This is my last week in Ericeira. It has been an amazing two and a half months in Portugal, and as this chapter closes, I keep thinking about where I was exactly one year ago.
On Friday, July 25, 2025, I returned to Florida. I had just finished traveling the world, learning who I was and what I truly valued. The journey gave me clarity, but coming home gave me a harder challenge: putting those lessons into practice.
A year later, I can confidently say I am living the life I envisioned. The emotional and intellectual growth from that journey is no longer something I have to reach for. It has diffused throughout my entire core. I am a different person from the guy who landed back in the United States a year ago.
Now I am sitting here looking over the ocean in Portugal, working hard on problems I truly care about, for myself, with my freedom in hand. This life is not effortless. I have to balance running my own business, my relationships, my health, and my vision for the future. But that balance is mine to navigate.
This past year has continued to develop my own agency. I trust myself more deeply. I know I can choose a direction, move, adapt, and take responsibility for where I end up.
Life is a one-player game, so act like it and move your pieces wisely.
As I close out an amazing chapter here in Portugal, I look forward to what the next month, the next year, and the rest of my life will hold.