Nathan's Insights

World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas

World Trip 1986: United States of America and Mexico

July 3, 2015

Highlights: Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Tijuana, Circus Circus, Vegas, Beaches in Hawaii, Pearl Habour Remembrance.

As a twelve year old I went on my first overseas trip between 27 November and 9 December 1986 for a 13 day adventure.

This was a great adventure which got me out of primary school and made my friends very jealous 😀 My entire family traveled together: my parents (Helen and Barry) , sisters (Kara and Lana) and brother (Reagan). We visited Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, Tijuana and Honolulu. This was to be our only overseas trip as a family with my father passing in 1990. While I don’t recall everything I do remember enough. I remember playing the arcade games in the hotel never Disneyland for 25 cents, losing quarter after quarter late into the night.

I loved Disneyland but for me Knott’s Berry Farm was the best, in particular the roller coaster rides. I remember how crossing into Mexico to visit Tijuana was really easy but getting back was much much harder. Las Vegas was so colourful, Circus Circus was a lot of fun for a 12 year old, my brother he was 18 didn’t have as much fun given he couldn’t gamble.

The last stop was in Hawaii at Honolulu. By accident we were there for the Pearl Habour Remembrance Day. Lots of veteran marches and USA Flags everywhere. While the beaches I remember as being good it was the extremely oversized ice creams were purchased in Honolulu that has stuck, I mean they were bigger than my head!!

This was one true moment together as a family. Yes we had a few fights and temper tantrums amongst the kids but it was just before my brother Reagan joined the workforce the next year. In many ways it was the last true family moment when we are all children with the world full of amazement, our parents the word of authority and the world a happy place full of joy. The problems of the next six years weren’t here yet. Everyone was alive including my grandparents. Happy times.

How lucky was I to have such and experience? I guess it started my love affair with seeing the world which has taken my to every continent on the planet and 52 countries and counting. I was blessed at this time in my life and I am currently blessed. The pain I between these moments makes this blessed experiences even greater. Thank you Mum and Dad for your sacrifices.
World Trip 1999-2000: USA Highlights

June 28, 2015
Back in late 1999 I set out on my first independent world trip with my best friend Jon who I met in High School. The trip was broken down into three parts

1) New Zealand: 11 November 1999 to 26 November 1999;
2) USA: 26 November 1999 to 27 January 2000 (this post); and
3) The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland: 27 January 2000 to 4 March 2000 (to be published).

This was a 115 day world trip mostly staying in hostels. At the time I wrote a paper journal which I have now turned into an electronic copy. The entries are the same as the hard copy except I have added a “Highlights” section at the start.

USA Leg Highlights
This is an amazing and complex country with a mix of liberal and conservative people. I quickly realised how great the differences there are in these United States from attitudes, to taxes, to wealth, and even to religion. I experienced the peaks of a great empire with magnificent architecture in New York City to the wealth differences in the beggars in Memphis.

The Grand Canyon lived up to it’s name and I expect I’ll remember those amazing textures and colours in the landscape until I die. Niagara Falls is stunning, especially from the Canadian side.

While New York City is the best place I’ve ever visited the smaller towns of Savannah and Deadwood had a great friendly feel and charm to them. Visiting the seat of power that is the USA White House and the Capitol Building brings to life the stories about the Civil War and the Cold War.

The USA is also the country of theme parks, I enjoyed them all, Universal Studios (LA), Disney World (Orlando) and Six Flags Magic Mountain (LA). I got to watch an American Football match in Nashville and a basketball match in Boston. Throw in the performance art that is professional wrestling (WCW Starcade – Washington) and I got to experience the cheering and passionate fans.

The music experience can’t be underrate either, Jazz in New Orleans was incredible. The history of Graceland is worth visiting and Memphis blue’s music. Comedy clubs are very happening places.

In the end I think I’ll remember most was being in New York City for the millennium celebrations. Watching the taping of the David Letterman Tonight Show New Year’s Eve special added to the experience. I’m not a fan of big cities but I’ve fallen in love with NYC. Maybe it was the Christmas feel, the happy people ice-skating at Rockefeller Centre or the classic and classy feel of the New York Public Library or the experience that is going to see a movie in NYC or maybe the Statue of Liberty. Whatever it is I’m sold.

