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Kazakhstan
I had never been so happy to have a sore throat, especially such a bad one. My throat hurt so much that it actually woke me up. Surely this was a reasonable excuse to get out of the talk I was supposed to give in a couple days. I sent a text to the organizers saying that I wasn't feeling well and would probably skip the trip to Kazakhstan if I didn't feel better the next day, when I was supposed to leave.
Four months earlier I had felt differently about the trip. My friend Ben Yu got a random email inviting him to speak at a conference called GoViral in Kazakhstan. The people organizing it offered to show him around the country if he could make it out there. When he asked if I wanted to see if they would have me come too, the idea sounded wild enough that I said "of course".
As the date approached, though, I was regretting the decision. There were a lot of other trips I would have preferred to do, and now I was stuck going to Kazakhstan for no real reason. I also didn't know exactly where Kazakhstan was before I agreed, but when I went to buy tickets I realized it wasn't near anything and was going to be a long flight in and out.
My throat got better and absent a very legitimate excuse, I felt that it would be rude not to show up. So I hustled to the Tokyo airport for my long journey to Kazakhstan.
I arrived late in Almaty and was greeted by one of the girls who organized the trip, Alina, my friend Ben, and a guy named Langston. They drove us to a small house in a wooded area of the city where Ben, Langston, and I would be staying. Alina told us to get some sleep and that we'd be leaving early the next morning. After a full day on a plane, that was no problem.
The next morning Alina and Langston's friend Aigulya showed up along with her brother, her mother, and two tour guides named Andre and Alex. In the preceding months I had been sent an itinerary and been asked a zillion questions about what I wanted to do there, but to be honest I sort of ignored the itinerary and just kept saying that I was okay with anything they planned. So I didn't really know where we were going.
We set off on a long drive and got to know each other in the car. I was instantly struck with how genuinely warm and friendly everyone was. Everyone treated us like something between friends and family from the moment we arrived in the country. The only other time I've felt this way traveling was when I went to Haiti.
An hour or two into the trip it felt like I was traveling with "my people", rather than one friend and a bunch of strangers.
I'll breeze through the trip a little bit for the sake of brevity, but the short version is that Kazakhstan is an incredibly beautiful country. I had some idea that it was going to be desert and maybe mud, but it reminded me most of Iceland. There are huge mountains, unending expanses of grassy steppe, huge canyons, beautiful lakes, and forests. I've seen a lot of beautiful places and it was right up there.
There's also basically no one there. It's the ninth largest country in the world and has a population of only 18 million. It also doesn't seem to be much of a tourist destination. Couple that with our trip being during the week, and we ended up having some incredible natural wonders to ourselves. We would typically see 0-10 people at places that rivaled the national parks of the US or China in beauty. It was a really great way to experience nature.
The highlight for me was Kaindy lake, which is a forest that flooded but still stands in beautiful blue water. We only saw five or so other people there during the several hours we were there.
On a different lake we rented a really crappy rowboat that had to be bailed out before we could paddle it. We were assured the water was from the rain, but it hadn't rained recently and the other boats didn't have water in them. The guy renting it to us boasted about how if it was an American boat it would have sunk by now, but Soviet boats last forever.
During the trip the circumstances around the invitation became clearer to me. Aigulya and Alina are two best friends who found a video my friend Ben was in. They knew the organizer of this conference and figured that they could use an invite to lure Ben to Kazakhstan so that they could meet him. They and Aigulya's family had also wanted to see some of the lakes and canyons we visited, so they decided to make it a family trip with friends and two random guys from America. Aigulya and Langston already knew each other from school in the US.
At some point during the trip karaoke was mentioned. Would we have any interest in singing karaoke in Almaty? I assured them that I never turn down a karaoke invitation, but they seemed skeptical. Alina plugged her phone into the van's stereo and somehow every song she played was one of my regular karaoke songs. They confirmed no fewer than five times on the drive home that we would actually go sing karaoke. "Really?" "Are you sure you will really come to karaoke?"
It turns out karaoke is something of a national pastime in Kazakhstan. There are karaoke places everywhere. The one we went to, Empire Karaoke, had a big stage with proper lights, a very high quality sound system, and a great song selection. They invited a bunch of their friends and we really dominated karaoke that night. Because Kazakhstan is primarily a Muslim country a lot of people don't drink, so they serve herbal tea. Talk about a paradise for me— karaoke and herbal tea at a nightclub.
The next day we were invited to dinner at Aigulya's uncle's house. They asked if I would try horse meat and I said yes. I'm not actually a very adventurous eater, but in principle I feel like eating horse is about the same as eating cow, and I couldn't think of another time I would have the opportunity to try a bit of horse.
Her uncle's house was incredible. We got a full tour, including all of the fruit trees in the backyard that he was very passionate about. Apparently apples originated in Almaty, so they are very proud of their apples. My favorite thing about the house was that it had a built in bathhouse downstairs! Steam room, sauna, jacuzzi, and even one of those marble slab things they have in hammams.
