Grant Snider, the creator of Incidental Comics, has long displayed this imaginative, somewhat surreal approach to life in his work, which captures both its burdens and its moments of lightness. Now we can all see the world from Grant’s perspective through his first book, The Shape of Ideas.

>>>> Read our review of The Shape of Ideas here.

Grant has been kind enough to share a dash of his philosophy exclusively with 203challenges.com:

Grant Sinder| Photo by Mark Woolcott Photography

Who is Grant Snider and what are his dreams?

I’m a 31-year-old cartoonist, author, and orthodontist. My biggest accomplishments are my three children and my first book, The Shape of Ideas. My dream is to continue pursuing new ideas for the rest of my creative life.

I started Incidental Comics… when I had no idea how to make comics! My artistic abilities have grown and changed with me. It seems like a different person was responsible for my earliest work.

The first of my drawings that I remember… were detailed and imaginative worlds of dinosaurs, aliens, and dragons. I drew in crayon, marker, and pencil on old computer paper – early ’90s computer paper was the best.

Photo courtesy of www.incidentalcomics.com

When I started drawing, I couldn’t even imagine that… it would remain such an integral part of my life. Then again, I could never imagine giving it up.

I consider myself… a failed perfectionist. I keep trying to make something perfect, but I’m always coming up short. This dissatisfaction drives me to continually make new things.

I would never… try to draw while riding a bicycle. Too many things could go wrong.

I would always… bring a pen and sketchbook with me. I might need it at any time.

The creative process is… beautiful, mysterious, frustrating. A locked room where the key is hidden in your mind.

Photo courtesy of www.incidentalcomics.com

Ideas are born… at inopportune times. You have to be ready to catch them.

Asking questions is… something we should all keep doing, even when we know there’s no answer.

My favorite place in the world is… on a blanket under a tree in my backyard, on a spring afternoon when everything is in blossom and the mosquitoes haven’t started biting.

I never travel without… a backpack full of more books than I could possibly read during one trip.

Challenges in life are… a good source of artistic inspiration and wisdom – but only after the fact.

One challenge for anyone who is reading this: Go for a long walk with a pen and a notebook. Don’t take your phone. Don’t take your dog. Find something outside of you or within you to write or draw about. Repeat until it becomes necessary.

Photo courtesy of www.grantsnider.com

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His book, “Terning: Around the World by Bike”, is a story about the challenges he faced, but it is also a story about the kindness and generosity of the people he met along the way. As Sam says, “I am no brave adventurer; the book is the story of a twenty-three-year-old who cycled around the world in spite of himself, his flaws and (often pretty stupid) decisions’. 

We reached out to Sam to ask him about his dreams, his inspiring encounters on the road and his next challenges. There he is.

– Who is Sam Gambier and what are his dreams?

– I grew up in Cornwall, UK, and went to uni in London. When I was twenty-three, I left England and spent two years and eight months cycling around the world and since then have lived in Spain and China. (I know you didn’t really ask me, but…) I believe our experience on this planet should not be confined by the borders drawn across it and I feel lucky and guilty, in equal measure, that I was born in a place that allows me to explore the world more freely than most. I dream about a world in which we recognise ourselves as inhabitants of one shared place, rather than several disparate places separated from each other (though perhaps I should do less dreaming and more doing!).

– What was your motif to choose a bicycle as a means of transport to circumnavigate the world?

– A bicycle brings you closer to people than most other forms of transport could. The barrier of a window pane is removed, as is the ease and comfort that the window pane brings; the world is not framed for you to look at, rather you become part of the picture. On a bicycle you feel each metre, every hill and all the space between us, and I’m sure in some way this leads to a greater understanding of our world, at least its physical form. I am also quite a shy person, and a bicycle piled high with belongings starts conversations better than I do.

– What was the most heartwarming act of human kindness you experienced during your trip?

– I experienced so many moments of miraculous human kindness that it is really difficult to highlight just one. In almost every country I cycled through, people gave me food and shelter, and shared their lives with me. I think the place in which I was most overwhelmed by kindness was in Sumatera, Indonesia. Almost every day, people invited me into their homes: I slept on the floors of single-roomed houses with families of five or six; visited schools and mosques; rode about the towns visiting friends and seeing the local sights and was always met with openness, kindness and curiosity.

– What was the biggest challenge you hadn’t expected?