World Trip 1999-2000 Facebook Photos

Daily Highlights
1. Day 16 – Auckland to Honolulu: Nine Hour flight with 2 am arrival to the USA
2. Day 17 – Honolulu: USS Arizona Memorial, State Capitol, Holiday Parade
3. Day 18 – Honolulu: Polynesian Cultural Centre
4. Day 19 – Honolulu: Relaxing
5. Day 20 – Honolulu to Los Angeles to Dallas: Long day traveling
6. Day 21 – Dallas: Friendly locals
7. Day 22 – Dallas to San Antonio: JFK Sixth Floor Museum
8. Day 23 – San Antonio: Garden River
9. Day 24 – San Antonio to New Orleans: The Alamo, Garden River at night
10. Day 25 – New Orleans: Street Car / Tram ride, French Quarter, Classic Jazz
11. Day 26 – New Orleans: Louisiana State Museum, Jazz
12. Day 27 – New Orleans: Voodoo and New Orleans Crypts
13. Day 28 – Memphis: Experiencing Economic Depression first hand
14. Day 29 – Memphis to Nashville: Elvis Presley – Graceland
15. Day 30 –Nashville: NFL match Tennessee Titans v Oakland Raiders, Country and Western Music
16. Day 31 –Nashville: Purchasing warmer clothes
17. Day 32 –Nashville to Savannah: Riverside Walk
18. Day 33 – Savannah: Savannah History Museum
19. Day 34 – Savannah to Orlando: Running into friends
20. Day 35 – Orlando: Disney MGM Theme Park, Beer inspired Uno Matches
21. Day 36 Orlando: Disney Epcot
22. Day 37 Orlando: Shuttle launch postponed L
23. Day 38 Orlando: Buzz Lightyear (Magic Kingdom)
24. Day 39 – Orlando to Washington: 19 hour plus bus ride commences
25. Day 40 – Washington: WCW Starcade
26. Day 41 – Washington: Visiting FBI, USA Capitol Building
27. Day 42 – Washington to New York: The White House, Arriving in New York City
28. Day 43 – New York: Downtown Manhattan, incredibly cold winter day
29. Day 44 – New York: Statue of Liberty, Ice-Skating at Rockefeller Centre
30. Day 45 – New York: New York City Library
31. Day 46 – New York: Traditional American Christmas Dinner
32. Day 47 – New York: A night of Improv Comedy
33. Day 48 – New York: UN Security Council, ‘Chicago’ (the musical)
34. Day 49 – New York: Greenwich Village
35. Day 50 – New York: New York Library, tickets to the ‘David Letterman‘ show
36. Day 51 – New York: New Year’s Eve ‘Late Show with David Letterman, Native American Indian Museum
37. Day 52 – New York: New Year’s Eve 1999 in Times Square!!
38. Day 53 – New York: New York Cinema, ‘Stand Up New York’ comedy
39. Day 54 – New York to Boston: Leaving New York City (sob)
40. Day 55 – Boston: Boston Freedom Trail, Boston Common, State House, Granary Burial Ground, USS Constitution, NBA Game (Boston Celtics v Cleveland Cavaliers)
41. Day 56 – Boston to Buffalo: Cambridge University, Harvard Museum of Natural History
42. Day 57 – Buffalo: Free falling snow!!
43. Day 58 – Buffalo & Niagara Falls (Canada): Niagara Falls
44. Day 59 – Chicago: Jazz and Blues music
45. Day 60 – Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, ‘Second City’ comedy club
46. Day 61 – Chicago to Deadwood: The cheap 26^th birthday present
47. Day 62 – Deadwood: Wild West Gambling!
48. Day 63 – Deadwood: Visiting graves of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill
49. Day 64 – Deadwood and Mt Rushmore: Mt Rushmore, Custer Park
50. Day 65 – Santa Fe: Barely surviving a 23 hour bus journey
51. Day 66 – Santa Fe: Palace of the Governors
52. Day 67 – Flagstaff: Nothing today
53. Day 68 – Flagstaff: The amazing Grand Canyon
54. Day 69 – Las Vegas: Losing money quickly Vegas style
55. Day 70 – Las Vegas: Paris Casino, ‘Viv Las Vegas’ show, The Star Trek Experience
56. Day 71 – Las Vegas to Los Angeles: Winning a deck of cards
57. Day 72 – Los Angeles: Mann’s Chinese Theatre
58. Day 73 – Los Angeles: Universal Studios, live taping of ‘Suddenly Susan’
59. Day 74 – Los Angeles: Six Flags Magic Mountain
60. Day 75 – San Francisco: Nothing today
61. Day 76 – San Francisco: Girhardilli House, Fishermans Wharf, Cable Cars
62. Day 77 – San Francisco: Golden Gate Bridge, Girhardelli House Ice cream
63. Day 78 – Los Angeles: Venice Beach
64. Day 79 – Los Angeles to London: Leaving USA
A Big Month – Motivating People and Experiencing Australia

