Ep. 241 Road Warrior?

Hey there, Mark Brown. You know, as a emerging presenter back in the 90s, I dreamed, dreamed, dreamed of getting on a plane to go give a speech and how cool would I be? And that's the ultimate. And eventually, years later, it happened. But a funny thing, I didn't love TSA as my Road Warrior office. You know, it's funny.

Yeah, being a Road Warrior can be interesting. And there may be those who aspire to be road warriors. Today we're gonna pull the curtain back and reveal what it's really like to be a Road Warrior. Listen to this.

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Okay, Mark, now I'm going to play the actual intro instead of the outro.

That's what it's like, a presentation.

That's what it's like being a road warrior. Here we go.

Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find out. Welcome to the Unforgettable Presentations podcasts with your hosts, world champion speakers and coaches, Mark Brown.

Mark Brown, your life tells a story and there's someone out there who needs to hear it.

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time. Stage time. Stage time.

Ready for some powerful presentation? AHAs. Let's dive right in.

Oh, Mark Brown, the dream of being a speaker on the road and then the reality happens and wait, did I dream of this? And both, both Mark and I have been road warriors different times. And Mark, you've been on the road a lot lately, which is what inspired this. I've been on a little, but you've been on a lot. But I also remember that back in the day you were like the ultimate road warrior.

Yeah, I began full time traveling in the summer of 1998. If my math, that's 26 years ago. And it literally. I literally was a road warrior. I went full time 98, but in 96, 97, the company I was working for, a division of Readers Digest in New York at the time, began a pilot program. I would take two weeks out of the month on the road and then two Weeks back in the office as a mainframe computer analyst, programmer. So I was. I was kind of schizophrenic, but it literally was road. Because I lived in New York state, Darren. And I would drive, I think 11 states. So literally for me, I was a road warrior. I go to my local Hertz rental agency in White Plains, New York and get a car on Sunday night. And I would drive to Maine or to New Hampshire or to Connecticut or Pennsylvania or to Delaware. I would drive literally four and a half hours and either way around I get to a hotel, a Holiday Inn Express at Sunday night and I hit a school or two in the morning, one in the afternoon and I drive to a different location an hour, two hours maybe and do it again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday, Friday I drive back home, I do it for two weeks and then leave a car at the airport again and start all over again. I was doing. And when I went full time, I was on the road but as about 100 days a year. But by then it was flying. But my first, my first several months, first two years pilot program was literally on the road. And what that meant was back then I had my random McNally Road atlas. And every year I'd have to buy a new one because roads were constructed and changed. I literally had. That was. Darren. It was a big.

I remember the triptychs. My parents used to go to AAA.

And then triple A triptych. You tell. You ask it for a trip to. Yeah. And it would map the route out for you, tell you what's on the way of attractions. And I was. I went to work. So I literally had a suitcase behind me in the backseat, my. My backpack or my BR briefcase and the random nanny road atlas on the seat beside me in front. A few years down the road, I had a program on my laptop. It was a map program, which I could program, but it wasn't any kind of online thing. I'd program it, open it up and spread the map out on the screen so I could see it. I felt pretty high tech. Then it went to. I go to Hertz and I got hurts. Never lost gps. That was the thing. And eventually it was made by a company called Magellan. And I bought my first Magellan GPS at a Best Buy in New York for $999.99. Of course, I expensed to the company. Yeah, the first magellan's were about $1,000. Then you had other brands like Garmin came through and others came through after a while. Now we've got the Trusty mobile device. It's helpful. But being on the road, one of the issues was how do I get the Nampa, Idaho. What airport do I fly into, what hotel do I get? I talk to my client, try to get arranged, and they'd meet me in odd places. My favorite place to meet a client, no kidding. With my first time to Georgia, when the guy met me in the parking lot of a funeral home. And his greeting to me when I saw him there and I opened the car door, he just said, mark, welcome to the salute. And the word saluth was two syllables. But I remember having to meet people in. I met somebody in a way station off the highway. Really weird, but it was literally being a road warrior. And it was really interesting because at the time, you know, that's 30 years ago when I began doing this, almost, I was physically stronger. Over the years, I have had medical concerns. I can't be in a car for five hours without getting up anymore. Things change. But my first taste of being a literal road warrior made me realize, oh my gosh, I'm on the road. It's exciting. But after a while, oh my gosh, I'm on the road. It's not so exciting. And for years, Darren, I was traveling 100 days a year. I, over the course of my career, as you know, I spoke to almost 2 million kids. Well, I'm sorry, 1.2 million kids in the last 25 years. And I'm honored to do that. But life on the road is a lot less glamorous than you may think. What was your first foray into the road like, Darren? What can you share with us?

