In November of 2023, a German man walked into a bar in Columbia, Missouri and sat down next to me. Fifteen minutes later, he declared that he didn’t want my money. He didn’t want my papers (and who could blame him… sometimes I don’t even want my papers). But he DID want to change my life.

Thirty-six hours later he left to go back home to Germany with the promise that he would return. I didn’t know if he actually would or not… but I took Project TMI offline anyway. Because he was different than anyone I’d ever met before. And I didn’t want to write about him – partly for fear that he’d become just another casualty in the same story that I was tired of writing sequels to (and alternate versions of) every few months. But mostly because I wanted to keep this story to myself.

For his part, he snapped a photo of the road leading to my townhouse as he drove away that day, because he also realized that this last business trip – his final one for quite a while (unbeknownst to us) wasn’t “just another trip.”

I didn’t find out about that photo until a year and a half later.

And, like he promised, he did come back.

Slowly, gradually, and almost, you could say, methodically, life began to change. Old habits and anxieties were, if not completely eradicated, certainly diminished. Foundations were built. Trust was earned. And most importantly, the astronomical odds of building and conducting a successful long-distance relationship – especially one with an ocean between us – were continually defeated.

Until finally, in December of 2024, I bought a plane ticket to Germany with plans to stay for three months. And in February of 2025, I boarded that plane for my first ever trip. And that’s when (and where), this story really begins.

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From a more mechanical standpoint, if you’ve read Project TMI before, you’ve likely noticed it’s had another facelift.

The archives are gone, along with the themed content.

Really any mention of events from what I now feel is in the distant past is also gone.

In essence, its focus has changed in alignment with the way that my story has changed. Because that time in Europe fundamentally changed everything from the way I eat, to the way I work, to my mindset, and even my plans for the future.

I may bring the archives back up someday… but, just as likely, I may not. I’m tired of focusing on and rehashing the past, and I don’t want to tell those stories anymore.

It’s time for something new.

Stay tuned… big things are coming.