June 26, 2015

My job occasionally requires me to visit diverse parts of Australia. Working for the Commonwealth of Australia and having a national role means I need to meet people and provide services and advise.

Since I returned to work in mid-May from my 2015 World Trip (India & Japan) in a period of 35 days and across 12 flights I visited all points of the country, Hobart, Adelaide, Townsville (at first for me), Brisbane, Canberra and Perth from my home base in Melbourne. The only capital I missed was Sydney (I visited there just before my world trip), and in Melbourne I was on the road a lot visiting key clients. I’m not sure if my team know I’ve really returned from holidays 🙂 I’d also hate to know my carbon footprint.

These trips reminded me of how big our continent and country really is. It took 4 hours to fly to Perth from Melbourne and Melbourne to Townsville took even longer with a change of plane in Brisbane. This allowed me to experience the differences between Australians and the similarities. I always felt safe, people where always friendly, and big cities always have a strip club in the CBD sometimes near a Church!

The main purpose of these trips was to motivate our front line staff to imbrace a new work strategy that requires cultural change to achieve. It requires people to get out of their comfort zone, work hard and expect more conflict and disagreements in their dealings as they apply the law and more appropriate sanctions / outcomes for breaches.

This requires trust not just the frontline staff but me to trust them, and really a leader needs to start with trusting his or her people first. I’ve been building to this new approach for a number of years working on the premise people want to know they aren’t just doing busy work, that their role matters. I’m fortunate that I can demonstrate I’m not a senior leader blow in, here to destory a workplace and leave with no responsibility. I can point to ideas from their colleagues we have implemented and how full credit was given.

I can show how I was doing the same job they are currently doing, I know the frustrations and the difficulties, that I stay to the end and I’m far more interested on implementation and results than just talk and ideas. Almost universally the staff were enthusiastic and engaged, I received innovative ideas that I had never considered. It reminded me that what stops most people achieving in big organisations is bureaucracy and lack of leadership empowerment.

Now I need to take a short mental break, build relationships with my people in Melbourne, recover from these trips (they tire you out quickly in particular the public speaking events I also deliver as a secondary task) and turn these words into actions and celebrate and support those how deliver value.

Oh and I need to visit more of Australia on holidays. I still need to explore more of Western Australia. Broome and an overland trip to Darwin is still on my wish list.
Too busy to care is no excuse

June 21, 2015

A recent New York Times about incivility at the workplace got me thinking about the way I operate in the workplace. Am I too busy to acknowledge my team, or am I setting a bad example?

The article had the following insight:

Bosses produce demoralized employees through a string of actions: walking away from a conversation because they lose interest; answering calls in the middle of meetings without leaving the room; openly mocking people by pointing out their flaws or personality quirks in front of others; reminding their subordinates of their “role” in the organization and “title”; taking credit for wins, but pointing the finger at others when problems arise.

As a senior to middle manager in a large 20,000 plus employee organisation I need to question my actions and their consequences. Last year during a mandatory eight day leadership program, spread across six months, I was encouraged to learn from positive examples. While I have a few positive role models, Stuart Forsyth was a great boss and leader in my eyes, I feel I learnt way more from negative examples.

