The Intrepid Traveler
The Intrepid Traveler
Exploring Travel Uncertainties: A Journey from Flight Hiccups to Global Perspectives
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Ever wondered how to navigate the uncertainties of travel with grace and grit? Be prepared to get your passport to wisdom as my friend, Ashish and I embark on a journey discussing travel hiccups and how to handle them. We share our personal experiences and throw in some practical tips that will help you stay calm and composed when things don't go as planned.
Air travel is exciting but it can come with its share of challenges. From discussing Richard Branson's high altitude commercial flight vision, to contemplating the intricacies of sustainability and fuel possibilities, we take a detour into the revolutionary future of travel. But what about the world below the clouds? We also discuss the economic impact of the pandemic on tourism-dependent countries and how empathy and informed choices can make a difference.
Zooming out from the travelling microcosm, we broaden the horizon to discuss perspective in an overwhelming world. With a sea of information available at our fingertips, how do we sift through the noise and understand what matters? We ponder on the impact of large corporations on global issues and encourage maintaining perspective amidst complexity. All this while, never losing sight of the sheer joy of travelling. So, come along as we navigate these intriguing travel terrains for a smoother take-off, a fantastic flight and a perfect landing into the world of being an informed and empathetic traveller.
Thanks for joining us on today’s episode of The Intrepid Traveler podcast! If you enjoyed today’s episode, please rate and review our show to help us reach even more aspiring travelers. Don’t forget to check out our website, visit us on Facebook, Instagram or follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on our latest epic travel adventures!
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PROJECT EXPEDITION
Unraveling Luxury Adventure Travel
Speaker 1Have you ever wondered how the pros put together epic , tailor-made travel adventures ? Welcome to the Intrepid Traveler Podcast . I'm your host , robin Klein , and I'm going to explain to you just how that is done during my conversation with today's guest . When it comes to luxury adventure and expedition travel , the possibilities are endless . In each episode , you'll hear from an expert in his or her field about how these experiences , and more , are created .
Speaker 1This episode of the Intrepid Traveler is brought to you by Klein and Co Travel Consulting , a luxury adventure and expedition travel planning company specializing in un-Googleable experiences . You can find us on the web at KleinandCoTravelcom . On Instagram at Klein and Co Travel , we have a private Facebook group you are welcome to join . You can find us on LinkedIn or catch the video version on YouTube . With that said , let's welcome today's guest . Well , you know how sometimes things just happen and you didn't intend for them to . Well , today's episode is a little like that . My friend , ashish Sangrachka has been a guest on my podcast several times . His podcast is called the Sustainable Voice and I've been a guest on his , and we had so much fun doing these podcasts together and admittedly fall into a lot of rabbit holes along the way that we decided we would do a few episodes as co-hosts , and so today's episode will be us talking about the things that we shouldn't freak out about in the world of travel . I hope you'll enjoy it .
Speaker 2Hey everybody , welcome back to Sustainable Voice . This is Ashish , your host . Look who's back . Hey Robin , how's it going ? Oh , I'm good . How are you , ashish ? I'm good . So we talked about a few weeks ago about this new monthly episodic podcast we're doing within our network and within our environment , called Things we Shouldn't Freak Out About . Exactly , I'm kind of freaking out , are you ?
Speaker 1No , no , I never freak out . You liar Pass on time .
Speaker 2No , that's probably true actually , you know what I mean . The thing is that we always talk about this because you know , whenever we're together on this podcast , whether it's your podcast , which what's it called ? Again , your podcast . It's really just a really cool name . The Trepid Traveler I love that name , you know what ? Something about the word intrepid . That's actually really , really cool that I just something about it . Just it invokes a sense of adventure , it invokes something which is really cool . I tried stealing it but you trademarked it .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly , exactly . No , I had to do that quickly , otherwise , you know , I would be getting all kinds of cease and desist orders .
Speaker 2That's right . That's exactly right , Exactly right . Well , you know what this is one where you know , as we start looking at the different levels of what we're doing . You always talk in this podcast about , you know , sustainability and conservation , and that's still a core part of your podcast and mine adventure . But within this travel industry , there are things that happen that are out of our control every day , and the sooner we come to grips with the stuff we can control , the sooner we can start really enjoying what it is that we do right , and not just us , but the people we work with as well , so I was just about to say the folks that we are helping to get on their way on their trips and everything , and the more prepared we can make them for what they can't control , the more time they're going to have .
Speaker 2You know what I was talking a long time ago and I know that you and I have talked about this that the only things we can really control in life is actions and attitude . You know we really can't control other things , and you and I have both seen how people sometimes just freak out over things . You kind of scratch your head and go is that really worth that much energy being extended ? Exactly you know .
Speaker 1So yeah , well , I'll tell you what let's go down this rabbit hole .
Speaker 2There's a couple of things we want to talk about today , so welcome first of all , everybody to the first episode of Things you Shouldn't Freak Out About , Robert . Where are we starting ?
Speaker 1We are starting with the airlines . Oh pretty , yes , and I could go on a stream of consciousness diatribe here , but we'll try to keep it as focused as possible .
Speaker 2Send it , let's go , come on Send it , send it , send it .
Speaker 1Come on , let's go .
