The core of business

Sometimes, when I lie weary from all the travels I have done, I wonder where the fun has gone.  Where is the excitement that spurred me to wake up at two in the morning to catch a 5:00 a.m. flight? I must have lost my sense of adventure when places became familiar and lost their mystery.  Perhaps from one suitcase, plane seat, boat ride and bus stop to another, routine has overtaken the anticipation of the unexpected in anon-patterned  course.

Business trips are simply those, business, unless there is a conscious effort to add in the pleasure in every  leg.

As one continues to travel, one notices that delicacies that used to beckon us to a place are already available in the malls, making shopping for them easier  likewise reducing the weight of take home baggage that air carriers have trimmed down. 

Tourist destinations also show similarities.  Albeit being picturesque and enchanting,  places have shown a similarity in style and art and sometimes in its approach and treatment as a destination.  It could be because it is all in the same country or at least Asia and cultures have intertwined although there are distinct characteristics that make a place different and still worth exploring.

Business thrives in the movements of people.  When tourists come in and spend, when businessmen and women sieve through the different economies and participate in trade, money changes hands and increase in the registers.

What really keeps people going back to a place is simple.  It is the very same ingredient that keeps business in motion and the very same principle that keeps relationships.  The reliability of people, the hospitality and pleasant engagements that individuals make .

Why do we return to a place?  Aside from the sights it is really the people we have had the opportunity to bond with that makes a trip more enjoyable.

Recently, some of my friends and I have covered an event in Iloilo City.  The place is quiet and relaxing.  It is peaceful and rich in history.  Every place has a section like that.  What was really  interesting about the trip wasn’t  what we witnessed or the sites we visited, the laughter and the fun, the crazy poses and pauses we took with people who were good company was what really made the hassle of travelling utterly  joyful.  Even if the reason for wandering was mainly business we found gratification in the moment of suspended privacy where we could talk with friends and know each other even deeper even if business was in the main platter. 

In the various exchanges we have we know who to keep, who to let go and who to open wider doors to.  We know who delivers, who dodges and who is worth our time.  Challenging negotiations, win-win solutions,  meaty debates and shared perspectives, open avenues for better conversations, and more profound  friendships and stable relationships.    People, friends are worth the exhaustion that beats us at the end of the day.  They are gifts from God, the true gears that propel the cogs of business and life. So we rest easy and pull ourselves together ‘til the next flight.