Living cruising the seas (Part One)

A few days ago we gave a couple of retired neighbors a ride to the airport, as they were flying to the Pacific Coast to catch a cruise. They told us that they spend almost half of their time sailing on large cruise ships with climbing walls, swimming pools and all kinds of amenities and entertainment. They don’t care where the ship sails, where it stops. 

What only counts for them is getting a good (cheap) deal, so anything goes as long as they’re housed and fed. Even though they’re rich they’re also extremely cheap. We could wonder if that practice is widespread, but after searching a bit, I found out that it’s more common than we think. 

Among retirees with sufficient income, spending months each year on cruise ships has become a legitimate lifestyle. While our neighbors' "almost half the year" sounds extraordinary, it’s far from unique. There are even people who live aboard cruise ships year-round. Several factors have made this possible, starting with available time. 

Once retired, many people no longer need to fit travel into two or three weeks of vacation and cruises can be surprisingly cost-effective. If someone books long voyages, lives in an inexpensive home, and takes advantage of loyalty discounts, the daily cost may compare favorably with maintaining a house and paying separately for hotels, restaurants, entertainment, and transportation. 

Everything is included. Meals, housekeeping, shows, pools, fitness centers, organized activities, and transportation from port to port are all bundled together. They also meet the same people repeatedly. Frequent cruisers often develop a circle of friends and even coordinate future voyages together. In addition medical services are available. 

Care on cruise ships meets basic standards for stabilization and minor illnesses, but it’s not free, nor cheap, and not directly covered by US Medicare in international waters. Patients are required to pay out of pocket upfront for all onboard medical services, and Medicare will only reimburse you if the ship is in a US port or no more than six hours away from one. While these services are not substitutes for hospitals, they provide reassurance for older travelers. 

Now, how common is that practice? Of course, the vast majority of retirees do not spend months at sea, but avid cruisers spending 60–120 nights a year aboard is fairly common. Spending 150–200 nights annually, like our neighbors, is uncommon but certainly not rare within cruise enthusiast communities. 

Tomorrow, we’ll see some other aspects of this lifestyle, so if you want to know, stay tuned!

Will the Saudis rescue the ski business?

Faced with global warming, the ski industry should logically turn to Saudi Arabia, based on its rather foolish plan or dream to build a ski resort. You read it correctly, Saudi Arabia has been planning to build an ambitious, year-round outdoor ski resort named Trojena in its mountainous desert region of the country's northwest. 

However, following ballooning costs and shifting priorities within the broader NEOM giga-project, Saudi officials have halted major construction contracts, indefinitely delaying the resort. 

Just for those like me who didn’t know it, NEOM stands for "New Future."It is a combination of two words, NEO: The Greek prefix for "new", while M is the first letter of "Mostaqbal," the Arabic word for "future" or most probably Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who envisioned the project. 

One bad news linked to that location is its low latitude at 28.10° The planned resort is situated roughly 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of the Gulf of Aqaba coast in the Sarawat Mountain range of the Tabuk Province reaching 8,530 feet (2 600 meters) above sea level which is a bit of a stretch in being generous! By comparison: 

• Afriski Mountain, Lesotho, latitude 28.8° S , base altitude 3,050 meters (10,010’). 
• Oukaïmeden, Morocco, latitude 31.2° N. altitude 2,600 m to 3,200 m (8,500 to 10,500') feet). 
• Portillo, Chile, is 32° S, base altitude 2 880 m (9,450’) 

At Trojena, winter temperatures occasionally drop below freezing. The resort was designed to offer 30 kilometers of ski slopes featuring both real snow (via massive artificial snow-making operations using desalinated water) and year-round synthetic "dry" slopes. 

The place’s architecture featured a "vertical ski village," a massive man-made freshwater lake suspended by three large dams, ultra-luxury hotels, and a crystal skyscraper comparable in height to the Eiffel Tower, The project was specifically designated to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, marking the first time the event would be held in a desert nation. 

Despite several years of heavy construction and the erection of massive steel frameworks, NEOM developers terminated several multi-billion-dollar contracts (including a massive dam project and a major steel supply deal). 

