6 Lessons from the Road (During COVID)
Imagine sitting in a parked Subaru with a kayak strapped to the top, for nearly 2 hours in the beating summer sun, with your mask on, being questioned by Canadian border force. We are waiting to hear if we can cross the Canadian border in order to make the Alaska State Ferry in Haines, Alaska four days hence. Stress was one word to describe the situation.
This last summer I left my high flying and intense AI startup. The first thing I did was make a long list of things I should do while I had some time off. I was excited to take a little down time to travel, #optoutside, exercise, take care of family, and then think about what’s next. When it came to traveling, let’s not forget it’s 2020 and traveling is anything but easy in a pandemic. You have to plan and think about how to keep yourself and family safe.
Our family had a couple of trips that were somewhat planned already. We wanted to take a camping trip to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, we needed to help move a daughter back to university for her senior year, and we needed to help the other daughter move all of her college “assets” including her car and kayak from California to her new home in Sitka, Alaska.
Each trip presented unique challenges with the most challenging being that of crossing the Canadian border, which was closed to all countries but was making limited exceptions to those traveling to/from Alaska. Thankfully my daughter and I got across the border (after 3 hours of questions/itinerary changes/proof/legal readings), and made it across Canada to Alaska a distance of approximately 1700 miles in just 3 days. Because the Canadians were protecting their citizens from COVID the penalties for deviating from your itinerary could be as high as a $1M fine and 3 years in jail, so we drove countless hours without stopping other than in designated rest areas.
As I reflect back on how amazing all of these trips were, there are 6 key lessons learned and reinforced that will come in handy in all aspects of life.
1. Be calm
In the face of adversity and major challenges, especially in the case of talking to Canadian border agents, the immediate reaction might be to panic, cry, get frustrated and worse case, get angry and lose your temper. The best advice is to take deep breaths, smile and be calm. We were able to maintain our cool, laugh even, and get through the lengthy process to get across the border. In business and life, staying calm can be difficult when you are confronted or challenged. But learning to smile and focus on staying calm and collected is a better alternative.
2. Be adaptable
Situations change, plans change. Again, the border crossing forced us to immediately change our plans from staying at campgrounds along one route to Alaska, to changing the route completely. Then we had to immediately prove that we had hotel reservations within a few minutes of being asked. As it turned out, we were able to adjust quickly, and the happy alternative is that it was probably more comfortable to be quarantined in a warm hotel room vs. sleeping outdoors in the cold. One constant in life and business is change, so being adaptable and nimble are key skills that will take you far in life.
3. Be positive
It’s easy to give into negativity and lose optimism in 2020. I think this is one example where, when “life serves you lemons, make lemonade” works. Taking each of these trips during COVID was definitely different, but we took it in stride as the most amazing adventures that we could have. Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons had no visitor centers open, but we enjoyed less crowds. And during some of the challenges, we laughed, we cried, we hugged, but we stayed positive, optimistic and visualized a future event and outcome that turned the challenge of the minute to creating life-long, happy memories. In a business environment, it’s easy to talk about the negatives, but you have to think about the positives, and the path forward to outcomes and results.
4. Be sharp
Staying on your game plan in a world that keeps changing on you is another lesson we learned. We had to stay focused and sharp on what we wanted to do, not what the circumstances were forcing us to do. There were countless examples on the many trips we took including changing routes or finding a place to eat or sleep, but when we stayed focused and sharp, we achieved what we needed to do. This is something that can happen in all facets of life — it’s easy to get caught in the weeds. Stay sharp. Stay focused. Results will follow.
5. Be collaborative
Road trips can be fun, but they are long, and being confined in the same small space together can be draining. The best thing is to work together to get what you need to get done, whether it’s deciding which gas station, which rest stop, drive thru or camp site, how many hours to drive, or which attraction you’d like to see, it is better to listen to the other person, compromise and work together. Funny — that works better in all aspects of life.
6. Be nice
The Golden Rule, “treat others as you want to be treated,” should be a key life lesson. Having respect and being nice, smiling (even beneath a mask), will take one far in life and in business. What we found, whether standing in line at IKEA for hours to try to find a desk for the college kid, trying to get through the National Park gate, standing at the border (and getting through in 3 hours vs others where it took them 8 hours), finding out your campsite isn’t really available…. well, being nice works better than not, in fact, I’d say no matter where we went or what situation we encountered, everyone was friendly, accommodating and respectful to us as well. My view, people react better to all of us being nice. Nice can take one far in both business and life.
I know my family has great memories of our travels, but even more importantly, the lessons that we all learned and shared will help us on our life’s journey.
