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📩 In Today’s Email

• The Deep Dive: My journey from insomnia to insight with a sleep doctor who changed everything. Why your brain "isn't the enemy"—and how fixing your sleep might be more important than all your hustle combined.

• The Read: Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker The book that proves cutting sleep doesn't just make you tired—it's slowly dismantling your body and mind from the inside out.

• The Stream: The podcast designed for you NOT to listen to it. Meet Scooter, the uniquely boring storyteller who might just be the sleep hero you never knew you needed.

📢 Newsletter News

1. New Free Digital Nomad Checklist Coming Soon:

   Get your life together before you take it on the road. The Nomad Checklist is almost ready—a free download packed with what to do, pack, prep, and ditch before you go, and ATN subscribers get first access.

2. Spanish Translations:

   All newsletters now come with smooth Colombian Spanish—no robot grammar.

3. Growth Update:

   We’re at 120 sharp, curious subscribers. No algorithms. Just ideas worth sharing. Join the early crew before we go full cult.

4. ATN Mascot Rio Birdain

   Last seen in Medellín, napping inside a mug of chamomile tea. He claims he was in “deep REM.” No photos exist. Only vibes.

🤿 The Deep Dive

A few months ago, I booked a sleep clinic appointment when I felt like my brain was skipping a track. Not just tired—glitching.

I was doing the work: gym sessions, journaling, clean eating, cold showers, even meditation. But it all felt pointless.

My body was inflamed.

My focus was shot.

And then I read that it’s actually when you sleep—not while you’re at the gym—that your muscles rebuild. During sleep our bodies release growth hormone.

And muscle is what keeps us traveling longer (see previous newsletter in archive!).

Wait, what?

So I go out and suffer through deadlifts while the comfy new couch sits at home like a smug cloud… and none of it counts if I don’t sleep?

Cool. So I’m gonna go crazy, get Alzheimer’s, and literally lose my mind?

Not metaphorically. Literally. Like—where did I put it?

OK. Time to see a professional.

That’s how I ended up sitting across from sleep pro, Dr. Montoya. He had a kind, crinkly-eyed smile and hair like soft clouds.

His voice was calm, like a bedtime story you somehow trusted.

And his pants—well-worn, papery cargo pants—made him look like he belonged somewhere between Patagonia and a dreamscape.

He listened. I told him how since the pandemic, my sleep had gone haywire. I’d started staying up all night. Not out of rebellion—out of inertia. One night turned into a month.

Then a year.

He nodded.

“You’re not alone. A lot of people’s sleep fell apart during the pandemic.”

It even has a term: coronasomnia.

He paused, smiled wryly.

“Made being a sleep doctor a pretty lucrative gig.”

Ok, he didn’t say THAT, but I imagined that he did. Remember, my reality had got loopy.

Then he leaned forward and said what became the core of my reset:

“Your sleep is loco.”

“You’ve trained your brain to fear sleep. We’re going to retrain it.”

And then he did something strange.

He took a pen and started drawing a bunch of overlapping circles on a piece of paper. Big, messy, imperfect loops.

Then he pointed between two of them.

“You are here,” he said.

I had no idea what that meant.

But it felt right.

Wherever I was, it certainly wasn’t inside the circle.

Three of my dozen + doctor’s orders:

1. No screens an hour before bed.

2. No to-do lists at night.

3. In the morning, go outside, look at the sky and take Vitamin D to fix the circadian rhythm.

That second one hit especially hard. Because what do most of us do in bed? Not that. You know: Think about tomorrow. What needs doing. What didn’t get done.

But that tells your brain: it’s time to work.

You’re winding up, not winding down.

And that’s when he said something I’ll never forget:

“Your brain isn’t the enemy. It’s just trying to figure out which you is in charge.”

That line stuck with me.

Because it’s true.

It’s not your brain vs. you.

It’s you vs. you.

And your brain?

It’s just trying to figure out who to follow. To figure out, which “you” IS “you.”

That’s when I stopped trying to outsmart my own mind and started treating it like a teammate on some ragtag team that was at the bottom of the division and in need of a shake-up.

I replaced my screen time with books. Fiction. Philosophy. Anything but hustle culture and Tiktok doomscrolls.

That single change brought me back to something I hadn’t realized I’d lost—reading.

Reading brought me back to writing.

And writing brought me here.

This newsletter was born from insomnia.

A Texas Nomad exists because I couldn’t sleep.

When You Can’t Sleep: Stop Fighting

One of the most important things the doctor told me: If you wake up and can’t sleep, don’t just lie there stewing.

That wires your brain to associate bed with frustration.

Instead, get up. Leave the bedroom. Do something boring. Menial. Meditative.

Fold laundry. Sit in the dark. Stretch.

Or—my favorite—put on Sleep With Me, the podcast I recommend below.

Just don’t do anything stimulating.

Don’t check your bank account.

Don’t open email. (Unless it’s the new A Texas Nomad! 🤠).

And absolutely, under no circumstance, think about politics. That includes 24 News—looking at you, you news junkies, that is designed to activate your fight or flight.

That’s like throwing gasoline on your frontal lobe.

As directed by written doctors’ orders, the bed is meant only for sleep, reading a book, or, in his words, interpersonal relationships.

Decipher that last one yourself.

