“Back from a break”

06 August 2018, 08:02 am
Speciality Bites by Paul Hargreaves

The good thing about holidays is that we always come back with new ideas and new energy to bring to our business and personal lives

I thoroughly recommend them. I also recommend going to different cultures and places and actually spending money in the local, often poor communities that we are visiting.  Personally, I never go to all-inclusive holiday locations because a) I get bored very easily and b) often they are owned by rich people away from the local community and c) part of the joy for me of holidays is experiencing the food and culture of somewhere different.

This year was no exception. I have just come back from a trip to the Southern Caucasus: Georgia and Armenia. What a fascinating part of the world with an equally fascinating and troubled history, which has formed the culture, which is a strange mish-mash of Europe and Asia. Both countries are keen to join themselves to the EC but feel in many ways more Middle Eastern than European. As a family we were having the debate about whether we were in Europe or Asia whilst we were there, but when the sat nav in our 4x4 piped up informing us we were on the Asian Highway on the way to Yerevan, and soon afterwards we saw a sign to Tehran 1050 Km. If you are driving along the Asian Highway and see a road sign to Tehran, it sounds very much like we were in Asia!

The food was very much a fusion of European and Asian flavours, too, and this is another good idea to go somewhere unusual on your holidays. If you are involved in a food business, you will be inspired and will be filled with ideas for new products and flavours to look at when you return home. Exposing ourselves to ‘different’ is good and so is taking ourselves out of our comfort zones. Yes, we need to relax and recharge, but we also need to subject ourselves to new stuff!

Whilst I was away I finished the first draft of my book on purpose-driven businesses, so I can confidently promise this will be available to buy in Spring 2019 – apparently these things take time!

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