Speaker 2Okay , all right , all right .
Dealing With Flight Changes, Being Good
Speaker 1Well , the first thing is is arguing with the airlines is pointless , so save your energy on that one . My advice there is no . There will be changes to your flight . The further out you book , the more changes there will be . So just prepare Every time you get an email that says your flight has been changed . Sometimes it might only be by 10 minutes , it might not be a big deal . Sometimes they're going to send you one that says we've rebooked you on a flight next week . You're gonna go what , what ? I can't get there . Next week the trip will be over . So you know , this is a cooler heads prevail kind of situation , and you have to realize too that sometimes it's a machine that makes these mistakes , not human beings .
Speaker 1And you know , having to call in and deal with the airlines , nobody loves it . That is a frog eating deal Like . That is the eat the frog thing .
Speaker 2I'm convinced that they make you wait for three hours because they want you to calm down before you talk to them . I'm convinced that three hour , whole time , is actually on purpose to go all right , you ready yet ?
Speaker 1No , all right keep holding how about ?
Speaker 2now you ready to talk now ? No keep holding .
Speaker 1Yeah , I'm convinced what they're hoping for actually is that people will forget who they're on hold with and that they will have , like , their mind blow gone somewhere completely different . So by the time they're off hold they'll be like , oh , oh yeah , that's why I'm calling them . So anyway , but yeah . So back to the point . You know , things are different with the airlines than they were in 2019 and the beginning of 2020 . And they're going to be different .
Speaker 2That's right .
Speaker 1Maybe forever , but definitely for a long time it's going to take . It's going to take time for the airlines to get experienced people , or the people , the new hires , to become experienced . So many people left that industry and you know , there's new pilots , there are new desk agents , there are new baggage handlers , there are new , you know , flight attendants , you name it . There's new people everywhere . So we , I think , need to realize that this is one of those things that's out of our control . We cannot , you know we can't control who picks up the phone on the other end and you just have to deal with it the best you can , and being kind and polite will go a lot further .
Speaker 1Absolutely and being rude and losing your cool .
Speaker 2Well , you know , you know and I can't wait to hear what story you have about this , but I mean whether we're at lines . But you know , when we talk about sustainability and conservation and whatnot , the core , the basis of that is being a good human being . Yeah , right , don't be that guy . Don't be that person . Don't be that person that that's just passive , aggressive . Yeah , that it pretends to be nice and is just absolutely passive , aggressive and is , you know , could tell that they're using something . Don't , just , don't be that person , right ? You can't chat around and say that , okay , I believe in conservation and I believe in being a good human being . Then turn around and behave like that in an airport . That just doesn't make sense . Well , all right , give me your airline story where you are the better person , and I'll give you mine .
Speaker 1Oh my gosh . Actually you're going to have to go first because I'm going to have to like give it a minute to pick which one .
Speaker 2Well , I'll tell you what . I have two that are short , that are there , all right . So the first one actually happened to me on the way to Africa . I was flying an airline going through Istanbul , you know what , and I got to the airport and they said you know what , listen , your flight's been delayed , you're going to miss your connection . You're going to be arriving two days later into .
Speaker 2Tanzania . So probably level one is like oh my gosh , what a second . I can't get through this later . No , no , no , no , but it took about 30 seconds to go . Okay , do I have any other choices ? Well , you can go through . And it was like 10 stops . Like I'm not doing that , I'm like all right , so what about this ? Okay , don't worry , it's perfectly fine . It's perfectly fine . You could tell that Anaheim was being yelled at by every single person in front of me and she's like I'm sorry , the flight got delayed leaving Istanbul , like she had any control over it .
Speaker 2So I said you know what , don't worry about it , it's okay , you know . Look , I'm sorry , having always difficult conversations . If you have one that the person's just understanding , just remember my conversation , because I'm totally fine , you never know what happens , right ? So I ended up . I contacted a friend of mine who runs a company in Istanbul and said listen , I'm going to be stuck here for a few days .
Speaker 1The airlines give me a hotel .
Speaker 2I really don't want them to . I don't think they're going to get the hotel right .
Speaker 1Plus , what am I going to do ? Surround the hotel ?
Speaker 2Can you help me out ? Just like , yeah , we can do this , this , this , this , this , this , this , and I'm going to be . I get down to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul , the old city , and this is where James Bond I'm a huge Bond junkie I'm a James Bond junkie and this is you know , I , I , I choose to ignore the Roger Moore years and I choose to ignore the Jordan , Lays and Beers . And I definitely have to race the Timothy Dalton years .
Speaker 1But you are now . You're really digressing here . Yes , I am .
Speaker 2But let me get back to this . Come back , come back to each what happened . So I get there and I said listen , this Grand Bazaar looks really fine . I go wait a second . Skyfall was filmed here because , yeah , this is probably one of the greatest Bond movies ever made . And I go okay , let's go here . So my friend basically says give me a second .
Speaker 1Let me make a few calls .
Speaker 2I get the Grand Bazaar and I get up to the rooftop special access that I walk and security got on the rooftop of the Grand Bazaar where they actually filmed Skyfall . This is the scene where James Bond was right in the motorcycle .
