Earlier this week, I wrote about my commitment to reaching out to people I know when I'm visiting in their cities. Some of these people I see pretty regularly, and some I may not have seen in 20 years or more. Either way, I enjoy the process of renewing old relationships and building new ones. Today I had two chances to invest in such relationships.
Late this afternoon, I got together with a woman I've know from my old business career. She lives in Atlanta and so I try to connect with her when I'm in town. It was great to spend time catching up with her.
This evening, I had dinner with a high school classmate and track/xc teammate with whom I hadn't really spent significant time in more than 30 years! He's a pilot for Delta airlines (if you fly Delta, you'll see him as the pilot who appears at the end of the safety video shown on the flight!). Anyway, we had a great time together. We caught up on each other's lives and careers, but more importantly, we conversed about a wide range of fascinating topics.
I can't imagine people who travel for business and end up hanging out in lonely hotels all the time. It's so much more fun, interesting, and enriching to connect with these people from all walks of life; but as I've noted before, these connections don't take place on your own. They only happen because I take the initiative to reach out and make them happen. And it's always worth it.
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