THE LAST WORD JOURNEYS

Reflectingonjourneysofdistanceanddepth.

As a young man, I spent countless hours sitting at my desk in philosophical pursuits Reading, researching and writing maxims, this place was my sanctuary. Striking back at John le Carré’s, “A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world,” I put fountain pen to paper, writing, “I have made a journey, not of distance, but of depth.” However, sitting at dinner one evening with the former Confidential Secretary to the Philippine Minister of Defense, and friend of Imelda Marcos, I was given an insight into the world of diplomacy that would change the course of my life, forever. With impeccable manners, this elegant woman told stories of flying around the world in the private planes of her childhood friends, and described how she met world leaders while travelling abroad: “You haveto go to another country, and there you meet these people.”

It was years later that I would find myself on an expedition that would lead me from Vancouver to the Southernmost point of the Americas. Joining success guru, Peter Lowe, to explore Argentina’s Patagonia, we made ourway down the Beagle Channel to the natural habitat of wild penguins. It was a trip that took three planes, a van and what may have been a badly unrestored Chevrolet, to talk in person with a man who had been friends with Presidents, Prime Ministers and captains of industry. Having gleaned the experience and advice of greats like Presidents from Reagan to Clinton, Peter was famously sought out by business leaders for his council. This was the time to pass on that experience to a young man beginning his journey.

Walking down a broken sidewalk in a remote town on the rugged Atlantic coast, Peter described that within us we carry the seeds of our accomplishments, the person we will be in our future He summed this up with, “You are what you are before you do what you do.”

I would spend the following years making the most difficult passages of my life – not realizing that I had already found my answer. It was long before I had ever left my sanctuary, that I was drawn to publishing, advertising and the world of luxury brands From high artistry creations, to the inner world of boutiques, this was a landscape I had spent my youth traversing.

In those days, collecting was a private act of reflection, adding pieces to a legacy of carefully curated taste Today, in a world where ‘luxury is choice’, and the choices offered are always changing, these private paths have become mainstream The pinnacle of luxury, however, remains those brands distinguished by their sense of permanence. And we, who have made long journeys, still retreat to our sanctuaries to find the greatest truth of all: An unyieldingly familiar authenticity, which guides us through all ages.

JD Banck Publisher