Category: Business Insider

• The US has purchased 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Kazakhstan for $1.5m, the Kyiv Post reports.
• Kazakhstan, a historic ally of Russia, is engaging more with Western nations.
• The planes may be used for spare parts or deployed as decoys in conflict regions.

The US has acquired 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Kazakhstan, the Kyiv Post reported.

Kazakhstan, which is upgrading its air fleet, auctioned off 117 Soviet-era fighter and bomber aircraft, including MiG-31 interceptors, MiG-27 fighter bombers, MiG-29 fighters, and Su-24 bombers from the 1970s and 1980s.

The declared value of the sale was one billion tenge, or $1.5 million, said the Post.

The motive behind the US purchase remains undisclosed, said the Post, fueling speculation about potential use in Ukraine, where similar aircraft are in service.

Given Ukraine's continued reliance on Soviet-era weapons, the aircraft could either serve as a source of spare parts or be strategically deployed as decoys at airfields, said the Post.

The Mikoyan MiG-31 was a supersonic interceptor designed to defend Soviet airspace, according to Airforce Technology. It played a critical role during the Cold War.

Derived from the MiG-23, the MiG-27 was a ground-attack aircraft and saw action in conflicts like the Soviet-Afghan War.

The agile MiG-29 excelled in air-to-air combat. It was widely exported and remains in service with some air forces.

Despite its age, the Su-24 – an all-weather tactical bomber – remains in service with several air forces, including the Russian Aerospace Forces and Ukrainian Air Force.

Kazakhstan, formerly part of the Soviet Union, has maintained close ties to Russia and historically was one of its strongest allies. But the relationship between the two countries has shifted since Russia invaded Ukraine, with Kazakhstan aligning itself more with the West, drawing the fury of some in Russia.

But the Central Asian country's efforts to upgrade its military capabilities coincide with its increasing engagement with Western nations, signaling a shift away from historical ties with Moscow, per the Kyiv Post's analysis.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to Germany in 2023 underscored Kazakhstan's commitment to international sanctions against Russia.

Kazakhstan and Western nations are showing increasing cooperation, with recent diplomatic engagements including a visit from UK Foreign Minister David Cameron to Astana, the capital.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the central Asian country in March 2023, where he said that the US "strongly supports Kazakhstan's sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity," according to news agency AFP.

Some of Russia's outspoken propagandists have suggested that Russia should look to Kazakhstan next following its invasion of Ukraine.

One notable Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine."

Agreements on trade, education, environment, and mineral supplies reflect the deepening ties between Kazakhstan and Western nations as they navigate geopolitical challenges posed by neighboring countries like Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Iran.

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• Russia plans to introduce drone training sessions in schools in occupied parts of Ukraine, reports say.
• The courses will cover UAV design features and assembly.
• Drones have played a crucial role for both Russian and Ukrainian forces in the war.

Russia will introduce drone training sessions to schools in occupied areas of Ukraine from September, Ivan Fedorov, the Head of Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, has said.

"On September 1, 2024, a new subject will be introduced in schools in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine — a course on the management of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)," he wrote on Telegram.

"Officially, they may call it 'training,' but in reality, they are preparing young people for murder," he continued, adding that it was "a blatant violation of international law."

It follows a February report by the National Resistance Center of Ukraine, which was set up by Ukraine's Special Operations Forces in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, which said Russia planned to teach children in Ukrainian territories "technologies, design features and assembly of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for military purposes."

Fedorov said the Russian plan was to send drones and military personnel to schools to assist with the training.

It is not clear if the potential training sessions would be for all children or for specific age groups.

International humanitarian law prohibits recruiting and using children under the age of 15 in armed conflicts, and doing so is considered a war crime, according to the UN's Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

Drones have played a crucial role for both the Russian and Ukrainian militaries in the war so far, and they have been used for a wide variety of operations, including reconnaissance, guiding artillery, and carrying out airstrikes.

Defense One reported that Russia had set up a training center in occupied Ukraine to train both Russian military and civilian drone operators for combat.

Civilians who undergo training at the center in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine do not officially join the military, it noted, citing the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty.

A 2023 report by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab found that at least 6,000 children from Ukraine had been put through what it called Russian "re-education" camps that aimed at making them "more pro-Russia in their personal and political views."

The report said that children at some of the 43 camps had been given firearms training, although there appeared to be no evidence that the children had been sent to fight.

