More Travel

Well, I did get more drinks last night before we landed in LA at about 11:30.

When I first started consulting, and especially when the wife and I lived in the Boston area, I traveled a bunch. I wasn't in the fly out every Sunday, come home Thursday night mode, but I would be gone about 25% to 30% of the time. Part of that was because I was building a national practice, the other part was that I just hated being in Boston.

I enjoyed seeing different cities and the perks and upgrades were nice. Though, I made a point of calling friends at midnight when I was stuck in some airport so I could remind them how glamorous my life was.

When my wife got pregnant with the HB I cut way back on the traveling. I didn't want to be one of those guys who only saw his kids on the weekends and it's not as if my wife doesn't also have a real career. Moving back to CA helped since I was flying back here a lot. Also, and it sounds quaint now, but a lot of data that I used to go and collect I can have sent to me via e-mail or the web. Given all that, I still get a little edgy if I don't head out of town (either for business or pleasure) once a month or so.

When I flew a lot I was better at it. Switching time zones didn't bother me and I could sleep in just about any bed. Now that I don't do it as much (and, let's be honest, I'm older) I'm not as good at it. The trip I went on was a long, but quick one. I left LA Wednesday afternoon and flew to Hartford (btw--Hartford has some cool attractions, like the Mark Twain house). My flight landed at about 1am and I had an hour to drive. I got to the hotel and since it was so late they had given my room away. So, I got the bonus upgrade to a HUGE suite that was handicapped accessible...which means that it had a gigantic shower to boot. My head hit the pillow at about 2:30 and I don't think I slept a wink, even though I was exhausted. I took a sleeping pill, but that just gave me dry mouth. I don't even remember yawning.

So, I got up around 8, did e-mail etc. and took a 10am call. My presentation was at 1, so I had plenty of time to prepare. It went fine (they're interviewing consultants like it's fucking American Idol or something, so I'll know if I get to sing again in about two weeks) and I got my car at about 3 so I could drive the hour to Providence, RI, where I was catching my plane home (with a stop in Phoenix).

When my wife and I were in Boston, we used to love going to Providence. It's not a big city (pop around 250k), but it has great theater, lots of good Portuguese food and plenty of good art and music since with Brown and RISD there. The airport is pretty small and easy to navigate. So, I get on my flight and the number of little kids on there is amazing. Basically, all the kids who had the good sense to get out of RI, since there aren't many jobs there, and move to the southwest had just finished the week with grandma and grandpa and were flying from the heat and humidity back to the dry heat. I hadn't seen this many kids even on flights to Orlando (hell in the US, sorry Lola). This made for a VERY long flight...but at least Mr. Southwest didn't forget the Jack Daniels. And, you've read about the rest of the flight in my previous post.

I'll write more later today.