Welcome.

This Substack is where I write sometimes-humorous personal essays about what makes life cool and people interesting. THERE ARE STORIES. Everyday life, solo travel, corporate, faith, relationships, and everything in between.

What we have here is a veritable cornucopia of things: scary animals, bad names, travel mishaps, unwelcome encouragement, break-ups, commentary on life, Dateline close-calls, funny prayers, corporate idiosyncrasies, overanalyzing, bad dates, my foibles. Those sorts of things.

Sometimes I’m lightly insightful and sentimental, but that’s only here and there.

Some background on me:

I used to be a cushy corporate person with a cushy gig in tech. It was my third distinctly different career, and one that allowed me to think I’d “made it.” But I heard the call of the wild and when it got really loud, I left to explore, build a business, and see what this whole life thing is about when you give up certainty.

I worked on my business as I wandered my way around Europe looking for places that seemed historically important (read: everywhere) and where I might get warm (it was winter). Below is proof of me NOT being warm somewhere in the middle of Greece in February 2023.

Going into this chapter of change, I’d done what experts recommend for really committing yourself: I sold my house. This is akin to burning the boat so you literally can’t get home. While I could technically get home to the US, I didn’t have an actual house to get to, so I kept traveling.

And talking with strangers.

And writing. And thinking about all the things I actually wanted to write. Then I’d write what I thought I should, but I don’t do that anymore. I also don’t travel full-time anymore, and am at home in the western United States, happily writing to you from MY VERY OWN DESK. It’s the small things…

Oh yeah! Also in this travel chapter, I published a book (Dear Fellow Spender), and started another one (Dear Fellow Dreamer) which will be published December 2025. Professionally, I help people launch and grow their dreams, usually starting with—but not limited to—getting their money organized.

See how I work with people here and here.

What happens at MTYL:

Free subscribers to my Substack get one post per week.

Paid subscribers to my Substack also get the weekly post, but for just $5/month you also get to feel really good about yourself for supporting my work before I become VERY famous. (Occasionally you get random surprises, like the occasional audio version of a post, but to be honest, the main reason people pay is because they love what I write and want to support it. And I really appreciate it!)

If your inbox and life could use more stories and more of what I’ve described here, the button below will tell you what to do. We obviously share an interest in life and people, and finding what’s cool, funny, and interesting about all of it, so I’m tickled we’ve found each other.