Speaker 1I'm jealous , I'm not that way , all right , so let me tell you what happened .
Speaker 2Okay , I got back to Istanbul . I got to Kilimanjaro , got to the US later , made the best of it . Everything was fine . When I got back to the airport here state side , I went upstairs to look for that gate agent . She was there . I walked up to her and I said I wanted to say thank you . She goes , what for ? I said you post one for two days because something is out of control . Let me tell you what I did with that time . I showed her she was in tears . I said I just wanted to say thank you . Because of you I got to live out of childhood fantasy , including having a video on how the Grand Bazaar and I literally on the video said anybody got a motorcycle I can borrow . I even got to ask that as well .
Speaker 2So the second one was just happened on the way to Canada . This one was just getting rid of somebody who was just a complete idiot . So he was basically passive , aggressive , yelling at everybody , whatnot . So he was trying to board the plane . We were so three , zone , four , whatever it was .
Speaker 2Get down the gate and I lived with the pilots there , the flight crews there . I put my hands on I go , stop , stop . I looked and I go . Listen , the guy in front of me needs to get seated down . This is what I'm saying to the flight crew . The guy in front of me has a real need to sit down . I don't want to have him stressed out . I think he's got a condition of some kind . Please , I will hold back the next zone right here . I have big , strong arms . I have a broad shoulders . I will hold back the next zone . Can you guys take him in and get him seated ? He looked back , realized , looked at my side , realized he probably was out of his league , turned back around , walked in on the plane , put his head down . Or the flight crew . I said please give him everything he needs . All right , give him his pillows , blanket , everything he needs . Get him situated , because he's been through a lot . Don't worry , I got everybody here , I got this . So the captain looks and he goes can you come back tomorrow ?
Speaker 1Yeah right exactly you want to pay roll those of my two was awesome .
Speaker 2I could help myself .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , no , that's great , that's great , and you know , sometimes we have to , you know , we have to step up for people like that too , I think it's really easy to just stand aside and say something like oh , that poor person . I feel so bad for them , right no ?
Speaker 2you're excited .
Speaker 1Exactly , but you know , not do anything about it . So my own personal situation was recently I did a trip where I went kind of all over the place and I had to book all these one way legs on my ticket . And then the other thing , which was my own choice because I was trying to do it as economically as I could , I booked a lot of it on points , so I had different record locator numbers for everywhere .
Speaker 1And then , like if you're sneaky like I am , you can transfer some points into a partner airline account and then you can book there the one you want for like 30,000 points , when they're telling you it's 120,000 and things like that . So I did all that , you're that person ?
Speaker 2Screw the points guy . You're that person .
Speaker 1Yeah , I am , and you know what and when you do that , just know you're basically like giving up all your rights as a passenger , don't ? You're not going to get your upgrade , your status is not going to be , you know , valued , all of those things . When you book with points , you know you're kind of like persona non grata . They want to they want to give you the you know incentive to do that , but at the same time they don't really want you to do that , so they don't .
Speaker 1Of course , that's my record . That's my record . You're gaming the system , aren't you exactly , exactly .
Speaker 2My miles are worthless because of people like you . Thanks a lot , I appreciate it .
Speaker 1Well , that's me Anytime .
Speaker 2You wreck the curve . Thanks a lot , Robin . You wreck the curve , so okay .
Challenges and Perspectives in Air Travel
Speaker 1So I arrived in Qatar , doha , no problem , all the legs . Up until then , everything had been good .
Speaker 2But then I go to leave .
Speaker 1I go to leave Doha and they're looking at my . You know , you have to go in through the security and you have to have your either your QR code or printed ticket or whatever . And so the first guy waves me through , I get into the airport . Well , from there it was downhill . It was like wait a minute , you're booked on Iberia . Airlines . Iberia doesn't fly to , you know , qatar to Doha . So what are you doing here ? And I'm like no , it's actually Iberia is a co-chair partner with Qatar Airlines . Well , there was a few language barriers as well , a few things . So I mean , I kind of went . I was really glad I got there early , because I was sent to probably four or five different desks . Oh my gosh , yeah , it's OK , it's OK , thank you . They send me to the . They . Thank goodness they actually had an office that was staffed and manned and I go in there and they had to print something out for me that I then , had to take back to the check-in and they said , just , you know , go back to the same person .
Speaker 1Right now it's like , oh , we're gonna be tricky . So you know , cuz there's like 25 people , which is unusual these days at any airport to see 25 people checking people in for flights , but there were anyway . I finally did that , being polite as telling people I need to actually go to that person . Well , it finally worked out fine and and I , you know , got there , got it done , got to my next stop , which was in Kenya , and All was good . But you know , there was a lot of opportunities where I could have lost my you know , you know what , and but that wouldn't have helped . Right like there's , there's nothing that would have been accomplished by me freaking out . So you know , again , it's just you have to be that cooler heads prevails mentality . You got to think it through and I think you also have to think about it from the side of the other person .
Speaker 2It's a human being out .
Speaker 1Well , not only that , but like I did all these bookings with through a machine , right you know there wasn't a human involved in any of these bookings I did that's right so who knows what the machine did and if the human can figure it out or not , you know , so it just , you know , it just took some time and patience and so forth .
