so one of my heroes a man by the name of
Al
humboldt said over 200 years ago the
most dangerous world view is the
worldview of those who have never viewed
the world let me share a quick story
about a trip I took that completely
changed my worldview it was 2007 I was
with my best buddy and now business
partner Greg and we bought a ticket into
Delhi and a ticket out of Mumbai nothing
planned in between for six weeks and the
way that we traveled was we’d meet
interesting people and basically
convinced them to introduce us to their
interesting friends so a disciple of
Vedanta up in Rishikesh sent us to meet
his guru down in Pune a successful
shopkeeper in Agra sent us all the way
down to Cochin to meet his friend who
started an import-export business out of
200 square feet and turned it into 200
thousand square feet and the list goes
on and on but one person that sticks
with me in particular is a guy by the
name of Dinesh Greg and I were in Kerala
and we decided to carve out a day to go
hiking in one of its tallest peaks
Dinesh was our guide and over the course
of that morning we got to know Dinesh I
remember asking him at some point Dinesh
is guiding your passion he responded
candidly no sir well the nationís
guiding isn’t your passion it’s not your
life’s purpose what is I’m an artist sir
I love to paint
well Greg and I love art would it be
possible for us to see some of your work
and at that moment it was as if no one
had ever asked him that question before
his eyes grew wide and he responded
excitedly can I show you and so we
hopped in the truck and drove the
backroads of Kerala past groves of
coconut palms little tiny villages and
on the outskirts of a speck of a village
there was a speck of a house smack dab
in the middle of a Coconut Grove as we
hopped out of that truck I remember
Dinesh’s mother and father and wife
greeting us they led us to the back
patio of their humble home and Dinesh’s
mother was there picking fresh fruit
for trees and squeezing it into a
deliciously sweet juice all of us drank
now as we finished that juice we said
okay Dinesh it’s time to see this
artwork of yours and he led us into his
bedroom literally the size of an
extra-large dining room table and we sat
on the edge of his twin size bed the
only piece of furniture in that room and
as I looked up all of his walls were
covered in his art and he’d take a piece
off and show it to us and put it back on
in another piece and explain the
inspiration behind it and although I can
say that Dinesh had not quite mastered
his craft he was so proud and all of us
were smiling and we all walked away from
that experience changed for the better
Travel is indeed the best form of
Education and what that first trip to
India taught me that was by forging deep
human connections with others that’s the
antidote to fear
that’s the elixir to a richer life now
there’s some really really good news
more people are traveling in the world
today than ever before
Travel is the seventh largest industry
it’s the third fastest growing at the
high-end over a trillion dollars are
spent on luxury experiences and the
younger generations are just
accelerating this shift as they prefer
experience over things but it’s also not
without its hurdles it seems like every
single day across all of our screens
images of terrorism disease epidemic
political strife economic uncertainty
they create a narrative that this world
is a scary and dangerous place causes
people to not want want to walk out
their front doors every morning let
alone hop on a plane and jump halfway
across the world and we know that in
times of uncertainty travel and tourism
is often the first sector to get hit we
don’t have to look too far to see the
devastation in Egypt what’s happened in
Paris the UK
Africa as they had to deal with Ebola or
the Caribbean with Zika even in the
United States the political climate and
this narrative of unwelcome nests is
costing this country billions of dollars
but there’s some also some really really
good news and I believe that with
uncertainty first off with uncertainty
stopping a travel it it doesn’t only
cause economic implications ceasing to
travel really pulls the plug on that
which makes us human travel bridges the
education and cultural gaps if fosters
shifts in perspective it fuels curiosity
empathy tolerance respect understanding
and when we stop traveling that’s when
ignorant sets in that’s when even hatred
of now faceless cultures happens at the
end of the day it’s just a lot easier to
push that red button and drop bombs on
people that we don’t know now I know
it’s important for the industry to make
sure that we’ve got heads and beds we
got butts in seats that were increasing
our rev par and our ADR I just believe
there’s so much more at stake there’s
such a larger opportunity I believe that
travel has the opportunity become the
most important and successful engine of
political economic social cultural and
educational progress and understanding
in the history of modern times so what
