Lucas's Blog

“Champagne for you, sir?” I asked

“That would be regal,” Alfie responded, his voice brimming with sophistication.

I laughed as I handed him a half-cold Spanish beer instead, the cold can catching late afternoon light.

We were perched atop the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Southern Spain

The world sprawled out before us, with views of green valleys and sunlit peaks you can only marvel at

“And for the main course, we have Packaged crisps, Strawberries & Mussels” I added

As I opened up the backpacker banquet we’d ferried up the mountain with us

Alfie has traveled far and wide in his life—across continents, through rivers, and over seas

Yet, for all his adventures, this was his first encounter with snow

Yes, you read that correctly, his first encounter with snow was in Spain

There’s something magical about seeing snow for the first time

It’s like discovering a new element of nature—a shimmering, foreign world beneath your feet

Alfie took a few steps, marveling at the crunch beneath his Nikes, then bent down to scoop up a handful and threw it into the distance

Alfie and I were about 6 days into a 2-week road trip in southern Espana

It had been almost 2 years since I’d seen him last

He’d been traveling in Latin America & more recently, studying Spanish in Valencia

While I’d opted to try my luck in the corporate world in Melbourne.

Gain some experience, make some connections, all of that LinkedIn nonsense

We sat, drank and ate, catching up on the last few years

Reminiscing on previous trips, business ideas, and what the future might hold for us both

Time seemingly stood still for a few hours as we basked in the alpine sun

Families, hikers & bike riders all made their way around us as we relaxed

We chatted for hours up there

The mountain air hitting our face, cold beers in hand, enjoying the peace and serenity

In that moment in made me realise how important friendship is to daily life

The new friends, the old and the ones still yet to come

Life wouldn’t be much of an experience if there was no one to share it with

For me, that memory sticks out for a couple of reasons

Firstly and less importantly:

I was blissfully unaware that Spain had snow anywhere within its land

Secondly & more importantly:

Where would the world be without friends

Friendship & love

The richest oxygenated blood that keeps the world spinning each and every day

The other part of lifes rich tapestry is Love

Love shows up in so many different ways in everyday life.

It might look a little different each time, but at its core, it’s all about the same thing—joy.

Love for a person, a moment, a team, a memory, food, coffee—whatever it is, it’s what keeps us going, what makes life feel meaningful in the day-to-day

It’s your friend showing up when you need them

It’s your Nonna cooking you your favorite meal, just because she knows it’ll make you smile.

Dancing around your house to your favorite song or tearing up over a book

It’s sharing a meal with that someone, knowing how much they’re enjoying it too

Love doesn’t always have to be grand or obvious.

Most of the time, it’s tucked away in the little things

The quiet moments that bring a sense of comfort, connection, and happiness.

It’s in the way someone remembers your coffee order

The way a song can instantly take you back to a specific memory

or the way a shared laugh can make you forget your woes, even temporarily

When you start to notice it, you realize love is everywhere, weaving its way through the everyday.

And the best part? The more you lean into those moments

the more you give love, notice it, and let it fill your life—the more you feel it in return.

That’s what makes life beautiful. It’s not the big, showy moments in the sun

It’s the small ones, shared with the people and things you care about most

That’s where love lives

When I have time to sit and reflect on my life to date,

I often find myself smiling at the threads that have woven it all together.

Love and friendship.

They’ve been there, quietly shaping the journey,

Omnipresent throughout every adventure, every stumble, and every triumph.

Love comes in many forms, some of which I’ll expand on below.

Some you might not even notice in the day-to-day,

But they’re there, adding color and depth to life in the subtlest ways.

The love from family—the unconditional, steadfast type.

Unwavering through every twist and turn life delivers.

It’s in the encouragement that lifts you higher, the sacrifices they make without a second thought,

And the quiet reassurance that you’re never really alone

The phone calls home from halfway across the world,

The laughter shared at the dinner table,

And the warm, unspoken comfort of simply knowing they’re there

But there’s another kind of love that often goes unnoticed until you take a moment to reflect.

