Over the years, I’ve had a lot of business trips. There were years in recent memory where each week included an airport, rental car and a hotel. For the more distant trips, I’d always add a day here and there for some time to take in the local sites; especially when those destinations were far or truly unique like CA or AZ or the Pacific Northwest.
But looking back, you realize that while these jaunts had their moments of fun, they were definitely not vacations as I like to think of them. I think of vacations as toes in the sand, not worrying about my email with the most difficult decision being where to go to dinner.
In the last two months, I’ve been lucky to make up for lost time. Joan and I had two vacations since mid-December. The first was a week in Stowe, VT. This one was filled with family, mountains, cold weather and snow. We even took a few days to get the rust off of our skis and give that sport another whirl. It was a true blast to see all of the grandchildren in one place and seeing the amazement in their eyes as they skated, rode the gondola, visited with Santa Claus and swam in the outdoor pool. The only thing missing from this trip was our youngest daughter Julia, who was chained to her desk in Oregon working hard so she could take time off during the holidays to visit us.
Just last week we finished our very first cruise. As rookie cruisers, we really didn’t know how it would go. I’m happy to report that it was great. We spent nearly 5 days at sea heading to and from the Southern Caribbean. We visited 5 islands, St. Kitts and Nevis (my favorite), Grenada, St. Lucia, Martinique and Antiqua. Each offering its own history and beauty. With 8 foot seas and 20,000 feet of water below us, it took a good few days to stop rocking when back on land in the USA.
But now, back to reality where I work 3-4 days a week from my Florida office as Chairman of Napier to guide the building our dream team of professionals to serve our great clients. I’ve also enjoyed participating in the launches of our alternative investments business, the family office business and our CPA and accounting practice headquartered in Southeastern, MA.
When I was running day to day operations, the team would dread my return. I came back full of energy and lots of new ideas. Now as chairman, I get to hear their ideas and help guide them to making the best decisions for our clients and their professional careers.
