I've often thought that I should give credit to Ronald Reagan for making me want to travel the world. Without knowing he was doing so, he challenged me, and many of my clients, to look at the true purpose of travel in a completely different way.

It was Reagan who flashed his index finger every time a camera was present to assert that "We're No. 1," the best, most successful country on the planet.

There is some truth to that. But I had lived abroad, and I wasn't sure that I would agree that America is No. 1 in all meaningful areas of human endeavor and accomplishment.

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