Work traveling

As I write this, I’m sitting on a plane bound for Denver, then on home to Portland. Of course, the seat in front of me is reclined so far that I can’t even open my laptop fully, but I’m lucky to have one of 3 open seats next to me. I think the 6’4” guy in the aisle seat is even more grateful for the open seat so he can sprawl a bit more. I just finished watching Eat, Pray, Love, which (minus the 30 minutes I fell asleep during), was just as bad as I had heard it was.

I’ve been in DC for work for the past week. I don’t travel for work frequently – just enough for people to think it’s a huge perk. Let’s face it though, I really don’t enjoy traveling for work. I don’t like being alone, in a city I don’t know anything about. I don’t like jet lag, coupled with the expectation that I’m going to be awake enough for meetings that would be boring were I not jet lagged and sleep deprived. Now that I’m married, I loathe sleeping alone. B is a natural furnace, so although we sleep in 65-68 degrees at night, I have to crank up the heat to 76 and wear a long sleeved shirt, yoga pants, and socks to stay warm enough when I’m alone. I miss my kitties. I miss my routines. I miss my husband (even though he’s sick, so being apart has probably helped spare my immune system). I constantly find myself thinking that it would be so much fun if I had my traveling buddy with me. Exploring restaurants on your own isn’t nearly as much fun. I love my boss, but she’s not super chatty, so going out with her can be awkward.

While I generally don’t like traveling, there are certainly some perks. On this trip I got to have dinner with 2 high school friends. It was fantastic to catch up with them, and we’ve made plans to get together when they come home for Christmas (they are sisters). I also found time to squeeze in lunch with a colleague from my old work. Although I was sad to hear that she is still unhappy at her job, it was really nice to catch up with her and give her some support. If I find myself in DC again soon, I might try and actually meet some bloggers in person as well. It’s definitely a perk that work pays for all of my food, and luckily the hotel this time had lots of places close by. One night a group of us had yummy vegan Chinese food, and last night we got Persian take-out. So while overall I’d rather be home, this was a work trip that had a nice amount of fun in it. I also felt very accomplished that I was able to navigate the DC metro system quite well. If only every town signed everything so well.

In about 5 hours I’ll be home, snuggling up to my love and likely getting mauled by the cats. I can’t wait. In the words of Dorothy, “there’s no place like home.”