Yeah, I, I remember my very first time, which was Panama City, Florida. The first time it was, for me, it was a coming of age. The first time someone was paying for me to get on a plane and I felt like a rock star. Fast forward memory. Many years I'm like, this isn't how rock stars travel. They have private jets.

Yeah.

So for several years, right? Especially, you know, after the world championship, then I started, it was like every week, 10 weeks in the spring, 10 weeks in the fall, just for, For Toastmasters. And so. But let's fast forward to today. Mark, you, you have been your. Let's see, where did it, where did your crazy travel start?

Well, you know, I had one gig in Ohio in January as my first away, you know, from home. Because you. And I've been. Been doing a lot of, A lot of coaching recently. I got the January gig in. It was back in January 9th. I left on the 8th, flew to Ohio, came back, got the car, the whole nine hotel one night. Great. It turns out that my one talk in Ohio led to referrals, which I'll talk about at Game Changers next month. Gotta be there to hear this talk. And I went back in February, did a couple more, more gigs, and then in March, I just came back this past Wednesday. I had three gigs this past when, this, this past week, two Tuesday, one Wednesday, all based upon that first referral. But then I've been traveling to other parts of the country. I'm, I'm recording, I'm recording this now, four days from my departure for, for Prague, you know, and we have done Miami together, you and I, and we're going to be. I'm going to be going to Vegas to work with you later on. My, my travels will take me to, to Istanbul, Turkey. I'm going to Tianjin and Shenzhen, China. It's all kind of happening now after a long break with COVID of doing everything virtually. And I realize now after that long break how physically demanding being on the road has been and can be. And it's really, really interesting. You know, last year, yeah, we had Bahamas, the Toastmasters, and so a couple of other trips. But. But all of this happening in the course of three months, four months, five months. Whoa. I realize I'm older now and the body has to respond differently now. And one challenge is dealing with time zones. I forgot one big trip, Darren. I went to Chennai, India in February for the International Kindness Festival. I spoke twice there. In India and time zones, different continents will take a toll on your body if you don't really realize what's happening. And it sounds great. Oh, Mark, you flew to India. That was great. Yeah, it's 27 hours door to do. And what they don't tell you, Darren, is not. I love what Ed Tate, our fellow world champion, fellow CSP says. When you fly with any frequency, it's not if, but when you'll miss your next flight. On our way back from Chennai through, through Doha, Qatar, our flight from Doha to Atlanta was overbooked and my wife Andrea and I, along with nine other passengers on our flight were redirected to Boston and from Boston had a layover there and then back to Atlanta. So our 27 hour fl. My journey back from, from, from Chennai was over 30 hours door to door. And these things happen. And you also know, Darren, that in our most recent trip to Miami, I had some issue with traveling and delays and transportation. These things happen. But again, long story short, though, readjusting now to all the travel, it feels different. I'm older and I'm not accustomed to it. And I've gone to four different times within the last three months. So it has a challenge to it. It sounds glamorous, but nitty gritty. Not so much. Yeah.

And there's that recovery time, too, that being older, we don't recover as quickly. You know, I do a 90 minute speech or a 60 minute speech, I go all in and I'm freaking exhausted. Like an hour later, I'm. I'm. Don't even talk to me. I'm done going to my room or I chill for a while and then come back like we did in Miami, because all the CEOs, it was a beautiful dinner party outside on the beach in Miami and there was great networking. So, yeah, okay, yes, I get up, Buttercup.

