take a business trip

make sure you think about everything you might need. Better to have it and not use it, than to need it and not have it. Some things you can get where you’re going…but don’t assume it for everything. Cover all your bases.

But I can say that the following has always been true…

I have always been able to see how different yet similar the world is in other places….

I have always learned something new…

I have always found something positive…

_{now that doesn’t include the indifferent meals mixed in with the good ones, the less than wonderful sleeping quarters intersperced with the nice places, the interminable delays and hellishly long days due to driving, traffic, flight delays, strikes at the destination, and every other blessed thing that can go wrong (and does)... ROTFL!}

So, I have come to the conclusion that like everything else in life, business travel is all about doing as much advace prep-work as possible, expecting things to go wrong, having a great credit card and personal attitude to really enjoy this type of travel.
Making sure I have vacation time avaiable so that I can go and see and do things in the destination cities after the work commitments are done, makes a huge difference. Even if it is only a day to get sleep, sort yourself out and see something – anything.
Always go a couple of blocks off the tourist spots. It gets you to the locals and they are usually the best resourse for information, good real and inexpensive food, and great experiences.
I can hardly wait to do this again!

I’m going to RailsConf 2006 in Chicago in June. Rock \m/

...that I become embroiled in this site, which I think it is fair to say has changed things for me.

My friends/family say how glamorous it is. And, I’m not complaining. It’s just such a shame when you get sent somewhere like Athens or Venice (that was particularly devastating, meeting in the suburbs so I didn’t even see ONE CANAL!) and all you saw was the airport, inside of a cab, meeting room, and possibly a hotel room at midnight, too tired to even go to the bar for a nightcap.

Sometimes I get the luxury of staying a few extra days, but not often!

I love traveling for business if you’re going with someone fun. Either way, it’s a great moment—one where you feel you’ve finally “grown up”.

Some months it is all day trips, but I am usually away 6-8 nights a month for business. It can be fun and interesting and then sometimes it is boring with long hours where you never see anything more than the inside of hotel rooms and conference rooms.