2022 was another exciting year. How to sum it up? It was a year where I continued to live and work remotely, including one month in Guatemala and one month in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Yet, I do all this while always maintaining one foot in my native Florida.
Central America
I traveled back to Guatemala two more times throughout the year, for about 10 days each, leading week-long Fearless Journeys group trips for two different groups, one in April and another in December. The itinerary I have developed in Guatemala continues to be a big hit, where my travelers can connect with so many great local entrepreneurs while getting the opportunity to explore Guatemala City, Lake Atitlan, Antigua, and an independent coffee farm in Palencia.
In January, I was invited to participate in the Antigua Forum event, run by UFM, where I was also tasked with doing on-site interviews with some of the amazing participants. I then spent the next month teaching a third semester of my Entrepreneurs’ Innovation course at UFM. However, this time I taught the class every day for 17 sessions so that I could complete it in under four weeks. At the tail end of my time in Guatemala in February, I tagged along with one of my housemates, Pierre, for a weekend at “Bitcoin Beach,” in El Zonte, El Salvador. It was the only “new” country I added to my list in 2022 – and it makes the 25th country I’ve spent time in on this earth. It was perhaps the smallest one (other than Vatican City).
Tennessee
In June and July, I spent an entire month living and working remotely from Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was a great place to get some work done, in the beautiful scenery of this midsize city, situated exactly between Atlanta and Nashville. Chattanooga also has the highest speed internet in the world, so I used my time there to work on a lot of my video content, so I was able to release more videos for my Fearless Journeys travel channel and the Agents of Innovation podcast – don’t forget to subscribe to both channels now!
While in Chattanooga, I took a day trip up to Nashville on the Fourth of July, where I mostly spent it with my friend Stephanie Holmes. We had a great afternoon and evening, and even watched the best fireworks display I’ve ever seen from one of the best places in Nashville (thanks to rooftop seating provided by our friend Chad Blackburn).
I had also gone to Nashville that day to further plan the Fearless Journeys group trip to Music City, which we officially held in October. We connected with so many great entrepreneurs in Nashville and had a lot of fun seeing live music, riding a party bus, and enjoying many good eats!
Travels Across the USA
My travels across the country throughout the year also allowed me to bring together and connect people through the Fearless Journeys community at meet-ups in Orlando (in February), Dallas (in March), Atlanta (in June), and Denver (in August).
I was thankful that my friend Lynn Gibson hosted me in Dallas while I was there for a meeting of The Philadelphia Society, where I have continued to serve on the board of trustees. And also grateful that my friend Seth Weathers hosted me in the Atlanta suburbs as I came through there in June. I’m also always thankful for friends like Mike and Meredith Sasso, and others, who often host me during visits back to Orlando.
I traveled to Washington DC in March, primarily to see the farewell show for one of my favorite bands, Melodime, which took place at the State Theatre in Falls Church. I went with my longtime friend Kristen Moran, who also hosted me that weekend at her place in Alexandria, Virginia.
I spent a week in Colorado in August, to visit my brother Tony and his wife Ann, along with my niece and nephew (who were almost 5 and 3 during my visit), where they now live in Louisville (near Boulder). I also stayed a couple nights with my high school best friend Sean Gross at his apartment in downtown Denver. He and I also met up with my friend Bob Rubin, who had been working remotely in Vail, Colorado for two months with his wife and son. Bob, Sean, and I took in a concert at Red Rocks – it was my first time there. And, we got to see Joe Bonamaassa – my first time finally seeing him live. It was nice to knock two major things off my bucket list at once, while enjoying quality time with two friends, in the more than pleasant August weather of Colorado. What a beautiful evening it was!
They were also a part of my Fearless Journeys dinner in Denver, at the historic Buckhorn Exchange, where five previous guests of my podcast came together with others for a Fearless Journeys group dinner.
Earlier in the year, I spent a few days in Hendersonville, North Carolina, helping the primary campaign of Madison Cawthorn. Unfortunately he lost, but it was a nice time catching up with some good friends and forging other new connections. In late July, after finishing my one month in Chattanooga, I ventured back over to western North Carolina to spend a few days with the family of my friend Elias McKim. We got in some good hiking and he convinced me that Highlands, North Carolina has the best weather for the summer. We didn’t even need the air conditioner at their home in July!
