Rolf Potts: Vagabonding

“Vagabonding is an attitude—a friendly interest in people, places, and things that makes a person an explorer in the truest, most vivid sense of the word. Vagabonding is not a lifestyle, nor is it a trend. It’s just an uncommon way of looking at life—a value adjustment from which action naturally follows. And, as much as anything, vagabonding is about time—our only real commodity—and how we choose to use it.”― Rolf Potts, Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel || Point Clear, AL ||

While we can't travel right now, we can take on an attitude of openness that comes from traveling, and keep our minds open to the new things that still are coming are way right now, despite our best efforts to not see them.

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Travel and Measuring Up

If there's anything I've learned about travel, never fall into the trap of legalism. It's never about how many stamps you have on your passport, or what you think you have to do based on what your friends told you they did, what matters is how you travel, and the process you go through during your travels.

Travel speaks to all of us in different ways.

It shows us things about ourselves that we've buried deep, and other things that we never knew were there.

So If we keep focusing on our so called "metrics" of how much we travel, instead of the process of how we lived during our travels, then we become victims to our own devices.

Next time you travel, try focusing on how you spend your time with yourself, I mean really dig deep there and see what's inside.

Then have faith, because the rest will work itself out.

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Starting 2020 Right: Gratitude and Plans for the Year!

Starting the year off right with nothing but pure gratitude.

Last year was both my best and most challenging year yet, but it's funny how God works to give you just a little bit more than you can handle, so your faith grows just a little bit stronger.

I am so grateful for these moments last year that made me who I am this year and put me on the course I am supposed to be on.

When I look back at these moments, while they were my most liked, I also like to think of them as decisive points in my life, where I had breakthroughs in discovering a little bit more about who I and what I am supposed to be doing.

I discovered my passion for creating, and learned how to use my skills to create from my passions and find fulfillment and in sharing those creations with others.

I learned the value of enjoying the moment, taking a step back, and savoring the calm before the chaos.

I noticed how a just a view has a way of cutting straight to me, and can change me for the better.

I amplified my affinity for learning about wine.

I unlocked my addiction for travel.

I learned to see mountains everywhere, and worked on my strategies for conquering them.

Lastly, I'm most grateful for meeting an amazing human being who works daily to meet me half way and supports me in all my endeavors.

Recently, someone asked me to sum up what 2020 will be for me in one word.

FOCUS.

I'm looking forward to taking more action on things that I care about and my priorities, like my career, my love of creating, and of course WINE!

I have some big things lined up for this year, and can't wait to share them with all of you, so here's to #wheretonext in 2020.

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Live in the Present

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” - Henry David Thoreau || Joshua Tree National Park, CA, USA ||

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New Mountains to Conquer

Finding new mountains to conquer remains a critical component to the eternal quest of getting better.

Success and achievement don't equate to fulfilment.

Fulfilment comes from a place of being constantly challenged, adapting to our current situations we find ourselves in and then pushing our limits a little bit further so we can climb a little taller mountain next time.

The journey of finding the next mountain and doing what we have to do to be able to climb that mountain is where fulfilment comes from.

Those mountains can be in different aspects or domains in our lives, but continually seeking out those mountains is what keeps us on our path that's been laid out for us.

We don't have to reach the top of those mountains, as sometime we never will.

But what is important is that we keep climbing, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Heading into this week with a mindset of gratitude for the mountains I've been fortunate to climb in my own life both with strength from God and alongside others.

Those mountains have made me who I am today.

Now it's time to find the next one.

Hitting the road again, eagerly in anticipation to see what awaits.

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Texas Hill Country

You don’t really appreciate a place until you’ve spent a significant amount of time there, and then leave it and spend as much time away from it.

When we are gone, I think we find ourselves thinking about those one or two places that always put us in the best mood, where the sun is always shining, and we instantly feel better when we arrive in those places.

For me, that’s the Texas hill country.

When I’m gone, and I’m thinking about places I wish I was, my thoughts always find their way back to this countryside.

It’s gives me a place to go, when things aren’t what I want them to be or easy around me. . And gives me something to look forward to.

I don’t know if you feel the same way as I do about the, but I hope these photos show why I love the Texas Hill Country.

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Those Who Risk Going Too Far...

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” –T.S. Eliot || Montserrat, ESP 🇪🇸 ||

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There are No Foreign Lands

“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign” – Robert Louis Stevenson || Fidra Island, North Berwick, Scotland || .

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Traveling is a Brutality

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” -Cesare Pavese || Stuttgart, Germany at dawn ||

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Exploring Shenandoah National Park

Had a great weekend watching everything turn amber, orange and red in Shenandoah National Park while learning from the pros Francisco J Martinez  and Keegan Dunlap. Mini-treks like these in the land of the free are some of my favorites.

