"You shall not pass"

Driving through rural Bonaire, we were stopped by this fellow. He blocked the road, came over to the driver side, and made immediate demands.

8/28 & 8/29 - Leaving chaos at an inopportune time for a remote island

Menguin is in the middle of raising a round of funding, so it is probably not the best time to disappear into the tropics. But, when you plan a trip and promise a trip to your wife and mother in law, follow-through is important.   

So here I am, with a million things to do heading to a remote island.

8/28

800am - Wake up, eat toast, realize everyone is gone at the Menguin house 

840am - Go to UPS to return some flooring 

900am - Arrive at office, take some phone calls, run some reports, act like a spaz because I only have until 10 before...

8/24, Seeing the second child for the first time

800am - Wake up in McKinney with Kristin and Harper at my parents 

930am - Head to appointment with Kristin for a sonogram, catch the glimpse of the little one above- it is pretty humbling to see the first glimpse of someone who will be one of the most important people in your life.

8/21, Getting Iced by the coolest dev around

745am - wake up, get on phone to answer emails in bed, realize it has been weeks since I have done this terrible habit
815am - Get first call of the day about a Chinese pecan deal, tell the person I am in the shower
830am - Chat with Kurt in kitchen and make breakfast, pack for trip to Dallas

8/20, Thanks for calling Menguin, this is Justin, how can I help you?

819am - Wake up peacefully, long before my alarm

830am - Eat toast, make some Assam tea. I also stared at some yogurt I bought last week for about a minute before deciding, for the fifth day in a row, that it is not yet time for yogurt. An Asian friend once told me that many people from Asia think that Americans all smell like yogurt. It has been hard for me to eat it ever since. But I still by it.

8/19, what is it you say you do around here?

This is a new feature I will be doing. Menguin (a company I started with some friends) is seeing tremendous growth. I feel like it will be an interesting story to watch us grow over the next year or so. I will obviously have to omit a lot of names of investors and other sensitive information. That is boring stuff anyways. Not as exciting as what I have for lunch.

Honestly, one of my favorite things about goboogo is how I can look back and see what Kristin and I did for years as we traveled the world. The original intention of this was to create something that we would enjoy for decades to come.  I want to have the same documentation with my life as a CEO and entrepreneur.

Also everyday I got to bed at the end of the day and ask myself, "What the hell did I do today?" This will answer that.

607am - Wake up with 8 minutes left before alarm clock goes off, begrudgingly extricate self from bed
630am – Eat some toast, make some tea, get in car, all very solemnly
645am – Leave house, it looks terrible out. check doppler, realize I will be driving in a storm for next 3 hours to my meeting
800am – Stop to use restroom in pouring Ozark storm, soaked from head to toe, step in deep puddle in my leather shoes

Amsterdam has strange monostores - like this condomerie

 A cool thing about Amsterdam is that it has a decent plethora of monostores - stores that sell one type of thing, like toothbrushes or ottomans or condoms. Here we have Condomerie.

Netherlands Beach

An empty beach in the Netherlands begs for a visitor 

Ueno Park and Shinobazu Pond

Tokyo has a shadow of its past that claims pockets of the modern city. Ueno is an area of the city where the past still stirs.

Amsterdam Lou

 Amsterdam Lou just hanging out watching the comings and goings on the canal - stoned people, prostitutes, tourists - almost too much for his dog brain to comprehend

Amsterdam Lou

Chile Esoterica

 

Stumbled into a grand house that I thought was a museum 

Amsterdam Trip

 A trippy room in AMS

Belgian Chocolate Shop

 Kristin trying to decide what to buy 

The Center of Brussels the center of the EU

 The center Square in Brussels makes no architectural compromises 

Graffiti Mansion

Graffiti mansion in Chile

Weirdos of Amsterdam

I love Amsterdam. I love the canals. I love the trees and architecture. But most of all I love the people. The weird incredible people. Amsterdam is a playground for all types, and the people watching is just incredible. Second to none in Europe.

The Andes

The Andes are a very unique mountain range. They are just insanely expansive stretching out into infinity.

Blue Bikes Amsterdam

Royal Qatari blue bikes chained up in Amsterdam

Santa Lucía Hill an oasis within Santiago

Stumbling around Santiago, we had seen it all and were just about to head back to the hotel for some spa time. We passed by an intriguing mansion that looked like something out of a Latin version of Savannah from 150 years ago. Santa Lucia is a peaceful refuge from Santiago.