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• Sellers are reducing prices in cities with surplus housing inventory, according to Redfin data.
• Price cuts are occurring at a faster rate in Florida and Texas, which lead the nation in new home construction.
• As sellers lower prices and builders offer concessions, homebuyers are gaining more power.

Feeling discouraged about buying a home this year? This might cheer you up.

The pandemic housing boom is yesterday's news, along with the intense buying competition it fueled, subdued by a relentless increase in mortgage rates. It means two things for prospective homebuyers: One, more sellers are likely to slash listing prices to attract buyers. Secondly, buyers now hold an advantage over sellers.

In states like Florida and Texas, where an influx of buyers seeking relatively affordable homes and larger living spaces has led to more new home construction than anywhere else in the US, several metros in March saw the highest share of price drops and the softest median sale price growth compared to elsewhere in the country, according to a new report from Redfin. 

Eric Auciello, a Redfin sales manager from Florida, said that the price cuts are partly a result of home sellers facing stiff competition from home builders who are offering concessions — such as money for home repairs or mortgage-rate buydowns — to sweeten their deals.

"My advice to sellers is to price your home fairly; the comps from six months ago don't exist now," Auciello said in the Redfin report. "And if you're a buyer, know that the odds of getting an offer accepted below market value are pretty high."

With builders and sellers competing for buyers' attention by offering concessions and slashing prices, there's a growing possibility that homebuyers previously unable to afford a home may now have an opportunity to purchase one this year — and it might already be happening. According to Census Bureau data, new home sales for March 2024 were at 693,000, which is 8.8% above the revised February rate, and 8.3% above the March 2023 estimate.

To calculate which metros have the highest share of sellers reducing list prices, Redfin analyzed home price data from 85 US metros with populations of at least 750,000. Below are the 10 metros with the largest share of price drops in March, according to Redfin. Notably, not all of these metros have experienced median sale price declines; instead, many have observed a softening in price growth.

9. (tie) Jacksonville, Florida

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 33%

• Median sale price March 2024: $315,000

9. (tie) San Antonino, Texas

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 33%

• Median sale price March 2024: $269,000

8. Houston, Texas

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 33%

• Median sale price March 2024: $339,000

7. Portland, Oregon

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 34%

• Median sale price March 2024: $498,750

6. Orlando, Florida

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 35%

• Median sale price March 2024: $395,000

5. Denver, Colorado

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 37%

• Median sale price March 2024: $600,000

4. Cape Coral, Florida

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 41%

• Median sale price March 2024: $390,000

3. Indianapolis, Indiana

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 43%

• Median sale price March 2024: $240,000

2. Tampa, Florida

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 44%

• Median sale price March 2024: $422,500

1. North Port-Sarasota, Florida

• Percentage of listings with price cuts: 48%

• Median sale price March 2024: $353,950

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• New Jersey is one of the last states in the US with powerful party bosses and political machines.
• A key part of that machinery is the Garden State's unusual ballot design.
• But a judge blocked it for this year's Democratic primaries, and the change could become permanent.

New Jersey is one of the last places in the country where the phrases "party boss" and "political machine" don't just harken back to a bygone era, but describe a present-day reality.

In the Garden State, getting the endorsement of local party organizations — a process often controlled by political insiders — can make or break a primary campaign, thanks in large part to the way ballots are designed.

But that could all change forever, thanks to a lawsuit filed two months ago by Rep. Andy Kim, the all-but-certain Democratic nominee for Senate in the deep-blue state.

At the end of March, a federal judge sided with Kim, blocking Democrats from using the so-called "county line" system in the state's upcoming June primaries. That's set to bring a stark change to the way ballots look — and potentially, a total overhaul in the state's political culture.

Here's what to know about the "county line" and why it may be going away for good.

How the 'county line' steers votes

49 states use so-called "office-block ballots," in which candidates are simply listed beneath the name of the office they're seeking, without any sort of preferential placement.

That's not how ballots look in most of New Jersey.

In all but two of the state's 21 counties (Salem and Sussex), local party organizations are able to place all of their endorsed candidates in a single row or column. If you're not endorsed by the party, your name may appear somewhere off to the side, sometimes referred to as "Ballot Siberia."

