Artificial Intelligence is one of the biggest polarizing topics. Artists hate it, business people or those needing quick spelling or research help may appreciate it more. I have this discussion a lot. There is a ton of recognizable slop and sloppy information provided by LLMs. I, like many of those leading A.I. firms are hoping for governing regulation as “the singularity” where machine intelligence surpasses human cognitive abilities is debatably here.
Over 10 years ago, I jumped into bringing automated, connected technology solutions (project management with some CRM components) to the largely still 80’s-like business environment of sports and entertainment. I saw firsthand how pulling people reliance out of disparate systems and streamlining work created next-level results – notable business lifts (ie, more sales), better service, more time for above-and-beyond ROI-driving activities and 47% average time savings (which skewed up to 70-80%+ for your system power players). I pitched the effect – but did so in a spreadsheet (a key collaborative productivity killer known for high error rates and organizational drag).
In the push toward modern efficiency, standard advice usually splits into two extremes: either buy another point solution to solve every minor friction point, or promise that fully autonomous systems will magically run your enterprise overnight.
Neither extreme reflects reality from my experience.
Technology doesn’t replace elite strategic judgment, customer intuition, or go-to-market execution—it simply frees up the bandwidth needed to apply them. When highly skilled leaders spend 15 to 20 hours a week acting as manual data bridges between CRMs, custom spreadsheets, and communication tools while trying to fight an influx of emails pouring through, the real loss isn’t just software spend. It is velocity, strategic focus, and personal time coupled with stress, angst and a feeling of constantly being caught behind the 8-ball.
1. Where Enterprise Velocity Actually Breaks Down
Operational drag rarely stems from a single massive failure. It is the cumulative impact of micro-friction:
Manual Data Syncs: Re-keying customer information, deal updates, or partner leads across disjointed systems. Hard-coding with manual imports hurts.
Context-Switching Overhead: Spending critical mental energy managing manual notifications and status tracking instead of closing deals, refining GTM strategy or working on the ideal build-out and “wish list.”
Response Loops: Allowing inbound leads or operational inquiries to sit for hours in a queue when the pipeline demands immediate execution, or multiple days or weeks to stand something up, train and mandate and police the team causes friction.
Automation and agentic workflows are not magic remedies; they are structural architecture. When applied to repetitive, rules-based tasks, event-driven middleware eliminates data entry errors and speeds up response times from hours to under 60 seconds. This setup keeps your team firmly where they belong: in the loop as the strategic decision-makers.
2. Measuring Your Operational Drag (Introducing Calculator V1)
To help leaders quantify this hidden operational tax, we built the TNTC Operational ROI Calculator (V1).
Instead of vague promises, V1 provides a clear, data-backed diagnostic of your team’s current operational friction:
Total Estimated Annual Waste: The hard cost of manual data re-entry and administrative overhead across your team.
Recoverable Monthly Savings: What your bottom line looks like when routine workflows are automated.
Capacity Gain: The exact number of annual working hours freed up for high-impact GTM execution, strategic growth, and life balance outside of work (*hint; which can be deployed to help discover purpose, pursue hobbies, be more present with family and friends – all things Finding Your True North and beyond).
Note: V1 focuses on core team capacity and manual task friction. As we continue building, future iterations will introduce dedicated modules for complex partner ecosystems, multi-stage RevOps pipelines, and custom agentic workflows.
3. What Comes Next
After benchmarking your current friction, the goal isn’t to rebuild your entire tech stack overnight. It’s about identifying the 20% of manual handoffs that cause 80% of your operational drag.
Once you submit your diagnostic, you’ll receive a detailed breakdown of your numbers alongside our Operational Architecture Teardown Guide to help you map out immediate, practical improvements and an invitation for a free assessment call.
Early on in my sponsorship management software days, I worked with a Coastal Plain League upstart group turning heads: the Gastonia Grizzlies and the Savannah Bananas, owned and run by an innovative husband-and-wife duo who pushed all the chips to the middle of the table early on in Jesse and Emily Cole. Our software work didn’t last too long because they made an aggressive, counterintuitive move: cutting out traditional sponsorship clutter to focus 100% on fan experience.
Boy, did that bet pay off. Fast forward about nine years, and what started as a bold risk has become a global phenomenon. Jesse and his team took inspiration from the Harlem Globetrotters and Bill Veeck’s promotional genius, blew up the minor league model, and built their own touring league. Today, they sell out 60,000-seat stadiums across the country, command massive secondary-market ticket demand, and draw fans into four-hour pre-parties.
At True North Team Consulting (TNTC), this is the precise ethos we preach: finding your True North, rediscovering your core purpose, taking massive chances, and putting fun first. When you stop playing by legacy rules that breed dead air, quiet compliance, or lukewarm engagement, the results don’t just improve—they skyrocket.
Standing in a packed stadium watching a pitcher throw a strike with a college logo (U of U locally) carved into his chest hair after quite the walk-out ceremony—flanked by a full band, hype-announcers, a hip-hop dance squad, superhero cameos, players jumping into the stands with the Pharty the Party Animals’ mascot and everyone else high-fiving kids throughout the game played in its own league with its own rules even—you realize how universal this need for genuine engagement is. Music clips run continuously swapping every 15 seconds. Former Major Leaguers forgo the “bigs” to step back onto the diamond just to feel that constant spark. Every half-inning offers a fresh reason to celebrate, and the team’s Bananas Foster initiative actively gives back by honoring foster families.
This experience hits at the exact heart of what we at Apres Leisure call the Third Place—that sacred space outside of work and home where we get the fulfillment that drives us in the other places. Whether you are out in the woods, on the lake, or standing in a electric stadium, these spaces allow us to disconnect from screens and remember who we actually are when we’re truly enjoying life. We also commemore the Legends made in the process – and every one of these cast members proved to be a legend to the fans partaking throughout the 7-8 hour hour timeframe for some of the crowd, many of which who came out each night here.
It’s also why this mindset aligns so deeply with the mission of Apres Leisure (visit “The Vault” here). Leisure isn’t passive sitting around; it’s the sense of fulfillment when purpose, legends, epic entertainment, relaxation and community impact strike all at once.
