Six off piste

What inspired me to travel? I was lucky. My mom had a travel agency in New Jersey when I was a kid. We got to go on loads of cheap “fam trips” in the 60s and 70s. We were the family that got asked, “so…where you going THIS time?”

But as college and jobs and a new wife who thought New Jersey was exotic came into view, I forgot the adventure that came with roaming about the world.

A true story. My new (first, not Stacia) wife, who had spent most of her life in So Cal, went with me to New Jersey and actually said, “we should go to that bar along the Jersey shore beach…oh darn, we didn’t get money changed.” Really. THAT is far from a present and adventurous mind set.

And then I realized one day, working a Wall Street job, even from San Francisco, I was the only one who didn’t want to just go to Cabo or Hawaii. And I definitely found myself feeling like I was finally getting settled as the vacation week ran out. That there’s only so many cervezas to dull the pain of a very stressful job. And I was tethered to a person who simply couldn’t “just go”.

So I kept the job, told my Wall Street partners that vacation is defined as 2 to 3 weeks at a time…and I jettisoned the wife.

Looking back, the big catalyst and brightest star came from finding a mate that was of like mind and spirit. Someone who reminded me that “it is not the things you do in life that you’ll regret, but rather the things you don’t do that you’ll regret.” At the time, we worked together in business, then, as now.

One day, I returned to my desk and found a tiny origami bird on my desk she had folded…and a note. It read, “Dear Birdie. You cannot explore new oceans until you lose sight of the shore.”

I had been getting up at 2:00 or 3:00 am for a decade. I was sleep deprived and medicated to sleep, medicated to stay awake, and had the means to say, at the apex of my then career, buzz off. We’re going to choose a different path. And so we did…

For three children, 49 states, nearly 100 countries, we’ve gathered photos, stories, memories and people we’ve met that fill volumes. The trail rolls forward and the tales never end.

But the greatest books we’ll ever write are these. There is no price for the memories they contain.

No where in there is the word, “someday.”

Thank you Stacia

Forty-Five Things I Learned in the Gulag

Rabbi Gittelsohn, the rabbi of record who was embedded at the Iwo Jimo invasion, was to give a unified sermon to all survivors at Iwo Jima in memory of the fallen in 1945. He was forbidden, and the 3 religions were separated. Yet he still gave his non-denominational address to the Jewish troops. Protesting, other priests attended anyway.

In his autobiography, Rabbi Gittelsohn reflected, “I have often wondered whether anyone would ever have heard of my Iwo Jima sermon had it not been for the bigoted attempt to ban it.”

“Here lie men who loved America because their ancestors generations ago helped in her founding, and other men who loved her with equal passion because they themselves or their own fathers escaped from oppression to her blessed shores. Here lie officers and men, Negroes and whites, rich men and poor . . . together. Here are Protestants, Catholics, and Jews together. Here no man prefers another because of his faith or despises him because of his color. Here there are no quotas of how many from each group are admitted or allowed. Among these men, there is no discrimination. No prejudices. No hatred. Theirs is the highest and purest democracy …

Whosoever of us lifts his hand in hate against a brother, or who thinks himself superior to those who happen to be in the minority, makes of this ceremony and the bloody sacrifice it commemorates, an empty, hollow mockery. To this, then, as our solemn duty, sacred duty do we the living now dedicate ourselves: to the right of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews, of white men and Negroes alike, to enjoy the democracy for which all of them have here paid the price …

We here solemnly swear that this shall not be in vain. Out of this and from the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this will come, we promise, the birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere.”

Amen.♥

“Everyone needs money. That’s why they call it money.” – David Mamet

You have been presented with “resources”, (often code for $), but in your case intellectual resources to see more, understand more, and be more. Therefore…

1. You are not defined by what you have, but rather what you do with what you have. Resources, be it money or education or experiences that you earn mean far more than money you are given.

2. Do not allow money to rule your decision making process. It is only one component of your decision making process.

3. Although money doesn’t buy happiness, it  can provide peace of mind, freedom and flexibility. Those are 3 very valuable and powerful results of money.

5. “True wealth” is much bigger, and can only be defined by you from within. Over time it will morph, and will help define much of who you are.  Choose wisely, for the devils lettuce is a dangerous idol and brutal enforcer.

7. It begins with hard work, and ends with investing. In between are budgeting, saving, patience, restraint, vision and goals.

11. Avoid debt. If money represents freedom and flexibility and peace of mind, then debt is the opposite. Debt is anxiety, constraint and mental slavery. Others around you will seemingly have more through the acquisition of stuff. They do not. They have borrowed from their futures in a pact with the devil, exchanging today’s pleasure for tomorrow’s pain. Just don’t do it.

13. On the other hand, invest wisely with joy, foresight and patience. The most valuable assets an investor has are time and compounding. Both, applied properly to savings, will provide tremendous benefits that only the smart and visionary can understand. Again, it comes down to math. Patience means forgoing today’s one pleasure in return for tomorrow’s exponential gain. You must trust me on this. Only from the future can you see the past with certainty.

17.  Donate something. Give what you can. That might be money. But I would argue money is only the result of your output. If you are as smart and thoughtful as I think you are, then give of your intellect and character and the resulting output will have a far greater multiplier effect and leverage for the recipient. Think Zambia school, teaching, sharing your time and insights. Those have greater and powerful lasting value beyond the simple conveyance of money, both for the recipient of your largesse…and for YOU in the form of reciprocal satisfaction.

19. Finally, I’ll leave you with a quotation from sociologist William Bruce
Cameron, although many people attribute it to Albert Einstein:
“. . . not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts
can be counted.”

(Alexander, See if you recall why I used prime numbers for this love lesson.)

Indonesia

Indonesia

Komodo

Tokyo

Kyoto

Kyoto

Luang Prabang, Laos

Under the Sea

Thailand

Beijing, China

Kep, Cambodia

The Roman philosopher Seneca, in his letter On Travel as a Cure for Discontent, Seneca cautions his friend Lucilius against using travel to escape from his problems:

“Socrates made the same remark to one who complained; he said: ‘Why do you wonder that globe-trotting does not help you, seeing that you always take yourself with you? The reason which set you wandering is ever at your heels.’ What pleasure is there in seeing new lands? Or in surveying cities and spots of interest? All your bustle is useless. Do you ask why such flight does not help you? It is because you flee along with yourself. You must lay aside the burdens of the mind; until you do this, no place will satisfy you.”

R.I.P. Anthony Bourdain

As the reported deaths by Pol Pot seemingly decline in what is perhaps revisionist history, (or not), it is apparent to many the US had a harrowing effect on the incredible Cambodia. And informs two of my “100 things we learned during our 82,000 miles.” (“100 things” will come a bit later, as the final results are reflected upon)

– “In order to have done what the Unites States did in Asia, they had to have viewed the ______ as sub-human. “(Choose: Japanese, Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians)

– “A human’s ability to forgive might be the most powerful and stunning force we have witnessed.”