For the past four months I have been working from the road. I started in the Delaware Water Gap then the White Mountains of New Hampshire then Millinocket Maine, the base camp for Baxter State Park. Now I’m in the Colorado mountains.

Delaware Water Gap / Pennsylvannia & New Jersey

White Mountains / New Hampshire

Baxter State Park & Acadia National Park / Maine

Along my adventures, I had formative experiences and met influential people. I’ve learned a lot and what I want to share with you are some of those lessons.

The first lesson came in Delaware Water gap when I asked my AirBnB what she thought about feedback. She responded “feedback has to be requested”. In that moment, a light bulb went off in my mind. Approaching feedback as a request, helps the person providing the feedback be more specific and valuable. Now, I ask for feedback on specific instances, or ask if I can give feedback before stating my view. This way we all can receive and give valuable feedback.

The second lesson I learned was that I no longer enjoy drinking alcohol. While Ive had some great times going out, the side effects have outweighed the benefits. I have not had a drink since May 8th. I feel great! I empathize that this does not apply to everyone. Cheers!!

The third lesson is that Maine is beautiful, the bugs are tough, the people have adventurous warm souls, and fast internet has a special place in my heart. My friend Brad and I stayed in a small home with kayak access to the local stream. We hiked Acadia National park and Baxter State Park whenever we got the chance. Our host Al Cooper, was a smart and knowledgeable person with 30 years experience living in the woods of Baxter State park hunting and guiding camps. He told us what to wear for the bugs but they got so bad at sunset that we had to buy nets to put over our heads. Some days we had to ask Al to reset the router, to get the internet working again. Which made me appreciate how lucky we are to have internet access and even more, fast speeds.

Millinocket & Baxter State Park / Maine

Baxter State Park / Maine

The fourth lesson is that family problems are sometimes impossible to solve. Not solving problems, and living with the difficulties of that, can be a lifetime of stress. I do think that the best way to prevent family issues is with transparent, honest, and open communication. Still there are issues we can’t predict/solve.

The fifth lesson I learned was the power of passion, persistence, and timing. Last month I received and accepted an offer to work at Buffer. I’m stoked to work with such talented people and a company that values transparency. My role will be Marketing Engineer, developing pages, content, and campaigns on Buffer.com. I look forward to sharing my experience at Buffer with everyone. I am so thankful for my time at Toll Brothers. I have learned website optimization, A/B testing, code documenting, and marketing strategies. I wanna give out a special shout-out to Vince Suriani, my manager at Toll Brothers, for the mentorship and guidance over the last four years. I wanna also shout out Justin Escalante, for the advice, feedback, and friendship. My family, thank you for the support and confidence. My friends, I am fulfilled by your love and positivity. To my readers, I appreciate your time, thoughts, and brain power.

Let’s see what I learn next month in Colorado.

Song of The Month - Half of My Hometown by Kelsea Ballerini (feat. Kenny Chesney)