Week 43 – Adrift in a Metal Box, but the Journey Continues

For over a week now, I’ve been sealed inside this container, cocooned in steel, riding the endless rhythm of the ship’s great diesel engines. Their steady thump-thump-thump has become my lullaby—comforting, hypnotic, an unchanging heartbeat in this floating world of metal and sea.

The journey has been eerily smooth. No towering swells, no violent lurches, just an endless horizon of deep, rolling blue. But today... something shifted.

The engines changed their song, the deep, rhythmic pulse slowing, losing its steady beat. My senses sharpened instantly. We must be approaching land.

Somewhere beyond these thick, unyielding walls, the skyline of Mumbai is emerging through the morning haze. Nhava Sheva port—our next stop. And with it, something far more exciting than just another checkpoint on this odyssey...

?? I’ll see Mum and Dad again—WOOHOO! ??

The thought ignites something in me. After weeks of solitude and monotony, the idea of familiar faces, warm embraces, and voices that don’t echo off metal walls fills me with electric anticipation.

While the world outside has been nothing but an unseen expanse of sea, I’ve been using this time to dive into Dad’s book: “Family Matters, So Does Business: 5 Ways to Keep Your Business and Family Flying.”

One passage stood out—how running a family is like piloting an A-380 aircraft.

I have chosen the Airbus A380 as the perfect analogy for harmonising your family and your business. This aeroplane is one of the most complex machines ever devised by humans. Flying it takes a myriad of operations and checklists by the pilots.

Running a family or business is complex as well. Trying to run a family and a business at the same time is even more complex.

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What can a family and business learn from an A380?

What is the relevance of using the A380 as an analogy to run your family and business? Let me explain, so you gain an understanding of the journey I want to take you on.

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? Airports must be specially equipped to handle the A380’s 1.3-million-pound weight and 261-foot wingspan. They must widen runways and taxiways and strengthen their concrete hard-standings to accommodate its size and weight.

? We must be specially equipped to run a business and a family at the same time. We need to understand the complexities of what it takes. Not every business owner is equipped to handle the challenges involved in successfully managing both.?

? Authorities at Sydney Airport spent $AUS128 million to upgrade their infrastructure for the superjumbo jet’s arrival. They adapted airport runways, the underground tunnels, and constructed special air bridges for the jet.

? If you want to obtain the best for your family and from your business, you must recognise issues, change and adapt, in the same way as Sydney airport had to adapt for the A380.

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? Each aircraft has more than 330 miles of wiring. If you laid all the wiring in an A380 end to end, it would stretch from Edinburgh to London.

? Wiring is the communication element of our business and family. Without the proper wiring and communication, we can’t run either properly. Communication and money are the two elements that cause most failures in business and marriages.

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? Only 20 runways in the world are now fully capable of handling the A380 aircraft.

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? There are only so many partners in the world for us and only so many business ventures that we will be good at. We must pick the right ones. If we are marrying business and personal relationships together, it is even more paramount to choose carefully.

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? The A380 has a cockpit and four giant engines to move it swiftly through the sky to its destination. These must work in unison to be effective.

? In our business and family, the key is to manage all areas in unison to get the best result.

It made me think:

?? A family—just like a massive plane—needs balance, communication, and constant course corrections. Too much weight in one area, and you’re off track. Hit turbulence, and you need a steady hand to keep everything from spiraling. Ignore the warning lights, and you could be heading for a crash.

Just like this journey we’re on.

The challenges aren’t always visible from the outside, but they’re real. The isolation. The uncertainty. The logistics of moving across the world in the most unconventional way possible. It takes resilience, adaptability, and sheer determination.

So as I wait, I reflect on these words and the importance of keeping family together.? I’m excited - maybe 5 days to go to see Mum and Dad again - and then we turn right and start heading for NZ again

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Let’s keep flying together.

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