• The 2016 Gear Post

    The 2016 Gear Post

    Welcome to the 2016 Gear Post! This is my most anticipated post of the year, which means that it’s the one I’m harrassed about the most. Due to popular request, I did individual photos for each item, which takes considerably longer to do. My curent backpack weight is around 10.5 pounds, and as you probably…

  • The 2016 Gear Post Prelude

    The 2016 Gear Post Prelude

    I would have forgotten about my promise to post this in November if it wasn’t for, well, everyone else very tactfully reminding me that I said I’d do it. The timing works, though. My bag is packed for a two month trip that will bring me to thirteen countries by plane, train, car, ship, and…

  • Excuses We Give Ourselves

    Excuses We Give Ourselves

    My friends and I do a quarterly accountability group. We come up with our own individual goals and pair them with punishments and rewards. For this quarter, I have a list of ten things to do on CruiseSheet. It’s halfway through the quarter, and although I’ve made progress on a few, I haven’t completed any…

  • Retire First

    Retire First

    Here’s an idea for people who are done with school and aren’t too excited about the standard life staring them in the face. Instead of grinding through life to retire later, why not work as hard as possible to retire first, and then live the rest of your life on your terms. There are probably…

  • Island Two-Year Update: Shipwrecked

    Island Two-Year Update: Shipwrecked

    We were all excited about this most recent island trip. Brian, Elliot, and I would be flying together from Tokyo directly to Halifax, and would be joined there for a few days by Todd, and then by Ben for a couple days afterwards. It was to be the first island trip with no critical imminent…

  • Up in the Ether

    Up in the Ether

    When I was a kid, I had flannel blankets. Blue and green, if my memory’s accurate. My bedroom had big french doors to the outside that made my room cold when it was winter. Even before computers, I was a night owl. My parents would make me go to bed at ten, I’d crawl into…

  • Build Things With Your Friends

    Build Things With Your Friends

    A couple years ago I became obsessed with the idea of buying an island. I mean, I’d always been obsessed with it, but my obsession shifted from the idea of buying the island into the action of buying it. I wasn’t fantasizing about the things I’d build on the island– I was looking up property…

  • Opportunity, Not Outcome

    Opportunity, Not Outcome

    Todd and I sat on my couch in Vegas today. He was on his computer researching home automation stuff, and I was cleaning up my place, getting it ready to hibernate until I return. I didn’t expect to like Vegas so much, I told him with a smile. He agreed. Most of my week was…

  • Why I Throw Away my Change

    Why I Throw Away my Change

    I throw away my change. Not all of it. Quarters of the lifeblood of laundry, and dimes have the best value to weight ratio, but I throw away all nickels and pennies. If I’m at a store and I don’t accidentally autpilot pocket my change, I’ll leave the pennies and nickels on the counter. If…

  • Superhuman Social Skills is Now Available! Free Today Only on Kindle!

    Superhuman Social Skills is Now Available! Free Today Only on Kindle!

    Whew! Superhuman Social Skills is Officially available! I’d like to hype up this book and tell you how proud I am of it, and how much early readers have liked it, but instead I’ll do you one better. If you’re reading this on Tuesday September 29th, the book is available for free! Please download it…