can we do
what can we do to not only move the
industry and travel forward but change
the trajectory of importance of travel
on the world stage I believe it starts
with one thing we have to help people
fear less fear less by getting them to
travel and deeper richer more meaningful
ways ways that transforms lives
communities and ultimately the planet we
live on
we have to remind ourselves every single
day why travel really matters so that we
can infuse it into everything that we do
and everyone that we touch so let me
show you one example of why travel
really matters at first I was nervous it
has a butterflies and I really do not
know what to expect
how’s it gonna be over there I’ve never
been anywhere but outside my house I was
looking at pictures to prepare myself
for it
I felt like Phil’s a dream I couldn’t
believe I was there
[Music]
first time ever traveling run as my
first minute plane for sensing the
oceans specific first meets uh I’ve
always wanted to but I’ve never had the
opportunity so we went to this very it
was local very small school it really
made me cherish and appreciate my
education because I got to see what it
was like here and what the conditions
were there’s one thing we knew of that
travel it’s one of those endeavors that
makes you feel alive and the reason why
it makes you feel alive is because it
puts you in places that are
uncomfortable and unfamiliar it was like
way beyond beautiful it was like things
you can’t explain so a feeling you have
inside these things you can’t explain
it’s really a unique combination of
events that gets them out of their
comfort zone and that’s why when they
come back it is so moving
it is so reaffirming of the power travel
once I got like through the trip I
didn’t want to come back and he would
sleep on my last day just because I was
pretty sad that he had it it’s okay I
think to appreciate things in life was
the thing that I brought back from Costa
Rica and I mean the whole experience
just made me open my eyes I would really
want to do something so I could give
back the educational component and then
also this notion of when you get
something you have to give something
back is what makes learning a part
unique I actually want to go back to
this Rica when I have the chance I don’t
want to go back
[Music]
first time seeing the ocean those
students live in Oakland California 15
miles away from the Pacific Ocean and to
appreciate things in life the other
student said his parents make a combined
household income $20,000 a year last
year we sent 250 students on trips like
this but imagine what this world would
be like if we could send a million
students on trips like this it would
completely change the fabric DNA and
narrative of this country of ours this
of this world that we live in so what
can we do what can we do to help this
world rise above fear pack its bags and
keep traveling I believe there’s five
things that we can do to at least get
started
the first is travel every single day
travel isn’t something you do two weeks
out of the year for vacation or what you
do for a business trip Travel happens
the second you walk out your front door
every morning it’s a mindset a mindset
about being curious open-minded willing
to get outside of your comfort zone and
stretch yourself in addition to counting
the number of countries you go to why
not start counting the number of kitchen
tables in those countries or the next
time you hop in a taxi or an uber or a
lift it’s really easy to pull out your
iPhone and start tapping away at that
next email how about next time you look
at the name of the driver and guess
where he or she’s from and then get on
your phone and type in top ten phrases
instead language I guarantee you that
decision will take your day a completely
different way the second thing is to
create Purpose Driven brands brands that
stand for something people want to align
with things that align with their values
it’s important to share the what but
it’s really magical to share the lie the
third thing is a concept I call travel
deeper
humans us humans we crave immersion we
crave connection we crave a sense of
self-realization help people find their
dinesh there’s millions of beautiful
destinations out there thousands of
great hotels but it’s those places where
you make meaningful human connections
that you find yourself coming back to
and the fourth thing is just be real we
hear a lot of anticipation but I travel
a lot I haven’t seen that supermodel on
the elephant on the deserted beach just
yet so we live in a beautiful world
celebrate that let’s celebrate the world
as it is in all of its beautiful colors
and finally take leaps embrace the
unknown because after all isn’t that
such a powerful way to live and isn’t
that the essence of what travel is
really all about and with that kind of
travel comes empathy and with that kind
of empathy comes understanding with
understanding comes the ability to fear
less and who here doesn’t want to help
the world fear less thank you
[Applause]