Suck it up, buttercup.

But, yeah, but part of the reason we want to do this podcast is Mark and I, Mark more than me, we're in the thick of it right now, and we love talking about what's relevant now. And so if you're a road warrior, we want to remind you you're not alone. You're not alone. We are going through that. You're going through it. Some of you listening to this will go through it. And it's, you know, it's different now. It's systems. It's, you know, way more emails than I used to get back in the day when I was a road warrior. So I'm learning, Mark, to also forgive myself that I do get behind on emails. I do sometimes work on a plane, and sometimes I'm just. I'm done. I need to either rest or read or just watch a movie, and I forgive myself. I give myself that option and I don't worry about it. You know, Mark, I don't know how you do it. Thank God for Regina, who keeps things going. And some things I could just forward to her and she'll handle. So I'm so thankful for having her as my office manager. And Mark, one of the other choices I made is to not create proposals, follow up on hot leads. I hand those to a speaker's bureau because I don't want my team to have to learn this skill because my model keynoting is something that is a huge supplement as well as getting me leads, but it's not my baseline model, so I would rather not have to have Regina worry about that. I hand it to the pros, and they're delighted that Jennifer, one of them, Jennifer Lear, she's delighted to get leads handed to her that are hot and ready to close. So now that helps. I know Mark, when we did the coaching program with YPO, coaching eight CEOs and executives with YPO is a huge coaching contract. We let her do it. I don't want to have to figure out the details. And then they have a team of people who helped with the coordinating the travel. And when you had your issue, they, you know, they were there and helped out. So I give myself that. I don't want to figure out contracts. Now, if you're listening to this, guess what I'm missing. Income. But guess what's more important to me? Less stress. That's what's more important to me. And again, remember, though, keynoting is not my the baseline of my business model. It's still important. Don't get me wrong, but I will give away 10 or whatever percentage in order to be able to have the pros handle it. I just don't want to do that. But even when I'm traveling, if there's a lot going on, you know, okay, we have a coaching client. You did coaching from India. You did coaching at one in the morning when you're in India on a Google Docs because we had the CEOs put the speeches on Google Docs so you could Machete Mark. We're gonna have to talk about that. Sometimes Machete Mark was able to cut and edit, edit, edit. We just talked about this last week too, with Jody, Jodi Lavoy, who is one of the CEOs we coach. So if you haven't listened to that episode, if you've never been coached or if you have been coached, you will love that episode. Because she talks. It was the first time on a big stage. Well, we had to coordinate over. We had a very short time span to coach her over two and a half weeks. And Mark was in India. So she had two coaches. They hired us to coach each of the CEOs. So coordinating that, you know, in between, I had some regular business things. We have game changers coming up, more bookings, higher fees. That's my big event of the year that I coordinate, that I'm the event planner for. Well, I'm behind in some of the activities I do preparing for it each year, coming up with the minute for minute, coming up with the summer schedule for all our events. So. But I had to let go. I had to forgive myself. I'm a serial entrepreneur. I still work more hours than I should, but I'm getting better at it. Our point is, you're not alone. Be willing to forgive yourself. And my other thought is examine your systems. The systems that you have in place, whether it's follow up, autoresponders, a virtual assistant, you got to examine your systems because if balls are being dropped, something's wrong with one of your systems. And Mark and I are here to say, in this area, we don't have all the answers. That's not the purpose of this podcast. And how to tell you to be a great road warrior. Our purpose is to remind you you're not alone.

Now, Darren, a couple more thoughts I want to share. You left. You put together a very short TikTok video, which I believe is invaluable to for road warriors and those who aspire to be road warriors. Talk to us briefly about the decision you make to decompress after the big event. You're on the beach making us all jealous. But what was your reason for doing that? Share with us what I believe is a key principle of being a road warrior, please.

