During the second half of last week, I took the opportunity to travel and “work” alongside one of our major clients for a few days at their operations hub in the San Francisco area.

Thursday was mainly work meetings and strategy sessions. My hosts picked a lunch spot and we took the food (no indoor dining in San Francisco presently) to a spot overlooking the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. The wind was blowing so hard that soup flew off of spoons when the attempt was made, but I decided to face into the wind anyway so I could enjoy my wrap looking out over the bridge and the bay. Dinner for me was In-N-Out for a hamburger. It was my second experience at the west coast institution, but even though I now have a t-shirt I still don’t understand what all of the hype is about. Maybe people from California feel the same way about Chick-fil-A?

Friday was dollop after dollop of insanity. We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and past Sausalito into Mill Valley, an area I didn’t know existed until Friday morning. It put me in the mind of a great western or even Alpine ski town, but one where there can be a playground shaded by redwood trees across the street from an elementary school. Lunch was a really good salmon/egg/capers combination atop a croissant. Given my inability to speak or read French, I had to play the idiot and ask the waitress for help in reading the menu. I can’t talk about the coolest part of the day yet (I anticipate big news coming soon though!), but the day also included two of the most serendipitous encounters I’ve experienced. These meetings were so coincidental that even if I described them you wouldn’t believe me; I hardly believe they happened and I was there. That was followed up by game-changing sushi at dinner that had very thin slices of lemon atop the fish. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never seen that on any other sushi menu and now I know how glorious the combination is.

Saturday was more relaxed. We took a drive down the coast, hiked overlooking the Pacific, and ate at Half Moon Bay before circling back via San Mateo. We stopped for ice cream that was meh (though the olive oil flavor I sampled was just plain weird) and drove back towards the city.

The last thing I did during the trip was to dominate at a pitch and putt golf course on Sunday. Blue jeans, sneakers, rented clubs, no distance control, and the best contact I have ever made with the golf ball—it was hilarious for me but probably not for my playing partners. I just wish I had taken them up on the offer to place some wagers. Then a rush to airport and straight to the boarding line at the gate for what would be a very bumpy flight back after the craziest few days I’ve had in a long time. Now, if only my sleep schedule had managed to readjust after flying back across the country. . . oh well.

Overall, I’m not sure I have processed the experience yet. It was great to connect in person with members of the client team since, as we have all discovered in these last two years, Zoom and teleconferencing have their limitations. On a more personal level, it was great to feel the mental stimulus that only comes with being in unexplored territory. This trip involved both physical and intellectual unexplored territory, but you don’t have to fly across the country to put yourself in a new place. A good book can do it. A great movie can do it. Even a well-made YouTube video can do it. I wish that each of you is able to experience some unexplored territory yourselves this week.