School of Travel

Is something holding you back from having a more adventurous and creative life or career? Chris Burkard will change your entire perspective...

Chris is one of the world's leading adventure photographers and his photos/films have inspired millions of travelers.

He took big risks to invest in himself, pushed the limits of his creativity, and created such an inspiring life and career for himself.

He was one of the biggest influences for me to start pursuing photography as a creative outlet during my travels... and my recent conversation with him has already had a meaningful impact on my life.

I shared the three biggest lessons I learned from him during that conversation in this video.

Every person and product in your life has a plan for how they want you to spend your time.

Our default nature is to react. As a result, our days are usually dictated by whatever request was first, most recent, or loudest.

But here's the thing - no one has ever accomplished anything meaningful or achieved fulfillment by letting other people dictate their schedule.

In the quest of trying to be the best dad, husband, founder, and person I could be, I tested a lot of tactics to make me more intentional and proactive - not reactive.

Through a lot of trail and error, here are the three lessons I learned to get control of your day.

Alison Levine was the team captain of the first USA Women’s Expedition to Mt Everest. She climbed the highest peak of every continent. She skied to both the North and South Pole. She’s a NY Times best-selling author.

She also has a congenital heart defect and didn't climb her first mountain until the age of 32, two years after her second heart surgery.

Alison's story is full of inspiration, leadership, wisdom, and adventure - and there's so much we can all learn from her.

I've gotten to know her over the past few years and after a recent conversation with her, I reflected on the three most powerful lessons I learned her that changed my life.

Denmark is consistently ranked as the happiest country in the world - but why? On my recent trip, I explored that question and the answer is shockingly simple.

Here are the 3 lessons I learned about why the Danes are the happiest people on earth.

I spent 2 years exploring Egypt. I gave a lot of myself to that country, but she gave me way more in return.

The Egyptian hospitality, the mazes of Cairo neighborhoods, the entrepreneurial and creative spirit, the life in full swing at 4am, the smiling fruit vendors, koshari, taamia, basbousa, and hearing the call to prayer each day from a thousands minarets.... as well as the poverty, corruption, pollution, and chaos... each imprinted something inside of me that will remain with me forever.

So yalla bina, here are the three biggest lessons I learned from living and traveling in Egypt.

Today is the 2nd annual Bourdain Day to celebrate Anthony Bourdain’s life. Let’s all take a moment to reflect on what lessons we learned about travel, food, and life from him.

Bourdain opened all of our minds and palates. He nudged us all to be more curious and open-minded. He showed us a more honest and authentic perspective of the world.

Even though I never met Bourdain, his words were a constant voice in the back of my head to show a more authentic and honest perspective of the world through my travels and my company.

This video includes the three most important lessons I learned from him. I hope you find as much value in these lessons as I did.

Feel free to share additional lessons that had the biggest impact on you in the comments.

It's been 3 months of quarantine...

As the world starts to open back up, this unprecedented shut down and social isolation may soon be over.

So while the moment is still fresh, I wanted to share 3 inspiring lessons I learned from these crazy times that I hope will continue long after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Links:

Nuseir Yassin (Nas) traveled the world and created a 1-minute video EVERY DAY for 1,000 straight days. Over 23 million people around the world followed along and his videos have been watched over 4 BILLION times.

Nas inspired the world with fascinating stories from every corner of the globe and he never took a day off.  He has spread a message of positivity, gave a voice to some of the world’s most important issues, and I believe has had such a positive force on the world as he has replaced hate and fear with love and curiosity for so many people who had misguided perceptions of other cultures, places, and people.

Nas also has an inspiring personal story as a Palestinian that grew up in a small village in Israel, who then got into Harvard, who then got a 6-figure tech job, and who then quit that good life to start making the daily videos that we eventually all came to know and love.

In this live event, we talk about his travels and what he learned from all these stories, as well as his entrepreneurial vision for what he’s doing. We’ll also get very practical with his advice for how to create great content and build a large audience so you can inspire the world with your message.

Drew Binsky has traveled across 191 countries and his videos have amassed 1.3 billion views. Drew was just a few months away from finishing his journey to every country in the world when coronavirus put that on pause. He has documented that entire journey with daily videos that tell the untold story of so many of the world’s most interesting people and cultures.

And for anyone that has done a creative video pursuit, you know just how extremely difficult and time consuming it is to find stories, shoot them, and edit them - but he does that like a machine and he hits publish every single day. He is most likely the hardest working travel content creator out there.