I found that I don't not in a relationship at the moment. I don't take the time to chill. I go to cool places. We're in Miami beach at a beautiful resort that they were paying for. So I'm creating a new discipline to wherever we go to take an extra day, especially if it's a cool place, and give myself that time. You know, there were some coaching calls I should have done, could have done, I didn't. I know I gave myself some hours in the afternoon and then I did a local Toastmaster gig to give back to Miami Toastmasters, which was awesome. Hopefully some of them are listening now. But then the next day, I gave myself half the day to just, I took a four mile walk on the beach that was just, you know, beautiful. We, we've got to refill ourselves. We've got to give to our friends and our family and our audiences, but we got to refill ourselves again. I'm telling you, this is a new habit. I'm telling you, for 10 years I didn't take the time. But one decision changes everything. So I'm taking the time for me. I need to take the time for me. You know, and some of it's that entrepreneurial thing and that scarcity mentality that I'm, that I'm working on, that I'm doing Joe Dispenza meditations on to help myself. But along with doing those meditations, it's got me to say, okay, guess what, dude, you're in Miami. There's A beach right there. Your emails will be there when you're done. In fact, there'll be more. But what's best for your stress? What's best to reduce your stress? I don't know. Is that what you're talking about or.

Exactly what I'm talking about? I like that. Ask yourself what's best for your stress because I'm going to confess. I went to Bahamas last summer with Toastmasters and I worked. I work the Toastmasters convention. I am the vog, the voice of God for the entire event and I work and I was ashamed when I got back home to tell my family and friends I did not go to the beach once at a resort in the Bahamas. Are you kidding? Yeah, I was. I was working so much I did not take the time to decompress. So what's best for your stress is a question you need to ask yourself and need to also answer for yourselves and for those who want to be on the road, a couple of ideas for you. Yes, we want you to know you aren't alone. But I will offer also offer a couple of ideas for you about being on the road that you may find helpful. My mentor, the master mentor, David Brooks told me when he found out I was going on the road again for the first time, he said, listen Mark, you're going to start driving rental cars and start flying on planes. It's a good idea to just sign up for every travel program, for hotel, for airlines and for rental cars. So I will admit after 30, 20, 20 odd years, yes, I, I have an emerald number with National. I'm a Hertz number one Cub Gold member. I have, what do you call it? Avis because I need however it's called Avis. I have an Avis card, National card Emerald Isle. I have Hertz as well. Those my three main ones. I used to do thrifty blue chip. I used to use every car agency. I do use airline frequent flyer miles. Over the past 30 years I giving away over a million airline miles. I say not to brag, it's pretty bad actually you think about it. But I live out, I live in Georgia. So Atlanta is my main airport which means Delta is my main airline. Back in 2017 I became a million miler on Delta. I'm no lifetime gold again. Had I not made that decision to to join the airline partnership I would have missed out on some perks. I became, I was a Hilton guy for a long time and then I and then switched to Marriott and Marriott sent me a card. Darren, it's not Physically a car, it's like a metal card, it's like titanium. And I became Titanium Elite Lifetime because I've spent over three and a half years of my life in Marriott Properties over the last 30 years. I didn't, I didn't do the math. I say none of this as to brag. I say this to mean if you are going to be a road warrior and you're going to be in hotels, it's wise for you to join the hotel program, the airline program, the car program. Because for years my family and I would go on vacation, we'd rent an SUV from Hertz and I'd do it on point. I bought my kids, my wife, airlines flights using the miles. And some people, they go one first up front, they'll get a little, get an airline based credit card and they'll charge everything on those cards. I think, Darren, you do the same thing and let the points and miles earn you dividends, but at least you become a regular client, a regular customer. It can't hurt. So I always say get airline, hotel and car points if you can. I mean there are ways to do that. Get, get a linked credit card because there are benefits there as well. Darren, maybe you can speak to that a little bit. But there's one more way to make your being on the road provide benefit to you and your family if you so wish. Just a couple of ideas there. And be aware, when you travel, I said before, it's not if but when a plane gets delayed or you have a weather issue, you're on the Runway, these things do happen. And look, you can't control that. But it always is wise to have a plan B. I'll say one quick story. I was in Kansas City one time, last flight out. And I don't recommend the last flight out on, on the night. I don't recommend the first flight out on Monday morning because it'd be a, it'll be a mad house at the airport. But I also recommend having a backup plan. Was last flight the plane could not go and I knew a Marriott was close by. I'm on the plane, I contact Marriott and I got a room in the Marriott hotel right away. I was covered for that for that evening. And of course the airline gave me a flight, the following money. It's these kind of contingencies. It's fun being on the road. But be aware, hotels, planes, cars are going to be important part of your life. But always, always, always keep your balance. Always stay in contact with your loved ones. I call my wife, Andrea Two, three, four times a day when I'm on the road. Some people think that's nuts. She likes it and so do I. But maintain your balance, take care of yourself and take time to unwind. Even the evening of a program, the evening after, if it's a morning program, take time to unwind, you know, and, and find ways to, to, to replenish yourself on the road. At times I also find out I'm going to be in Vegas, I'm going to hang with Darren Lacroix. I was in Ohio, one of our partners, Mike Davis, who's our, who's our, our coaching call host. We had dinner together. But just find ways to make the experience good for yourself because being on the road can be lonely. And I'll say one more thought regarding that. Perhaps what could have been my loneliest season on the road was Weight Watchers. I was by myself on the road for weeks at a time. I mean for a week home for a weekend. Week home for a weekend. And just realize when you're planning this, plan with your family in mind and plan with your well being in mind, and you can be effective on the road if you have that balance. Always have the balance so you can serve your audience as well. Darren.

