How many summers do you have left?

Welcome to this week’s edition of ‘The Adventure Capitalist’. My goal in this email is to inspire you to get out there and live a bigger more adventurous life.

Here’s what you can expect in this issue:

• An an ode to summer and why you should take it seriously this year

• Why 2024 is the ‘Year of Japan’ (and why it won’t last forever)

• The most impactful thing I’ve done for my happiness in 8 years

Summer, a Love Story

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, summer is a spiritual experience. The sun doesn’t set until 10 pm, the rain is gone until October, and blackberries and pears drip from the bushes and trees everywhere you look.

The dark days of a miserable Seattle winter give you an appreciation for summer that isn’t shared everywhere.

As yesterday was the unofficial kickoff of summer in America, it’s time to get honest and ask some powerful questions.

How many more summers will you get before you leave this earth? How many more sunny days will you enjoy with your parents before they’re gone?

Simple but Important Math:

The average age of death in the US is 80 years old.

I'm 37 years old, so if I die when I’m supposed to (I know that is a weird way of looking at it) I'll have 33 more summers. It obviously could be more, and it could be less.

And how many more will I have with my parents?

My parents are 62, so once again if they die “on schedule” I’ll have 18 more summers with them.

What about summers with my son?

At around age 20, many kids decide they no longer want to come home for summer. If I'm lucky, I'll get 18 more summers when he decides he wants to spend them with me.

My biggest takeaway from this math?

The next 18 summers are crucial. It's the time when my family has the beautiful overlap of three generations.

If your parents are already gone, ask yourself, “How much would you pay to spend one more summer with them?” 

I believe in hard work, and in focusing on the right things.

My goal is to ensure we create memories as a family that last a lifetime, and that’s why I have different rules for myself during the summertime.

Playing by different rules:

From June until September, I say yes to things I typically wouldn't and we try to create a few good memories as a family.

Last year, we took the family to Italy and met up with some of our best friends in the Dolomites. It was a spectacular trip and something I’ll never forget.

This year, we're headed to the San Juan Islands to spend time with my family and then to Lake Tahoe to see my wife's family.

Will it put some stress on me? Yes.

Will I be able to handle it? Also, yes.

It’s important to put in your time, but if you're trying to decide whether or not to say yes to something this summer, remember you can always make more money but you’ll never get another summer back.

The Lifestyle:

🌎 Global Adventure:

In November of last year, I called 2024 the Year of Japan. Turns out that was spot on. Since then, the Yen has only become weaker compared to the dollar, so if you’ve been thinking about pulling the trigger on a Japan trip now is the time. 2024 is STILL the Year of Japan!

The President of El Salvador is putting on a clinic right now. Crime has dropped, tourism is up, and this last week they announced they mined 474 Bitcoin (worth $29 million) using energy from an active volcano (link)

💰Wealth, Business, and Life:

The most impactful thing I’ve done for my happiness and well-being in the last 8 years has been cultivating a men’s group. If you’re considering creating one, Johnny Miller put together an excellent playbook for starting a men’s group that includes many great tips (link)

Is Copper massively undervalued? Stanley Druckenmiller thinks so (Link)

🚁 The Best of the Best:

Have you ever dreamed of living in a tree house? For $6000/mo you can live out your Swiss Family Robinson fantasies (link)

The Chilean coast is highly underrated. This compound can fit an entire family and costs a 20th of what it would if it was in California (link)

Bariloche Argentina is one of the most spectacular places in the world. If you rent this home, you can fit your best friends, grill into the evening, fish, and swim in a gorgeous lake for a fraction of the cost of what it would be in North America (link)

The PNW is the best place to be in the summer. This might truly be the best house to spend the summer in. It’s got a waterfront dock, kayaks, and a dreamy lake (link)

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