Column: Lavallo visits every nation on Earth 

0
CIZ COM 1226 Monday Column
Sal Lavallo hugs his grandmother, Teri Lavallo of Zionsville, during a recent trip to her hometown. (Photo by Donna Monday)

Commentary by Donna Monday

Quick, without Googling, how many countries are there in the world?

The answer: 193 (not counting the Vatican and Palestine), and Sal Lavallo has seen them all.

Sal, 27, is the grandson of Zionsville residents Frank and Terry Lavallo, and he’s been burning up the airwaves from his home base in New York City talking with media outlets all across the nation about his travels. Last week, he was featured in a piece in the New York Post.

I recently spoke with Sal by phone after his grandma told me about his exploits. His desire to see the world may have started early. As a student at New York University, he went to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

He fell in love with the place, so much so that after college he went to work there for McKinsey and Co., a management consultant firm.

“I did mostly social sector work helping governments and large organizations with their strategy, planning for the next handful of years,” he said.

While working for McKinsey, Sal travelled four or five days a week and stayed at Marriott hotels, where he had loyalty points (Marriott, after learning of Sal’s goal, provided properties during the last five months of travel and sponsored the media blitz in New York).

“I was really lucky,” he said of all the traveling.

By the time he quit his job in January 2016 he had already been to 115 countries. He decided to see them all.

“It’s been really crazy,” he said of the quest.

And what has he learned?

“There’s no such thing as normal,” he said, using fashion to illustrate his point. “What’s cool in one place is ugly in another. You have to focus on what you like.”

In addition to Abu Dhabi, Sal has a warm spot in his heart for Tanzania.

“I own a small farm there (5 acres),” he said. “It gives me reason to come back.”

He loves the history and the peaceful culture of the nation, and he said the landscapes are “dynamic and diverse.”

He loves Syria, too.

“It is one of the most historically important and beautiful countries in the world,” Sal said.

Yet, he laments we only hear the negative. He said he likes to show the positives and acknowledges he would like “to open people’s eyes to see the positive things,” especially in those places where we hear so much negative.

One hundred and ninety-three countries. Now what? Sal said he likes to “plan 10 amazing things to do, and if you only do one of them, you are still doing something amazing.”

Stay tuned.


Current Morning Briefing Logo

Stay CURRENT with our daily newsletter (M-F) and breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox for free!

Select list(s) to subscribe to



By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Share.

Current Morning Briefing Logo

Stay CURRENT with our daily newsletter (M-F) and breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox for free!

Select list(s) to subscribe to



By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact