Grab a beer and walk with me on the Camino
Share
On Friday I turned off the computer
Leo was handed the keys to the brewery.
Tonight I'm heading on a FIFO trip to Nelson/Motueka to see this years hop Harvest.
Tuesday to the Airport
Wednesday to Pamplona
Saturday I’ll crawl out of the shell and start crab walking 800kms across Spain on the Camino de Santiago. It will take 34 days.
It’s making me thirsty. Mainly because Spain has a huge alc free beer culture - already alc free is 15% of total beer.
‘una cerveza sin alcohol por favor’
Can I run the business off my phone? - we will find out.
Am I prepared for the physical impact - don’t know.
Will I come out of my shell? Yup, it’s now an Aarn Backpack.
Am I scared? I reckon I’ve had too many laps around the sun for that.
I have a stone that I’m carrying that you drop off near the end of the walk to symbolise discarding your worries and negative thoughts.
Written on my stone is a note I wrote to myself 5 years ago.
‘Let go of the fear, and continue to be great’
Today made me think about March 16, 2020. It was a Monday. A sunny Spring Amsterdam day.
It was the day I received the email from Heineken HQ saying don't come into the office. Covid was spreading across Europe - Shut us down.
We only lived 1 kilometre away from the office, and for the next 18 months I never went back (in fact that was the end of corporate life). Those following 4 months were madness. Chaos. Panic. Unprecedented.
Remember how hard it was to control any part of your life.
It was fight or flight - and flight was not an option for us.
What became clear very quickly - I would not get another secondment with Heineken. The beer taps had stopped pouring. The whole global band of Heineken senior managers would be restructured. I knew I had a year once the restructure took affect to get back to NZ, and sort my life out. So that's what I did. Stopped the booze, started investing in my health, and Grant 2.0. At the end of that year i'd dropped 50kgs and 30 heartbeats per minute, and gained my mojo.
I still have great memories of my time at Heineken HQ. I'm really looking forward to heading back and seeing my friends and favourite places again (code for Appeltaart) and properly thanking them for the experiences we shared.
That year was a bit like preparing with this Camino. It was long enough to require significant planning and commitment - and close enough to be constantly motivating. A year ahead, with 4 x 90 day sprints to eat the elephant.
For the next 6 weeks I'll reflect. And plot the next adventure. Listen to others. Experience new things. Eat Spanish ham.
For State Of Play brewing we have a massive 12 months ahead. With growth comes choices, and these require some head scratching time. As soon as I'm back i'll be tasting our new beer - this will blow minds.
Please grab some beers on-line and keep Leo busy - get a couple of cases on subscription and these are delivered to your door for $15.75 a 6-pack.