– Probably myself! Loneliness set in quick, and at the beginning I couldn’t shake the idea of spending so much time alone. Two-and-a-half-years by myself seemed unfathomable, and I felt the love I have for those close to me with a keenness I hadn’t experienced before. I am no brave adventurer; the book is the story of a twenty-three-year-old who cycled around the world in spite of himself, his flaws and (often pretty stupid) decisions. That I made it was a testament to the kindness and generosity of the people that I met; it was these meetings that made the journey worth it and encouraged me to carry on.

– What would you say to someone who considers repeating your feat?

– Do it, first and foremost. It will give you much more than you could ever put in and will be a life-affirming, enriching experience. People will show themselves to be wonderful and kind and you will see parts of the world which most people fly over or drive through. There is no need to plan in meticulous detail, but be prepared; it is a deeply rewarding way to travel, but it is not always the easiest. And, of course, you will not be repeating anything. I feel like when we travel we visit a time as much as a place. Even if you followed a route cycled a thousand times, it would be your adventure, remarkable and unique.

– What is your next big travel challenge?

– In the summer, I’m planning to walk a little way across Norway, from Otta to Odda, because 1.) it has a nice ring to it, 2.) it seems like a nice amount of walking to do in a month and 3.) it seems like it will be absolutely stunning. I’m a little older now, and maybe have more patience for walking; I’m looking forward to living in a tent in the real world and escaping the man-made one with jobs and bills and all that stuff for a little while.

– Share something inspiring with everyone reading this!

– Ummm… that’s put me on the spot! I really don’t consider myself to be a very inspiring person. The only thing I will say, if you are thinking about going on a mammoth adventure, is that if I can do it, anyone can.

***

Sam Gambier’s book, “Terning: Around the World by Bike”, is on Amazon here: 

To get an idea of what you can expect, read an excerpt from the book HERE.

All photos: Courtesy of Sam Gambier

Discover more travel books and interviews with travel authors here!

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Here’s Celinne and what she shared in a special interview with us.

– Who is Celinne Da Costa and what are her dreams?

– Haha, what a loaded question! How about some fun facts:

•  I am half Italian (born in Rome) and half Brazilian, and I grew up in the US for 15 years
•  In 2016, I left my life in New York City to travel the world full-time
•  I’ve traveled to 50+ countries and have no plans of stopping!
•  In addition to travel, one of my biggest passions is writing. I do it every day 🙂
•  I’m an avid believer that when you have a dream and make a decision to take action towards it every single day, you WILL manifest it into a reality
•  On that note, my dream is to see and feel the world, while building an empire for myself that allows me to pursue my passions and help others along the way!

– Why is the leap from dreaming to acting so hard for most people?

– The biggest obstacle to action is the fear of failure. Most people are scared of the unknown – that they will fail if they jump, they’ll be worse off, they’ll get themselves in unpleasant situations, etc. We have a bad habit of blowing up dreams and putting them on a pedestal so that they almost seem unattainable.

I’ve learned to deal with these fears in several ways:

1. Trusting myself: every single time I’ve taken a leap of faith, it’s worked out for me. There is something to be said about the words “fortune favors the brave.” Not knowing what’s on the other side is scary, but it often pays off.
2. Breaking up dreams into smaller, doable bits: instead of chasing a big lofty dream, I break it down into mini dreams that feel achievable and I make a plan to complete them by a certain deadline!
3. Holding myself accountable: I make a list of my dreams and goals, and the actions I need to complete them. Visualizing helps to keep myself in check and make sure I’m progressing.

– What was the most challenging part of your trip around the world?

– The quick and sudden shifts in lifestyles was quite challenging. I went from living in a big city, working a corporate job, and leading a very stable life, to traveling the world full-time, having no income security, and no control over the conditions I’d be facing in the places I visited. I had to adjust my “New York City” mindset and shift gears to a “vagabonding” mindset. I kept burning out from how much I wanted to do and accomplish, and had to keep reminding myself to slow down and relax.

Funny enough, my challenges during my journey were 90% inside of my head: dealing with my mindset, demons, feeling alone, and being consistently out of my comfort zone to name some.

– What has putting your fate into the hands of strangers taught you about the world?

– I have developed an unshakable belief that on the whole, people are kind. Words cannot describe the many people who, despite not knowing me and owning me nothing, went above and beyond to help me during my journey. They let me into their homes, fed me, sometimes even clothed me, shared with me their deepest vulnerabilities and fears… I learned that everyone has something to teach you, if you just listen. Personally, I learned to be kinder, more compassionate, and open-hearted with the people that I meet, because that’s exactly the type of treatment that I received.

