Life at the Edge
Unpacking 3 pop-up cities, 6 unconventional months, and lots of change 🌊🌞
My life has lately taken a ton of twists and turns. It's honestly something I've had trouble explaining simply to friends and family. So I guess that's what this post is for: To reflect and share some magic energy that's come into my life :)
I've now been to three pop-up cities (or villages) for about a month each:
Edge Esmeralda in Healdsburg, California in June 🌞
Aleph / Crecimiento in Buenos Aires, Argentina in August 🥩
Edge City Lanna in Chiang Mai, Thailand in October 🥊
And what the heck is a popup village? It's basically a short-term gathering of a bunch of like-minded people (typically anywhere from 50 to 100s at a time) working towards a similar vision of what they want out of life
Some focused on crypto or other tech, some more focused redesigning our culture and social structures, others focusing on living forever…there’s a lot going on out here ;)
In September, I also attended The Network State Conference in Singapore - which was a great way to see all these different movements in one place.
Something that stuck with me was Vitalik Buterin (absolute brainiac) talking about how underrated and important it is to get “the human element” right. In other words - good ol fashioned human connection.
In other words, “humanize and accelerate” ;)
These movements are making me super optimistic about the future though - so here I’ll share why these movements (Edge City in particular!) are reshaping my life.
Flashing back to early June (before any of this craziness), I had no idea what to expect at my first pop-up village, Edge Esmeralda…
Would this be like a conference?
How big is this thing going to be?
Had I experienced anything similar in the past?
Should I be nervous at all?
On the Edge Esmeralda website, I just remembered it saying, "A month long gathering for people building the future."
(…recently changed to “a bright future” - which I dig.)
After receiving a scholarship, my strategy was simple: I planned on going for the first two weeks, and then seeing if I wanted to extend stay for the last two weeks - or dip and head over to San Francisco - based on how much I was liking it.
But all it took was the opening ceremony on my first night, where I decided…yep. I'd be staying for the full month. 😆
My original uncertainty and shyness was met by incredible conversations, a wonderful speech by Janine (Edge City co-founder), and some dancing parleyed with playing catch with a new lil best friend Minou:
Luckily, this same amazing energy stayed as strong as ever throughout the month - and it felt like home. A community of other people playing at the edge, where I was no longer the weird or crazy outsider obsessed with these outside-the-box philosophies or cutting-edge tech. 🫶🏼
What did a day in the life look like?
To some, it was confusing and too unconventional. To others, it's exactly how life should be. Unstructured and anything but ordinary - yet the perfect place to be creative, happy, and healthy.
Days were fun - a “choose your own adventure” - with a collaborative calendar called Social Layer to tie things together.
Mornings had many fun, grounding options: yoga, runs, sauna (home of countless epic convos), cold plunge, nice breakfast w/ friends, and more.
The rest of the day was often full of events on the shared calendar - exploring topics like AI, crypto, mindfulness, deep work, neurotech talks, demo days, and just pure hangin out.
I started to only plan my days one day in advance (if even…my Google calendar would be empty for the full week but loaded with all the events i could opt in to for tomorrow) because of all the spontaneous serendipity that's impossible to plan for.
Then the Nightly Community Dinner was an excellent place to connect... 🤌🏼
Kids, grandparents, scientists, artists, athletes, hippies, entrepreneurs, and others - all playing at the edge. 🫶🏼 It was one hell of a month.
Then…it started to come to an end…
…and I had a bit of a mini crisis with what to do now…with my life.
What was I supposed to do ? How was I supposed to just say bye to this life-changing community?
I soon figured out the people are here to last, but the chapters will be different. So about that next chapter for me? I was ready for more - so I followed the people I wanted to be around more and saw they were going to a new crypto popup city in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I texted Janine (Edge City co-founder) to ask how I could get involved - and thankfully, she was very supportive. 🫶🏼
In the weeks leading up to the conference in August, I started to do whatever I could to help while getting familiar with a whole new crew… I began to overlook VIP invites and around this new pop-up city environment — which felt very different from Edge Esmeralda’s unique culture.
In summary:
fun to connect with many great friends
fun to be at the center of a crypto movement at the edge (tons of smart folks!)
lots of hustle culture, and i witnessed lots of burnout
less healthy culture than Edge Esmeralda (and less nature than I’d like)
While in Argentina, I felt a strong pull to help get involved with the early stages of Edge City Lanna — so I began reviewing applications and helping interview folks for the fellowship program (…more smart young folks!)
Learning about the engine that drives Edge City was a true joy.
Next up… the Network State Conference in Singapore!
favorite city I’ve seen to date
one of the most rationally optimstic rooms I’ve ever been in (building towards a truly exciting sci-fi future 🧬🪩🪄🚀)
fun to see all the different popups going on :)
Next up: Edge City Lanna 🌞 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Beyond enthusiastic, I was early to start helping on the ground — where the work FLOODED in ;)
Looking back, this was honestly one of the highlights of the entire month! Jumping through the mud for the first time since a kid. Getting to know amazing people. Bumping tunes…what not to love?
The rest of Edge City was a complete pleasure. Some of my highlights include:
Running into a waterfall
First mangosteen (superb fruit, IYKYK)
Introducing scholars and fellows I interviewed into the community that changed my life.
Hosting AI workshops — where I slowly got over my imposter syndrome 🙃
Getting to experience CRISPR gene editing and biotech outside of the lab !! And seeing biotech just gets slightly more accessible.
First Kundalini Yoga — “May truth be my identity” or “Sat Nam” as a new mantra
First cacao ceremony… regaining touch with the food and drinks i used to devour way less consciously
Doing my first book club ever, for "The Beginning of Infinity" — where problems became WAY more soluble
Chiang Mai ✈️ Seattle (for only 72 hours) ✈️ Chiang Mai in <7 days !! For my amazing stepsister Sarah’s wedding :)
Building apps and video games with kids! (trying to explain simply why Replit is unbelievable voodoo magic, because we can now create awesome apps <30 minutes…something that’s lately turned into a full time obsession 😆)
Practicing my first Muay Thai! (and getting hooked on Muay Thai…basically kickboxing meets authentic Thai culture meets incredible fun with friends 🙏🏼)
Closing ceremony in nature
The team made an awesome recap here too - Which goes beyond just my personal anecdotes. :)
And life at the edge continues on Koh Phangan! Now I’ve been here for three weeks…
ratio of quality of life to $ cost ratio is the best I’ve ever seen 🏝️
culture is amazingly connected and wholesome 🎵🪈
We’re coming back ;)
if you read this far, epic! Hope you have a great day and a sweet holidays🙏🏼
- Jack
Jack you continue to amazing. Your thirst for knowledge and new experiences is bottomless. Keep at it :)
We love you Jack! Thanks for this great reflection!