Peace Corps

A lot of people ask me about Peace Corps: what it was like, how it changed me and what I think about the organization. In short, I love Peace Corps, it changed my life forever and it was an incredible experience that I could never fully describe.

However, I definitely tried.

During my service I wrote over 300 blog posts and I wrote a book about it.

Actually, I wrote two books. And then I taught a class called Peace Corps 101. If you are interested in applying I think that's a great place to start.

In case you'd like to see some of my favorite blog posts from my three years of Peace Corps service, I thought I'd include those here.

Pace yourself, this is a lot...

Applying

1. How Far Will You Go? - early thoughts on Peace Corps
2. Highly, Highly Unusual - letter from Peace Corps after my second decline
3. Embarrassing YouTube Video - getting my invitation to Mongolia
4. Surprise - Peace Corps response to my video
5. Overwhelmed - preparing to leave for Mongolia

Training

1. Staging - the training before training
2. Traveling Days - the chaotic first few weeks
3. Travel Journal - a summary of three months of training
4. The Girl I've Been Looking For - a cute story about my host family
5. Surprises - my first Peace Corps friend who went home

Serving

1. Worst Day of Peace Corps Service - the inevitable poop story
2. Interview with the Art of Manliness - answers to common Peace Corps questions
3. Visiting Home & Freak Out List - a trip home for my sister's wedding
4. Children's Camp - an amazing summer
5. Stress Mess - advice for PCVs with stress
6. Crag Insanity - an outdoor event that reminded me of Nickelodeon GUTS
7. A Talk with Tunga's Family - a conversation on communism and freedom
8. Two Year Mark - finishing my second year
9. PCVL - becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader
10. 10 for 3 - reflections on Peace Corps' third goal
11. Mongolian Wedding - getting married to my wonderful wife
12. Three Year Pizza - reflections on slow change
13. TEDxUlaanbaatar - the first TEDx event in Mongolia
14. The End of My Time in the Peace Corps - the end
15. Thank You, Peace Corps - acknowledgements

Extra

1. Timeline - a brief timeline of my service
2. Service - a description of my first two years
3. Handbook - the book I wrote about Peace Corps
4. Projects - some of my projects during Peace Corps
5. DOS - an official description of my service
6. Enough - the book of all my lessons learned
7. Peace Corps 101  - a class for anyone who loves Peace Corps