A Change of Pace..

Besides the “traveling/sight-seeing” aspect of this entire journey, I have learned a lot more than how to read a map or the history of many different civilizations. I have learned about communication, creativity, focus, responsibility.. the list goes on…

A crazy thing happened my last day in Italy. I actually met a fellow Horned Frog from TCU on the ferry from the Island of Capri back to Naples. What a small world! While sharing stories about our travels, we laughed about language barriers in restaurants and cabs and exchanged websites for the best hostels and what not. We joked about the difficult aspects of traveling that are always made worthwhile once you finally have the chance to stop and breathe, smell, taste, touch and hear everything around you…

It’s really funny you know…. I’ve never thought of traveling as being “work” or taking a lot of effort, but 70% of the time that you are exploring or getting from one place to the other, you are working your butt off! LOL! You’re staying focused so you don’t lose anything (like your debit card or cell phone). You’re lugging a thirty-pound backpack down cobblestone streets and UP stairs that are over a thousand years old. You’re asking for directions in a language most of the natives don’t understand...

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love every minute of it. It’s just that I’m now beginning to realize and appreciate how rewarding the experience of traveling is. Every time you go somewhere different and are immersed in a culture that doesn’t eat what you eat, speak what you speak, or that maybe doesn’t even like you because you’re American…you are gaining knowledge and understanding about the world around you. You are finding new ways to look at the old...My entrepreneurship professor always says, “it’s Vuja De NOT Déjà vu…. It’s human nature to jump to conclusions about the unknown.

I’m reading a book right now called ‘Conceptual Blockbusters’ that gives a great analogy about coming to conclusions, and solving problems. Herbert Simon says drawing a conclusion is like picking apart a haystack in order to find a needle. Most of the time, we stop after we find that first needle. It’s a quick solution that’s not necessarily bad…. BUT.. What if there were more needles? What if, instead of looking for the first needle, we look for the sharpest one? “Nothing is easier than to think, but nothing is harder than to think correctly.” Just a thought, more for me than anyone..haha! Hope this finds everyone well!!