Now, where do I begin…? It turns out to have been four months since the first of my (what are intended to be quite frequent) posts on this new site. I must confess to being surprised when I checked back and realised such time had passed – I have often written updates in my head, just never found the time to transcribe those into existence. A lot has happened since my last post – although not a signing of the Bahamas business deal yet! That is a matter of continual frustration. It is still ongoing, just “Island Time” prevails and it turns out even people who live in the Bahamas go on summer holidays. Still, we press on and keep patiently plugging away.  

And so here we are. Today’s edition is brought to you from a lovely little apartment in the historic Palm View neighbourhood of South Beach, Miami.

It is a place I have rented for this extended trip and will try and return to again next time I am here. The freedom of having my own little pad here is more liberating than a hotel room. In a hotel the ever-present knowledge that there could be a knock on the door by housekeeping is fine for normal travel, but for extended stays can be irritating. It is entirely possible at some point soon it would makes sense for us (us, being my company) to take a full apartment rental due to the amount of time being spent here. I will take that call when the time is right.

One of my business contacts does the same in Jamaica where he spends a lot of time, and he talks of how much easier it is to just leave personal items there and travel to and from much more fluidly, while saving the costs of protracted and expensive hotel charges. He is actually coming to Miami tomorrow for a few days – joining the same conference as me – so I will take him out for dinner on Ocean Drive and show him around!   

Most of the business I do is in the Americas and so there is a big advantage also with the time zone alignment. When I am in the UK, I often manage my schedule around Eastern Time simply as it is where most of the people I am dealing with are based.  

As I have said before I like Miami and do feel quite at home here. I was going to go and watch the Dolphins play the New England Patriots today, as they are playing at their stadium only 20 miles from here. But it is a hot and humid day, the sun is out, and I would be reliant on Ubers to make the journey to and from, so I elected instead to have a chilled Sunday. I went for a run yesterday taking advantage of some morning cloud cover. But with today’s glaring sun I will settle for a walk instead. Running in the heat and humidity at this time of year is not easy, and most runners I see here tend to practice slow and steady as the name of the game. There are obviously some exceptions, but most people I see are just trotting along gently in the sun. Mixed in with the rollerbladers, cyclists, power walkers, and those just finding ways of showing off their physique; the stereotypical Miami beach impression is very real.  

But what I do see here is people making the most of the environment in which they find themselves. It is an affluent area for sure, and buying a place here would not be cheap. That underlying wealth requirement, along with the high tourist presence, leads to a more exhibitionist nature to the city. Fascinating to watch, and in the main makes for a relatively safe and comfortable environment within which to live.  

Anyway, speaking of wealth… this is an underlying theme that has been intertwined with my life this last year. Firstly, and transparently, I do not mean my wealth. I am quite open about the fact that I am not blessed with such of any material nature. Yes, I earn reasonably well, and I am thankful for that. But in so doing I sacrifice a lot of personal stability and roots. I am consistently away from home, and as such must forego a lot of normal connections that I see my friends having. And I miss that a lot. But it is what it is, and for now it is my way of life. Nomadic by necessity, not by choice. But I do not come from a place of fortunate inheritance or gifting. I have lived a life of earning and experiencing – not of focused saving. I want to make the most of my one time here, not seek to accumulate at the expense of that.    

By the nature of the job I am currently doing, and the people I am dealing with, I am seeing a whole different level of wealth first hand though. This last week I went to lunch at someone’s house in Nassau who is helping us on one of our projects. I shall not mention names in the interest of privacy, but this chap sits at a different level altogether. He is in the media for having donated millions to charities, and one article I saw about him told of his giving $10m to some children’s charity. He is a philanthropic supporter of animal charities and orphanages it seems, so the animal side resonates with me personally.   

Having been invited to his house for a lunch meeting, it gave me the chance to see inside one of those places you would pass and wonder the story of who lives there. It was truly unique to say the least. I cannot even imagine the retail value, but the bespoke artwork and car collection in the drive afforded a degree of marvel.