Speaker 1So so there was that that was my own story , and then recently I had a client that I Absolutely love her because she plans everything in advance . Like she's so far-planned in advance , we have booked her into 2024 already .
Speaker 2Oh , that's awesome .
Speaker 1And she has got everything planned out . She , like , wants to book the tickets for that trip and they're not even online yet . We can't , we can't do that and anyway , but she went to France and . You know we got the tickets as early as we could and she's very particular about where she likes to sit in the plane too , and she's early , so she usually gets the seat and all of that . Well , about three times the flight changed when she was in France . The flight , that's awesome .
Speaker 2That's awesome .
Speaker 1Now the good news is that it we ended up being able to get her to back home to her airport of choice , rather than the one that's two hours away , which is what we originally booked to save on Money and flight time and all that . She was originally supposed to come home through JFK , which , but anyway , we ended up being able to get her home through Detroit , which is much better for for coming home to where we live .
Speaker 1But there was there's definitely some confusion because , like you know , we use this app for our travel clients , partners , and I would update it , but it wouldn't always update as quickly on her end , and then her Delta app was showing both flights , oh god . And so you know it was a little stressful . We , you know , we got it all worked out and eventually the other thing , the but the thing that didn't happen was she did not get to sit On the side of the plane or in the section of the plane that she likes . And once , and I just had to say , look , this is completely out of our control , right ? I mean , like , the original flight doesn't exist anymore , right , like ? So that's not an option . Take that out of the equation . Yeah , we had a seat booked on that one , but it's not flying . And then we also I had to say , look , you know , if you want to go home on this particular day at this particular time ?
Speaker 1You're gonna have to take this particular seat , or you're just gonna have to wait for a flight . That's that seat you want . So that's such a choice , and I'm not giving you permission to be mad about this because there's nothing you can do about it . Just that's right , that's right .
Speaker 1Very Air travel is . I mean , I've already said it's different from 2019 , but we , I think , all have to remember that this , really , even though it's a cost a lot of money and it's not , you know we all would like a direct flight from our doorstep to the other doorstep , and you can do that , just get out your checkbook .
Speaker 1But is that ? You know what a privilege really to be able to . I mean , think back like . I mean it used to take weeks to get to certain of these places , and now we're complaining if it takes more than 24 hours . You know , you know .
Speaker 2I gotta tell you , this is your spot on , this is , and this is down to the same rabbit hole . I was at a conference years ago and I actually had the pleasure of meeting Richard Brents and I got a chance , and this is when Virgin . Galactic was first starting out right so it was basically that , and so I you know you meet somebody who just makes you feel stupid .
Speaker 2Yeah , this is what basically happened . He was right , he was , he was , he was right . So I talked and I said you know , congratulations on Virgin Galactic . This is way , way . We're talking like , probably gosh , almost 10 , 12 years ago . And and so it was . You know , congratulations on it . And starting out , and it was the view of the future . And I said you know , space travel , is this the next frontier for you ? He goes are you stupid or you're not paying attention ? I said I'm paying your pardon . He said you think this is about space travel . You've missed the point completely . I said all right , you have my attention now , yeah .
Speaker 2And he says this is Virgin
Space Travel and Itinerary Changes
Speaker 2Galactic . Isn't an exercise in space travel . Yes , for taking people up to space . He said it's an exercise in fly in aviation at higher altitudes . He goes . If we can figure out how to fly at 85,000 feet in a commercial liner right , or 100,000 feet at the you know edge of the stratosphere .
Speaker 2Whatever the case , right In a commercial liner where , a the fuselage can take it , b your human being , the human body can take it . The G-forces at that speed . I can get you to Sydney in time for lunch . I can get you to London and back . On the same day , vancouver becomes , they goes , and this is , before you know , boom aviation . Before all these supersonic jets .
Speaker 2Before this is when the Concorde was still just a thing , right , it was just starting to reach end of life and whatnot , and it just I think it had just been retired and he was talking about this fact that this is the next evolution . We're simply practicing high altitude flight . Because I did ask him , I said , you know , because at this time I think SpaceX was just starting out and where we live , spacex is a big thing and so it was just starting out and space travel in general . So I said is this about commercialized space travel ? He goes there are plenty of people that do that . This is not about that . Yes , it's about getting people to space , monetizing it , and you know who knows .
Speaker 2And it's important because he's taken us , for the first commercial flight happened this past weekend as a test . Now that first one's happening in June with actual passengers on . So he's . Clearly it's a huge step for history . But when he said to me he goes , you must be stupid . I said oh , or just not paying attention . I literally stopped and I said I think he's actually right . I must be because I'm missing something . Clearly I'm a pretty sharp guy and I missed this .
Speaker 1And this is like I'm going with you just weren't paying attention . Part , because you're not stupid .
Speaker 2Well , I mean there , I have my moments .
Speaker 1So we all do . We all do . We all have a stupid attack every now and then .
Speaker 2But that's the thing is , this wasn't even on stage where you can embarrass me in front of like 100 people . This was backstage , just talking , because I happened to bump into him . Yeah , I don't know what security guard wasn't paying attention , where , what handler wasn't watching , but I'm pretty hard to miss and I don't know him personally , but he's got to him and he's the most down to earth guy and he was . When we got to talking he said he want to explain it to me . It was like a light bulb went off and I said that's incredible . Then I asked him a question . I said what about fuel ? He said now you're asking the right question .
