Chris Guillebeau on traveling to every country in the world, living a life of non-conformity, and doing the work you were born to do.

It’s not everyday you meet someone who’s travelled to every single country in the world.After four years of living in West Africa as a volunteer executive, Chris Guillebeau went on a lifetime quest to design a life of non-conformity.Visiting every single country in the world was just the beginning.Since then, Chris has went on to become a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, selling over 500,000 copies of The $100 Startup, and helping a small army of remarkable people to create a career around their purpose.We had a raw conversation with Chris about how he got started on his quest to travel the world, the challenges he’s faced along the way, and how he designed a life of freedom and purpose.

How to Travel to Every Country In The World, and Discover the Work You Were Born To Do

An Early Start

While some people are born and raised in the same city until their adulthood, Chris had an early start.At the age of six, Chris had his first international experience by visiting the Philippines, and he ended up living there for two years with his mother.“At the time it felt fairly normal,” he says. “I didn’t realize until later that not every American kid went overseas to live in Asia or another different culture.”

Pivotal Moment

But it wasn’t until the age of 22 that Chris continued his international adventures.This time, it was in Africa.Working as an aid worker for an international charity organization, he was constantly traveling back and forth between Europe and Africa.

It was during a trip on the train that Chris had a crazy thought… what if he went to 100 countries?“At first it was a lifelong goal—to somehow, one day, go to 100 countries,” he says. “I loved travel and I loved goal-setting. I put the two together and came up with that. Then I realized I should have a deadline, so I set it as my 30th birthday, about three years away at the time.”It was decided. 100 countries by age 30.Now it was just a matter of figuring out how much it would cost.

“I did the math. And according to my calculations, it would cost about the same as buying a new sport utility vehicle, about $30,000. A lot of my friends were buying S.U.V.’s, but it just didn’t appeal to me. I wanted to spend my money learning about new cultures in places like Burma, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Lesotho and the Balkans, places I never thought I would see.”

But $30,000 isn’t exactly pocket change.He had no sponsors (and didn’t want any), so it was up to him to make everything happen.Instead of following the traditional path of getting a regular job, Chris decided to hack his way to freedom. He started by getting approved for 13 different credit cards, all of which offered mileage bonuses of at least 20,000 miles.And he was off and running…“When I got my first credit cards (see CardsforTravel.com for personalized recommendations), I was thrilled that my credit score actually went up over the course of a year,” Chris said. “I continued to apply for more and more cards, using the points for free trips all over the globe, and in the end that process paid for at least half of my quest.

“I always tell readers that they don’t have to be insane ambitious like me and apply for 13 different cards. Even getting a single card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred can make a HUGE difference in the opportunities available to you. Of course, you want to make sure you can be responsible with spending, pay off the balance each month, etc.”

A New Kind of Problem

It didn’t take long before Chris hit country No.50. As his confidence grew stronger, he thought: “Why stop at 100?”

“I realized that 100 was easy. I could pick and choose which countries to go to. That’s why I thought, well, why not go to EVERY COUNTRY, no exceptions?”

His goal to visit every single country by age 35 was ambitious. And it also introduced a new problem that a normal traveler rarely runs into.

“One of the problems is that I am running out of places with easy access. It’s not like every country is an Italy or a Mexico. Soon, I’m going to have to start making arrangements to get to Chad, the South Pacific and central Asia.

When you’re traveling to every single country in the world, including some of the most dangerous places, things go wrong.

“I had a lot of scary moments, but I usually prefer to focus on the more positive ones. And that’s the thing: the more positive moments greatly exceed the moments I’d rather forget. I was treated well and welcomed almost everywhere I went.”

The Last Mile

April 2013 was a special month for Chris.It marked not only his 35th year of being alive, but the celebration of visiting his 193rd and last country in the world: Norway.A party took place in Oslo, Norway in central downtown with friends and fans of his popular community.

"It was crazy. We had more than 200 people from all over come to Norway with me. I was a little sad about going to my last country, so it was great to share it with so many friends and readers."

Reaching the last country on Earth was one of the first quests that Chris wanted to reach in his lifetime. He’s accomplished before the age of 35, what most of us could only aspire doing in a lifetime, and he was just getting started.In his pursuit of constant growth and improvement, he’s also had to overcome some of life’s biggest curveballs, including the unexpected passing of a family member.

Living a life of service and giving

It’s moments of hardship and struggle, when we’re often pushed to discover the work we were born to do.For Chris, it poured fuel to a growing fire to live a life of service, community, and giving.

“If you’re worried about work-life balance, something is probably wrong with your life or your work. Instead of agonizing over balance, get excited and create change.”

He’s continued to write books that have changed the trajectory of many lives, speaking around the world, and holding annual events: The World Domination Summit and Pioneer Nation, in order to bring his community together.

“Living a life of service isn’t entirely selfless.”

“Living a life of service isn’t entirely selfless,” Chris says. “I call it selfish generosity—as we serve others, we ourselves benefit. My time in West Africa taught me that, and I’ve tried to extend it to the other projects I take on.”

What’s Ahead

From doing the impossible of visiting every country in the world, serving millions on building a career with purpose, and overcoming life’s most difficult struggles, there’s no telling what Chris will take on next.“These days I feel very fortunate to connect every day with a global community of awesome people,” he says. “I’m writing a new book and starting a new show all about side hustles. There are a lot of resources for people who want to be entrepreneurs, but not everyone wants that.  A lot of people are happy in their jobs, but would love an additional source of income. Creating a process for that is what I’m focused on at the moment.”

One Actionable Step From Chris to You

"Whenever you find yourself feeling pressured to do something you don’t want to, step back from the bridge and choose another path."

Here’s one actionable step from Chris to help you discover the work you were born to do.When you were a kid and wanted to do something your parents or teachers didn’t like, you may have heard the question, “If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?”The idea is that it’s not good to do something stupid just because everyone else does it. It’s not bad advice, even if it’s sometimes used to exert control more than to support independent thinking.Then, you grow up and suddenly the tables are turned. People start expecting you to behave exactly as they do. If you don’t conform to their expectations, some of them get confused or even irritated.It’s almost as if they are asking: “Hey, everyone else is jumping off the bridge. Why aren’t you?”The reason I write is to help people understand that they don’t have to jump off the bridge. Whenever you find yourself feeling pressured to do something you don’t want to, step back from the bridge and choose another path.

We want to thank Chris for making the time to provide value for our community at Rype. His work has touched millions of lives, including our team members at Rype. Let's all work as a team to show Chris some love. You can click here to tweet at Chris and share the love!Share with us below, what was your biggest takeaway from this interview?

Say hello to Chris!

His blog - chrisguillebeau.comHis twitter - @chrisguillebeau

Check out his newly released book, Born For this.

References:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/business/21flier.htmlhttp://lewishowes.com/podcast/chris-guillebeau2/