By: Jeff Flory, Chief Executive Officer

I recently was blessed with the opportunity to take a vacation in July as my wife and I were celebrating our 25^th Wedding Anniversary. It was the first two-week vacation I have ever taken in my 30+ year career in the mortgage business, and it was glorious. We traveled to Portugal and Spain with the trip culminating at a Metallica concert and then a few days later, hanging out with thousands of people near the Plaza De Colon in downtown Madrid watching the Euro final match between Spain and England.

Being in my role less than a year here at QC Ally, I had some slight trepidation about taking that time off, but the trip had been planned out well before I started. Fortunately, in the short time that I’ve been here, I’ve come to know that the team I inherited are consummate professionals and had things well under control for my time away. In fact, there was one point where I cheated and checked emails about eight days into the trip, and I told Melissa Peregord, our Chief Growth Officer, that I was feeling a little itchy about being away. Her response back was perfect.  “Don’t worry about the itch, it’ll be here when you get back.”

So I took her advice. During our travels, the slower pace and disconnect from technology allowed me to make some observations I otherwise may have missed. While they may only have an oblique business reference, these observations certainly have applications in a practical sense. 

Food Systems and Proximity to the Consumer

The food making and distribution process is much smaller and closer to the end consumer in Europe, meaning they are able to rely on natural ingredients instead of shelf-stabilizers or other methods of stretching out the ‘freshness’ period of a food product. Mind you, I didn’t eat any Froot Loops in Portugal nor do I here in the States, but check out this difference in ingredients.

If you peel back the onion a little more, you’ll see things like this:  Red Dye 40 is made from petroleum and is a synthetic dye consisting of a compound called Allura red AC which was created by Allied Chemical in 1971. Maltodextrin is a white, starchy powder that manufacturers add into goods to improve flavor or shelf life. Hydrogenated oils are simply a process by which manufacturers turn liquid unsaturated fats into solid fat by using hydrogen. I could go on. All that to say, during my two-week vacation, I simply felt better internally. While I think I do a decent job at home of eating more naturally, after checking my pantry, I realize that I have some work to do in feeding my family more natural ingredients.

Driving and Efficiency in Transportation

While driving our rental car on the three-lane highway that runs between Lisbon and Porto, it was clear that there is an understanding of how to move cars efficiently from point to point. The left lane is used almost exclusively for passing while the two right lanes are where the majority of traffic moves. There is never a point where you need to wait for the car in front of you to move to the right. If you are moving faster, the car in front will make a move to a slower lane. The signage on the road encourages slower drivers to keep right, and it’s almost automatic that they do. It’s a universal and utilitarian respect for the order of things and for the fellow travelers on the road. 

Contrast that to this past weekend where I took my family up to Santa Barbara for a couple of days, and nearly half of the cars on the road were in the left-most lane. Oftentimes, those in the left lane were moving slower than the rest of traffic, which created bottlenecks throughout the drive and an unnecessarily frustrating experience for those that wish to move more quickly to their destinations.

Respect for the Pedestrian

In the cities in both Portugal and Madrid, there was a definite respect for pedestrians and the right-of-way. It doesn’t hurt that in many of the cities, the roads are tight and narrow and pedestrians are plentiful, but even on eight-lane thoroughfares near the Parque Del Retiro in Madrid, you didn’t see cars jamming through yellow lights to beat the red. And always eye contact and acknowledgment of presence between pedestrian and driver.

Simple Innovation that Makes Sense

While this is a recent implementation, the European Union recently made it mandatory for all plastic bottles to have caps that are attached to the bottle even after opening through the use of an extra strip of plastic and ensures that cap stays with the bottle.

While this solution has been met with some resistance as it (a) was only recently mandated, and (b) it can interfere with actually drinking from the bottle, the goal is to reduce plastic waste and in particular from the bottle caps that are oft discarded by the consumer. If you recall, here in the States we had pull top cans through the early 80’s and even Jimmy Buffet sang about stepping on a pop top.

Adapting to a change can be easy or it may take some time, but eventually the value of the change manifests itself and you have wider acceptance.

Take Time to Enjoy the Moment

I was blessed when I started my career in that I had a leader that encouraged me to take the opportunities when I travel to see the cities where I had to fly to. He told me that I’m taking away time from my family to act on behalf of the business and your travel shouldn’t be all about airplane, meetings, dinner, hotel, airplane, lather, rinse, and repeat. 

The Itch Will Be There When You Get Back

With the exception of my honeymoon, I can scarcely remember a personal trip where I didn’t have my beeper (aging myself), my blackberry, or my phone handy along with a computer or other means to remain tethered to the business. To say it’s a regret is probably a little strong. I made the decisions at those times, and I stand by them. But to those of you listening, I would strongly encourage you to take heed and think long and hard about how tethered you want to be when you are traveling for your vacations.

The itch will be there when you get back, Melissa told me. Enjoy your time away. I learned to stroll in a park with no particular place to go other than to enjoy the scenery. I learned that meal time doesn’t need to be rushed, and that it’s probably the best time to chat, talk plans, or just sit there in reverent silence taking in the scenes around you.

And with any trip, there were some a-ha’s that stuck out – for example knowing what kind of plane you were flying on and what the cabin configuration looked like (oops!). But in the bigger picture, I kept coming back to the theme of enjoying the moment you are in. Enjoy the scenery and the people around you, and don’t worry about work because it will all be waiting for you when you get back.