Tynan, check out a book called "Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival".

I think you'll find it fascinating, if not one of your favorite new books.

Thank you. I really needed to read something like this after having a tough week.

I feel you. There are people out there owns the domain in my name. It frustrate me that they are not using it for any purpose but keep on hold and hold.

It is why I will never be a domainer. I want people to own a domain that they will use it rightfully for good reason. May the domain help them achieve a purpose.

It is important to me that they are achieving rather than me making a profit off domains.

Hey Tynan,

It was great finally getting a chance to meet you (if briefly) at Samovar. If you're ever in the Mission and interested in grabbing tea, just let me know.

And keep writing dude - even on the shitty days.

Love your post! And, I totally agree that performance at your worst is a real test of character. In that regard, I think I have failed miserably lately.

Tynan, you have been a real inspiration for me. Congrats on the domain and twitter name. And, good luck moving forward!

(Side Note: your "like this post" drop down does not work correctly meaning the "Never show again" feature does not work. It shows no matter what and gets a tad bit annoying: sorry)

[...] blogger Tynan recently posted an article titled “Defined By Your Worst.” His sentiments mirror mine. If my actions through the pain are any indication of my [...]

What kind of adapter did you get for your NEX-5 to connect to the Nokton lens?

Hey Tynan, Love the new camera setup.

Why the GF1 didn't work well for low-light conditions? You say that it wasn't as good as your rangefinder, but don't make a comparison of it to your Nex-5. I'm trying to decide between a GF2 or a Nex-5 right now.

Just picked up my new Nokton 50mm and put it on a GF1. Gorgeous. But I still want more pics from you in San Fran.

What adapter do you use? I ordered the wrong one - do u have a model or link I could use?

awesome. the nex was one on my list to look at next.

Wow that camera looks amazing! Do you ever find it limiting without an sls type viewfinder optical or electronic?

I like this post. Something to keep in mind for someone who is not very adept at making friends quickly.

Site tip: Whatever changes you make try to keep the design as similar as possible to what people are already used to. People generally shy away from radical change and that can be bad for business. And yes move the search bar up near the top.

This is the same strategy that is outlined in Keith Ferrazzi's book "Never Eat Alone". I use it all the time and it always works.

Agree with Graham. Every few minutes of small talk kills me a little inside. Could you make a post on that too? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Tynan, I enjoy your page, but this is the kind of arrogance that rubs me the wrong way sometimes: "I don’t have any similarly horrifying experiences in my past, but if I did I would have felt comfortable talking about them with her."

You really don't know if you'd be comfortable or not. To speak matter of factly about how you'd act if you were the victim of some kind of terrible trauma is kind of insulting to people who have you know - actually had stuff happen to them.

Adding a simple "I hope" [I would have felt comfortable...] would really mitigate this arrogance.

@Jay I agree that I can be arrogant sometimes, and I actually do try to keep it in check. I appreciate your critical feedback, too. But in this particular case, I think my error was lack of clarity. What I meant was not "I'm so great so I'll talk about terrible stuff that's happened to me" but "The fact that SHE made the brave move to talk about something serious in a comfortable way would have made me feel comfortable to reciprocate".

Tynan, I've been reading your site on and off for what must be a couple years now. There's two things about the design that have ALWAYS bothered / frustrated me.

First is the lack of datestamp on any post. Second is the general lack of "related post" links.

I did, however, just discover the post archive, which sort of solves both those problems. Still...datestamps, man!

How much does the backpack weigh when it is full?

[...] The 2010 Travel Gear Post [...]

Hey Tynan,

Have you changed anything significant from this gear list? a year has passed a I believe a lot of people here would love to see your current gear.

[...] Tynan travels with a single day pack and puts emphasis on choosing  just a few pieces of quality travel gear. Quality over quantity. To get a sample of his current packing list, check out this link. [...]

This guide doesn't include any locks or that crazy security-net you had in the 2008 post. Have you decided they're unnecessary?

[...] guy. I wanted him to share his kit because it’s really well thought out. (His style is more Tynan-esque than my [...]

Could the price of this be $0?