When you align your organization with its True North—stripping away friction and putting real human connection, energy, and joy at the center—you don’t just host an event or run a business. You convert passive observers into passionate followers, create unforgettable moments, and build something that truly stands out.
As an executive GTM operator and AI architect, navigating today’s automated applicant tracking systems has been a humbling paradox. The month of May just ended, but the conversation around mental health shouldn’t. This is a transparent look at macro economic trends, curveballs, the power of human compound interest, and why I am launching Apres Leisure today to fight the noise.
Everyone has so much going on, which makes it hard to sit down and “smell the flowers” as they say. It’s hard to keep up with the trends in greater society when it feels like your life is increasingly chaotic and you’re looking over your shoulder.
The month of May just ended, which is Mental Health Awareness Month. Safe to say, it gets less publicity than say October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month for example. Cancer hits so many with physical pain – not to mention the anguish that comes with it for families, literally of all shapes and sizes. Mental health, however, has always been stigmatized, cloaked and hidden. We are taught to put on a smile and deal with it, but to quietly suffer and not air out that kind of laundry. Back when, someone who goes to therapy was long considered “crazy” dismissively.
I’ll shine some light on the numbers. Spoiler alert: if you look at the trends across sources, mental health has been consistently getting worse and more costly no matter how you slice it (these charts were from studies done in December of 2023).
Also, not too surprising news is that the younger your generation, the more mental health issues you are facing as a general trend. Two-and-a-half years ago, 73% of people cited having a mental health issue in the past year.
A lot has changed since that time.
And for the record, it’s okay to not be okay.
Fair disclosures: I am married to a front-line social worker and crisis worker. Every single day, she and her peers navigate the compounding numbers of our unhoused communities, veterans, and individuals left short on answers and hope and have turned to suicidal plays. Witnessing their selflessness is a daily masterclass in empathy. They are the quiet, essential infrastructure holding our communities together, operating in a system that often feels like it has running out of human solutions.
Many of the youth today were taught that the path to success is paved through education (of which job-placement rates don’t support largely thanks to unbridled advanced in technology). Most probably haven’t heard of the artist Tupac, who was gone too soon. Tupac was an activist with SO many famous quotes, interviews and statements that remain relevant 30 years later, like the one below, “They got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor.”
To use a baseball analogy, I feel like I’ve had to face not only every curveball life could throw over the past few years, but every Paul Skenes “splinker,” slider, curve and heater (shout out to my Pirates, first sign of competitive life in ages). I absolutely know the feeling of being in that clear, growing majority.
As an executive operator who builds high-velocity GTM engines and complex AI data workflows, it has been a humbling paradox to sit on the other side of the screen. I know firsthand what it’s like to spend hours-upon-hours job hunting, matching keywords and navigating automated applicant tracking systems only to hit immediate auto-denials. It forces an honest calibration of what matters. It also makes me realize that while I am actively hunting for my next senior GTM, marketing, or strategic operations leadership mandate, the goal isn’t just to find a title—it’s to align with a team that values human clarity as much as velocity.
I am a believer in the power of compound interest.
I know that if I can lock in my alter ego mindset, escape in the mountains, get some ski laps and laughs in with friends, or spend some time with animals or in nature, that gives me some temporary reprieve. Meditation, deep breathing, down-time and escaping screens all helps – just ask the experts…to a point…
Even when I’m down, I try to count my blessings and remember that someone else has it worse. I’ve always tried to make someone’s day putting a smile on their face – be it asking my grocery baggers about the latest in their life and thanking them or being nice to the customer service people on the phone that deal with a lot of upset people.
The photo above at the top is from my time gig-working at a local music festival, trying to make people’s day with a quirky greeting at the gate with my man Julius. Julius spends time handwriting cards and gives them to random people for encouragement: mine was “You deserve all the wonderful things life has to offer. Share the love.”
This exact friction is why I am officially launching an all-terrain lifestyle project today called Apres Leisure. The brand was born out of a profound need for those special ‘Third Places’—the quiet mountain ridges, the ski laps with lifelong friends, the local brewpubs, or a festival gate with Julius—where we step away from the digital noise, find temporary reprieve, and transform to our legendary forms. We believe our apparel and gear can serve as physical artifacts to trigger the mindset needed to persevere. To anchor this mission with action, a portion of all proceeds throughout the month of June will be directly donated to frontline mental health initiatives.
Money isn’t everything. It won’t solve the world’s issues, but I believe that if we can make the effort to take the time to connect with people, following up and showing someone that you are thinking of them, creates traction and goodwill is infectious.
May is over, but that doesn’t mean the movement and momentum has to end here.
Be kind, divert some energy to someone else in the community and if they take the notion and do the same, that can start a movement, and could well become a trend in itself.
I didn’t just launch a lifestyle brand; I built an Agentic GTM Framework. In Part 1 of the Apres Leisure build, I reveal how I moved from ‘Generative Noob’ to ‘Agentic Architect,’ scaling a 0-FTE brand from concept to launch in under 90 days. If you’re ready to move beyond ‘using AI’ and start running an AI workforce, the signal starts here.
How the principles of Finding Your True North fueled a 90-day, 0-FTE brand launch for Apres Leisure (P1).
I. The Call: Incorporating the Philosophy of Finding Your True North
Every successful venture starts with a clear signal. In my book, Finding Your True North, I explore the necessity of aligning internal purpose with external execution. While continuing to search for my great next career fit, I took on a challenging consulting project. Launching Apres Leisure was the ultimate “stress test” for these themes. I had to move from a self-described “Generative Noob” (using AI for ideas and copy, probably the average use case) to an Agentic GTM Architect (using AI for execution), ensuring that the brand’s “True North”—the transition into the Modern Myth—was never lost in the automation.
II. The Struggle: Addressing Laundry List of Challenges
Moving from speaking about and pitching connected technology to implementing it firsthand (read: front-to-back-of-house) requires some real strategist-to-operator-level commitment. In addition to time management, here are a few of the top hurdles faced in the process:
Education Rabbit hole – transitioning from generative to agentic via certifications, video tutorials, prompt education, social platform feedback, tons of trial-and-error.
