London, UK
It had to happen eventually, of course. 70,000km later and we arrived back in London a few weeks ago to much family fanfare and, I think in some cases, blind relief. It has been an incredible journey.
Apart from a tan (Emma) and a beard (me), what did we bring back with us? It is too early to say at this stage I think. At the moment it feels a little surreal to us both, almost like when you have been at sea for a while and when you step back on land you can still feel the rocking motion.
I will venture a few thoughts though. What struck me very early on was how slowly life passes when you break from a routine. Time has not flown by on this trip, and in the best possible way. There are also some obvious travelling truths: a rucksack each has sufficed as the entirety of our belongings for a year and at this stage the prospect of unlocking our storage space is a daunting one. We are still wearing what we have worn all year! In some ways there is more confusion than there was a year ago. We have met many people along the way who have committed to an alternative life, be it as a surf instructor, tree surgeon or bar owner in some distant paradise; those lives no longer seem a dreamy idea but a stark possibility, and they clash with our legitimate desires for success, comfort and security. Finally, what has struck me this year is how much pleasure, manifested as a sort of deep psychological satisfaction, you get from being active and outdoors. People all my life have asked how I managed to satisfy the intellect when I was a footballer. I didn’t, and until now I never understood why. Being very fit, outdoors and pursuing a goal appears to suppress, or more likely satisfy the mind. It is deeply rewarding in a way I never appreciated before. One of the key challenges on our reentry is going to be keeping time for that.
And what of the ‘experiment’? I think broadly speaking it worked as I had hoped. Certainly there has been time for reflection and I have read and thought as much as I had wanted. It will not be apparent from this blog, but my attitude to investment has become clear to me over the year, as if a haze had lifted. Naturally, too, I no longer feel the ‘whirlwind’ I described in the About section. Of course that is not surprising having been out of it for a year, but I now wonder if that was not my own disillusionment speaking. With the new found clarity, I expect it to feel less so when I return to the hedge fund.
I think the blog itself was a little ambitious as I first envisioned it. I expected to have the time to fully flesh out an idea when it came, and only post when it was a strong, investable idea. There were practical problems with this: internet access, a quite place to sit and write and too many Buddhist temples to visit for example. There was also a frequency issue. An investor I respect told me once that he has a good idea every eighteen months or so. The posts would have been even less prolific had I kept to the initial plan!
So I focused instead on that creative spark that I was looking for, and here I feel it was a success. I had most of my ideas walking up mountains and they came spontaneously, uninvited and free from bias. This is quite a difference from at home where they come pre-packaged with agendas one can only guess at, and so frequently there is only time for lip service to most of them. As a coping mechanism I used to pick those that have the most coherent message; I have since learned that this is a deep psychological bias in itself. You would think it would be obvious in a world as unpredictable as stock markets, but accepting uncertainty is essential to managing a good idea. The practice of analysis can be used to reduce that uncertainty; in truth it can only go so far and we should be conscious of its limits.
Before I get carried away though, I am reminded that round the world trip or otherwise, all this is perfectly normal. I give you a quote from a book I came across near the beginning of the trip.
[The life stage known as] ‘odyssey’ is the wandering that occurs between adolescense and adulthood. Young people are ambivalent about adulthood. They want the security and stability adulthood brings, but they don’t want to settle into a daily grind. They don’t want to limit their spontaneity or put limits on their dreams. – David Brooks, The Social Animal.
In the end all we can say for sure is that we had a fantastic time. We look forward to being home, spending time with family and friends, and sharing some of our stories.
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