Hi, I’m Travis.

After college, instead of going to medical school, I joined the Peace Corps and moved to the Mongolian countryside. I lived simply, spoke the language like a toddler, and learned a lot about what enough is for me. I also met the love of my life. We were married in a Mongolian ceremony a few days after getting our bus pulled out of the mud by the national guard.

Mongolia showed me that I could build a life for myself in my own way. I’ve been working for myself one way or another ever since. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve learned that most of what matters — friendship, career, relationships, enough — is up to you.

The work

For the last sixteen years I’ve worked with leaders around the world — starting nonprofits, taught graduate students, led foundations, and built brands and systems for people doing good. Big or small, my hope is the same: work with good people trying to make the world a better place.

The writing

I’ve been writing since college and so far it has added up to eleven books: starting with a handbook for Peace Corps Volunteers and now a growing collection of wisdom from Lincoln, Franklin, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and more. I love learning from others, collecting their wisdom, practicing it in my life and passing it on to help readers like you.

What I’m building now

My website is my personal home online and it means a lot to me that you are here. I want every word I write here to mean something, and ultimately it’s the legacy I’m leaving for my son. I want it to help people and to be something I’m proud of. Every morning, before email and the busyness of the day, I try to write a thousand words. From that writing, once a week, the best of that becomes my Saturday essay. I hope that weekly essay helps people like you, good people building lives of optimism, purpose, and enough.