Exploring the Great Barrier Reef

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Experience in Queensland, Australia

Exploring the Great Barrier Reef

I was compelled to write this after hearing that the Great Barrier Reef is experiencing one of the worst coral bleaching events on record. 😢 

When I was around 12, my family traveled to Australia to visit my cousins who were living there at the time.

It was a wonderful trip, and although I was young, I have vivid memories of our travels.

Much of those memories stem from the few days we spent on Heron Island, a cay in the southern Great Barrier Reef.

Let me tell you, as a kid growing up near the Jersey Shore, these beaches were a bit different.

The water was crystal clear and teeming with life.

Snorkeling within 100 feet of the shore provided views of shovel-nosed sharks, barracuda, plenty of different fish, and an octopus.

But, as with any wildlife experience in Australia, there were dangers present as well.

I remember learning about poisonous cone snails — these little sea snails with cone shells that shoot poison darts.

My life flashed before my eyes anytime I passed over anything remotely resembling a cone.

Fortunately, we weren’t there during box jellyfish season, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t on the lookout.

I was blown away by the natural world unfolding in front of my eyes — the beautiful, dangerous, delicate, and humbling natural world.

I had always loved animals as a kid, but that trip cemented in me a lifelong love for nature.

It is sad to hear these beautiful places are deteriorating.

I only hope that places like this are around long enough for me to share with my own family one day.

Weekly Write-up

I’m not a “more, the merrier” kind of guy.

The crowds, the big parties, the large friend groups, the excess… It doesn’t appeal to me.

I’ll tolerate it in certain situations, but it’s not my thing.

It’s easy to see why this sentiment got popular.

American society depends on more.

We are sold the product of more every day.

It’s that keeping up with the Joneses mentality that keeps our economic wheel turning.

More products and services —> more money for the companies that sell them —> more money for the shareholders and employees of that company to buy more products and services.

The antithesis to this “more” mentality, might be the adage of “quality over quantity.”

I’ve subscribed to this way of thinking most of my life.

But quality over quantity isn’t perfect either.

In some cases, quantity leads to quality thanks to math — the more volume there is, the higher the probability you end up with a high-quality outcome.

There are stories of artists (here’s one) tasked with creating high-quality output versus high-quantity output. Those pursuing high-quantity output typically end up creating the highest-quality output.

So maybe “more” is useful…

But let’s bring this back to people.

As a kid, most of us probably wanted to be popular. Popularity came with more “friends” and a larger social circle.

We learned that more people equals higher status.

But when shit hits the fan, you don’t need more people or more status, you need a core group or even just one individual who is willing to stand by you no matter what.

More can be useful as a starting point.

It’s helpful to meet, befriend, and interact with lots of people to find out who you click with.

Once you figure that out, more becomes a distraction.

More takes away from the few that matter.

More comes with noise. I’m not interested in noise, I’m interested in substance.

Less makes room for substance.

I don’t want more people in my life. I want more time with the few people that light me up.

Airplane Content

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

I read this book for the first time recently and was blown away. I had heard that it was one of the best WWII books in the way it describes life during the war. I now see why. The resilience demonstrated by the people of London, and by Churchill, is striking.

Erik Larson is a brilliant storyteller. He articulates life in London during WWII by balancing the brutalities of war with the realities of humanity. It is a real page-turner and is great for reading on the plane or at the beach.

AI Travel Art Piece of the Week

Cheers ‘til next week,

T.O.