powder, acid, golf

Just capped off a voyage to Asia/Australia.

During this trip I:

• Shredded some extremely fluffy powder in the mountain peaks of Niseko, Japan

• Did entirely too much acid (again) during my first night in Bali

• Had a fling with two women from Kazakhstan

• Played my first 18 holes of golf

As you can see, I stacked experience points in many domains on this trip.

I feel wiser - wise enough to produce a list of 3 Entreflâneur travel commandments:

(I’ll continue adding to this list until I have 10. If you have a worthy commandment you’d like to add, please reply with it. 🙂 )

Commandment #1: Thou shall not book in advance

If you must book in advance, get refundable tickets. ALWAYS.

The freedom of spontaneity beats the cost/availability savings of pre-booking.

This is because vibes and plans change as you travel from country to country. Travel is more fun when you can reroute at a whim.

It usually costs more to book last minute, but it can also cost less. 😉 

Even if it costs more, the added optionality is worth it.

It’s also good motivation to make more money so you can travel with ever-increasing freedom.

Commandment #2: Thou shall use travel to improve thy business

By this, I don’t mean working while traveling. The opposite.

Travel-working sucks anyway. You can’t get anything serious done.

Instead, use travel to force yourself OUT of your business so it can exist without you.

Here’s what I mean:

You must step away from your business to test your team’s ability to solve problems independently.

Failure to do this is a sure path to business burnout and insanity.

The problem is that most people (myself included) are bad at “stepping away”…

This is why you literally want to step away… very far away.

I’m talking across an ocean, so you’re in a different time zone.

A 6+ hrs time difference is a forcing function to BATCH communications with your team.

Suddenly, they can’t message you at all hours of the day. They can only reach you during a small time window when work hours line up.

At first, you get a bit nervous, but then you’ll also be surprised how well your team functions without you.

Issues will arise, but they will tell you where the holes are.

When you get back, you’ll know exactly what systems to build.

Lock in for the next few months, build them, and things will run better the next time you jet off.

Repeat.

Commandment #3: Thou shall not take off more than 7 days

I saw this tweet by Alex Becker and it hit extremely hard:

I also get the itch to start working after 4+ days of travel.

Maybe it’s workaholism. I don’t know, and I don’t care.

All I know is that I love the feeling of moving my life forward. This does not happen when I travel.

When I travel, I usually drop all my success habits.

I don’t go to the gym, meditate, or plan my day.

I drink more and consume most substances offered to me.

Rather than fight it, I’d rather fully let go and enjoy myself. This usually leads to better stories anyway.

The key is not to let go for too long. For me, my new cutoff is a week.

When the urge to produce reaches a crescendo, I return to work with renewed energy and excitement.

I feel very fortunate that I don’t want vacations to last. I hope retirement continues to seem terrible.

This is what separates an Entreflâneur from a regular Flâneur.

An Entreflâneur has the freedom to fuck off but loves the game too much to become a full-time vagabonding travel gypsy.

If you feel the same way, you are subscribed to the right newsletter, my friend.

Happy 2025! Big year comin’ up! 🎉

Graydon

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Cool things I found during my weekly internet stroll.

World’s first robot massage contraption. Cool but kind of lame you have to wear a suit. Oil me up pls.

Flipper - the Tamagotchi for hackers. Gift this to your nerdy kid.

Served up by Spijker & me.

No Bad Vibes | Jazzy, KILIMANJARO

Loira | Super Flu, Malive

Maribou | Touzani, Ivan