It’s the love found in friendship

The joy that turns ordinary moments into memories

The spontaneous trips, the inside jokes that resurface years later, the shared vocabulary

The random texts that remind you someone’s thinking of you

It’s the shared joy of little wins, weddings, job promotions & adventures abroad

Even when the days are gloomier

To cry, laugh, or simply sit in silence with someone—is a gift that can’t be replicated

It’s in those moments, the quiet and the loud ones alike, where life feels most real

Love and friendship are thus the forces that carry us through life’s seasons.

Well that felt nice to write about

but if you’re reading this far you might like to know some more about friendship

and how you can keep it going day after day and year after year

What I’ve learned over my life, particularly over the last 5 years is that without effort

Friendship doesn’t exist

If you don’t water the plants in your house (Like I have often forgotten) they will slowly fade away

Being busy isn’t a bug in the human experience, it’s a feature

This means, If you have some level of ambition to take your life somewhere you’re going to find yourself with a busy schedule

Trying to stay fit, have a clean room, a job, see friends, and family, play with your dog, eat well exercise, and even find time to relax

Are some of the usual suspects

However, with some planning and effort on both sides, you can enjoy the ever-bountiful fruit that is friendship

Go forth, dear reader, and see if you can implement some of these into your lives

1. The simple art of the random text

This may be the simplest method in the modern age

Long gone are the days of carrier pigeons and collect calls to get in touch with your friends

while there are many drawbacks of a highly connected society via smartphone

One of the upsides is that you can reach people wherever they are in the world within seconds

This means, that memory you shared with that person just came into your head.

Send them a message about it

A photo came up on your phone of a particular night or meal together

Send them a message about it

These small gestures can provide the necessary lubricant to get any conversation firing again

Even if it has been months or years since your last conversation

You don’t need a reason to text a friend—seriously, you don’t

Sometimes the best messages are the ones that pop out of nowhere

You know, the ones that make your friend pause, smile, and think, Wow, they’re thinking about me

The beauty of these messages is their simplicity

They don’t demand a long reply or a deep conversation—they’re just little nudges that say, Hey! Thinking about you!

And let’s be honest, in a world where everyone is busy and life moves fast

Knowing someone is thinking of you—even for a fleeting moment—feels really nice

Maybe it’s about the time you got lost in a city

Stole a traffic cone, or pulled off a plan so last minute it’s still unbelievable you made it work

Sharing those memories is like revisiting it together

Reminding them (and yourself) of how much they’ve meant to you.

One of my great mates, Angus Grant (the general) is a perfect example of this

We’ve been friends for a touch over a decade, spanning school life and beyond

Post school, like everyone, we have taken different roads, different careers

But have always remained in the same friendship groups

Wherever I am in the world, Wherever he is in the world

We send each other songs that we’re listening to

Some new, some old, some just because they’re great songs

Sometimes no words are spoken,

Merely the act of knowing he’ll enjoy that song wherever he is in the world puts a smile on my face

Sometimes a roaring catch-up ensues

Whatever it is, it’s something so simple that has paid back happiness dividends in droves

2. Plan the unplannable

You know that group chat—the one where everyone enthusiastically agrees, “We have to catch up soon!” and then… nothing.

Plans linger in limbo, ideas fizzle out, and life goes on

It’s not that people don’t want to hang out; it’s just that no one takes charge.

So why not be the person who does?

Start small—set a date

Don’t worry about it being perfect or elaborate.

Suggest something simple like grabbing coffee, going for a walk, or meeting at the local for a drink.

The goal isn’t to create an unforgettable event

It’s to get people together, face-to-face, sharing moments that remind you why you’re mates

And here’s the thing: people are going to bail sometimes.

It’s life.

Work deadlines pop up, Your dog gets runover, or someone just forgets

The key is to not take it personally.

Like a good salesperson, a no or a reschedule is one step closer to a sale (or getting to see your friends again)

Instead of letting it discourage you, reschedule.

Keep the momentum going. It’s not about everyone being available every single time—it’s about making it a habit to try.

Be the friend who says, “Let’s make it happen,” instead of “We should catch up sometime.”

There’s power in taking the initiative.

Sometimes, people just need that extra nudge

A reminder that their friendships are worth carving out time for, even in the middle of busy schedules

and don’t let me fool you, I’m not perfect either

Sometimes it’s not the right time, something has come up or shamefully, I can’t be bothered.

