The Wild Places

As I stood there, a grin spread over my face. I’ve always loved the wild places, ever since I was a kid hunting elk with my Dad in the mountains out west. Like the mountains, or the sea, the desert is one of those wild places that looks the same as it did a millennia ago. There is something peaceful about being in a place like this, where the risks are still real. It is beautiful in its own right, made even more so because it can also kill you if you are careless. That is the draw of the wild places, you feel it like a vibration in your soul, that this is what you were made for, not clicking buttons on a mouse under fluorescent lights for a government or company that doesn’t care about you.

The clarity these places give you are incredible. Out here who you are, what you do, what you are worth, what mistakes you have made, what fears you have, what things you think are important, or what things you think you need to do seem almost trivial. When I’m in the desert, in one of these places that remain untouched as a millennia ago, it is just an amazing filter for what is real, what is actually important.

That’s the best way I can explain it. As I sit here and write the last letter of 2025, I find myself trying to capture how great those days were and hold onto that clarity. Getting up with the sunrise, not checking my phone, spending the day hiking and reading, having no fake demands on my time or attention. Laying out on a blanket and looking at stars with my wife before going to bed in a simple yurt, and having fun and being happy, it really just shows how little we need to be happy. It was a good reminder for us.

For myself, I had time to think about what do I want Radigan Carter to be?

The answer is I want this to be my life’s work. Without any doubt, I make more of a difference here than I have throughout my career on four continents, and that is due to all of you being here. Thank you.

Now I want to make it better.

I’ve been working with someone on redesigning the site and we’ll be moving in the first couple weeks of January. We’ll be sending out an email in a couple weeks on this. Unfortunately there is no way to roll over your subscription on the back end and you’ll have to rejoin on the new site.

Don’t worry, no matter if you’ve been here for years or you just joined, we spent a lot of time going through and creating the right discounts so everyone will get credited for however many months are on your current subscription on the new site. And as always, if there is an issue or question, reach out at [email protected] and we’ll figure it out.

This will give me the ability to have not only the monthly letter, but an audio version as well.

We will have a dedicated Lifestyle page where all the things I’ve found that help make everyday life more beautiful are listed out in one place.

I also want to have a “Start Here” page so as new people find us or young guns are wanting to take their finances more seriously, have everything listed out in one spot that has helped me as I’ve learned to manage my own money.

This will also help on the backend simplifying things for me and will be a better writing experience so I can make the time to start doing free pieces again in addition to the monthly letter.

I want to fully commit to this. I have about five years to go until I’m done with the current profession and then will be going full time on this. Will add video and who knows what else, we’ll see. If there is something you are wanting to see or have ideas, shoot me an email or let me know if you’re in the discord.

The mission remains:

To be a trusted narrator who takes his own risks first and is always for individuals as we all navigate these times of geopolitical power shifts and institutions pursuing their own power.

Like Thucydides, my purpose is to do, seek understanding, and tell the truth with clarity.

This letter is a revolt against abstraction, a return to the grounded, the tested, as titan states once again face off against each other and we all feel the weight of uncertainty.

As we all try to navigate these times for ourselves and our families I will be solving the problem of “what about the individual in these times?” for myself first and hopefully others find it helpful as they make their own decisions.

With moving the website over, the PDF link was broken, so here is a new file download if you prefer to read the monthly letters in a PDF.