I am quite confident that there is no way I would have imagined myself in Cochin, India, no way no how. Not for any bad reason but more because of the fact that until this trip I knew nothing of the city and why I might end up here. Thanks to my Aspect colleagues for inviting me to present at our ACE 20/20 event here and now I am a bit of an “expert” on Cochin. So where is Cochin and what should I know about it? Cochin is a major port city on the south west coast of India. Known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, Kochi (the other way to spell the city name) was an important spice-trading center on the west coast of India since the 14th century. Occupied by the Portuguese Empire in 1503, Kochi was the first of the European colonies in colonial India. The city was later occupied by the Dutch and the British. Today it is one of the top tourist destinations in India and is seen as one of the cities, globally, that is going to contribute to GDF growth from emerging markets around the world.

All of which, got me to thinking, this is a remarkable place, ……… how many more remarkable places are there in the world that we have not considered going? Does our THPL journey take us to enough interesting places? Or do we limit our view. What are we doing to open the aperture to what is possible? Are we doing things actively, researching, listening, and seeking ideas? I for one have realized that in each place we go, where we bring an open and clear mind that we will always find more – more great people, more great things to see and more great experiences to have. What is your Chochin? Maybe it is time to find it and then the next and the next one.

Loving life, when in new and unexpected places