I decided to create a blog to share things going on in my life and some real estate lessons I’ve learned along the way. Plan is to send these out weekly on Saturdays. Hope you enjoy! Me on the Big Bad Boy Harley I rented!
Rent a Harley and ride down to Austin
A few weeks ago, I scheduled a few meetings with some multifamily real estate investors in the Austin area. I live in North Dallas which is over 200 miles away and a 3+ hour drive.
I turned 50 this year and maybe I have a bit of the mid life crisis in me. My son is a sophomore in college and my daughter is a senior in high school. I’m thinking about what life will be like when we are empty nesters.
SO, I have these meetings set-up and I think to myself “wouldn’t it be great to rent a Harley and ride down to Austin. I can mix business with pleasure.” I’ve always had it in my head that it would be great to ride across the country on a Harley.
I pull up Google and start looking for ways to rent a Harley and find an app called “riders-share.com” and there it is, individual owners renting out all different motorcycles, kind of like the airbnb for motorcycles.
I PULL THE TRIGGER! I find a Big Bad Boy Harley, pull out the credit card and rent the Harley for three days. I owned a motorcycle a long time ago, before starting a family, but now I needed to go out and get some of the gear so I bought a helmet and some rain gear, just in case.
The night before leaving, I’m extremely excited and a little nervous also. I planned to leave around 5:00 am to beat traffic and get to Austin in plenty of time for my 11 am meeting. I wake up early and I get on the road at 3:30 am. I know crazy right!
Took The Scenic Route
The ride down was great! I took the scenic route through the hill country. I had the music playing! I’m on country roads! It’s an adventure and I’m loving it!
I arrive, have a great business meeting with some great new relationships! I then get a message from another contact that lives in the area and sees that I’m in town. We get together right after my business meeting. It was great catching up. We both shared some things going on in our lives and the result is that I ask him if he wants to join my Monday morning Zoom men’s bible study. He says yes and I think to myself “no matter what happens on the business front, I’m glad I was here, the two of us had a chance to connect and the Big man upstairs may have had a plan we could not see ourselves.”
The next day, another great business meeting with a senior multifamily guy. I walked away having had a chance to get to know him better as a person and he taught me a few things on the business front also.
The second night I stay in a nice resort overlooking Lake Travis, enjoy a few adult beverages in the pool and meet some nice people staying at the hotel. The next morning, I am up and on the road at 6 am.
Time To Think!
There was no rain in the forecast and it did not rain. It was however WINDY! I did not think about or expect the impact of the wind. The ride back to the Dallas area was very windy much of the way. I again took the scenic route. Many of the roads had speed limits of 65-75 mph. I was only driving 45-55 mph because I would get these heavy wind gusts that would move the bike and I didn’t feel comfortable at the faster speeds.
It took me all day to get home! There were times I was loving the adventure and there were times I just wanted to click my heels three times and be home!
The time alone on the bike gave me time to think! I’m not sure people take enough time to just think! Any how, it made me think maybe next time, I will drive or fly to where I’m going, then rent a motorcycle in the area I want to ride!
Who knows! Maybe I’ll ride cross country one day but I’m glad I took action, rented the Harley and took the ride to Austin when I did. Was it a little scary at times, yes! BUT it was a great adventure, I met up with some GREAT people and without doing it, I would not know what the experience was actually like.
Why do I share this story with you?
I talk to a lot of people that want to invest in real estate BUT they let fear stop them from taking action!
Educate yourself, listen to podcasts, read books, network and meet people in the industry. Then take action!
If you have interest in investing alongside me, please apply by clicking on the link below. It’s FREE and takes like 2 minutes.
You don’t need to rent a Harley to take action!