The goal isn’t action—it’s surrender.

Sleep to fight another day.

So Here’s What Works Now:

• No Screens Before Bed – Books, not blue light.

• Same Sleep Time – No matter the city or timezone, I try to keep a bedtime.

• Morning Light Ritual – Get outside within 30 minutes of waking.

• No Work Talk at Night – No brainstorming. No planning. Let the brain cool.

• Earplugs & Eye Mask – My go bag essentials. Loop earplugs + Manta mask = blackout mode.

• Podcast That Knocks Me Out Every Time – See below.

And here’s the truth: this isn’t something I’ve mastered.

I still struggle. Some nights are better than others. Some weeks fall apart entirely.

But I’m not lost anymore.

I’ve seen the path. I’ve felt the difference. And I know what it costs when I stray from it.

If there’s one thing to get dialed to reinvent your life, it’s your sleep.

Not your branding. Not your gym split. Not your passive income funnel.

Sleep is the first switch. The foundation. The reset button.

Without it, you’re just dragging your tired self through a life that doesn’t quite land.

I’m still figuring it out, but I know this much:

Once you feel what real sleep can do for your mind, your body, your spirit—

You won’t want to live without it.

I’m struggling with it still to this day.

But at least I’ve found the path.

And hopefully, with this knowledge, you can too.

🤓 The Read - Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

I didn’t pick this book up because I was curious. I picked it up because I was worried. My brain felt scrambled. My body was unraveling.

I was doing all the “right” things—fitness, meditation, hydration, supplements—and still running on empty.

Then Why We Sleep came along like cold water in the face.

Matthew Walker doesn’t just explain sleep—he elevates it. He writes like a man who’s seen too many people trade their health for hustle and doesn’t want you to be next.

The book is part science, part warning label, part elegy for a world that treats rest as weakness.

And he makes it terrifyingly clear:

Cutting your sleep doesn’t just make you tired—it unravels your immune system, shortens your lifespan, lowers your IQ, numbs your empathy, and increases your risk of nearly every major disease.

It’s not optional. It’s not a soft skill.

It’s survival.

Walker did the podcast rounds—Huberman, Rogan, Rich Roll—and he’s compelling in every interview. But the book is where it hits deepest.

It’s elegant, clinical, and beautifully readable. You can feel the years of research, but you don’t need a biology degree to keep up.

Even though I like that he has one—a PhD in neuroscience.

If you’re a digital nomad—or one of those people who thinks five hours is bragging rights—this book should be your manifesto. Your brain is eating itself.

Especially if you’ve been romanticizing late nights and over-caffeinated mornings like they’re badges of honor. They’re not. They’re slow poison.

Why We Sleep doesn’t give you shortcuts. It gives you the truth.

And once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it.

Verdict: 10/10. Will change how you live.

Ideal Reading Time: That sacred screen-free hour before bed (except Kindle!)

Nomad Takeaway: You don’t need another hustle strategy. You need some zzzzz’s.

🍿 The Stream - Sleep With Me

Podcast: Sleep With Me

There is nothing better than a podcast whose entire purpose is for you not to listen to it.

That’s the strange genius of Sleep With Me.

Hosted by Drew Ackerman (aka “Scooter”), it’s a bedtime podcast designed to gently distract your racing mind just enough to let you drift off. Not too interesting. Not too boring. Just… perfectly ungripping.

I’ve tried everything—white noise, brown noise, even pink noise. But nothing works quite like Scooter’s slow, surreal, semi-coherent rambles. It’s like Mr. Rogers got lost in a dream and decided to narrate it, quietly, for your benefit.

And here’s the thing: if you’re paying close attention, if you’re gripped by the plot, the episode has failed. Sleep With Me succeeds when it becomes a blur. Scooter has never failed me. He is engagingly unengaging in the most healing, gentle way imaginable.

If you’re a fellow insomniac, a restless nomad, or just someone who needs a mind-softening ritual to end the day—start here.

ATN Recommends:

• Headphones in.

• Phone facedown.

• Eyes closed.

• Let Scooter do what he does best: talk you to sleep.

🛤️ Outtro

Studying sleep has taught me this:

It is, bar none, the most important thing.

More than diet.

More than exercise.

More than quitting sugar, booze, air ballooning, pistol spinning, or any other beautifully bad idea you’ve been clinging to.

Poor sleep is worse than all of them combined.

If your sleep is broken, nothing else will fix you.

You should stop everything you’re doing and make this your only priority.

It is that important.

And Shakespeare, as usual, was right:

“Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care…”

The original sleep poet.

So ignore the hustle bros.

Ignore the all-nighters and “I get by on five hours” braggarts.

That’s not a flex.

That’s a red flag.

This week, build your temple. And the temple between your temples.

Dark room. No screens. Simple rituals. A boring book. A slow podcast.

You’re not lazy. You’re healing.

Plus, who wants to be an unraveled sleeve?

Reinvention isn’t just about where you go—it’s about how you show up. Every place you land is an opportunity to rewrite your story. Keep moving forward, and make it count.

If this newsletter gave you something to think about, send it to a friend, a fellow traveler, or anyone who could use a fresh perspective.

The best way to grow this community is through word of mouth.

Enjoyed This? Share It.

See you next week. Stay bold. 🔥