Camping In The City

This morning, I woke up in a tent on top of a Jeep parked in the driveway of a mansion in Arizona, which is not easy to explain.

Of course, the entire reason I'm in Arizona this week is hard to explain.

I even struggle with what to call it.

For outsiders, we'll often refer to it as a "conference," a "mastermind," or even a "seminar."

Inside, we call it the "Live Event."

30+ people living together under the same roof for three days.

The fun part about it is the houses we rent. When you've got 30+ people kicking in on the bill, you can stay in some pretty swanky places.

For this one, we're in Paradise Valley, AZ.

The house is over 11,000 sq feet with heated pools, outdoor kitchens, spas, game rooms, and a rear lawn that feels like a park. It's wild, for sure, and happens to be for sale. If you've got an extra $6M burning a hole in your pocket, check it out on Zillow: https://www.zillow.com/.../3265-E-Valley.../7805358_zpid/

But while crashing in a mansion is pretty fun, it's not the best part.

And while it's great to see these people I work and collaborate with online throughout the year in person, that's not the best part, either.

The best part is the exchange of ideas.

We're open-source and open-book about everything.

On the face, we're all here because we're real estate investors.

And all of us have been to the typical real estate conference about spammy tactics for getting leads with the underlying purpose of convincing us to buy a book, software, program, or shiny object that's supposed to make us rich overnight.

But there's nothing for sale here.

It's a free and open exchange of ideas. If I have something I'm doing that's working for me and someone else is interested in it, they get it.

All of it, including the instructions, the marketing collateral, the data, and the files.

Everything they need to start doing the same thing

For free.

And the exchange of ideas isn't limited to investing. Last night, I stayed up with another father until 3:00 in the morning, discussing the challenges of raising teenage girls.

And I walked away with a great point of view I'd not considered and that I am confident will help with a problem I'm having now.

The crazy thing is that I was first invited in 2017 but didn't start coming until last year.

Why?

It seemed weird.

It didn't fit my preconceived notion of what constitutes a "conference," "seminar," or "mastermind."

You mean 30 of us will pile into a house with only seven bedrooms?

Do you mean I might wind up on a couch?

Do you mean I might have to share a king-size bed with a dude?

Yes, yes, and yes.

It may be uncomfortable.

It might even be weird.

And, as was the case this time, I might wind up drawing the straw that put me in a bedroom on the 2nd floor of the guest house of a mansion where the AC isn't working, and it's still around 80 degrees at night.

Which is what happened this time.

Luckily, I am heading to the Grand Canyon for a couple of days after the event, and I've already picked up the jeep I'd rented for that leg of the trip.

So when I realized the AC was out, it wasn't a problem.

I popped the tent up, climbed inside, and slept like a baby.