Speaker 2And we left the conversation . I think I was doing it , but he asked that question . Now you're asking the right question . So it does still lead back to sustainability . But when he said that , I just it was thought provoking and yeah , like , exactly as you said , it's a privilege . You know it is still a steel tube that we're getting into , but it is a privilege . I joke with people , you know sometimes just the fact that you know when people get on the plane they're like oh well , I'm going to turn left and I'm going to sit here and my bed is like this and the seats like this , and I just stop and go . It's a steel tube with wings on it . I just want to make sure you know that it's still a steel tube . The windows still the window , right , yeah , but what Richard Branson said and I'm not name dropping him just because of the no .
Speaker 1No , no , you've only said it like four or five times what Richard Branson ? Yeah , I know .
Speaker 2Yeah , I know , rich , how's it going , man , my buddy Richard , my buddy , my friend I didn't say my friend Richard , because I don't know who he is and I'm pretty sure his security has my picture up at Walton . Don't let this , don't let this maniac near him again .
Speaker 1Yeah , so all right let's , let's , move on to the next topic . Yep , yep , okay .
Speaker 2What is it ? What's the next topic ? The next one is one that you and I have experienced with Last met itinerary changes .
Speaker 1Ah , yes .
Speaker 2Guide not showing up or tour not showing up . All right you , you've been raring to go on this one , so go ahead , knock it , go ahead Send it .
Speaker 1Well , you know , again , it's a you know . I mean , yeah , there's always going to be that danger . I mean , you know , some people are going to flake out , some people are going to see the wrong day on the schedule , whether that's your client or the tour guide himself or your driver , or you know , sometimes you know if you're waiting at the airport to be picked up after your flight and you're not finding a driver or something , you know sometimes I mean we don't . I don't want to encourage people to like go down the whole rabbit hole of assuming the worst , but you know , sometimes there's car accidents , sometimes there's things that just happen . So don't just automatically assume that you've been dissed or that you've been dragged or that you've been forgotten or you know whatever . Think to the times . Maybe you've made the same mistakes where , like , I've looked at my calendar and been like , ready I've been , I have sat on the Zoom call waiting for the host to let me in and been like tapping that I was the host , like you know , going come on when I , and then I look at my you know , make sure I have the right Zoom link , and all that , and I was like , oh , I'm here on the wrong day . It's no wonder they're not letting me in , you know . So it's to take a deep breath , you know .
Speaker 1First off , let's make sure that we've got you know our itinerary correct , that we're where we're supposed to be on the right day . Then start making calls . Use the numbers that you've been provided . If you're a traveler , you know your travel advisor is probably giving you these numbers . They've probably told you protocol for how to go about handling these situations instead of just immediately hitting whoever you've got on speed dial . That's right .
Speaker 1You know , because that's not going to help . No , no , you just you know , calling to complain to somebody , Well , one that's not going to help for sure .
Speaker 2Especially if you're angry dialing or if you're basically tough talking through a phone . I mean , come on , right , right , yeah , what do we ? 13, ? I'll meet you at the playground after school . Yeah , exactly , exactly .
Speaker 1Well , you know , when you try to explain to people ahead of time , I mean like , look , there are shortages of guides , shortages of drivers . There are people that are doing this now that are inexperienced because they're new to this career , they're new hires in the industry and so they're still learning all the nuances and all of that . And yeah , I mean , when you're putting your money on the line , yes , you want the best service you know possible but at the same time .
Speaker 1I mean , you can ? There's only so much bandwidth , there's only so many guides , right , you know , everybody can't have the best guide , and the best is subjective .
Speaker 2Look , so maybe your friends , japan's a great example , yeah . Japan's a great example , right now , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly . I mean , I had some clients in Japan and they had a tour guide that didn't speak English . Right , right , that was not a problem , that's a problem .
Speaker 2That was not awesome . What ? Google Translate didn't work . You're going to chat GPT ? Yeah right .
Speaker 1That's what chat . Gpt might have done a better job , anyway , you know , but fortunately in that case they focused on all the rest of the parts of the trip that were awesome , right . And they were very understanding about it and they had heard what I had said prior to that , that you know the guide shortage , the inexperience , the everything else . I mean none of us were quite prepared for that much , but at the same time they handled it with grace .
Speaker 2Well , that's the right word . That's the right word grace .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , so yeah , so I think again . You know , in our last episode leading up to this , we talked about paying attention .
Speaker 2Right .
Speaker 1And this is , I think , a great thing you know to pay attention to , like pay attention to your itinerary , Look at each day , Look at exactly where you're supposed to be , at what time you're supposed to be there , Right , and all of that , and I think that that will help things go better . But at the same time , just know when you travel that you know some things are going to go wrong , Some things are going to be . You know I hate to use the word derailed because it makes it sound kind of catapulting , Catastrophic .
Speaker 2No , but that's . But . No , yeah , exactly , but that's a silver lining and all of it . I mean , come on , hello the Grand Bazaar , I stumble .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly , exactly , I mean sometimes you end up , you know , when you get a set on a different course . Right , let's say that you end up experiencing some things you might not have other .
