⚡ The Operator’s Way of Traveling

Hey there 👋,

Digital Asset Investor is over.

I’ve already moved everything to RichardPatey.com — where I now write about meaning, freedom, and sovereignty instead of assets and investing.

After three years of talking about crypto, digital assets and online business, I’m done.

What began as curiosity has turned into noise — a casino of leverage, manipulation, and hype. It no longer matches who I am or how I live.

For those who want the practical, business-focused side of my work, I’ve also launched AI Operators, a newsletter from LetterOperators about how founders use AI workflows to scale and automate their content.

But this issue isn’t about business.

It’s about discovering a new way of moving through the world.

Last week I drove from the UK back across to Slovakia. Somewhere between Germany and Austria, I realised Tesla isn’t just a car (or indeed a robot) — it’s an operating system for life.

Navigate on Autopilot handled the long stretches.
Camp Mode handled the nights.

I’d stop at the best superchargers with lounges — the kind with warmth, coffee, and Wi-Fi — and recharge myself with naps or full sleep cycles.

In Haarlem, Netherlands, I met the co-founder of Snuuzu and picked up a hotel-grade mattress built for the Model Y (they make one for the 3 too). After three nights sleeping in my car, I can honestly say it’s as comfortable as a top-tier Hilton.

And I’d know.

I was chasing Hilton Gold status until I realised the absurdity of paying extra for cramped underground parking that could cost as much as an upgrade.

The Snuuzu feels close to the Hilton Serenity Bed spec used in the US: soft-foam quilting over pocket springs, plush but never saggy. DoubleTree mattresses, by contrast, are firmer — built for durability, not rest. I’ve even complained before when they were so hard they killed my sleep.

To guarantee a great night’s rest, you’d usually need to spend $250–$350 a night at a top-tier Hilton. The Snuuzu ($899) pays for itself in just three or fewer if you use code ‘RICHARD’ for 10% off (I paid full price myself).

This is the Operator’s Way of travelling:
frequent stops, full recharge, no range anxiety — for the car or the mind.

At one of those Tesla lounges near Salzburg I met Matthias Röder, a German entrepreneur now living there. He coaches private-equity executives on using AI in due diligence — one of those rare, serendipitous conversations that changes your trajectory a little.

We compared notes on life, autonomy, and technology. He’d once slept in his own Model Y too.

Two travellers, different worlds, same mindset.

That encounter confirmed something for me:
these supercharger lounges are the new social nodes of intelligent travel. Quiet, well-lit, coffee, Wi-Fi, warmth — and the occasional meaningful conversation that happens only when you’re not rushing through life.

Earlier, driving through the mecca ski resort of St. Anton (which I’ve skied multiple times), I saw the opposite of that energy.

Shop owners restocking overpriced gear for tourists who hadn’t arrived. Cafés closed. Streets immaculate but empty.

It looked alive — but it wasn’t.

It’s not a real place anymore — it’s theatre.

Opulence without authenticity.

That moment crystallised everything.

I don’t want curated freedom or marketed adventure.
I want the real thing — silence, autonomy, a car I can sleep in, roads that actually lead somewhere.

The final night of the journey, I crossed back into Slovakia through thick fog — the kind that used to make me tense.

Thanks to Tesla’s AI vision, it felt meditative instead of dangerous.

I supercharged to 93 % at Demanova Resort, on the road to Jasna, the main ski area which you can read about in my other publication:

I arrived in Poprad with exactly 80%.
Perfect calibration.
Operator precision.

The Operator’s Way now extends beyond business.

It’s how I live, travel, and think:
slow down, recharge often, ignore the noise.

Do fewer things, but do them fully.

If you want the AI and newsletter automation side, subscribe to AI Operators.
If you want the human side — this side — stay here at RichardPatey.com.

Because this isn’t about assets anymore.
It’s about agency.

Two weeks ago (my last send), I received this reply to my newsletter:

That made me smile — not because he’s right, but because he’s wrong in the most interesting way.

Yes, this newsletter is written with AI.

But it’s not machine-made. It’s co-authored.

I lead it. I shape the story. I decide what matters.

The AI helps me write it — faster, clearer, sharper — often closer to what I actually mean than when I write alone.

That’s the future of writing: not automation, but augmentation.

And it’s the same approach we use for our customers at Letter Operators — combining real human insight with AI precision to create something more intentional, not less.

So yes, this is majority AI-written.
But it’s also more human than most newsletters I’ve ever published.

Until next time (no set cadence now).

Cheers!
Richard (@richardpatey)