Of course there are bad people in the world, but I strongly believe they are a minority.

– How has your life story changed after the journey?

– Finally, I am writing my own story. When I was in New York City, I felt like I was living in someone else’s dream. I did not have control over my future. Since I left that life behind, I call the shots: where I travel, what I do for a living, who I spend my time with, and what projects I work on. Every day, I wake up and design my life as I want it. It’s an amazing feeling, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

– Over 70 people hosted you around the world, all connected to you in one way or another. Do you think it’s a realistic feat for anyone to follow your steps?

– It depends on what you want. I wouldn’t recommend that someone copy and paste my project, because it was designed specifically to cater to my strengths and interests. I love traveling, writing about people’s stories, and staying with locals. I also have no problem striking up a conversation with a stranger and asking him or her to stay over. Many people would not feel comfortable with this.

I think it’s possible for people who share similar interests and are willing to put in the hard work of building that network. If that’s not something that someone is passionate about, there are so many other ways to travel similarly to how I did. You just have to get creative by designing a project that works for you and plays to your passions. There are 1001 ways to do this.

– What’s your recipe for being aware of the tiny miracles in our daily lives?

– Pay attention. The only way to find these tiny miracles that surround us every day is to look, smell, feel, and hear them. Practicing mindfulness and being aware of our surroundings is so important when it comes to cultivating our awe and appreciation for this world. How often do we stop and glance at a flower, just because it’s beautiful? Or memorize the details of someone’s face?

Life is so much more fun when we are tapped into the moment and practice gratefulness for even the smallest things that amaze us.

– Share something inspiring with everyone reading this!

– I just published a book! “The Art of Being Human” is a collection of short stories from this life-changing journey around the world – a journey that taught me that we are indeed capable of creating a life that we are proud of, and we don’t have to do it alone.

With this book, the goal was to get my writing out into the world as well as share some of the most special and insightful experiences from my travels around the world.

The message of the book is simple but powerful: humanity is good. No matter where I went, there were people who treated me with kindness, hospitality, and generosity. Yes, there are bad people in the world, but from my experience continuously putting my fate in the hands of strangers, evil is the exception and not the norm.

The hundreds of people I encountered around the world taught me that being human is an art, and this life is our canvas. My book attempts to capture a bit of that philosophy in a way that’s captivating and easy to read.

Follow Celinne’s stories in her website celinnedacosta.com and on Instagram. All photos: Courtesy of Celinne Da Costa

The post Inspiring travelers: Celinne Da Costa’s humanity challenge appeared first on 203Challenges.

We had a chat with him about his journey. Here is what he told us:

Who is Tomislav Perko and what does he dream of?

I’m just a regular, everyday, normal guy who did something unusual and extraordinary – I traveled the world, with almost no money. I am 32, people tell me that I am a travel writer and a public speaker, and I dream of many, many things. And they keep changing. But the most important thing is to follow them, no matter what they are.

The post Inspiring travelers: Tomislav Perko’s 50,000 km of hitchhiking appeared first on 203Challenges.

What is his secret to a happy life, what is the best way to slow down and enjoy it and what are his best tips on exploring nature on foot – here is what Jeffrey Ryan shared in a special interview for 203challenges.com.

– Who is Jeffrey Ryan, and what are his dreams?

– I am a writer, hiker, historian, public speaker and photographer. My secret blend of rocket fuel is one part nature and one part inquisitiveness. I am happiest traveling trails and backroads in search of whatever is around the next bend.
I most enjoy slowing life down to about 2 miles per hour, hiking on a trail in the wilderness where I can rejuvenate. My experiences, now covering thousands of miles, have been so meaningful to me that I write books about them. More than anything, I hope to inspire others to set technology aside for a while and discover the joys of being in nature.

View from summit of Mount St. Helens. ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

– What’s the most important thing hiking gives you?

– Hiking gives me the opportunity to engage so many aspects of my mind and body. I guess the best way to describe it is that it makes me feel complete.

One of the greatest things hiking has taught me is that you need to be able to plan ahead, yet you need to be nimble. For example, you may plan your whole trip on doing a certain number of miles per day, but the weather may require you to change plans. Or you may need to take a longer side trip to find water than you had planned. These things require you to problem solve on the fly and to be content with the decisions you made.

