Nathan's Insights

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
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.

Health, work
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.
Remembering Antartica

May 25, 2015

My blog now allows me to post videos so I can now share some of the videos I took during my Antarctica trip. I visited Antarctica with G Adventures on their Antarctica Classic in Depth tour from 8 November to 19 November 2012. My trip summary is located here. More videos loaded on YouTube – Antarctica 2012 Videos Playlist.



















Antarctica
2016 Travel and beyond

May 20, 2015

we must take adventures in order to know where we truly belong

So one of the first things you do at the end of an overseas trip, and especially on a nine hour flight home, is start thinking about the next trip. Now that I don’t take 2-3 month trips every 2-3 years it means I’ll be taking shoter 4-6 week trips more regularly every year so the planning begins a little earlier.

Using the G Adventure website as a starting point and listening to fellow travellers I have an initial wishlist of ideas covering the next few years but this is only the start. I went to India and Japan as a direct result of recommendations from friends and they were both amazing places so I’ll continue to seek their input and ideas.

I’ve only visited 52 countries so far and I have a lot left on my bucket list. Time to take action and experience more!

2016 Trips

Based on the Australia Test tour of Sri Lanka July-August 2016:

Treasures of Sri Lanka (14 days Negombo to Negombo)

Indochina Explorer (18 days Bangkok to Siem Reap)

2017 Trips

Absolute Turkey (15 days Istanbul to Istanbul)

Jordan Highlights (8 days Amman to Amman)

2018 Trips

Arctic Circle and Fjords by Rail (13 days Kiruna to Oslo)

Arctic Highlights (15 days Longyearbyen to Reykjavík)

Likely August to September dates.

The Polar Bears are calling!

Other Possible Trips

High Road to Tibet (14 days Kathmandu to Kathmandu including Mt Everst Base Camp)

Trans-Mongolian Express (21 days Beijing to Moscow). Likely link a visit to Shanghai.

I also want to be in England for an Ashes tour one year, not 2015 but maybe the next one. So much more to still experience.
World Trip 2015: Summary

May 18, 2015

So it’s now over. I’m finally back home after 31 days exploring 🇮🇳 India and 🇯🇵 Japan. This trip come about after I cancelled my planned longer trip from October last year to Africa for 2 months (South Africa to Kenya camping) and Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. I selected this smaller trip based on recommendations from friends. And I’m extremely happy I did.

The major highlights of this trip includes in India; seeing the Taj Mahal, playing cricket with local kids in Swarda, walking the slums of Dehli, visiting the underrated Agra Fort, the noise and craziness of India everywhere, experiencing the vast difference between North and South India, a canoe trip under the stars in Alleppey, and in Japan; visting Miyajima Insland especially the mountain hike, experiencing Hiroshima Peace Park & Museum, visiting a Japanese Tea Ceremony, mediating with monks, staying in a temple on Mt Koya, singing karaoke!!, the Ninja Show and the Robot Show, experiencing the excellent train infrastructure, learning differences between shrines and temples, visiting a marriage ceremony in traditional dress, eating dinner in traditional dress, and seeing the Golden Temple.

Japan is definitely the easier place to visit. The locals are very polite, most speak some English and pretty much everywhere has an English sign. The customs are also easier to understand. I was felt safe and the countryside is very beautiful has an added bonus.

Marriage Ceremony Meiji Shinto Shrine Japan
India is a bit more complex. There is extreme poverty and extreme wealth so near each other you can’t ignore it. The countryside towns and villages seemed to be much happier. The road system is a mess and drivers are crazy. The traditional sights are however amazing highighting when India was the wealthest place on earth in 1500 to 1600 centurys. You are almost guaranteed to get sick every if taking precautions but you can limit the impact by being careful and having medicine to help.

Taj Magal -Magnificent
I’m glad I visited both but if I only had time to visit one it would be Japan, however India is more exotic and takes you more out of your comfort zone so it is a very close decision on which one to recommend.

Now for the next trip in 2016! ✈️🚢

India, Japan
World Trip 2015: Day 30 – Tokyo to Melbourne, Australia

May 16, 2015

Saturday 16 May 2015
Highlights: Returning home.

QANTAS flight 22 (QF22) boarded on time but my plan to have a spare seat next to me failed. Instead I had a Japanese gentleman on the window seat who throughout the 9 hour flight kept getting up meaning I had to get up to let him out and therefore no real sleep on this overnight flight. Still the shower I had in the QANTAS lounge just before boarding meant I was feeling pretty fresh when we landed in Sydney.

