The 9 to 5 Alternative

Greetings from Manaus, Brazil.

While my Boston friends are enduring yet another winter storm, I’m surveying the largest city in northern Brazil under an equatorial sun. Sure, my hotel room is crawling with ants, and my lack of Portuguese had made getting around a bit tougher than usual, but I couldn’t be happier.

When I was in elementary school, I would spend hours playing an educational computer game called The Amazon Trail. I distinctly remember stopping in Manaus to trade some of the items I had gathered canoeing down the Amazon. To think that I’m actually here in the flesh is bewildering. My wanderlust for the remote corners of the world grows stronger.

One Challenge Down. Eleven More to Go.

In January, I set out to conquer the first of twelve month-long challenges in 2011. The first challenge–to cook 5-10 recipes I had never made before–went as planned. I got into the kitchen. I followed recipes that were both easy and delicious. I made fish and chili and salad and roasted vegetables and all kinds of good stuff. Heck, I even rounded up a few of you to join me.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to everyone who helped spread the word. The whole purpose of these challenges is to have fun and bring our livees to a higher standard. I’d love to have you aboard.

February Challenge: Write 1000 Words/Day.

Lately, I’ve fallen into a mental consumption trap. While I’m growing intellectually–reading blogs and books and articles, talking to friends, watching, ahem, Jeopardy–I haven’t produced anything to show for it. In other words, I’m consuming more than I’m creating.

I’m often overwhelmed with the amount of epic shit out there, and it’s about time I start honing in on the skillset I’ve been neglecting most over the last several months: writing.

February’s challenge is to write consistently, every day, at least 1000 words. I picked the number 1000 because I know it’ll be difficult to hit. Your number might be different. The important thing is to set a metric to be able to stay focused and track progress.

I hope you’ll join me. I’ll be using this month to get caught up on my PMBA and TCP reviews, to do a little creative writing and to map out an eBook on goal-setting.

What will you be writing about?

Introducing, The Travel Hacking Cartel: Earn Four Free Flights a Year

Since I bought Chris Guillebeau’s Frequent Flyer Master a few months ago, I’ve earned over 200,000 airline miles with United, American and Delta. That’s enough for a first-class ticket to Asia and back. The best part is, I didn’t spend any unnecessary money to get those extra miles. I simply used a few clever tactics. Chris told me where to look and what to look for, and I followed his advice.

Chris’ brand new program, The Travel Hacking Cartel, just opened its doors last week. The Travel Hacking Cartel democratizes free travel by offering a wide variety of strategies for its members, ensuring up to four free plane tickets a year. Here are some additional highlights:

1. Regular “Deal Alerts” sent via email and SMS/text message (when a big opportunity comes up, members will be the first to know)
2. Tutorials and an extensive Knowledge Base to get people started (Chris’ research showed that most people have no idea what to do with miles and points… this program will tell them)
3. The Refer-a-Hacker Program that pays members 500 Frequent Flyer Miles for each referral (the process is extremely easy–everyone has their own referral link directly in their account settings)
4. The “World’s Greatest Guarantee” – if members follow directions and spend at least 30 minutes a month travel hacking, they’ll earn enough miles for at least 1 plane ticket every quarter, or 4 plane tickets a year (there is also info on how to redeem miles for great awards)

There are currently 1000 pre-boarding spots avail­able at just $1 for a 14-day trial. After that, the pro­gram will be by invitation only. Let me know if you have any questions!

Trampoline Lessons

For my 25th birthday, several of my friends joined me in a celebratory jump-session at Boston’s first trampoline park. While I had a whopping time that day, the experience didn’t go nearly as well as I would have liked it to.

For one, I showed up late. When I had driven there for the first time in early December, it had only taken twenty minutes. We left on a Sunday morning. This time, it took the better part of an hour. I hadn’t factored in Saturday traffic. Argh. Secondly, the company was not accommodating. To make a long story short, their reservation policy needs a little work.

I arrived to the park flustered and frustrated. I had neither the head nor trampoline space to capture the kind of video footage I had intended and promised. Below is a short clip I borrowed from YouTube to give you an idea of what the room looks like:

Fun stuff! Alright, time to finish my first 1000 words and head to bed. Heading to Rio de Janeiro this weekend and will offer up some pictures/stories from Brazil soon thereafter.

Tchau!

Next week, I kick off my 2011 travels with a trip to South America. I’ll start with a red-eye through Miami to Brazil, with a few nights in Sao Paulo, Manaus and Rio de Janeiro. I’ll then fly to Buenos Aires for five nights.

When I finish my cost-of-living work in Argentina, I will ride a three-hour ferry to Montevideo, Uruguay. A few nights later, I’ll fly back to Boston.

Excited? You betcha.

At just three weeks and some change, this survey is a bit shorter than most of my trips. Still plenty of time to do some stuff worth writing about. I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.

January’s Challenge: Cook 5-10 Recipes You Have Never Made Before

So far, the January Challenge is off to a great start. Some of you have already published your efforts! Big kudos to Elle for teaching me how to properly grill wings. The hustle and flow of cooking is something I’ve always enjoyed, but sometimes it takes a little push to remind me. Hence the challenge. As always let me know what you’ve been cooking.