A lot of Aigulya's family was there. We met her aunt and uncle, lots of cousins, another brother, and her 90+ year old grandmother. They were all extremely friendly and treated us as if we were family.
I very timidly tried the horse meat and was surprised at how good it was. It tasted similar to beef, but a little smokier maybe. I ate tons of horse that and the following nights. I also tried fermented camel milk which wasn't as bad as it sounds, but knowing that it was fermented camel milk somehow grossed me out.
The highlight of dinner was when Aigulya's uncle mentioned that his 13 year old daughter painted. Ben, who is extremely enthusiastic about nearly everything, got excited and said that he would like to buy some of her paintings. He ended up buying two and the girl was so touched that she could barely speak and was crying. It was one of the sweetest moments I've ever seen.
He got the paintings the following day, and I was immediately jealous upon seeing them. I would have never guessed that she had painted them at such a young age.
The conference itself only took about half a day, but it was very fun as well. I was told I was going to be on a panel to talk about travel writing, but when they interviewed me they asked almost exclusively about the island. I love talking about the island, though, so that was a lot of fun. Just like the people we'd been traveling around with, everyone at the festival was also extremely warm and friendly. Afterwards I ate horse milk ice cream.
After my talk I got interviewed by GQ Kazakhstan, which was a life goal I didn't realize I had before. I also met someone who writes for Cosmo Kazakhstan, so getting into that magazine is also a goal.
The next day we went paragliding. I think everyone else had done it before, but for me it was the first time. One of the cool things about Almaty is that it's an urban area (albeit a very wooded one), but you can take cable cars up to snow-capped mountains from within the city. Paragliding was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. I like bungie jumping and skydiving, but paragliding feels very different. At the end the instructors told us we could come back and get certified in two weeks for $500. I know what I'll be doing next summer.
By the end of the trip I felt like a real idiot for almost bailing on it. Ben and I travel together from time to time, and both of us agreed that it was one of the best trips we'd ever been on. Kazakhstan is an amazing country with tons to offer, and the people were really uniquely friendly. Everyone from our hosts to their family to their friends was so welcoming of us and made us feel like we were part of their families. I was only there for five days and I feel like I left with lifelong friends and an extended Kazakh family. I suspect I'll return just about every year from now on, and will also use the opportunity to check out some of the other countries in the area. All of a sudden they all seem much more interesting.
If you're looking for a new place to check out, check out Kazakhstan. I would say that it's underrated, except that I don't think anyone actually rates it because they have so little information on it. A HUGE thank you to Alina, Aigulya, Andre, Alex (why does everyone's name begin with A?), and the rest of the amazing people I met in Kazakhstan. I can't wait to come back.
Knowing When You're Boring and Avoiding It
You know that feeling when you're sitting across from someone and they're prattling on about something in which you have no interest? They aren't actually trying to bore you, they just don't know any better. Which begs the question—are you ever that person?
In reality I'm sure we all bore someone sometimes, but we can work on reducing or eliminating that to make sure that it happens as infrequently as possible.
First, think about what benefit the information you're about to share has to the listener. Will they be entertained? Will they learn something useful? Are they a good friend who will want to share your joy or help you with your problem? If there's no benefit, don't share the information. Save it for someone else.
A prime example for me is politics. During the election everyone wanted to talk about politics, which was never an enjoyable experience for me. I was forced into tons of conversations, very few of which were positive experiences.
How I Write A Book in 14 Days
I've now written seven books, at least three of which were category bestsellers on Amazon. They all get really good reviews and are legitimate enough that foreign publishers have bought the rights to two of them and that domestic publishers have tried to offer me a book deal.
For many people writing a book is a bucket list item, which seems a little bit funny to me because it's actually a relatively easy thing to do. You can write a book in approximately two weeks, plus some time for editing and publishing. My first book (and, admittedly, my worst) was written in two days and was decent enough that many people emailed me telling me it changed their lives.
One of the biggest things that seems to get in peoples' ways is that they believe that writing a book is some huge daunting task, and that the book must be perfect. If you think that way, you'll trip over yourself and psych yourself out and never actually finish the book.
The first thing to realize is that the point of writing a book is to share information with people. If they receive and understand the information, you have succeeded. Take your ego out of it. Your book doesn't have to be fancy or make you seem like a scholar, it just has to help people (or entertain people).
My Credit Card Strategy
I recently spent the time going through my roster of credit cards to see which ones I should be using for various purchases. I believe I've come up with a pretty universal strategy, so I figured I'd share it since I've already done the research.
To preface, if you are ever paying late fees or interest on credit cards, you are better off without them. Points and cashback are fantastic, but they aren't worth paying fees for. But if you are discplined about paying your credit cards off in full every month, you can take advantage of cashback programs and earn a significant amount of money.
