Three Thoughts on Why Traveling Makes You a Better Person

   After taking a Business Information Management midterm this past Monday morning, I went into hibernation mode.

     Maybe it was the embarrassing routing my beloved Broncos suffered at the hands of Richard Sherman, and the rest of the Seattle Seahawks fanbase, who came out of their caves for the Super Bowl the night prior. 

Richard Sherman gesturing his allegiance to Satan

     Maybe it was the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, perhaps one of cinema’s finest character actors, and one of my personal faves, which threw me for a loop.

     Or maybe it was losing my wallet at the weekly student club party, frantically canceling all my credit cards, and then realizing I only had 30 euros to travel/eat with, which upped the metaphorical anxiety ante. 

     Whatever it was, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were filled with nothing but sleep, occasionally going to class to check email and Facebook, and various get-together’s with the mind-bogglingly diverse group we've got going here in the Netherlands.

Thankfully, we're quite the cohesive bunch, and it didn't take long before the benefit of socializing with all these people outweighed the benefit of staying in.

     This is NOT a post about travel tips, or an update on how my classes are going. This is my ode to our study group; a potentially damning post on both the personal and intellectual growth I’ve experienced by tossing all the textbooks, case studies, and lecture notes aside. Instead of studying arguments for why/why not Information Technology has become commoditized at the level of the individual firm, I spent the latter half of this week investing even more in relationships, and it was undoubtedly an investment that paid instant dividends.

    Through the process, I've come to a few conclusions, some of which I knew before, and others which required a bit of contemplation:

#1:  Intelligence/book smarts/knowing the formula for estimating the future value of a stock or bond is important, but useless in a business sense unless used to establish or maintain a mutually beneficial relationship.

You can have all the numbers on your side: a 4.0 GPA, a 720+ on the GMAT, and a degree from an elite university, and still not rise through the ranks as quickly as the guy/girl who insists on putting their relationships with others before the data.

   #2: Relationships are everything

Imagine you're a businessperson presiding over negotiations for a sale with the executives of some client company out of Sao Paulo. You walk into a boardroom, knowing that you'll either be leaving with a “Yes” or “No” answer from the suits on the other side of the table.

As you enter the boardroom, you recognize a familiar goatee on a David Blaine-ish face, framed by salon quality Orlando Bloom hair, which lights up in a smile and warmly addresses you by your first name. As you shake hands, a sense of relief washes over you.

Why? Because the dude in charge of saying “Yes” or “No” to your sales pitch is Luiz. Not Mr. Pires. Not some stranger. Just Luiz, who came over that one night in Rotterdam and talked with you about the moral dilemmas presented in Breaking Bad, skiing in Jackson Hole, and introduced you to South American swing music, all while a crack junkie stole his bike outside.

          Luiz Pires: Combination of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and David Blaine

#3: Apologies in advance for forcibly confronting mortality, but in the end, the number of zeroes in your bank account doesn't determine your legacy.

Your family won’t put your undergraduate GPA on your tombstone.

Your obituary won't mention your “… visionary implementation of Six Sigma/Lean methods, leading to a 6% reduction in overall company costs.”

Your family and friends won’t remember you for your high-caliber business acumen, your Porsche, or your vacation home in the French Riviera.

                             Having said that, this car still makes me drool

Nope. They'll only remember you for your character, your ability to inspire others, and your willingness to give the shirt off your back to anyone in need.

In other words, you shouldn't travel or study abroad to enhance your resume, to make all your friends jealous via social media, or even to learn about Cross-Cultural Management methods. You should travel/study abroad with the express purpose of forming lifelong friendships that transcend national, political, and cultural boundaries.

Obviously, everyone has a story. Everyone has values, beliefs, and opinions that shape the way they view the world. Textbooks will always be there, but life is ephemeral. Take time to dig for the little treasures each person offers, because you never know when that treasure might cease to exist.

It goes without saying that after only one month of living in the Netherlands and traveling throughout Europe, I’ve learned exponentially more outside the lecture hall, gathered around pints of Heineken and Philippe Goudreault’s homemade chili, than I have with my nose buried in a textbook.

          I do have my nose buried in my hands however after too much fun in Bruges.

Note, this is not a post meant to pejoratively discount the innumerable benefits offered by higher education. Rather, I hope I've convinced you that while the ivory tower offers a fantastic view, the vast majority of one’s personal fulfillment and success stems, at least in my opinion, from enthusiastically connecting and learning about people over equations; the “So what?” rather than the “What.”

Shout out to all the people in the RSM Trimesters 2 and 3 Study Group, to all of our new friends at Erasmus, to all my friends at home in South Carolina and Colorado, and to my family for providing such an amazing experience abroad.

I guess I should probably start studying for the next test, but until then, safe travels to you all, wherever you may be.

Coming up next week: a post in memoriam of Philip Seymour Hoffman, an in-depth look at my ever-increasing study abroad playlist to soothe your inner ear, and a look at the mind-blowing art of MC Escher, which I was fortunate enough to view in person this weekend in The Hague.

                    If you see this in person, your brain will legitimately melt.

Cheers.