The Great Reset: Thoughts from TTC Co-Founder Jake Haupert

The Great Reset: A message from our co-founder Jake Haupert

First and foremost, big heart-to-heart hug and warm wishes during these extraordinarily difficult times. This is truly unprecedented, a 100-year event, and I am blown away by how quickly things continue to slip and slide, unfortunately, not for the better. This pandemic is challenging us all on a very deep level, swelling up in our eyes and sweeping across the planet, wreaking havoc on our psyche, our lives, and our shared civilization, but it is also bonding us in a way that I really hope sticks around. 

Unfortunately, from an industry perspective, tourism is being impacted most severely. All of us are intimately involved in small, yet mighty, purpose-driven businesses that are being forced to make very difficult choices, from how we market, how we guide our clients, support our in-destination partners, and the small communities where tourism is the lifeblood.

All that said, I believe that if we can make the hard decisions now to get skinny, be creative, innovative, while staying true to our purpose, our brands, and our messages, those firmly positioned in the transformational travel space will rise up and meet the bounce-back demand for a new, more thoughtful travel dynamic.

I know we're all experiencing COVID-19 a little differently, but I must say, I find the irony a bit satisfying. At a time we all seem to be so divided, this virus has illuminated how truly similar we are, bonding us in our communities and as a species. This virus has no interest in the color of your skin, your sexual orientation, or what country you border, it doesn't care if you're a conservative or liberal, rich or poor, muslim or christian, and it could care less about 'what you do.' This is a powerful and important reminder to a humanity that has recently felt less and less human. 

As bridge-builders, connection-creators, meaning-makers, and luminaries of light, we're in an incredible and honorable position to effect positive change on people and the planet, but unfortunately, we're also the first to fall victim to a global crisis. Everyone thinks we have the best jobs, failing to realize how frail and fragile they are and the impact such sudden crises have on our lives, our businesses, and subsequently, our planet. But here we are, welcome to our new reality, and the bitter truth is, not all of us will be able to sustain, and that is heart-breaking. In a matter of days, people in every corner of the planet, have stopped going to work or school, many aren’t even traveling into town let alone getting on an airplane. I think it is important to be real about that, the quicker we recognize the harsh realities of our current landscape, the more nimble we are and the more powerfully we can respond. 

I am based in the USA (not currently proud), Seattle actually (mostly proud), one of the epicenters. It honestly feels like we’re in Chapter 3 of a dystopian novel, scared as hell to turn another page. While the lack of leadership nationally is only amplifying the fear factor, our governor is picking up the pieces and is responding admirably. But It has never ringed more true that the specter of fear and our uneasiness with the unknown represents humanity’s biggest blind spot. This is shocking to me since control is merely an illusion. I encourage you to continue to remind your community that the only thing we can control is our response to the unknown, our reaction to the action, and the important choices that follow. Sadly, and more often than not, fear of the unknown is met with angst, hate and oppression and rarely welcomed with the hope, love, trust, and perseverance needed to overcome. This is an opportunity to change that on a global scale.

Herein lies the opportunity for each of us, as transformational travel gurus, to walk the walk, welcome the unknown, embrace it as an opportunity to learn, grow, reflect, apply-meaning, connect with one another, lean on each other, form new bonds, be cooperative, come together, mastermind our problems, and rebuild. This Great Reset represents a rare and wonderful opportunity to rethink, reimagine, and reinvent the travel industry and our civilization, redesign our broken systems, heal, and renew from the inside-out. 

In order to do this, we must switch on our beacons of light and shine brighter than we ever have before. Our friends, our loved ones, our colleagues, our communities need us to tune in, increase our individual resonance and collective coherence bring transformational travel into our new way of being and engaging with the world. 

Many of us sensed a global awakening unfolding prior to this pandemic and I now believe the process will be accelerated. Who could have predicted that this would be the catalyzer? Difficult times at scale have a way of cracking humanity open, inviting introspection, taking stock of what’s important, connecting us with our families, with our communities at home and abroad, reconsider nature, the universe and our place in it.

Humanity is remarkable and resilient and in the coming months we’re going to bear witness to a reunion of human values and ancient truths that will cultivate empathy, understanding, acceptance, stewardship, hope, love and peace. In this more beautiful world that sits gloriously on the horizon, travelers will be intrinsically called to a higher integrity, higher impact, and a higher consciousness approach to travel. And that is where we will be, cause truth is on our side, and a new dawn is coming, I promise you.

We will be launching a new group forum called Mighty Networks in the coming month that will become the hub for us to connect, convene, share, support, and co-create… Stay tuned! I will also be hosting a TTC Town Hall at 8 am PST on Wednesday the 18th of March. 

With love, light, and life,

Jake

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