Thoughtful Travel: Exploring the World with Intention

When you live so little, you tend to imagine you’re not going to die. But wasting your time concentrating on death is like watching a comedy and thinking only about the credits. It's a mistake of emphasis.

I like entering that magic field called “Eureka,” enjoying the sweet lightness of being when you feel one with the universe. My attitude creates my altitude — and that determines my longitude of gratitude. Let me 'splain: Longitude spans all seven continents, and so have I. Energy flows where attention goes.

Sometimes, I get an incredible ROI by being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. I embarked on an unplanned trip and became:

Beauty is Unity in Variety

When I rowed on the Charles River (1980), the state of flow was often triggered. It’s that place where action and awareness merge, and you feel tremendous self-control and focus. What’s more incredible is the absence of emotion — you can’t create experiences like this; you undergo them.

The Secret is about results; flow is about process. The joy is simply doing it — but doing it optimally becomes its own reward.

Travel’s Chemical Romance — DOPE-amine

20,000 Leagues Into My Brain: The 3lb Universe and The Travel Molecule. Flow is a loss of self. But peak experiences leave a stronger sense of self. Even just imagining departure triggers dopamine — a flood of “feel good” neurotransmitters that signal something exciting is about to happen.

Dopamine is a Swiss army knife: it regulates reward. When I travel, dopamine spikes. The thrill is real. (Drugs mimic dopamine. So does sailing — I’m making this up, but it’s kind of true.)

Peak Experiences provide life landmarks that I can return to in memory. They are more than moments — they are soul snapshots.

PE’s: Peak Experiences

Moments of deep happiness, flow, and synchronicity. It's the magic where consciousness becomes storyteller. The teachable moment: PE’s hint that our powers are greater than we believe.

Nature — especially at sea — produces awe and wonder. Last summer in the Pacific Northwest was no exception.

Cash Flow — 85% Confusion, 15% Commission

Shipwrecked, but I’m singing in the lifeboat.

It's easy to meet expenses — they’re everywhere I go. On land, money is like a sixth sense: I can’t use the other five without it.

The invention of the ship was also the invention of the shipwreck. Anytime I live within my means, I suffer from a lack of imagination.

The biggest addiction? Not drugs or caffeine — it’s a monthly salary. I'm thinking of going back to financial rehab: Eating what I kill on 100% commission. Sure, it tastes better — but it’s an event, not a habit. I have a dream with a deadline. It's called a goal.

I find myself wanting everything, which means I might be dangerously close to wanting nothing.