Four tips for Explorers

The season of vacations and travel is well underway.   People are talking about where they’re going, what they did while they were gone or seemingly have just vanished.  Out of office messages fill our mail boxes.

Meanwhile, recommendations for where to travel, what to do sprout up everywhere.   I came across one article that I thought offered some useful advice about how to explore a destination.  Afar magazine (afar.com) calls their tips How to Travel Deeper. They offer four simple steps that can help you learn about a new place (or more about a place you’ve checked out before).

Whether your trip is for pleasure or business you may find their ideas useful

1.  Take a cooking class.  Get to know something about the food beyond what you experience in a restaurant – even one recommended by the locals.

2. Drink the local Wine (or whatever is the local favorite liquid refreshment – wine, beer, coffee, tea or something else.  At a tasting of food and drink from Peru organized by the Consul General of Peru in San Francisco, I tasted Pisco, the brandy developed in the 16^th century by a Spanish settler. Famous in Peru it was new to me. Along with discovering a new taste treat I learned something about Peru at the same time).  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco

3. Visit churches, temples, and sacred places.  (Discover art, architecture and places of importance in the community.)

4.  Tour by bike  - (or for those of us who don’t do bikes - walking, taking local transportation – also offer ways to engage with the locale more directly than running from place to place by taxi or tour bus.)

Every traveler has a special way of exploring and enjoying where they go.  What else would you suggest to a friend who ask for your advice?  Will you try one of these steps - or all four -- on your next trip?

The Even More Independent Traveler

To some of you this is old news – to others it’s a startling surprise.  One more step making the airline traveler independent.  Or making flying more self-service.  Airlines now say:  tag that bag (that you are paying to check) and put it on the belt – yourself.

Alaska Airline travelers are familiar with this practice that they started several years. Travelers can print their bag tags with their boarding passes.  But for me – it was a surprise.

Returning from Paris earlier this year I was puzzled, a bit confused when an Air France staff member told me that I could avoid the very, very, very long check in line if I’d print a luggage tag and attach to my bag myself.  The line for self tagged bags was as short as the other was long.  No question.  I’d figure out the tag (and wonder all through the flight if it really would stay on).  No problem.  Luggage and tag arrived in San Francisco as planned.

But just as I adapted to this new step I discovered there are more changes to come.  According to the Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com/articles/bag-tags-1435340070) digital tags are on the horizon.  These will be permanent bag tags that digitally update if flight plans change.

According to the article “more than a third of global airlines now ask fliers to tag their own bags, compared with 13% in 2009, according to SITA, an airline-technology firm. By 2018, more than three-quarters of carriers intend to offer the service.”

Progress or a bother for the traveler?  Will it help avoid lost luggage or send our bags randomly around the world? 

Brands: Which ones are Enlightened?

Once upon a time a brand was a mark burned onto an animal to indicate ownership. Later brands came to mean the names of products.

Today a brand is much more than the name of a product.  We now consider brands as if they were a living, evolving entity, not simply the name of a car, airline, or a pair of shoes.  Nations are branded and individuals are urged to consider their personal brand. 

Brand characteristics are studied, discussed and worried over by marketing people worldwide hoping to find ways to engage (obtain, hold) customers.  It isn’t enough to have a good product, price and pretty logo.  A brand must somehow be something special.

Which takes us to a recent publication by the trend forecasting service Trend Watching.  They provide information on consumer trends around the world.  Their most recent report highlighted what they call the newest type of brand:  one that is Enlightened.  What does that mean?   Enlightened brands “will take meaningful action to improve individual lives and the wider world.”

http://trendwatching.com/x/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2015-06-ENLIGHTENED-BRANDS.pdf

According to their research these entities are: Restless (working to make the world a better place), Empathetic (know what pains their customers and how to help them) and Demanding  (expecting to change their customers to become their best selves)

Who’s Enlightened these days?

Demanding:

E4, a UK television channel suspended service on the day of the general election, encouraging viewers to vote.  

www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/22/channel-4-e4-general-election-youth-vote

Empathetic

Audi created an app that connects stranded drivers with drivers of Audi’s 4x4 vehicles who could rescue them.

Restless

Vodafone offers guaranteed maternity pay worldwide – even in countries where it isn’t required.  

 http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/06/news/companies/vodafone-maternity-leave

 

No longer static marks - brands are alive and active. (At least in our imaginations).  Which ones should have this designation?  Which ones should be added to the list of The Restless (innovators), Empathetic and Demanding (be your best self)  - the Enlightened ones?

Where to Look?

“Look at me when you’re I’m talking to you.”    A familiar phrase to American children (and adults.)  Making direct eye contact is an important element in American, and most Western, cultures.   It underscores the idea of being clear and direct in all aspects of communication.  

While staring, holding prolonged eye contact is discouraged, looking directly at people when they’re speaking is expected.  Speakers interpret that gaze as a sign of interest, connection. For some it’s seen as showing self-confidence, and sincerity.

Looking away, down at the floor, glancing at the ceiling or in anyway breaking that visual connection can change the impression.  The other person may wonder:  What’s he hiding?  Is she sneaky, afraid, anxious, disinterested or bored? 

And yet in other parts of the world  - in other cultures -  that same visual gesture – looking away, averting ones eyes is seen as appropriate, a sign of respect.   And the Western direct focus may be interpreted as disrespectful and aggressive. 

When talking, listening, engaged in conversation as you travel the world remember that where you look  carries a message.   More importantly that how its interpreted differs significantly.  Take care in translating this component of a conversation:  Respect or aggressive?  Confident or sneaky?  It depends.

