An international flight to leaseland ✈️

Happy 2025, everyone. We hope you got some rest and relaxation over the holidays, since this year is sure to be…well…interesting.

While Abby hosted a houseful of family, I traveled across the pond to London which was, as advertised, unbelievable at Christmastime. We were very fortunate to have had perfect weather and only one mediocre meal, so all in all it was a smashing success. 

On the day of our return flight home, I thought about how the actual travel part of taking a big trip is largely forgotten. In these days of mobile boarding passes, we rarely have the IAD to LHR ticket stubs to keep as mementos. So unless the “getting there” was particularly memorable (like the time my poor child vomited the entire way from Iceland to Paris), we forget about it pretty quickly upon arrival. 

Can you guess what that reminds me of? You’re right. It’s like the “getting there” journey to opening a brick-and-mortar business. New year, same me!

If I say, “I’m going to London over the holidays,” all we think about is being in London. And if I say, “I’m going to open a fish and chips restaurant,” we naturally think about how you can never go wrong with fish and chips. No one thinks (or really cares) about the “getting there” part.

We care about the destination, but the journey there is long, oftentimes stressful, boring, and exhausting. It can feel endless. Most of it is out of our control. 

Consider what it takes to get to Europe. 

First you need a passport. You get your picture taken and complete the paperwork. Then you wait. Even if you pay the extra $60 to have it expedited, you’re still waiting on the passport office to process your application and mail you that cute little book. OK, great.

Now you can buy a plane ticket. You get to control a lot here. Yay! You choose the destination and the dates of travel. You choose your departure airport and the airline and the flight itself. You can, for a price, choose your seats. You choose whether you want to check your bags. Aaannnnndddd that’s where your control pretty much ends.

You don’t control the flight times, and you certainly don’t control the cost of the tickets.

You cannot control the traffic on the way to the airport. You cannot control the weather on the day of your flight.

You can’t control the lines at security or who’s in front of you in the queue.

You can’t control when the plane actually arrives at the airport or when it will actually depart. You most definitely don’t control who sits in front of you (someone who leans all the way back immediately) or behind you (loud talker) or next to you (vomiting child).

You don’t control the food, the in-flight entertainment, the cabin temperature, or whether the WiFi is going to be working.

Once you land, you don’t control the time it takes to taxi to a gate, and you don’t control how far that gate is to your connecting flight.

You don’t control the lines at immigration and customs, and you can’t control how long it’ll take for your luggage to arrive at baggage claim…hopefully.

You can’t control the traffic from the airport to your hotel, and (worst of all IMO) you can't control whether your Uber driver has a Black Ice Little Tree air freshener.

But, PHEW, once you get there, the getting there is done. 

In opening a retail business, just like in travel, sometimes it takes a long time and a lot of headache to get where you want to go.

But if you’ve traveled by airplane before, you assume some level of pain and delay in the process. That’s why you leave early for the airport, why you arrive hours before your scheduled departure, why you pack your own snacks, download podcast episodes, get TSA Precheck and Global Entry, stick to carry-ons, and pack earplugs. 

Because on the other side is your destination, and you know that the journey will be worth it.

When we’ve done something before, we know what to expect, and we plan accordingly as well as possible. We show up prepared and ready to go. And even so, MOST of the process is still out of our control. All we can do is embrace it and know that it’ll be over soon enough. 

The first time you go through the leasing process is always the hardest. But you learn, and the next time is better. And good news – when you’re renting retail space, once you're through lease signing, you’re really through. There’s no return flight to endure.