08 Jun 2026 6 min read Stories

So you want to be an adventurer?

I recently got back from 9 days in Peru and I had a singular and intense feeling from the trip

My friend, we are playing life for keeps. There are no take-backs, it doesn't slow down, you don't get these years back, you are never going to feel ready to do anything, traveling across the earth will always be inconvenient, and there is no amount of money you can accumulate that will suddenly make you an adventurer.

I urge you to stop what you're doing, pick a date on the calendar within 12 months from today to go somewhere epic, spend the next 2 weeks planning your trip, buy plane tickets, and commit.

If you don't do this now, how many years will pass that say you'll do it next year? If you don't do this now, all of your travel dreams will accumulate and compound while being forced off into a convenient little promise at the end of your life called "retirement".

Traveling in retirements is going to be MUCH harder than you realize, and I have proof

I see this proof every single day in people who say they will save money once they make more money, they say they will start going to the gym 'tomorrow' when it's more convenient. Adventure is no different, it's something people love to say they love and not actually do.

Tomorrow never comes.

Steve is proof

You know how I know you aren't going to travel in retirement?

Because there was only one 68-year-old who hiked 170 miles across Spain for the Camino De Santiago with me

There was only a single 70 year old person on Kilimanjaro

You know how many 72 year olds I saw on Machu Picchu?

This is Steve.

Steve is super human. There is only one of him. He had no peers on these adventures. Steve has the soul of an adventurer deep within him. If you think for a second that you're going to spend 65 years comfortably daydreaming about adventure and then suddenly start climbing mountains, you're lying to yourself. You are not Steve

Adventure is a muscle, and if you want any chance to use it in old age you best start working it out right now.

Peru was a blur

Every moment of our time in country was slam packed with activity. We had zero downtime and weren't given much time to enjoy the places we visited. This annoyed me at the time because I flew across the whole planet to see these views and experience this culture and I didn't appreciate being rushed.

but after some time to reflect, I found a different perspective.

Peru is a blur in the same way that my entire existence is a blur. We are on this earth for a tiny blip of a moment and nothing we do will extend or slow time down. When I look back on my life all I see is a blur anyway which means cramming as much adventure as I possibly can into this tiny blip the only correct way to exist.

My new goal is to go on at least one big adventure like this every year for the rest of my years.

The Beacon

Adventure is difficult.

Just the act of getting to Peru required a year of commitment, weeks of research, money, and 15 hours of travel time. All of that effort just to get in country and then you get altitude sickness, you endure 13 hour hiking days, and people keep trying to make you eat guinea pig.

I want to urge people to adventure but it's not a secret to me why most don't. I know people want to say yes to adventure, but doing so seems impossible, especially alone. I think of people as wandering around in a dark cave hoping for the tiniest shimmer of light to give them the inspiration they need to do this.

The Beacon is my way of shining a light in caves luring adventurous souls to leap out and say YES.

I committed to the dates, paid for the hotels, the hikes, I made the whole thing easy for others to join. I announced the trip publicly and chose 12 people who I knew would love each other. People are an effortless superpower of mine. I brought my camera to make sure they all look epic and let destiny do the rest.