Recent Travels
I am not a traveler. I have never flown anywhere just for leisure. I generally prefer to stay home, and with children there are logistic and financial implications to traveling as well. And until my current job I never had to travel for work either. But in the last two years I have taken a few trips, and it's been interesting to gain some perspective on what it may be like for those who do it more often.
Last week I was in Fort Worth for a convention. Our employees all had rooms at a hotel by the convention center. I ended up on a flight that came in at midnight with a few coworkers. We were picked up at the airport, but the hotel had overbooked and had to find us rooms elsewhere. The other hotel had a problem finding our reservation, so we ended up getting to our rooms about 1 a.m. So instead of this:
We ended up in this.
It's a hotel built in 1907, with old-timey style. It was kind of a fun place. But I was only there for a few hours.
The next morning the other hotel got us a taxi back to where we were supposed to be from the beginning, but our rooms still weren't ready, so we had to leave our bags for a few hours and get right to work. Later that afternoon I got to actually check in to the room I would have for the next few days.
There were meetings to attend that afternoon, and then we spent the evening working on the slide decks of the people who would be presenting during the convention. When you get a group of people of various nationalities presenting in English, there are a lot of grammatical issues to work out. So we worked on those until around 11, then I decided to get a late run in at the gym rather than try to drag myself out of bed at 5.
The next night was what we call the Road Rally, where people who have earned cars through incentive programs bring them and we take a big group photo. Then it's dinner and party time. We had it at a place called Billy Bob's Texas, which is the world's largest honky tonk bar. They can fit 6,000 people in there. So we had some great barbecue, live music, indoor bull riding, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
The next two days were the general sessions of convention, with leaders presenting training and recognizing people for their achievements. I spent my time backstage working on communication tasks and helping our new social media person learn the ropes of working events.
Our events end Saturday evening, and there's a curious phenomenon that happens after months of preparation and a culminating week of long hours. We all get really giddy and silly, and a large group usually goes out to dinner. We ended up at a place that served UNBELIEVABLE barbecue. The brisket melted in our mouths, the spicy smoked sausage was amazing, and even the plain chicken was super good. Also, mac and cheese with bacon and jalapeño. Then there were four kinds of cobbler with ice cream, and I ate seven servings.
We all went back to the hotel right after dinner because most of us had morning flights and the time change would make our night even shorter. Sometimes we see a movie or go shopping, but I think everyone just went back and packed up and went to bed.
I was nervous about the time change and whether I would wake up at the right time, so I didn't get much sleep. But everything worked out, in part because we have great people who know how to organize these trips, and I got home by mid-afternoon. I don't know how I would manage the kids by myself if Katie left town, but she has been doing better and better each time I go. I admire her for that.
Anyway, with the new person I may not have to travel much at all, which I am frankly okay with. The end.
Last week I was in Fort Worth for a convention. Our employees all had rooms at a hotel by the convention center. I ended up on a flight that came in at midnight with a few coworkers. We were picked up at the airport, but the hotel had overbooked and had to find us rooms elsewhere. The other hotel had a problem finding our reservation, so we ended up getting to our rooms about 1 a.m. So instead of this:
The next morning the other hotel got us a taxi back to where we were supposed to be from the beginning, but our rooms still weren't ready, so we had to leave our bags for a few hours and get right to work. Later that afternoon I got to actually check in to the room I would have for the next few days.
There were meetings to attend that afternoon, and then we spent the evening working on the slide decks of the people who would be presenting during the convention. When you get a group of people of various nationalities presenting in English, there are a lot of grammatical issues to work out. So we worked on those until around 11, then I decided to get a late run in at the gym rather than try to drag myself out of bed at 5.
The next night was what we call the Road Rally, where people who have earned cars through incentive programs bring them and we take a big group photo. Then it's dinner and party time. We had it at a place called Billy Bob's Texas, which is the world's largest honky tonk bar. They can fit 6,000 people in there. So we had some great barbecue, live music, indoor bull riding, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
The next two days were the general sessions of convention, with leaders presenting training and recognizing people for their achievements. I spent my time backstage working on communication tasks and helping our new social media person learn the ropes of working events.
Our events end Saturday evening, and there's a curious phenomenon that happens after months of preparation and a culminating week of long hours. We all get really giddy and silly, and a large group usually goes out to dinner. We ended up at a place that served UNBELIEVABLE barbecue. The brisket melted in our mouths, the spicy smoked sausage was amazing, and even the plain chicken was super good. Also, mac and cheese with bacon and jalapeño. Then there were four kinds of cobbler with ice cream, and I ate seven servings.
We all went back to the hotel right after dinner because most of us had morning flights and the time change would make our night even shorter. Sometimes we see a movie or go shopping, but I think everyone just went back and packed up and went to bed.
I was nervous about the time change and whether I would wake up at the right time, so I didn't get much sleep. But everything worked out, in part because we have great people who know how to organize these trips, and I got home by mid-afternoon. I don't know how I would manage the kids by myself if Katie left town, but she has been doing better and better each time I go. I admire her for that.
Anyway, with the new person I may not have to travel much at all, which I am frankly okay with. The end.
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