Speaker 2That's right , that's exactly right .
Speaker 1You know , it's all about that mindset and but yeah , just go into it knowing there will be changes there will . And if you are one of those very fortunate people that comes out the other side and everything in your trip went really well and you had no delays and no like real problems , other than you had to fly overnight sitting up right , then you are really fortunate , Exactly .
Speaker 2Exactly . Look , and this is something that we're going
Tourism and Travel Industry Challenges
Speaker 2to be talking about . You know , one of our future episodes we've got this program dinner ready is you know the countries like , for example , japan that you mentioned ? Where there are ? You know there's new people . Tourism isn't the main lifeblood of the economy , right ?
Speaker 2I mean like , in case I'm quite India , right , india tourism , you know , 2019 , with 7% GDP , and that's even counting Indians coming back . If you count real tourism in a country of one and a half billion , almost two it's 1% , 2% of their economy . So , when you know , in a country like Japan , a country like India , when these people leave the industry during the pandemic and they left , they don't come back because they don't have to it's , you know , one in six jobs , or one in 10 jobs . Globally , is tourism based in countries like that . It's more like one in the hundred . Yeah , now you know you want to get it to one in 20 , one in 10 . So it's a more connected economy , obviously . However , they're not there yet and people , you know people have to understand it . So we shouldn't , as you said , we shouldn't freak out about it .
Speaker 2Focus on the stuff that worked Well , silver lining that that's really important Always pay attention to and you know what I mean . Look , you and I talk about this a lot as well . I mean the stuff that you and I do philanthropically when we're outside and stuff that we've seen in different countries . It could be a lot worse . You know it could be a lot worse . Yes , you didn't get the guide you want or the guide on language barrier .
Speaker 2Yes , I understand it shouldn't have happened , but that doesn't mean you know , first of all , it wasn't done intentionally . Secondly , there's circumstances beyond anybody's control that contributed to it . You know and you know I say this because I , for example , now this whole range of you know electric vehicles you start looking at the biggest concern is now build quality in these vehicles and everything else . It's the same thing , like you know , we're gonna . You know , for example , there's one particular company people complain nonstop about just how shoddy the build quality is . They're still buy them in drops . So you're clearly willing to accept mediocrity when it comes to that , but you won't do it here .
Speaker 2I'm not saying that we should accept it . I'm not saying at all that the case . But we should at least be able to understand , to process , to comprehend and then be able to react with information in hand , versus just firing both barrels and seeing , seeing well and then thinking later .
Speaker 1Yeah , exactly . And the other thing is , I think you just made a really good point without even knowing it . This is that you know if you are going . You know what's more important the price point or the quality .
Speaker 2Right .
Speaker 1You can't have both . Most of it Can't have both .
Speaker 2It's either done right or done cheap . Can't have both .
Speaker 1It's the same thing in travel . Like you can't have the private guide , the private driver , the first class air , the five star resort on the four star budget , that's right .
Speaker 2That's right . What's the price ? Champagne tour or beer budget ? You can't have that . If you want champagne , you got to pay for champagne . Exactly , that's exactly right . No , especially when it comes to communities . No , this is look and this is so . This is so key , right ? I mean , just because of the fact that you and I both know some of the same guys and we know what kind of duress they work in and hotel management , and it also says that we know kind of duress they work in and we know what they have to deal with and they're doing their best , right , they're so grateful to have you there , but they're doing their best . We have to remember that they had basically essentially , these are all basically global geekworks and lost their job for two years . Yeah , in case of Japan's three years , yeah , absolutely . You know there's some nervous that you get , yeah .
Speaker 1If you haven't done something for three years . And people that work in hospitality and in tourism do it because they love it Right . They do not do it for the glamour and the money .
Speaker 2No , no , no , look , this is coming from a guy in finance , right . I mean , I worked for a company that had trillion dollars in assets with a team , and I left because we couldn't make the type of social impact that we wanted to in this world . I was just disappointed with the type of social impact that they were set up for .
Speaker 2Yeah , you're right , it's not here because of glamour . It's not here because you're going to make billions , and you're here because you genuinely care about what you do and because you're making a viable impact , a positive , viable impact in the world . At times is the job Thankless , absolutely , but that's the minority . The majority of the time you're changing people's lives and you see their lives transforming , and right in front of you , and it's pretty cool to watch .
Speaker 1It is . It is . So what's your thing ? What are we going through ? We went through my two and took up way too much time .
Speaker 2No , no , that's so now ?
Speaker 1So now you have two minutes . Now I'm kidding , so well .
Speaker 2I mean , look , you've given some great examples , but I think my thing is the very next point on our list , and my thing is is because , when it comes to you know it's in the same vein , right , I mean it's just , you know , when you see itinerary changes , you see different things . You see what I get . It's like OK , yeah , it happens , but I think you and I come from the same plot . Where people start freaking out is when they start looking at headlines and they start thinking that , oh , the world's coming to an end . That one rule the sun comes up the next day .
Speaker 1Even if they're not , even if they're not picking up garbage , right , exactly , exactly . What's the ?
