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said this in response to questions about civil rights and the law. The point was that morality and the law are not always on the same side.

I often think about this as I ponder the social and political issues of our time. The question that comes to mind is:

What about now?

In retrospect, we can look at bold decisions that were made in support of freedom and fail to see any moral ambiguity. Years or decades later, it’s easy to see now which side was right. Of course it was right to help slaves obtain their freedom, even if it was against the law. Of course it was right to demonstrate for civil rights, no matter the consequences.

Politicians of all stripes claim Martin Luther King as a hero now, but during his lifetime it was much different. The FBI maintained a file on him and worried about him being a friend of communists. Despite tapping his phone line and keeping tabs on his travels, they were unable to prevent his murder.

Because the benefit of history makes everything clear, the challenge is to get it right the first time.

Where did I stand on the Iraq war? I opposed it, but not very forcefully. To be honest, it seemed to make sense at the time with the information we were given. I should have been more openly skeptical. Whether or not my stance could have changed anything is somewhat irrelevant.

Where do I stand on equality and the right to marry whomever you want? I support it, obviously. My choice in marriage doesn’t affect anyone else, so why should I be threatened by anyone else’s choice? The people who oppose gay marriage are usually the same ones who support limited government—which of course is ironic.

Where do I stand on healthcare reform? Judging from my email, I know that many international readers don’t understand what a big deal this is in the U.S. Our country is the only rich democracy in the world that doesn’t have some form of universal coverage. I read the papers wherever I go, and everyone wants to know, what’s the problem?

The problem is that most of the people who are upset about healthcare reform already have good coverage. If they get sick, they can go to the doctor. They are also good at defining the debate to make people think that money will be taken from the rich and given to the poor.

Personally I think poor people deserve healthcare too, but the fact is that the poor are not the only ones who lack good healthcare in America. I’m not poor, but because I’m self-employed, my options are limited and I’d love to have more of them.

If anything, I’m worried that whatever plan comes out in the end will be so watered-down that it won’t produce the real change we need. If Obama can actually achieve real reform of the U.S. healthcare system, he deserves a lot more than a trophy in Norway.

***

These aren’t all of the important issues of our day, of course, and I don’t think I’ll change anyone’s mind about them by writing on a blog. Other than getting people to think for themselves, I’m not really interested in persuasion.

It just makes me think, where is my responsibility?

What would I have done in Nazi Germany or in the early days of the Civil Rights Movement? I’d like to think I would have been on the right side of history, but there’s no way to know for sure.

If there was one thing that MLK taught us, it’s that change doesn’t usually happen by itself. It’s better to speak up than to be silent; better to be wrong than indecisive.

Fast forward a few decades, and now it’s time to make new choices. Have you made yours?

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Update: Thanks for all the feedback. Since we already have a broad range of comments below (positive, negative, and variations), I’m going to close the section so we can move on to other things.

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This is the story of John T. Unger, a working artist who actually makes a good living. Despite the recession, each month in 2009 he’s made more money than in the same month last year, in addition to more than he did in every corporate job held long ago.

But that’s not the most interesting thing about John.

What’s interesting is what happened before his art business started taking off. The way John puts it, the best thing that ever happened to him was nearly being killed in a diner by a crazed taxi driver who held a gun to his head. (It taught him perspective, he says.)

The second best thing was suddenly losing his entire freelance workload in 2000. (He decided to stop freelancing and go all-in with his “real” art.)

The third best thing was having the roof of his studio cave in while he was standing on top of it, which nearly brought him to bankruptcy but ended up as the catalyst for the full-time art career he has now.

To learn more, go and read this article on John’s site—it’s excellent and deserves wider attention. (If you have to choose between the rest of this post and the article, read the article.)

***

I caught up with John last week to talk about recovering from disaster (and a few other things). The Q&A is below:

• Why do you think you were able to create an opportunity where other people would have only seen the disaster?

In a word: “practice.” I’ve started over with nothing more than once. In fact, one of my favorite lines about how I started my art career is “I did it with nothing, because nothing is free.” The world is full of stuff that no one wants or that no one sees. Learning to use those to build something is the same kind of thinking that goes into turning a disaster into an opportunity.

Part of my resilience is that I know from experience that just because it seems like the apocalypse, it doesn’t mean tomorrow isn’t coming. I figure that the world ends every second, and it starts over the very next second. I’ve seen the end of the world so many times I’m just not impressed by it anymore.

It takes some faith, courage or self-confidence to walk through a fire, sure. But you decide to keep going, and then you figure out how. My experience as an artist is really helpful for me in this because in some ways I view my job as “building a world.” Not the whole thing, but the parts that are important to me. I work mostly from found objects, and so my creative life isn’t just about inventing, it’s about re-inventing. I take what I find and I build.

You don’t notice opportunities if you limit what you’re looking for to a specific goal. It’s vital to maintain some fluidity, so that you can act on unexpected opportunities. Because I’m in the habit of always looking for new ideas, possibilities or opportunities it comes naturally to do so in times of distress.

• Is there ever a good time to give up? If so, when?

Yes and no. If your current plan or strategy or practice really isn’t working then it may be time to redirect your energy and focus. I don’t think you should ever give up on your core values or dreams, but sometimes it turns out that there’s a better way to implement them.

For instance, my first career was as a writer and poet. Despite some fairly high profile gigs, I was unable to support myself financially with words at the time. But those skills have made my current career as a visual artist possible— the fifteen years I spent pursuing poetry had a direct effect on how I deal with subject matter, meaning and metaphor as a visual artist. They bring a greater depth to my sculpture which makes it meaningful to people.

Also, my ability to write about my art helped enormously in building a successful career. Almost all of my sales, including galleries, come through my blog. I’ve shipped my work to all but a few states and at least seven countries. That reach would have been impossible for me before the internet, and if I had been limited to the local economy I would probably not have been able to make a full time living in the arts.

