Travelin’ by night

Today’s strategy is about getting more from life.
Success is really about living fully.
I used to think there were three stages of travel.

1. First, the fun of planning the trip.
Where you will go. Where you will stay.
What you will see and do while there.

2. Next, the adventure itself.
It’s always grander even than you imagined.
It’s exhilarating to see the sun rise over the Rockies.
It’s romantic to watch it set in the South Pacific.
It’s mysterious to experience the London fog.
Or bright sunshine on the snowy Peaks of Europe.
Lights glistening on the Seine in Paris after dark.

3. Finally, retelling our adventures.
Don't lord it over your friends who did not go.
Dazzle them with your adventures. Never bore them.
Share the experience. Let them see it as you saw it.
Then I discovered a fourth stage.

4. Writing to relive the adventure.
We share our adventures in our newspaper.
We drove around France for two weeks.
I wrote about it for nine months.

My wife says she married a compulsive note taker.
Just writing about it makes the trip come alive again.
This is something that you might want to do yourself.
Now I’ve come to realize there’s a fifth stage.

5. You dream about places you’ve been.
I dream about adventures with my family.
I call that “travelin’ by night”. It’s in our dreams.
If you don’t travel, you can’t enjoy such dreams.
Where do you want to go next?
Time to starting planning.

For free travel advice, drop me an email note.
Send your questions and I’ll answer them.

A writer’s greatest work finally recognized

Yesterday we talked about holding unpopular views.
Today we’re going to talk about the fickleness of fame.
Have you ever dreamed of being famous? Of course. We all have.
But fame is fleeting. Real achievement stands the test of time.
Herman Melville’s rise and fall is an example to consider.
As a child, his parents considered him backward and somewhat slow.
With his father’s business collapsing, he went to sea as a cabin boy.
Based in his adventures, his early novels brought him fame.
He wrote of living with cannibals in the South Pacific.
He wrote of taking part in a mutiny, being jailed and escaping.
Despite his fame, the critics panned his greatest work, Moby Dick.
He could not find an American publisher and published in England.
Sales of the book was disappointing, earning him less than $600.
His finished his last novel, Billy Budd, in 1891, months before he died.
He did not live to see it published in 1924, 33 years later.
Nor did he live to see it and Moby Dick hailed as master works.
Here’s my thought for you about fame: Do not pursue it.
Fame is a fickle mistress. Herman Melville is not its only victim.
Keep your feet planted on the ground and do what you do best.
Make your contribution. Earn your living. Forget fame.
If it comes, it will come. But it may not last long.
Tomorrow we will talk about the legacy you want to leave.
For more on your direction and purpose in life, click here.