Pauline Frommer is the Co-President of the Frommer Media Group and Director of Frommer’s Guidebooks. We know you don’t need a guidebook for your trip from the living room to the kitchen, but it wouldn’t be so bad to have some type of guidance for navigating life in general right now. In this Fireside Chat, the Queen of Guidebooks herself, Pauline Frommer, joins us as we develop a sort of #TravelFromHome guidebook for wanderlusters.

Now more than ever, it’s about the journey, not the destination. So sit back while we have some fun with Pauline talking about how to plan and prepare for this journey, what “the best things to do” are, suggested itineraries for the weeks ahead, and how to become a travel writer when this is all over.

As we’re stuck inside, our surroundings have taken on a familiar look, and there’s nothing that wanderlusters dislike more. We’re turning to renowned nature and adventure photographer Chris Burkard to help us change that.

During this #TravelFromHome Fireside Chat (conducted live on Earth Day), Chris will transport us to some of the most powerful landscapes on the planet, from high above Icelandic volcanoes to Russia’s majestic remote wilderness. We’ll explore the thrills and unpredictability of a career in outdoor photography, discover where Chris finds inspiration in everyday terrain, and learn how we all can transform our days in isolation into a period of creativity.

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It’s unlikely that social media’s latest pushup or camera roll challenge will entertain you for more than a few fleeting minutes. While we stay at home, we’re all craving excitement now more than ever, and we have the perfect solution: the King of Adventure himself, Alastair Humphreys.

As someone who h=as cycled around the world, rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, ran across the Sahara Desert, walked across India, run the Marathon des Sables with a broken foot, and canoed 500 miles down the Yukon River, Alastair is drawn to the dangerous and dramatic. Isolation won’t stop his quest to seek out thrilling experiences—you just have to get creative with limited resources. This Fireside Chat is going to get interesting as we challenge Alastair to share his most imaginative ideas for how to #TravelFromHome and turn quarantine into a memorable grand adventure.

During this Fireside Chat, we’re focusing on all things flights. Some news stories say that fewer flight options could drive up airfare, while others predict that airlines will need to compete on price to regain market share, which, in turn, would create fantastic deals for travelers.

To help us understand what to expect, we’ll turn to Scott Keyes for his expert opinion on what post-pandemic flight prices could look like, how long they may last, and what will constitute a good deal. As the founder of Scott's Cheap Flights, he lives and breathes flight sales. For the last seven years, Scott's company has been the go-to source for extreme flight discounts and mistake fares that are sometimes as much as 90% off. Scott will join us to talk airfare, flight hacking, and what it all might look like in the next year or so.

Do you want to learn a new language? Thanks to this period of self-isolation, now is the perfect time!

If you could teleport to any city for dinner, where would you go if your meal budget was a) $5 b) $50, c) $500?

I asked the TripScout Nation Facebook Group this question and received some incredible responses. I summarized the answers in this episode.

Think we're missing somewhere? Disagree with one of the answers? I'd love to hear from you on Instagram or Twitter! I'm @gokonrad.

Picking the right travel credit card is one of the most important things you can do to travel more with free trips and travel better with unique perks. Maximizing your points and choosing the right card depends on which one best suits your specific travel desires and purchasing behavior. In this episode I discuss the best cards based on the following criteria:

• Sign up bonus
• Points per dollar for your expenses 
• Travel perks for using the card - like lounge access and trip insurance 
• Statement credits
• Annual fee

We'll discuss airline cards, hotel cards, American Express Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and much more.

Food is one of the best parts of travel, but don’t be the traveler that stands on a street corner, anxiously searching review sites in order to find where to eat dinner. This episode is my guide for efficiently picking the right restaurant without any of the stress.

Overtourism is one of the biggest topics in travel. It poses a very serious threat and challenge to the travel industry. The World Travel & Tourism Council recently published a report on the destinations that are likely to be the next victims impacted the most. I'll share which destinations are on guard, how some destinations are fighting back, and share a few tips for how you can be a more responsible and sustainable tourist in the wake of overtourism. 

Welcome to the new School of Travel podcast! It's a new podcast exploring everything you need to know as a traveler to always be in the know and take advantage of the latest info and trends in travel. In short daily episodes, I’ll update you on new travel hacks, trending articles, unique destinations, and the industry news that could help or hurt your next trip. We’ll talk about new gear, new services, and occasionally discuss some of my philosophical musings as it relates to exploring our beautiful world. 

Whether you go on one big trip a year – or travel full-time - if you love travel, you think about travel almost every single day.  If this is you, please subscribe and join me on this journey!