It’s a great skill to have whether you are in the mountains, sitting at a desk or anywhere really. When I revisit things that made me frustrated, I often find out that it was because I was trying to hold onto a pre-conceived plan. The sooner I realize that all plans are subject to change, the better my experiences become.

View from summit of Mount St. Helens. Mount Rainier can be seen in the center, beyond Spirit Lake. ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com.

– Can you tell us a story that is a living example of your hiking style?

– My hiking companion, Wayne, and I did a trip on the Appalachian Trail in Vermont. When we arrived at my truck, which had been parked on a remote woods road for ten days, it wouldn’t start. Further investigation showed that a porcupine had spent several days in my engine compartment and eaten most of the rubber hoses — radiator hoses, the brake line, the gas line, etc. While we were not still on the trail per se, we still employed the trail mentality. We were in a jam and needed to fix it to complete our trip. It was the need to be nimble in action. I write about it in my first book, Appalachian Odyssey: A 28-year hike on America’s trail.

Come to think of it, that whole book really exemplifies my hiking style. Wayne and I couldn’t take the several months off from work necessary to hike to Appalachian Trail in one go, so we poked away at it in smaller trips. It took almost three decades to cover the 2,100 miles, but we got it done. It was one of the most fulfilling adventures of my life.

– What is the one thing that you never travel without and why?

– Hiking poles. I don’t know what my knees would be like without them. They take the strain off my knees on downhills and make stream crossings easier. As an added bonus, I just got a solo tent that allows me to use my hiking poles instead of tent poles. I can leave the tent poles at home and save pack weight.

Two other things I bring along are a travel pack of baby wipes (towelettes). I put used ones in a zip-seal plastic bag that I carry out of the wilderness to dispose of properly. One more thing: I also always carry a paper map. You can’t always count on your smartphone GPS. (O.K. That’s three things, but they are all things I don’t travel without.)

– Your latest book, Blast: My Return to Mount Saint Helens, is about Mount St. Helens after the volcano eruption in 1980. What makes this topic so important to you?

– Mount St. Helens erupted the day I graduated from college. I’ve felt a strong connection with the mountain ever since. In 1987, the first year people were allowed back on the mountain, I climbed up to witness the devastation the blast had caused. It was unbelievable. The earth had been violently torn open, then doused in dozens of feet of ash. I’ll never forget the feeling of standing there with ash swirling at my feet and rock slides spilling down into the crater wondering how many years it would take for the area to show signs of life.

Mount St. Helens eruption. May 18, 1980. ©USGS

In the years since I climbed Mount St. Helens, I had taken on the 28-year hike of the Appalachian Trail and also written a book about how the AT was conceived and built. With all the focus on eastern U.S. hiking trails, I hadn’t thought about Mount St. Helens in quite a while.

In March, 2017, I happened to stumble upon a video featuring old hiking trips. It featured our Mount St. Helens climb. I suddenly realized that 30 years had passed. Before the day was over, I secured climbing permits and booked my flight for a September reunion with the mountain.

The comeback the mountain and her surroundings have made is remarkable. There is a lot to learn about resilience in the face of incomprehensible loss, and also about hope. Ten miles from the mountain’s summit, in a place where no living thing survived, herds of elk graze in mountain meadows, alpine flowers bloom and mountain goats roam the rocks. It’s an incredibly uplifting experience.

The mountain goats are back! ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

– Many people enjoy hiking but are afraid of long distances. What would you tell them?

– Ease into it and be realistic. A long hike is really a bunch of small hikes strung together. If you haven’t spent a night in the backcountry, I suggest starting out with a loop hike (either going out and coming back to your vehicle via the same trail or using more than one trail that get you back to your starting point again). Choose a trip that lets you camp three or four miles from your starting point. The idea is to get used to your equipment and familiarize yourself with your routine. If you forget something, you will still be within easy striking distance of your car.

The biggest mistakes people make when starting out are bringing way too much gear or not being familiar with how their gear works. Regarding the latter, I strongly suggest setting up and taking down a new tent a few times before you leave home. There’s little worse than trying to figure out how to set up a tent in a rainstorm or in the dark. One other thing you should get used to using is your backcountry stove.

Mount St. Helens from the Mount Margaret Ridge. ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

– What’s your next big challenge?