The irony in a way is that I’ve had my work included in ten books now as an artist, and am starting to see opportunities for finally publishing books of my own. So now it finally comes full circle.

• You said that the advice your friends gave you when you were in the middle of the disasters wasn’t helpful. What would you say to someone who’s in a similar situation?

In the article, I wrote, “The only way you can tell the difference between disaster and opportunity is to decide to make an opportunity out of every event.” That’s both easier and harder than it sounds. It’s easy to decide to make a change when your back is against the wall, but unless you follow through with acting on the decision, it won’t save you. Taking action is the hard part, especially if you lack resources after a fall.

When things fall apart, it usually requires an extremely creative approach to build the world again. There are techniques I’ve developed that make that easier for me.

The first thing I do is assess the situation unemotionally and try to see it for exactly what it really is. With any problem solving situation in my creative work, it’s important to look at what things do rather than what things are supposed to do. The same is true for problem solving in life events. You have to know what you’re working with in order to successfully influence it. Or subvert it.

The next step is to see if there is some way to leverage the force of the disaster itself to provide a solution. I regard this as a form of Tai Chi. I’ve never formally studied Tai Chi, but the core concept of redirecting an external force rather than meeting it with an attack has worked for me in all kinds of contexts. Any real disaster has some momentum, and if you can find a way to leverage that force, or turn it to your benefit, you may be able to accomplish a solution more quickly or easily. When my studio caved in, I was able to use the situation to find a solution that just wouldn’t have happened otherwise, and both the bank and I came out ahead the long run.

Finally, as an artist, I believe that almost nothing is impossible but many things are less than obvious. Ultimately, the solution to many problems is to approach from the side, or behind, or upside down or backwards. Part of what makes me good at this kind of problem solving is that I practice all day long by reversing and inverting ideas to see what else they hold when held up to a mirror.

• You say that things are going well now, but what does that mean? Can you be more specific?

I’ve built enough of a reputation for my work and ideas that I find I can easily reach out to other artists, thinkers and people who interest me. Having the respect of my peers is probably the most rewarding aspect of what I do. I’ve gotten a lot of nice media attention, had my work profiled or featured in books, radio, TV, magazines, etc.

Sales of my work have increased every year, and I now have a comfortable and reliable income. In fact, I’ve done better every month of 2009 than the same month in 2008, so even during the rough economy I’ve done better than I would have in a more traditional job.

I continue to try new projects, some of which succeed and some of which don’t but it keeps the work interesting and it’s nice to be able to make new work without having to worry about money like I used to.

I’ve been able to provide a lot of work for other people, both my own employees and other business who supply me and I feel really good about that. I like the fact that my business generates opportunities and income for other people as well.

***

To me, John’s story represents the triumph of the human spirit and the creativity of the desperate. As John points out, it’s not just about optimism, at least not in a passive sense. Mere optimism doesn’t pay the rent. When you come to the point of desperation, you do more than just hope for something.

As John puts it:

“The only way you can tell the difference between disaster and opportunity is to decide to make an opportunity out of every event.”

Disasters suck. No one thinks the recession is good. But sometimes the best things arrive in disaster form, and it’s up to you to decide how to respond.

Big congratulations to John for making it out of three big disasters—not that he needs validation from me or anyone else. And good luck to all of you with your next disaster.

###

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Image courtesy of John T. Unger

Today is Blog Action Day, where the blogging world (such as it is) unites to write about a single topic. I know, so conventional—but in this case, I don’t mind going with the flow.

The theme this year is Climate Change, so I thought I’d contribute something about travel and its impact on the world.

See, from time to time I get emails from people who think I’m a bad person for flying on airplanes. “You’re destroying the environment,” one of them said.

To each his own, but my response is that this is an overly-simplistic view. Personally I don’t own a car and take only public transit in my home city, but I don’t think that people who own cars are evil. I have been vegetarian for nearly three years, but I don’t have bad feelings towards people who eat chicken.

Instead, this kind of perspective is a false dichotomy: You fly a lot; therefore you must not care about the environment.

Dichotomy is a five-dollar word that means the division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups. False dichotomies are used to divide people who would not necessarily be divided otherwise.

Politics is another area filled with unnecessary, mutually exclusive divisions. Have you ever heard an argument that begins like this:

“Whether you’re liberal or conservative…”

The problem is that most of us don’t decide everything we believe based on those two labels. What if you are like almost all of us—liberal on some issues and conservative on others? Dividing people into opposing camps based on very little information is a false dichotomy.

Back to Travel

For better or worse, air travel is here to stay, just like phones, the internet, and globalization in general. When I fly to Africa I usually travel with doctors and aid workers on the same plane. Are they destroying the environment? One time I flew out of Uganda with 75 Sudanese refugees bound for the U.S. and Germany. Should they have remained in refugee camps instead of flying to a safe country out of concern for their carbon footprint?

These examples may be extreme, but I hope it helps put it in perspective. When it comes to climate change and travel, I’d rather look at the whole picture, namely:

1) What are each of us doing to reduce our own impact on the planet?

2) How can groups of people (governments, businesses, scientists, etc.) make travel more sustainable?

***

I wish we could put issues like climate change in a box and say, “If no one ever got on a plane, the planet would be saved.” Personally, I’m pro-environment and pro-travel. I know that some may see this as trying to have it both ways, but I don’t see why that’s a bad thing. I like having cake and eating it. (What else do you do with cake?)

You don’t always have to choose between two extremes… and you certainly don’t have to let other people make the choices for you.

Perhaps you disagree. That’s OK, and I promise not to believe you are a bad person if you do.

What do you think about travel and climate change, or about avoiding false dichotomies?

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