Here’s are a few of the dishes I’ve made:

Moroccan Quinoa Salad: link to recipe

Roasted Brussels Sprouts: link to recipe

Seafood Pasta (no recipe, just made it up)

Quarter-Life Crisis

Today is my twenty-fifth birthday. Giddy up! Instead of waiting until I’m fifty to have a mid-life crisis (I wonder if I’ll be able to afford a Porsche by then?), I decided to go ahead and have my quarter-life crisis tomorrow. I’ll be celebrating at Boston’s first trampoline park. Video footage on the way!

I hope your year is off to a healthy and productive start. If there’s anything I can do to help you out, let me know!

Yep, that’s me. Bearded and sprightly, ready to tackle 2011 with the kind of boldness and gusto it deserves. This year, I’ll be seeking out 12 month-long challenges, as well as a few additional quarter-long and annual tasks.

Care to join me?

Pick a month, any month. Here are the first three.

January: Put on the Apron. Cook, Cook, Cook.

The Challenge: Cook 5-10 recipes you’ve never made before

The Details: It’s simple enough. Get in the kitchen and cook up something spectacular. I’ll be using foodgawker for recipe ideas, and I’ll publish photos/recipes for each dish I make. I hope my Boston friends are ready to eat.

Get Involved: Plan on joining me in this challenge? Let me know. I’ll feature your dishes, and you’ll receive double extra chocolate brownie points from the one-man team here at The 9 to 5 Alternative. You’ll also feel good about yourself. That’s a guarantee.

February: Produce More, Consume Less.

The Challenge: Write 1000 words/day

The Details: I read too much and write too little. This month, I’ll take a break from consuming and crank out 1000 words per day. I’ll use February to get caught up on some of my written projects. I’ll also put together a free eBook on goal-setting, to be released at the end of the month.

Get Involved: Feel like doing something similar? Your metrics can be different, but the idea is to produce something, little by little, day by day. If you are interested, I’ll feature you and your project at the end of the month.

March: Creative Fitness. Jumping Around like Spider-Man.

The Challenge: Learn Parkour

The Details: Parkour is a wacky interest of mine, but I’ve never actually tried to do it on my own. Well, that’s not entirely true. Give me a few drinks and I’ll jump off just about anything. Ask Sean, Nate or Elisa. They know what I’m talking about.

I’ll be using Steve Kamb’s post, The Definitive Guide To Parkour For Beginners, as a resource, and I’ll upload a few videos throughout the month to show you what I’m working on. At the end of the month, you can decide whether or not I completed the challenge.

Get Involved: All the cool kids will be joining me. Challenge me with a specific move, send me video clips. We’ll make it fun. Joel, you interested?

Q1 Goals

Here are some other goals I’ll be tackling in the first quarter of 2011:

1. Get caught up with all PMBA book reviews. I’m more than 10 behind.
2. Get caught up with all TCP (The Curry Project) posts. I’m also several behind.
3. Read The 4-Hour Body, by Tim Ferriss.
4. Complete the P90X Ab Ripper X Workout, at least once.

Annual Goals

Throughout the year, I’ll also be working on the following three tasks:

1. Doubling my subscriber count to 1000.
2. Publishing 12 additional case-studies.
3. Reading 25 more books on the PMBA list.

What are your goals for 2011? Anything fun?

Well folks, this is it. The end of a year. A time to reflect, re-align and re-motivate. Like many of you ambitious readers out there, I’ve spent the last few weeks thinking hard about what transpired in 2010–my successes, my failures, world events–you know, the deep stuff.

Before I get into my goals for 2011 (which I’m very excited to share), let’s take a brief but ruminative look at the last 365 days.

63 Flights. 31 Cities. 14 Countries.

Another exciting year of travel! Just last month, I visited my 55th country. I’ve still got a long way to go to hit 100, but I’m happy to have crossed the halfway mark. Here are the 14 countries I was fortunate enough to visit in 2010:

• Africa: Algeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola
• Oceania: New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Australia
• Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Japan

Some of my favorite 2010 travel experiences:

• Finding a cheap flight to Christchurch, New Zealand and meeting up with Colin Wright.
• Spending nine nights in Harare, Zimbabwe. Golfing, “vampire hunting” and visiting a chicken farm.
• Sandboarding in the Namibian desert.
• The cuisine in Singapore! Delectable.

2010 Goals: % Success

Unlike 2009, where I had only 7 goals, I put together a list of 27 goals for 2010. Let’s see how I did.

Completed Goals
1. Run a half-marathon.
2. Be able to fall into a push up from standing position, like Christian Bale in Batman Returns.
3. Cycle 100 miles in one day.
4. Hold breath for at least 3 minutes.
5. Redesign and rethink my vision as a blogger.
6. Write at least 15 guest posts for other bloggers.
7. Write at least 20 reviews for The Curry Project.
8. Read at least 15 more books on the Personal MBA reading list.
9. Put together a long-term goals/bucket list.
10. Hike the Presidential Traverse in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
11. Make at least $500 in supplemental income.
12. Reread I Will Teach You To Be Rich and restructure and optimize my finances.
13. Track all my expenses. To the penny.
14. Finish the 21-day No-Complaint Experiment
15. Score at least $15,000 on Jeopardy! using the Coryat method.