Yeah, I was always inspired, in fact, watching Patricia Fripper when she and I were in California for a client from another country. And just watching her, she would the treadmill every day. She would be on the treadmill for her 20 minutes. I don't know exactly how long she does it, but consistently I would see her. I was like, all right, I gotta join a gym and I got to do the treadmill on the road. So, Mark, couple funny things I always think of, of the poor people working at the hotel desk. What do they hear every day? And could you crack them up? You know, inspired by Tim Guard, make it a cool, fun experience. What can you do? And Mark, did you ever lock yourself out of your own room?

I have once or twice. Left the key in by mistake in the room? Yes, I have.

Yeah. So when you and I were in Miami, I did that twice.

You didn't tell me.

Yeah, I did that twice. And, and so I just like had fun with it. I say, okay, I go up to, you know, wait my turn, get into line. I say, okay. How many times a day does someone lock themselves out of the room? And of course they usually smile and crack up. I'm like, guess what, one more.

Me again. You know, I'm glad you mentioned that, Darren, because I also want to recommend when you do find yourself on the road, I'm going to ask you, despite being, you're being fatigued, despite your playing, being late and not getting the car you wanted at the current a lot, I'm going to ask you to be kind and to be encouraging to the people you meet who serve you at the hotel front desk. I have, I've had a habit now for years, Darren, and I don't want this to sound like I'm bragging, but I've had it in my heart to say thank you to the front desk at the boarding gate, at the check in counter, at the hotel front desk, at the rental card stand. And the year you and I really built a bond was 2001. We were going to Anaheim, California. You were competing in the world championship. I've been on the road for about, I don't know, five years and I got some Hilton points. I got my family, I got some miles. I took my wife and my three kids with me to Anaheim, California. You remember they were there for your contest. We, we tapped on a family vacation after the, the, the convention. We went to a different hotel, Hilton Garden in, out there. And we got there late and we went before the convention, we got there a little bit late. We asked the front desk is any place to eat? And they said, yeah, is that, there is a Dennis down the street that you can go to. Said, great, thank you so much. I was thanking them, encouraging them, and tell them how wonderful it was for us to be. And he offered so much help to us, how much we appreciate it. I was being thankful. I began doing that no problem. Our host, a friend of mine, had got us tickets to go to Disney. His name is Gary. We go to Denny's, have supper. We come back, get to our room and there's a basket with fruit and beverages and crackers and snacks and flowers. I said, see, I told you, honey. My man Gary took care of us. He got everything we need. I open the package and the card is there. It's not from Gary, the card is from the front desk staff. They gave my family and me a basket of fruit crackers, beverages and snacks. And they said, thank you for being good guests. We rarely have guests who treat us the way you treat us.

Preach it to get a gift.

