Travel for Success

07/20/2026

I've been leaving town at least every six weeks for years, and people still ask me why.

The answer has never been because I wanted to work less.

It's because I wanted to think better.

Every meaningful improvement I've made in my businesses started with a change in perspective.

Sometimes that perspective came from another city.

Sometimes from a conversation with someone I'd just met.

Sometimes from sitting quietly with a notebook while everyone else was rushing to the next meeting.

I've learned that distance has a way of revealing what's truly important.

That simple habit has influenced my leadership, my businesses, my relationships, and the direction of my life.

It eventually became a book.

If you've ever wondered whether stepping away could actually move you forward, I think you'll enjoy Travel For Success.

amazon.com/author/jimcarmichael

Follow Jim Carmichael and explore their bibliography from Amazon's Jim Carmichael Author Page.

07/19/2026

Vegas bound for the National Council of Exchangors meeting. A true mix of fun and work.
For those following along this year, we were ready to get out of town.

07/18/2026

I've noticed that successful people aren't always the smartest people in the room.

They're often the most curious.

They ask questions.

They listen.

They pay attention to how other people solve problems.

Every city I've visited has taught me something.

Every conference has introduced me to a different way of thinking.

Every client has shown me another perspective.

Curiosity has produced a better return than certainty ever has.

I hope I never stop learning.

That's one reason I continue to leave town on purpose instead of waiting until I "need a vacation."

07/18/2026

The older I get, the more I appreciate quiet mornings.

Before emails.

Before meetings.

Before the phone starts ringing.

Some of my clearest thinking happens with a cup of coffee and no agenda.

When I'm traveling, those mornings seem easier to find.

Without realizing it, I've built some of my best business strategies before most people finished breakfast.

I've stopped feeling guilty about protecting that time.

Thinking isn't a break from work.

For a business owner, it is the work.

07/16/2026

One thing I've never regretted is saying yes to the right trip.

Not every trip produced a deal.

Not every conference produced a client.

Not every flight produced a new idea.

But over time, those experiences compounded.

One relationship led to another.

One conversation opened another door.

One lesson saved me from repeating an expensive mistake.

Success rarely comes from one big moment.

More often, it's the accumulation of small decisions made consistently over many years.

That's really what Travel For Success is about.

07/15/2026

I used to think networking meant collecting business cards.

Now I think it means collecting relationships.

Some of the best opportunities I've ever had didn't happen because of a perfect sales pitch.

They happened because someone remembered a conversation we had years earlier.

Real relationships take time.

They happen over dinner.

Walking through an airport.

Waiting for a meeting to begin.

Talking after everyone else has gone home.

I've never been interested in building the biggest network.

I've always wanted to build the strongest one.

That lesson has paid dividends far beyond business.

07/14/2026

I've learned that the quality of your questions often determines the quality of your business.

Early in my career, I looked for answers.

Now I spend more time trying to ask better questions.

What am I missing?

What assumptions have I accepted without challenging them?

What would I do differently if I were starting today?

Those questions rarely come to me during a busy Tuesday afternoon.

They usually show up when I'm away from the office and my mind finally has room to wander.

I've come to believe that creating space for better questions is one of the highest-return investments a business owner can make.

That's one of the ideas that inspired Travel For Success.

07/13/2026

I've noticed that every successful person seems to have one habit that looks unproductive to everyone else.

Some block off thinking time.

Some walk every morning without their phone.

Some read for an hour before work.

Mine has been leaving town every six weeks.

From the outside, it can look like time away.

From the inside, it's where many of my best ideas have been born.

Businesses have improved.

Relationships have grown stronger.

Goals have become clearer.

I've made better decisions because I gave myself permission to step away long enough to see the bigger picture.

That's the story behind Travel For Success.

If you're curious about the lessons that shaped it, you can find it here:

👉 amazon.com/author/jimcarmichael

Follow Jim Carmichael and explore their bibliography from Amazon's Jim Carmichael Author Page.

07/12/2026

The Navy taught me discipline.

Business taught me adaptability.

Travel taught me perspective.

It took all three to become the leader I wanted to be.

Discipline gets you started.

Adaptability keeps you moving.

Perspective helps you choose the right direction.

Miss any one of those, and progress becomes much harder.

Looking back, I didn't learn those lessons all at once.

I learned them over decades, one trip, one negotiation, one conference, and one conversation at a time.

Sometimes experience writes the book long before you realize you're writing one.

07/11/2026

Here's something I've observed after decades in business.

People spend a lot of time trying to manage their calendars.

Very few spend time managing their energy.

There's a difference.

You can have an organized schedule and still make poor decisions if you're mentally exhausted.

I've found that changing environments restores energy in ways an extra hour of sleep sometimes can't.

Not because you're escaping work.

Because you're creating room to think again.

That simple shift has influenced nearly every business decision I've made over the last several years.

That's why this became an important part of Travel For Success.