To Fly

The bird so high in a blue sky,

No wings flapping, moving smoothly in flight.

The trail it leaves marks a path,

From one destination to another.

To see from so high, so very high,

A world so small, its largeness so immense.

I long for a return to flight,

To see a world I thought I once knew.

From feet in the cool green grass,

Gazing to see a bird so free in flight.

Longing for the lift to let the dew release,

Seeing the curve of my earthly wonder.

My flight will return, to soar above the birds,

To feel the air beneath my feet.

Rising above the noise and chaos,

To return and nest in the comfort of a lover.

-- Stay inspired my friends.

Our Traveled Road

“Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.” - Dag Hammarskjold

The part of the United States in which I grew up was mid-western farmland. The landscapes was huge and wide expanses of corn, soybean and wheat fields. Farm homes dotted the landscape like stars in the sky.

To get from one location to another, country roads are on a grid of one mile squares which made it unlikely to get lost. This pattern of roads is like a checkerboard table cloth your Mom would spread on a picnic table.

The familiarity of home was never too far away.

Yet each road could lead to any place and each road could lead back to where you started. My early years of growing up were a series of these square one mile sections that would slowly expand further and further. One of these roads near my home always intrigued me.

It was a section of road which led down a bluff towards what is called Cedar Lakes and the adjoining Platte River. It was a slow curved dirt road dug deep into the hill with trees lining each side that seemed to reach the clouds.

I imagined great and exciting things awaiting me on the other end.

This was a road that generated great expectation. A road that would not allow me to see what was on the other end but a road, a simple curved road leading to the river which also led to something greater.

Each of us have a similar road in our life. It is a road to our dreams and future. It may seem like we never get past the winding curve of that road but it is a road leading us to our destination.

All we have to do is keep traveling our road.

We keep moving forward, around the bend and following the stars that await. You may not see the horizon far out beyond your reach and what you might see is yet another bend in the road. But your road leads somewhere. Be surprised, be trusting that there is a road to take you where you want to be.

Stay inspired my friends!

Road Less Traveled

"The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind." - Maya Angelou

There is an old saying which goes, "if you are going down a beaten path, then it isn't yours." There are so many paths we can take in life and sometimes the well worn and used path is not the one we should be taking. In fact, to have a full and great life, we may need to take the one less traveled. That type of path just might lead you to greatness.

If we take a new path, new adventures, new opportunities and unexpected situations will mold us into something much better. We will find ourselves in the chaos of adapting to the unknown. And it will not be easy to make this choice.

Just know that quite a few people make this same choice on a daily basis. You are not alone in your choice. Greatness can come from the unexpected simply by taking the road less traveled.

Stay inspired my friends.

The Old Man in Seat 12B

"Respect your elders: they graduated high school without Google or Wikipedia!" -Unknown

I had boarded the flight early as I normally do, settling into seat 12C. As I fly quite frequently, my airline status allows me to board early. It is a seat on the aisle near the front of the plane, one of my favorite spots. The location can be great for people watching as seasoned flyers and first timers all jostle down the narrow aisle looking for their assigned seat.

Today would be no different I thought, a normal flight to Boston, my usual routine. After settling in I would get my headphones on, my iPad opened to my favorite music and settle in for two hours of reading. Yet today would be a day when I would not do the usual, for the old man in 12B would delight my day.

He found a way to place his items in the overhead compartment and fumbled a bit getting into his seat. My thoughts at first were that he was new to flying. It also seemed odd with his crumpled trench coat, a well used jacket but neatly finished with an outdated tie. By the leathery look of his skin and deep wrinkles, I imagined his age to be well into his eighties.

As I finished up some business on my iPhone, he gestured and remarked at how connected we are these days. He certainly wasn't against technology but he said we never seem to talk anymore or better yet, we never seem to listen to each other much anymore. So with that, I shut off my phone, put away my iPad and headphones in order to listen.

The lady in 12A was not too sure what to think of this old gentleman as he told me his tales. She had a look of skepticism on her face but to me, I found him fascinating. The stories of his travels to many parts of the world having worked for a large mining company were amazing. But many times he and his wife of nearly sixty years traveled for leisure.

They would travel many times to South America, taking in the adventures that traveling outside of your comfort zone can be. He gave me detailed depictions of the places they had been; the food, the music and the people. Remembering those travels with his wife brought a smile to his face.

You see, she had died three years ago when cancer came back a second time. Quietly he spoke not to me but to his own thoughts about her. It was ongoing medical work that had him heading to Boston from Charleston, South Carolina where he lived. The day was nearly half over and the flight only forty-five minutes from landing when he drifted into sleep.

I sat and thought of the stories he had told me. Much of what was said could have been gleaned from National Geographic magazines or any local library. I am sure the lady in 12A felt he was spinning a tale. But I chose to believe the old man in 12B. I chose to allow his adventures to inspire me to seek more out of life.