The project's costs reportedly swelled to $38 billion, causing the kingdom to pivot its investments toward core industrial, AI, and logistics infrastructure, pushing completion and the hosting of the Winter Games into after 2030, at the very least. NEOM has stopped short of declaring the project dead. 

So, I guess our nearby low-altitude Deer Valley East expansion will have to wait in order to reap some useful feedback and lessons learned from the Saudis…

The day I though my computer died…

Late last month, I almost came to the conclusion that my desktop computer was dying on me. It took inordinate amount of time to reboot when stopped, I couldn’t open my Window Photo app, I couldn’t transfer certain documents from my download file and the list of problems went on and on. I spent the rest of the day fishing for solutions, including asking AI to no avail, and finally got deeper into the Dell resources to learn more about my desktop software to resolve the problem. 

I was about to ditch my desktop and buy a new one, even though I was convinced it was not older than 4 to 5 years. When I checked its purchase date, I shocked to find out I had bought it mid January of 1916. About 10 ½ years ago, doesn’t time fly like crazy! In the meanwhile all the updates Dell and Microsoft told me to run were done, I rebooted the computer, it did it promptly and perfectly, and it appeared to have a new lease on life. 

In the process, I was surprised to find out that the average Windows desktop computer lasted 3 to 8 years, if used for daily work. As you might guess industry folks want us to replace our desktop computer every 4 to 5 years, while consumer experience shows that well-maintained machines can easily push 5 to 8 years before becoming obsolete (not counting mine on its 11th year that now works as new!). 

Because desktops are easier to keep cool and maintain than laptops, they tend to last longer. The ultimate lifespan is determined by things like software obsolescence affecting the operating systems and daily applications as well as low system memory and processing power. As for hardware wear the power supply and storage drives usually begin degrading around the 3 to 5-year mark. 

But unlike laptops, desktops allow us to swap in a new Solid-State Drive (SSD) or add more RAM, extending its usable life by several years. The average usable lifespan of a Windows laptop for daily work is less at 3 to 5 years, MacBooks often providing 1 to 2 years longer. Laptops have a tighter configuration and a limited lifespan as a result, including batteries that need replacement after 500 to 1,000 charge cycles (about 2 to 3 years). 

This said, I use a Chrome book when I travel, it’s super cheap and works perfectly well. In closing I had a terrible experience with “All in one” computers made by HP or Sony that didn’t even made it to two years, so my next computer will be another desktop...

Ski tech celebrity

It used to be that being a ski technician with a ski company on the mighty World Cup circuit used to be a relatively lowly job, at least 50 years ago when I was running Look ski binding racing program. Not anymore, that position has since evolved into the celebrity status.

At least, this was the impression I got, when I learned that Niklas Skaardal, son of former ski stars Karin Köllerer and Norwegian great Atle Skaardal, was officially named, late April 2026, Shiffrin's new Atomic ski technician (skiman). 

Skaardal was coaching with the Austrian Ski Federation when he agreed to join the Atomic service team as a ski technician responsible for preparing and maintaining the equipment of Mikaela Shiffrin — the most decorated Alpine skier in the history of the sport. 

The 24-year-old former Austrian national team skier began his work officially on May 4th, before attending his first in-person meetings with the superstar at her regular early-season training bases in Copper Mountain, Colorado. He was mid-renovation on a farm in the Tennengau region when the phone call came that would change the course of his career. 

The former racer, who ended his career in 2024, most recently worked for the Austrian Ski Federation, where he coached the Vorarlberg talents Jakob Greber and Moritz Zudrell."This is an honor for me," Skaardal said of his new role, making it a step closer to celebrity status. 

My point for this whole blog is that the move is highly unusual as in my old world, a ski tech would have aspired and even killed to become a coach but certainly not the other way around! Now that the once discounted profession has become so visible, I might, in a future next life, choose to become the tech of a famous female ski champion, who knows?

Burning bridges (Part three)

As always, in complicated stories the truth is found half-way between its two extremes, and a more accurate way to express the idea would be that when we fully commit to an important goal and have no easy alternatives, our brain often mobilizes resources. 

From attention, to motivation, persistence, and problem-solving. All these skills can substantially increase our chances of success. But, of course, there’s no guarantee of a positive outcome, because performance also depends on our preparation, abilities, external circumstances, and whether the level of stress remains within an optimal range. Did I even mention luck or lack thereof? 

