Good morning & happy Monday!
“Our fears can cause us to miss out on a lot of experiences and golden opportunities. Don’t let your fears rob you of your life.”
– James VanPraagh
Two weeks ago, I sent my Monday morning memo on Saturday instead of Monday as I was traveling. I had the incredible privilege of traveling to Alaska where my family and I undertook an incredible adventure in a state that is over half the size of the continental United States (and internet access was limited in much of Alaska where we traveled).
There were plenty of highlights, but our day long cruise out of Seward into Kenai Fjords National Park was most certainly towards the top of the list.
When we checked in for the cruise that morning, they told us that there was a 50/50 shot that the cruise would be forced to alter course because of weather and sea conditions. They gave us three options:
- Issue a full refund
- Take the cruise and if the trip was amended a partial refund would be issued
- Take the cruise and if the trip went as planned the full payment would be kept by the company
The trip as booked had an amazing itinerary, visiting 2 different glaciers in a remote National Park only accessible by boat. That is why I booked that particular cruise, so I was quite disappointed that there was a good shot at missing it.
So, my wife and I had a choice to make. After a relatively short deliberation, we agreed to stay on the boat and see what happens. It was raining anyways, so we really didn’t have any other great ideas for what to do with our day (that made the decision a bit easier 😉).
So, after about an hour of beautiful sailing through the calmer waters of the bay, we hit the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska.
Wow, it was rough!
The captain said the waves were in the neighborhood of 6-8 feet tall and the ship was bobbing around like crazy. Probably 20%-25% of the ship’s passengers were throwing up as the seas rocked us back and forth. About 15 minutes into the rough seas portion of the trip the captain calmly came on the speaker and said something along the lines of, “we are about a third of the way through the rough seas and this ship is designed to handle seas 3 times rougher than this, but we are going for it, we’re proceeding forward toward our desired destination.”
He was kind enough to give us updates every 10-15 minutes until we entered the calmer waters of another bay.
What met us on the other side of the rough waters were 2 tidewater glaciers that were absolutely amazing along with great wildlife encounters including sea lions, seals, and even a pod of orca whales (killer whales). This was my 6th time to Alaska in my life, and I’ve never had such an incredible orca whale encounter … we were so close, the whale spray almost hit us on the boat. The ship’s crew were out taking pictures themselves … they said it was by far the best sighting they had seen all season long … it truly was an absolutely incredible experience!!!
And to think, I had considered requesting a refund and skipping the trip!
What a shame that would have been! What a fool I would have been!
Here’s the thing … if I had canceled, I would have had no idea what I would have missed. I would have went back to our hotel and taken a nap or tried to find some other rainy day actively and would have no clue that I missed the orca whale sighting of a lifetime (not to mention the other amazing sights).
As we were weaving and bobbing back to our port, on seas that fortunately had calmed down a bit, I was thinking about you … my precious client base … and how this journey had all sorts of parallels to our investing journey.
The seas on the investing journey can be uncomfortable to say the least. When we are being bounced around like a rag doll our thoughts are pretty much just ‘get me off this boat.’
My friends, right now we are sailing in very calm investment waters. The major US indices are all hanging around all-time highs and our portfolio values are hovering around the highest level they’ve ever been. It can be very exciting, but the temptation is to get into a complacent mindset and get dull to the fact that markets by their very nature are volatile.
Enjoy these calm waters while they last, because they don’t last forever. There will be choppy waters at some point ahead. I have no idea when that will be, what will cause it, or how long they will last … but as the captain of this investment ship (you like how I just give myself that title 😉) I feel reminders like this are important to give even during the good times we are currently experiencing.
This is not designed to instill any level of panic; I am not at all concerned. I just want to make sure we all understand that this investing journey is worthwhile even when the seas get rougher than they are now. The destination is absolutely worth the journey!
You are only here because you survived through rough investment waters earlier. They are nothing to fear, they are just a part of the journey. I just want to make sure to constantly remind all of us of this. 😊
My son Paul was one of the many people on board the ship who lost his cookies during the daylong cruise. After we got through the rough seas he said to me, “when we get back on land, I want to both hit the boat and hug the boat at the same time … hit it for taking me through the rough waters, and hug it for keeping me safe in those rough waters.” Then he laughed and said, “I guess the hit or the hug won’t change anything, but it might make me feel better.”
This as well can feel like our investing journey … you may feel like yelling in pain or yelling in celebration along the way … you are welcome to give me a hug … I would prefer if you don’t hit me 😉 … but feel free to feel however you want to feel about the journey … just don’t jump off the boat. I will again repeat myself … the destination is absolutely worth the journey! 😊
It brings me tremendous joy to be a part of your journey. If there is anything we can do to support you along the way please never hesitate to reach out.
Make it a great week ahead.