Al
humboldt said over 200 years ago the
most dangerous world view is the
worldview of those who have never viewed
the world let me share a quick story
about a trip I took that completely
changed my worldview it was 2007 I was
with my best buddy and now business
partner Greg and we bought a ticket into
Delhi and a ticket out of Mumbai nothing
planned in between for six weeks and the
way that we traveled was we’d meet
interesting people and basically
convinced them to introduce us to their
interesting friends so a disciple of
Vedanta up in Rishikesh sent us to meet
his guru down in Pune a successful
shopkeeper in Agra sent us all the way
down to Cochin to meet his friend who
started an import-export business out of
200 square feet and turned it into 200
thousand square feet and the list goes
on and on but one person that sticks
with me in particular is a guy by the
name of Dinesh Greg and I were in Kerala
and we decided to carve out a day to go
hiking in one of its tallest peaks
Dinesh was our guide and over the course
of that morning we got to know Dinesh I
remember asking him at some point Dinesh
is guiding your passion he responded
candidly no sir well the nationís
guiding isn’t your passion it’s not your
life’s purpose what is I’m an artist sir
I love to paint
well Greg and I love art would it be
possible for us to see some of your work
and at that moment it was as if no one
had ever asked him that question before
his eyes grew wide and he responded
excitedly can I show you and so we
hopped in the truck and drove the
backroads of Kerala past groves of
coconut palms little tiny villages and
on the outskirts of a speck of a village
there was a speck of a house smack dab
in the middle of a Coconut Grove as we
hopped out of that truck I remember
Dinesh’s mother and father and wife
greeting us they led us to the back
patio of their humble home and Dinesh’s
mother was there picking fresh fruit
for trees and squeezing it into a
deliciously sweet juice all of us drank
now as we finished that juice we said
okay Dinesh it’s time to see this
artwork of yours and he led us into his
bedroom literally the size of an
extra-large dining room table and we sat
on the edge of his twin size bed the
only piece of furniture in that room and
as I looked up all of his walls were
covered in his art and he’d take a piece
off and show it to us and put it back on
in another piece and explain the
inspiration behind it and although I can
say that Dinesh had not quite mastered
his craft he was so proud and all of us
were smiling and we all walked away from
that experience changed for the better
Travel is indeed the best form of
Education and what that first trip to
India taught me that was by forging deep
human connections with others that’s the
antidote to fear
that’s the elixir to a richer life now
there’s some really really good news
more people are traveling in the world
today than ever before
Travel is the seventh largest industry
it’s the third fastest growing at the
high-end over a trillion dollars are
spent on luxury experiences and the
younger generations are just
accelerating this shift as they prefer
experience over things but it’s also not
without its hurdles it seems like every
single day across all of our screens
images of terrorism disease epidemic
political strife economic uncertainty
they create a narrative that this world
is a scary and dangerous place causes
people to not want want to walk out
their front doors every morning let
alone hop on a plane and jump halfway
across the world and we know that in
times of uncertainty travel and tourism
is often the first sector to get hit we
don’t have to look too far to see the
devastation in Egypt what’s happened in
Paris the UK
Africa as they had to deal with Ebola or
the Caribbean with Zika even in the
United States the political climate and
this narrative of unwelcome nests is
costing this country billions of dollars
but there’s some also some really really
good news and I believe that with
uncertainty first off with uncertainty
stopping a travel it it doesn’t only
cause economic implications ceasing to
travel really pulls the plug on that
which makes us human travel bridges the
education and cultural gaps if fosters
shifts in perspective it fuels curiosity
empathy tolerance respect understanding
and when we stop traveling that’s when
ignorant sets in that’s when even hatred
of now faceless cultures happens at the
end of the day it’s just a lot easier to
push that red button and drop bombs on
people that we don’t know now I know
it’s important for the industry to make
sure that we’ve got heads and beds we
got butts in seats that were increasing
our rev par and our ADR I just believe
there’s so much more at stake there’s
such a larger opportunity I believe that
travel has the opportunity become the
most important and successful engine of
political economic social cultural and
educational progress and understanding
in the history of modern times so what
can we do
what can we do to not only move the