Adventures are always waiting for you, you just have to start.

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Be a Craftsman of Life

Dove into the world of craft foods in countries #23 and #24 this past weekend, Belgium and Luxembourg!

Around every corner was an opportunity to expand the palate.

The Belgians are craftsmen in every sense of the word. From crafting of their chocolates to their waffles, even their pommes frites (aka French fries, don’t worry I used to not be in the know, trust me, ignorance is bliss my friend), they use precision in everything they produce.

We don’t have to be chocolatiers or Belgian waffle makers to be craftsmen.

We get to choose what we want to become the best in the world at, and if we keep persisting, and continue to hone our craft we too can become craftsmen.

Seek out some true craftsmen in your travels this week!

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Personal Growth and Being Present

Growth is about movement. It’s about forward progress.

I can’t tell you how many times in the past I’ve tried to just zone out. That’s the easy button.

Just go to some fictitious dark place in your mind where you don’t have to actually feel the work.

Or just turn on Netflix and not have to feel the weight of the situation you’re in.

But all that’s doing is preventing you from achieving your full potential.

Because if you really want to become the best version of yourself, I challenge you to truly be present in every moment.

That means counting every rep in all your workouts, especially when they are tough and all you want to do is turn the music up high and drown out the pain.

Or at work when all you want to do is not be there and focus on something pleasant.

Or in your relationships when all you want to do is not deal with a situation or talk to someone new.

See the only way you’re going to get better is by dealing with the shit right there in front of you, by squaring up with it and putting in the work to learn something from it and not let it devour you.

Crush some demons this week by not letting them get a foothold in your life, and achieve your true potential. Grind early, grind often, safe travels to all.

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What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do...

There are moments in our life where we are faced with daunting tasks and great ambiguity. Where we don’t know what to do next.

These moments can define our lives, and set us on courses we never expected. The question is what we do in those moments.

Exploring champagne gave me a chance to explore my courage and how I define it for myself.

I challenge you to do the same. If you need a place to start, checkout my stories I’ve complied from champagne. I’ll be dropping some of my thoughts on courage and the thoughts of others.

If we don’t take opportunities to start the conversation, and we take for granted our freedom to engage in the discussion, then we’ll lose it. Let’s use our courage for good and define what it means to ourselves.

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Changing Mindset: As Simple as Changing Your Outfit?

Some days you have to be able to switch certain modes on and off.

And sometimes it’s easy because you literally go through the motions of changing clothes, from pants that say “I’m ready to do my walkabout” to suited up.

That physical transition helps you make a mental transition. Just the same as changing venues or locations. But sometimes you don’t have that luxury.

Sometimes you have to go from one type of engagement or meeting to another and have to completely change your mindset or approach because what was true in the first meeting or engagement isn’t necessarily true in the second.

Do an assessment of your audience everytime you walk through the door and tailor your approach to the people right then and there in front of you to communicate your message and achieve your objectives.

How do you calibrate yourself when going from one meeting to the next? .

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Traveling Taught Me: Abundance Mindset

Travel has taught me so much about not only the world we live in, but about myself. I go to places and pick places that help me create new parts about myself.

I love going to new places and learning about the history, the culture, and the wine, but more importantly I enjoy figuring out what these new places are teaching me about myself.

New environments give you new stimulus. They help your neurons and synapses fire in new ways. They create neural pathways on how you think and perceive the world.

Finding out these new things about yourself will do amazing new things for you that you never thought possible, because you can’t think that way yet because you’re not there in those new environments yet, adjusting how your synapses are firing and creating new pathways.

So let’s blaze some new trails in our brains and in our lives and see what new ways to look at the world we can come up with. That is true abundance.

How has traveling taught you an abundance mindset? .

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Who's Coming Traveling With Me? (No, Really!)

Traveling is about adapting to changes in your situation, and creating a newer, better version of yourself. It’s about evolving and taking the next step in your journey.

That’s why I’m super excited to announce the next step in my journey with traveling. Over the next several months I’ll be curating destinations and experiences to various locations in Europe. I’ll also be creating opportunities for people to join me in my travels and together forge some amazing memories. This will be a trial phase for some big things I have in the works for later this year.

I’d love to include you in my journey and take you with me on my travels. So now is the time to take action. If you’d like more information on the first trip over July 4th weekend to The wine producing region of Champagne, France, shoot me a message and I’d love to tell you more about the trip and see if you’d be a good fit. . This is only the beginning. Now you know - Who’s ready to travel? .

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How to Win the Game of Life

It took me a few weeks to really digest the flashy displays of opulence and luxe at Monte Carlo. But Monaco has a rich history and has played its part in European history. It’s not just for filming great scenes for stunning movies like Goldeneye or Ironman 2.