It was quite entertaining to listen to a conversation he had with another (similarly wealthy) guy at the lunch about whether he wanted to buy that guys new custom high-end car. It was apparently ready for delivery although he was not now sure if he still wanted it. The value of said car would likely be more than all the money and assets I currently have. But for him it was just a potential decision about something to add to his portfolio. It would have no meaningful impact on his cash position. Now to be clear I am not being critical here. He is self-made, and from what I can see does a lot of good in terms of charity work and so forth, so at face value seems a good guy – although I barely know him in truth, so careful to wholeheartedly endorse. We have seen poor examples of that recently!    

It is more an interesting observance of the life of these people that I now deal with regularly. It is rare to spend time with my contacts in the Bahamas without conversations about money, interest rates, and general financial discussions. It is almost like a game. “How many restaurants have you got now?”. “Oh, I think it’s 12 or 13, I can never remember”. One line of conversation at the lunch. With the respondent also taking a call from the Prime Minister briefly while we sat at the table. What a world…  

I almost feel like an intruder in such circumstances. The reality of the matter is they are all invested businessmen in their own industries and so a positive outcome to a deal gives rise to more personal wealth accumulation. For me I am an employee and acting on behalf of my employer. Any success goes to serve my company, and my reward is job satisfaction and a feeling of worth in justifying my salary. It will not have any sway on whether I could consider purchasing a new yacht at my next outing to the marina. But it is fascinating to observe, and to be right in the middle of. The people I am dealing with though I do genuinely like and respect. They seem good guys; they work hard and reap the benefits accordingly – so fair play to them.  

But I cannot help thinking of it against the context of the journey versus the destination. It seems a continual game of seeking more, and sustained attempts to add to the pot. One of the guys whose wealth I know extends well into the millions told me he flies economy when he travels to save spending too much on flights. I probably have a tiny fraction of the money he does, yet I bought myself a first-class train ticket a couple weeks ago because it was not much more than standard class and I thought sod it. Which goes to my perspective of enjoying what I have now, at the expense of building a bigger prize pot to marvel at when I eventually retire.   

The Bahamas is known for its wealth status – the tax-free environment being a fair haven for so inclined persons. Similarly so is Miami, but for more environmental reasons, with its climate, beaches and all the other attractions to the region. However, having just watched the Hurricane Katrina documentary on Netflix it also reminds me how such castles can come tumbling down, and how quickly that can happen by forces outside of our control. Ironically my first time to Nassau was at the time of Hurricane Katrina twenty years ago, and our holiday was awash with heavy rains as – what we now know to have been – that devastating hurricane skirted the islands on its way to wreak havoc on New Orleans.  

But it is a stark reminder that while we may make long term plans, and assume our worlds are stable and can be taken for granted, that is not necessarily true. Our world has not been in such a politically vulnerable position as it is now for many years, and there is a real jeopardy to some of the things we take for granted. I am not going to be posting political views or commentary here, but we can all see what is happening and peace (and prosperity) is not guaranteed.   

Neither is any of our futures. We have an interstellar comet flashing through our solar system right now (3I/Atlas) which will not come close enough to our planet to cause us any concern (unless the stories of it being an alien ship are indeed true – although for the record I do not believe that, even though it would make for a really interesting story!). But what if the next one that comes hurtling through at 60km/sec is going to hit earth and was not foreseen in time due to do anything about it – as per 3I/Atlas. Zero chance of dealing with that if so. In that case, it would not matter which Yacht I had, or whether that car was worth buying or not. Sending up the zeros on the bank balance to scare it away would have no impact. The only impact would be of a terminal nature.   

Hence to me it is all about the journey not the destination. I will buy a first-class train ticket on occasion, and other such things to enhance today’s experience. I may even hire a Jeep Wrangler for the fun of it, rather than the cheapest on the lot….

Life is for living and enjoying, and we do not know when it will end.   

Of course, an interstellar comet raining down on us is statistically remarkably improbable during our lifetimes. But it does not need to be a comet. Other more likely things can derail our best intentions. To quote the famous phrase, “life is what happens while we are busy making plans”.  

I wish that perspective resonated across some of the leaders of our world right now.  Why do we always need more? Why do we pursue betterment at the expenses of those less fortunate? If we have sufficient means to be happy and more comfortable than most people could dream of, then why continue to pursue a competitive agenda? I fear the relentless pursuit of expansion will be the downfall of us all. Maybe it will not be a comet, but something closer to home after all.  

And so, I am going to go for a nice walk in the sun to make the most of it. You never know. It might rain tomorrow.