Actually, I intended to write this a few days earlier, but what happens to me in the second half of June almost every year happened again. Those last meetings, the final phone calls, and just a few more emails that absolutely had to be sent before the first summer vacation.

I am no exception. Around National Day, I also like to travel somewhere abroad. And most often, that destination is Italy.

I sit by the window and watch the landscape glide past. "The vacation starts the moment you step through the door," my father always says. And he is right. The journey is part of the vacation.

No stress. Relaxed.

That is also why I love traveling by train. They don't just take you from one country to another—and in Italy, often right into the very heart of the city. They also make it easier to switch from the daily rhythm into something more peaceful.

And perhaps it is no coincidence that this makes me reflect on communication. Especially in Italy. A country where people still seem to understand that conversation is meant for connection, not just for exchanging information.

About how incredibly used to rushing we have become, even in our conversations.

Fast replies. Quick messages. Brief meetings. Hurried calls.

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Sometimes I get the feeling that we increasingly listen just to answer, rather than to truly hear.

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Maybe that is why I love visiting Italy so much.

Not just because of the landscape, the food, or the cities that I can visit for the tenth time and still discover something new. Something else inspires me time and time again—the way Italians communicate.

There, conversation does not seem to be a mere exchange of information. It is a part of life.

The waiter doesn't just ask what you would like to order. The market vendor doesn't just state the price. The neighbor doesn't just nod in greeting.

People talk. A lot. Loudly. With their hands. With their faces. With their eyes.

And above all, without the feeling that every minute dedicated to another human being is wasted time. Which I find fantastic.

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As communicators, we often deal with the big stories. With strategies, public appearances, media, crisis situations, and the eternal question of how to best present a message to the public.

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But in reality, it turns out over and over again that the most important things are much simpler.

That we rarely convince people with the most polished sentence.

That we don't build trust with the most beautiful presentation.

That our conversational partners often don't remember all of our arguments.

But they do remember whether we listened to them. Whether we gave them our time. Whether we showed genuine interest.

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Perhaps that is precisely why I believe that one of the greatest powers of communication lies in its simplicity.

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In a friendly greeting.

In a sincere question: "How are you?", for which we are actually prepared to hear the answer.

In the ability to be truly present for a moment.

Summer is the ideal time for this.

Not because we have fewer responsibilities. There is usually never a shortage of those. To be fair, nowadays we are almost always at least a little bit reachable.

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But in the summer, it is still easier to allow ourselves a slightly slower pace. And when we slow down, we often realize that the most beautiful parts of the day are connected precisely with people.

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Perhaps that is one of the things we could bring back home from vacation.

Not just photographs, souvenirs, and tanned skin.

But also a little more time for people.

And a few more kind words.

Because their value is no less in July than it is in the middle of a exhausting workweek in November.

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Wishing everyone a wonderful vacation!