Not in My Backyard

What happens at the airport ends up on ITR

Dear Advisor Partners,

My family got to know James Shillinglaw of Insider Travel Report some years ago. I even remember this great Indian restaurant where he and my father broke bread. Over the years, James and I became friends and tend to see each other everywhere. In fact, and you may laugh, our funniest conversation was actually in April 2020, me sitting in my backyard and James in New York City. James has always been brilliant at making others smile, even where there was nothing to smile about, and this was no different. You see about half way through, the conversation was hitting its stride about what Big Five was doing over the next few months and thoughts on the current situation, when all of a sudden a sound begins to echo through our headphones. I looked to my left and right and saw nothing, Then all of a sudden, with my HD camera on, a lawn mower goes right past me mid-sentence. I immediately lost my train of thought, and James and I started to laugh for no reason. My family must have thought I was nuts as they watched me laugh while staring at my computer. I wasn’t talking to myself, despite what my children thought. Thanks a lot, James!

Fast forward to our latest conversation while I waited for my flight home at Toronto Pearson Airport, there I sat in Terminal 1, off to the side where the big windows let in endless sunlight. Nobody was around, not yet, anyway. I popped in my headphones and set up in a location that seemed perfect, with very little background noise and no obnoxious travelers talking loudly even though they were next to each other. I was ready! James and I connected, and the conversation began almost where the last one left off, which is pretty cool considering how many people we have both spoken to in the last few years. We started at the 50^th anniversary, then transitioned to my recent visit to Peru, then over to Portal Five. Our last topic was the most exciting, new enhancements to our India product going beyond the Taj Mahal (more on that in a later blog post).

Suddenly, I heard faint laughter and loud voices to the left of me. I looked to my left, and of all the places for someone to stop, it was right next to me. Not another lawnmower incident, not again!  Without tipping off James, I moved the camera as best as possible to a quieter location, however, he smiled, knowing full well what was happening again. Leave it to Mr. Shillinglaw, who never skips a beat or a chuckle to keep us on track and end the brilliant conversation on a high note.  I have included the video for your enjoyment, See if you can spot the moment I move. Seriously of all the places….

Enjoy this weeks Video