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There is an expression, attributed to the Chinese but also used in other parts of the world, that tells the listener, ‘May you live in interesting times.’ It means that I hope your life is surrounded by turmoil, uncertainty and danger. It’s not a blessing, it’s a curse.
Are we living in interesting times right now? One five-minute scroll through the news will tell you that we are. Are they more loaded with uncertainty than previous eras? Possibly.
I am over 50 years old, which means I lived through the end of the Cold War of the 1980s. Those were interesting times for sure, but today feels different. Back then it was a time of handshakes not hostilities at the White House. Of disarmament not deportations. And of trade agreements not tariffs. I remember it well. There was a sense of barriers coming down rather than going up.
Does that mean we should be feeling pessimistic for the weeks and months and, possibly, years ahead? I don’t think so. The opposite, in fact. I think those times of my mid-twenties tell you more about the human spirit than any of the posturings of Trump and Musk and Putin. And that is, we are at our best when we connect with each other.
Don‘t believe me? Then turn a few pages of our March issue and see what people like you are achieving through international connections.
For example, last month I traveled to the Osaka Show and found to my surprise a very American company making inroads into the Japanese market. AFTCO has discovered that Japanese consumers love California-style deck shirts and is growing sales in what on the face of it appears to be an unlikely market.
Alongside that story in this issue, we have two articles about brands looking outside Japan. We have the news of two exhibitors heading west in June to find European customers at Angling International LIVE. They might well find themselves crossing paths with Grundéns, the wader brand from Sweden, which is sending a team in the opposite direction to the Asian-Pacific region to begin building new business there.
We also have the story of an Italian TV personality and an English shoemaker who have come together to create a new footwear brand for saltwater anglers. Or you might want to read about the Indonesian tackle maker with big plans for Europe after signing a deal with a Hungarian supplier. Or maybe the holiday business from Costa Rica that is heading to Florida in July to attract new global partners.
We have a story of an Italian distributor making plans in Europe for an Australian brand it represents. And of a Lithuanian tech company that believes it can grow exports in South America alongside new business in the USA and Canada.
If our March issue is about anything, it is about celebrating the power of connections, and all over the world.
Of course, I am not saying that the angling trade is an engine for world peace. That would be a stretch for sure. But if global affairs are leaving you at all disheartened right now, take a moment to scroll through our articles and remind yourself that the world is a big place and that angling reaches into every corner of it.
My advice is to stay connected with as many like-minded people as possible. And stay in contact with Angling International. We like to think we can play our part in helping you. There are opportunities out there for you, sometimes in places you never imagined.