Speaker 2phrase is a great . There's a movie , the great , exotic Marigold's Hotel . Have you seen this movie ?
Speaker 1Oh , it was awesome .
Speaker 2I love . The line in this movie is awesome In the end , everything will be all right . It's not all right . It's not yet the end . The sun will come up . Until it doesn't , if it comes up the next morning , go on Like that , that's just it . Like , ok , you've got all these headlines that show up and that . Ok , whoa , let's take it , take it . No , it's a wonder why we're not all an antidepressants all at once . When you read this headlines Right Like I mean , you just have to stop and go .
Speaker 2And I had this conversation with someone and said OK , we have a choice and I'm not and I'm not downplaying people who are genuinely depressed . I'm not downplaying at any means . But I have a coffee at this place every morning , every Saturday morning . This is one particular barista that's back there who I get not annoyed .
Speaker 2I guess I'm disappointed with with how she behaves , because she freaks out about the smallest things . The last weekend was Taylor Swift tickets . I'm going to cry at the tickets . I just stopped and I literally had to stop . I go . Are we seriously talking about this ? Yeah , Is this really what you're worried about ? Then it's shifted to Disney . Oh well , what's going to happen with Disney and this and that I have to stop ?
Speaker 2And I said again , I'm trying to enjoy my coffee , but I had to chime in here and I you know , you know me , I just can't help myself .
Speaker 1I just I can't it . Just you know the world would like . Well , like you just said , works cut from the same clock . I resemble that remark . You know what , you know what ?
Speaker 2I told yeah , I resemble it too .
Speaker 2And I told my family this I said at one point someday I'm going to get my butt whooped in an airport somewhere . I'm going to get absolutely just work . Somebody's going to beat me up and kick my butt and you know what ? They were the most deserved butt kicking in my entire life . I will have deserved it . I will have , but I will . I will have gotten my mental punches in before I get my physical body beaten up . I would have . I will take it like a man because I will have fully deserved it . I said , yeah , I deserved it . I did .
Speaker 1You're saying that sarcasm is your love language .
Speaker 2It is totally . It is totally . I see somebody who's just not you know . I mean , just like taking candy for a baby when you just see like , all right , my brain needs to work out , let's go , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1Oh yeah . Well , I don't want to be there to witness that , Okay .
Speaker 2But this is one that this barista is just going crazy about . Well , we're looking what's happening with Disney and look what's happening with this and that , and you have to stop and go . Okay , listen , it's Saturday morning . It's a beautiful day outside . I'm having this amazing coffee . I'm having this amazing breakfast . Let's , let's just take a step back
Maintaining Perspective in an Overwhelming World
Speaker 2, yeah .
Speaker 1Yeah , and so I sort of take your , take your head out of the news cycle for just a minute Right , look at your surroundings , look at the people that you have in your life , that you love them and like just the gratitude thing . Let's look at the , let's look at the good for a bit . Well , so I couldn't help myself .
Speaker 2I stopped and said you know Taylor Swift can't hear you , but I can't myself . I couldn't help myself . I said Taylor Swift can't but I can . And I just stopped and said you are going on about these things . I started talking about some of the things that we see around the world and you and I both see right people really suffering , yeah , and I said they would wish that Taylor Swift was the biggest problem . They would wish that seeing Disney getting into a lawsuit with the state governor is the worst thing to happen . It's not , it's just like it's the icing on the cake . What they're going through is a thousand , a million times , even infinite times , worse , yeah , and we have to take stock of that . So so the things we shouldn't freak out about .
Speaker 1My thing is Disney versus the world . Yeah , I think that that is that's such a good point about . You know , just thinking about what information we're taking in , are we checking ? Is it credible information and are are we just taking it at its word ? And just reading the headlines , and this guy is falling Right Right .
Speaker 2Exactly , exactly and well , not only . And then the other part is like okay , how does this actually impact any of us ? Yeah , okay , it may have an impact tax bill , wise , if you live in Florida , but beyond that , does it impede you from getting out of bed the next morning ? Does it impede you from living your life ? Right , if something impedes you from living your life , I agree , do something about it .
Speaker 1But if it's not impeding you , okay .
Speaker 2Bob Iker is not going to , is going to be 10 cents . You know the stock price is going to be 10 cents low , which means he won't be a trillion here , he'll be a billion there . All right , cool , I'm okay with that . You know , I mean for .
Speaker 2Bob , exactly like it's just you know and we have to . You know the thing that , the thing that , and I asked this person is . I said , okay , you're freaking out about Disney . Let me ask you a question Do you have kids ? She's like no . I said do you have any ? She said yes , yes , young ones , yes . Would you take him to school to go see Mickey Mouse ? Well , of course I go . Well , this conversation is over . Yeah , if you're . If you're , if you would still go to see to the mouse , you would still go to the mouse house , you still go to see Mickey that mouse . By the way , forget the Treasury Secretary . That mouse is the most powerful person .
Speaker 1All right , so okay , here's . Here's what we've solved the world's problems today . Mickey Mouse will be in charge of the world's problems , and chip play will take over the US government . Well , all will be well in the world .
Speaker 2I just I just want to hear . I just want to hear somebody come and say here's your talk to me .
Speaker 1But oh my gosh .