You can see it in the example ballot from the 2020 Democratic primary below — Sen. Bernie Sanders is way off to the side, while then-candidate Joe Biden is on the same row as all of the other party-endorsed candidates.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself: Okay, but how does that help cement party control? There's nothing stopping anyone from voting for a candidate who doesn't show up on the line.

It's true that nothing's stopping people from voting for candidates that don't appear on the line. But it's a psychologically powerful tool, especially in elections where voters may not know very much about the candidates they're electing.

As Kim's lawsuit argues, candidates not endorsed by the party are "harder to find on the ballot, harder to know who they are running against and/or for what office, and may otherwise appear less legitimate on the ballot than the county line candidates."

Kim and his co-plaintiffs also provided proof in the form of academic research showing that candidates earned double-digit advantages when they ran on "the line," and that incumbents running on the line have almost never lost in recent decades.

It all began with Bob Menendez's gold bars and the short-lived primary to succeed him

In September, long-serving Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted by federal prosecutors in the most cartoonish scandal one could imagine: being accused of accepting bribes in the form of literal gold bars.

Menendez's political career effectively came to an end overnight, and Kim launched a campaign for his Senate seat just days after the indictment.

But Kim quickly became locked in a tough, personal primary with Tammy Murphy, the wife of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Because of the power the governor wields over local officials, Tammy Murphy was expected to earn the endorsement of most county party organizations, putting Kim at a disadvantage when it came to the ballot.

That's what led the congressman to file his lawsuit in February, arguing that the system violated the US Constitution. US District Judge Zahid Quraishi ultimately agreed with Kim and issued a preliminary injunction blocking the system's use in the upcoming primary.

Murphy later dropped out of the race, all but assuring that Kim will win the Democratic nomination on June 4 and likely be elected to the US Senate in November.

The judge's decision, which applies only to Democratic ballots in the upcoming primary, has been upheld by a federal appeals court — and it signals that the old county line system is likely to be invalidated in future elections as another years-old lawsuit against the line continues to play out.

How the change could affect New Jersey politics in the coming years

While the decision means little for Kim at this point — he no longer has a major opponent — it could have a significant impact on other races in New Jersey, both this year and in the future.

Among them is a Democratic House primary between Menendez's son — Rep. Rob Menendez — and Ravi Bhalla, the mayor of Hoboken.

Proponents of the county line system have argued that it allows the party to serve an important gate-keeping function, keeping out ideologically extreme candidates who may lack institutional support.

Detractors point out that the system is anti-democratic, while arguing that it contributes to a culture of in which party bosses and the political establishment wield undue — and even corrupt — power.

"These ballot dynamics have predictable downstream effects that encourage backroom dealings and soft corruption, and they directly threaten election integrity, public confidence in our elections, and the fundamental premise of representative government," Kim's lawsuit argued.

In its absence, New Jersey's elections could begin to resemble those of other states.

"I think you'll see a more candidate-centric politics," said Jersey City Councilman James Solomon, a longtime opponent of the county-line system. "I think there are folks [in elected office in New Jersey] who have genuinely never run a real campaign. They've never had to raise money, they've never had to do field, they've never had to do comms."

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• Elon Musk visits China to expedite Tesla's full self-driving tech rollout, say reports.
• Musk is set to meet with senior Chinese officials. 
• Tesla faces increased competition and scrutiny amid declining revenue and layoffs.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk touched down in China on Sunday in the tech billionaire's second trip in less than a year to the world's biggest market for electric vehicles.

The purpose of the trip is to hurry along the rollout of Tesla's full self-driving technology, the most advanced version of its Autopilot software, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. Musk is expected to meet with senior officials to discuss the software and gain permission to transfer data overseas, the person said.

Musk also visited China in May last year when he met with China's foreign, commerce and industry ministers. The content of the meetings was not disclosed, though Reuters reported at the time that Musk had discussed the development of electric vehicles.

Earlier this month, Musk said in a post on X that Tesla would be making Full Self-Driving (FSD) available to Chinese customers "very soon."

In an earnings call on April 23, Musk said, "So we plan on, with the approval of the regulators, releasing it as a supervised autonomy system in any market that — where we can get regulatory approval for that, which we think includes China."

Tesla has been facing increased competition from Chinese manufacturers since electric vehicle maker Xpeng said last year that it was upgrading its advanced driver assistance software (FSD equivalent) and planning to make all its functions available to drivers across China by 2024.