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Japan, Tokyo
World Trip 2015: Japan Express Tour Review

May 16, 2015
Tour Title: Japan Express
Tour Company: G Adventures
Tour Leader: Tetsuji (Ted) Watanabe

Cities Visited: Osaka, Koyasan (Mt Koya), Hiroshima, Kyoto, Hakone (Mt Fuji), Tokyo

Dates: 7 May to 15 May 2015 (Duration 9 days)

Tour Type
This tour is listed as one of G Adventures Classic tours. In short the hotels you stay at will be good to very good, there will be some included activities but also a bit of free time for optional activities recommendation by the Tour Leader and/or the Tour Leader will help organisation events you want to do.

Tour Members
This tour had 15 tour members which is the maximum; Aoife Smyth, Alex Schembri, Andrea Pyatt, Maximilian Pyatt, Nicole Hedley, Wai-Yee Phuah, France’s Evans, Ashley Rowes, Claire Roberts, Vivienne Mahon, Paul Tripp, Catherine Scott, Helen Heath, Alexander Taplin.

Included Activities
Stay in a temple on Mt Koya, Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum visit, Miyajima Island excursion, Nijo Castle visit, Kinaku-ji Golden Pavilion visit, Daisen-in Temple and Zen garden visit, Mt Owakudani cable car ride (cancelled to volcanic activity), Lake Ashino-ko boat ride, Traditional ryokan stay with kaiseki meal, and Japan Rail (JR) pass (7-day).

Optional Activities
Our Tour Leader offered optional activities in every location except Osaka and optional group meals at Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, and Tokyo. The main optional activities I undertook were;
1. Ceremony Night Walk with local monk at Koyasan (1,200 Yen)
2. Tea Ceremony at Kyoto (2,000 Yen)
3. Ninja Show at Kyoto (3,200 Yen)
4. Karaoke at Hakone (1,000 Yen)
5. Robot Show at Tokyo (6,000 Yen)
I used approximately $500 AUD or 50,000 Yen for food and optional activities during the nine days. The 7 day JR Rail Pass saves a lot of money and on the last offical day of the tour covered the travel back to the airport on the Narita Express.

The Amazing Mt Fuji

Accommodation
The hotels and temple stay were all around 4 star level. Wifi was available in rooms at all locations other than Hakone which was available at reception. A traditional diner and breakfast was included at Hakone and Koyasan. Hotels were; Osaka Namba Washington Hotel, Ekoin Temple , Hotel New Hiroden, Ibis Styles Kyoto Station, Pax Yoshino (Ryokan), and Shibuya Tokyu Inn.

Tour Leader
Tetsuji (Ted) Watanabe is an experienced Chief Experiemce Officer (CEO) or Tour Leader with G Adventures and other companies. ted was a very funny guy and went out of his way to ensure everyone was happy, this included organising a surprise birthday cake for Nicole, everyone’s post tour train trips to the airport and the large number of excellent optional events.

Highlights
The express trip is just that express and packed with events everyday so you need energy. We actually walked over 20,000 on four days with the Miyajima Island excursion around 26,000 due to hiking down the mountain. A major highlight was seeing Mt Fuji, having traditional Japanese meals sitting on the floor, karaoke, the Ninja Show, the Robot Show, sleeping in a temple, the night ceremony walk with the thousand lanterns in Koyasan. Really a lot of other things I could have listed. Japan compares to Australia for the cost of things, the people are polite and the temples and shrines we visited are amazing, particular the Golden Temple.
Tradition Tea Ceremony at Kyoto
Daily Journal Entries

Trip Photos
Japan, JapanG
World Trip 2015: Day 29 – Tokyo, Japan

May 15, 2015

Friday 15 May 2015
Highlights: Skyscraper District, Akihabara electronic district

A nice sleep in on my final day in Japan, using all the possible time until the 10 am check out since I didn’t originally have anything planned but that didn’t stop my roommate Alex from adding me to his plans for the day. With the hotel storing my bags we were off for one last Japan experience using the last day of the G Adventure supplied JR Rail Pass.

This started with a visit to Starbucks to watch from the second floor the famous multiple crossing paths in Shibuya. People heading from every direction at the major street crossing, one of the first sights I saw on my arrival into Tokyo last week. (more…)

Japan, JapanG, Tokyo