– My hiking buddy, Wayne, and I will be finishing another long distance trail (the New England National Scenic Trail) soon.

After that, I have several big goals in mind. One is to spend a few weeks on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, a 1,000-miler that never leaves the state of Wisconsin. The other big trip is still taking shape. Stay tuned…

Young trees are growing in the midst of giants seared by the eruption almost 38 years ago. ©2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

– Share something inspiring with everyone reading this interview!

– The greatest gift you can give yourself — and the people you love — is a mentally and physically healthy you. It doesn’t take much money to spend time outdoors, and even if did, the rewards would far outweigh the cost.

Go do it.

Featured image: Jeffrey Ryan stands on the Mount St. Helens summit ridge, thirty years after his first climb of the mountain. © 2018 www.JeffRyanAuthor.com

Explore:

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***

Who doesn’t dream of selling everything, not owing a cent to anyone and just traveling the world? Packing your suitcase, grabbing your passport and just heading out into the horizon. I couldn’t even count how many times that wanderlust fantasy has gone through my mind, usually while stuck at work. Somewhere deep inside of me I knew that living a life of freedom was possible, even for the average Joe, and if I wanted it badly enough, it would come to pass. I made vision boards, watched ‘The Secret’, read ‘The 4 Hour Work Week’, and did everything else I could to manifest the type of life I was destined for.

To be where I am now, traveling full time with my incredible husband, being debt free and living every day with more purpose…. It just brings tears to my eyes.

Without getting to woo-woo on you, it’s hard to put into words how much better I feel without so much STUFF weighing me down. It’s been incredibly life changing. The kind of life changing that makes me want to sit in a circle in the park, holding hands with strangers and sing songs about it.

I used to feel like I was in a prison cell that was only 4 feet tall, making me crouch all day long, with weighted shackles pulling at my ankles and wrists. Now it feels more like my cell doors have been opened, all the guards have disappeared, and I am free to leave and explore the world as I see fit. There is a curiosity that wasn’t there before; an influx of creative energy and mental stability. Even physically, I FEEL more capable and powerful in day to day life. I’m more alive, more alert, more focused. I get more done with the hours of my day then I used to in months. It’s truly sensational.

I’m not screwing with you.

If you would have told me in the middle of my materialism high that I would feel better without all that stuff in my life I would have told you off. I would have chalked it down as your weakness, convincing myself you were only jealous of all the cool stuff I had and just wanted me to give it all up.

You would have been dismissed by me as a hippy quack.

Mea Culpa

I’m happy to have lived on both ends of the spectrum so I can truly appreciate the freedom of living with less. It gives me a higher level gratitude for the hard work and sacrifice in order to get to this point.

We finally succeeded in taking the plunge into freedom at a level neither of us could have fathomed, and it was all because of minimalism.

Is Minimalism the Answer?

When I first heard about minimalism, I was immediately turned off. I imagined someone who lived in a sterile white room, with a single tiny mid-century modern orange chair, who owned exactly 2 pairs of pants, 1 notepad to scribble deep prose in and zero friends. He lived in an oversized tin can in the woods, had the very definition of a hipster beard and ate positive affirmations for breakfast.

Yeah, it wasn’t for me.

I was much happier buying things I liked, going on shopping sprees, adding yet another pair of shoes to my walk in closet, picking up extra shifts to try and make an embarrassing low dent in my debt… oh dang… no I wasn’t! 

Thankfully, I didn’t have to grow a hipster beard in order to start embracing minimalism. There are no rules. I’d look pretty hot with a beard though. 

Minimalism is another way of life. It’s not ‘one size fits all’ and it can be customized for your own personal goals.

Personally, here are the reasons I wanted to learn to embrace minimalism:

To feel lighter. I started experiencing this immediately! It’s like a new corner of my mind opened up to allow more creative and positive thoughts as more and more physical junk cleared out. Items were weighing me down mentally and emotionally.

To clear off debt. I am not ashamed to admit that I spent a lot of money over the last couple years and racked up some good ol’ consumer debt! But it just SAT there collecting interest, while the things I bought SAT there collecting dust… so something didn’t add up.

