A special Digest issue... An Atlas 400 member's identity revealed... An inside look at the exclusive club...
Editor's note: Today, we're bringing you a special issue of the Stansberry Digest.
It's a bit of a departure from our typical variety. This piece is written by a member of The Atlas 400 – an exclusive club that connects some of the most interesting and powerful people in the world.
The Atlas 400 is very private. It goes to great ends to protect its members' identity and personal information.
But for the first time, you'll hear directly from an Atlas member about the difference this club and its members have made in his life and how connecting with people like this can change your life for the better in 2015...
Four years ago, I (Jeffery) first read about The Atlas 400's activities in the Digest.
The principles on which the club was founded – personal responsibility and freedom – resonated deeply with me… as did the club's goal of bringing together successful individuals from around the world who embrace these principles.
For the majority of my professional career in high technology, I've lived abroad, in various locations throughout Europe and Asia.
When you live in a foreign country and are dedicated to your work, it doesn't matter how good you are at learning new languages and cultures... You're always an outsider to some degree.
As many of you can attest, isolation is an unfortunate side effect of success. You don't achieve great things without devoting and sacrificing a large amount of personal time.
I'm at the point in my life and career where I really value slowing down every once and a while to enjoy time with my best friends and share amazing experiences in venues around the world.
That's what I've found in The Atlas 400.
I'll never be able to place a value on what the club has done for me… I've traveled the globe to remote locales I never would have been able to see if I wasn't part of The Atlas 400. But more importantly, I've made friends with intelligent, successful, like-minded people.
Below, I'll share what The Atlas 400 was up to in 2014… and what we're planning for 2015. Hopefully, you'll garner a better understanding of our special group and what you, too, can gain from it.
My story begins on top of a 25-story observation deck in the center of a Formula One race track.
On this most recent trip, my fellow group members and I were in Austin, Texas to enjoy exclusive use of the motor-racing track Circuit of Americas.
We rented out the track for an entire day, had supercars shipped in from Europe, and arranged professional instructors to hone our high-speed driving skills.
Driving one of the best Formula One tracks in the world at blistering speeds well over 100 mph, drifting around corners, and trying to beat my previous time on each lap was something I had always wanted to do... and something that would have been difficult to arrange by myself.
The year, however, started off at literally the other end of the earth, in Patagonia. We visited both the Argentine and Chilean areas of the region.
We started off on the Argentine side. Our home was an 11-room lodge situated on a vast expanse of land – more than 100,000 hectares. The vistas, sunrise, and sunset were straight out of a National Geographic magazine.
One day, we hiked the Perito Moreno glacier, one of the most famous glaciers in the world. Our timing was impeccable... We saw three major blocks of ice the size of a large office building split off the glacier into the lake below.
It's one thing to watch something like that on TV or to see photos, but watching it in person is an unforgettable experience.
The Chilean side of Patagonia proved equally extraordinary. Our hotel, The Tierra, was more impressive and significantly more remote than the one in Argentina. It's an ultra-modern oasis perched on the coast of a massive glacial basin.
The hotel was also conveniently located across from Torres del Paine National Park. We hiked up to the three towers – three massive granite spires that rise to about 9,000 feet. The 13-mile hike is one of the most iconic on Earth.
It was an outstanding way to spend a day with good friends from around the world.
The remainder of our time in Patagonia was filled with similar outdoor activities such as fly fishing, horseback riding, and hiking.
One of the guides introduced us to the calafate berry – a delicious local berry that grows on massive thorn-bushes. If you collect enough, you can make a famous local cocktail, the Calafate Sour.
A fellow Atlas member from Los Angeles and I set out to do exactly that.
As we scoured from bush to bush looking for ripe berries, we started to notice tufts of hair around us and a strong smell of ammonia. We had wandered into a puma den obscured by a bunch of calafate bushes. We got out of there fast... grabbing handfuls of the berries and escaping without incident.
That night, we commandeered the hotel bar and made the Calafate Sour for our group. It was an incredible adventure I would never have had without The Atlas 400.
Our final trip this year was to Bordeaux, France.
It was a special one for me... I've now completed the "big three" for Atlas in terms of famous red wine regions – Bordeaux, Tuscany, and Napa.
During our stay in the region, we arranged access to chateaux rarely open to the public, like Petrus and Château d'Yquem.
We also went boating on the Bay of Arcachon. One of the more memorable meals I've had was at La Corniche, a spectacular location overlooking the bay. Our al fresco lunch was filled with copious amounts fresh seafood and crisp sparkling wine.
Thanks to our club's contacts on the ground, the entire trip was a well-curated selection of the best chateaux, restaurants, wines, and experiences that Bordeaux had to offer.
As I mentioned, The Atlas 400 is about more than just travel. It's about the connections you make with other successful people. One of these connections saved my life this past year.
My family and I were vacationing on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, enjoying the last weekend of ski season. One morning, I suddenly couldn't walk due to severe sciatica down my right leg. After lying in bed for two days, I had to be rushed to a local hospital.
Due to the severity, the local doctors were unable to stabilize or treat me. Thanks to an emergency evacuation service – which is provided to all Atlas members – I was picked up by a medical jet and delivered to a top hospital in Tokyo.
While at the hospital, I contacted a fellow Atlas member, one of the world's top neurosurgeons, to arrange for surgery in Los Angeles.
A week later, I flew to Los Angeles, immediately had my pre-op procedures, and was in surgery the following morning.
When you're faced with serious surgery, doing it with the support of someone you know and trust makes it a dramatically more comforting experience.
And thanks to my fellow member's expertise, my lower back and legs haven't felt this good in 10 years... About six months after my procedure, I was actually in good enough shape to earn my second-degree black belt in karate.
Membership in the club can change your life.
Atlas members come from all walks of life and professions – surgeons, high technology executives, entrepreneurs, and industries like entertainment, publishing, agriculture, law, and finance.
What unites everyone is that we are all self-made individuals who want to enjoy the best that life has to offer.
Everyone brings something interesting to the group. Every conversation provides an opportunity to learn about something that you may not have had any exposure to.
One of the many things I like about people who have made it on their own is the nature of their character. Strong work ethic, knowledge, confidence, and humility are common traits among our members.
My career running high technology subsidiaries has necessitated living and working in a foreign country. And as with much success, there's often great sacrifice. My positions required a large amount of time and have caused some level of isolation.
So it's wonderful to have such a fantastic group of friends with whom I can share unique experiences outside my normal routine.
Our other members feel the same way.
I've found that our lives are often enriched by unexpected encounters, by friends made through hardship and adventures shared. In the end, I suspect we'll all wish we had more friends, more experiences with them, and more time.
That's why I became a member. That's why I have remained one for years.
The experiences and friendships continue to excite me and the bonds grow stronger.
It's been another year full of rich and colorful experiences with great people. And while membership isn't cheap, it's hard to put a price on that.
We already have four trips planned for the first six months on 2015 – Cabin Bluff in Georgia; Aspen, Colorado; the annual meeting in New York City; and Switzerland. And we're returning to Germany in the fall.
I invite you to learn more about membership in The Atlas 400 by clicking here.
We look forward to hearing from you and, potentially, the adventures we'll share in the future.
Regards,
Jeffery Brown
Board Member, The Atlas 400
December 26, 2014