Chris Guillebeau set a personal goal – to visit every nation in the world which, at last count, was 192 United Nations member states. So far, Chris has been to 149 countries, and intends to visit the rest in the next three years. Quite a goal! But what's even more impressive are his ideas for creative travel hacking.
I've read about many of these ideas before, but Chris aggregates them all into one web site, The Art of Non-Conformity (and eBook, but I've not purchased it). In his own words:
Travel doesn’t need to be expensive. Most of us who live in relatively rich countries can travel even if we’re not rich. The reasons why some people don’t travel have less to do with lack of resources and more to do with fear and insecurity. Learning to deal with those valid concerns is a whole separate topic—see here and here for example—but in this post I’ll look strictly at the logistical concerns.
I like to start with an idea in mind: where do you want to go? One of the principles about world travel and life planning is that you can go anywhere in the world by saving $2 a day for an extended period of time. The $2-a-day-principle is helpful—but if you can save more than $2 a day, of course, you’ll be able to save for your trip in even less time.
So then, once you have a goal, how do you make it happen? Let’s look at a few things one by one."
I highly recommend this site. It is inspiring and makes you want to get out and travel. Moreover, it provides tips to the best use of all those frequent flyer miles that you have building up. One site that I use and highly recommend is Flyertalk.com. This is one of Chris' top sites as well.
So, head on over and start traveling! Enjoy!