A Simple Philosophy

Each year, I deliberately add three new pursuits to my life—travel, athletics, and education. Not as goals to check off, but as experiences to lean into. They fuel curiosity, scratch the adventure itch, and keep life from slipping into autopilot.

Travel: Curiosity With a Boarding Pass

Travel is my favorite excuse to wander into the unknown. New cultures, unfamiliar streets, questionable menus, and the occasional caper—ideally all in the same day.

Having lived on five continents—North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Africa—I’ve collected more than passport stamps. From playing with lion cubs on safari to go-kart racing through the streets of Tokyo, each journey adds another story to the archive and another reminder that comfort zones are wildly overrated.

Frequent flyer miles help too. At this point, I’m one status tier away from starting my own airline.

“The day you stop learning is the day you die”

— Albert Einstein

Athletics: Forward Motion, Any Terrain

Athletics balance discovery with discipline and curiosity with calm. Some years that means triathlons and start lines; other years it’s yoga mats, paddleboards, kayaks, and long days outdoors.

It’s rarely about competition. It’s about movement. Progress. Showing up. Whether it’s a bike on an open road, a swim in the ocean, or long run on a mountain trail, the reward is the same: calm cultivated through commitment.

Education: Curiosity, Occasionally With Consequences

Learning keeps me sharp—and humble. One year it was pasta-making at a Tuscan cooking school. Another, graduate school in Sydney.

And then there was gardening. A serious attempt, no less—one that somehow won Bethesda’s Best Small Garden Award. Unfortunately, in a moment of tragic overconfidence, I applied grass killer instead of weed killer the weekend before a magazine photo shoot. The award committee arrived to present my trophy and instead found themselves staring at what could only be described as scorched earth. Their silence was… educational.

Not every experiment is a win, but every one leaves a mark—sometimes literally.

Less Watching More Doing

By carving out space—like enforcing No-TV Tuesdays and Thursdays—I’ve learned how much life expands when you participate instead of spectate. A new recipe. A foreign country. A physical challenge. The wins and wipeouts alike reinforce the same truth: growth lives just beyond the familiar.

And really, that’s the whole point. The pursuit of the unknown isn’t a phase—it’s a lifestyle.

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