If you signup for TripItPro, you get a 30 day trial. You could then register the Regus Pro membership and cancel your 30 day trial a few weeks later.

I am not advocating this; I just signed up and feel an obligation to TripItPro and Tynan for hooking me up -- but it looks like it is an option..

Tynan, thanks again for the great tip. Anyway, I was quite disappointed with my first Regus experience. I wanted to visit the Business Lounge at a Regus prime destination in Hong Kong and on Saturday 9:00am everything was locked and closed. Their website states "24 hours access" for that office and no other mention of any business hours. It turned out they do not open on Satuday and Sunday at all!

Been using the Regus Business Lounges for over a year now. You already get *free access* with your Amex Business Platinum. :) (You do have to register to get the Regus card though.)

i dont understand you'll. The Tripit is only for regus gold for 1 month. You can use it during normal business hours which means its from 9-5 and after it its not even worth it. The cubicle unlimited plan is 999.00 a month i think the cheapest is like 500 for 5-10 times or something like that

@jeremiah -- It appears to be a year. "Complimentary 1-year memberships to Hertz #1 Club Gold and Regus Gold."

Where do you see only one month and limited hours? You're looking at Regus' site, not TripIt Pro, maybe?

Hey Tynan,

thanks for that tip, I signed up for tripit and just used the lounge in Hong Kong (the ICC building in Kowloon) - nice environment! Up on the 12th floor with great views across the harbour, nespresso machine, imac (in case you don't have your laptop), a variety of casual and work related seating and really friendly staff. Bit nicer than that space in San Francisco, but I don't think the internet speed was as good.

In New Zealand now, so I am going to check out the Auckland office in a few days...

When will you be in Beijing? I'll be in China from the 10th till the 24th of November with various days in Beijing.

As long you keep it concise and hitting 1,000 words and you got yourself a well-written blog post.

I've tried this and the results were fantastic- your writing skill increases tremendously.

But here's a thing- It's not a good idea to post everything you write, because most of it won't be your best works. Post only the best of your writing- people are morewilling to read some high- quality stuff, instead of tons of mediocre articles.

I've written one book, but I've written about a thousand pages before that, and still writing a lot of stuff that will never get published or posted.

I've been thinking that I need to undertake a similar project for myself. Either create a painting a day, or a daily drawing (since I'm note really aspiring to be an author).

Hi Tynan, have you ever heard of the 'incubation period'? It is suggested that our best ideas come up in a period of relaxation after a period of hard work. So you may want to schedule times when you write nothing at all, like a week every once in a while.
See: http://sdkrashen.com/articles/incubation/index.html

[...] Politics and history are good courses. Foreign languages are also good. 4. Write. 5. Write 1000 words per day. 6. Edit things that you wrote beforehand to make them more concise. Newspapers have space [...]

Hey Tynan, I know what I'm about to ask doesn't relate at all to the post, but just had a quick question:

when you first started your nomadic traveling, how much money did you have? How much did you have, use to buy equipment, then how much spendable money you had when you first landed in the foreign country?

Would mean a lot to answer, thanks

Alexander the great, follows a similar strategy. His first battle was when he was seventeen. He crossed the river with 20,000 men to fight the persian king only to find 150,000 soldiers waiting to pounce on them. When he saw that he burnt all his ships :) - point of no return

I was going to say Cortez when conquering the Aztecs, but apparently Alexander the Great did it to.

While, I understand what you're saying, I agree with Calvin. I hate when these unexpected disasters happen especially if/when preparation could have prevented it.

Case in point, my computer broke last week and spent days trying to isolate the problem.

Then again, I have learned a lot from reaching points of no return and having to solve the problem. And they always occur inevitably. It's just not always pleasant.

Good job on staying extremely productive with the writing!
You're writing style flows very well; it's easy to read yet still engaging.

I have a question though: How much time a day do you spend reading? I think the more someone reads the better their writing can potentially become.

I've been thinking about this since you mentioned quitting a job with very little savings and having that work out really well because you had all this motivation. And here I am, planning it out so I have as much saved as possible. On the one hand it seems silly to quit before getting a basically guaranteed bonus, but at the same time I wonder, is accruing more cushion really good?

