The Domination of World Domination

The World Domination Summit has been incredible so far, and I have so many stories and photos to share from the opening-night cocktail party and the entire long, epic first day, but... I am so exhausted! Sleep is elusive when you're hanging out with 500 of the most awesome people ever.

But I promise that the stories and photos are coming... in the meantime, here's proof that I'm still alive (and that it's actually shorts-and-tank-top weather in Portland).

P.S. I may just live in Portland someday. It's such a joy to wander around this incredible city!

###

New here?

• Here's the lowdown on My Story
• You can add Answering Oliver to your feed reader
• Feel free to subscribe to Answering Oliver by email
  
• Liking Answering Oliver on Facebook is also a valid option
• Perhaps you'd like to follow my stream of randomness on Twitter
• Or just hang out. That's cool, too.

###

Amtrak to Sunny, Fabulous Portland!

I've never taken a train before. I've never traveled to a city by myself before. I've never navigated a new city by public transit before. I've never checked into my very own hotel room before.

It's a weekend full of firsts!

I had originally planned to hitch a ride down to Portland with a woman I met at Chris Guillebeau's University Bookstore talk, but she decided to drive down a few days early and I couldn't swing it. I booked train tickets instead and I'm so glad I did!

I was excited to enjoy Wi-Fi and beer on the train instead of sitting in awful traffic on I-5. The Wi-Fi didn't exactly work, but I made the best of the situation...

My seatmates were young and friendly, and we chatted easily. As I was explaining the World Domination Summit to one of them (very difficult, by the way!), a woman across the aisle overheard me and said she was heading to WDS, too!

This is Jodi Ettenberg. She's been traveling the world since April 2008, when she quit her cushy job as a corporate lawyer in Montreal. She flew in from Thailand to attend WDS.

We moseyed to the bistro car to grab some refreshments, and I was able to ask Jodi so many questions I have about doing exactly what she's done. As I sipped my beer, she told me about how she saved up money to travel, how she does freelance photography and writing to fund her adventures and how to safely navigate the world as a woman.

I'm super happy I met Jodi, and I can't wait to read through her blog, Legal Nomads, like crazy!

She also has some of the most awesome business cards I've ever seen.

Each card features a different photo that Jodi has snapped somewhere around the world. There are some really incredible shots! She let me browse all the cards and choose my favorite — a genius way to show off her talent for photography and network at the same time.

I chose this card that features her with a tiger to remind me that I could easily be in the same position someday...

I just can't get over what a great idea this is for business cards!

Jodi was on the train with her friend, Shannon O'Donnell, who is also a world traveler, writer and photographer with super-awesome business cards. Notice a theme here?

Meanwhile, I'm just proud that I made it to Portland and found my way (via the MAX light rail and some walking) to my hotel.

Forgive me for being really excited about the first hotel room that I'll have all to myself for the next three days!!

Beautiful king bed that I'll definitely jump on later.

Sweet TV and desk, where the hotel gods have blessed me with complimentary Wi-Fi.

Lovely bathroom, where I can fling all my products around and not have to share counter space with anyone else.

Such a nerd...

Aaaand, YES.

The conference kicks off with a cocktail party in a few hours. Chris Guillebeau has tweeted that there'll be two signature drinks: "First We Take Manhattan" (bourbon) and "The Frequent Flyer" (vodka).

Excitement doesn't cover it.

###

New here?

• Here's the lowdown on My Story
• You can add Answering Oliver to your feed reader
• Feel free to subscribe to Answering Oliver by email
  
• Liking Answering Oliver on Facebook is also a valid option
• Perhaps you'd like to follow my stream of randomness on Twitter
• Or just hang out. That's cool, too.

###

The Next Trapeze Bar

While I was living at my mom's house, I came across Jenny Blake's blog, Life After College. I remember clicking through post after post early one Saturday morning and agreeing with so much of what she had to say.

I felt pretty lost after graduating from UW and landing my first full-time job. As I shuttled my weary body to work on the hour-long bus ride each day, I wondered, "Is this it? Is this what my life will be like until I retire or die?"

Jenny's blog helped me realize there is so much more to life than just work. Her writing helped me realize there are limitless possibilities and opportunities all around me — all I have to do is be open to them, and then seize them.

In March, Life After College the blog became Life After College the book, and Jenny took a sabbatical from her job at Google to do a self-funded book tour.

She happened to land at the University Bookstore on the Ave tonight, and I happened to have the great pleasure of hanging out with her.

At just 27 years old, Jenny is incredibly wise, bubbly and personable. I don't think she stopped smiling the entire night. Despite her long list of accomplishments and enviable circle of friends and connections, she instantly made me feel like we could be best buds. (Can we, Jenny?)