No, no, no, no, no. But here's the cool part. My three kids were there. They saw that. My three kids saw that. I go on a plane. I always thank the flight crew and the attendance for serving us. And my kids were with us that Darren that same trip. And Next thing I know, my whole family is bumped to first class from Lack to New York. What I don't do it to get. I genuinely believe so many airline reps at the counter get yelled at because I'm diamond on the airline. I should get a first class seat. Don't you know who I am? They're on the pilot. They can't control that the plight is booked. They want to try and help you. So I say thank you for being here to service. And it surprises them because they don't often hear that. Again, not a brag, but I understand when people thank me how it makes me feel. And even though you're feeling weary, you're a road warrior. You have no clue what they've been through for the last seven hours at desk. Just thank him, Appreciate. Have some fun with them. And Darren, when you had some fun with the front desk clerk, what was their reaction? Joy, he's somebody who says, look, he lost his key. He's not gonna complain about it. He's having fun with it, with us. And you can see on their faces how they react. Friends, trust me as a road warrior. Just be kind, have some fun. Make someone's day. You have no idea the impact you can have. And when it's done, you'll also feel good about yourself. It might even lift you knowing you made somebody smile. So that's my extra bonus. Thought to share with you as well.

Nice. And do you ever have a day, Mark, where you wake up, I'm like, it's Tuesday. California. That's where I am. California.

You got it.

You gotta, like, if you have a couple in a row, sometimes that'll happen. And I don't know if you ever did this, Mark, if I have a week like that, I always. I take a picture of my room number.

Yes.

So I remember my room number because yesterday I was in another hotel in another city and it was a different number. I'm like, the heck with it. I'm just taking a number, keeping it in there. I do that when I go to Vegas. Casinos, too. Conventions and meetings and stuff. I'm not a gambler, but I take a picture of my parking place because I've been to that hotel so many times. I might, you know, because I live here, so I might not even remember what floor I'm on. So anyway, as you get older, these are tips that are lifesavers. And then, Mark, you. You mentioned the frequent flyer, Scott Freedman, a friend and a mentor. Years ago, when I was traveling with him through Asia, he really took me under his wing and he's like, dude, you got to get the American Express lounge card. And I, I finally 15, 20 years later, I just said, you know what? Going back to taking care of myself, I got a platinum card so I could have access to the American Express lounge. And then they have brother and sister ones. Oh my gosh, Mark, I can't believe I waited so long. Like, there's food, hot food there, Internet. You don't have chaos. Oh my gosh. I, I was like, it's a whole new world. It's a wondrous place.

I know. I have done a Delta Sky Club a few times and it has been a wonderful experience. I should consider doing Delta Sky Club as a regular thing. But yeah, I had to, I always wanted, but it wisely and it's, it's a, trust me, people, if you fly first class, you get lounge access. If you have a Delta Sky Club or American Express, you'll get a wonderful. It's a different experience, particularly for a three and a half hour transfer slash layover. It's a whole new world. Doing three and a half hours in the, in the either gate or at the food court and three and a half hours in the, in the club lounge. It's very, very different. And by the way, when I say frequent flyer, I have on my phone, I have an app, a folder on my mobile phone and it's called Travel. And for those who, who are watching this by video, you might see. I've got Delta, I've got Marriott, Bonvoy, I've got Airbnb, Hilton, American, Lyft, Uber Clear. I have United Airlines, I have Southwest, I've got an app called Hopper. I've got Qatar Airways, I've got Turkish Airlines, Avis, Hertz. I have all the apps on my phone and they have become wonderfully helpful to me. I can check in online on my phone for every. I got Expedia, I've got, you know, a whole bunch of them. And it makes sense if you're going to travel frequently and be a road warrior to have access to these apps. It is very helpful, particularly if a flight gets changed. Boom, on your phone. There it is. You can contact the sales group. It's just a nice thing to have. I recommend using the apps as well. It's in my travel folder on my phone. I'm kind of nerdy, so there it is.

Turn on the notifications for those apps. Not everything, but for those apps, yes, for those.

