A Q&A with Author Chris Guillebeau
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What do you mean in your book by questing?
Questing refers to the pursuit of a long-term challenge or
adventure with a series of intermediate steps. The “questers” I
write about are focused on a specific goal, often to the
exclusion of all others. They devote years toward the journey,
inevitably finding themselves changed along the way.
What is a quest? Is it just a long trip or athletic pursuit?
A quest has a few specific characteristics: a clear goal, a
real challenge, and a set of milestones along the way.
Interestingly, while a quest is often an extended physical
journey—like visiting every country in the world or
circumnavigating the oceans in a small sailboat—there are many
other kinds of quests as well. Over several years of research, I
met activists, academics, artists, and others who chose to spend
long as of time on something that mattered to them. I was
interested in why they undertook such a mission, and what
happened to them as they drew closer to their goal.
How long did it take to visit every country in the world?
Start to finish, it took eleven years. However, I didn’t really
begin the quest aspect of traveling until after I’d been to the
first forty or fifty countries. From there, I set a goal of
visiting one-hundred countries. As I approached the first
one-hundred, I decided to attempt the challenging of visiting
all of them. This led to a five-year process of traveling
300,000+ miles a year, constantly learning about the world and
figuring out logistics as I went along. I also visited many of
the same countries over and over as I traveled to locations
further afield.
How do questers decide on what to pursue and what to avoid?
If you’re going to pursue a quest, you should choose something
you’re really excited about. My quest was to visit every country
in the world, mostly because I loved travel and enjoyed combining
it with the structure of goal-setting. Others focus on their own
hobbies or passions, turning them into the long-term pursuits: to
knit 10,000 hats, to walk across America, to become a real-life
ninja, and so on.
It also helps if there’s a deeper purpose to your quest. Many
of the people I talked to for the book felt a sense of calling or
mission, even if they weren’t religious. They were compelled;
they simply had to pursue the quest. They knew if they didn’t,
they would always regret it.
What role do family and friends play in questers pursuing
their dreams?
A complicated one. In many cases, family and friends provided
critical support for the questers. In some cases, though, family
and friends “just didn’t understand.” In these cases it was
usually important for the quester to establish an outside support
group as they progressed along their way.
Is it important to document a quest?
One of the key themes of quests is that they must be
measurable. They must have an end goal—you have to be able to
say, “This is what I’m working toward and I’ll complete it when x
happens.” Documenting the steps along the way provides tremendous
momentum, since you can see how far they’ve come and how far
still remains.
In my case I used a Wikipedia article that contained a list of
every country. I copied it into Evernote and whenever I visited a
new country, I’d place a big X beside it. As the years went by,
the number of Xs grew until there were only a few places I hadn’t
visited. Finally, I was able to visit those places as well. Just
having that file gave me a sense of urgency as I made my plans
and set out on another Round-the-World trip or 30-hour series of
flights.
What happens to someone after they’ve completed the quest or
achieved their goal?
Most of the time there's a feeling of accomplishment combined
with a sense of melancholy or even alienation. Quests are
complicated! Very often, much of the identity of the quester lies
in the quest itself. The best path forward is usually to take
some time to reflect on the journey. Then—whenever the time is
right—you’ll need a new quest.
- The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life.