Travel as a Tool: Why You Need to be Global

I’ve long been a global business person. And even though I think the globalized world that we know and love is ending (read Peter Zeihan’s work), it’s still worth thinking beyond your own home country. I’ve been very fortunate to have a global career since I left Canada and blessed with parents who gave me opportunities and encouraged me to travel around the world as a young child. I spent time in Taiwan as a young kid, traveled to Japan for a school trip and through playing violin and viola for youth orchestra got me trips to England and Wales as a young high school kid. It stuck and showed me how big the world really was beyond Canada and the USA. 

It’s a tool to get you out of your routines and comfort zone and helps drive creativity in your brain because of the new inputs of new environments, cultures and language. You are literally blind, deaf and dumb as you can’t read or understand the language around you. It’s a forced discomfort. This is helpful to practice your skills of adoption and being comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

It’s a tool to get you a new perspective and reframe your thoughts and ideas. In fact, if you end up with a massive disappointment in life like the break up of a romantic relationship,  business failure or whatever it is, it really makes sense to leave the environment you spend all your time in. Go to a new city or country and this distance can help you deal with it.

It’s a tool to help you manage your personal finances. You don’t need a lot of money to do this unless you only travel first class, eat at Michelin Star restaurants and stay at 5 star hotels. I try to keep my needs very low, have limited interest in luxury goods and basically am just not that fancy. As long as a place is convenient, clean and I can safely leave my stuff in the room it’s fine. In many of the places I go to, the US dollar goes much further. So I get more stuff for less costs. Geo-arbitrage at its finest. San Francisco is ridiculously expensive, so while it's important to be there for my business some of the time,  when I travel I usually end up spending less money in general. I can take the savings and invest it. It also enables me to put more money against the charities I support.  

It’s a tool to help you increase your quality of life. I don’t look at relocating or traveling for tax advantage, although it can be. But this is not my goal. I travel because I set up my business specifically to be able to do this. I love living in San Francisco (most of the time) but I have a set routine & habits there which leads to a drop off in energy and creativity if I am there for too long. I basically get bored. 

I love a wide variety of foods, nature, ideas and frankly seeing and talking with people from different cultures, economies and industries. These things give me energy but also give me new ideas and perspectives. Being a good investor means you literally have to “Think Different” as per the old Apple advertisement back in 1997 (yes, I am old). Hard to think differently if you are seeing the same things as others and talking with the same people, especially in a cultural bubble like Silicon Valley. 

Travel is an incredibly valuable tool for business and it’s a great way to make your life better. 

The reason travel is important in life is as Marcel Proust said: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

And I would add from Saint Augustine: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” 

Travel can become a great advantage for you career wise as most people just want to stay where they are due to the comfort of home. It is also one of the most fulfilling and fun things you will ever do in life. So get your passport and get on it!