Speaker 2But I think that that's just it , like I mean , when we start looking at these again , it's the same thing . We're talking about airlines itinerary changes . We started demonizing something like Disney or even not just Disney but large corporations as a whole , Right .
Speaker 2So I mentioned you . I'm a recent member of our global tourism council and we we've had people come up there and talk about just demonizing large companies like Disney and saying they're the problem , Stannibalism is not happening . And we have to stop them and say listen , what intent jobs worldwide come from tourism and if they're done the right way they're , they're contributing quite well . Yes , are there places to improve ? Absolutely , but it's not like lack of trying .
Speaker 2What's happening between Disney and any state government , whatever the case . Look , whatever's happening is beyond our pay grade . Whatever is happening is tit and tat back for the back and forth , I mean we have to .
Speaker 2We can't lose track of the fact that the former CEO of Disney lost his job because of this fight and then the old CEO came back , right , so something , whatever is happening is bigger than than what you and I see . Right , it's bigger than what the headlines see . What we're getting is a snapshot . We have to believe that this goes 20 feet below that , and there's so much more to this news that because otherwise we would have heard about it for 30 years you think about any kind of strife anywhere in the world , whether it's political , whether it's economic , whether it's geopolitical . It's something that has been in place for 40 years , whether it's Kashmir , whether it is , you know , a civil dispute between the , you know Falkland Islands or whatever the case . It's been there for decades . Yeah , yeah , this hasn't been an issue for decades . This just happened this year . Yeah , so clearly something is brewing that we don't know .
Speaker 2So what are we doing ? Freaking out about it ? Right , sun's up , the sun's come out the next day . It's painting across my face like a zebra right now , but it's there , and I think we can't lose stock of that , especially considering what you and I have seen in this one . Look , I leave for Columbia . Tomorrow I'm going back to see these things again , and I figured you would be , but I think that's just that's what this , that's what makes this so important , that's what makes this where . You know , we just like I said , we need to make sure we don't lose track of this . We don't lose track of what's perspective , right , and that's , I guess , what we're saying here , right ? Is it ? Things we shouldn't freak out about ? Is that we should never lose perspective of what's around us .
Speaker 2Did I get that right ?
Speaker 1Absolutely , absolutely it is . It's not worth freaking out about things . And well , the bottom line is you know , if you have no control over it , you really can't . Well , you can , but you shouldn't , right , right .
Speaker 2Well , if they are , I will ask all those people freaking out . Would Richard Branson ask me are you stupid or just not paying attention ?
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , he could get away with saying that , yeah , I can't , I might get punched .
Speaker 2I told you , if I get my butt kicked in the airport , I'm going to earn it . It'll be something . I want to earn this . And you know what , if I earn it , I mean it's yeah , look , it's one where I I don't know what you call it . I mean , you and I have cut the same part , in this sense that we if we some sort of it is they see some sort of an injustice happening where somebody is just treating somebody poorly , we're going to stand up and say something . We're going to stand up and say something because it's just not right .
Speaker 2As you said , it's a machine that made this decision , but there's a human being now paying the price for that , that person getting a verbal lashing for something that is out of their control . Right , you know , we're all humans . We're going to make mistakes as human error . Right , I mean , that's just it , you know . I mean , if we could think about it , right , if we didn't make mistakes wouldn't discover things like peanut butter and jelly . You know , who's the person that made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ? Who's the person that made that sandwich and said , well , this is cool , you know what the heck happened by accident .
Speaker 1How did you have to have a accident ? I can see that one a lot more than I can the first person that ate an oyster . That person had to be stung .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , or or or or not . Pay attention . Oh , it's sliding inside of a large shell . That's , this must be fun . Let's pry it open .
Speaker 1Okay , now we are really down around the whole now .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah , yeah , don't freak out , it's okay .
Speaker 1I think , I think we better call it quits for today , we better call it quits over .
Speaker 2Well , definitely . Look then for our first episode of things we shouldn't freak out about . I think we covered a lot of ground and probably set the things we probably shouldn't have so to everybody who was listening . We hope you enjoyed everybody else .
Speaker 1I'm sorry , not sorry , yeah yeah , I guess we'll come back . Come back next time . We'll have some more , have some more things you should not freak out about .
Speaker 2Well , we're going to be doing this every month . Every month , we're going to be having a new episode that talks about things we shouldn't freak out and and as you guys listen , if you guys like it , you know , chime in , let us know that you like it . You know where to find us on Spotify and on Apple and on Amazon , you know and just take a listen and maybe , if nothing else , you've heard this episode and all the other episodes we've talked about . You know big successes in small places , and we've talked about perspectives . We're always designed to be able to illustrate what happens when you lose perspective . Yeah , things we shouldn't freak out about .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2So , robin , any final words before we sign off .
Speaker 1No , I think we've covered it all , she's and then some .
Speaker 2I don't know . I don't even want to know how big copyrights we've finished on this one .
Speaker 1All right till next time .
Speaker 2All right , thanks again . I appreciate it . Robin , appreciate the time to have a real listening . Thanks again . See you next time . Take care , all right .
Speaker 1Thanks , bye . Adventure and Expedition Travel Planning Company specializing in un-Google-global experiences .
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