- The goalWhat are we doing here, really?
- Decide what happens when my lease ends in April: stay put, or take the business on the road for a year.
- The audienceWho are you trying to impress?
- Me at 45, two weeks after the lease ends. He doesn't want another idea. He wants a plan with a date on it.
- The formatWhat are we making, exactly?
- One page: where home base is, what the road has to earn each month, and the date that decides it.
- Done whenWhen do we pop the bubbly?
- When I can say go or stay out loud and point to the number that settled it.
- What's in the wayWhat's been playing hard to get?
- Money, and honestly no idea where home base would be.
Start here · Proof first
Don't know where to start? Neither did I.
If my life is the brief, we have to make it one.
So I went first. Below is the brief I filled in, the session it turned into and the MatchBook I walked away holding, then the brief behind a trip I built for myself. All of it real, all of it mine. See what you'd leave with before you spend a dollar.
01 · My Burn Brief
The brief I filled in.
My lease ends in April and I turn 45 two weeks later. I'd talked about it for months. So I sat down with the same five questions you'll get, and answered them straight.
02 · The session
What I walked away holding.
I booked myself the hour. This is the MatchBook from that session. Tap a length to see what 15 or 30 minutes would have sent home with me.
The cover · One decision, made. You leave with what you came in with, what you decided, and your first move.
Came in with: "My lease ends in April. Do I stay put, or take the business on the road for a year?"
Go. Let the numbers say when.
A road year from a low-cost home base, a monthly floor the road has to clear, and one date that decides it.
- Move 1 · Ask about the lake houseIn person, not by text. Then put the deal on one page: the weeks, the costs, who fixes what.By Thanksgiving
You struck it. I just held the box.
Cover + 1 to 2 pages · Start here. The decision plus all three moves, with dates, so the next week runs itself.
Came in with: "My lease ends in April. Do I stay put, or take the business on the road for a year?"
Go. Let the numbers say when.
A road year from a low-cost home base, a monthly floor the road has to clear, and one date that decides it.
- Move 1 · Ask about the lake houseIn person, not by text. Then put the deal on one page: the weeks, the costs, who fixes what.By Thanksgiving
- Move 2 · Run the January testAverage November to January. $1,370 a month or better and the road year is on.Jan 31
- Move 3 · Sketch the routeFollow the weather: north for summer, west for fall, south for winter. Park two weeks, move one.By March
You struck it. I just held the box.
The full kit · Everything: the moves, who to call, what to do when you stall, and the kit pages behind the number.
Came in with: "My lease ends in April. Do I stay put, or take the business on the road for a year?"
Go. Let the numbers say when.
A road year from a low-cost home base, a monthly floor the road has to clear, and one date that decides it.
- Move 1 · Ask about the lake houseIn person, not by text. Then put the deal on one page: the weeks, the costs, who fixes what.By Thanksgiving
- Move 2 · Run the January testAverage November to January. $1,370 a month or better and the road year is on.Jan 31
- Move 3 · Sketch the routeFollow the weather: north for summer, west for fall, south for winter. Park two weeks, move one.By March
Who to callA tax pro. Bring the questions: what a year on the road does to your home state, your mail and your write-offs.
If you get stuckSlow is the strategy. No signal, no session.
Kit pagesThe base · The route · The money · The January test · The pop-up shop
You struck it. I just held the box.
It worked twiceIt worked twice Episode 1, the week before: my income question.
Came in with: "What does a realistic income stream look like?"
Aim at stretch. Budget on realistic.
A Year 1 number with Journeys as the lever, a monthly floor that covers the rent, and January 31 decides April.
- Move 1 · Book the CPABring the question list. The paperwork fix comes first.This week
- Move 2 · Run Burn weekThree paid Burns is October's goal. Start the ask this week.By Oct 31
- Move 3 · File the annual reportTen minutes on the state portal.Before Dec 31
If you get stuckCheck the number, not the feeling.
You struck it. I just held the box.
03 · My Trip Brief
The trip I built for myself.
Same idea, other lane. Five questions about where I wanted to wake up, and the guide I built from the answers. It's the same way I'd plan yours.
- WhereWhere do you want to wake up?
- Key West. Down the Overseas Highway to Mile Zero, and back the same way.
- Who's goingWho's coming along?
- Just me. Solo, on purpose.
- WhenWhen can you slip away?
- Five days in May. Three nights in Old Town, one on the beach on the way home.
- The budgetWhat are we spending on you?
- Miles for the flight, cash where it counts.
- The pointWhat is this trip really for?
- My first vacation with myself in 16 years.
Your turn
Mine's on the table. Now yours.
04 · Your fire · The Burn Quiz · Five taps
Not sure which? What's your fire?
Ember, Slow Burn, Grease Fire or Bonfire. Five quick taps tell you which one you are, and which session (or trip) puts it to work.
Your fire is
Your card shows your fire and the answers you tapped. It's made on your screen; nothing is sent.
Want the full read?
What's really going on with your fire, what I'd do about it, and what to bring. Leave your email and it opens right here.
05 · Your briefs
- Fill in one, or bothThe Burn Brief for the thing you keep talking about. The Trip Brief for where you want to wake up.
- I read it myselfEvery answer lands with me, not a bot.
- I write backWith the length I'd book, or the trip I'd start with. No pitch, no call.
Now fill in yours.
Answer in a sentence, or skip a box. I'll write back within two business days with the length I'd book.
Where to next.
Know someone doing great things?
Pin a flyer for a person, a piece of work, or something you want. I approve the board every Friday.
Meet the RangersProof of how I plan.
My own walks, written up the way I'd build your trip. Maps, meals, the hotel.
Read the field guidesYou know someone who needs me.
Send them my way in one tap, then put yourself in my address book for a card from me.
Send me a friendYou've got the spark.
I've got the matches.
Someone has to say it. Might as well be me.