Musk's China trip comes after he canceled a visit to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Musk said he had "very heavy Tesla obligations."

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside regular working hours.

It has been a tough month for the EV manufacturer. In its earnings call last week, Tesla reported its first decline in quarterly revenue since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays to production and deliveries.

This month, The EV manufacturer said it would lay off 10% of its global workforce as it grappled with waning sales.

US federal safety regulators also said Friday that they were launching an investigation into whether Tesla's recall of more than two million vehicles in the US, which the company announced in December to install new Autopilot safeguards, was sufficient following several crashes.

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• Shane Guffogg is a multi-media abstract artist with synesthesia, meaning he "hears color." 
• Guffogg worked with AI experts and musicians to compose music that corresponded with his paintings. 
• He believes AI is still a tool that "needs oversight" but its enhanced his creative process. 

This is an as-told-to conversation with Shane Guffogg, an American artist who launched "At the Still Point of the Turning World – Strangers of Time," an exhibition of 21 paintings at the Venice Biennale earlier this month. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

I have synesthesia, which means I hear color.

So, what I'm listening to when I paint is important. I listen to Indian classical music, Gregorian chants, and some obscure composers such as Gyorgy Ligeti, Leo Ornstein, and Terry Riley. The music sparks my creativity and allows me to be completely present and in that moment.

For years, I've been preoccupied with what my paintings might sound like. The AI revolution pushed me to search for experts who could help me. My first point of contact was Radhika Dirks, an AI and quantum computing expert. We had a couple of Zoom sessions, and she told me — to the best of her knowledge — that no AI program could help me. Instead, she suggested I create a visual alphabet that matched the musical chords I heard in my mind to colors.

I thought it could be a way to propel my creativity. It also built upon the idea of an unconscious alphabet that has informed my art throughout my career.

I met with musicians and AI experts to create a visual alphabet

I started by looking for musicians to collaborate with and met Anthony Cardella, a young, incredibly gifted pianist in Los Angeles. He's a PhD student at USC and happened to know — and even play — many obscure composers I listen to when I paint.

We started collaborating. We would sit down and examine my paintings together. I would zoom in on a color in Photoshop, look at it, and sensorially feel the musical note. Then I would tell Anthony. I'd say, for example, I think that's the color of the note B. He'd hit the B, and I'd say, "No, that's not it; try a B sharp?" After a few trials, he'd suddenly hit the right notes. I would know because the colors would begin to vibrate for me. Together, we've charted chords that correspond to 40 colors.

Soon after, I met an AI researcher named Jonah Lynch through mutual contacts. He works at the intersection of the digital humanities and machine learning. I invited him over to my ranch in central California and explained the work I had been doing and how I created my paintings. We had long discussions about art, poetry, and creating an AI algorithm that could be fed the chords.

He developed a program to "read'' my paintings and convert them into music. I gave him the main colors I used in each painting and the chords I hear when I see those colors. Jonah watched videos of me painting, studied the movement of my hands, and wrote software that sampled images of the paintings, following my hand movements, and assigned each color sampled from the paintings to its corresponding chord. Then, he fed this sequence of chords into a neural network that has memorized most of the last 500 years of keyboard music. He prompted the network to "dream" of new sequences based on the color-chord sequences and the history of Western music to create pages of sheet music.

When I heard that music played back to me, it brought tears to my eyes. It was just a rough version of what I heard while painting, but I thought, "There it is."

I took the music back to Anthony, the pianist. Amazingly, I could point to the sheet music and tell him what compositions I was listening to while painting, and he'd say, "Yes, I can see it in the chords." The Indian ragas, the Gregorian chants, the Ligeti, and Ornstein — they were all there.

Still, the music was largely a series of chords at that stage. Anthony said we could have melodies if we rearranged it a bit.

AI is still a tool that needs human oversight

We composed music for several paintings and have played it for audiences worldwide. We held a concert last month at the Forest Lawn Museum in Los Angeles, where I also had a few paintings in a show. The audience could look at the paintings while Anthony played, which was a profound experience. A couple of people cried.

At the launch of my latest exhibition during the opening week of the Venice Biennale, Anthony played the world premiere of a sonata he composed inspired by my painting, Only Through Time Time is Conquered, to a live audience. After the performance, I talked to several people, and they said they could see where the colors and the notes met on the painting. It was something they had never experienced.

