The Morning Star to Hong Kong

Oh Hong Kong. Old friend. It has been a while. Five years. A few days ago, I saddled up in row 34 on an American Airlines 777 and flew direct from Dallas to Hong Kong. The morning star as I call it, the sun set just as the wheels touched down on Lantau Island. The light followed us the duration of the journey, all 16.5 hours.

Klein Bonaire

 Klein Bonaire is a small island off the coast of Bonaire - its name translates to small Bonaire. It is home to some great stretches of sand, as well as vibrant reefs. It is also empty. Years ago, developers attempted to build some resorts on the island and the Bonaire community pooled together $10m to prohibit building anything within 200m of the shore - that basically covers the entire island.

 A great place to dock with a boat 

 Kristin and pumps enjoying the beach

 From the boat, which is the only way to the island.

 Trunkfish 

 Tube corals 

 Looks like a labyrinth 

 Check out this bro 

 Trumpetfish just breezing by 

 Walking back after a snork 

 Poor guy only has three flippers

 Me and Harper 

Great beach 

Bonaire Sunset

 Kristin and baby Harper at Rum Runners in Bonaire. Harper is  loving the sea life 

Dive shop on water 

Harper at dinner

What is my job as CEO?

According to google:

1. More than with any other job, the responsibilities of a CEO diverge from the duties and the measurement. A CEO's responsibilities: everything, especially in a startup. The CEO is responsible for the success or failure of the company.

1000 steps Bonaire

 

 1000 steps is a dive site in Bonaire with 82 steps heading right down into the water

Bonaire slave hut

Bonaire has a bizantine and contrasting history of brutality and beauty, slavery and freedom. Here a slave hut frames both.

Klein Bonaire's inquisitive trunkfish

 

Trunkfish just staring into my gopro

Lac Cai in Bonaire

Lac Bay is in the corner of Bonaire. It is a local spot with great calm waters, some pretty pristine mangrove forests, and one of the best wind surfing environs on the planet - freestyle wind surfing was allegedly invented here.

"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