Three words, three letters.
It’s how he lives. Three words, three letters.
My nervous system and internal organs are recalibrating from five days of madness in the home city of Leonardo da Vinci. On the second day, around 1 pm, I gave a small toast to a hungover group of 75 people wearing gold chains. Fake gold chains.
Let me explain.
We were 24 hours into a four-day celebration which included dinners, clubs, brunches, and boats in Milan, Italy. A marathon of madness dreamed up by the one and only, Garrett Gravesen.
Two G’s, two T’s, two A’s, and two E’s.
Wait, three E’s. Whatever.
He is a bizarre person. I have never seen him take a sip of water and he always wears dumb shoes. He eats like garbage, never gets sick, and has teeth so white you can see them from space. His hero is the Tiger King and he chews his fingernails.
But that’s not the point.
My head was throbbing as I spoke, “the first word is FUN,” into a fake microphone. Garrett stood next to me wearing a gold jumpsuit, massive fake chain, and diamond studded watch. Fake diamond-studded watch.
Three days prior to the Gold Chain Brunch Garrett stepped foot into his 197th country thus achieving the ridiculous goal of going to every country in the world. Even Canada.
Seventy-five maniacs had flown across the world to celebrate his achievement and were staring at me with bloodshot eyes.
Day One: FUN
The weekend started at a bar smaller than a bathtub. Garrett bought everyone a round of Aperol Spritz. He loves dumb drinks and so dumb drinks we drank. The evening theme was Sinners and Saints. Everyone wore fancy dresses and suits in red, white, or black. I wore a Priest costume.
After a few Aperol Spritz and several thousand Instagram pictures, we migrated over to a nightclub he reserved for dinner. People chanted from their tables, destroyed the bar, and stared at the odd fish served around 12:30 pm. His wife tormented the DJ and the President of the Harvard Business School Club of Italy danced with his shirt halfway off and tie around his head.
Around 3 am the entire party moved to a tiny club on the second level of one of those prehistoric buildings overlooking the oldest church in the world. Our friend Ryan, who is the size of a polar bear, procured the best seats in the joint and ordered Vodka bottles as large as small children. The staff delivered them with fireworks. Three bartender dudes froze in their tracks when I ordered tequila. Odd, I thought, until I remembered I was wearing a priest costume.
“Where are you from,” one asked.
“California,” I answered. A lying priest apparently.
They stared at me confused.
“Oh, I am not a real priest. This is a costume,” I said. Then it hit me. I was dressed like a Priest, in Italy, across from a Catholic Church built 24 million years ago.
Once they realized it was fake, they begged me to join them behind the bar for pictures.
Towards the end of the night, I was pulled aside in the men’s bathroom by a distraught Italian guy who began to confess his sins to me.
“Father, I need to talk to you,” he said peering into my eyes.
I froze. He began to tell me his story and asked for forgiveness.
“You are forgiven,” I said as I slowly retreated back towards the main bar area. I was ordained online so, maybe, never mind.
Garrett and crew continued to dance on the couches, take loads of Instagram pictures, and have an extraordinary time. It’s what he does. Have fun. God help us all.
Day Two: YES
“The second word is YES,” I continued as people washed down pizza with Aperol Spritz. Note to reader: nobody likes Aperol Spritz.
“Say yes more…”
After brunch, the group dispersed to drink wine and get ready for the Neon Night theme.
People arrived at the oversized restaurant/nightclub wearing tight neon dresses and ridiculous suits. The food trickled out as the group took a million Instagram photos and inhaled as many espresso martinis as the bar could produce.
If you are keeping count, we are at one trillion Instagram photos.
After dinner, the owner led us up to the nightclub where Garrett and his crew immediately stood on the couches and started raising hell. I watched the security guard tell them to get off the couches seven times. He finally gave up. The joint closed at 6 am.
Garrett lives by a motto, and I am paraphrasing, that goes something like this…SAY YES MORE.
Say yes to adventure, to fun, to life, and to massive goals. His father died six months after retiring and so did all the father/son trips they had been planning for years. It was then Garrett decided to go to every country in the world.
Say yes today because there may not be a tomorrow.
Day Three: WOW
“And finally, if you know Garrett you know WOW. If it’s not WOW, it’s not worth it,” I started wrapping up my toast.
On the third night, the group arrived at a small, quiet jazz-inspired restaurant called Jazz Café Milano. The theme was Great Gatsby and the attire, well, was Great Gatsby. A DJ played jazzy versions of modern songs as we sat down for dinner. Shortly after dinner, the tsunami started building. The first person stood on his chair. Then the next. Then the white linen dinner napkins started swinging in the air. Fifteen minutes later there were 40 people standing on chairs, swinging napkins, and chanting “197”. Then a few guys took off their shirts. Obviously.
The staff, DJ, and owners stared with wide eyes and open jaws.
At the end of the night, the owner said he had never seen anything like it in his life. Then, literally, he said ‘wow’.
I have heard Garrett say If it’s not WOW, it’s not worth doing at least a billion times. From business to life, make it wow.
Day Four: Is it over yet…
Finally, the two things Garrett loves the most in life are fancy hotels and Amal Clooney. Both reside on Lake Como. So, by God, that is where we were going to spend the last day.
We took boats across the lake trying to get as close to Amal Clooney’s lake house as possible. She wasn’t home. Eventually, we landed at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, the fanciest hotel in the world, where Garrett begged the front desk for a box of hotel pens while the rest of us ordered $30 drinks and $45 club sandwiches.
The bus finally picked us up from the hotel in the late afternoon and took us back to Milan. For the first time in four days, the group finally fell asleep.
All in all, Milan was a massive success. However, there is one word I left out of my toast.
Love.
“Do you think we could get 10 people to go to Italy for my celebration?” Garrett asked when we first started planning his last country.
“Maybe,” I replied.
Seventy-five people showed up.
Garrett came from nothing and has impacted thousands of people through his ridiculous energy and love. He was chosen to give the graduation speech at the University of Georgia, the graduation speech at Harvard, and even a speech to the New York Yankees. He built a million-dollar consulting company, started a charity for kids with HIV after living in an orphanage for a year in Africa, and now he has gone to every country in the world.
But the thing is he is no different than you or me. He is a regular guy who simply said yes when life asked for more.
The greatest gift he has is his love for people. His family, his friends, and people across all 197 countries.
I am a better person because of him. We all are better people because of him.
“And so, please join me in raising your glass…to saying yes to life, having more fun, and always making it wow!” I concluded.
Congratulations to you, GGWorldwide, for spreading love and joy across the entire world. You did it.
I love you.
Trey
Oh, the flight home…
description of this trip couldnt be more accurate! Thanks Trey 💓🤗
LOVE this 🤍