I think it is the Tibetan monks who pray every morning that they may encounter the "appropriate difficulties" during that day that they need to develop their practice. Kind of awesome. Who prays for difficulties?

Check out this post by Justine Musk that I read yesterday:

http://tiny.cc/4wzyd

I found both your post and hers very interesting!

"…that you’re immediately drown*..."
*drawn

The gods of written English will smile if you change this.

Keep the good stuff coming ;)

Stephen, I stopped reading her post when she called Mother Theresa a 'productive narcissist' and then said that she had 'no empathy.' What??

This post has been on my mind lately, and in particular this:

"Being a narcissist enables me to believe that it’s reasonable for me to totally disregard standard employment, because I’m “special”"

I took some classes in Dharmsala, India where the Tibetan government is based and one item particularly stuck in my mind:

There are basically 4 kinds of people that can be likened to mangoes. Ones that look ripe, and are ripe. Ones that look ripe, and aren't... and the opposites (don't look ripe, but are, etc).

Its an interesting conundrum to run a successful site such as yours. It requires a certain amount of narcissism to write interesting posts that people like to read despite your natural tendencies.

Can't say that I wholly agree with what you are saying. Not having read that particular book but having done a lot of research in my own right; complete narcissism can be thought of as being on the same spectrum (but on the opposite end of) complete selflessness. Neither end is good and our goal in life is to find a balance between leaving the most self-actualized life that we can, while at the same time, living it in such a way that it is not all about us and our individual goals, dreams, and aspirations. Is narcissism bad? Yes, but in your usage of the term, you seem to be equating (or at least implying that) any activity/idea that benefits you at the "expense" of others to be narcissistic. Which is (IMO) not correct….in fact that’s on the opposite end of the spectrum and either extreme is not good. Again, narcissism is bad…very bad. But people who are not at least a little bit “narcissitic” end up being co-dependent. Neither state is ideal for the person or his/her family, friends, and associates.

I might recommend a book called Happier by Tal Ben-Shaha.

I don't think that being selfish is a bad thing. In Tibetan, compassion includes the self along with others. It's just a matter of being able to take into account the whole picture.

Also, I think everyone likes to feel needed. That their life has some impact and meaning in the world. Maybe, your grandfather got some sense of purpose (and feeling needed) by helping out the kid.

@brian- thanks for the reply. have you read "now discover your strengths" by Marcus Buckingham? It is a little bit different from this perspective. It does not agree to the fact we can change the neuron connections after a certain age.

come on man, Arabic is easy..

:)

Now that it's been established you are not attacking your about-to-get-married friends, do write that post on marriage. It'll be interesting to read your take on it.

Hey Tynan, this is a great article by Dr. Mercola describing the Cholesterol Myth. My diet is about 70% raw and is over 50% animal fat.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/10/making-sense-of-your-cholesterol-numbers.aspx

[...] I tend to play it a bit safer.Besides Chris G and Stephen King, I was inspired to do this after reading the talent books. In fact, those books were also the inspirado for doubling my posting to twice a week rather than [...]

Thanks for the post, Tynan. I just finished reading the Marriage book. It was interesting, but ultimately confirmed what I already knew: good marriages are built upon a solid foundation of a good friendship.

@Mike Roberts, I agree with your opinion that less reading can be better. I've read so many books now than it seems most of them are just repeating information I already knew.

I'm interested in your experiences with the TSA. I am trying to decide how much safer they make flying, and weigh that against the losses in economic efficiency and civil liberties.

I recently read this opinion by one freedom-minded U.S. Congressman [ http://www.antiwar.com/paul/?articleid=4079 ]. Should the TSA be eliminated? And since we have a government by the people, what should we do to make this happen?

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Paul G, Amer Khalid. Amer Khalid said: All You Can Jet: http://bit.ly/aWcDcW I am so doing it next year! [...]

You're probably flying right over my house! Hahah.

Which software did you take to do the intro for the No Baggage Challenge ? It's very nice !

Tynan, what software did you use to make the intro for their travel videos? AfterEffects?

Whatever you used, it looked cool.

Literally just arrived in Vegas. Sucks you had to jet, would have been a great chance to meet face to face.