VALOR Class II sprinted through the end of our Vietnam journey with a packed final day. In a country that seems to be in perpetual motion, we fit in well.  Beginning the day with a boat ride to the Mekong river's largest floating farmers market, we saw the wholesale beginning of much of the produce… Continue reading Farewell Vietnam 

   Experience - it is what shapes a man (or woman for the "inclusive" editors out there).  Everyone is shaped by this little thing we call life.  My life's journey has been up and down, some good times and some times that just plain sucked.  I wouldn't trade them for anything, though.  It's who I… Continue reading Life is treasure

A morning tour of the High Tech Agricultural Park showed us similarities between our Ag research facilities and those here near Saigon. The facility is growing orchids, testing different soils or growing mediums. They sell the flowers to hotels and restaurants, as do the local farmers.           In addition to raising the orchids for ornamental reasons,… Continue reading Reflections 

On our second day in lovely Dalat, Vietnam, we climbed higher into the Cau Dat region to visit a tea plantation. Starting at the factory, we got to sample fresh oolong tea and meet the impressive young Taiwanese Vice President of Haiyih tea company. She explained tea production from field management and harvest,  drying and… Continue reading The mile high Zen of Tea and Kings

        From the plane all you can see is coffee trees, hectares under plastic and a few buildings. On the ground, cool breezes (compared to Hoi An's more tropical climate), beautiful flowers and farming everywhere!       After we settled in to the hotel  we headed to a vegetable farm in a one acre green house. The farmer grows… Continue reading Dalat – a Cool Breeze after Humid Hoi An

 Happiness is infections...but happiness is not a word that we can understand by looking it up in the dictionary. Every day, Americans are bombarded with problems and aignst. Happiness seems elusive. Why? We've got shelter, heat, tv, weekends, and based on the average waist line plenty of food. Vietnam is offerring a good perspective of… Continue reading Toes in the mud perspective

This morning started at 3:30 AM. As I rolled over I found a few new bruises from yesterday's basket boating adventure... The one where our boat flipped at least eight times.  We checked out of the beautiful Ancient House Resort in Hoi An and headed for the airport.  By eight o'clock we were in Dalat,… Continue reading Dalat, Vietnam

Upon our arrival into Hanoi, it is very easy to get caught up in all of the hustle and bustle of such a large city. It seems as though everyone has their own agenda and their own priorities in mind.  Through our personal journey with VALOR, we have learned more and more about servant leadership.… Continue reading Servant Leadership

Whenever I travel, my favorite memories are always the unplanned hicups and mixing with the locals.  Rewind to VALOR session 1.0 to understand our personality types, and how deviation from the plan = BIG fun for me.  The absolute best stories usually involve some sort of chaos - those are the ones I remember at… Continue reading Chicken or Frogger Lessons