Hamarikyu Gardens in Tokyo

 A classic teahouse in the center of Hamarikyu Gardens - my favorite park in Tokyo

Parque Metropolitano de Santiago on a misty day

This is a funicular that whisks you away to a hill above the clouds 

A Belgian street scene

Around any corner - great depth on this image. 

Meiji Jingu in Tokyo

Here is a massive Torii, or gate, that serves as an opening to the Shinto shrine and park of Meiji Jingu. This is a peaceful park just steps away from the street cat walk of Harajuku.

Shibuya Crossing

Busiest Crossing in the world - Shibuya, Japan 

Some great Soba and Tempura in Tokyo - Yabu Soba

 One of my favorite Japanese meals 

 Entry to Yabu Soba 

 Udon

Kristin enjoying

The heart of Tokyo - Tokyo Imperial Palace

Tokyo is like an octopus. It has many hearts. At its heart of hearts though is the Imperial Palace, covering a massive expanse of open space and shaded paths on perhaps the most valuable land in the world. During the peak of the Japanese boom in the 1980's, the Imperial Palace grounds were valued higher than all of the real estate in California, combined. That was a bubble, but still, fucking crazy.

Nakagin Capsule Tower

The old school new school. The future stillborn in the past. Much of Tokyo has this sort of retro futurism that is cool and disarming. One of the icons that represent this aesthete is the classic Nakagin Capsule Tower, which you can Airbnb now. I will definitely stay there next time I am in Japan. I always pass by it and wonder what the hell is inside. It is very very curious looking.

Akihabra in Tokyo - the digital jungle

A bored maid 

Street Art Amsterdam

I like this pink guy - great pop

Delirium Cafe in Brussels

 Lost of these places are worth skipping, one is definitely not - Delirium Cafe is one of the best spots for beer

A Street Llama in Santiago, Chile

 This guy was just hanging out apparently

Of course as soon as I took the picture, an errant Chilean hopped out to collect, so we made the most of it

The old Delta 747 - second floor business class

It seems like a distant memory now, but working for Delta was pretty cool. As an employee, I would just look for open seats to interesting places, call Kristin from work, and say something like, "The business class seats upstairs are open on the 747 to Tokyo later today, you want to go to Japan?"

Of course everything has a cost and sometimes it is not a number. Traveling completely freely with Delta for about two years will always be something I look back at fondly, no matter how many companies I build or places I go. I took about eight weeks of vacation in a year there, and nobody really gave a shit. That is pretty cool. I got paid great to do pretty cool work that was not hard; that is pretty awesome. But in the end I could do my daily job in about 40 minutes and its impact on the grand scheme was dubious at best. Everything has a cost, time above all else. Don't settle. Even if it comes with free business class flights anywhere in the world.

Kristin enjoying a trip to Japan in the old business class seats upstairs on the 747

Paris at night - golden and quiet

Kristin was sick and sleeping. We had just arrived in Paris. I slipped out with my tripod and sort of just communed with this great city. One of my favorite travel past times is to go out in the middle of the night with my camera and just kind of jog around and catch the city sleeping.

Look Up Tokyo! Shinjuku, Tokyo at Night

Color floors action - The night is Shinjuku Kabukichō

What are these people looking at?

Ginza the heart

Octopi have a few hearts. Japan is like this. It has many hearts of shopping. Shibuya, Harajuku, Omotesandō, even Akihabra for the electronos. Ginza is the heart of hearts for Japan shopping though - I give it the crown. Its wide boulevard is always a great walk. And its location is perfect.

Nassau, Bahamas

 A classic Nassau scene 

Tsukiji fish market of Tokyo

The freshest sushi I have ever eaten in my life was in the Rock Islands of Micronesia. A local fisherman pulled the fish out of the sea, and we were eating sashimi within the hour. It was all very simple and perfect. Supply is all about the vertical. It all starts somewhere. I was there.

Catches come from all over the pacific, from countries like Palau that have GDPs the size of Series D balance sheets. The fish are flown to Tokyo for the world's top fish market. Basically, Tsukiji is to fish what Wall Street is to money and finance (or was). Money passes through the markets. Fish passes through Tsukiji.

The place is part circus part aquatic slaughterhouse, with all manner of peculiar vehicles, people, critters, smells, and sights.