Stock Kevin

Where you arrive doesn't matter so much as what sort of person you are when you arrive there.

The Boeing 757-300 landed late last night. After about 3000 miles and nine hours later (including a two hour layover), we finally touched down in California. My first thoughts were of relief, but also a bit of anxiety.  I was glad that we were back home, but at the same time it also meant work was looming. For the past week, my friends and I had been waking up at 6:00AM Costa Rican time. For those of you on Pacific time, that is an hour later.

We traveled in Costa Rica for a week; while stopping at four different citis including San Jose, La Fortuna, Monteverde, and Manuel Antonio.

Day 1

The Friday morning we left was spent mostly traveling. We were first stopped by a thirty minute flight delay due to thunderstorms in Houston, Texas. From California to Houston it took about three and a half hours. When we arrived at the George Bush airport in Houston, we ate lunch and waited for our next flight. We knew that we would be away from our American comforts, so a last minute Jamba Juice run was necessary. Immediately we noticed that the person preparing our "red gummy bear" drink was also holding the drink instructions in her right. Lone behold, it wasn't the best drink. After we departed from Houston, three hours later we touched down in the nation's capital, San Jose, Costa Rica, at around 10pm. What were our first impressions? San Jose is equivalent to a dangerous LA neighborhood. The streets were dirty, small, and dim-lit. To my left semi-rundown buildings and to my right I saw the same. Before we boarded the plane from Houston to Costa Rica, we ran into a Costa Rican local, who warned us to stick together in San Jose especially since we did not look like locals. We quickly proceeded to immigration. The officer asked for my passport and the immigration form. I had left my occupation blank. He asked what I did for a living. For whatever reason my first instinct was to tell him I was unemployed. "No trabajo", said the officer to his co-worker. They shared a chuckle.

After we passed customs and immigration, a taxi driver approached us and asked where we were going. First stop in San Jose - Hotel Le Bergerac. His red Corolla sped down downtown and on the way we passed what looked like a house party. Young adults were being patted down as they entered the house. We chatted with the taxi driver and asked him about the weather. He said that it rained constantly on and off. After about twenty minutes, we arrived at our hotel for the night. A nice girl took us to our room and I was actually pleasantly surprised. It wasn't a five star hotel/resort, but it wasn't rundown either. You could tell this was a nicely kept hotel. We were completely exhausted, so we knocked out.

Tracking my action around the world.

USA
Canada
Mexico
Costa Rica
Taiwan



visited 5 states (2.22%)

Like most of my peers, I strive for a better life each and every day. As cliché as it is to say, a better life for me is having those around me be happy. When we talk about happiness, I’m not talking about having every moment be pure jubilation. That is largely impossible.

The happiness I speak of is inner peace and the sense that we have everything to be happy already. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t have any desires; but when our criteria for happiness becomes having this job, that type of girl/guy, that house, etc. We are essentially trying to fill a leaky bucket with water.

Let’s face it. Most of our issues are not whether or not we have something to eat tomorrow, but what are we going to do about next week’s presentation to the VP. While we may have everything to be happy, the truth is few of us are. We believe that when we land that perfect job, then we will be happy. The problem with that is then your happiness becomes dependent on landing that job. This in turn creates anxiety, stress, and tension. The reality is that if we stopped focusing on ourselves, we’ll have a better chance at happiness.

Dirk Nowitzki (41) of the Dallas Mavericks reacts after making a jump shot in the fourth quarter while taking on the Miami Heat in Game 6 on Sunday in Miami, Florida. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)


For the first time in NBA and Mavericks franchise history, the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA championship. Finally, a team other than the Los Angeles Lakers or San Antonio Spurs comes out on top. Yes, you could argue that the Celtics won it in '08, Heat in '06, and Pistons prior to that in '04. But, sometimes you can't deny the fact that it doesn't feel that way.

Throughout the NBA finals, everywhere I looked except in Miami, everyone appeared to be rooting for the Dallas Mavericks to pull through. Or I should say we were hoping for the Miami Heat to lose. Perhaps, it has something to do with their "welcome party" they had before the season even began. Was that the most modest display in all of professional sports or what? Maybe after all of that, the Heat deserved to lose. Still, the look on Chris Bosh, Lebron James, and even Dwayne Wade's faces did win some of my sympathy.

Put yourself in the player's shoes. How would you deal with the pressures of the media, fans, and coaches? You might compare dealing with coaches with dealing with bosses and fans to friends and family. But, what about the media? During the press conference interview after the game, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavs, said it best. He said that he could care less about what everyone else thought. The bottom line is to trust and believe in yourself. What does that mean? I take it to mean that when you are working towards a goal and hit a road block, do what you think is best for yourself and not what everyone else thinks is best for you. Mark Cuban said, "there is no magic formula to creating a championship team". Similarly in life, there is no set path; it is different for everybody. Have confidence in yourself that you'll make the right decisions.

Anything to shave a couple seconds from your work day. Of the below, I use the 'windows key + M' shortcut the most.

1. Ctrl + Drag File
Makes a quick copy of the file/folder

2. Windows key + M
Minimizes all open windows

3. Alt + double click file/folder
Pulled up the 'System Properties' dialog box

Training Your Brain - How to raise your immediate levels of happiness and be more optimistic.

Just How Dangerous is Sitting All Day? - I go to work and sit and then come home and sit in front of my computer. How bad is that?

Too Much to Do? Take on More. - How do deal with stress even if you get seven hours of sleep, meditate, and exercise daily.

Degrees of Separation - Why life is still good for some business school students.

Chipotle Guacamole Recipe - Just like Chipotle's