In April 2023, I came across Derek Sivers’ “Now” page, and I thought it was a cool idea. As Sivers explained, plenty of people have biographical “about” pages, but a “now” page is a venue for sharing what you’re working on at the current moment. Think of it as a summary of what you would share with a close friend that you haven’t seen in a year. I plan on updating mine once per month, give or take. This is my “Now” page. Enjoy 🤝
Last updated June 1, 2023, from New York, New York
Current Goals and Projects
Improving my Spanish
I majored in Spanish in undergrad, but I didn’t speak an ounce of the language for 2+ years after graduating in May 2019. In November 2021, while in Sevilla, Spain, I grabbed dinner with the family that hosted me during my study abroad. I didn’t understand 90% of what they were saying, and I decided that I needed to step up my Spanish game. Finally, in Summer 2022, I committed to the goal.
I have been taking 4-5 one on one conversational Spanish lessons on iTalki each week, as well as listening to Spanish podcasts, reading Spanish newsletters, and chatting with my Hispanic friends (of which I have many at Columbia) in Spanish to improve my foreign language skills.
The ideal outcome is being able to confidently converse in Spanish with my Lat Am friends’ families at their weddings. Vamos.
Writing a Travel Book
In June 2021, I was struggling with what exactly I wanted to do for the next few years. I had just turned 24, I was sick of the monotonous routine of waking up, logging into Zoom calls in my apartment bedroom, rinse, repeat. I just wanted to go, though I didn’t know where.
One night, my roommate at the time, Chase, left a book on my bed: Vagabonding by Rolf Potts.
I devoured the book in one night and realized “Fuck it, I want to see some places and things I’ve never seen before.”
Two months later, I was headed to Barcelona on a 1-way ticket, and between August 2021 and July 2022, I spent approximately 9 months living in Europe and Argentina.
Since returning to the US, I’ve wanted to write a book distilling my thoughts about the Whats, Whys, and Hows of traveling in one’s 20s, and it hit me that I could write the book, chapter by chapter, on this blog. So that’s exactly what I’m doing.
The plan is to eventually publish this book, either with a publishing house or on my own, at the conclusion of this project.
Graduating Business School
I just finished my first year at Columbia Business School (time really does fly when you’re having fun), and I have three months before once again entering Kravis Hall. I underestimated just how much I would cherish the connections made here, but I can now say that the past year has been the most fun year of my life.
Considering Different Career Paths
A year ago, I was hell-bent on never again doing anything for work except writing.
Two years ago, I hadn’t published a single article on the internet, and my goal was probably to land a gig with McKinsey post-business school.
Now, as an incredibly wise 26-year-old with a fully developed frontal lobe and all, I have no idea what I want to do for work over the next few years.
Don’t worry, I plan to write until I die. But I’m not sure that I just want to write. My worry is that if my livelihood is completely tied to my content, my work will become commoditized. I don’t want writing to feel like a chore. I’ve also realized that the quality of my writing, or my output, is affected by the quality of my inputs, or experiences.
A job separate from writing that still gave me the freedom to publish what I wanted in my free time could actually make my writing even better. The good news is that I have another year of business school to figure this whole thing out.
Recent Travel/Life Events
May 26, 2023: I saw several of my college friends for the first time in months when we headed to Ft. Lauderdale for Memorial Day Weekend. The vibes were immaculate. We also procured a boat from a lovely young lady and friend of the family.
May 13, 2023: I spent eight days in Bogotá, Medellín, and Cartagena with 300 of my business school classmates. While I normally prefer traveling in small groups, this trip was fun as hell. I also bought a new poncho, check it out:
May 7, 2023: I flew to Guatemala with 6 friends to visit my favorite Guatemalan classmate: Marcos. We stayed with Marcos’ family in Guate City for a night before visiting the pyramids in Tikal Park, staying in an Airbnb on Lake Atitlán, and exploring Antigua. Super fun boys trip, highly recommend.
April 26, 2023: I went to Austin, Texas with my guy Juan Cruz for a crypto conference. I also hate crypto, and I only spent 45 minutes at the conference before dicking around with other friends who lived in the city for the rest of the weekend. Austin is such a fun city, big Texas guy here.
April 8, 2023: The boys won the MBA Rugby World Cup. Business school is funny because despite all of us being 25-33 years old, several MBA programs have competitive club rugby teams. As a former college football player and one of the younger guys in the program, I figured “Sure, I’ll play rugby.”
And now I love it. We were pretty rusty in the fall, considering that outside of five guys with some experience, most of us were a ragtag group of degenerates who just wanted to hit someone. However, by April, we had figured out our groove, and we beat London Business School in the World Cup final.
All credit to the lads. I think I got tetanus from drinking from the trophy.
March 8, 2023: I visited Japan for the first time. The cool thing about business school is that we go to cool places like Japan for spring break instead of Panama City or Gulf Shores. There was a contingent of ~150 students on an organized trek, but Ben, Brody, Tanmaye, Toni, and I decided to Airbnb our way around the country on a side trip.
Side trips are always the move. This was the most fun trip of my life, and a phenomenal bonding experience for the boys.
February 4, 2023: My best friend got married. After like a decade of dating, Chase and Caroline finally got married in Chattanooga, TN. I had the honor of being the best man, and minus almost losing the ring, I think I did a good job fulfilling my duties. I also got Chase a Samurai Sword for his wedding gift, because no one needs another toaster oven.
Upcoming Travel/Events
I’m currently apartment hunting in Manhattan as I try to escape Hell’s Kitchen for greener pastures. Very excited for my guy Jake to move up.
I’ll probably rip Europe for most of August. Maybe even get crazy and hit Ibiza.
Hopefully, I’ll get this travel book finished by early fall so I can start looking at next steps, publishing-wise.
Maybe I’ll take golf lessons this summer, too. My golf game is trash.