Resources – versed in The Lean Startup methodology, I played a very key role in standing up and scaling a bootstrapped company, new category, etc. Finding free ways to grow vs. using the magic bullets is a job in itself. Vendor choices can be extensive.
Feedback – driving advisor and peer opinions, pressure-testing, doing the research to build out the strategy + LOTS of generative AI prompts.
Uniqueness – pressure-testing the category, building out the brand accordingly with comps and differentiating factors in mind.
Dedication – going from non-technical to self-taught “vibe coding” Agentic GTM technical skills isn’t for the faint of heart. If you hit a wall 1000 times, you have to make sure to get up 1,001. When the Make.com scenario failed for the 10th time, I leaned on the ‘Navigating the Fog’ chapter of Finding Your True North to recalibrate the logic.
III. The Solution: O-FTE with an Agentic Workforce
To maintain a 0-FTE overhead, I originally deployed seven agentic workflows tied to key roles, which evolved. These weren’t just prompts; they were digital employees executing the “True North” strategy:
To launch with 0 FTE, along with a few key exec roles, I architected multiple ancillary agentic roles within the “Apres Brain” to handle the heavy lifting of a traditional GTM team. Here are a few of them:
The Lore Master (Brand & Philosophy)
Function: Synthesizes the core principles from Finding Your True North into the brand’s narrative.
Output: Developed the “Apres Access” Legend Ledger loyalty framework and the “Modern Myth” identity of the LeisureVerse, catering to those who want to take that feeling from the special/sacred “Third Place” with them.
The GTM Strategist (Market & Finance)
Function: Conducts competitive analysis and financial modeling.
Output: Engineered a pricing strategy that secures a prescribed margin while maintaining “leisure-class” accessibility.
The Automation Architect (Logic & Handshakes)
Function: Bridges the gap between disparate SaaS tools.
Output: Built the Legend_Ledger_Entry scenario in Make.com to automate data flow between Shopify and the Ledger.
The Product Designer (Iterative Creation)
Function: Translates lore into physical aesthetics using generative design tools.
Output: Rapidly prototyped and synced 67 unique products initially for V1.
The Logistics Lead (Operations & Flow)
Function: Manages the complex logic of print-on-demand fulfillment and shipping tiers.
Output: Structured the Standard Signal Shipping hierarchy with automated free-shipping thresholds at $80+.
The Wordsmith (Conversion Copy)
Function: Generates high-fidelity product descriptions and marketing assets.
Output: Created the conversion-focused copy for the Apres Leisure Store and the automated communication triggers for new customers.
The Efficiency Auditor (Overhead Control)
Function: Monitors the “Team of One” tech stack to ensure 0-FTE sustainability.
Output: Optimized the modular API strategy to prevent “tool bloat” and ensure the business remains bootstrapped and profitable.
IV. The outcomes: Streamlining Ops & Results
By streamlining operations through this agentic stack and getting more refined in the approach, I saved easily $250k+ in traditional CAC and OpEx while increasing velocity to reach launch week in under 90 days. The product is a scalable, lore-driven brand with a community-first loyalty protocol that gives back in multiple ways.
A key part of agentic strategy is connecting APIs amongst services.
As for the results, stay tuned for Part 2.
Building the Future: I am currently seeking my next high-impact role as a Full-Time Employee and/or Growth Consultant. If you want to move your organization from “using AI” to “running an Agentic Workforce” with 0-to-1 velocity, let’s connect.
Join the Cycle
1. Equip Yourself: Become part of the Founding 100, explore the First Cycle of gear and lore at Apres Leisure, enter the LeisureVerse and act on the Signal for gear at The Shop.
2. Read the Playbook: To understand the methodology behind the Forge, grab your copy of Finding Your True North on Amazon and make sure to leave a review if you find it helpful. It is the guide for any leader looking to find their signal in the noise of this complex generative age.
Our Southeast Asian travels continued, this time to Singapore then the Philippines. We got to experience manmade and natural wonders and cuisine, learning a lot about the cultures in the process.
Calabawan Falls
After the safari of a lifetime visiting Borneo’s unique species’, we shipped off from Sandakan to Singapore via Malaysia Air, connecting first in Kuala Lumpur (the only connection while in Southeast Asia for us). We quickly spent the last of our Ringgits on a bottle of wine and some duty-free candy and in just over an hour in the air, we were in the fascinating island city-state of Singapore.
Changi Airport is the top-rated airport in the world. It’s expansive, has so many designer stores, gardens, aquariums and fountains (including Jewel Changi with a waterfall) and entertainment. Asian airports have shown how efficient travel can be, not to mention the amenities.
Knowing Singapore is one of the most expensive places in the world, we went budget on accommodations. We ended up at Hotel Fuji in Geylang, once a thriving red-light district (Singapore’s stance on sex workers, like its stance on most in the non-super-wealthy demographic, is SUPER exploitative to say the least). We got a cuisine recommendation from our Uber driver, who speaks excellent English like most in Singapore. It was a seafood market lit up like a mini Vegas and the menu featured all kinds of interesting novelties. Frog leg porridge was a suggested favorite here. Crab is a top specialty of the Singapore dining scene, which has many curated, immersive, multi-course elaborate experiences. I ended up trying the grilled frogs legs and crispy short-ribs (I enjoyed the latter more, but fried makes everything taste better). The area was walkable but every we went into a bar, many of which had karaoke vibes, as the underground gambling dens and beauty shop discreet sex workers were pretty strictly getting squashed out (and it felt like they were still . Lots of funny looks and not so welcoming vibes.
Singapore is one of the most meticulously clean, landscaped and managed places you’ll find in the world. It is also known for the strictest laws to keep the place clean in all the ways it perceives it can. We had a mad scramble to finish our gum before arriving and learned a lot about the hundreds of laws from the local drivers (many of which are doing it was a second job because it’s so expensive to live there, the locals have subsidized shoebox houses and shop in nearby Malaysia). Not only is chewing and spitting out gum a crime that can lead to caning, but so jaywalking, staying out drinking past 10pm with 3+ people, being naked in your house, and so many more things. Most laws are designed to keep the locals in line without wavering, catering to the rich finance moguls, visitors and expats. Cameras are everywhere, and you can get arrested typically 4-6 hours after a violation and sent to prison. It felt very dystopian (remember reading The Giver?).
