This Week
- My winter wardrobe update to compete with my European friends.
- How socializing has changed this week.
- What happened the morning my van didn’t start…
January 2025
| Su | M | T | W | Th | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 1/1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Where In The World Was I?
- 🚐 Denver, Colorado
Metrics From The Week
Snaps From The Week
Business Updates
Back on the grind over here, recording and uploading reels, another YouTube video this week.
But oddly, I started noticing that a lot of the reels I was posting weren’t doing as well as they previously did. I’ve still been posting to trial reels first, then sharing to everyone after 1-2 days, but a lot of reels were getting to 100-200 views in the first 2-3 hours, then just sitting there.
I was like huh… I started thinking maybe it was a seasonal thing, that everyone was scrolling Nov/Dec, but now they’re not.
But I didn’t let that be my excuse, so I kept at it.
And sure enough Sunday (today), we got some more reels popping off. Nice 🙂
I’ve really been focusing in lately, Reels, YouTube coaching calls. Honestly, I’m not sure why I made this so complicated before. But maybe all that complication I added was so that I could realize it’s a lot simpler than I thought.
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Winter Wardrobe Update
Shoutout to my last wardrobe update from The Week Of Editing, Wardrobe Updates, and Padel, (March 23rd, 2025) which has still been going strong.
And like this one, I spent just about as much time AI chatting, creating permutation tables, doing research, and writing 2,000 words of notes in my second-brain. That, should not be a surprise to you if you’ve been reading these blog posts for some time 😂
The main goal with this update has been to level up one more notch in European style, driven by two weak links in my wardrobe, particularly for cold weather: my casual Allbirds shoes and my red/blue down jacket. They’ve both served me incredibly well, but they’re not quite what I need on a clean and upscale night out in Portugal or Greece with the men’s group I’m a part of.
For those that are curious, here are my summarized notes:
Top of mind/priority:
- Replace: Trail runners → New running shoes
- Done: Altra Torin 8 in US12
- Replace: Allbirds → Dressier travel shoe
- Done: Amberjack The Original (Chestnut) – Classic, 12 / Wide
- New hat
- Done: Nike dri-fit club cap in Medium/Large
- Replace: Fleece 1/4 zip → Merino Crewneck Sweater
- Done: SuitSupply merino wool ribbed Henley
Medium priority:
- Replace: Bedrock sandals → Birkenstocks
- Done: Arizona BS Black color in 44/US11
- Replace: Blue Vuori shirt → Nice quality black (that actually fits well, long enough; for base layer under dressy outfits)
- Not done yet
- Replace: Grey long sleeve → A Neutral Long-Sleeve Henley Layer That’s Not a Sweater (merino crew or henley)
- Done: Unbound – Men’s Long Sleeve Merino Crew – Black / L
- Replace: Rain jacket → packable stylish trench coat
- Done: SuitSupply Navy Raincoat – J937 in size 42
- Replace: Down jacket → ditch it (replaced with crew sweater, nano puff, trench coat)
- Replaced with SuitSupply Navy Raincoat – J937 in size 42
Lower priority:
- Replace: Kuhl pants → Another casual travel chino daily driver.
- Not done yet
- New belt
- Done: Amberjack Leather Belt (Chestnut), 33″ – 34″
Remember that I live in two carry-on backpacks (all my clothes in just one), so anything that is added or replaced has to be multi-functional. Every item fights for its life to be a part of this wardrobe. I have no room for error.
Found some really good contenders at SuitSupply which also has a location in Denver! Picked up the henley and long rain coat there, which were big scores.
Haven’t picked up the new shoes yet, but those are also gonna be a major score for style points.
If you’re wondering how I’m going to fit this into a single backpack…. That makes two of us 😅
I’m starting to feel the constraint of trying to travel from just a single backpack with all my clothes for ALL SEASONS. But I think I can still stretch it for now.
I’m just about done with this wardrobe update and happy so far with how it’s turned out.
Actually wait I just realized I could put on the shoes and henley if I used AI 🤣 Here, actually I HAVE got the shoes. Here’s the new look, stitched together with Google Gemini.
This is actually WAY COOL. I never took a photo with the henley and jacket together, and don’t even own the shoes yet.
