One of my favorite observations while working with successful folks with plenty of financial resources is their joy and appreciation of spontaneity. It’s not the purchase of the dream car they’ve envisioned since the age of six, its not the endowment of the next generation through thoughtful trust planning, and certainly not achieving a number on their balance sheet. Time after time we see this joy in the flexibility to drop everything for an experience, with minimal repercussions or opportunity costs. With that in-mind, when I realized a few weeks back that my Dad and I were individually home alone (on separate coasts) that upcoming weekend, I pressured him into booking a flight to LA the next day. The main event: Shohei Ohtani was back at full strength.
As you can imagine, my Dad was hesitant with the prospects of a cross-country weekend trip, but after trading a few texts, it was clear – he never stood a chance. Within a couple of hours he had flights booked and began researching hikes and diving into Shohei stats. For those of you that don’t know, Shohei Ohtani is the 31-year-old LA Dodger superstar that is the greatest thing to happen to Major League Baseball in decades. Sounds dramatic, though I really feel this way. Not only does he pitch and hit (which is unheard of in the modern game), but he is arguably the best in the league at both. He signed the largest contract in sports history at the time in 2023 for $700 million dollars.
My Dad and I are alike when it comes to baseball: we were both horrible players and gave up early, but boy, do we appreciate the history, the fan experience of attending games, and we stay current with the Red Sox. Seeing Shohei in-person had certainly been a ‘bucket list’ item – I do not say that lightly – and I was so excited to share it with him.
While short, our time together was a blast. We hiked Runyon Canyon, pushed my Dad’s culinary comfort-zone with sushi, enjoyed the beach and of course, witnessed Shohei in-person. Shortly thereafter I dropped him off at the airport in which he faced grueling delays with an overnight flight, eventually making it back home a day later. I asked whether this spur of the moment trip and delays were worth it – he responded back asking what I was doing next weekend…
