Meet the #IIGlobal2019 delegates as they embark on the Ultimate Education and Networking Experience of a lifetime to San Francisco & Washington DC.
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We caught up with Darryl Grater, #YourIIG Deputy President & Executive Head: Coastal Regions at Discovery Insure. Here’s what he had to say..
What is your favourite travel childhood memory?
I have a few, but if I have to isolate a single memory then it was lying on the couch in the lounge reading through a set of 26 Encyclopaedias my parents kept in a dusty bookshelf – it took a few years! When the digital encyclopaedias came out (Encarta), I would be glued to the desktop for hours (I’m a bit of a nerd).
What is your favourite holiday destination?
I am not extremely well travelled but have been to Amsterdam a few times – great destination with amazing museums, beautiful architecture, and it’s well positioned to access most of Europe very conveniently.
What is the best way to sleep on a plane?
I’m not a great sleeper, but funny enough pass out quite easily on a plane – my neck support on longer flights is a must!
What is your top travel tip?
A tip to not get lost, when I’m in a foreign city, I Google-map the surroundings first on hotel Wifi before I step out, which means I can always see where I am even with no network by referring back to the map already downloaded (which I keep open). This works for me as I don’t like to cellular-roam when I travel and one doesn’t always have Wifi when out and about.
What do you like to do while travelling?
Viewing old buildings, battlefields, museums, and eating local food with red wine. It’s pretty much all I do when I travel for leisure.
What travel gadgets are you taking with you on this tour?
I’m not a gadget guy, so my stock standard applies: Mac, iPad, cellphone, EarPods for my meetings, and 2 x power banks.
What are you looking forward to the most on this trip?
I have never been to the US (even though I have family there), and the sheer scale and power of the market, economy and size of the population would be exciting to experience. From a professional perspective, the US is the world’s largest insurance market, enjoying just under 30% of the globe’s gross written premium – so I am sure there is lots to learn from local insurers, reinsurers and brokerages who play in that extremely competitive market. And on a personal level, San-Fran and DC have some exciting tourist attractions to enjoy!
Tell us something fun about yourself that most people don’t know?
Not sure they are fun facts…but here goes: I’m a little OCD (I’d straighten the picture in your office), and sometimes I’m a little too competitive (don’t play 30 seconds with me – it gets extreme if the team isn’t winning!). To destress, it’s either getting out on the range to practice my sports-shooting, taking my bike out for a quick ride (it doesn’t pedal), or a simple movie with a glass of red.
What is the one thing that you cannot travel without?
Ummmmm…probably my cellphone – it’s my camera, map, cardholder, and ability to answer emails when I stop in Wifi areas.
What country has the best food?
South Africa by far – the quantity of portions, general quality, menu prices, and restaurant service is generally above-par versus foreign places I have visited.
Have you ever gotten lost while travelling?
Not really – refer to point 4 above.
What other destinations are on your bucket list?
Italy would be my next personal trip – from the Alps in the north, to Tuscany (rumoured to be one of the most beautiful places in the world), to Rome (enough said) and Sicily in the south – so much history to experience and take in.
How will u be putting the SA in the USA?
I’d like to be able to share that Africa has some incredible success stories, and that South Africa specifically is in a new chapter that is ripe for investment. Thank you to Camargue Underwriting Managers for sponsoring this trip and enabling nearly 40 insurance professionals to showcase this exact point.
