Unconventional Book Tour w/ Chris Guillebeau

Last Sunday night, I drove to the Columbia area to meet author Chris Guillebeau. Chris is a professional blogger with a personal goal to travel to every country in the world before his 35th birthday. (He's getting really close and has about 2.5 years to go.) Chris is an expert "travel hacker," entrepreneur, and writer. He is currently traveling all 50 states during his "Unconventional Book Tour." We met up at a great little coffee shop in Lexington called Jamestown Coffee Company.

Chris' new book is The Art of Non-Conformity.



I told my wife Sunday afternoon that I had a "man-crush" on Chris. I really like his authenticity, transparency, honesty, and overall worldview. I admire how he has become a successful writer in just a few short years too. I was introduced to Chris last June through an article he wrote in Writer's Digest magazine. His blog was also listed in the Top 100 Blogs for Writers in the same issue. I've been intrigued with his stuff ever since. Chris' minimalist mindset, sense of adventure, and ability to say "no" to the American Dream is reminiscent of David Platt's recent book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

Chris' book is written for a general audience (unlike Platt's which is written directly to Christians) but they both cause you to think about your philosophy of life and create questions about what you really want to accomplish with your life. Is life about adventure and fulfilling your purpose and passions or is it about sacrificing adventure for a 30 year mortgage, car payments, credit card debt, and a 9-5 job that you endure rather than enjoy?

In Chris' words, you don't have to live your life the way other people expect you to. For the Christ-follower, we need to be reminded that we are told not to conform to this world (Romans 12:2). If we are going to make a difference, we must live different. I think that is why I am a big fan of Chris' work. He thinks outside the box. We need more people like him around.

Jesus was a non-conformist. Shouldn't we be too?

(For more on David Platt's book, Radical, see my review here.)