industry and travel forward but change
the trajectory of importance of travel
on the world stage I believe it starts
with one thing we have to help people
fear less fear less by getting them to
travel and deeper richer more meaningful
ways ways that transforms lives
communities and ultimately the planet we
live on
we have to remind ourselves every single
day why travel really matters so that we
can infuse it into everything that we do
and everyone that we touch so let me
show you one example of why travel
really matters at first I was nervous it
has a butterflies and I really do not
know what to expect
how’s it gonna be over there I’ve never
been anywhere but outside my house I was
looking at pictures to prepare myself
for it
I felt like Phil’s a dream I couldn’t
believe I was there
[Music]
first time ever traveling run as my
first minute plane for sensing the
oceans specific first meets uh I’ve
always wanted to but I’ve never had the
opportunity so we went to this very it
was local very small school it really
made me cherish and appreciate my
education because I got to see what it
was like here and what the conditions
were there’s one thing we knew of that
travel it’s one of those endeavors that
makes you feel alive and the reason why
it makes you feel alive is because it
puts you in places that are
uncomfortable and unfamiliar it was like
way beyond beautiful it was like things
you can’t explain so a feeling you have
inside these things you can’t explain
it’s really a unique combination of
events that gets them out of their
comfort zone and that’s why when they
come back it is so moving
it is so reaffirming of the power travel
once I got like through the trip I
didn’t want to come back and he would
sleep on my last day just because I was
pretty sad that he had it it’s okay I
think to appreciate things in life was
the thing that I brought back from Costa
Rica and I mean the whole experience
just made me open my eyes I would really
want to do something so I could give
back the educational component and then
also this notion of when you get
something you have to give something
back is what makes learning a part
unique I actually want to go back to
this Rica when I have the chance I don’t
want to go back
[Music]
first time seeing the ocean those
students live in Oakland California 15
miles away from the Pacific Ocean and to
appreciate things in life the other
student said his parents make a combined
household income $20,000 a year last
year we sent 250 students on trips like
this but imagine what this world would
be like if we could send a million
students on trips like this it would
completely change the fabric DNA and
narrative of this country of ours this
of this world that we live in so what
can we do what can we do to help this
world rise above fear pack its bags and
keep traveling I believe there’s five
things that we can do to at least get
started
the first is travel every single day
travel isn’t something you do two weeks
out of the year for vacation or what you
do for a business trip Travel happens
the second you walk out your front door
every morning it’s a mindset a mindset
about being curious open-minded willing
to get outside of your comfort zone and
stretch yourself in addition to counting
the number of countries you go to why
not start counting the number of kitchen
tables in those countries or the next
time you hop in a taxi or an uber or a
lift it’s really easy to pull out your
iPhone and start tapping away at that
next email how about next time you look
at the name of the driver and guess
where he or she’s from and then get on
your phone and type in top ten phrases
instead language I guarantee you that
decision will take your day a completely
different way the second thing is to
create Purpose Driven brands brands that
stand for something people want to align
with things that align with their values
it’s important to share the what but
it’s really magical to share the lie the
third thing is a concept I call travel
deeper
humans us humans we crave immersion we
crave connection we crave a sense of
self-realization help people find their
dinesh there’s millions of beautiful
destinations out there thousands of
great hotels but it’s those places where
you make meaningful human connections
that you find yourself coming back to
and the fourth thing is just be real we
hear a lot of anticipation but I travel
a lot I haven’t seen that supermodel on
the elephant on the deserted beach just
yet so we live in a beautiful world
celebrate that let’s celebrate the world
as it is in all of its beautiful colors
and finally take leaps embrace the
unknown because after all isn’t that
such a powerful way to live and isn’t
that the essence of what travel is
really all about and with that kind of
travel comes empathy and with that kind
of empathy comes understanding with
understanding comes the ability to fear
less and who here doesn’t want to help
the world fear less thank you
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: