Most of my business travel writing is pretty practical; I don’t “wax eloquent” very often, but on this most historic day, I must share a few words with you.

I’ve been privileged to travel to 32 countries so far, and I think the thing that startles me most about interacting with people from other cultures is how closely they watch the USA. Never was this more evident than tonight when the new president-elect was named. That news was front page on nearly every newspaper across the globe. Here are headlines just from Europe:

London – Times: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Paris – Le Monde: http://www.lemonde.fr
Deutche – Die Welt: http://www.welt.de
Italian – Il Sole 24 Ore: http://www.ilsole24ore.com

We learned so dramatically in September how intertwined we are as a global community, and the days following have been dark and uncertain. The restoration of hope and re-establishment of business success will be a person-to-person effort. Business travelers are de facto ambassadors of this effort — the front-line troops, if you will, building relationships face-to-face across town and across the globe in the everyday activities of commerce.

I, for one, choose to take the optimistic view, to draw inspiration from the example of our “most unlikely candidate” turned “president-elect.” Fellow travelers, I invite you to recognize and participate in the opportunity to rebuild our global economic community; to endure the airport delays, marginal food, and tired feet, knowing that what you do every day contributes to a greater whole. We have challenging days ahead, but we also have each other.

Be kind. Share a smile. Have a good trip, and come home safely.

Blessings,

Toolie®

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 at 11:30 pm and is filed under Business Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.