Nevertheless, push on!

Reschedule a time the moment you can’t make it for a similar time the same week

You don’t realise how nice it feels to have someone take the initiative and make plans that involve you

How nice is that?

3. Make it tradition

I’ve written about this in an earlier piece

But for me, it’s one of the best things you can do with a group of people

For me, my best example is the annual salami-making day with my cousins

An annual event around the same time of year to essentially drink wine, make salami, and spend time with family

It’s only half of the process that you get to eventually go home with the world’s best salami

The other half is the memories and time you get to spend with the people there

Friendships thrive on connection, and one of the best ways to keep that connection alive is by creating traditions.

There’s something special about having that thing you always do with your friends—

A ritual that gives you something to look forward to weekly, monthly, or even yearly

It doesn’t have to be elaborate.

It could be as simple as a weekly glass of wine at 4 pm on a Sunday evening.

Or maybe a Friday night meal the first week of every month, where the location doesn’t matter as long as you’re together.

The point is to make it consistent, as much as you can—something that becomes part of the cadence of your lives

If you’re lucky enough to live in the same city

Maybe it’s a Sunday hike, a Saturday morning farmer’s market visit, or a weekly special meal at your favorite spot.

If distance separates you, traditions can still work.

Share a Spotify playlist together and add songs weekly

Play a video game together online

or set a time every week to FaceTime while cooking dinner together

So, pick something.

It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive—it just has to be yours.

Something that fits into your lives and brings you joy

Because when you make time for each other regularly, it’s not just about the activity

It’s about showing up, staying connected, and making space for the people who matter

One of my traditions while I’ve been away in South America is sending a weekly vlog to one of my great mates, Rudy

A few minutes each

Giving each other updates on all that’s been happening,

How we’re both feeling and all the things we have coming up

It’s fantastic, every week or so I get to share with him my life & he shares his with me

A bite-sized snippet into each other’s worlds with such a low barrier to entry

At the end of the day, love and friendship in all their forms are what make life worth living.

Seriously, you don’t want to be a billionaire with no one to love and share it with

Whether it’s a quiet moment shared with family, an inside joke with a friend

Even a random act of kindness from a stranger, these connections make life richer, fuller, and a lot more fun

Friendship, in particular, has this magic of turning ordinary moments into unforgettable memories. It’s the morning conversations over coffee

The trips away after months of planning

or the shared enjoyment of a meal you had to stop and take a minute to take it all in

Love, too, isn’t always grand gestures and sweeping romance—it’s in the small, everyday things.

It’s remembering someone’s favorite coffee order, sending a “landed safely” text, or doing the dishes after a meal

Love weaves itself into the little moments that we often overlook but couldn’t imagine living without.

So, take a moment to appreciate the people who make your world brighter.

Send that text, plan that catch-up, or simply tell someone how much they mean to you.

Life is busy, but these connections are what make it beautiful

Given it is the time of year, I am going to shamelessly quote Hugh Grant from my favorite Christmas movie ‘Love Actually’

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world

I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport

General opinion is starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere.

Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there

Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends.

If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around”

A personal ode

If you’ve read this far, thank you.

I’m always blown away by the fact people read the thoughts that I put out into the world.

I found out recently there was someone from Romania who managed to find my blog recently,

whoever you are, if you do find this again please send me a message

I feel incredibly lucky to have friends, family, and acquaintances that I have in my life today

It’s what inspired today’s blog

My beautiful family who taught me really what love & friendship is

My friends from home, the memories we’ve created, the ones to come, and the laughs shared. I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.

You’re the people who make life so good

The friends I’ve made traveling, you’ve changed my life for the better, the moments, the ways of life, the cheap beers shared.

The insights into your lives make my life so much richer, and the memories made along the way I’ll remember forever

I can’t wait to see you all again

To the strangers who will never see this

The taco stand owner in Mexico City who gave me a free taco the other day

The man at the Italian consulate who let me go home and re-translate my documents

or the man in South Korea who paid for my meal because I was visiting his country

These acts of friendship, love, and kindness and what make the world go around

What a life, hey.

LB