When you're traveling, you can check in 24 hours early. With two to two taps, you're checked in, you can add your bags, you can change your seats. It's really very convenient, Darren.

And if you work with bureau's one of the decisions Mark and I made and I'm sticking to this. When you get an international opportunity, chances are there's much more of a budget and you can travel first class or business class. We made that a rule now, Mark.

Yes, definitely. When you're flying 8, 9, 10 hours across the continents, it is wise to travel in comfort. And we put it in the contract. We have business class funds available to us. They didn't blink. They provided it and Darren's team got our tickets. We get to fly together from Atlanta to Istanbul, Turkey, non stop, I think. But having the business class seat, not only for the comfort, you fly for a half a day, come on. But also you want to be at the site location, prepared, rested and ready. And please do not book travel to arrive the day off. It's an evening keynote. I'll arrive there at noon because anything can go wrong. You want to go in early. We also recommend going in early for an additional reason that Darren has talked about, has taught and has tried to drill into all our clients. Why are you going a day or.

Two early, Darren Lacroix rest time zone. And we put that in our contract. And guess what? If they say no to that, okay, it's, it's not going to be my best, so I'm not going to show up. I'm just not. And so that is a contingency along with the green M and Ms. Taken out.

Wait, not the sandy water. Chilled to 41.3 degrees. Not in a bottle, but in a glass. At least three minutes before you get to the green room. Darren, you're sleeping, buddy.

I know, I know, but, but look at. You got to make that decision and you got to be willing to say no.

Yeah, yeah, it's, it's a tough one, tough call to make. But don't forget, you want to be at your best. And traveling internationally may not be what you do right away. I can recall the first time I saw a request to travel internationally was 2001 to go to Bahrain and to Hong Kong. What? And in Hong Kong. What was kind of cool was the organizers arranged for me to give a free talk to Cathay Pacific Airways in exchange for business class travel between Hong Kong, Singapore and, and the usa. And they didn't even blink because the cost of a business class ticket was probably seven or $8,000. And my talk was probably worth that worth that at least? So it was a nice barter deal. But think of your well being and how prepared you can be and will be to serve the audience. Whether it's a one hour time zone difference or a seven hour time zone difference. Because you know what, some people get really messed up across a two or three hour time zone change. Isn't that right, Darren Lacroix? Yep.

Yep. And if you, if you're taking notes, write this down. Naps are beautiful.

I am writing it down.

Yeah. And if you're a road warrior, you probably have some tips that we didn't cover and you know, we encourage you. Please share it on Facebook. Share it with your speaker buddies, share it in the stagetime community. If you're part of our community, share it in the NSA Facebook group. Look, we, we all get ideas from each other. So again, this episode is not about we have all the answers. This is to remind you, look, there's trouble in, there's parts of your business you're not going to like no matter what your job is. And a lot of times if you're a road warrior, it's that constant travel, it's that going through TSA over and over again. So we hope that you just get the feeling you're not alone.

And Darren, you mentioned TSA very, very quickly. I know people are aware to get through TSA on a Monday morning can be crazy. So you get TSA Precheck, which is a good thing. I have TSA Precheck. I got in early. When Delta had a program maybe 10 years ago, I got in early. I also signed up for a program called Clear, which has been very, very helpful because Clear TSA Precheck gets me through very, very quickly. It's a retinal scan or a fingerprint scan. And they escort you past everybody else and say, clear, verified. Go right ahead, sir. Which is cool. My last flight out to Ohio this past Monday, Darren, I had TSA clear. I went to the Clear line and the lady said, here, appreciate. This is good. If you go there. Oh, you are also verified id. If you go there, it's even faster. You're verified. I said, okay, cool. So I went verified id. I just showed them. Thank you, sir. No eye scan, no fingerprint scan. They put me right through. What am I saying here? If you're going to be traveling a lot, find the program that serves you best. And if you travel internationally, I recommend getting Global Entry. What does that mean? You come back, you must go through customs, you get your ID checked, your passport checked, and you could join a long line, particularly when three planes land at Atlanta Airport, same time, or Las Vegas. Darren, you may have 400 people trying to go through customs with Global Entry. As an American with Global Entry, they take a picture of it. You go to a kiosk, take a picture of your page, of your face, and say, proceed to the agent. I came back from Jamaica last. Last year with my son David from California. He came back with us. And Andrea and I both have Global Entry. He went to the. To the regular line. Andrea went to the kiosk. I went to the kiosk. My son got to the line and agent said, mark and Andrea Brown. Yes, you're clear. We just kind of walked through because it was that quick. Literally, it could be a minute to go through one Global Entry. If you travel internationally a lot, bottom line, check your options to go through TSA with as little hassle as possible. I've not taken my shoes off or my laptop out until I went to India last month. So find out what works for you. Be willing to invest in it if you're going to be on the road a lot.