To be more location independent. Nothing says ‘stay home and go nowhere’ quite like a huge mortgage payment. I feel strangely at home in hotels. I love living out of a suitcase and have no qualms about long flights to exotic locations. I always say the same thing when any vacation or adventure is coming to an end, which is: “I don’t want to go home!”… .so why do we then? I guess the answer is most of us have a mortgage, bills, a mile long ‘to-do’ list, and things that need our attention, so we must return (or so I thought). For my lifestyle, I found the removal of a permanent home and all the bills that came with it, allowed Trevor and I to travel a lot more without worry, pressure and stress. Because we are the types of people who don’t need the security of one ‘forever’ dwelling, we found it was shackling us to a particular location more than we would have liked. Now with the removal of a mortgage, the interest on that mortgage, property taxes, energy bills, gas bills, water bills, condo fees, cable bill, internet bill, repair bills, upgrade costs and all the other delights that come with home ownership, we can travel more and not feel guilty about it!

To take back control. Being bombarded with advertisements and feeling pressured and compelled to take action on them is a shell of an existence. I don’t want to be that zombie consumer, drooling all over myself, on the hunt for discount brains. I used to be addicted to that dopamine RUSH of purchasing and unboxing something new. So crisp and clean. Sigh, it felt like true happiness. That was until the chemical romance subsided 10 minutes later and the only way to get it back was to buy something else. Talk about a loss of control!

To live life on my terms. It’s my life. I want to make the most of it. I don’t want to limit my abilities to see and experience the world because of one too many shopping sprees. If I had known that a storage unit filled with forgotten items was costing me the equivalent of a Mediterranean Cruise each year, I would have emptied that thing out sooner! When I am an old geezer on my death bed, I won’t be thinking about that Pottery Barn coffee table I went into overdraft for, I’ll be mentally flipping through my scrap book of memories, picturing the wonderful adventures I had with people I love.

High Maintenance Minimalism

Learning to embrace elements of minimalism has allowed me to do things I never thought possible, in a rather shallow way as well. Trevor calls me ‘The High Maintenance Minimalist’ and it’s so true! This girl likes the finer things in life!

I will never be a backpacker in khakis checking into some eco-hut with no running water or electricity. Ever! If you want me to be really honest, it’s hard enough getting me into anything less than a 3-star hotel. But just because I might be a little high maintenance, doesn’t mean I can’t apply elements of minimalism to my life.

I have a deep love for cool experiences, like snuggling up in a lay flat first class seat on a long flight, that I would never be able to afford had it not been for minimizing my life in others ways.

Some people think it’s absolutely ludicrous to spend thousands on an airplane ticket or a private guided tour of a city and that’s just peachy with me. I happen to feel the same about surrounding myself with pointless garbage.

Minimalism has given me the hall pass to spend my hard earned money on crazy life events. It also showed me that I don’t have to OWN everything I might find incredible. If I want to take a ride in a sweet speed boat, we can rent one instead of borrowing insane amounts of money to ‘own’ one, just to get sick of it in a few years. If I want to experience what it’s like to wake up in an ocean front villa, we can stay at one for a month without having to mortgage myself to the eyeballs to buy one. I don’t feel compelled to ‘own’ everything I find cool or interesting.

I have style and flair and that is okay. I choose a silk top instead of a hemp flannel shirt and there is nothing wrong with that. I’ve managed to eradicate debt, give up 95% of my stuff, be completely location independent and learn to live with less, so I’m not going to get hung up on what minimalists look like in the dictionary. I am that girl who might live out of two suitcases, but you can bet they are packed with selective high quality things and getting loaded on a plane to an exotic destination.

I’m still going to buy anti-aging face creams, go for overpriced massages, and upgrade my train tickets. I don’t need to choose between being an in debt shopaholic or living in a treehouse with dreadlocks. Nobody does. I’ve found the balance between these two lifestyles and it’s allowing me to be who I really am, and that’s the High Maintenance Minimalist.

*

Discover more in Kashlee’s blog here. Photo courtesy of Kashlee Kucheran.

Read more travel book excerpts to find your next favorite author!

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Their book is the best random adventure tool you can take with you on your next trip – just open it to a random page and complete the challenge you find there. Ivalina, Maria and Marina share stories of their own inspiration and talk about how they challenge themselves in this special interview for 203challenges.com.*

* What started as a blog for the book has now grown into an independent website for travel challenges and exploring secret places – 203Challenges.com.

How has your participation in this project changed you?

Ivalina: I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but after we decided to create this project the challenges started coming like snowflakes in my personal and professional life. This project has helped me to face all problems in my everyday life as challenges, to become more patient and to clear my vision of what I want for myself and for my company. So, be careful if you use “challenge” in the name of your product or service :) It may lead to some surprises.

Marina: This project was a resurrection of my imagination. It reminded me how much I enjoy taking part in creative challenges and brought a full-color rainbow of happy moments to my daily routine.

Maria: I was self-inspired to incorporate more fun into my travel life. Working on this project has reminded me that life is nothing but a joyous game.

Ivalina Nenova | 203 Travel Challenges

What is your favorite travel challenge from the book and why?

Ivalina: Challenge 202: Give up on something. This reminds me that we cannot have everything at once. To deny ourselves something actually means to devote ourselves to something else.

Marina: Challenge 160: Print a photo of a friend who can’t join you on a trip. It is so much fun to carry around a printed friend (or in my case when I was doing it, my brother) and take pictures with him in all those funny poses he’d never agree to. Like, for instance, under the shirt of a cute bartender in а bar in Berlin (I never asked for that; the barman offered, I promise! :). But why do I love this challenge the most? Well, it reminds me of the dear friends who told me about it while we were having the time of our lives in Copenhagen a few years ago. (Special thanks to John from Australia who shared the idea for the first time!).

Maria: Challenge 32: Spend a night in the wild on a weekday. I added another condition to this challenge: sleeping in a hammock. I imagined it to be a lot of fun (which it really was), but I could never predict how many nightmares a girl sleeping alone in the forest can experience in a single night. Especially the one where the fox took away my sandals and I had to hike back to the city barefoot. Aside from that, the experience will be a good story to tell around the fire for years to come.

Why exactly 203 challenges?

This is one of the most common questions we get asked, and it’s explained at the beginning of the book: “This is not another ‘101-beautiful-places-to-visit-in-your-life book’. It’s not about the number, it’s not about the places, it’s all about you. We poured all of our souls, experience and inspiration into this guidebook. When we were done, there were 203 challenges in total. The number was odd and somewhat arbitrary-looking but it turned out to be lucky (we consulted a Buddhist monk about it!). We know you won’t complete all challenges, and we know you will think of your own, and as this is meant to be a personal book, the final number actually depends on you.”

What’s your favorite guilty pleasure when you travel?

Ivalina: I’m on a special diet that prevents me from eating gluten, milk, eggs, sugar… almost everything. It’s very difficult to stick to this strict diet while traveling, and unfortunately it means I shouldn’t try the local cuisine most of the time. But, you know, rules were meant to be broken… which is why my travel guilty pleasure is eating whatever I want on vacation, even when the trip lasts for three weeks!

Marina: Wine! I always pack two 1.5 water bottles in my suitcase to make sure that I have room for wine on my way back (and that my luggage won’t exceed the permitted weight). I replace the water bottles with three or four bottles of wine and… Voila! I have the perfect cure for post-travel depression!

Maria: Rooftop views. It’s one of the first things I research before setting off and it’s usually my first stop: a gorgeous vantage point looking over the world below.

Maria Angelova | 203 Travel Challenges

The best way to experience a new place is to…

Ivalina: Sit in a local cafe and just observe the people, the atmosphere, the sounds. Let your mind follow this new reality and become part of it. This way, you can create really vivid memories once the journey is over.

Marina: Let yourself go while you’re there, and follow your inner needs and wishes. Simply ignore advice like: “You haven’t been to Rome if you haven’t visited the Colosseum”, and do what you feel like in the moment. If you feel like exploring the nightlife of Santorini instead of trying to light a candle in as many churches as possible (there are more than 600 and most of them are private, so you don’t really have a chance with this challenge, believe me!), just go on a club-crawl in Fira and dance your holiday away. If you’re searching for the ultimate new-place experience, here’s another tip: forget about your comfort zone and meet new friends, preferably locals. Not only will you have the best advice on where to eat, drink, eat, shop, etc., but you’ll also have the company of insiders to share those fun moments with. Priceless.

Maria: … get lost. I’m a map freak (because the thing I do best is getting lost without wanting to) and the mere thought of not knowing where my hotel is drives me crazy. Staring at the map all the time, however, has proven to be the best way to experience nothing in the place I’m currently visiting. So I’m learning to take it easy and keep the map in my pocket from time to time in order to let chance be my guide.

What’s the most challenging part of your day?