In the last few days of July and early August, I traveled to Boston, but mostly it was to take a short car ride to Plymouth, Massachusetts to catch up with a fellow pilgrim, my friend James O’Keefe. He had been sailing for a week from New York to Massachusetts before I hopped aboard his “Lucky Charm III,” a 45-foot sailing vessel. I spent about 4 nights aboard it, as we sailed to New Hampshire and Maine, stopping in Rockport (MA) Portsmouth (NH), Portland (ME), and eventually Boothbay, Maine, where I disembarked and had a car pick me up to take me the airport in Portland, Maine.
Living the Florida Dream
When I have not been traveling or working remotely elsewhere, I have been primarily living in Boynton Beach (in Palm Beach County, Florida). During this time, I had a few travels back to places like Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Gainesville, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville throughout the year. During one of those visits to Orlando, I was able to catch an Orlando City soccer match, ensuring that my streak continues of seeing at least one home game in every season that Orlando City has been in the MLS!
From February through April, I was commissioned by my former employer, National Review Institute, to lead the 8 sessions of their Burke to Buckley program, which expanded to Miami in 2022. This brought me to Miami on almost a weekly basis for those two months.
I also made other visits to Miami, to visit family, as well as to take part in Liberty Con (in October), an international conference hosted by Students for Liberty, where I met people struggling for human rights and freedom in places that include Ukraine, Venezuela, and parts of Africa, and beyond.
In 2022, I also taught two different “semesters” of economics courses at the South Bay Correctional Facility in Belle Glade – which is on the very far western side of Palm Beach County. Each semester included 12 sessions each, for about two hours each session. I had about 25-30 students (inmates) in each of my courses. It has been a real blessing to have the opportunity to teach them and get to interact with them. As I always say, the “teacher” is the biggest “student” in each classroom, and I learn so much from them!
I am not sure where I will ultimately end up permanently settling again, but it’s been nice to have a place to stay with my parents in Palm Beach County to allow me the flexibility to move around South and Central Florida, and also to have great airports nearby to quickly jet off to Central America and many other places across the USA and the world, to help others on their own Fearless Journeys.
In March, I also attended the Miami Open professional tennis tournament with my friend Maxwell Simonson. It was my first time at the Miami Open in many years and my very first time at the new location on the grounds of the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock stadium.
I also saw a fair number of live music concerts this year in Florida. In January, I saw Marc Broussard perform at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton. In May, I got to see Candlebox, one of my all-time favorite bands perform at The Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. In September, I saw Collective Soul and Switchfoot perform at Hard Rock Live in Orlando.
No doubt that the future will continue to have me living in the Free State of Florida, where we have great weather (while trying to avoid hurricanes like Ian) and great governance. That was solidified in this year’s elections when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis won by the biggest landslide anyone has won a statewide election in recent memory. And that comment is about the extent of my politics these days. Just cheer for freedom. And work to secure it. It is not easy.
Books
In 2022, I completed 25 books! 7 of them were used in the Fearless Journeys community. A few of them were books I was in the middle of in 2021 and completed in the early part of this year.
A few of my favorites this year included The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann. This is a fictional book, but more in the business parable category. We were fortunate to have author Bob Burg join us for a live online session for members of the Fearless Journeys community.
Another favorite book was Breaking History by Jared Kushner. This was his real-life memoir of working in the Trump White House. As the son-in-law of the President, Jared took a leading role in many monumental public policy triumphs including criminal justice reform, transitioning NAFTA into the USMCA, moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, brokering peace between Israel and five Arab nations in what became known as the Abraham Accords, and accelerating the response to COVID-19 through Operation Warp Speed. Read my review here.
I’ve also enjoyed listening to novels by Jack Carr – the first three in the series known as The Terminal List. I enjoyed other “real life” fiction including One Second After (a scary apocalyptic scenario), as well as a fun coming-to-life story called Last Summer Boys by my friend Bill Rivers.
Throughout the year, I also read The Daily Stoic, which I am almost done completing here at year’s end. It’s so nice to get a little wisdom from the stoics each day, including a commentary by editor and author Ryan Holiday.
