Lessons from the trip of a lifetime: An interview with Hollie, our Head of HR.

Our wonderful Hollie recently returned from the trip of a lifetime in South East Asia, and we caught up with her to find out all about it. What she shared was priceless!

Hollie, tell us about your trip! Why did you decide to go travelling?

"From a young age I have always been fascinated by other countries cultures and interested to understand how differently they lived from how we live. From the age of 4 my parents moved me and my younger brother to New Zealand where we spent our childhoods growing up. This was an incredible experience and our lifestyle was very different from ours in the UK.

This experience has always made me more passionate to meet different people from different places all over the world. To travel South East Asia was something I have always wanted to do but it was very much outside of my comfort zone. The moment I realized the thought of travelling for 3 months made me feel sick to my stomach from nerves, I knew I had to get out of my comfort zone and push myself to take the leap as I knew this would grow me as a person!"

Where exactly did you end up going?

"We started our journey in Bangkok Thailand and covered 10 different islands/cities within our time here. We then flew to Singapore for a few days and then made our way to Hanoi which is the capital of Vietnam. We went to 15 different towns/cities within Vietnam, travelling from north to south! We then crossed the border by foot from Vietnam to Cambodia where we then visited 5 different towns, cities and islands."

What did you hope to learn?

"Along with learning different cultures, I realised that in my role, people are everything, and since the pandemic, we’ve needed to evolve the way we lead.?Change is difficult for all of us, as human beings, and so I wanted to take some time to learn about emotional resilience across different cultures.

Emotional resilience is defined as?your ability to respond to stressful or?unexpected situations and crises.? Resilience does not eliminate life's?difficulties?but it allows you to tackle?or accept the challenges."?

What did you observe?

"Most ?of the countries and places we visited are extremely poor and the people don’t even have the basics to live. Whilst I was travelling I knew we would encounter this and be exposed to a very different way of living so this is when I started this journey, studying emotional resilience I decided to ask people two simple questions: ?

1.????How do you do it?

2.????How do you stay resilient?"

What did you learn??

"One of our tour guides in Thailiand made a comment that really comes to mind. I asked him why it seemed as though so many Thai people are constantly happy and friendly even to strangers, and he said “Thailand is the land of smiles, everyone here smiles and is happy with what they have”. I also asked him how he thinks Thai people stay resilient and he responded with a simple statement:?“Positive thinking, the Thai people tend to have a positive outlook on life even in difficult times”.

I knew he really meant this when we were travelling to a remote island on a tiny wooden, very unstable boat which was rocking from side to side, and he just sat on the decking of the boat and had the biggest smile on his face despite seeing how terrified we were. This showed me that even in uncertain times he remained claim not only for his own mind but also for those whom he was responsible! Once I noticed he was laughing, I started laughing too and forgot how frightened I actually was. ?

The moral of the story for me was that even in challenging times remaining positive will ultimately enable happiness and role modelling this to others can have a huge impact on their outlook." ?

How did this trip change you, and what can others take from it??

"This trip really made me think about all of the things I take for granted, and how as a leader, like our tour guide on the boat, I can influence those around me to feel happier, settled, resilient and less stressed through my own actions."?

If you could share one piece of advice, what would it be??

"If I could share one lesson, it’s that in today’s world, emotional resilience is critical to people being able to deliver their best work, and therefore live their purpose.

Every single one of us has the power to exude calmness and reassurance, and of course, always remember that positive thinking is infectious!"

To continue the discussion and get involved in a people-centric organisation, get in touch with us at Catalyst Care Group .