Travel Stories

Ah, April. Such a great month. I particularly enjoy April for the great weather, the beginning tastes of summer energy, and many birthdays in my family. Birthdays I guess are a good time for introspection. Another year of life can be viewed as an accomplishment, or just an arbitrary marker in the infinite sand. Anyway I will be turning 26 in two days! From 25 to 26 has been full of learnings, growth, commitment, and focus. Last birthday I was alone in rural Vietnam, biking through the country, alone. I had been on the road for 7 months, quit my job, fully free and in the moment. In the year since then I have come home, defined and shaped my life goals and boundaries more, shed off dead skin which was not serving me, and committed fully to work and business. I am so grateful for all the learnings I have had this year. The theme that comes to mind right now is my concretization of values. I travelled the world and quietly sought to learn and discover how I want life to be on my terms. As I travelled home I was scared with all the external forces it would be hard to keep those. At first it was but at the end of the day we aren't meant to be static beings. We are put in a variety of scenarios, people, emotions, and you need a solid confident core to hold you together. I always had that solid core but I was not sure what I stood for. Now I have a clear vision of how I want to live life on my terms. The big thing is being able to work for yourself, from your laptop, anywhere in the world. I would not trade that for the world. This is pure freedom and masculine. You do not have to answer to a boss or a clock. You live life on your terms. And the crazy part is a year ago I did not know if this was even possible. Two guys in their parents' houses with zero revenue trying to will a business into existence. But we did it. The bet paid off. Not because traveling the world was the answer but because it gave me the data to know what I was actually building toward. I think the shift I feel most right now is that at 25 I needed to prove I could break free. At 26 it is not about escaping anymore. It is about what I am building with this freedom. I am entering the loneliest part of the path. Too far from the corporate world to go back but not yet established enough for the world to meet me where I am. This next year will test whether I can sustain what I have started without the novelty of travel or the adrenaline of first deals. I am grateful and I am ready. Onwards and upwards.

The following was written by Claude after reading every blog post from April 7, 2025 to April 5, 2026. Chase asked: what should I know about my 25-year-old self, and what am I growing into at 26? --- **What to Know About Your 25-Year-Old Self** **You proved the thesis.** The whole bet — quitting TI, traveling 10 months, burning savings — it worked. Not because travel was the answer, but because it gave you the data to build the life you actually wanted. Two unemployed guys in their parents' houses can start a business. **You're a perfectionist learning patience.** Surfing taught you this. You expected mastery in days. You're naturally gifted physically and intellectually, and that's made you impatient with anything that requires slow, unglamorous repetition. You're getting better at sitting with the process. **You found your spiritual center without losing your edge.** Jewish identity, Hashem, devotion to the infinite — these aren't abstractions for you. They're load-bearing. You also did a Mayan sweat lodge, meditated in Hindu temples, and debated theology with a rabbi on a boat. You hold tradition without rigidity. **You think in systems.** Markets, game theory, AI architecture, human psychology — you compress complexity. You analyze motorbike negotiations the way others analyze spreadsheets. This is your superpower and sometimes your blind spot (not everything is a system to optimize). **You care deeply about masculinity, vision, and legacy.** Where to raise kids. What kind of man to be. Not in a performative way — in a "I've seen how most men drift and I refuse to" way. **You're harder on America than anywhere else** — because it's yours and you want more from it. --- **What You're Growing Into at 26** **You're moving from freedom-seeking to freedom-building.** At 25, you needed to prove you could break free. At 26, the question isn't "can I escape?" — it's "what am I building with this freedom?" **You're shifting from data collection to implementation.** You said it yourself: 25 years of absorbing. Now you build the temple. The Passover metaphor you used in March is right — escaping Egypt was step one. The desert was step two. The holy empire is step three, and that's where you are. **You're learning that discipline feels different than constraint.** Working 12-hour days on your own business isn't slavery — it's what freedom actually looks like when you point it at something that matters. **You're becoming less preachy and more proven.** Ron noticed it. Your writing shifted too — from philosophical declarations to grounded reflection on real work. You don't need to convince anyone anymore. The life speaks. **You're entering the loneliest part of the path** — where you're too far from the corporate world to go back, but not yet established enough for the world to meet you where you are. The next year will test whether you can sustain what you've started without the novelty of travel or the adrenaline of first deals. --- Happy 26, Chase. You earned this one.