Last night. I tried something new.......

Chris Guillebeau (The Art of Non Conformity) is a clever and engaging blogger who has kept my rapt attention for the last year with his writing about practical ways of living a life you love.

He has set a goal to travel to every country in the world.

He mentioned he would be passing through Auckland last night and would be at the Rakino's cafe bar if anyone would be interested in having a chat with him.

So Rose and I decided to be unreasonable and invest the two hour drive and meet this person who has been feeding our minds for a year.

It was worth it!

Rakino's was the funkiest cafe I've been in for a while - climbing a marble staircase in an old building in the midst of High Street fashion cool was an experience in itself.

Reaching the top of the stairs into the pure funk of Rakino's we saw straight away in the corner Chris sitting in a circle of unique and unconventional looking people - It was even better than I could have imagined! There was a sense of adventure in the air! Plans were being hatched, plots were being formed, travel yarns being spun!

Chris has impeccable manners. He immediately got up and warmly welcomed us.

Straight away, people around stood up and introduced themselves - their openness was surprising.

Chris came and sat next to us, inquired about what we do, encouraged us, answered questions and just delivered on sharing himself and what he is doing.

He is someone who walks his talk, doesn't try to be perfect and engages with people who are listening to his story.

Ah me - this application of the Internet is truly amazing! What possibilities does this open up for special interest groups around the world!

He gave generously of his time with us, graciously and gracefully excused himself and moved on to speak with more in his group and left us feeling fully satisfied with our meeting.

We were then surprised with unique and adventurous members of this party coming up to talk with us - surprising and very pleasing being in the company of such people.

The things these people did!! So interesting and so exciting!

Notably, when we swapped details - everyone had a blog address to share!

Craig from IndieTravelPodcast.com helped organise this soiree and was a ball of energy and a great host getting around the room....and what an exciting publication he produces!

Now, thanks to this experience, I've got some great ideas about blogging and going out and meeting with like minded people who read my blog and follow my work. This was truly a wonderful thing to do.

I hope this inspires you to keep trying out something new on a regular basis this year!

Email Mike...