Ivalina: The moment when I want to stop what I’m doing because it’s hard, but I can’t because it has to be completed. But after I put all my effort into it, the satisfaction is even higher than if I had have refused to do it. After all, challenges are for making us better, aren’t they?

Marina: Waking up in the morning. I simply adore my beauty sleep. Of course, there are a few things that can drag me out of bed with a sleepy smile: good music, a juicy kiss from my love, or knowing it’s summer and the beach is just a stone’s throw away.

Maria: When I lose my writing inspiration. When that happens I head out and just roam the streets, trying to empty my mind of the frustration.

Marina Garbeva | 203 Travel Challenges

If you have to share one inspiring thing with everyone reading this, it would be…

Ivalina: I’m currently reading Radical Honesty by Brad Blanton and I would like to share with you one inspirational paragraph from the book: “The people in this world are waking up from a long sleep. We are all helping. This is a great time to be alive because compassionate people are coming into their own power. All these people, and many more you and I don’t know about, are growing beyond the cultural limitations of whatever culture they were born into. I have mentioned just a few leads to contribute to the network that is hooking up all over the world. We will come to recognize each other as time goes on, and when we do, we will change the world.”

Marina: … a gentle reminder in the form of a quote by the Uruguayan journalist and writer Eduardo Galeano: “We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine.” My personal advice when it comes to wine and kissing: Drink responsibly >>> Kiss irresponsibly. 🙂

Maria: Say ‘yes’ more often and your life will change enormously!

The post Interview with the ‘203 Travel Challenges’ authors appeared first on 203Challenges.

In today’s world, we read more but learn less. We travel more but change less. We’ve seen all the tourist destinations thousands of times on the internet and therefore fail to be amazed when we actually visit a place. So why do we bother to travel at all?

What is this book about?

“203 Travel Challenges” is different from any travel book you’ve read before. It’s not just for reading, it’s for taking action. It will give you ideas of destinations and new experiences but, above all, it will challenge you to do, see, hear and try things you’ve never thought of doing while traveling. It will make you open your mind to the exciting opportunities that you have but rarely use. “203 Travel Challenges” will give you useful information and advice. It will inspire you to transform every trip into your very own personal adventure.

Who is this book for?

“203 Travel Challenges” is for anyone who thinks they have tried everything. For anyone who thinks they just can’t. For any ordinary person who loves traveling, the new things in life as well as life itself. For any tired, busy, serious, conservative, disappointed or sad person – you’re the person who needs a little change of scenery the most! We’ll challenge you to change the way you travel in at least 203 different ways.

Look inside the book

Read a sample on the Amazon page of “203 Travel Challenges”.

Take the ingredients of the challenges, stir them, move them and change them to create your own challenges.

Start with the test “What kind of a traveler are you?” at the beginning of the book (or take it FOR FREE HERE)

You’re going to love this book!

Or hate it…

Nah… just joking, you’re going to love it!

Why are we so sure?! Because it’s the challenges that make you advance, explore and become a happy person!

Read an interview with the authors of “203 Travel Challenges”!

Still not sure? You don’t have to believe us but you can see what our readers have to say about the book:

We are all jaded, with a constant bombardment from the Internet, Instagram, or Pinterest, riddled with cliches about “life-changing moments”, “The Secret” etc. The plans and ideas in this book are very inspiring and have more depth. It is so fresh and so energizing.

– Lucy Mallows, travel writer & translator

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Reading this book helped me reassess what is important when traveling. I’m not sure how many of the challenges I’ll complete, or even how many I’ll attempt. But even if I don’t dare get lost in a mountain without a map, the idea of doing things differently is what I love. Kudos to the writers for seeing the travel experience as something unique and personal, not generic and dull.

– James Crouchman, photographer

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This book is a breath of fresh air.

– Luke Gracias, author of The Devil’s Prayer

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203 Travel Challenges is, like so many of the best creations in life, a deceptively simple concept made possible by a whole lot of effort and research behind the scenes. No matter whether you’re a hardened traveler looking to push your limits or a beginner taking your first steps on a new journey, with this book in hand you’ll be a jack of all travel trades, perfectly equipped to uncover the most interesting experiences your next destination has to offer. If you’re searching for a dash of inspiration to spice up future trips, look no further than 203 Travel Challenges.

– Nick Johns-Wickberg

Are you ready for your personal adventure?

Or pin it for later:

The post 203 Travel Challenges – a book to travel the world and explore your inner self appeared first on 203Challenges.