Tag: Friday Update

I Spent A Night In Jail + L.A. meetup soon!

It finally happened. Locked up in a foreign land…

Last week I spent a night in an old prison. It was known as Addington Prison, and was in operation until 1999. They (people? government?) decided they didn’t want a prison within the Christchurch city limits anymore so it was shut down.

It was purchased by a couple of enterprising people in 2006, renovated, and turned into a hostel!

Although I’m not a huge fan of hostels (I’d rather CouchSurf, but it’s not practical when I’m constantly on the move in NZ), I do my best to seek out the interesting gems. I’ve mostly sought out old, historic buildings or tiny independent hostels. This is my first prison. :)

The cost for a single room was just $49NZD, which is roughly $35 USD. The biggest downside is this place is about 2.5km from the city centre.

If you’re so inclined, I made a video (didn’t edit, so it’s kinda long and boring):

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I booked my ticket to India. I’m flying Business Class (free with AAdvantage miles) from DTW (Detroit) to BOM (Mumbai). I think I’ll hang in Mumbai for a few days (or more) before I head off to Goa and learn to build guitars! :)

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L.A. area meetup Saturday Dec 12 with @ealvarezgibson and other wonderful people. You in? I’m not sure the exact location yet. I’m CouchSurfing in Santa Monica so maybe we’ll make it somewhere over there. :)

It’s strange to think I’ll be back in the US in less than a week. I fly out of Auckland at 7 pm Dec 10 and arrive in LA at 10am Dec 10. That’s what we call a mindfu…nevermind. ;)

Later on the 10th hopefully I’ll go to the Jimmy Kimmel show (if they approve my ticket request!). Also, Conan O’brien’s people? Can you please approve my ticket request for Monday Dec 14? Thanks. I have watched Conan since like 10th grade. Hook it up!

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Are you participating in Ridiculously Extraordinary Challenge #1? Quit Drinking For 30 Days

If so, let me know how it’s going after 10 days. :) I got a lot of great private e-mails (as well as lots of awesome public comments!) thanking me for the article. It feels so good that it connected with you.

Friday Update: Thank You Edition #1 + RE Black Book #001

Lots of thanks + info about the first Ridiculously Extraordinary Black Book. Don’t worry, it’s FREE!

Hi.

So this is different for me (if you don’t count Accountability Statement #1). An article about what’s going on and what’s happening and other things that don’t fit into my regular articles. If you don’t care about all that stuff no worries. I won’t force you to read it this time. But next time? Who knows? ;)

I had lunch with Baker (ManVsDebt.com) yesterday and we did a lot of talking. One of the many things we talked about was keeping you updated about the stuff that doesn’t fit into regular posts. I’d planned on doing that before, but the convo with Baker gave me the kick in the ass I needed to actually do it.

Speaking of Baker, if you don’t already know about him and his Ridiculously Extraordinary Life, go check out his site: www.ManVsDebt.com

Wow, Lots of New Readers!

In the past 2 weeks this blog’s readership (RSS readership specifically) has jumped 14-fold. If you’re new here: Hi, and thanks! It means a lot that you care about what I have to say.

I’ve received some really positive e-mails and comments and it feels outstanding that you’ve connected with what I’m doing here.

Can I also take this time to thank you if you’ve been a reader prior to the past 2 weeks? Yes, yes I can. It’s awesome that you found me (somehow!) and e-mailed me and commented and all that other good stuff. Thank you!

So what happened in that past 2 weeks? Well, guest posts.

First, I had a guest post on Simplenomics.com, which is a blog run by an old friend Mike Sigers. It’s called The Ridiculously Extraordinary Way To New Customers. Check it if you’re an offline small business owner.

A few days later I had…

The Biggest Guest Post Ever

It’s not often a small blog like mine can get a guest post on a site with 140,000+ RSS subscribers and millions of visitors. But it happened. And it hit. Hard.

My guest post on Leo Babauta’s ZenHabits.net catapulted this here blog into a new stratosphere. If you haven’t read it already, check out The Beginner’s Guide To Minimalist Travel.

The exact number of visitors, subscribers, and revenue (yes, revenue, even though this blog has no advertising and writing guest posts is not a paid gig) from that single post will be revealed in a 2,000+ word Case Study.

I can’t tell you when that will be released because I don’t know. I do know it probably won’t be until at least December. You’ll understand why when the time comes. Man, that is so cryptic. :)

Quite a few more guest posts on some really awesome blogs coming in the near future. I don’t know exact dates but I will Tweet (@KarolGajda) about them when they’re out.

Ridiculously Extraordinary Black Book #001

My first free eBook is coming soon!

Ridiculously Extraordinary Black Books are Special Ops Guides on unique topics. Classified information for Ridiculously Extraordinary People. ;)

The first is called…

“How To Travel Anywhere In The World, Live With Locals, and Have Outstanding Experiences…All For Free!”

Also known as The Unofficial Guide To CouchSurfing.

I’ll release it next Thursday (November 19, 2009) assuming everything goes right.

I’m really excited. CouchSurfing changed my life. Really. Joining CouchSurfing spearheaded my Drastic Life Change I hinted at in Needs vs Wants.

Comments Moderation

I will be slow to approving or responding to comments for the next few weeks. Why? I’m on a hop-on hop-off bus tour around New Zealand right now. It’s not my style of travel, but I’ve got to do it before I can really comment on whether I like it or not. 15 or so cities in the next 3 weeks! It’s a bit much but should be fun none-the-less.

Thanks again for reading. You are amazing!