– “You see, but you do not observe.” – Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson in A Scandal in Bohemia
– “I’m aware of my tongue!” – Linus to Lucy in Peanuts
I used to travel on business and take pride in the fact that I would fly in and out of a place I’d never been and say I had worked the entire time and made no time to enjoy anything that city had to offer, other than possibly a good steak and too many martinis. When once, in my hubris, I was explaining my spartan methods to a new boss and soon-to-be life mentor, Bob, he simply responded that he had decided long ago that no company would mind if one carved out an hour on the way to the airport to see Times Square, a Civil War battle site, the Gibson guitar factory, or drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. Chastened, I’ve followed that advise ever since.
My favorite method to enjoy another U.S. city is to go out to dinner with a colleague … at the ball park if the local team is home. I’ve never been turned down when I suggested that, instead of brooding over contract details in a dark restaurant, we watch fly balls from the cheap seats over a foot-long tube steak. Funny how much smoother the negotiations seem to go. In the winter I’ll take a quick spin through a museum, or simply drive through an historic area. A few trips ago I had a half day in Philadelphia, but still made time to walk to lunch near the Liberty Bell and spent five minutes looking at that symbol of our nation’s freedom. Anything to get a flavor of a new town.
Whenever I travel out of the country, I try to remain aware that it could very well be the last time I visit that country I’m working in. I always resolve to, at least once a day, slow my mind down and remind myself where I am, and how the culture is so much different than my own, and how fortunate I am to experience these things on someone else’s dime, regardless of how hard I’m working. Invariably, these are the moments that provide the strongest memories upon my return, particularly if I can make time to include a picture or two with those moments. Years later I may look at a picture and have to think before I remember that it’s a photo of Hong Kong harbor, or the river Rhone in Arles. If the photo is connected with one of those moments of reverie, however, it becomes a catalyst for a flood of detail and memory that is the undying by-product of staying aware of the great fortune that is travel.
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