David's AW News: Sick as a Parrot...But Proud as Anything

Greetings from Slovakia

My final few days in Spain came with a soundtrack. Close to the beach, the trees seemed alive with huge flocks of small green parrots—Rose-ringed Parakeets. There appeared to be more of them than ever this year.

They originally came from South America sold as pets, some escaped and gradually established thriving populations along the warmer Mediterranean coast. They particularly enjoy golf courses and the leafy residential areas around Málaga and Marbella. A little like the tourists now arriving en masse, they are colourful, noisy and happiest when flocking together to sing.

Actually, “sing” may be rather generous. They screech, squawk, argue and gossip from tree to tree — rather like a particularly lively Spanish family lunch.

ENGLAND 3, MEXICO 2… AND THE WHOLE VALLEY KNEW

I’m not really a football guy, as you know, but it was impossible to miss England’s dramatic 3–2 victory over Mexico on Sunday night. In the hot night air, we could hear celebrations and cheers erupting from villas and terraces all across the valley. It was like surround-sound football. England were down to ten men, the game was full of drama, and somehow they held on. Even for a non-football person, you had to admire it.

Although I’m sure the Rose-ringed Parakeets were wondering what all the noise was about.

TOMAS’S BIRTHDAY BOAT TRIP

Tomas’s birthday traditionally marks the end of our Spanish chapter and the beginning of the journey back to Slovakia. So, together with a few friends and several bottles of vino, we hired a small boat and headed out from the coast in search of dolphins. We didn’t see any dolphins.

What we did see were some absolutely enormous yachts floating offshore near Marbella.

At this time of year, some of the biggest private yachts in the Mediterranean gather around Marbella, Puerto Banús and the Costa del Sol. Looking them up afterwards with a little help from AI is strangely addictive.

Who owns that one? How did they make their money? One apparently belonged to an arms dealer. Another was connected to the owner of a large chain of old people’s homes in Britain.

It makes you think.

There we were, sailing past floating palaces worth tens or even hundreds of millions, while I was wondering whether my anti-seasickness tablets were working.

They weren’t. After about an hour, I retired below deck and became thoroughly… Sick as a parrot.

A Rose-ringed Parakeet, presumably.

Above deck, Coco, Tomas and the others continued drinking, laughing and partying while below deck, I quietly reconsidered every decision that had brought me aboard.

TWO VERY DIFFERENT JOURNEYS

On Wednesday morning, I dropped Coco at Málaga Airport for the start of her long journey home:

Málaga → Frankfurt → Beijing → Hangzhou → taxi home to Yiwu.

Later that day, I took the slightly less glamorous Wizz Air evening flight to Bratislava.

No champagne lounge or floating palace. Just me, my suitcase and a lingering distrust of anything that moves unexpectedly.

Tomas had flown back the previous day and kindly picked me up at Bratislava Airport.

Then, on Thursday morning, I walked back into our Slovak office.

It is genuinely wonderful to see everyone again! The team here is doing an awesome job. There is a quiet energy in the building — websites being developed, translations being completed, orders being processed and problems being solved across so many different European markets.

And this week, they have achieved something particularly special.

WE FINALLY OPENED ANCIENT WISDOM UKRAINE

Today, our new Ukrainian website goes live. This was not a simple website launch. Tomas and the team overcame enormous practical and regulatory hurdles. There were delivery and logistics problems to solve. Payment processing had to be arranged. We even had to create a reliable system to ensure that sanctioned individuals could not place orders.  Just registering and operating a Ukrainian domain presented complications.  Most companies would probably have looked at the obstacles and decided to wait.

 

At the centre of the story is a quiet, gentle Ukrainian man called George. George is our Ukrainian webmaster.

He was visiting his mother in Slovakia when the war began. Suddenly, his life changed. He didn’t go back.

During the last few months, George has been translating and building the new website from our Slovak office. In the process, he has immersed himself in Ancient Wisdom — learning about our culture, our products and the thousands of independent retailers we serve.  Now the website is ready. For me, this is not simply about opening another market.

It is about giving Ukrainian retailers, shopkeepers and small businesses access to the same products and opportunities as everyone else.

Many companies are waiting for the war to end before entering Ukraine. Ancient Wisdom is already there. Not because we imagine it will be easy or immediately successful—it's going to be slow progress. A lot to learn for sure. We are there because opening this website is our small vote of confidence in a better future for Ukraine.

A future of busy streets, thriving shops and ordinary people building businesses, serving customers, earning a living and rebuilding normal lives.

George helped us build the doorway.

Today, we are opening it.  AW Gifts Ukraine  you can check it out.

Meanwhile...

HAPPY HOLI-DAZE ROLLS ON

Meanwhile, our Happy Holi-Daze promotion continues at full pace, with free shipping and fresh offers arriving throughout the campaign. The UK’s third heatwave in just seven weeks is building, England are still marching through the World Cup.

Parakeets in Marbella. Superyachts at sea. England beating Mexico with ten men. A man with a bin on his head.

And Ancient Wisdom opening in Ukraine.

It has certainly been one of those weeks.

As I left Spain, the parrots were still squawking in the trees and the tourists were still streaming towards the beach.

Coco was beginning her journey east to China. I was travelling north to Slovakia.

George was preparing to open a digital door towards Ukraine.

We are all moving in different directions, but somehow it remains part of the same Ancient Wisdom journey.

A journey that began more than thirty years ago with a few bottles of lavender and an oil burner — and one which continues today through the determination of people such as Tomas, George and our wonderful Slovak team. Next week, the journey continues from…

Well, you will have to wait and see.

Have a wonderful week.

David