Patrick

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

I get my best ideas on walks.

After concentrating on a problem -> go for a walk, gym, anything low cognitive effort. Shower is good also.

A creative solution often arises.

Barbara Oakley calls this “Diffuse Mode” in “A Mind for Numbers”. I read this before learning to code in 2019. Very good book, more so valuable now that it is easy to outsource thinking to AI.

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@ErnestoSOFTWARE I saw this and thought, I wonder why, maybe web to app.

There is very little critical thinking nowadays.

“Apps are dead!!!” 😂

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

Interesting, is this due to web to app payments becoming more popular?

[Adam Lyttle @adamlyttleapps]

App Store sales dropped for the first time in a decade

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@adamlyttleapps interesting, is this due to web to app payments?

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

I had family in Japan / Saudi growing up. We did family reunions in across the world. Most likely contributed to my love of travel / adventure.

I now have family in London, SF, Tokyo.

There are pros and cons like everything. In your 20's / 30's its sweet, later down the road the calculation most likely will change.

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@jakecastilloooo Most likely the latter

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

During 3 minute rest sets at the gym... the S-tier books that came to mind (no order):

1. The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana (Graham Greene)
2. Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)
3. The Bad Girl (Mario Vargas Llosa)
4. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
5. Antifragile, Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness (Taleb)
6. Crime & Punishment (Dostoevsky)
7. Letters from a Stoic (Seneca)
8. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Farewell to Arms, Sun also Rises (Hemingway)
9. Balcony in the Forest (Julien Gracq)
10. Almanak of Naval Ravikant
11. The Sovereign Individual (Davidson, Rees-Mogg)
12. Die with Zero (Bill Perkins)
13. Killing Commendatore (Haruki Murakami)
14. Thinking, Fast & Slow (Kahneman) 
15. Gang Fit (Mark Baker)
16. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (Jack Weatherford)

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

Die with Zero is a great book. I like the story about his friend going to loansharks to finance backpacking Europe.

I had a similar experience post college backpacking SE Asia at 22 (minus the loansharks).

There is a window for every life experience that closes. Many people are in denial of this.

[Andrew Yeung @andruyeung]

Most of my friends I grew up with in Asia have a hard time spending money.

They're 30 years old, don't have kids, and make between $400,000 and $800,000/year.

They won't fly business class, spend more than $100 at a restaurant, buy luxury watches or designer clothing.

I'm the same way. I think it's a Chinese thing?

You grow up watching your parents save every dollar, and it gets wired into you. Spending on yourself feels irresponsible, even when the math says you're fine.

But recently I've started to believe OVER-saving can be just as bad as overspending.

Two books changed my perspective: Die with Zero by Bill Perkins and The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel.

The big idea that stuck with me: money is meant to be converted into experiences, memories, and time with the people you love. Save too aggressively and you can end up as the richest person in the graveyard, having deferred every good thing for "someday"

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@MaxHirsch13 Agree 100%

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

Singapore and Dubai have an iron first approach to law.

Japan / Korea have very little immigration.

Europe as a whole choose the opposite courses

(Poland being a good example of law + stricter immigration)

[@levelsio @levelsio]

I think most high skilled Europeans are happy to pay (even high) taxes

That is, if the government does a great job like Singapore or Dubai or Korea or Japan and most things work well

You pay the government for a service and you get safe cities, great public services and great healthcare back

Oh and letting people just be entrepreneurial and improve things themselves by starting businesses, taking a risk and getting rewarded for that

I don't think many people in Europe can say they get any of this now though, so then your highest skilled people flee to elsewhere

You can try chase them around the world and collect their money but it's kind of a scarcity/loser approach, wouldn't you want them to just not flee in the first place?

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@donaldjenner Coming from an eng background, for me it is.

i picked up design skills working in tech, and have been learning marketing from friends.

Compared to the past 10 years, this feels like a great time to be starting a company

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

Its the age of the Product Design Market Engineer

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@JakeNomada it was a diff era. Turkey / Georgia / Romania back in 2012 was the start of adventure travel for me. No cell service, no smartphone. Somehow things always worked out.

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

This 'leaving Latam' debate is funny. People get so worked up.

Nowhere is perfect, and preferences change depending on what season of life you are in.

It really is that simple.

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@hispanicnomad In Bariloche do they still have that 'super pass' that gets you into the ski school lanes? It was clutch in Aug '22.

the problem for me there was the wind. the top lifts were shut half the time.

Do Japan if you want a top notch ski adventure.

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@basedlatambrah You achieved the goal no?

Wife + kids. It’s just time for another place to live.

I think most long term Latam expats realize the same as you. I have.

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@Geologo_Trader Americans could move to Latam and keep their job (same time zone).

Euro / Aussies had a much larger barrier to move to start with. Timezone + longer flights to visit home.

The big issue is not building roots though. I’ve seen tons of people leave after 1-2 years of “nomading”.

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@aporia9n Come live in Latam if you want friction in daily life 😂

24/7 friction is bad. Total removal is bad.

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

Book > Kindle > Movie

[Patrick @patrickm_builds]

@garrytan Wow crazy. Good work calling this stuff out