From Europe at 30 to the World at 40

11+ years ago I went to Europe for the first time. I remember walking off the plane and thinking, “I’m in Germany…it doesn’t seem as different as I expected.” This was my post back from 2014.

Reading it now, I laugh at how it was me doing that traveling – how, at 30, I was just beginning my ascent into becoming a business professional. It took another 12 years of repeating those same kinds of trips to reach the point where I’m casually considering flying into Nice, taking a train to Monaco, dipping into Milan, catching up with a friend in Innsbruck, and ending up at a trade show in Cologne. It feels like hopping between U.S. cities now. No fear left – just excitement to see places I’ve never seen.

This leads to a phone call I had today with a German business associate who’s become a genuine friend. We met a decade ago over beers in Vegas at a trade show. Our companies still work together, but our friendship is worth far more than the business. He’s traveled to dozens of countries, speaks four languages, and is more of a humanitarian than I’ll ever be.

We caught up after his recent trips to South Africa and Japan – all following six months off traveling through South America. I asked him, “How do you like working again?” I was genuinely curious. He’s not some spoon-fed multimillionaire who had the world handed to him. If he’d said he preferred life without work, it would have carried weight coming from someone who’s lived more life than I have.

And that got me thinking about having acquaintances like him at all. I probably have a dozen international people – mostly Europeans – I can bounce ideas off. Some are purely business, and a few I’d call friends. Don’t get me wrong: I have friends who read this blog whom I’ve known for 40 years, but we come from the same cloth. Getting perspectives from people in completely different parts of the world is enriching.

One of my main goals for my 40s is to expand that international network. Eight solid years of foundation building ahead until I hit 50 and then I think it’s time to shut the blog down. I was entertained reading my old posts on Rnningfool for what that’s worth.