I know many people are very afraid of AI, and I, too, see it as a tool that needs human oversight. It's not a means to an end. Still, it opened up many possibilities and enhanced my creative process. I don't know if I could have unlocked the musicality in my paintings in a real way without it.

Hear the sonata below:

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• Investors should be wary of coming Fed rate cuts, Black Swan investor Mark Spitznagel warned.
• That's because the Fed is only cutting rates in response to a weakening economy, Spitznagel told Reuters last week.
• The US could see a recession and major stock crash before rates head lower, he predicted.

Rate cuts by the Federal Reserve may not be the boon investors are hoping for. That's because the Fed is only likely to ease monetary policy when the economy is slammed with a recession and the market is flailing, according to famous "Black Swan" investor Mark Spitznagel.

In a recent interview with Reuters, the Universa Investments CIO cast a stark warning about stocks and the economy.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, investors are expecting one to two cuts to come in 2024, which are expected to be bullish for stocks. 

But the only way the Fed will cut rates is if central bankers see a significant weakening in the economy — meaning the US could see a downturn and a market plunge before interest rates come down, Spitznagel warned.

"Be careful what you wish for," Spitznagel told Reuters. "People think it's a good thing the Federal Reserve is dovish, and they're going to cut interest rates … but they're going to cut interest rates when it's clear the economy is turning into a recession, and they will be cutting interest rates in a panicked fashion when this market is crashing."

Most economists think the US is likely to avoid a recession this year, according to a survey conducted by the National Association of Business Economics. But high rates still threaten to spark a downturn by tightening financial conditions for businesses and households. The potential for an economic correction is especially stark when considering the huge amount of debt taken out over the last decade, when interest rates were ultra-low, Spitznagel said.

"This economy is built on low interest rates," he said. "There are lag effects when you reset interest rates like we had."

Spitznagel's hedge fund is known for its ultra-bearish takes on the market, counting "The Black Swan" author Nassim Taleb among its advisors. Both commentators have cast stark warnings for stocks and the economy over the past year, with Spitznagel in particular warning of one of the largest debt bubbles in history, which could spark the worst stock market collapse since 1929.

Universa's investment strategy is poised to gain on seemingly unpredictable Black Swan events. Famously, the fund pulled a 4,144% return on its investments during the pandemic stock crash. 

Most forecasters on Wall Street share a cautiously optimistic view of both stocks and the economy for the rest of this year, assuming that inflation continues to trend lower while the economy continues to grow. 38% of investors said they were bullish on stocks over the next six months, according to the AAII's latest Investor Sentiment Survey.

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• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Hello! Apparently, wealthy corporate climbers have a new obsession: a $7,000 chair. The Herman Miller Eames lounge chair and accompanying ottoman have become the pinnacle of status for a certain group of rich, young American men.

Now, onto the rest of this week's top stories.

On the agenda:

• Want to buy a sports team? Call these bankers.

• The Queen of Airbnb promised an easy windfall. Then it all came crashing down.

• How private equity sees profit in the business of educating autistic kids.

• Your favorite LinkedIn influencer might actually be a PR ghostwriter.

But first: Making sense of a big week of first-quarter results.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Insider's app here.

This week's dispatch

Big Tech takeaways

Tesla, Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet reported earnings last week. Here are the takeaways in 60 seconds.

Tesla: Q1 results were worse than expected, with the company missing both its profit and revenue estimates. But plans for a robo-taxi service and a more affordable model got investors excited for the future. That's a big bet that there are lots of drivers who want a Tesla but can't afford one.

Meta: Wall Street may have shown Tesla leniency, but Meta didn't enjoy the same leeway. Despite reporting better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, weak guidance for the second quarter and outsized AI investments spooked investors. Mark Zuckerberg preached patience.

Microsoft: AI spend was also the name of the game at Microsoft. The tech giant pledged to keep investing in the tech as demand for its AI and cloud services continued to rise.

Alphabet: Q1 results blew past expectations, notching a 15% year-over-year revenue bump. Alphabet also issued a $0.20 per share dividend — its first ever — joining its Big Tech peers like Microsoft, Apple, and Meta, in the dividend club.

How to buy a sports team

Thanks to a rush of billionaires looking to buy teams, investment banks up and down Wall Street are tripping over each other to work on sports deals.

With sports dealmaking on the rise, BI mapped out the top investment bankers — from the bulge brackets to the boutiques — helping steer these deals. The list includes top banks like Goldman Sachs, as well as smaller firms like The Raine Group.

Meet the top sports bankers.

Also read:

• 20 private-equity firms making big moves in sports as teams embrace outside investors

The cautionary tale of Tulsa's Queen of Airbnb

Post-pandemic, property manager Dani Widell promised investors an easy windfall from what was supposed to be Tulsa's Airbnb gold rush.

Instead, her Airbnb empire came crashing down — and her subjects were left to pick up the pieces.

Where things went wrong.

PE firm. New Story has purchased other local school chains, creating what it calls one of the largest special-education companies in the US.

To some, private equity's business model appears antithetical to special education. It's a concept that has former staff, researchers, and US senators worried.

How private equity is reshaping special education.

LinkedIn ghostwriting is booming

LinkedIn influencers are becoming more popular, with some amassing followings of millions of people. The platform's shift from uncool to in-demand has created a unique opportunity for crafty PR firms.

Some firms are offering executives — or "thought leaders" — ghostwriting and editorial services. In some cases, PR pros manage all aspects of an exec's LinkedIn presence, from writing to analytics.

Inside the world of LinkedIn ghostwriting.

This week's quote:

"I make it a point to visibly leave the office toward the end of the working day and to enforce strict rules around maximum working hours so that employees can enjoy work-life balance."

— Finnish CEO Samu Hällfors on running a company in the happiest country on earth.

More of this week's top reads:

• People who relocated and regretted it share the biggest mistakes they made.

• The "peak boomer" crisis might only get worse.

• A homebuyer's guide to the real-estate revolution.

• America's men are working at much lower rates than they used to.

• Jamie Dimon thinks he knows why people are so gloomy about the economy.

• China stopped taking our plastic. Now America is drowning in it.

  ---

  The Insider Today team: Matt Turner, deputy editor-in-chief, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

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• I moved back home after college and started a freelance business from my childhood bedroom.
• I love the freedom of remote work, but I worry I'm missing out on the professional world.
• This isn't the life I imagined for myself, but I'm making the best of it.

I began writing as a freelance journalist halfway through my degree when I was 20. This was mid-COVID, with the world shut down and lectures online. At the time, it seemed totally logical to build my career remotely. I'd ping off pitches, complete remote internships, and build my portfolio — all from the haven of my childhood bedroom, specifically from bed.

For context, my childhood room has no desk. And with my parents working from home, there was no quiet space to work apart from my bedroom. I'm on the extreme end of the Gen Z remote worker movement; I've quite literally built my career from under my covers.

I sometimes head out to my gym's café or local library and travel lots for work. But overall, you'll find me in that same spot when I'm home. It's comfortable, but I'm missing out on part of the professional world.

I can't deny the positives of my remote, freelance life

As a journalist living in the UK, I could be in a much more difficult financial situation. Luckily, I don't have the expense of living in London, the UK's main hub of journalism, because I live at home with my parents.

There's no doubt that I've saved tons of money. I'm in a stronger financial situation because I've been able to stay outside London, and I've still made some genuinely wonderful long-distance connections.

Secondly, I built my career entirely remotely, so nobody expects me to actually be anywhere. There's no entering negotiations over hybrid work agreements; I've been at my own location of choice from day one. This means I travel when I want and have no tedious commute.

I love the freedom that comes with remote working. In reality, I'm not curled up in a "bed office" all the time. This process has given me the flexibility to pick other unorthodox "offices" all over the world. Perhaps I wouldn't have taken that risk if I'd gone straight for an in-person role.

I have a nagging feeling I'm missing out on a huge part of the professional world

I'm feeling a bit left out of traditional career building, and I'm also feeling a sense of isolation and loneliness. Is it purely fear of missing out or a genuine sense of loss? I'm not too sure.

Gaining professional development and feedback has been an uphill battle; it's easier to learn and improve with that hand-me-down knowledge from senior staff. I missed out on those casually dropped pieces of golden wisdom over coffee breaks and computer screens.

I did manage to secure some great online internships to learn the ropes. But there's no denying that an in-person, full-time role would have been much more rewarding. In-person feedback and presence are just so valuable.