I continued reading more biographies, including Walter Isaacson’s tome on Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, and John Meacham’s American Lion about Andrew Jackson, whose home I visited later in the year during our Fearless Journeys group trip to Nashville. Perhaps the most monumental, in terms of time and length, was completing The Innocents Abroad, a real-life world travel adventure that Mark Twain wrote about in the 1860s. As a traveler, it was a fun and interesting read, often finding myself laughing out loud while reading various lines of the book. If only we could all have and instill the humor of Mark Twain!
Podcasts
I added another 18 episodes as host of the Agents of Innovation podcast. Ten of those episodes were recorded in Guatemala. In fact, this year all 18 episodes were recorded not only in audio format for platforms like Apple and Spotify, but also in video format for the Agents of Innovation YouTube channel.
I was also a guest on four podcasts this year: The Crossman Conversation, the Dreamer Cigars podcast, the Principled People Project, and The Midnight Ride.
Podcasts have been a part of my daily life for some time now, not just as a creator, but as a listener. I continue to listen each weekday to The World and Everything In It and weekly to The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe. Before I was on their podcast, I was a listener (and sometimes viewer) to the Dreamer Cigars podcast. In late 2022, I discovered that Father Mike Schmidt has a Sunday Homilies podcast, which has also become a weekly staple in my intellectual (and spiritual) diet. I’m looking forward to the return of his daily podcast. In 2021, he did the Bible In a Year podcast each day; in 2023, he plans to do a similar style covering the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I hope you’ll consider listening to some of these!
The Agents of Innovation podcast was also recognized this year by The Orlando Local News at their “Best of Central Florida” awards luncheon. I have helped my friend Marshall Polston with this paper in the past and it was nice to also receive a recognition at their third annual awards luncheon in Orlando, which I was happy to attend and help emcee in November.
Fearless Journeys
I am grateful for all of those who continue to be members and join the Fearless Journeys community, including those who have come on some of our exciting group trips, held so far in Guatemala and Nashville, as well as to those who have attended some of our local meet-ups, which I mentioned earlier – those took place in Orlando, Atlanta, Dallas, and Denver.
The community would not be possible without the over 50 Featured Innovators who joined the community and volunteer their time to lead some of our group coaching sessions and live book club sessions.
This year, our members had the opportunity to directly interact with Joe Clements, Josh Simmons, Claudio Sorrentino, Dan Lesniak, Sean Gross, Glen Gilzean, Mike Long, Rory Diamond, Karin Hoffman, Dan Vineberg, John Morris, Eric Wind, and Mike Howerton. In addition, they were able to read books and interact directly with authors Zak Slayback, John Coleman, Bob Burg, and Steve Cesari.
What amazing opportunities! I encourage you to join the Fearless Journeys community to have access to many more live online sessions in 2023! We provide you with education, inspiration, and opportunities for great connections with top innovators from across the country and even around the world.
In the first four months of 2023, members will have the opportunity to connect with and learn directly from Jason Harle, Bob Rubin, Ben Kohlmann, and Joe Russo. We will also read many great books together, starting with The Psychology of Money and Extreme Ownership.
Our first group trip of 2023 is planned for Uruguay and Argentina, with opportunities to join us for five nights in Uruguay (March 24-29), four nights in Buenos Aires (March 29-April 2), and 3 nights in Argentina’s Mendoza wine country (April 2-5). Join us for one, two, or all three parts of this adventure to South America!
I am also making plans for a repeat of the Guatemala itinerary that three groups have already taken part in. We will go back to Guatemala on November 10-19, 2023. In between those trips, I am hoping to do something in Montreal this summer and maybe somewhere else in the late summer or early fall (Israel, Mexico City, and another US destination are being explored at this writing). Make sure you join us for one or more of these incredible group trips, where we not only travel to fun and exciting places, learn from different perspectives, and connect with local entrepreneurs and get to better know our fellow travelers. What’s not to like?
2022 has been another year of embarking on my fearless journey while helping others explore their own fearless journeys.
2023 will start with the release of my book, The American Dream Is A Terrible Thing to Waste: 100 Agents of Innovation Share Their Fearless Journeys in Today’s Economy.
I know that time is a terrible thing to waste, but I also know when you collect the amount of experiences that I try to each year, you do have to pause at the end of each year and reflect on what you’ve done, where you’ve been, what you’ve learned, and where you still have room to grow.
Hope to see you in 2023!