When Getting Lost Becomes the Lesson
Business travel can feel like a kind of choreography: the airport pickup, the security timing, the rental car line you hope to avoid, the early hotel check-in you hope to secure, the meeting plans, the dinner reservations, and everything in between.
But it’s the in-between moments — the detours, delays, small surprises and “now what?” decisions — that mirror the entrepreneurial journey far more than any perfectly executed itinerary ever could.
Late last year, I was reminded of that truth on the road to Waco, Texas.
The Contest That Became a Classroom
I traveled to Baylor University with three Drexel students: a marketing major, a finance major, and a biomedical engineering student. They joined me not simply as attendees, but as winners of a writing contest that challenged students to share a moment when travel reshaped their perspective.
Fifty submissions arrived: funny, heartfelt, surprising, and insightful. The three winning entries each captured something essential about entrepreneurship: curiosity, resilience, and the willingness to follow a path that isn’t always linear.
Their reward was experiential — the chance to travel, network, and sit alongside industry leaders during a panel discussion that brought together a university endowment CIO, an OCIO solutions provider, and a distressed credit portfolio manager. The students didn’t just observe the conversation; they felt invited into the profession.
The Founder’s Journey Happens Between Checkpoints
LinkedIn provides no shortage of “travel like a founder” advice: Pack protein. Plan workouts. Maximize points. Fly early. Bring a book.
All excellent advice. But sometimes the best travel hack is much simpler: Embrace the detour.
That lesson first came to me nearly thirty years ago, long before email on airplanes and mobile boarding passes. I was in my early twenties, traveling in Europe on a shoestring budget and a paper guidebook.
A Memory From Being Lost
On the Thursday before Easter, we arrived at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The guidebook confidently stated it was open. The guards just as confidently disagreed.
No phones. No GPS. No Blue Dot to rescue us.
In our confusion, flipping through the guidebook to devise our backup plan, a priest quietly approached and offered to take us inside.
We thought we were getting a short tour. Instead, he led us to seats ten rows from the Baldachin—directly beneath Michelangelo’s dome.
Hundreds of priests and nuns filled the Basilica. Cameras clicked. Disposable Kodaks whirred. The air buzzed with anticipation.
Then, suddenly, Pope John Paul II entered to deliver Holy Thursday Mass.
We looked at each other in disbelief. A moment of confusion had become a lasting memory — one I still return to, and one I shared with our Drexel students on the road this week.
Why These Moments Matter for Drexel Students
Entrepreneurship isn’t just about building. It’s about interpreting and responding — navigating the unexpected with clarity and curiosity. Travel unlocks this mindset naturally.
You face something you didn’t plan, and then you choose how to respond. And in that choice, your perspective expands.
For our three students, Texas offered dozens of these moments: conversations that couldn’t be scripted, advice they couldn’t Google, insights they couldn’t get from a classroom alone.
A Thank You to Our Community
This trip doesn’t happen without the partnership of Dakota, who knows the road as well as anyone in the industry.
It doesn’t happen without Baylor University, who welcomed us with warmth and generosity.
And it doesn’t happen without the continued support of my colleagues at Drexel University’s Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, who champion experiential learning with remarkable dedication.
I’ve been back on the road with Drexel students since that Texas trip, with stops at the University of Tennessee and West Virginia University. Our goal is simple: open more doors for Drexel students, create more in-between moments, and build pathways where curiosity and opportunity meet.
The Lesson for All of Us
When students ask me for my best travel advice—my founder travel advice—I offer this:
Put down your phone. Get lost once in a while. Leave room for wonder.
Because that’s where the real discoveries happen. And that’s where the entrepreneurial mindset takes shape — not in the perfect plan, but in the unexpected detour.