We set out to experience Singapore’s top sites, including Chinatown, Gardens by the Sea and Singapore Botanic Gardens. We saw another ornate temple requiring shoes off and conservative dress to enter. Just outside on the market street in Chinatown, we tried the famous Singapore Sling cocktail (all the Brits will point you to Raffles Hotel for the very expensive original). We meandered, watched some chess with an audience and looked through the vendor goodies. The Botanic Gardens was this magnificently catered park curated with so many different species and garden zones with science labs cloning species in the middle of it all. We met a few pretty birds and nice big monitors and skink lizards while enjoying the beautiful curated surroundings.
The Gardens by the Bay was a paid attraction with electric towers lined with plants, and we paid to take in two top attractions: Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. Flower Dome was an indoor garden with plant species from all over the world organized in different zones made to feel like you were globe-trotting.
Cloud Forest was another indoor garden and jungle Jurassic Park animatronic immersive experience. These domed areas with clear glass provided views of the harbor and a lot of lessons about the various featured species. We especially enjoyed this experience, loving dinosaurs, the movies and nature like we do.
We capped it off in the largest skewered meat market imaginable and trying to catch a light show on the harbor (later realizing it was only at the ship in the sky-looking Marina Bay Sands Singapore hotel). They tried to charge $90 for 2 cocktails at this rooftop bar, luckily I talked them down a bit on that!
36 hours after arriving, we were happy to be taking off on Singapore Air (another amazing regional airline) for our last big leg. Just about four hours later we made it to Cebu in the Philippines. The Philippines are home to 7,641 islands, and only about 2,000 of which are inhabited. This reefy, volcanic splash of paradise hit me when flying in as I watched the islands stack up.
My grandfather fought in the 503rd/101st Airborne Infantry, the only regiment in the Pacific for World War II. My cousin’s husband (also on my dad’s side) Stephen Greene was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam in the same regiment and recently shared his newsletters about the stories.
“Grandpa” shared very little to my dad or us about those days, although famously would not eat monkey again and hated rice. We were told he was shot in the butt and that he won a Purple Heart and Silver Star and later learned he had some notable machismo adventures while based in Australia (ie. nighttime non-sanctioned jumps, fights with the Marines). I read about the battles he fighted in Leyte, nextdoor to Cebu, Mindano and Corregidor. Corregidor sits in Manilla Bay (near the Japanese taken Manila base), is known as “the Rock” and hosted one of the most infamous battles in American war history based on being the most difficult technical landing of a parachute troop drop historically, the casualty rates and multi-day siege that took place.
Connecting with my grandfather’s story resonated as we dropped into Cebu City the main city in the Central Visayas (3.4 million inhabitants span the 167 islands included in this central Philippine zone known for the greatest biodiversity, hence our visit). We were warned about civil wars ongoing in Mindanao and heard that Manila is very dirty and overpopulated, so they were avoided.
We stayed in Lapu-Lapu City nearby at the Blue Maribago Beach Resort, 15 minutes from the airport where a local opportunistic man picked us up in place of a Grab, ended up paying him in cash (a bit more than the going rate to help with his family mentioned as he was very nice, opportunistic and accommodating).
It didn’t take long before the Philippine spirit shined through via most of the people we met. Our room was upgraded to beachside by the staff, all of which would smile, put hand on heart and say good morning, afternoon or evening when walking by. The villa overlooked the sandbar island and lagoon beach in front of us. The room was spectacular and spacious, we were a within a short walk from hammocks, this amazing exotic seafood buffet and restaurant, another with a bar on the water, and beach-themed lagoon pools. There was live music, a thrilling fire-dancing show and beach service to the canopies. Food specialties were noodles or rice as a base, steamed veggies, all types of seafood, served all kinds of different ways, fried chicken and crispy pork dishes, along with different tropical fruits and veggies.
Our 3am departure and full-day tour was both of our top highlight of the entire trip. A driver brought us hours away to the southwest coast of the island to Oslob. We geared up and got herded out to the water, where the locals were attracting whale sharks with treats, the largest species of shark (harmless spotted filter-feeders). Soon, we were in the water getting brushed by these massive gentle giants (the rules were no sunscreen as it negatively affects them and don’t touch). While many were juveniles, the sheer beauty and magnificence of these ~25 foot wonders was incredible first-hand underwater, and I was lucky to capture our moments together on my GoPro.
Calabawan Falls awaited us, a jungle paradise and hike into a series of waterfalls. Rain closed another epic set of falls for flooding, and made the hike slippery – luckily we had the most attentive, happy, strong, agile barefooted young 5 foot tall local guide and photographer. The cliff diving and abseiling down waterfalls was incredible, as was the sheer beauty of the dense jungle surroundings. We capped it off with a fresh, hot meal on the coast, seeing the ruins from the latest cyclone two years removed.
We had a self-care day to make the missus happy, featuring facials, mani-pedis and a new hair-styling – all at less than the cost of one premium service here. We got to wander around locally, amidst the locals and their markets out of their houses, little stores, rickshaws, basketball courts and motobikes and scooters (2nd world feel to the place). The locals talked of the government corruption, which left road construction projects constant, slow and under-resourced. Our last night brought a wicked tropical thunderstorm, which was quite an experience.
I grabbed a Philippino-pained long ukulele to think back to my days looking at the sky-blue water and green island foliage of the islands. Sadly, soon after we got back, Cebu got hit by a 6.9 earthquake and cyclones, killing over 70 with massive impact on the locals. This volcanic hotbed can’t rest from tectonic movements.
Overall, this was the most inexpensive place we visited (felt it to be ~20% what we’re used to paying financially). The people were also the most happy, genuine, friendly, service-oriented wonderful folks. We would highly encourage others to visit, support the people and see what it’s all about. We will be back and our minds stay relaxed picturing the Filipino landscapes and mindset when in a peaceful state.
After a Taipei night for stop-over, we were riding the jet stream winds on a 10 (down from 14) hour flight back stateside to Seattle, asked a few Customs questions about my guitar (not a gun) and were officially back stateside. Back to the wild ride of emotions, big box stores and Americana, and still thinking about prospects of living and traveling around these wonders of Southeast Asia.