Here are the cards I use currently:
Uber Visa
How to Enjoy Ballet and Opera
I love opera and ballet, but I didn't always. I remember very excitedly going to my first ballet in San Francisco and leaving with no idea what I just saw and having thought that maybe there was a better way I could have spent my time and money.
Opera wasn't much better. A lot of the music I listen to is classical, but whenever I was listening to a big playlist of Mozart music, I'd skip through the opera songs.
Now opera and ballet are my two of my favorite types of performances to go to. I prefer them to rap concerts, movies, and just about anything else. My favorite place to see these types of performances is Budapest, and I'll often adjust my travel schedule around them.
While ballet and opera are obviously fairly different, the key to enjoying both of them is the same.
Making Friends with Awesome People
I often get asked how I make friends with so many great people. This is sort of a funny question because I think most people actually don't know just how great my friend group is, since they only know a few people who are well known. So in a way, it's an even better question than they realize. On the other hand, maybe I should be offended that they think those people wouldn't want to be friends with me naturally!
Joking aside, I believe very strongly that having a good friend circle is one of the most important things you can do, and that it's very smart to proactively think about how to be the best friend possible and build the best friend group possible.
If you're interested in going deep on this topic, you should read my book Superhuman Social Skills, which covers it extensively.
A fundamental idea which I don't believe is really talked or thought about is that most people don't understand what it's like to be someone who is sought after. The priorities and values of a person like that are very different from a person who is actively trying to increase their number of friends.
How I Spend Time on Cruises
When I recently asked for blog topics, someone asked for a granular breakdown of how I spend time on cruises. This is actually something I get asked about once in a while, so I figured I'd answer even though it's fairly niche.
Plus the general idea translates to land-based travel, too.
The question is probably asked because the activities on the ship tend to be pretty lame. Today there was, for example, a lecture on which British celebrities had good American accents, plenty of bingo, and an art auction specializing in truly terrible art.
But, like life in general, you have to use a cruise as a blank plot of land and build upon it what you want.
How I Manage Money Part Two — Spending
In the last post I talked about how I save money and earn money. This week I will talk about how I spend my money. I think that I spend my money very strangely compared to normal people, but to me it makes a lot more sense.
Most people think about investing long term, but I think about spending long term. Of the money flowing out of my accounts, I want as much as possible to go towards things that will still be benefiting me 10+ years in the future.
For example, I'll spend anything on the best computer possible because if it makes my work 5% better, that effect will ripple through my future. I spent $1000 on the best pots and pans more than fifteen years ago, and will probably never buy other ones. I'll spend money on trips with friends, because doing so strengthens bonds with the people who will be around me for my whole life. I'll pay good money for healthy food and tea because my health is important.
I will never finance anything. My personal rule is that if I can't afford to buy something cash, I can't afford it. I would like for as much of my money as possible to go to utility, and servicing debt takes money out of that pool. Monthly payments are a direct affront to freedom. If you pay cash for everything, you have the ability to throttle your monthly spending down to almost nothing. If you have monthly payments, you don't have that option. Debt makes you responsible and vulnerable to others through mechanisms beyond your control. Look at the people who were wiped out by the housing crash.
How I Manage Money Part One — Saving and Earning
I have a somewhat unusual method of thinking about and managing money, which has worked out very well for me. Because money, saving, and spending is such an emotional issue, I believe that there is not a universal correct method for everyone. For example, a strategy that increases someone's earnings by 5% but also increases their stress by 50% probably isn't a good one.
So I present my ideas on finance not as empirical examples of perfect management, but rather something that works great for me and may work for people of similar mindsets.
The goals of my system are to minimize variance outside my control (e.g. stock market performance), maximize long term utility on assets, and minimize the chance I will ever have to do anything I don't want to do. The end goal is not to have the most money possible or to earn the most possible, though both of those things can support my goals.
I don't want outside variance because it inhibits my ability to plan. Accepting variance often increases long term rewards, so I am happy to accept some of it, but I never invest in the stock market because I believe that earning an average 7% per year is not worth putting my whole nest egg at stake.
Being Early on Trends
I am early on a lot of trends. Before they were popular, I was into RV living, being a digital nomad, online gambling, wool, pickup, cryptocurrency, home automation, minimalism, and a whole lot of other things. There are also several things I'm into now that I believe will be more popular in the future (like living in Vegas, shared property, cryonics, etc).
Being early on blogging meant that I could build up a readership just by writing good posts. I didn't have to additionally do the promotion and clickbaity stuff that is all but required today.
In pickup it was very easy for me to get access to the best people out there and learn from them because they weren't as popular and guarded. With financial things like poker there's an an obvious benefit to being early.
The biggest benefit, though, is the freedom of creating your own path. It's fun to explore things by yourself, to make your own rules, and to sometimes be able to influence a field. This process becomes self-reinforcing, because as you discover things for yourself, you realize it's not so hard and you're more willing to do it in the future.