My son Nick is on a grand adventure.

He recently quit his job in finance to backpack across Europe. Solo. No firm agenda, no backup plan. Just a passport, a train schedule, some really good socks, and a sense of curiosity. At 26, with no wife, no kids, no mortgage, and no real responsibilities beyond brushing his teeth and taking a shower, this is exactly the right moment in his life to do something a little crazy and a lot brave.

The rest of us flew to London in January to see him off. We pulled our family vacation forward and spent a week soaking up the city before he headed out on his own.

And we had a bloody good time.

We went to the Sky Garden and got a 360 degree view of the city, including a building known as “the gherkin.” We saw Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap—in the Royal Box. We sipped martinis at Duke’s Bar, where Ian Fleming dreamt up James Bond’s preference for “shaken, not stirred.” We ate Sunday roast at Gordon Ramsay’s Heddon Street Kitchen. We ordered cocktails delivered via the world’s first pneumatic cocktail system at a speakeasy called Cahoots. We ate fish and chips on repeat. We drank wine and sampled cheese at Gordon’s Wine Bar, where Benjamin Franklin once hung out. We dipped strawberries into chocolate fondue while floating across the Thames in a heated igloo. We walked across London Bridge at night. And that list doesn’t even come close to covering it all.

But mostly, we enjoyed being together.

Then came the goodbye. Bon voyage, Nick.

He’s been on his own for nearly three weeks now, and he recently shared the most important life lesson he’s learned so far:

Be annoying.

Don’t wait for an invitation—invite yourself. Talk to strangers. Be the first to say hello. Be the person who shows up again and again. Don’t worry that people will find you bothersome or awkward or too much.

Because they probably won’t.

That fear? It’s a story that lives entirely in your head. Especially if you’re someone like Nick—curious, kind, fun, and genuinely interested in other people. Someone who actually brings something to the party.

To be clear, this isn’t about being creepy. It’s about having the courage to make the first move, to start the conversation, to ask the question, to show up. And that’s it. The secret to a WOW Life. In other words: Bob’s your uncle.

So let me ask you this: When was the last time you were annoying? (In the good way.) And how can you be annoying today?