Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 3/24/25

About 45 years ago I managed both Asia and Latin America for a consulting firm in Princeton (and later, North America). I've also had two speaking tours in South America. Maria and I had the chance over the past two weeks to visit Buenos Aires (business and pleasure) and Ecuador (to go to the Galapagos), both of which were new to her and almost a half-century prior for me (I had been to Ecuador but never the Galapagos).

My learning is always fascinating, and I’ll try to be concise here.

The people we met were wonderful. In BA we had a personal guide so that we could learn intimately about the history and society. Wherever he took us, he warned that “two blocks in that direction” or “a block over” were off limits because of crime. We both wore our “back up jewelry” but my IWC resembles a Rolex and even at the hotel they checked to tell me if it were one, don’t wear it, they’re stolen in broad daylight. The high-end stores all have guards in front, and even the barbershops operated behind locked gates.

We don’t really appreciate how safe we are at home.

Maria wanted to buy shoes and we were referred to a glorious leather shop which, alas, didn’t carry shoes. But the family was so solicitous, so charming, that we picked out gorgeous leather jackets. They didn’t have the one I loved in my size, so they took 20 measurements and created a bespoke jacket, which arrived here with my wife’s a couple of days ago. The total bill was equivalent to $950 for us both (the peso is worth one cent) and we figured this would have been $2,500 more in the US, with leather and tailoring not as good. This underscores the fact that sales is a relationship business.

We don’t really appreciate high quality tailoring and fit.

In Ecuador we stayed in a Relais & Châteaux property in the middle of the jungle, again with startling surroundings and sailed on a 145-foot yacht in the owner’s stateroom. The staff was wonderful. You can see pictures on Facebook if you’re connected to me.

So, speaking about Americans though this undoubtedly applies to others:

• We don’t really understand what poverty is. It’s not about not having a large-screen TV or only one cell phone. It’s about not having a roof.

• People who have much less than we do are extremely helpful and nice, with no prejudice. Courtesy is far more common, and to be expected.

• Almost all the plants and animals in the Galapagos have come from elsewhere, on the wind, the tides, hitching rides on birds. The place is otherwise entirely volcanic. Nature is astounding. If an iguana can be innovative enough to survive a 600-mile trip on floating vegetation, maybe we should expect to deal with a traffic delay or cancelled appointment. My favorite iguana: https://alanweiss.com/my-favorite-iguana/

• I don’t need to go back, just as I don’t need to take another Alaska cruise. There are some places you don’t need to see again, as opposed to many you do (Italy, Nantucket, Caribbean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia, London, to name a few).

We both appreciate every minute of our lives. I can’t imagine what the alternative is. Ask yourself if you're appreciating yours.

The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. —Samuel Johnson

Life is a travelling to the edge of knowledge, then a leap taken. —D. H. Lawrence

Travelling's so much better when you know you've got a lovely home to go back to. —Toni Collette