Paris is always a good idea
I read multiple times that travelling and seeing new things is good for your overall development: searching for inspiration outside your own field is important — to keep a broad horizon. In this quest Paris seemed like a great source of inspiration to spend a weekend in. I’ve never been there and heard some great stories about its architecture, its fashion, its museums and the overall vibe seems to be quite inspirational indeed. And it was!
As we (me and the missus: Manon Klaver) decided to go to Paris on a short notice, it was quite a hassle to book a Thalys ticket and a hotel (the Thalys site is such a usability drama). We almost spend a day arranging everything. After some struggling we succeeded: the way to Paris would be in two stages, the way back in one setting. The hotel also turned out to be quite the hurdle: all fun hotels were stuffed already by people who got there for new years’. We eventually found a nice room in Hoxton, Paris and it turned out to be a great choice: beautiful, new, proper staff and inspiring audience. we even got an upgrade, how very nice! The radio playing jazzy Paris songs in the room completed the picture.
Travelling went all right. We arrived at Gare du Nord at 11:30. Occupied myself with Richard Branson and Shovel Knight in the train.
“That internet is the promise of the future, isn’t it!”
The taxi driver who took us to Amsterdam Central Station was an inspirational experience by himself. Was about to quit his taxi after 29 years and was going to start an ‘internetside’ in Ghana, because the internet is more or less the promise of the future, isn’t it? Left resentful by Uber — ever heard of Darwin, Mr. Taxi driver?
What was inspiring
You notice it when you get out of the subway for the very first time: magnificent buildings, other people and a difference in vibe compared to Amsterdam. This ensures your mind will switch, a change of scenery also gave my mood a positive boost. Because getting out of bed at 6 is tough, being a non-morning person.
Most inspiring
Most inspiring was this exhibition (switch on sound and press play!):
This one was in the William Forsythe X Ryoji Ikeda exposition. I noticed that this cool installation has many similarities with Lucius Digital:
- 0/1
- Black/ white: our new house-style
- Creative sound design
- Healthily intense
- Innovative
- Memorable
What do I take from it as an entrepreneur
Read in many books and blogs from successful entrepreneurs: when you get out of your standard rituals and surroundings, you will develop a broader vision. That in turn has its effect on your creativity and innovation which you need to constantly keep developing as an entrepreneur. It helps you in your necessary personal developments on a conscious and sub-conscious level and with this trip I can indeed confirm this to be true!
The trip also gave some room to reflect on 2017 properly and provided breathing space for 2018. Perfect timing to get away from it all.
An artist has no home in Europe except in Paris.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Genius: Uber’s ride sharing
Never experience before in Amsterdam: we ordered an Uber and got a request whether ride sharing was ok with us. Fine and genius indeed. Uber’s algorithm determines if someone can hitch a ride on our route, possibly with a small detour. This saves money as well as the environment, very nice! Great example of innovation, and as colleague Stijn noted: as soon as Uber deploys driverless cars they’ll disrupt the automotive sector even more. Really curious to see what kind of impact it will have, as I can imagine that no one inside the city would need a car anymore.
Started with Instagram
I never acknowledged social media’s value, but during this weekend I got a bright insight and decided to manage my Instagram account: I want to try this for a year. If it distracts me too much and doesn’t provide any value whatsoever, I’ll quit again in 2019.
New year, new objectives
During such a weekend you have plenty of noting-time, in which I did a lot of reading, as well as contemplating regarding Lucius’ 2018 objectives and beyond.
Images and videos
Click to watch all photos
Wrap up
Returning to Amsterdam we were happy that our cat-sitter (via Pawshake) had taken care of our cat-kid properly. An inspirational trip like this is addictive, so stay tuned for more blogs like this one. I noticed that the streets of Paris were relatively busy with homeless. You keep walking into them on the street or in the subway and it’s never a pretty sight.
But apart from that I absolutely agree with Audrey Hepburn:
Paris is always a good idea.
