Those wonderful serendipitous moments
Mat Newman December 22 2015 00:58:11
Tonight, as I settled down to my evening of collating all things "work" for the day, I experienced one of those wonderful moments that a traveller rarely gets to experience, but will resonate as a "moment" for one's entire life.While working, I picked up on the "twang" of the accent emanating from the couple at the table beside me ... it was familiar, and yet, a world away.
After listening to their banter for an enjoyable few minutes, I interjected; "excuse me, are you folks from Cheshire?"
Cheshire is a county in England, and has a distinctive accent that is typical of most regions (or even villages) throughout the British Isles ...
Apparently, not only were the couple from the county that my wife had grown up in, they were from the village that she prefers to call home!
Interesting, because "Trav" and "Jan" were originally from England, but now live in the Caribbean (an entirely different conversation there Francie!) and spend their lives drifting from one exotic dive location to the next.
For the next few hours, we gleefully engaged in stories of our favourite places back in bonny ol' England, the "Bears Paw", the "Helter Skelter" and the "Devonshire Bakery" located on the high street.
It was truly a wonderful evening, where travellers shared tips, locations and "must-do's".
Quite simply, it reminded me that the world is, indeed, such a small place
I hope you enjoy many moments like the one I shared with our "drifters" tonight. The world truly is an amazing place, full of wonderful people. And if one removes the blinkers for just a single moment, it becomes even better.
Why does this matter? because in just a few short weeks, I will be catching up with friends and colleagues from around the world, whom all share similar interests and the experiences that I do. The important thing is to recognise that we, in our own little bubble, are not the only one's who want to change the planet.
I cant wait to see you in January at IBM Connect!
It is, after all, less than 40 days away! http://itsalmo.st/#LS16
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