One of the lessons you learn very quickly when you travel is how little you actually know about the world. No matter how much you’ve read or how many travel shows you’ve watched, or how well-traveled you are, life on the road is a humbling reminder of one’s place in relation to the world. We are small specks or blips on the radar of life. Our past doesn’t matter as much as our present or our future. Life has to be lived in the moment, as every problem is new and every decision is significant. Since our return, we have been peppered with questions about our experience, so I thought I should share our key insights.
For the past few months, I have devoted all of my writing to my trip around the world. Last September, Jona and I embarked on an eight-month adventure that took us through 26 countries.
For the second year in a row, I was lucky enough to attend Mashable's Social Good Summit at the 92Y in New York City. This sold-out event is often billed as the "alternative CGI" (Clinton Global Initiative), as it costs under $100 to attend and the speakers are every bit as good. SGS has fast become one of my favorite conferences, because it's well-organized, fast, and anyone can watch online. The proceedings are broadcast live with simultaneous interpretation into eight languages. Kudos to Pete Cashmore and his Social Good team.