Journeys North America 2026: What Stayed With Me

4 hours ago
3 min read

It’s been a few weeks since we left Savannah, and I’ve intentionally let it sit before writing this.

Because what happened there wasn’t just about the programme. It was about the feeling that stayed with people afterwards.

And the messages are still coming in.

What struck me most wasn’t just that people enjoyed it—of course they did. It was the level of surprise.

“Savannah wasn’t on my radar… and now I can’t stop thinking about it.”“I didn’t expect the US to feel like this.”“It felt like a little Europe, but with its own soul.”

That came up again and again.

There is something about Savannah—its pace, its beauty, its intimacy—that completely changes how people show up. And that had a direct impact on the way connections were made throughout the event.

From the very first evening at Perry Lane, there was already a different energy. People arrived curious, open, slightly intrigued by where they were… and that openness carried straight into the ghost tour that followed. It broke the ice in a way no formal welcome ever could. People were laughing, leaning in, already sharing stories before the event had even properly begun.

By the next morning, something had shifted.

The Fam-Meet® format always works—but in Savannah, it landed differently.

More than one person said to me, “I didn’t expect to feel this comfortable this quickly.”

That’s the point. But it still surprises people every time.

And then you place those meetings on a riverboat, drifting through the Georgia waters, with lunch unfolding around you… and suddenly it doesn’t feel like meetings at all. It feels like time well spent with the right people.

The same happened throughout the day—on the trolley, moving through the city, conversations continuing without effort, without pressure.

Then Old Fort Jackson in the evening.

That setting did something. History around you, the light changing as the sun went down, the sense of place becoming very real. People weren’t just attending an event—they were inside Savannah, experiencing it together. And again, relationships deepened without anyone forcing it.

But if there was a moment where everything truly came together, it was Red Gate Farms.

I had people come up to me—unprompted—saying, “Now I understand.”

Open space, nature, time to breathe. Meetings that didn’t feel transactional. Lunch that turned into laughter, lawn games that turned into conversations you wouldn’t normally have in business settings.

This is exactly what the Fam-Meet® way is designed to do. But seeing people realise it in real time never gets old.

One buyer said to me, “I’ve built more genuine connections in 24 hours here than in years of traditional events.”

You can’t manufacture that. You can only create the right conditions for it to happen.

And Savannah gave us those conditions.

By the time we reached the final evening at Wexford’s, there was a very clear shift in the room. People weren’t exchanging business cards anymore. They were making plans. Proper ones.

Trips. Partnerships. Follow-ups that you know will actually happen.

And that, for me, is always the real measure.