He passed onto me what he knew; a real Tango in Argentina, seeing Table Mountain from a boat offshore of Capetown, having high tea in the lobby of the Peninsula Hotel while in Hong Kong, or taking in a Turkish bath at the Danubius Hotel Gellert in Budapest. Each one was crystal clear in his descriptions and it appeared that he wanted to pass his joy of each one to me.

The plane landed and as all travelers do, we go our separate ways. I shook his hand and thanked him for the conversation. He never gave me his name, but he smiled and thanked me for my time, for listening I suppose. As I left though he said to me, "find more time to experience the adventure of life."

I learned a lot from an elderly man in seat 12B. I learned about living life from a man I will probably never see again. I learned by listening.

Stay inspired my friends.

Travel with Purpose

Pilgrim statue by Jose María Acuña in front of Parador de San Marcos - LEON, SPAIN

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." ~Maya Angelou

I am fortunate enough in life that my job gives me the opportunity to travel all around the world. It certainly isn't every week or even every month that I travel abroad, but so many places I have seen.

Some of these places I have been able to share with my wife. Others I have had to document in pictures and stories for her and those that I know. The world is still quite large in spite of how small it seems at times.

The statue above reminded me of the pilgrimage all of us are on. The journey to something in life that requires us to sit and reflect at times. A short rest from the travel we endure each and every day.

It could be your daily pilgrimage around your hometown or possibly across state. Where ever the road leads you in life, I have found people are pretty much the same as you and I are.

People all around the world, from where I am today in Shenzhen, China across the globe to my home in Atlanta, Georgia; all are living life the best way they know how. Each of us get up in the morning and get ready for work. If we have kids, we are getting them off to school. We are battling traffic to get to our job or running to catch a bus or train.

The work goes on, the lunch time routine and back home to make supper or shop for groceries; it remains the same for all of us. If we look beyond ourselves, we'll find that our similarities outnumber the differences. The languages might be different, the cultures not understood, but the act of living is the same.

I might be the only red-headed Irish-German within 100 miles of Shenzhen. Although there was the teen with brightly painted red hair walking down the street. But as you can see, even young people go through their phases across the cultures and generations.

If we take the time to look beyond ourselves, to look beyond the distance and cultural differences, maybe we can work things out. The arguments and disagreements will still occur; even our own families argue. Yet to understand each other a little better could go a long way in making life a little better.

Travel with purpose to understand those near to you and those far from you. The journey will take us to a better life, a better way of living and a better tomorrow.

Journey Home

Phil Richards - Long Journey Home

"When we are sure that we are on the right road there is no need to plan our journey too far ahead. No need to burden ourselves with doubts and fears as to the obstacles that may bar our progress. We cannot take more than one step at a time." ~Orison Swett Marden

When we start out on a path towards something new and exciting in our life, it appears a thousand miles long. We even wonder if we are on the right path at all. The questions cloud our mind and cause us to second guess our ability to even proceed.

It is a cruel trick we play on ourselves that is called self doubt. Self doubt is the "ball and chain" attached to our life that prevents us from proceeding with the journey. It slows us and attempts to hold us in one place, never to find what is at our journey's end.

You can rid yourself of this self doubt and continue your travel. But the path may create indecision when a crossroads appears before you. Now you have to make a decision to go left or go right. Do I take the well worn path or the road less taken? Indecision will try to stall you and keep you from moving forward. But you can overcome it by simply choosing and taking on your decision with excitement of the unknown.

We all learn eventually that our journey of life is pretty much an unknown. It is how we choose to travel along the path that will dictate if it is an enjoyable or miserable one. And our paths are so different from each other, we have to love our own path and not covet the other.

When we finally settle into our journey of life, the excitement of where it will end up is replaced by excitement of the journey itself. At that point, we come to realize that the journey is really a journey home. Whether 999 miles remain to be traveled or only a single mile, enjoy every step along the way. Know full well that home awaits you.

Begin to enjoy the travel, step by step, mile by mile to the journey's end.

Christmas Travel

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is that time of year when people will travel all over to celebrate the season. There will be short car drives to Grandmother's home. There will be people travelling by bus, boat, airplanes and trains. In all, we each will travel with wishes of a happy and wonderful time.

We save our good heart for those at the far end of our travel plans. What we tend to forget is to carry that good heart in the open as we travel. If we fret and fuss at people along the path of our journey, it effects the end result. The destination will be clouded by your trip.

Everyone along the way is striving to have a happy holiday. But many along the way are either working or travelling such as yourself. There are frustrations each of us carry; the crowds, the delays, the weather and the attitude. Many of those frustrations are out of our control.

What is under our control is the attitude. We can each control our attitude when facing the inevitable obstacles. By knowing that 'life' happens ahead of time, we can better handle the circumstances that might befall us. A better attitude, a smile or carrying the beautiful feeling on the outside will spread to others. You can not change them, but you can help change the atmosphere.

In a more beautiful travel atmosphere, the possibilities are endless. The time spent travelling becomes a greater experience. It allows you to start the time at your destination on a positive note. The stories you will tell bring out the greater stories in others.