Global Cities The Big Five (or Six)

We live in, work in and travel to cities around the world.  Each one is special in some way and we each have an opinion about our favorite for work or play.  But we often don’t  know much about these places beyond our personal experience.  To take a deeper dive into the major urban areas of the world we can reach out to and read through some interesting analyses from a variety of sources. 

One of my favorites is from the global management consulting firm A T Kearney.  They issue an annual report  on the status of cities titled the Global Cities Index and the 2015 report was recently released.

This year the report has expanded beyond the basic report -The Global Cities Index (GCI) (The GCI looks at 125 cities to consider their “global engagement”  taking into consideration five areas: business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement.)  In 2015 the Global Cities Outlook (GCO) was added.  According to their press release the GCO looks at the future potential on the rate of change across four dimensions—Personal Well-being, Economics, Innovation, and Governance. 

Which cities topped the list in each category?

GCI Top Five               New York London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong

GCO Top Five             San Francisco, London, Boston, New York, Zurich

In addition they’ve now created another list:  the Global Elite   These are 16 cities that are ranked in the top 25 of the GCI, (what’s happening today), and in the top 25 of the GCO (a glimpse of the possible future).  The list expands beyond the sets of top fives we saw above and adds in Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Brussels, Berlin, Amsterdam, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney and Melbourne.” 

See more at: https://www.atkearney.com/news-media/news-releases/news-release/-/asset_publisher/00OIL7Jc67KL/content/a-t-kearney-global-cities-2015/10192#sthash.bpTPZPzX.dpuf

The AT Kearney report isn’t the only look at the Cities of the World. The Atlantic’s City Lab calculates the worlds most economically powerful cities http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/03/sorry-london-new-york-is-the-worlds-most-economically-powerful-city/386315 

Their ranking combines the results of 5 other studies including the AT Kearney’s GCI, the United Nation’s City Prosperity Index and the Global City Competitiveness Index from The Economist.  Using these varied studies they capture rankings considering topic as diverse as gdp, human capital, financial maturity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability.  Each report one merits study and reveals different facets of the many global cities.

The results?  Familiar names make their list too.   London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris. – top five here too.    But new names appear too.   Sydney and Helsinki tied at #14, Dublin and Osaka-Kobe tied at #16 and #23 is a tie between Washington, DC, San Francisco and Moscow.

It’s possible to spend hours carefully reading these studies, learning about the difference and similarities of these Global Cities.  Explore the data and discover new things about your city, your next destination, the place that will be central to your global expansion.  Which one will be your favorite, where does it rank this year and where will it be next year?

Everyone Rides

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I recently rediscovered the joy of finding an interesting read on the shelves of the local public library (as opposed to hoping for something good to pop up in an Amazon search.  Soon I found myself reading How to Be Danish – A Journey to the Cultural Heart of Denmark (Patrick Kingsley).  With a bright red cover it popped off the shelf and home it came.

I’ve enjoyed reading about Danish design, the local food revolution and their folk schools.  But what captivated me the most (so far) was in the chapter “Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen.”  The idea that everyone, young, old, resident, tourist, rides bicycles to go everywhere fascinates me.  Special traffic lights for bicycles?  For a California resident where simple bike lanes are unusual that’s a surprise.

According to an article in Wired, Copenhagen is  #1 in the list of the 20 most bike friendly cities.  (The only US city to make the list is Minneapolis, Minnesota at #18) http://www.wired.com/2015/06/copenhagenize-worlds-most-bike-friendly-cities

How do people manage to commute to work, play, and run errands on a bike?  A puzzle to me.  And what do they wear?  (I remember being in China and seeing a woman wearing business suit and heels riding a bike – what poise and balance.)   A journalist, Mikael Colvile-Andersen created a blog that allows us to see what they wear, and what kind of bikes they ride:  http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/

Take a look and then think about booking a flight to ride around this amazing city. 

Off We Go

We know summer is almost here when the papers (at least in the US) are filled with articles about books to read on the beach.  As if everyone would be spending days and hours in June, July and August relaxed with book in hand.  Lovely thought.

But often to get to that place where we can delve into a new book requires that we travel.  And again this year surveys are predicting record numbers of travelers.

For those of us who are lucky enough to love travel, airports in particular, (that’s me) this season can even stretch our patience.  But for those for whom flying is uncomfortable, even frightening, this may be your least favorite season.

According to some studies as much 40% of the population have some level of anxiety related to travel.  For some it’s so extreme they refuse to fly.

But not everyone can avoid flights entirely.  For those a Google search will lead to tips for coping.  You can request a seat up front to feel less of turbulence, turn on the air vent to keep air flowing on you, do/don’t drink alcohol, avoid caffeine and more.  Check out the NBC News “10 tips for the Fearful Traveler” (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7549546/ns/travel-travel_tips/t/tips-fearful-flier/#.VWTGNKaBA28) or an article from Independent Traveler: http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/air-travel/fear-of-flying

Even airlines try to help. Virgin Atlantic has a “Flying Without Fear” course (http://www.flyingwithoutfear.co.uk).  British Air now offers in flight meditation program (http://www.springwise.com/in-flight-meditation-program-helps-nervous-fliers/). 

Even those of us who love to fly experience moments when we’d rather be elsewhere.  For me the best thing to do when a flight get bumpy (and scary) is immerse myself in that new book or game on my I-pad, dip into the potato chips which seem to offset the onset of motion sickness or talk with person next to me. 

How do you cope when you don’t love the flight?