This blog reflects on the wonders of Malaysia, sleeping giant, Muslim mecca with thick jungles, temples and 20% of the world’s species. It details our adventures exploring these wonders and getting to know the creatures.
After about 52 hours in Taiwan, we caught a midnight five hour Air Asia flight across the South China Sea to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Like Taiwan, Malaysia is an energy, resource-rich hotbed for wildlife that is affordable and another expat favorite for so many reasons.
AirAsia is on the economy side, but it was comfortable enough and who’s site and app were notably easy to use, even with flight changes. Uber isn’t currently in Malaysia, but there’s a few others that are similar, Grab being one I latched onto for rides for this trip. I learned the hard way from a driver that you have to match baggages with ride option and once I upgraded, it was a long hour+ drive to the central commercial zone of KL.
We got to our “hotel” and were greeting by armed guards in stand out front that gruffly let us through when we showed authorization of staying at The Manor KLCC. We went up a floor to a small hotel check-in place, realizing this place was more like executive residences than a true hotel. We paid a fee to check-in early and luckily could collapse in our unit, which felt like a luxury 1B condo overlooking the expansively growing skyline of KL, including Merkeda Tower (2nd tallest building in the world) and Petronas Towers (largest dual-connected towers in the world).
After a few hours of sleep, I set out to get a few essentials including an outlet converter as Malaysia has a different plug than ours unlike Taiwan. Malaysia is a highly Muslim country, which is evident by all the birkas on the flight, middle-eastern / conservatives appearances walking around, and the dichotomy of old world and all this new, modern construction and high fashion was fascinating.
Downtown KL has a ton of shopping and malls and the nearest grocery store was about a 25 minute hike away, past other executive residences. I hit a food court in the mall and was lost trying to figure out breakfast options, went with what looked like the most similar and found myself trying to figure out what I got handed a hot water heater for boiling eggs with my toast and sandwich. I was able to finally figure out how to get a few staples, electric plug converter included to save the day. We learned that Malaysian food is like an Indian / Thai / Middle-Eastern collaboration, often quite spicy and there are markets dispersed for it around town. We tiptoed around it with some Thai and shwarma-like middle-eastern options.
The WOW moment downtown came at our rooftop pool – a stunning, relaxing experience to take in the sights all around.
After a day of adjusting, where we ordered in, our tour adventures continued starting with a visit to the legendary Batu Caves. We met our first Asian monkeys, who were very socialized and used to the many tourists, often opportunistically stealing bags for food jackpots and waters. We walked past the golden Lord Murugan Statue and up the stairs, where Alli was shift-grabbed by a monkey while trying to take a selfie. At the bottom and into the caves were these picturesque, colorful holy temples. Breathtaking to take it in and we had to grab a few souvenir gifts.
We stopped at a hand-painted shirt factory en route up north an hour and a half into the dense jungle for an epic elephant sanctuary visit. When offered the chance to bathe and feed young elephants as part of a private tour, we took it and didn’t regret getting soaked for the experience. Gandah, the only sanctuary-born elephant of the 40 in residence was a sweetheart. All of the gentle giants were there for injury or infringement on town areas and relocated for protection. We got to pet, feed and get to know about 8 elephants, who were eager for treats.
Off we left to fly out from there from the western peninsula to the island of Borneo, home to Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysian territory. At the KL airport, we had to pay to upgrade bag coverage past the tiny allowance. The domestic flight terminal was tight and cramped and I felt bad for the quiet, unassuming line of 15 short Muslim girls who got jumped by many others to get through the gate. Between there and the pool, where they could dip feet in only, the gender disparity gap seemed pretty wide and unfair, but not my place to judge.
We arrived in Sandakan in the state of Sabah on the northeast corner of Malaysian Borneo, caught some quick winks and were picked up for our all-included tour to experience the heart of where 20% of the world’s species reside. First stop nearby was the Orangutan Conservation & Rehabilitation Center. Orangutans are down in numbers to just over 100k and live on two islands, here and Sumatra. In this swampy, sticky jungle, organutans are fed and the sick cared for. They are free to go and the food is not what they’d consider top shelf, and they often have to fight off the local macaque clans to get it, which was fascinating to watch, along with the mom with baby and other cute, flexible, swinging relatives.
Nextdoor was a Sun Bear Conservatory, another fascinating animal nearing endangerment, who are secretive without much known about them. These guys are the smallest and most vulnerable of the bear species. We saw these little around 8 of these brown-faced critters munching on vegetation shared happily, including sitting up knawing on carrots. We saw a resource fight between two, which featured high-pitched squeals and screams and some chasing that felt more akin to badgers than bears.
From there, we drove to Sim Sim Jetty, a Chinese coastal neighborhood in the community, which featured some large Amazon pet fish and all kinds of beautiful potted plants lining this dock. Off we went staring at the mountains that fed into this coastal community with a scenic mountain island and speedboat ride sending us ripping our way an hour and a half into rivers with thick mangroves and trees lining the shore. En route, we spotted a large ~13 foot saltwater croc sunning on shore (the first I have seen!).
Our first river lodge (Kinabitu ?) had a lot of character, cozy cabins with AC and a fan, which helped in the sticky humidity. I appreciated getting to walk the labeled boardwalks trying to spot creatures, including at night with a headlamp, seeing tree frogs, spiders a lantern bug and more. At dawn and near dusk, we set out on our skiff to seek out wildlife near the shore at peak times to catch there. Our guide Lat knew so much about the species and both he and the driver were able to spot animals while moving fast, while also coordinating with other tour guides. The government protects the area with the help of tourist taxes, and it shows as the animals show little worry about nearby gawkers.
We quickly spotted Borneo-specific harems of Proboscis Monkeys, featuring an alpha and the mates and offspring. The pot-belied males feature the giant, long floppy noses and despite their figure, can launch themselves from tree to tree. The females have smaller, pointy noses. Reading Ancestor’s Tale, it details the divergence of humans down the line of primates and the Probiscus are a nearer relative not far off from the split from orangutans ~13 million years ago. Easy to see the resemblance, really started at you and sat there picking and eating leaves and you could confuse with people without too much imagination. We enjoyed watching babies doing acrobatics and bachelor groups as well.