I think at its very essence is the spirit of CHANCE and OPPORTUNITY. I’ve noticed a lot of times we find ourselves in situations where we are presented with an opportunity. It’s usually someone crosses our path. And we are faced with a DECISION. Either pay no attention to that person or opportunity and keep going the way we were going. Or make the most of that moment and take ACTION.

Whether it’s talking to the stranger on the airplane, stopping an influential person you see in the gym for a quick connection, or going up to a speaker at an event, we all have OPPORTUNITIES placed in front of us.

The question for me is can I identify the opportunities presented to me, and position myself to take advantage of those opportunities to ENHANCE MY LIFE and my organizations.

There’s nothing to be gained by saying nothing, walking the other way, or just being a face in a crowd. Here’s a few tips I’ve used in the past to identify opportunities and EXECUTE on them:

1) If this person has captured my gaze for an extended period of time. Whether it’s admiring from a far, or locking eyes there’s a reason why your attracted to them. It could be their VIBE or GLOW, or you just feel something in your gut. Listen to your INTUITION and make a move. Say hello, introduce yourself, give your elevator pitch.

2) Now your job is to listen. Hear their story, show empathy and understand their position. Use this time they’re communicating to look for an opportunity to build a connection and relationship. Ask clarifying questions and help them identify to you what some of their challenges are right now and show you’re CONNECTED in your SHARE of having issues or struggles as well.

3) FOLLOW UP. Either phone, email or social media, strengthen an in person connection with follow up. This will increase your chances of something fruitful coming from this opportunity. I also love making notes. I’ve found iPhone contacts to be a great place to record my notes from a new connection like “likes ice cream” (who doesn’t?) and is a dog person (must love dogs).

Turn your chances into connections, and create more opportunities by seizing the right moments, and I like to think that’s how we win the game of life.

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Waking up on the Wrong Side of the Bed...Monday Morning Mood.

Making the most of my marvellous Monday in a magnificent mood. But it didn’t start that way.

It started off in a not so glamorous mood. Whether it was sleep or just not vibin’ right this morning, definitely woke up on the wrong side of my twin sized mattress I’m sleeping on right now, which you would think is hard to do because it’s a twin…

So I did what I knew would shift me back into at least a neutral state and did an hour of cardio this morning in the gym. Still wasn’t 100% but was turning the tide back to where I wanted to be.

Then I got to the airport. Had a guy in front of me totally lose it in security and had me waiting 15 min to get my bag because it had to be searched. But I recentered and put some good jams on, and chose I was going to have an awesome day. After all, everyday is a good day to travel!

We can choose our mood and the mode or mental state we want to be in. And for me, having cues like a certain song or a cup of coffee helps.

I’d love to know what helps you get into the mood or mode you need to be in. Let me know what works for you, because you never know who will read it and needed to get that idea so they can learn how to shift their mood! Happy grinding this week.

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You Can't Quantify Happiness

Looking back at my last day in the French Riviera a couple weekends ago was a flood of emotions and memories, but I realized also it’s important while I was reflecting because it represents country #21 for me.

There’s a shift right now in our cultures to move away from quantifying things. People are saying you can’t quantify things like happiness, and can’t put a number on fulfillment. While I do agree you can’t quantify your entire life, and that it doesn’t come down to any one number, I think metrics are super important, and help me bring abstract ideas like success and fulfillment into reality.

That’s why I track the number of countries I’ve been to. It’s not just the number itself, but what it represents. All the amazing memories I’ve made in the 21 countries I’ve been to so far. It also gives me metrics to identify if I am on the right track, If I’m headed down the right path, because I can assess how I feel about myself and others as my metrics change throughout my own personal journey. It gives me focus and helps me prioritize my resources like my time.

While we can’t quantify all aspects of our lives, keeping track of certain metrics that are important to us help us in each of our individual journeys.

What numbers are you tracking and do you find helpful in your journey? .

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Cannes Film Festival

Finally got around to picking out some of my favorites from checking out Festival de Cannes. I was basically a kid in a candy store checking out all the spots, the red carpet and international village. If you look close, might see some movies coming up on the horizon!!

If you know you want to do something, no matter how crazy, far flung, or out of reach you think it is, just go and do it. Everything else will fall into place. Don’t let goals turn into regrets.

The Cannes Film Festival has always been on my list, because yes it’s in a beautiful place, and you have the red carpet, and the stars, and the food and wine. But really for me, it’s about the celebration of the arts, bringing together the best of the international film community, and showcasing the best everyone has to offer. It gives people a chance to try new things, to innovate and be different.

How are you innovating and being different this week? .

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