Christopher Baron is an Aspen-based researcher, author, speaker, and performance and longevity consultant on a mission to improve health, longevity, and contentment. He is an advocate for nature, solitude, wisdom, and the necessity for relationships and community for flourishing and the well-lived life
Baron is an eloquent and compelling speaker dedicated to sharing the knowledge he gained through decades of personal experience, thousands of hours of research, and a life lived in Blue Zones, nature, and solitude. He began his career as a journalist before founding several successful companies in media, luxury services, and real estate. Body of work:
The Perimeter Trilogy
Book 1: Perimeter, An Odyssey
A rare and intimate view of the post-9/11, Great Recession era. In the waning days of the Great Recession, Baron began a multi-year, 20,000-mile circumnavigation of the U.S., speaking with over 1,000 Americans and spending months embedded in cities across the country. The journey was elongated by difficult-to-diagnose health issues, providing him with a rare opportunity to learn from his own experience, the many healthcare professionals he met, and the people he encountered along the way. He completed his journey during the 2025 election.
In 2016, seeking solitude and clarity, Baron spent a winter alone in a remote cabin at 10,200 feet in the Colorado Rockies. Twelve miles from town and accessible only by snowmobile, this became a profound experiment in isolation, immersion in nature, and self-reliance.
Book 2: My Magical Year:
Healing, Rebirth and Redemption in Mountains, Oceans and Deserts
In 2018, he returned to Aspen, Colorado to focus on his health. He wrote a manifesto about meaning, purpose, and a life worth living, and dedicated himself to regaining his strength—spending months in the backcountry hiking, on horseback, in the gym, swimming in alpine lakes, practicing marathon meditation, and working with a team of talented physical therapists. The unique methodology he developed addresses the totality of our humanness and draws from spirituality, psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience.
Magical Year Retreats
In 2019, he realized he had created something replicable and asked himself: if he had needed a "magical year," how many others might benefit from a similar experience? Thus was born Magical Year Retreats, a global adventure travel and wellness company that designs, curates, and leads small-group healing and life-transition retreats in villas, on yachts and horseback, and along pilgrimage routes.
Health Journey and Expertise
Much of Baron's life has been shaped by two genetic disorders—Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a progressive neuromuscular disorder, and Celiac Disease. In 2016, he underwent emergency surgery stemming from an early-life horseback riding accident. In 2022 and 2023, he experienced disabling bouts of Long Covid, which he self-triaged and overcame while spending the winter in a small cottage overlooking the Atlantic on Tortola. In 2024, he was diagnosed with Smoldering Multiple Myeloma, a precancerous condition with an excellent prognosis. Through these experiences, he acquired extensive knowledge about American healthcare, the intimate connection between zip code and longevity, and the deeper dynamics of strength, endurance, and the psychology of resilience, tenacity, and performance.
Book 3: Travels in the Far North
Essays on Pain, Loss and Life Beyond
Philanthropy
As an outgrowth of what he witnessed, Baron created More in Common Ventures, a foundation designed to provide low-friction loans to stabilize communities. To address the strained social fabric and division he tracked for a decade, he founded The More in Common Dinner Club, whose slogan is Healing the Divide, One Meal at a Time. His inspiration came from the coffee groups and dinners he hosted during his travels, where people focused not on politics, but on shared experiences—the things we have in common. Baron lives in Aspen and has two adult children.
