Seat26B

The Weekly Letter

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During a career that has spanned many continents, Dan explored the world and activated ‘adventure’ genes in his offspring and wife. He spent a large portion of his professional life commuting - from one country and another. For three years he flew between Zürich and Amsterdam single week. He became well-known: on one flight the cabin crew, afraid that he might have forgotten his forthcoming wedding anniversary, gave him a bottle of champagne: “Just in case, Dan.” [For the record, Dan categorically states that he did not, had not and would not forget his anniversary.]

[Dan’s popularity with the cabin staff was matched by KLM corporate management: they appreciated Dan’s regular flights, but were not impressed by the parsimoniousness of his employer’s corporate travel division. To express appreciation for the number of flights, they named a seat in Dan’s honor. However, disappointed by the skillfully negotiated average fare, they chose Seat 26B.]

Dan’s wandering life-style began shortly after being awarded a Ph.D. by Georgia Tech. He toured Iran with his wife, Nazy. They subsequently moved to Memphis so he could take up his ‘calling’: a university professorship. The arrival of a baby girl accelerated family acceptance of financial reality: Dan moved into the business world.

It was a dangerous place, but business expanded Dan’s world. He rapidly parlayed corporate reorganizations into international opportunity. In the next few years, the family lived in Vancouver, Houston, New Hampshire and The Netherlands. (The Berlin Wall fell a few weeks after The Martin Family arrived in The Netherlands. Coincidence? Unlikely!)

But... As the kids entered college, it soon became clear that a cosmic sized family planning error had occurred. Two members of The Martin Family would be at university simultaneously. Family solvency mandated a return to Europe and a move from corporate overhead into company revenue-generation.

Dan and Nazy moved to Zürich where Dan worked with customers that were part of the Financial Services sector. (He bares no responsibility for the subprime debacle or the subsequent world economic meltdown.) In his role, Dan had the opportunity to admire executive plumage while ruffling high-level feathers.

After hobbing and nobbing at the highest corporate levels and after buckling his swash all over the globe, Dan left the world of the mega-corporation. Now he does project work with international organizations and writes about his family and travel.

Dan lives with his wife Nazy in Zürich.

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