During her talk, she read a passage from her book that quotes Danaan Parry's Parable of the Trapeze. Parry's (very abbreviated) story goes like this:

Sometimes I feel that my life is a series of trapeze swings. I'm either hanging on to a trapeze bar swinging along or, for a few moments in my life, I'm hurtling across space in between trapeze bars.

Most of the time, I spend my life hanging on for dear life to my trapeze-bar-of-the-moment. It carries me along at a certain steady rate of swing and I have the feeling that I'm in control of my life.

I know most of the right questions and even some of the answers.

But every once in a while as I'm merrily (or even not-so-merrily) swinging along, I look out ahead of me into the distance and what do I see? I see another trapeze bar swinging toward me. It's empty and I know, in that place in me that knows, that this new trapeze bar has my name on it. It is my next step, my growth, my aliveness coming to get me. In my heart of hearts I know that, for me to grow, I must release my grip on this present, well-known bar and move to the new one.

Most people feel stuck at some point in their lives. Maybe the solution is simply to look for the next trapeze bar, then take a leap.

(I've known for a while what my next trapeze bar looks like, but I'm still working up the courage to jump.)

After Jenny's lovely talk and book-signing, I headed to the District Lounge with this whole crew to visit over drinks. And despite not knowing a single person beforehand, I had some great conversations and an overall awesome time!

For example, Caleb (far right) is getting married in July. Then he's off to explore New Zealand for an entire year with his new wife. He's also made it his mission to educate twentysomethings about personal finance and help them become debt-free through his blog, Pocket Changed. And, like me, he's just 24.

Obviously we had a pretty kick-ass discussion.

Caleb and Jenny are both attending this weekend's World Domination Summit, so I can actually count some friends amongst the attendees — now there are only 498 strangers for me to face.

But if those strangers are anything like the people I spent time with tonight, I'm in for a pretty fantastic experience. See you in Portland!

###

New here?

• Here's the lowdown on My Story
• You can add Answering Oliver to your feed reader
• Feel free to subscribe to Answering Oliver by email
  
• Liking Answering Oliver on Facebook is also a valid option
• Perhaps you'd like to follow my stream of randomness on Twitter
• Or just hang out. That's cool, too.

###

Will It Be Scary?

I've spent a lot of time reading in my life.

Reading is great. I owe my imagination, my love of writing, my obsession with punctuation and much more to all the reading I've done.

But reading is a solitary act, something I did while sitting in my room or lying on the couch. I would quietly read about the great things other people had done while other people were out doing still more.

I've said no to a lot of things in my life.

Perhaps without really knowing why, I'd say no to activities that I knew would make me feel uncomfortable. I'd rather stay sitting calmly than go for a vigorous run. I'd rather be content in my solitude than feel awkward talking to people I didn't know. I'd rather stay inside and be warm than go outside and be cold.

In my quest to always stay comfortable, I've missed out on many things. There are very few goals you can achieve by reading books; very few fears you can conquer by staying in your room.

At some point, I decided to find out what was on the other side of my hesitation. I asked myself:

What have I been missing out on by always saying no?

Will it be uncomfortable?

Will I feel awkward?

Will it be scary?

Yes, it will be all of those things.

Running into a near-freezing lake is uncomfortable. Meeting up with a bunch of people you only vaguely know from the Internet is awkward. And jumping out of a plane — even for the second time — is scary as hell.

But the most uncomfortable, awkward and scary experiences of my life have also been the greatest. They've been my most exhilarating and memorable accomplishments.

And they've left me hungry for more.

I said for a long time that I had no interest in ever running a marathon. Why would I want to put myself through 26.2 miles of torture?

I'll have about four-and-a-half hours to figure that out while I run the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in December.

I opted out of fundraising for the American Cancer Society when I signed up for a half-marathon. Why would I want to make other people (and myself!) uncomfortable by asking them for money?

Nearly $1,500 later, I've found plenty of good reasons.

I've never traveled to a different city by myself to spend three days with 500 people I don't know. Why would I want to go through all those awkward introductions and countless other weird situations that could arise?

I'll report back after this weekend's World Domination Summit.

The same criteria I formerly used to reject things is now the exact criteria I use to accept them. That's because the fourth question I ask myself is this:

Will it be worth it?

The answer has always been yes.

###

Photos are of the Constitution Climb, a 7.6-mile, 2,475-foot vertical climb bike race up Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island. The whole thing was steep, rainy and miserable — and Aaron absolutely killed it.

###

New here?

• Here's the lowdown on My Story
• You can add Answering Oliver to your feed reader
• Feel free to subscribe to Answering Oliver by email
  
• Liking Answering Oliver on Facebook is also a valid option
• Perhaps you'd like to follow my stream of randomness on Twitter
• Or just hang out. That's cool, too.

###