This distinction also sheds light on why some elite performers deliberately create a "point of no return"—announcing a public goal, investing significant resources, or making a firm commitment. They're not just relying on their brain to guarantee success. They're using commitment to make sustained effort more likely. 

Given the philosophical direction of many of my personal questions, whether it’s about meditation, personal growth, aging as a senior, and letting go of resentment, one could see an interesting parallel here. Burning bridges externally is one way to increase commitment. 

Another, often more durable, approach is to "burn the bridges" internally is reaching a point where we no longer want to retreat because the chosen path aligns deeply with our values and identity. In that case, the motivational force comes less from fear of failure and more from a clear sense of purpose. 

Research suggests that this kind of intrinsic commitment tends to be more sustainable and psychologically healthier than commitment driven solely by the absence of alternatives and I agree, that’s probably true!

Burning bridges (Part two)

When people "burn all bridges", that is remove alternatives, commit completely to a project or a task in which retreat is impossible, several mechanisms can indeed improve performance and make for a positive outcome: 

Attention narrows. With no backup plan, the brain devotes more cognitive resources to the task at hand rather than contemplating escape routes. 

Motivation increases. We tend to work harder when the stakes are high. Psychologists sometimes call this a commitment effect. 

Persistence grows. People often tolerate more discomfort, setbacks, and uncertainty when they perceive quitting as impossible. 

Creativity may increase. Constraints can force people to invent solutions they would never have explored otherwise. 

Of course, history offers many examples where extraordinary commitment produced extraordinary achievements: entrepreneurs who invested everything in a company, explorers surviving against all odds, or athletes performing beyond expectations in championship moments.

However, the second part of my statement as I opened up the debate, namely that "our brain will make sure that we come through it with flying colors" could be seen as a bit of banter or exaggeration, and be far less than accurate. In fact, our brain guarantees no such thing. 

Several factors limit this idea as the relationship between stress and performance is often described by the Yerkes–Dodson law: Moderate pressure improves performance, but excessive pressure impairs memory, judgment, creativity, and fine motor skills. This means that biology has limits and no amount of commitment can compensate for insufficient skills, physical limitations, lack of time, impossible odds or total disgust. 

At the same time, fear can become paralyzing. When they have no escape route, some people panic and that erodes their determination. The same "burn the boats" strategy can inspire one person and overwhelm another. Sure, we hear so many stories of people who succeeded because they committed completely. 

We hear far fewer accounts of equally committed people who failed, lost their savings, or suffered severe consequences. Their stories are not sexy and far less visible. 

Next time, we’ll see where the truth about my theory really lies, so don’t go away!

Burning bridges (Part one)

Many times during my life, I’ve burned bridges. On several occasions, it was unsuccessful, but quite a few times it ended up with a positive, if not an excellent outcome. 

For instance, I remember deciding to go to the Cluses boarding high-school, a very tough place, and that adventure worked out very well for me. Then going to work as an R&D technician at Odo, in the god-forsaken town of Morez, Jura, was marred by discouragement and subsequent failure. 

Same thing when I moved to Geneva to work as an airplane mechanic for TWA and couldn’t make it last. Then again, when I work for that land surveyor in Saint Gervais, near Mont Blanc, that venture didn’t long either, or when I worked at that small firm in Cluses, doing an odd, almost indescribable work that would have been seasonal in nature to dovetail with my ski instructor job but didn’t mobilize my personal passion.

I remember that when I foolishly hitchhiked through the Australian Nullarbor desert, that move miraculously worked out. Likewise, taking the plunge at Look both in Nevers and in America or later moving to Utah were successful “burn your boat” type decisions, albeit with their load of pain and challenge. 

The spirit of adventure has always inhabited my persona for good and for worst. I used to believe that “burning bridges” made a lot of things possible as the incentive to succeed was too strong to ignore and made it impossible to fail. Was it’s possible to say that when I engage in a very uncertain, succeed-or-die endeavor my brain would somehow make sure that I’d come through it with flying colors? 

The answer might be, yes—but only up to a point. This idea captures a real psychological phenomenon, yet it goes much further than the evidence supports. Tomorrow, we’ll try to understand why.