Printable Version Of This Page
Email This Page To A FriendWorldCity | 1200 Anastasia Ave, Suite 200
Coral Gables, FL 33134
305-441-2244
Fax: 305-441 9888
Copyright WorldCity 2008
Site By Omnibus Creative
WorldCity Business Magazine
Sky Warrior
by Mary Dempsey
When Earl LaChance sells his car, it will be a deal. He only puts about 2,000 miles on it each year usually shuttling between his Coconut Grove home and the airport. The finance and telecom specialist, a co-founder of 5-year-old Solvis Consulting, takes about 50 business trips a year. That said, his air miles have slipped below their usual 150,000 level since Solvis with offices in the United States, Mexico and Argentina has taken on more stateside business.
Your most frequent destinations?
Monterrey, Mexico; Quito, Lima, Dallas and Atlanta.
Do you have a favorite?
Definitely Mexico. I spent my first three years of Latin America travel within Mexico. Because of this, I’ve adopted somewhat of a Mexican accent. Gringo-Mexicano is how my business partners refer to it.
*Any hotels you recommend? *
Los Tallanes in Lima, Peru. It is a small hotel, but very nice.
Where do you eat when you’re on the road?
In Lima, El Segundo Muelle is a favorite for excellent spicy ceviche. When in Mexico, the scariest looking taquera usually has the absolute best tacos in the area. As the saying goes When in Rome do as the Romans do…” Nothing irks me more than to see people from the U.S. going into a McDonald’s, KFC or a Pizza Hut.
Do you have any travel pet peeves?
People that rush the gate. Haven’t we come far enough to form a line and board in turn?
How do you kill time when you’re in the airport?
The best thing I’ve purchased recently is a high-speed cellular-based Internet card. If you are traveling in the U.S., you have to have one. I can check my e-mails, surf the net or chat with my partners. It is invaluable. Outside the U.S., having WIFI access is critical because you can go into just about any American Airlines Admiral’s Club and be connected.
*Do you have a favorite airport? *
How about least favorite? Never check your luggage when going to LAX or MIA. These two airports are excruciatingly slow in delivering bags to the carousel.
What’s the coolest service you’ve ever seen in an airport?
Actually it may be commonplace now, but right next to the shoe shine booth in RDU Raleigh Durham there was a lady giving 10-minute neck massages. Great idea, especially after a long flight.
What’s the most unnerving thing that’s ever happened on a business trip?
At Boston Logan, I’ve had two abandoned landings. Our wheels had actually touched down and the pilot floored the engines, pulling the plane up in a very drastic ascent. Both times, a commuter plane had wandered onto our runway. I’ve flown nearly 1.5 million miles, and even I was white-knuckled!
Any strange adventures on the road?
One night at a restaurant-bar in Lima, all my friends had finally retired for the night. At about 2 a.m., I shared a cab with a very old Peruvian cabbie. Unfortunately, he didn’t know our hotel it was new and neither did anyone he asked. So we rode around Lima looking for it for about an hour. We stopped, had coffee, a cigar, chatted about life in Peru and the United States. After we found the hotel, he regretted that it took so long and only charged me about $10. An example of the good people you meet while traveling.
Stay Informed
Stay on top of breaking news in world trade. Grab one of our RSS feeds. What is RSS?
