Hi Reader,

I'm in Vietnam for a few weeks visiting family. I'm enjoying it a lot.

What I did not fully appreciate beforehand is how tiring it is to travel with a baby under 1 🫣.

Last week, I climbed a mountain here with a bamboo walking stick. Here's me catching my breath at a viewpoint midway up.

The place is called Yen Tu, one of those hidden gems most foreign tourists never hear about (you're welcome, and also please don't all go at once 🤣).

I'd never climbed with a stick before. And wow, it made a real difference!

It didn't make the climb "easy" though. You still need strength and a decent foundation to get through a few thousand steps, some of them steep, in 34°C heat with barely any shade.

There was a cable car to shorten this 3-hour climb to 12 minutes. And you could just take it.

But wasn't climbing exactly the point?

Step by step, even when it's slow, gives you a kind of autonomy and sense of achievement that a 12-minute gondola ride does not.

Taking the easy route is tempting, but it usually costs more than you'd expect.

Financially, obviously. But also emotionally, in a way that's harder to put a price on.

It reminded me of the trend from the past few years, when many people preached "don't learn Python, just learn AI coding". A lot of people are now realizing fundamentals are everything now.

AI is a bit like that bamboo stick.

It takes weight off your legs and helps with balance, which is great. But it doesn't replace your judgment about where to put your feet, which route to take or which direction to go. It will very happily let you walk off a cliff with excellent posture...

I recently got an email from someone who said, in his own words:

"I don't know Python basics. I've been vibe coding for about a year and a half now, and I always felt I wasn't building on solid foundations. It gave me this brain rot feeling, sometimes even shame, building something that kind of works without being able to explain why properly."

I've heard similar comments from many of you.

That's exactly why I believe in learning the fundamentals in data, AI, and coding. So you can meaningfully contribute to your teams and actually make sense of what you're building. Instead of just hoping it keeps working.

I'll keep using bamboo walking sticks to walk faster. That doesn't mean my legs become redundant.

So here's my little reminder to you: keep learning, build a strong foundation, and trust your steps. Preferably with better shoes than mine 🙃.

In the coming week: I'm relaunching the new version of my Python for AI Projects course, to help more of you build this strong foundation.

More on that in the coming days.

Have a great week,

Thu 🤗