Why Global Travel Still Matters in a Digital-First World: 34,000 Miles with Rupt

In an age of video calls, shared docs, and remote collaboration, it’s easy to believe you can build a global business entirely from behind a screen. But at Rupt, we know better: some things only happen when you’re in the room.

Over the course of 18 days, Rupt CEO Jason Lucash traveled more than 34,000 miles across 10 cities, 3 continents, and 14 time zones from Hong Kong and Tokyo to Zurich, Berlin, Munich, and a surprise detour through Halifax. The purpose? To go beyond emails and Zooms and show up where it really counts.

This wasn’t a sightseeing tour. It was a high-impact sprint focused on:

• Visiting our global production partners in Hong Kong, Jinjiang, and Shenzhen

• Capturing two full-scale content shoots in Tokyo and Berlin

• Meeting face-to-face with international customers and distributors

• Reviewing prototypes and packaging on the factory floor

• Building the foundation for Rupt’s 2026 product roadmap

This is what we mean when we say boots on the ground. It’s about seeing your supply chain up close. Catching small issues before they become big ones. Strengthening relationships. And building momentum you just can’t replicate over email.

5 Takeaways from the Road: What We Learned on This Trip

1. Face-to-face still beats screen-to-screen.
You can’t replace real presence. Being in the room accelerates trust, creativity, and action in ways virtual meetings just don’t.

2. Seeing production firsthand is a game changer.
From packaging to final QA checks, the ability to make fast decisions while standing on a factory floor keeps us moving at startup speed, even across the globe.

3. International customers want partnership, not just product.
Global business isn’t just about shipping overseas. It’s about showing up, listening, and evolving together.

4. Great content comes from unexpected places.
Some of our favorite moments from the Tokyo and Berlin shoots were unplanned, a reminder that creativity favors momentum.

5. Leadership means going where the work is.
Whether it's a supplier in Shenzhen or a distributor in Munich, great leadership is about showing up when it matters most, no matter how far that takes you.

We pulled together the highlights from this whirlwind trip in the short recap video you can see above. It captures the chaos, the creativity, and the why behind everything we’re building at Rupt.

Because we’ll never be a company that builds from behind a screen. We’re in the field. In the factory. On the ground. We’re building what matters, with the people who matter.

– The Rupt Team