I spent 34 days of 2017 in Europe. (And yes, I’m a little bummed that I didn’t make it to the full ten percent.) In most years, I spend about 10 days, so this is a notable amount of time.
I wish to say that I set out to do an intensive study of Europe. But in reality airline pricing algorithms, competitive markets and my working for a European company led to several extended stays on the continent.
March: Brussels*, Ghent, Antwerp*, Amsterdam and Cologne
September: Lyon, St. Emilion*, Bordeaux and Paris
December: Vienna, Austrian Alps (Innsbruck/Igls), Munich, Karlovy Vary, Prague
*Day trip
Quick reflections with a future oriented tilt:
- Like everyone, I prefer train travel immensely for these sorts of multicity trips.
- Also like everyone, I don’t understand why they haven’t adopted American style showers. Why not just finish the other half of the shower door?
- We may want to rethink how we value and compensate large parts of Europe for preserving past history and culture. In the same way that technology innovation is part of America’s competitive advantage, Europe has a unique advantage that I worry will degrade if not properly valued. Conserving historical assets can’t be a high growth industry.
- Europe’s slow growth has me more worried than I was. In one city, everyone I met was a government employee of some sort. Frequently waiters or baristas would speak better English than I do. I didn’t expect human capital waste to be so evident.
- Immigration is a source of hope. Exploring immigrant run businesses and restaurants I was struck by the optimism and innovation on display. This jolt of youth and entrepreneurship is where I place a lot of my hope.