Looking at the abundance of work experience placements and on-the-job staff training available now, I have a slight tinge of regret. I'm also frustrated that I missed so much organic networking and friendship-building.

Networking is important because of how my career has developed

Most recently, I've started consciously trying to dress professionally for myself and work from an outside-my-four-walls location for a few hours a day. That's definitely shifted the loneliness.

I also make a point to attend industry events. I've got to be much more conscious of networking and socializing; otherwise, the days just slip away in my bedroom with no connections to show.

As an introvert, entering those networking events feels even more daunting as I know almost nobody. Instead of having team connections to fall back on, I'm constantly in free fall mode. I've missed out on having that safety net that most professionals develop in the workplace.

It's not the career progression I imagined for myself

Is it what I envisioned as a young teen? Was I scurrying around on coffee runs as I elbowed my way up the journalism ranks? Definitely not. Pinging emails off asking for internships while swinging my legs off my bed has been my reality instead. It didn't mirror that Hollywood trope that every young journalist secretly craves.

I've missed out on all the office dynamics, and there's no denying it; sometimes, staring at a laptop screen alone can feel like Groundhog Day.

Still, I'm grateful for the remote opportunities and freedom my career path has given me. I love jumping straight out of bed, boarding a plane, and sitting on a beach — all within a workday. I just have to remind myself to pencil in some industry events soon so I don't become a total recluse.

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• Real-estate investors Ray and Karen DeVite weren't sure what to do with land they bought in Xenia, Ohio.
• One night, Karen spotted a historic 1970s caboose on Facebook Marketplace and got inspired. 
• Now, the couple is budgeting at least $400,000 to build an Airbnb park for train enthusiasts.

One Ohio couple is all-in on ambitious project to turn historic train cabooses into short-term rental getaways.

Ray and Karen DeVite spoke to Business Insider about the project, which all began with a fateful Facebook Marketplace scroll. The couple had purchased land in Xenia, Ohio with the intention of developing it. One night, Karen was scrolling Facebook and by chance saw an advertisement for a historic train caboose.

"When I put in 'trains', I was just expecting to find some lights or lanterns," Karen told BI. "I sure wasn't expecting to find a full-sized caboose."

Now, the couple has a historic 1970's Chessie System caboose and 1950's Nickel Plate Road caboose, purchased from the same seller they found on Facebook.

As the short-term rental market becomes more competitive following the post-lockdown boom, middle-of-the-road offerings have fared worse in staying booked. Some hosts have turned to offering unique stays, like the DeVites, and highlight off-the grid experiences.

The DeVites unknowingly tapped into a massive community of train enthusiasts and have been connected with historic caboose fans through Facebook groups. They're expecting to host many of them once the cabooses are ready for overnight guests by the summer.

For those interested in pursuing similar projects, Ray's advice is to "just go for it."

"You can't anticipate everything, you just learn along the way," he said.

Here's how the project is unfolding:

The DeVites had some experience in real-estate investing, before purchasing a tract of land in Xenia, Ohio — located 20 minutes west of Dayton.

One night, Karen found a 1970's Chessie System train caboose for sale on Facebook marketplace. Initially, she was just looking for lights.

The couple immediately saw the potential for an Airbnb and bought the caboose in October 2023. They also picked up another historic 1950's caboose from the same seller.

With two on the lot, the DeVites are now budgeting at least $400,000 to flip and rent out five train cars altogether.

Renovating has not been easy for the two cabooses, which are around 400 square feet each.

Unexpected costs, like $16,000 for a "tap-in fee" for local water access, have piled up.

But the joy the cabooses bring has been infectious. When they were moved to the property on a tractor trailer, it felt like a special event. "You just don't see a train every day going through your neighborhood," Ray told BI.

Xenia is well-known for a network of paved bike trails, so the DeVites also hope to entice bike enthusiasts with the future rentals.

Renovation is underway in the Chessie System caboose. The DeVites hope to host their first guests this summer.

The Chessie System caboose includes a coupla, where there will be lofted beds. Stairs are being built into the storage space.

The couple is also trying to keep the cabooses as authentic looking as possible, while updating plumbing, heating, and air. Karen plans to decorate each space with train-themed items.

Eventually, the DeVites plan to list the cabooses for $150 to $200 per night on Airbnb.

The DeVites have already tapped into the train enthusiast community, who are anxious to stay on the premise. Some have already reached out to share their memories of different trains.

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