Boots On The Ground
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attach, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we much appear inactive.” - Sun Tzu
“Bless not only the road but the bumps on the road. They are all part of the higher journey.” - Julia Cameron
Having been born in Detroit [Royal Oak Michigan] was a function of a past family strategic move to the Midwest from an early arrival to the New World back to the earliest arrivals to Boston. One would like to think the heritage of my past kinsmen were made up of true adventures turned pioneers.
It’s said “the end to prosperity came in May 1873” when the Vienna Stock Exchange was serve an appropriate financial consternation spreading rapidly thru the entire European Continent. Losing everything has some ‘lose it’ while others may have foreseen excessive speculation thus capitalizing on changes in conditions - Selling into Greed and allocating capital in a new world others Fear. Primal Emotions considered thoroughly by the disciplined Contrarian Adventurer.
Editorials on this Blog should be clear we are prepared for The Ultimate Ride - An Economic Storm has been gathering energy like a Rogue Wave ‘beneath the surface’ and a good Adventure Surfer should have one Chess Pieces in place to efficiently trim we wave as Gerry Lopez did at Pipeline. Fortunate to have a past in asset management / investments starting during the greatest crash since 1929 my background became open rather rapidly to new ideas. My trip to NY City almost 20 years ago to obtain final licensing with a prominent wire house ended with a bang to say the least… In some way a gift to know how fast things in life can change. One moment World Trade was there and 90 minutes later I was running thru SOHO finding a place to call friends and family before the collapse. T261 was gone. Lesson Learned. Remain Proactive.
A 3rd trip to Uruguay was 2004 concluded with buying my 1st property off Montoya Beach [La Barra] from a wealthy older Argentine gentlemen’s splitting up sections and selling 450-575 sq meter lots. Sentiment with the natives was still cautions to bearish based upon the collapse in 2001-2002. Fundamentals [supply / demand] on an investment thesis in Uruguay seemed sound: securitization of assets in the country ‘blown up’ by the currency crisis resulting in very high cost of capital and a liquidity crisis. Utter panic around premiere assets was witnessed during my 1st trip and history reached sentiment often takes years to return from an economic Hyper-Inflationary collapse. Jim Rogers of the famous Quantum Fund wrote a book called ‘Adventure Capitalist’ seeing the world from a car only to note his wife enjoyed Punta del Este much and the set up then seemed ideal for the disciplined value buyer. Wonder if the people knew I was living out of my 2002 VW Eurovan working an average of 10-12 hour days with not much of a weekend. Life was Pure.
Humility for the Seasoned Traveler helps one see things those staying local and ‘safe may not. As a middle class kid from Detroit specific travels helped the evolution to one day paddle surfing the Feral coast of Cabo Polonio, Uruguay by numerous ship wrecks:
1973-79 Beach Trips to Hilton Head South Carolina
1986-87 Family Trip to Arizona
1994-95 Working / Living in Asia [B.I.O.T. - Singapore - Japan]
2002-07 Multiple Research trips to Uruguay / Argentina / Brazil
Mentors helped conceptualize real financial changes in the world which leading to economic growth & decline. Boots on the Ground travel with a backpack or surfboard helped see things many cannot from an Ivory Tower in NYC or London.
Traveling is becoming a challenged evolution as predicted by many with the insolvent Western World. Numerous accounts of all types of fear based narratives to ensure the feudal surf doesn’t look over the hill in fear of the fire breathing dragon.
The Southern Cone Countries with Brazil may offer opportunities to those from Europe seeking history, frontier investing and open lines on ski mountains to feral surf spots. My fortune to find another special small farm town with a James Dean Gas Station Romance came thru finding myself amongst many trips.
There are still Opportunities out there for young and older away from the coming unpleasantness. Large storms produce winners and losers. We see every potential crisis as an opportunity to ‘Ride the Ultimate’ while helping others.
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