Easy to enjoy the beauty of the river and sunsets, river inlets and quiet lakes off the main river and at dusk, the fireflies lighting up around a few trees and calls of the wild all around.
The lodge offered great fresh-cooked delicious meals featuring steamed veggies, rice, noodles, fish, shrimp, fried wontons, and delicious local fruits and tasty deserts. There was a special night that we all wore the native Sarongs and enjoyed a meal with local women old and young playing soothing music with their instruments.
At this point, we were seeing a number of sub-species of Horned Bills, one of the few species that picks and stays with a partner for life. We saw a pair of grey langurs, one grooming the other. In a palm tree at the second lodge, a staffer pointed to a flying lemur that was probably nearly 4 feet long, waiting for the chance to soar when night fell. We were seeing so many macaques that they were becoming pedestrian. At the second lodge, they gave us sticks to beat them off as they are known to go after bags for food. Alli stayed in the pool when everyone else went to lunch and the pack jumped right in, partying like it was spring break – hilarious!
On the reptile front, there was an emerald green pit viper sitting in the same spot daily near the kitchen with a lump of a catch from recently, fascinating to see it sitting in the bush like a stick a few feet away. We saw numerous skinks and geckos and were lucky enough to watch another nearly 10 foot croc from close before he spooked, snapped and leapt in the water.
What really made this incredible experience all the more special was that on the way back, the 1st lodge reported an orgunutan visiting, and we were able to zip back and watch him in the canopy near our breakfast spot the previous day. Part of the group instead followed a pygmy elephant, who came to the riverbank. As we waived at the staff sending us off and zipped past the floating bottles with fish flying off the wake, looking at the islands of the coast, we just smiled having experienced a truly incredible part of the world. I hope gets the protection it needs to stay that way.
Taiwan is not what you may think. This place is an incredible infusion of old ways and progressive living, lined with national parks, vibrant night markets and more.
Delta’s flights, which we connected in Seattle with a manageable layover with 3 separate Skyclub visits en route. I was lucky enough to be sitting behind a Michigan grad from Ann Arbor flying to China with his folks and we split the $40 internet fee to watch UM / OU (even though they announced that internet wasn’t available for the flight, this feed came through with regular manual refreshes).
Once we finally figured out our Arrival Cards and how to get out of the airport, we were eager to get to our hotel, the Miramar Gardens Taipei for some rest and adjustment to the 13 hour time difference. Luckily, Uber served Taiwan and we had about an hour ride to get to the Zhongshang District in the heart of the city. We found this to be a very nice, comfortable, convenient choice and cool neighborhood to explore. Highlight was the “Japanese Style” spa (read: had to sign-off on being naked to utilize the hot and cold tubs, steam & sauna rooms, etc. It was a very relaxing and soothing experience. The outdoor pool area with lounges was also very relaxing and appreciated, as was the bidet with all kinds of settings (we got quite used to having these regularly).
Taiwan is known for having a leading amount of convenience stores and the trip to my nearby 7-11 turned out interestingly. We brought a lot of snacks but I wanted to supplement a few meal with finds from there and what I got was not what I expected upon picking. Instead of cheese, I got an egg product another weird protein product that was like tofu, beef gizzards, sparkling wine in a can with bobas (they also invented Boba/Bubble Tea), crab flavored corn nut like and other chip-like things.
Another local staple is beef noodles and I tried it nearby and enjoyed the pho-like dish (although wasn’t willing to wait outside this famous noodle house and found another I could get served quickly). The Liaoning Street Market was a short walk away and fun to walk the streets seeing what the locals were dishing out and feeding folks. Visiting the night markets is a must in Taipei as they’re buzzing with energy and interesting vendor finds. We also checked out Raoshe, which was much bigger and more action-packed. Nextdoor was a fabulous 300 year old temple with a ton of intricate special details in the design.
We opted for a few photos out front and not the ride up what was the world’s tallest building in Taipei 101. Notably, Taipei despite being a top population dense city also felt green and sustainable with lots of parks.
The biggest highlights came via our private Viator custom tour, of which we had the best, most engaging guide in “Nicolas” (after Cage, who along with other Hollywood movie stars taught him his great English)., who left a career in business for the flexibility and change of pace in providing special tours. Despite his Lakers hat (sensitive subject with me historically), Nicolas connected well with both of us – he loved his baseball (following Taiwanese stars especially), the NBA and playing badminton regularly.
He taught us a lot about the culture while taking us to the Houtong “Cat Village”, an old coal mining town turned tourist attraction with community cats and related local ties. He also took us to Yangmingshan National Park, a mountainous volcanic forest with geysers and hot springs that fed right down into the north side of Taipei. One hot spring pool had a small temple to honor the ghosts of residents with no families. Volcano Island appeared off the rocky north shores of the island. We saw a big Formosan Rock (or Taiwanese) Macaque on a fence near the road, several skinks and an egret. For $34, we had an upscale 90 minute private spa soak room with a hot and cold tub piping mineral water.
Taiwan has a number of other national parks including Turtle Island, named after it’s appearance of a partially submerged turtle. It’s temperate semi-tropical climate make it a very comfortable place and its easy to see how why it’s a surging place for expats.
Lions are a key symbol for Taiwan, known for warding off spirits, being brave and courageous and lucky. We had good luck exploring this special place and think you would too.
Travel adventures across Southeast Asia: introduction to our journeys.
Not too long ago, I set a goal of visiting a new country yearly and other new places along with it if going abroad isn’t in the cards. When I caught a flash deal via SLC’s newest international direct flight to Seoul for around $700-something, I jumped on it…that is until another flash deal for 36k Skymiles (Delta “Main”) popped up and I made the switch. I can’t even get to Chicago for that, no brainer! The timing was off-peak in September once school and fall slate begins (would prefer summer but I follow the deal!).
I talked to my world traveling friends about potential itineraries and reached out to the family travel agent that helped us with a Viking cruise for tour options and prices. I realized that we had to whittle down our list significantly and that the tours were a whole lot more for an area that I thought was supposed to be more on the affordable side.