Missed A Pow Day
OpenSnow said the ski resorts would get 2-3″, which is why I didn’t drive up…
Well we got probably 3-4″ in Denver and 6-8″ in the mountains… so I was kicking myself a bit for missing the one and only pow day for the next 2 weeks. Woops.
Socializing
For some reason the universe has made a turn and decided to show me that socializing is possible here in Denver/the U.S….
I’ve had a handful of exchanges with people in coffee shops, the gym, connected with a barista, been saying hi to people on my walks in the park, adding compliments and comments.
It’s come in and out but I’ve started getting back into a bit of a social flow lately. Not quite “Bali-level” but way better than the zero socializing I’ve been doing lately 😅
Click, Click, Click
The morning of the snow storm, I came back out after working in a coffee shop, stuck my key in my van, turned it, and it went “click, click, click”
Confused… I turned it off, then tried again.
“click, click, click”
On the little screen were some hieroglyphics that I couldn’t read.
“Uhhhhhh this isn’t good” I thought… Took out my phone and took a quick video doing it one more time.
Remember that…
This van is my home.
I don’t have an apartment.
I don’t have a backup plan, or a bed to go back to.
If my van doesn’t move, I don’t move.
So if my van doesn’t start, we’ve got some BIG issues on our hands folks…
“Welp this makes the day more interesting” I said.
My first thought was “hmm, maybe a dead battery?”
I sent that screenshot to AI to get its take while I grabbed my voltage meter and jump starter battery from the back of my van.
Then opened up my engine bay and took the voltage of my battery.
Converting 12v battery voltages to percentages are confusing… Let’s just say when I saw this, I knew this was very low. It’s about 60% when you convert it.
At this point this woman in the parking lot saw me and offered to help jump my van if I needed it, which was very kind. I told her if my jump starter didn’t work, then yes haha.
I hooked up my jump starter, re-took the voltage, and it was something like 13.3v.
I went back inside, turned the key, et voilà she started right up. PHEW!
The panic only relaxed a little bit, as this obviously isn’t a great sign if it’s gonna keep happening.
BUT as I reflected on this and that morning, I’m pretty confident it was because of how I drove that morning. It snowed, it was cold, I started my van, drove about 4 minutes to the gym, worked out, then drove another like 4 minutes to the coffee shop, all the while running my B2B charger to charge my house batteries while driving.
So this would actually make sense as I didn’t drive long enough to recharge the van’s battery.
I’ve had no issues since then 👍
Phew!
New Routine
I was on a walk around City Park as my brain was wracking itself against how I just felt like I didn’t have enough time lately. And wanting to experiment more with eating 3-4 hours before bed and working out in the mornings to improve my resting heart rate while sleeping.
Then it came to me, a new routine idea.
And so I gave it a try this week and I’ve been really liking it so far.
- 630am – wake up, drive straight to the gym (instead of coffee shop)
- 7-9am – gym workout, shower
- Eat a light “lunch”
Then the idea here was go to a park for the rest of the entire day, but my van’s house batteries have been low, so I’ve been going to a coffee shop to work and recharge my laptop instead.
- ~930am/10am-12pm – coffee shop to work
- Drive to a park
- ~12pm-4pm – eat, walk, work
- ~4pm-~5pm – dinner
- ~530pm – post dinner walk
- 6-8pm – more working
- 8pm – wind down, drive to camp spot, brush, journal
- ~915pm – sleep
And man, it feels so much simpler to get my workout and shower done first thing, then not feel rushed in the afternoon, just being able to work, walk, eat, and actually have more energy after dinner to still do stuff.
I’m liking it so far!
Batteries
I spent a lot more time in parks this week running starlink, working from my van. The downside was that this drained a lot of battery this week. Too much…
I got down to 25% in my house batteries one morning, which is about as low as I would like to ever go. So I’ve been doing a lot more intentional driving around. And toying with the idea of driving an 1+ hours somewhere else just so I can recharge my batteries enough to lock in again.
Haven’t decided anything yet. And no guarantees but I’m like “hmmmm should I just like… drive to Utah?” 👀 😂
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What’s Next?
Will I be on the other side of the country next week? Who knows.
The only way to find out?? Like and subscribe 👀 😜