Travel in a better mood by carrying your heart on the outside. It will cause you to be a better person while spreading the beauty to those around you.

Travel Safely

For those that do not travel a lot may not have some of the 'built-in sensors' as someone that travels quite a lot. Myself, most of the traveling has always employed various ways of making sure I'm safe. There is always the possibility of something happening, whether it be in your own country or when traveling abroad.

A recent article in Executive Travel Magazine, psychologist Terry Riley provides twelve travel tips. The tips talk about 'traveling overseas', yet I've always felt regardless of where you travel, it is always a good idea to be careful in unfamiliar locations.

So here are Mr. Riley's twelve tips. For more, find and read his books 'Travel Can Be Murder', 'C.H.A.R.M. School' and 'The Complete Travel Diet'.

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12. Don’t go.
Granted, this is really a ‘don’t travel’ tip, but it bears mentioning. If you genuinely feel that you could be in danger by traveling to your destination, don’t go. Applying some creativity may lead you to find another way to accomplish your business goal without having to make an in-person visit. It’s not worth risking your life to advance your career.

11. Know where to go and how to get there.
Before you leave home, contact a friend, colleague or government official who is familiar with your destination and can give you the skinny on how to get around. Study a map of the area to plot out your routes ahead of time, and take the map with you. (Important corollary to this tip: Know what places to avoid and how to circumvent them.)

10. Pack a “survival” kit.
My kit includes a small flashlight (in case of power failure), duct tape (to prevent smoke from entering a hotel room where I might have to await rescue from a fire) and, of course, a cell phone (that will work at my destination).

9. Get your rest, and avoid alcohol and other drugs.
Travelers who are confused, tired, drunk or doped up are easy prey. Combine any of these vulnerabilities and your chances of being victimized increase substantially.

8. Keep a low profile.
Affluent Americans and employees of American corporations are prime targets when traveling internationally. Don’t advertise your wealth, citizenship or company affiliation. Leave expensive jewelry at home, cover your identification and remove your company’s logos from your clothing and luggage.

7. Travel light, and keep moving.
Criminals prefer stationary and slow-moving targets—the expression is “sitting ducks”—so you want to be able to move smartly along your way. Carry only what you need in transit. If you have excess luggage or cumbersome items to transport, ship them in advance.

6. Make eye contact.
Develop a habit of looking around and making eye contact with others—especially those behind you. A strong deterrent to crime is the possibility of being caught. A criminal is way more likely to be caught if he knows he can be identified.

5. Stay with others.
Criminals prefer lone targets. There is safety in numbers, even if those numbers include strangers.

4. Protect your identity.
When you make reservations, use only your first initial and last name. Even if you’re a cautious traveler, few things will disarm you more than a stranger calling your name. While you are trying to figure out how you know the guy who called out to you, he may be figuring out how to snatch your goodies. And, if you are a woman, using only your first initial means advance notice of your gender is denied to anyone who may be lying in wait.

3. Trust your instincts.
Listen to your internal danger alert system, and act on its warnings. In most cases, it won’t let you down.

2. Never trust others to manage your safety.
You are ultimately responsible for your personal safety while traveling.

1. Never trust others to manage your safety.
This tip is so important it bears repeating: Only you are responsible for your safety -- no one else.
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“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” Clifton Fadiman

Believe In

One of the pleasures of my job is getting to meet people from all around the world. The varied places that I travel allow me to connect with different cultures and different attitudes. So when I am going about my day, I try to impact as many people as possible in positive ways.

Passing along a smile or kind word is a simple thing to do. Or many times, the universally appreciated 'kind' ear to listen to them. Maybe is only brightens their moment or 'nudges' them in the direction of a greater life. Some times it impacts their life in life changing ways.

Most of the time we will never know. But the 'not knowing' is where the 'believing' comes in. Believing that you do help and impact peoples lives. That you do help create change in their world.

It is then up to that individual to accept your positive message or gesture, to make movement and begin to believe as well.

Your Field

Recently I listened to a speaker talk about your sphere of influence. That area or impact that you can have on those that enter or pass through your life. Taken in its simplest form, as you go about life, your family, friends, co-workers, people at the store you shop in, where you buy your gas, church and everything you do.

During these moments of interaction when you speak, the way you conduct yourself and the way you respond is a chance to impact another life. If you think about it, everywhere you go you create a sphere of influence. As the saying goes, "wherever you go, there you are" and so is your ability to impact people.

What all of this means is that your influence and ability to impact people moves with you. In example, I will be leaving on a business trip to India in the near future. Many would say to me that I'll be out of my comfort zone, out of my environment. But my environment is all around me where ever I go. I carry my own environment and people I come across are coming into my field as it is called.

A field you may wonder? I'll talk more about that next time I write. Just know that as you move about in your daily life, that where ever you go, you can have impact on others. Try not to lose any opportunity to engage and create change.