Frequent traveller

According to the American novelist Henry Miller one's destination is never a place, but a a new way of seeing things. I agree. I travel a lot. Short distance, long distance and everything in between. I find it a very enriching experience and I have gathered a lifetime of stories to share during my business trips.

That one time for instance, when I ended up in an African country and soon realized it was almost impossible to speak directly to men or stop a taxi as a woman.

Or when I arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area in summer and almost froze to death because no one had told me that it could get very cold at night and I didn't bring a jacket.

Once, in a country far, far away, I was driving a rental car and stopped at a red light instead of driving through. Little did I know I had to because I was turning right. But that guy in the car behind me coming in at full speed sure thought I knew. I remember him looking very pale.

And my feet still hurt from my first trip to Lisbon. High heels aren't a girl's best friend when a city's build on hills. I looked completely ridiculous in my business attire and I felt a little embarassed too, walking like a duck.

I know: first world problems. Especially when you get to visit the world. But I do find it remarkably that we are all the same and yet so different. And we hardly exchange our expertise and best practices. We could learn so much from each other, on many things way beyond local habits. But apparently we all prefer to reinvent the wheel ourselves, over and over again.

Without doubt, the most important advantage to travelling a lot is getting to see things in a different perspective. For instance: from a distance, it doesn't take long to notice that many things at the office keep on running smoothly. It also isn't hard to understand what needs work upon your return. So, when abroad, I also learn a lot... about home.