Category Archives: Meet the Adventurers

They are so similar in so many ways, but at the same time incredibly different and unique in their own regard. Daniel likes vanilla, Michael like chocolate, D is more of a home body, M likes being out and about, D likes thrift shops, M likes actual shops, but there are a few things they have in common — their adventurous nature, friendly talk-to-anyone-and-everyone attitude, and what they’d like to consider their hilarious sense of humor.

They have traveled to some pretty cool places so far in life, but have always had that itch to adventure more and really do it for the story. So the next goal: travel the world with our first focus being Southeast Asia!

Hey, I’m Mike

So, who am I and why should I have my own blog? Great freaking question, and actually a question that most people have trouble answering. (I’ll be honest — I am having trouble composing it right now)

Where do I begin … I was born in Miami, FL, and then did a short stint in Boca Raton where I showcased my coloring and block-building skills. Upon having my talents brought back to Miami, my parents put my brother and I on the preppy private school route where teachers taught us a bit about calculus and prepped us as much as possible for college.

Having gone to high school in Miami, I was ready to get a taste of something different upon my graduation, but my parents were not on the same page. So, I continued my education at the University of Miami where I pursued my interests in business and finance, and I will be forever thankful to my parents for this ‘forceful’ guidance. Attending the University of Miami was one of the best experiences in my life. Everything from the student personalities and organizations to faculty and university features were unforgettable. The beauty of the campus, as well as the accompanying student body, coupled with the raw intellectual power exuded by each and every classroom is something very hard to come by anywhere else in the world.

Speaking of the beautiful student body the University of Miami also gave me an opportunity I didn’t see coming. I was able to meet my Brazilian Princess, aka Gesy, at the last football game at the Orange Bowl prior to its demise. I was floored when I met her. I considered her to have a case of the B’s — she was Bubbly, Brilliant, and Beyond Beautiful. As you stroll around the website you can see Gesy featured in many different places around the world as she is my #1 model. Gesy has been a fantastic influence in my life, has taught me a great amount since we have met, and I can certainly say that my life would not be anywhere near the same without her. **Brownie points :)**

Upon graduating from the U, I was confident I could tackle anything and everything that crossed my path. So, fast forward a few years — I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to work for one of the greatest financial minds in the world, and I was accomplishing things I never would have imagined before. I learned more in a day than I ever thought possible, started doing more work during a single phone call than a semester of class, and was exposed to more data and information on my computers than all of my lectures and textbooks combined. I had the world at my fingertips, and the opportunity I had in my hands was not to be taken lightly. I worked for this company for a total of 5 years, but during those years something happened that completely diverted what I thought was going to be my life’s plan.

In January of 2011, I was involved in a horrible car accident in Colorado where my best friend and roommate passed away, I was ejected from the vehicle, was in the hospital for over a month, had about 6 months of therapy thereafter, and still feel effects of the crash each and everyday.

The entire experience forced everything into perspective and brought all previous life decisions into question. The one thing I knew for sure — I wanted to get up, and get out. Do something different. Do something I had never done before. Do something bigger and more creative. Do something that made a difference in something or someone. Do something that would really put my skills to the test like never before.

But, where the hell do you start? I finally understood the meaning of the often used phrase, “life’s too short”, but was I supposed to get another job, start my own company, go to grad school, what did I want to do? How could I learn something that neither school nor an intense job could teach me?

Everything pointed in the same direction — travel the world.

So, without further ado, let the adventure begin.

It’s Daniel!

Hello everyone!  Welcome to my bio page.

Who am I?  I’m Daniel Rangel; little brother of Mike, son of Luis and Marilyn.  I hail from the distant land of Boca Raton, Florida, and, when I was eight years old, made the pilgrimage to Miami where I remained.  To describe myself: I’m a weird guy, and I’m not just saying that!  The majority of people I’ve met in my life would most likely describe me as “weird.”  As the blog goes on I’m sure many of you will begin to understand too.  I’m just not a fan of being normal; being normal is boring, that’s what everyone else is doing.  I like to have fun, be fun, entertain, and tell stories, so this blog will be the perfect outlet for me to tell who knows what will go on during this adventure!

I followed in my brother’s footsteps and studied at University of Miami, though not in finance.  I was also a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon throughout my years there.  I started off as a music major, playing French Horn in the symphonic band as I had been doing for the previous 9 years of my life.  The band and music life was fun and all for those 9 years, but I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to “do,” as far as the rest of my life goes.  I grew up with a love for video games and computers, so I switched to studying Computer Science after my first semester with dreams of becoming a game designer.  I graduated just in this past December (2013), and can’t say enough how excited I am to finally be out of school and pursuing many things!

Last summer I put my “computer science” skills to the test in an internship where I helped develop an app called Postkard (http://www.postkard.com/), founded by a man named Tyler.  I programmed a lot of the functionality for the app and learned much more in this internship than I ever learned in school.  Although it strays a little bit away from my original dream of becoming a game designer, app development is something I can definitely see myself doing, as it involves a lot of creativity.  During the trip we will be meeting up with Tyler and hopefully look towards building new and exciting things.

So now I embark on this grand adventure.  Who knows what crazy situations my brother and I will get ourselves into….