On October 5th at 1:45 in the morning I got on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong. Zooming halfway around the world, in 15 hours, on a new Boeing 777. With the exceptional service offered by Cathay Pacific, which is a truly amazing thing, the trip was over much more quickly than I had expected. A testament to the ease of travel offered by our modern times.
Even 25 years ago, that would have been a much different and more grueling trip. A hundred years ago, it was a trip of a lifetime; and would have taken a very, very long time.
I did my usual stealthy fist-pump on takeoff because I have enormous gratitude for the marvel of modern flight. Three million separate parts, provided by more than 900 suppliers, have to all be working in harmony for a 777 to be allowed to take off and safely get where it’s going.
Come on — you have to admit, that’s amazing. I have doubts about my own ability to make sure my teenage kids do a satisfactory job moving the lawn. So I bow down to the experts who can clearly articulate and then assure that 900 self-interested companies are providing exactly what’s been asked for.
Why Asia?
If you recall, I'm participating in an Advisory Group for the United Nations — our first meeting took place in New York several months back. The purpose of this trip to Hong Kong was to attend a second gathering of the Group, at which we'd select a winning application for the $1M sustainable energy grant being given for 2016.
While I cannot comment on the finalists of that process (the winner will be announced in December at a UN event), I can tell you a little bit about how the UN, other major players in the energy space, and China are viewing and approaching the global energy predicament we face.
On this trip I also had a chance to deliver the Crash Course to an audience in Shenzhen. So we can now say The Crash Course has been heard on the Chinese mainland! A big thanks to Peak Prosperity member Peter for arranging the venue and being my gracious host for the trip over and back.
Related to all this, I'd like to take a moment to sincerely thank each and every one of you who have supported Peak Prosperity's
by cmartenson 