We opted to visit countries that Alli, my wife, hadn’t yet and to save the China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam and opted for southeast Asia. I took the top recommendations and tours and started reverse engineering, looking for as many direct flights as possible, adding tours via Viator, tracking and booking flights and hotels in centralized, accessible areas via Expedia (which had the highest Rakuten rebate %). We did choose to keep one tour that had a lot of components in Borneo, having to pre-pay to hold it as spots and date availability was limited and we planned around that in the middle of the two book-end flights. Doing so allowed savings of ~50% from the tour packages.
I’m going to reflect on each stop separately, but what resulted was an amazing trek of adventures prioritizing visiting exotic animals in their mostly native locales while still possible. It was designed to be a combination of cities, cultures, tours and downtime for personal activity choices.
We purposely didn’t try to come off as Americans, yet didn’t hide it when it came up in conversation and had a lot to dispel in a tense global political situation to say the least. In fact, there was a shooting involving a political zealot in Utah while we were there, which put us on the map in the wrong way. Hard to ignore the flare-ups happening despite our wishes of international immersion…
Not surprisingly, we ran into a ton of Brits as we visited many former British colonies. They always seems have a nearly unlimited amount of “holiday” time for vacations and a dry sense of humor about things. Often, there was just enough English and signs able to be picked up to get around and some accents were tough to work with.
All-in-all, it turned out to be 10 flights, 4 separate islands, 1 peninsula and ~ 3 days between places. The airports were cleaner, more efficient and effective to navigate through. Each new country required an Arrival Card submitted beforehand in place of needing visas. Weight more often than number of bags was the limitation (usually ~25 kilos per international flight). Once for a domestic flight we had to pay for more baggage. We tightly rolled and bagged clothes and should have opted for doing laundry vs. bringing enough to last as we had some bags breaking down and it always took awhile to re-pack.
It helped to convert cash into native currencies at my bank before going. We found that bigger businesses took credit cards but “mom and pops” shops were cash only. This happens to be the low point for the $ in a long time, but most places were still affordable at ranges.
Unforgettable memories resulted from a trip of a lifetime celebrating an anniversary and birthdays – stay tuned for the individual location breakdowns!
Shutting a door with a bang and opening a new one going into 40.
I was embarking on a monumental life chapter on paper. A confluence of factors had me push myself on my New Year’s Resolution going into my turn going “over the hill.” I set out to step up and make it a transformative turn and it sure proved itself as the most difficult, challenging stretch of my life.
Immediately after the Cuba trip in mid-June, I tore the achilles lunging playing pickleball for the first time. It felt like a weight dropped on the back of my leg and I immediately felt a pop, yelled and looked around for someone that kicked me. I’m lucky it didn’t happen before the trip as it well could’ve. Sad moment for a proud athlete who prides himself in skiing 50+ days a year and never getting a real injury to date.
After limping around doing yard work hoping it was maybe a high ankle sprain, icing and sleeping on it hoping the issue would subside, I was proven wrong: this turns into a key metaphor for life and the moment. I woke up, the swelling moved down my league and bruising of the “cankle” was significant. A little Googling had me worried for the worst – a torn achilles. Urgent care got me a quick MRI that I ultimately didn’t need, but it showed a clear rupture. Because I got in early to my doctor, I got the option to not do surgery and just do physical therapy. Doing the research (re-injury rate is 3x less via surgery ) and my father-in-law felt like his ankle came back stronger after surgery and I flipped.
A friend recommended the new “speed bridge” surgery that Aaron Rodgers famously came back from, but that wasn’t readily available locally. I (half) jokingly had my screened and validated OSU grad doctor mark the correct leg to operate on to avoid the accidental procedure on the wrong leg. Luckily the surgery went well, I was wheeled home and fighting the pains trying to minimize the opioids for recovery as much as possible. In short, I’m very thankful for all the help from my father in law Peter, who pushed me to stay on regiment to the exact rep, not put weight on it and helped with chores. I can thank U of Utah’s Dr. Dave Carter (PhD. in achilles recovery), who Peter swore by, Peter and my wife for the support. I hit a flooring low point hope-wise early on knowing my summer and fall were shot, but I was focused on skiing come winter and I sucked it up, worked hard on my PT, hit the weight room hard to build the strength (and then some) and somehow in just under 6 months, worked my way back on the mountain and wrapped up a ski season skiing 54 days and nearly 800k vertical feet. To date, it’s no Rodgers story of non-field heroics, but I’ve just passed a year since surgery (about the date you can said to be recovered) and I’ve had no setbacks aside from sporting a purple, scarred bulge and the humbling life moment escapade that came with it.
A lot of mental work also brought me to forcing myself to step up, realize my needs and what I believe in and take a stand instead of quietly taking the easy way out. Just like hobbling on a leg I knew in my gut was shot and possibly extending the damage and thinking I could “sleep it off,” I had a tendency to internalize. What do I believe in? What breaks the code?
I needed to learn a key lesson when it comes to self-actualization and speak up for what and whom I believe in. Over the course of the year, I transparently called out my closest friends, family and coworkers. I stated my piece instead of allowing the status quo or playing both sides and it led to a ton of pain, heartache and feeling alone with a number of my closest relationships feeling very much in limbo.
I forced myself to start instituting and enforcing boundaries. I’ve realized that you can only control yourself and that people won’t change unless they are open to it. This is a work in progress. The truth is that many of those relationships will never be the same, people come and go and show their true colors. ‘Tis life – stay true.
The world has drastically changed dramatically politically, economically and socially. Many are feeling hopeless and forgotten and it’s easy to get sucked into deep despair following the news: I sure did. It’s ok to not be ok, just know what outlets are available.
While/when it may seem hopeless on a macro scale, it’s okay to tune out and focus on the micro. I just read “Go-Giver” and “Infinite Game” in my summer hammock. I’m a firm believer that karma is real, providing “glimmer” moments – small periods of joy and striving to find ways to give back can help lift spirits. Those can include dropping messages of goodwill, making random people laugh, compliments, gifts, giving time or feedback (transparent) pay dividends in “life purpose equity.”
