The Shared Horizon

From bookshelves to bike trails, boarding gates, and the heart.

by Rex Jacob

Latest
The newest piece — also filed in its section below
For Teenagers & Young Adults
Letters to the young
Go and Talk to the Old People2026
June 2026 · 5 min

Go and Talk to the Old People

A letter to any teenager about your grandparents and elders — and what happens when you put the phone down and listen.

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What your parents are right about — even if you don't understand it yet2026
May 2026 · 15 min

What Your Parents Are Right About — Even If You Don't Understand It Yet

Eight things almost every parent, teacher, and elder is trying to tell you — said honestly, from someone who finally understands why they're right.

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Why comparison is a trap2026
June 2026 · 7 min

Why Comparison Is a Trap (And How to See Out of It)

A short, honest letter to any teenager or young adult who has ever closed their phone feeling slightly worse than when they opened it.

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Make money while you're young2026
May 2026 · 10 min

Make Money While You're Young

An honest letter on money, time, and why wanting to be rich is not the wrong thing to want.

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What I'm teaching my sons about money2026
May 2026 · 4 min

What I'm Teaching My Sons About Money

The notebooks they keep, the need-or-want question, and the three-day rule.

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Personal Essays
Longer letters on money and life
Money of her own2026
May 2026 · 5 min

Money of Her Own

On the women who earn well and keep almost nothing of their own — and why a savings of one's own is love that plans ahead.

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The story I have been most afraid to write2026
May 2026 · 9 min

The Story I Have Been Most Afraid to Write

A true story about the year I tried to take a shortcut, the money I should not have touched, and the slow patient climb back.

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Quiet Calculations
Small tools for the questions worth sitting with
A gold clock face on a dark background, suggesting time passing2026
June 2026 · Calculator + Essay · ~5 min

How Much Time Do You Actually Have Left?

A small calculator that does the math you never quite sit down to do — how many days you have left with your parents, given your current visiting pattern. Followed by a short, quiet essay.

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The Book of Books
An ongoing series on the books that struck me — and the side-pieces that grew from them
The book that taught me about time2026
June 2026 · Part 7 · 8 min

The Book That Taught Me About Time

On Bill Perkins's Die With Zero, and why spending your money — and your time — while you still can may be the most rational thing you ever do.

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The book that taught me about habits2026
May 2026 · Part 6 · 7 min

The Book That Taught Me About Habits

On James Clear's Atomic Habits, and the four ideas about daily behaviour that genuinely shifted how I think about who I'm becoming.

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The book that taught me about ownership2026
May 2026 · Part 5 · 7 min

The Book That Taught Me About Ownership

On Felix Dennis's How to Get Rich, and the five ideas about ownership that genuinely shifted how I think about money.

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The book that taught me about mindset2026
May 2026 · Part 4 · 7 min

The Book That Taught Me About Mindset

On Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Ten lines from Eker's seventeen Wealth Files that genuinely stayed with me, grouped into who you are, where you look, how you relate, and what you do with money.

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The book that taught me about wealth2026
May 2026 · Part 3 · 6 min

The Book That Taught Me About Wealth

On Rich Dad Poor Dad, the difference between rich and wealthy, and why the second is the only one worth aiming for.

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The book that taught me about compounding2026
May 2026 · Part 2 · 4 min

The Book That Taught Me About Compounding

On The Psychology of Money, Munger's eleven words, and the math nobody explains.

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The book that taught me about wanting2026
May 2026 · Part 1 · 3 min

The Book That Taught Me About Wanting

On Rich Dad Poor Dad and the three levels of wanting most of us never get past.

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The gratitude practice I've quietly been doing for years2026
May 2026 · 6 min

The Gratitude Practice I've Quietly Been Doing For Years

On The Magic by Rhonda Byrne, the one thing that stuck after most of the book was forgotten, and what it has quietly changed.

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What money is actually for2026
May 2026 · 5 min

The Books That Taught Me What Money Is Actually For

On Munger, Felix Dennis, and the only worthwhile reason to want money.

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What financial intelligence actually is2026
May 2026 · 7 min

The Books That Taught Me What Financial Intelligence Actually Is

On Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Psychology of Money, and the literacy almost nobody is taught in school.

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The Shared Horizon — Travel
Long rides — and one drive — through South India
The Toyota Fortuner parked at a coastal pullout overlooking the Arabian Sea2025
November 2025 · ~2,400 km · 8 days

Cochin to Goa, This Time on Four Wheels

The third year of an annual coastal loop — this time in a Toyota Fortuner, with a friend joining mid-way and a long quiet drive home.

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The BMW F900XR near Chikkamagaluru2024
November 2024 · 2,172 km · 9 days

Old Friends and Sore Saddles

Cochin to Bengaluru, Goa and back through Coorg — a second big loop with an old friend at almost every stop.

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Two motorcycles at Vagator beach at sunset2023
November 2023 · 2,733 km · 10 days

Cochin to Goa and Back, the Long Way Round

Ten days and four states on a single BMW F900XR — the first big solo loop through South India.

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A small collection so far, with more to come — essays on money and life, long rides across South India, notes from the road. New writing is added when there's something worth saying.

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