Travel Drama
Most people that know me would say I am a magnet for travel drama. Based upon my track record I should never leave my house but I think it might just be statistics. I travel a lot so it seems like crazy travel scenarios happen to me all the time.
From lost luggage, trains breaking down to canceled flights it always happens to me. And some of it I am sure I bring on myself because I don’t have enough time in the day to do all the things I need to accomplish. Like tonight as I sit in this hotel I am wondering if it is Karma or just God trying to tell me to STOP TRAVELING SO MUCH and work on my work/life balance!
I am in Arizona and I can not get on Pacific time to save my life. So since I arrived on Monday, I wake up at 5 am and can’t get back to sleep. But then at night I end up flipping channels because I can’t fall asleep. But up to this point I had not been tired during the day so it seemed to not matter. I even began to rationalize that it was good because I was able to work with my colleagues out East in the morning and still have a full day out West. When did I turn into this crazy workaholic that would even consider this to be a reasonable explanation for not getting enough sleep?
So today once again I awoke bright and early and finally a few hours later made the two hour drive to Tucson from Phoenix for a lunch meeting. When making my arrangements it seemed like a good idea to just drive back from Tucson in the afternoon rather than stay the night and drive in the morning. I am not usually a morning person and I have an early meeting in the morning in the Phoenix area. But of course as soon as I arrive in Tucson I am EXHAUSTED!!!! Through lunch and every conversation I can barely stop from yawning. What is wrong with me! So not professional…
And after what I thought would be a quick phone call with my office in DC before heading back to Phoenix (but what turned out to be a painful and draining experience) the thought of getting back on the road at 5pm Pacific (8 pm Eastern) seems like the last thing I want to do.
But I do it. I drink a Venti coffee from Starbucks and sing at the top of my lungs to keep my eyes open during the drive. Finally, I arrive at my new hotel for the night. Only to learn that I made the reservation for July!!!! Are you kidding me! Side Note: My job is having a meeting in AZ on these same dates in July. Since I have planning that meeting on the brain I chose July instead of April when making my reservation…Can I go home now?
Luckily they had a room for the night but they are sold out for tomorrow. So after searching online I was able to make a reservation for tomorrow at another hotel. Which would be my third hotel this trip. I have got to do better.
I set a goal to achieve more work/life balance in my 30s and so far I am not doing good at all. I thought working from home would help with that but I seem to be working more and harder than I ever did when I went into the office everyday. People who are also telecommuters have told me it takes awhile to adjust. When this trip is over I plan to start over with the balance thing. And to make sure I look more closely at my hotel confirmations!