I’ve spent my fair share of nights in 5-star hotels. Apparently I have Starwood Preferred Guest Lifetime Gold status due to my 307 nights spent in Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridian, and W hotels over the years. (More than 1 Year of work days!) They are wonderfully convenient and predictable.
Public spaces are warm and inviting, beautifully decorated with plenty of natural light and artwork you would expect to find in a museum. The interior designer is well known by those who know interior designers.
Rooms are spacious and comfortable, with large heavenly beds and lush pillows. The sheet thread count is at least 4 digits, and the complimentary bath robe is something you would happily wear all weekend. The shower experience is certain to make you consider a home bathroom redesign (and 10 million times better than our shower in San Pedro, Guatemala.)
The staff is friendly and remembers your name. “Welcome back, Mr. & Mrs. GCC.” When was the last time anybody called me Mister? Anything you need, they deliver with a smile.
Indeed, 5-star hotels are very nice. But I don’t love them. On our list of preferred places to stay, they are last.
The train was near capacity as we shuffled aboard, stroller in tow.
I temporarily lost sight of Winnie as she and the baby slipped into the last possible seat to exclamations of “Ka-wa-ii!” (‘Cute’, in Japanese.) Everywhere we went the reaction was much the same, everybody wanting to touch his cheeks and exchange smiles.
But this time, something was different.
As the train left the station, the smiles were replaced with awkward sideways glances. That was the moment when GCCjr’s face glowed red as he filled his diaper with all that is unholy in this world.
30 minutes later everybody was more than happy to exit the train. So kawaii.
It has only been 4.5 months since GCCjr entered the world, but he is already excited to embark on his first International adventure. He does have two passports after all.
For the past few weeks, he has been practicing his exploration skills as we walk around Taipei. He has become increasingly comfortable sleeping in his stroller in strange and noisy places, and is equally happy with a picnic in the park or lunch from a street cart. Formal dining is still a bit pretentious and boring, however.
He is becoming quite the socialite, and loves flirting with the staff at coffee shops and restaurants. He is content to sit and people watch for long periods as long as he is being held, whether it be by Mom or Dad or a total stranger. Dogs, fire alarms, honking cars, and big crowds don’t faze him in the least. (See Winnie’s Instagram which features a GCCjr photo a day.)
GCCjr thinks he is ready for a travel trial run. For a first passport stamp, we are headed to Kyoto, Japan in 2 weeks for 8 days .
Beautiful Ecuador (photo from Above the Clouds Retreats)
“You look like a 13-year old girl who has just been invited to Justin Bieber’s birthday party!” said my loving and supportive wife
It’s true, I did. Fueled by the emotional equivalent of excessive cake, ice cream, and teenage hormones, I was running about excitedly and dancing around the room. “This is going to be so much fun!”
“Think of all of the cool people that are going to be there! Nobody talks about this stuff in the real world, but this time there will be a whole group of wealth and happiness minded people sharing and communing”
“And, wow! The Captains of the personal finance world will be there. Jim Collins! The Mad Fientist! Mr. Money Mustache! Paula Pant! And happiness guru Cheryl Reed is going to weave it all together with her empowering talk about passion and happiness. I’ve read their stuff for so long, it is going to be incredibly cool to meet them in person. ”
“And all of this is going to happen in the foothills of the Andes Mountains of Ecuador, where all of our new friends will zipline through a Cloud Forest, tour a bean to bar chocolate factory, and share our abundance with the local community in a day of service. With all of the great conversation, presentations, and one-on-one sessions, this is truly going to be an epic week!”
My brain sputtered, nearly exploding in the process of taking it all in
When I recovered, I replied to Jim Collins’ email asking if I would be willing to speak at this year’s Chautauqua
No matter what you do for a living, some days are better than others. There were times when I couldn’t wait to go to work, when I was excited to make a big presentation or when I felt that today was the day we would make a big breakthrough.
Other times, a sense of dread would start to set in late Sunday afternoon. My blood pressure would rise until I could feel it pumping in my ears, and I would feel like running away, going anywhere but back to the office
In times like these, I would sometimes sit down and look at the portfolio and think, “Where can we retire today?”
And then I was able to make it through another Monday
Exploring Taipei, you never know what is around the next corner. It could be a beautiful modern building, an ancient traditional temple, or more likely both of them side by side. Taipei has embraced the hustle and bustle of modern capitalism, and yet maintained traditional, more personal ways of doing business
Just a 5 minute walk from our apartment is a long standing traditional market. Vendors as old as the market itself arrive daily to sell fresh produce and freshly slaughtered meat, the way their parents did business, all in the shadow of one of the world’s tallest buildings
