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The river of ice
Fox Glacier, New Zealand “We have a question for you.” It was my second day back in the office after our return to Hong Kong, and a colleague stopped me in the corridor. Hmm...“we”, not “I”, have a question. I braced myself for the query. “Why is it that you have been on vacation for 12 months, but you have more gray hair now than when you left?” Nice. And thus I was welcomed back into the bosom of my employer.
Being forthright and honest is a core value at our company. I wonder if the Hong Kong team might be taking it a little too far, though. Another colleague asked me “have you gotten shorter? You seem shorter.” Must be my new haircut...I'll have to tip the barber next time.
The reception upon my return, however, has been very warm. It is truly wonderful to be back in the presence of so many respected colleagues, and friends, frankly. Looking back at my tenure in Hong Kong, we accomplished so very much together. Tripling in size over a six year period was demanding and very challenging, but we did it, and we grew up together as professionals and a team. In the heat
of battle, it's easy to lose sight of the relationships we built. When I was away, it was the people much more than the accomplishments that I remembered.
My year off started as a promise to myself, probably in 2006 or 2007 when, there in my foxhole, I decided that when the next recession comes, I'd take a year off. And of course, a recession did come. So, I kept my promise.
There were a few goals on the agenda. Having recently married, Rayma and I wanted to see places that are difficult to reach within a week-long holiday. Also, I really wanted to try different paragliding sites around the world, and possibly enter a few competitions. Most of all, we wanted to answer a major question in our lives: return to the US, or stay in Asia?
We left Hong Kong in April 2009, and we generally moved from east to west following the summer as we went. The plan was to visit the Middle East briefly, spend the summer in Europe, carry on to South America in August, back to the US for the holidays, then on to New Zealand, Australia, and finishing back to
Hong Kong. Now that it's over, our favorite city was Vienna, favorite country: Slovenia, favorite continent: South America, and favorite archaelogical sites were Petra (Jordan) and Machu Picchu (Peru), and, of course, there were lots of paragliding sites to enjoy along the way.
With regard to paragliding, entering competitions was something new for me. How would I do? The comps last a week at a time, so being able to devote so much vacation time while working is a rare treat. In the end, I learned that I'm not a competition pilot. Like most endeavors, people who are great at something (Tiger Woods, Warren Buffett, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc) must make their chosen endeavor their first priority in life. I like flying, but I don't love it so much that I'd give up everything else. So I am, and forever shall be, a recreational pilot.
But joining a competition is still a great way to improve skills. Also, it's safer than simply flying a new site with a local pilot or two because in a comp, the specific tasks for each day are designed by experts who understand the site and take current weather conditions into account. If
you won't get upset at not winning, you can learn a lot.
Flying was a relatively small part of the year off, though. In all, I probably dedicated about 6 weeks of our trip to competitions and fun flying. The rest of the time, we were traveling and sightseeing, visiting friends and family along the way.
In reality, after three months or so. We were ready not to be homeless any more. But the round-the-world ticket was set to finish 9 months later, so we needed to keep going. In September, though, my father passed away, and we made a 3 month diversion to Houston to help out. It was a relief to have the flexibility to go back for as long as we needed. No doubt, I would have gone back if I'd been working, but not working simplified things. The time off meant much more to us at that point. Life's funny like that.
Eventually we did carry on to South America. My advice about South America is simple: if you like excellent food, lovely people and reasonable prices, then go. We enjoyed our visits to Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile immensely. South America
Life is good
Flying the Italian Alps is far from most places, though, so it does take some special efforts to get there, but it's well worth the trip.
As we neared the end of our travels, we needed to decide where we wanted to live. In reality, the US is still there, and it's going to be there. Looking at our lives, our friends, and my career, there really is no pressing reason to move back at the moment. My company had been a very positive (and challenging) part of my life for years, and Asia is an exciting place to live and work. Why would we just walk away?
Whether I would find a job there when I got back back was another issue. As our trip was winding up, I checked in with our department head in NY, and she asked what I thought about heading up the Sourcing team in Asia (some companies might call it “the Purchasing Dept”). It was something different, a much larger team, though “Sourcing” doesn't sound as sexy as “Real Estate.” But in my conversations with the team, it looked like an area where I could make a contribution and learn as well, so I decided
Douglas of Estonia
The guide forgot to give me a shotgun for the mosquitoes. to go for it.
So, I've returned to the office, refreshed, rejuvenated, shorter, grayer, and ready to get back to it! Most of all, we're happily back in Hong Kong, reunited with all of our friends and our stuff (boy, do we have a lot of stuff), and ready to raise a family!
Thanks to all who have followed us on line. All of your messages along the way meant so very much to us. Keep in touch, and let us know if you're coming to Hong Kong!
Doug and Rayma
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Leif
non-member comment
LA 100524
Hey, Kids, Nice finish. I'm sure it give you as much closure as it does us readers. Thanks. I agree that the relationships incubated during hard times are the most solid and resilient. That means my people at Motorola doing the factory start-up, UT with Doug, and Doug and Tre during 1996/7. It is always good to get back with those people. Looking forward to seeing y'all again soon. Take care, Leif