Spain, March 2024

Holá, Beunos Diaz!

I took a short break over the past week and had an amazing time in Spain.

It was a much needed time to recharge my batteries and spend some quality time with family.

We visited Valencía, Granada and of course, Barcelona. Each city had their unique charm, and we were blessed with generally good weather throughout, except for 2 days of rain near the end of the trip.

Now that I’m back to sunny Singapore, I would like to share some personal takeaways I had from this trip:

1. Travel broadens our mind

We hired a nice driver that took us from Valencia to Granada by car. We drove along the eastern coastline, which was a good chance to catch some country sights during the 5 hours drive. We saw plenty of houses that were built into the mountain itself (which was a first for us). We also saw the biggest meat manufacturer plant in Spain and then stopped for a local coffee in the middle of nowhere.

Our driver educated us on what is a “Spanish Yoga”, which is something that will probably never happen in Singapore, or this part of the world anytime soon (I remain hopeful, though).

Going on walking tours, listening to local guides and learning about centuries of history of the city of Valencia and La Alhambra in Granada is a great opportunity to learn and understand about the culture of another country.

Nothing better than being on the ground and touching a 1,000 year old wall in person. ??

2. Appreciate the great team we have

This vacation was made possible by my awesome colleagues and teammates at work that kept work matters running smoothly. Special shoutout to Gurpreet Gill, CAMS who did a fantastic job in holding the fort and ensuring our team continue to function effectively. Thank you!

We are also appreciative of the support of our family members that kept our household affairs in order so that we can enjoy the vacation with a peace of mind.

We are cognisant that the success of this vacation was due to the level of great support we received from everyone, and is thus very grateful of this.

3. Remember the reason(s) why we are working so hard

Lastly, in our pursuit of material success and objectives, we should never forget the “Why” of doing what we are doing.

Whether it is to achieve a better life for our loved ones, or to meet our personal and career goals, we should take the opportunity to remind ourselves every now and then on the reasons on why we are working so hard, so as not to lose sight of the truly important things in life. For me, I find that creating memories with people we love, care and is grateful for, is something we should treasure and upkeep properly every time.

Now that this wonderful holiday is over, it is time to get back to work and continue to help Finmo to scale to greater heights.

I’m already looking forward to the next holiday trip with loved ones, and hopefully, it will just as be awesome.

Adiós!