Stardate 09.30.2026
This morning I had breakfast at the hotel and stopped to talk with Rafael at the front desk.
He told me he had read my story after it published yesterday at 4:08 p.m. London time.
I told him he was my hero.
Without access to my computer, as a writer, I feel lost. My computer is where I write, edit and publish the daily story. With my flight home approaching, there was a possibility that a computer problem could affect my plans.
I got what I needed from the computer store across the street and went back to work.
By 11:20 a.m., the dilithium crystals on my laptop were fully charged, my story was set to publish, and I was on my way to Wimbledon.
Before I left, Rafael showed me how to use the train and bus information on my phone. The map app could figure out how to get me from Point A to Point B by combining trains, buses and walking. It also gave me clear directions and pickup times.
That was a light-bulb moment.
I could get to Wimbledon without walking ten miles each way.
When I arrived at Wimbledon, security searched my backpack.
Inside were DoNotAge® products, wires, my laptop and a surprise product DoNotAge® had given me so I could share it with my friends.
Then a security guard told me I had been spotted using my selfie stick while setting up a Facebook Live video for friends back home.
I had no idea I was doing anything wrong.
He gave me a ticket.
It turned out the ticket was simply what I needed to reclaim my selfie stick at the end of my visit.
My first mulligan at Wimbledon.
Good thing Mark likes golf.
When I told him I wanted to read a poem out loud, he looked the other way. My camera was hidden off to the side.
I found the full version of “If—” downstairs at the Wimbledon museum.
The poem ripped my heart out.
I felt like Kipling was speaking to me while all of my childhood heroes from watching the sport were looking down on me from their places of honor all around me.
The video I shot was without the aid of my selfie stick since security had asked me to surrender it while I was on their property.
The poem was about the only message I could share without being shut down.
I had also sent a request to a staff member asking about using sound bytes from my guided tour. I received a reply that media was off limits during tours, even for small Substack writers like me.
So I enjoyed the visit and moved on.
When I left Wimbledon, I noticed my phone was about to die.
The sun was setting, and the temperature was much warmer than normal for this time of year. I decided to stop at a restaurant across the street from my train stop.
That's where I met Zarela, a thirty-year transplant from South America.
I told her in Spanish that I have ancestors from Peru.
She sat down at my outdoor table, and we began talking like family.
When she asked what I was doing in London, I told her about my partner, DoNotAge®, and the conference that had brought me here.
She wanted to know everything.
Her interest in the products was connected to a store she owns, where many of her customers are athletes. I gave her the link from my blog so she could access the products at a discount using my LLAP code.
I also told her I would write a review of her food for friends who might want to visit Wimbledon someday.
That's when I noticed the animal picture on her menu.
I thought it was an alpaca.
Zarela corrected me.
Llama.
I pulled out my phone and showed her a picture from my visit to an alpaca farm in Missouri while I was there on a day job assignment.
I explained that llamas can protect alpacas from predators such as mountain lions and wolves because alpacas don't have the same defenses.
Then Zarela asked why I was in London.
I shared my DoNotAge® story.
She wanted to know everything.
We kept talking like family because, even if distantly, we are.
Then I showed her a picture of my mother who will be celebrating her 87th birthday in a couple of weeks.
She lit up.
Zarela told me she wanted to keep in touch and gave me her phone number.
I told her I use WhatsApp when I travel internationally, but I'm still new to it. She had me call her while we were sitting there and showed me how easy it was.
Another light-bulb moment.
Eventually, I said goodbye and got back on the train using my fully charged phone.
The same map app Rafael had shown me could now get me where I needed to go. It combines trains, buses and walking and gives me directions and pickup times.
I'm no longer lost in London.
I now know how to get to Heathrow, right down to my exact terminal, using everything I have learned since arriving.
“The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”
— Psalm 121:8
Join me here:
Captain's Addendum
“Michael, I believe the Captain has finally mastered London's transportation system,” Spock said.
“Yeah, Spock,” Bones replied. “Let's just hope he doesn't decide to learn the entire Tube map before breakfast.”
“Gentlemen, I believe I have learned enough for the journey home.”
Sometimes the lesson arrives one practical step at a time. Rafael showed me how to navigate London. Zarela showed me another way to stay connected. Somewhere along the way, I stopped worrying about being lost and started knowing where I was going.
Thank you, Jesus, for taking care of the details I couldn't see.
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