I recall being yelled at and belittled in public for a mistake I didn’t cause with the result this manager apologised the next day (in private) in a quiet voice, a very diminished in my mind. I remember the manager trying to sabotage my promotion to another area a few weeks after I was ranked the most productive employee in her area, I was too valuable to lose apparently, my dedication and extra effort stopped that very day their was no balance to our relationship. I regularly see managers not supporting their best staff get a promotion because they are too value. I’ve seen exceptional staff become poor performers as they became too value to go offline and get development opportinuties. I’ve witnessed a senior manager blame their staff for minor issues after taking all the credit for the major successes the manager did little to achieve.

This has a health impact on staff. One of my previous roles was in Human Resources as a Rehabilitation Case Manager. I have no doubt I meet functional psychopaths. In particular the Director who wouldn’t separate the woman from the manager she accused of sexual assault (later proved) as he was a friend of the boss. Or the lack of any empathy for the staff member who tried to commit suicide by setting themselves on fire and the Director wanted this individual back in the same public work situation despite being seriously disfigured “he either leaves in a box or resigns” was the actual comment that made me leave my role, I couldn’t support someone who was comfortable with a death to set an example. They wanted to be seen as tough on workers, to get the others to work harder.

So I promised myself never to be like the worst people I endured and experienced. But do I get the mix right surely I don’t bully my staff? However some days I barely say hello to just a couple of my team members, ignoring the rest, as I get caught up on a media enquiry or dealing with a key client or association. I ask for trust all the time from my people but do I inspire or deserve it?

I’m currently on a tour of the country motivating front line staff, over 300 employees, but am I spending more time with them instead of my 16 direct reports. Add in roadshow visits to key clients and a recent Leadership Conference and I’m starting to think I’m ‘too busy’ to support my people.

Your actions, not words, shows your true character and priorities. As a leader the pact with my staff I believe should be I’ll provide the vision/plan for the area, back their work decisions (within reason), support their career / life objectives (again within reason) and support their wellbeing and in return they will deliver team objectives and support me.

No one should ever suffer health wise due to work. Being too busy to notice or even worst cause it is no excuse. We concentrate so much on numbers but are we missing the human connection which without you are doomed to long term failure.
2016 Travel Just Got Very Comfortable

June 2, 2015

The 2016 World Trip to Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is starting to take sharp. I’ve decided that for this trip I will try an experience First Class travel on long haul using my QANTAS points. After investigating the options it looks like catching a Emirates first class flight on their A380 is the way to go. Frequent Flyers informed me also to go for a day flight to enjoy all the benefits.

Therefore I’m going to try an book the Emirates 6.00 am flight from Sydney to Dubai which is a 14 hour flight using an A380 that seems to have a lot of first class award seats available. I couldn’t find any seats via Melbourne on an A380 Emirates flight and they are all at night anyway.

Next up I’ll stay in Dubai for less than 24 hours and fly to Colombo which is a 4 hour flight. The less than 24 hour stay means the first class award seat is calculated as one flight from Melbourne to Colombo (Sri Lanka) saving me many reward points and some taxes. This also means I can go to a show in Dubai or some sightseeing, maybe check out the ski resort in the mall.

The Emirates first class experience includes chauffeur pick up and drop off before and after the flight. Now in Sydney I won’t be able to use this service as I’ll stay at the hotel next to the airport since it’s a 6 amflight. But in Dubai I’ll definitely use this service; I might be the only person in a chauffeur car getting dropped off at the budget hotel 😅

Emirates First Class seat – bed
Now what does the Emirates A380 first class experience include? Well a shower at 40,000 feet for starters, a real TV, pop up drink service, a bed (for a catnap since they leave at 6 am) and a very wide selection of food and drinks. And I almost forgot there is a bar as well and free Wi-Fi!

Emirates A380 First Class Bar Experience
Emirates First Class A380 Review 1

Emirates First Class A380 Review 2

So after this I can cross off a first class long haul flight of the bucket list on a trip take will also allow me to also see an Australian Test Match in another country (part of another bucket list item) and them onwards to travel in four countries I want to experience.

Now I just need the Cricket Australia to confirm dates for the July-August tour so I can start hunting down award seats and link up to tours.

World Trip 1986: United States of America and Mexico

World Trip 1999-2000: USA Highlights

A Big Month – Motivating People and Experiencing Australia

Too busy to care is no excuse

2016 Travel Just Got Very Comfortable