Yeah, Mark, when I got the platinum card, I got clear for free.

Oh, nice. You were free and clear.

Then I had to pay for it, but then they credit it back, so now I have clear, which, you know, our friend Maureen and Ed both do as well. Our point again, you're not alone. It's not the glamorous life that a lot of people dream of. It's the other side. But if you can learn to make things easier on yourself. Investing, I invested. You know, I look at budgets. I'm careful. I'm trying to, you know, still dick out from COVID debt. So I'm being careful. But, you know, I sat down, I talked about it with Regina, and she's like, no, no, no, you need to do this. You need to do this for your own stress level. And so it was seeking counsel, Mark. I sought counsel, and I'm glad I did. You know, I said, now, you know, the food is free in the American Express lounge or any of the, you know, the priority lounges. So I told her, I'm going to eat my $695 back. So.

By the way, one quick point of clarification. We did say it isn't as glamorous as you may think. There are times it is. There are times. You'll travel, you'll be in a hotel you will not believe. I mean, I know some people go to the Middle east and they stay in a Palace, and I'm not going to say who, but you may get some very nice accommodations. There are times you get picked up in a limousine, brought to the location, and they take care of you. That happens, but very often it's, what's the nearest Holiday Inn Express, Hilton Garden Inn or Marriott Fairfield Inn to my location? You'll get both worlds. But just remember, when you take care of yourself, you want to serve your client in the best way possible and earn your way to the Ritz Carlton and the Fairmont and other hotels of that ilk. It's part of being a road warrior. And when you do go on the road, I just hope you'll do your best in everything. You'll take care of yourself. You'll find that balance. And remember, always remember, you are not alone. Many of us have done it, are doing it, and will do it. Talk to your peers and your and your, and your associates. Find out what works for them. And always, always, always give your best to your clients.

And we hope you are one more road warrior away from joining us at Game Changers April 5th and 6th live in Las Vegas. There's going to be a lot of amazing networking. The best, best experts talking about more bookings and higher fees. If you haven't checked it out, please do use the discount code POD POD25. I always take notes. I am excited about this because I'm already gearing up to change my business. And mark, the Road Warrior thing helped me make a decision. When I was talking to Jennifer Lear, she said, look, if you create a Vegas themed keynote, I could book you all day long. And I started thinking about that. That's why I moved here. And I never actually did anything to get my name out there. And it just, duh, made so much sense. So I'm now just finishing up a direct mail piece. I'm gonna start using Sam Richter's tool to search for Vegas conventions, people coming to Vegas because I don't want to be a road Warrior. My goal now is once or twice a month. That's it. You know, I'll have my events here. I'll speak every day. I just don't want to be in the road every day. It also helps me, you know, with my, my fees. I'm not getting on a plane for less than my fee. It's just a choice. Nope. I'll stay home and do some virtual trainings. I'll make some more TikTok videos, whatever that is. All right, so this was going to be a short little episode, but man.

So much to cover getting out of hand. I know, I know, I know. I think I talked too much, but I've been doing it so long, I will. I'll just say this. We love you. We want you to do well. I guarantee you're gonna see me on stage, online or on the road.

Amen. All right, check out Game changers. Go to stagetimelive.com and hope you join us. We'd love to meet you, shake your hand and sit down and take notes right alongside you. Join us next week. See you.

See ya.

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