Give and live! Take stock in what you have with gratitude and not the social comparisons – what a decade and chapter. Stand up for yourself and what you believe in.
You may feel ripped to shreds and alone in the world, but work the process and come out of it a new person; epic comeback story in the making.
Cuba is open for business! Yes, still (despite what you may think, Americans). Sadly, since Obama opened the gates to American tourists to come visit again, his successor and even Biden since haven’t helped matters and the new cruise infrastructure that millions was dumped into sits empty and tourist visits have trickled, but that didn’t stop us.
Alli, my wife wasn’t happy that I went to Cuba without her and had been dying to return, this time with close friends of ours known for globe-trotting in Andy and Lisa. We connected in Miami (one of 3 U.S. cities you can enter from), got our tourist visa at the airport for $100, reason for the visit being to support the Cuban people.
After waiting for an extra 25 minutes on the side, while sweating for being overdressed for the tropics, to clear customs (they had some fun with me for a blurry initial photo). Then like that, we were cruising down the scenic seaside Malecon past the occassionally updated ruins to our casa in Habana Vieja.
This trip, we were much more centralized to the action then last time, when we stayed in Central Havana in a busy, noisy neighborhood (still walkable – just much less centralized). Within a 10 minute walk was the waterfront and view of the old fort and all the historic sights of Habana Vieja, tons of bars and restaurants competing for your business via English-speaking street help ($10-15/per gets you an amazing meal with a drink or two and live musicians playing for you). The “real (ie. local) downtown,” Central Havana was also closely connected as was the government center and fancy classic car tours waiting to show you around anywhere for $1.
Highlights were rooftop dining with city and water/fort views and watching a Afro/Cuban parade (orisha / Santeria) with procession dancing by on stilts, having the famous cocktails at the original source of the rum (aged rum tastes like good scotch), mojito and daiquiri with the likes of the statue (and spirit?) of Hemingway, all the food and musicians and the sheer beauty of the old ruins, city parks including a Gaudi Park Guell-like porcelain creation and restored historic grandeur.
Having experienced the vibrancy of Havana nights (and days), I was most excited about the chance to get out of the city and experience the countryside, beaches and towns. Luckily, as part of our 8 day tour, we had 4 nights and an extra day to sightsee across the largest island in the Caribbean. Highlights included: exploring the West Cuba mountains and caves by boat and a special Cuban cigar farm and tour (here’s how they do it), visiting the endangered Cuban Crocs at the Zapata Swampswimming in the legendary reefs around the Bay of Pigs and Fish Cave cenote, learning about the war history around the Bay of Pigs at the Garon Museum (years of civil war of which we unsuccessfully intervened) and popping through the old colorful colonial French town of Cienfuegos.
For this pirate-aficionado, I especially enjoyed the Caribbean town of Trinidad. Trinidad’s ancient streets are cobblestone and labyrinth, to mitigate pirate invasions back when. The history was rich and thick in and around the town square. We were served seafood and cocktails under cabanas on the rustic beach and the town was the birthplace to the famous “Canchancharra” medicinal cocktails (Black Tears rum, honey and a spritz of bubble water and lime). We returned from the beach to an extended rolling blackout, but found our way back to the town square where the owner of a new place recruited us to at the beach, where we found Cuba’s top singing talent (who could sing Adele in Italian, English and Spanish with soul) and a tropical storm around sunset under a roof with mountain, see and town views for many miles. We finished the night watching the tropical sky light up with lightning flashes in the distance from the roof of our place and trying to grab a few winks with no air conditioning.
The mountain pass we went through heading north was scenic and we stopped in a sugar cane factory en route to Santa Clara, where we took in famous communist revolutionary Che Guevarra’s monument while learning more about his contributions in the fight to bring education (he had a doctorate himself) and a reprieve from poverty and indentured servitude to the masses. The Che and revolutionary themes are everywhere in Cuba, despite the fact that he had a falling out with Fidel before he was assassinated in Bolivia.
We concluded our trip in the best possible way – relaxation in the beach peninsula paradise of Veradero off the straights of Florida (Atlantic side). The fine white sand beach was clear and waters crystal blue – much like the Florida panhandle beaches. We stayed a block from the beach, rented cabanas for $1 for the day, refreshed with 80 cent pina coladas and $3 burger lunches, popped by the Beatles Bar, and had nice sunset dinners after driving the strip in a convertible or horse-drawn buggy. It was very relaxing and a worthy Cuban send-off.
Cuba is a very mis-understood place. A friend was jailed for weeks there back in the day for putting up posters promoting a gay party. Beware as there is no extradition. When we asked our guide about facts, the answers were all over the place (ie. unemployment rates) and talking government policy is taboo. Today, it’s unsure of itself and who it wants to be, with a more active black market environment – elements of our market-driven economies and small businesses becoming a lot more accepted, even since the last trip.
True to our visas (which you’re supposed to back with non-government vendor receipts for 5 years), we readily supported musicians and anyone helping make the experience better with $1 or couple hundred pesos, which go oh so long a ways. Occasionally, we got hustled, which entails being led to a restaraunt/bar and overcharged. When the average monthly salary is $30 and doctors make $87, your perspective changes. Monthly rations (including “Vitamin R” and tobacco) are covered for all, as is housing, employment and medical (Cuba has one of highest doctor to citizen ratios and treatment levels).
Cuban industry has shrunk considerably (many people ask for medical and US logo/city products as they are scarce and expensive). Tourism has taken a major hit and all the hotels and resorts are government owned. Despite everything, life is simple, the reefs are still pristine, food (always get the pork) and drinks are as fresh and tasty as they come and the people are smiling, happy and full of soul and charm.
I recently read Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman (no surprise that it was written by a Dutchman). The premise is that society co-existed and thrived when sharing and started coming a part once individual possessions started to become a theme. There are some very evident, exponentially scary flaws to capitalism and clearly communism is a flawed ideology that far from achieves its means.
While I nurse my surgically repaired achilles of which I’m on the hook for thousands and dealing with the stress of all the missed agenda items and months-upon-months of recovery ahead, it’s hard to not think of the the different world-view such an injury brings about for someone in a place like Cuba!
