As we roll back into the work week after Thanksgiving, most inboxes are full of the same. Hundreds of emails with Black Friday sales, last-minute discounts, and deals on deals on deals. But what is this season truly about? Thankfulness - reflecting on what we are truly grateful for.

Gratitude: the quality or state of being thankful.

Gratitude reminds us of our beginnings, where we came from, and how far we have come. It may remind one of their home waters -whether its the James River, the Florida Keys, the Yellowstone, or your grandfather’s fishing pond on the back forty. For me, I think of just that: how far I have come and where it all started. My home water. The river that raised me. The one that taught me patience, humility, and how to keep walking even when it feels like the wind is determined to ruin the day. It’s the river that showed me what a fish should look like, how a cast should feel, and how to appreciate beauty without needing to document it. I owe the Deschutes River a lot.

Then Argentina. A place that taught me more about myself as a bowhunter in a single week than twenty years of hunting in Oregon. A place that reminded me what repetition does for confidence, and what opportunity does for growth.

Florida comes next. The place that taught me how to learn again. How to feel that beginner’s spark. How to let go of the fear of big fish and embrace the joy of chasing something that scares you just enough to keep you honest.

And Cuba - Cuba is where gratitude doesn’t need to be spoken; it’s in the smiles, the solitude, and the people who feel like family. It’s the place that blurred the line between work and passion, between hosting and friendship. Over the years, the guides there have become more than the people we fish with. They’ve become family. We’ve shared enough sunsets, enough meals, enough long days and late-night conversations that the connection now goes far beyond fishing. When we step onto the boat and see their faces, it feels like coming home. Cuba is where we’ve watched strangers become lifelong fishing partners, guests become family, and anglers become versions of themselves they didn’t know existed. The fishing is incredible, but it is not just the fishing; it’s the people, it’s the whole package that keeps bringing us back.

And then we think about all the guests over the years, the stories, the early mornings, the late-night laughs, the quiet moments on the bow when everything clicks. We think about the first bonefish runs, the first permit tails, the first tarpon roll or explosion that truly changes someone. We’ve seen more growth, more joy, and more gratitude on these trips than anywhere else in life.

That is what we are thankful for this week.

Not the gear.
Not the deals.
Not the stuff.

But the places.
The people.
The relationships that outlast the trips.
The moments that refuse to fade.
The memories that stay crisp long after the photos disappear.

Travel has a way of sharpening us, humbling us, maturing us, and lighting us up, often all in the same week. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned from hosting these trips, it’s that gratitude lives in motion. In curiosity. In learning. In stepping into something new.

So as Thanksgiving fades away and Christmas gets closer, we are grateful for every trip and piece of water that’s taught us something, every fish that’s made us better, every guide who has become family, and every person who’s been beside us on a flat, in a boat, in a river, or around a dinner table at the end of a long day.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

And here’s to the relationships, the places, and everyone that keeps changing us.

So CHEERS and THANK YOU to you from all of us at Stillwater!