Greetings Friends!
I hope your summer is off to a great start! It was nice to hear from many of you after the last newsletter to get updated on what you are up to.
Here at Pickleball Tours, we kicked things up a notch at our Picklepalooza Event in Boise with nearly 50 guests, sponsors, and our partners at StretchLab, Yoga6, and Head Pickleball. CLICK ON the pic below for some highlights of the skills, thrills, & drills.
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Picklepalooza June 2023
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America's Big Bet
One of the coolest things about pickleball is gaining knowledge from other players you meet on the courts. Many of them are having the time of their lives as older adults, reliving the fun they had as kids.
We are witnessing an abundance of entrepreneurs coming into the sport to combine pickleball with their work. There's also a trend of early retirees now taking up pickleball ventures to promote the sport. Many of them are much younger than the traditional age of retirement as we have come to know it. The pandemic also accelerated this trend of workers retiring early in what was called the Great Resignation.
I have heard from many of my students that are mid career or giving thought to exiting their career. They want to relearn how to use their body again to move after holding desk jobs or being on airplanes with work travel or just being sedentary in general. After all, when did our work become our top priority over our health?
As you listen, you will hear their success stories in their careers and work, many achieving that fine balance of work, life and staying active. Alternatively, you might also hear about some regrets, what didn’t work, what they would have done differently.
We have all heard the usual statements, I wish I hadn’t worked so hard, life is short, I should have spent more time with my family and friends. Another common one is: I wish I would have traveled more when I had the chance….
In addition to America’s Big Bet on pickleball, many of us are also making another bet, which is banking on the expectation that our stage in life should dictate our plans and where we should be at a certain point in time. As long as we plan, things will work out perfectly. But as we know, life gets in the way when we’re making plans.
Are you waiting for that friend’s schedule to clear up but never does so you can both travel together? I overheard a guy telling his friend that he doesn’t travel anymore because his spouse passed away. Or if you just work until you reach that magical, golden retirement age, you will finally be free. And how many times have you said it’s just too expensive to travel or retire right now? (which is probably entirely true at this moment).
And then we get into this endless cycle of waiting around until the economy improves or until that bonus arrives, and debating saving and spending on some tangible thing when it was really a memorable experience you were after in the first place. Oscar Wilde was right, it seems these days people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
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City of Eternal Spring
What if I told you there’s a place with San Diego’s weather and Thailand’s prices? A place where you can go to a super healthy, delicious brunch with 7 of the nicest people you’ve ever met for the cost of a 1 hour pickleball lesson with me? (Around $50).
Do you fancy a coffee tasting experience and a perfect $2 dollar cup of coffee that seems to flow like rivers? You could also try the iconic dish of Bandeja Paisa for less than a run to the McDonald’s drive thru.
If that cost issue that I mentioned earlier has you rethinking plans and you have champagne wishes and a beer budget, then hear me out…maybe a $40 dollar per night hotel in a very nice location with amazing amenities that is only an $8 dollar cab ride to get to will entice you?
What is this enchanted place you speak of Michael? It’s Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city where I will be in August to research future pickleball and travel destinations. You’re invited to visit as well for what I have labeled a beat inflation vacation. So, leave those first world problems behind and join me.
Additionally, if you would like to learn more about our Colombian River Cruise in 2024, we have just started the planning process. I do hope you will join us on the Magdalena River and explore this amazing part of the world.
We are putting the finishing touches on our Pickleball in Paradise Yoga Trip to the Dominican Republic for January. Please message me directly to inquire further. This is a dream come true for me to be part of what I have been preaching for many years, what I call the Holy Trinity of Pickleball + Yoga + Travel.
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Final Notes and Welcome Gabriel
As we begin planning more excursions, events, and activities at Pickleball Tours, I’d like to welcome Gabriel Wilamoski to the team. Gabriel will be supporting me as our East Coast presence in New Hampshire and has begun his pickleball coaching journey. He’s working as an event coordinator, supporting sales, marketing, and social media responsibilities along with a host of other crazy ideas I task him to do which I’m sure has him thinking…… really?
Gabriel just received his teaching certification through the PPR and already is doing some amazing work with his outreach efforts while balancing his time with a young Family. He’s all in on pickleball and travel after leaving a career in medical sales. He will be a great addition to the business. Feel free to reach out to connect directly with him here:
So as one famous travel writer, who had an untimely death 5 years ago last week once said,
“Travel is not a reward for working, it’s education for living.”
Until next time,
Paddles Up!
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