Unmissable: Oatman AZ
Saturday I took the long loop from La Quinta out to Needles, up through Oatman, and back home. It was one of those clear desert days—warm sun, blue skies, easy miles.
Oatman was doing what Oatman always does. The burros were wandering the street, tourists stopping for photos, and everything moving at its own pace. It’s a small, odd place, but it never gets old.
The ride was steady and uncomplicated. Open roads, clean air, and just enough distance to reset after a busy week. Nothing dramatic—just a good stretch of desert, a few curves in the hills, and the quiet that comes from being out there for a few hours.
Sometimes that’s all it takes.
The Unmissable: Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro now sits comfortably in my personal top three cities I’ve ever visited—and it earned that spot without trying too hard.
I went for a speaking engagement, but like most good trips, the real value showed up between the formal moments. Morning walks along Ipanema and Copacabana set the tone: endless coastline, people actually using the city, and a rhythm that feels both relaxed and energetic at the same time. It’s a place that invites movement—walking, talking, lingering.
We stayed in Leblon, which turned out to be the perfect base. Great food without the pretension, real neighborhood energy, and just enough nightlife to remind you that Rio doesn’t wind down early. It felt lived-in in the best way—not curated for tourists, but generous to them.
The landmarks delivered without disappointment. The Selarón Steps are as colorful and strange as promised. Sugarloaf gives you the kind of view that recalibrates your sense of scale. And Christ the Redeemer—somehow both iconic and still quietly powerful in person, even after a lifetime of seeing it in photos.
What stood out most, though, was how complete the city feels. Beaches, mountains, culture, architecture, music, food, people—all layered on top of each other in a way that feels organic rather than engineered.
Rio isn’t a city you “check off.” It’s one you carry with you. Unmissable.
Overcoming Suffering
Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.
Back to the Quiet Roads: Borrego Springs
After three straight weeks of airports, hotel lobbies, and conference rooms—Jacksonville, Thomasville, Newport, LA, Seattle, Raleigh, DC, Nashville—I found myself unexpectedly grounded. A four-day run through Toronto, Boston, and New York was wiped clean by Winter Storm Fern. Flights canceled. Plans paused. A rare gift disguised as disruption. So I did what I almost always do when life hits the brakes: I got on my Triumph.
A short loop from La Quinta out to Borrego Springs is hardly epic by distance, but it’s epic in what it offers. The open stretch of S22. The sudden drop into Anza-Borrego’s wide silence. The metal giants—Galleta Meadows’ massive sculptures rising out of the sand like forgotten guardians. Fonts Point, where the badlands look like a planet still being formed. The kind of place that reminds you how small your calendar really is.
Mid-70s. Blue sky. No notifications. No gate changes. Just the hum of the road and the feeling of space returning to my nervous system. After weeks of motion dictated by schedules, storms forced stillness—and the desert gave me something better: perspective. Not every journey needs a boarding pass. Some of the most important ones start five minutes from your driveway.
Grateful for cancellations. Grateful for quiet. Grateful for roads that lead nowhere in particular and exactly where I needed to be.
Roy’s in Amboy, CA
Roy’s in Amboy CA is less about the food and more about the feeling — pure Route 66 Americana in the middle of the Mojave. It’s the kind of stop that makes a long ride feel intentional instead of just long. If you’re on two wheels (or four), it’s simply non-negotiable.
Commitment
Don't do things for effect. Do things because you are committed to them, because you believe in them.
Little and Big Things
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
Opportunity
People possess unlimited potential. They just don’t possess unlimited opportunity.
Perspective
Put every perceived crisis or challenge on a 1 to 10 scale. It quickly helps create perspective. You will quickly find that most of us treat “2’s” like “8’s”. There are only a handful of existential threats in our lives. The challenge, then, becomes to match our responses to the circumstances.