Uncompleted Goals
1. 1 mile in under 5:30.
*I got it down to 5:44. Will have to try this again next year.
2. 200 squats without stopping.
*Still don’t know how Joel Runyon pulled this off. I could only get to 165 before falling over.
3. 25 pull-ups without stopping.
*Couldn’t get past 17.
4. Be able to hold a gymnastics-inspired L-position for 30 seconds.
*Hilarious. Couldn’t even hold the position for 1 second. New appreciation for gymnasts.
5. Get at least 500 subscribers to this blog.
*As of today, Google FeedBurner is showing 490 subscribers. Didn’t quite get there!
6. Post consistently, at least once a week on Tuesdays. Sundays will be reserved for PMBA and case-study updates.
*Yikes. Fell off the bandwagon here, and actually went several weeks without posting, on more than one occasion.
7. Develop a cost-of-traveling blog widget.
*As I mapped out the idea, I realized it wasn’t worth pursuing, at least the way I had envisioned it.
8. Redesign nepalprints.com and find a cheaper host.
*I nixed the domain name altogether.
9. Sell 5 photography prints through nepalprints.com.
*Sold 2 prints, but not 5!
10. Get at least 50 subscribers to The Curry Project.
*Didn’t promote the site, but getting good organic traffic from Google.
11. Buy a keyboard.
*I moved in with a roommate who has a keyboard, so I didn’t need to buy one!
12. Score at least a 700 on a practice GMAT and then take the real thing.
*Decided that business school wasn’t for me. Big life choice.

Reflections
In 2009, I hit 5/7, or 71% of my goals. This year, I only completed 15/27, or 55% of my goals. Overall, I felt like I accomplished a lot, but I also know I didn’t push myself nearly as hard as I could have, especially with the fitness goals.

2011: Monthly Challenges + Quarterly/Annual Goals

Next year, I’ll be taking a new approach to goal-setting, one I think will not only be better for me, but much more fun for you. Influenced by guys like Leo Babuata and Steve Kamb, both who run monthly challenges on their respective websites, I decided to create a series of 12 monthly challenges for 2011. At the beginning of each quarter (starting tomorrow), I will outline challenges for three months at a time. Within each quarter, I will also being pursuing 3-month goals, as well as annual goals. Tomorrow you’ll get the first-quarter breakdown. Stay tuned!

By shortening the amount of time between goals, I’ll be in a better position to track metrics, focus, and hopefully round up a few of you to join me! They’re only a month long, how hard can it be?

That’s all, folks. If you happen to catch this post before your evening festivities, enjoy! If not, then HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thanks for sticking with me.

Hi folks.

It has been six weeks since my last update. I would apologize, but with all the blogs and emails and distractions on the Internet superhighway these days, I’m sure you appreciated the lull. I know I did!

With that said, I have all kinds of fun plans for 2011. Before I get ahead of myself, though, I’ll be taking this week to post images and stories from my most recent survey trip to Southeast Asia.

First stop, Malaysia!

Penang, Malaysia

Penang’s finest coffee, sold at The Coffee Tree. Walk in and try 10+ flavors like charcoal grill, hazelnut and tiramisu, as well as a durian chocolate, dried fruit and a number of other treats. Free samples. Yes.

Norman worked in the shipping industry for 20+ years as a branch manager for UPS, living in Mexico for a while. For the last three years, he has been working as a tour guide. A great companion, very knowledgeable and passionate about Penang.

View of Penang from the Kek Lok Si Temple, where a 120ft tall buddha, made entirely of bronze, overlooks the island’s coast.

The aroma of incense permeates the halls of the temple.

The Temple of 10,000 Buddhas. The conical statue in the middle of the image is a series of smaller Buddhas.

At Penang’s Snake Temple, pit vipers–docile from the incense–lounge freely in the plants and shrubs.

Nasi Lemak, the “national heritage” of Malaysia. Roasted peanuts, dried anchovies, coconut rice, a hard-boiled egg, sambal (a spicy sauce) and chicken.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Jalan Alor, an entire street of cheap and tasty hawker food. Open-air chairs and tables make it a great place to people watch, drink and socialize with both locals and foreigners.

At the Morino Kaze fish spa, where “Dr. Fish” from Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran nibble off the dead skin and bacteria from your feet. A thirty minute session of the tickles. Supposed to accelerate blood circulation and promote metabolism.

Little India, full of music and fountains and lights, was gearing up for the Deepavali (Diwali) holiday.

In Little India, roses, curry houses, silk and textile stores, frame and bridal shops and jewelry shops come together in a wild, cramped and colorful atmosphere.

Outside the Batu Caves, a limestone hill with a series of caves and cave temples. 272 steps–I counted them all.

Inside the Batu Caves, monkeys scatter about, fiending for orts of food.

A view of the KLCC park from the Petronas Towers Sky Bridge.

From the other side of the Sky Bridge, one the Petronas Towers hugs the right side of the image.