How to Travel: A Humble Guide from a Coach Class Business Traveler

One of the perks/downsides to my job is that it necessitates a fair amount of travel. As someone who very much enjoys traveling, I often consider it a perk rather than a downside, but there are some disadvantages as well.

Pros: I get to go to a bunch of cool places this year. At the very least, I'm heading to Bethesda, MD (holy rich area), Seattle, and...drumroll...Amsterdam! I'm pretty psyched to go to two out of three of those places. Nothing against Bethesda, but it doesn't quite cut it when compared to Amsterdam. Or even Seattle! Seattle has become one of my all-time favorite cities.

[Pike's Place, Seattle, WA: 2012]

Cons: While it sounds a little snotty, traveling for business sometimes gets lonely and even a bit boring. The movies elevate business travel to something for the rich, famous, or elite, but I can tell you from experience that eating in a restaurant by yourself in a city that you don't know at all is far from the world of the rich, famous, or elite. Instead, it's pretty isolating.

[The Alamo, San Antonio, TX: 2012]

But over time, I figured out a few traveling tricks that have saved me time, money, and, of course, the inevitable absolute heartache of hanging out in a strange city by myself. So without further ado, here they are. Maybe they'll help you too.

[A ridiculous store in a mall in Bethesda, MD: 2013. I told you they're rich.]


1. This probably goes without saying, but wear uncomplicated shoes for flying, since the TSA makes you take them off in the security line. You'll be annoyed at yourself for the time it takes to get your shoes off and on again, and you'll be annoyed at the people behind you in line because they'll be annoyed at you for taking to long. Just don't do it. Don't be a disturber of the peace. Don't be like Gandalf.

2. If you're at all in a rush, avoid security lines with families with small children. It's a fact of life that anyone traveling with kids is going to be stressed, because not only are there more people to chase after, but there's more stuff that needs to be wrangled. Don't make the stressed out family more stressed by standing behind them and inwardly seething because the baby is crying, there are bottles that can't go through the machine, the toddler is running away, and the parents are trying to get all the bags on the belt and all the shoes off the people without sending the kids through the xray tube. Plus all the plastic bins will be gone. It's in everyone's best interest for you to just pick a different line.

3. Don't dress like a slob for the flight(s). There's really no excuse to look like a hobo in the name of comfort. You're in a public place, and therefore it's worth making at least some sort of an effort. More importantly, you're representing your company. If you strike up a conversation with anyone, you want to make a good impression both for yourself and for your employer.

[Undisclosed location in Columbus, OH: 2013]

4. If you bring a computer, put it in your bag so that you can get it in and out in the most efficient way possible. You have to take it out to go through security, and it's a total pain to have to unzip four zippers, unstrap some Velcro, put the computer in its own bin, send it through the machine, get it back in the bag on the other side, re-strap the Velcro, re-zip all the zippers, and then have to deal with all the rest of your stuff.

5. Have all your travel documents easily accessible so that you can get through security and on to the plane as quickly as possible. Doing that helps avoid the stress of trying to find it while everyone else in line is waiting for you. It's also good to have on the destination end, so that if you're renting a car or checking in at a hotel, you can get in line faster.

6. Speaking of lines, BEAT EVERYONE TO THE RENTAL CAR DESK. Those lines seriously take an age and a half to get through. I don't know why, but I swear... rental cars are by far the slowest part of the entire traveling process. I don't care how you do it, but get there first. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

[Times Square, NYC: 2013]

7. Do everything in your power to fit all your stuff into your carry-on bag. There's no reason to bring two extra pairs of shoes if it's going to cost you $25 dollars to check your bag. Plus if you have to wait at the baggage carousel, there's no freakin' way you're going to get to the rental car desk first, and that is paramount!

8. While in the city, avoid all the awkwardness of eating by yourself. I usually don't want to eat a long, heavy meal while traveling, so I usually just find the nearest grocery store, grab some yogurt and granola, and call it a night. That meal can even double as breakfast, and I save a lot of money on my eventual expense report. Note: if you do that... make sure the hotel has a fridge in the room. Lukewarm yogurt is gross (voice of experience here, people).

9. If you're somewhere you've never been before, use one of your evenings to do something! Go see a movie. Check out one of the main tourist attractions. Walk to the nearest Starbucks. Make sure you're in a good part of town before doing that. Don't hide in your hotel just because you're by yourself!

10. If it's the same price, choose a king sized bed when booking your hotel room. Having that much bed real estate (especially when accustomed to a twin sized bed) feels like the most luxurious benefit out there and brings you one step closer to the rich, famous, and elite. Because that's obviously what you're going for.

[Somewhere over the US: 2012]

So there you have it. Those are my 10 tips for traveling. Anyone else have some travel ideas worth sharing?

Christmas 2012

I've found that not having internet in my apartment seriously cramps my blogging style...as in, I tend to very rarely post anything these days.  Honestly, I find that very sad because it means that it's unusual for me to exercise my literary abilities.  When working at a software company, literary abilities are not something that I put into practice terribly often, except to write careful instructions:

"This issue is due to (error).  To fix, click (link), find (tab), change (field value), update, and refresh."

I'm getting distracted.

The point of this post is to recap our Christmas in Florida, which also meant my first Christmas not at home with my family.  Instead of Christmas looking like this:

...it looked like this instead:

Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here's a photographic recap of the trip (please pardon the phone photos).

So overall, we spent time with family, went to a lovely church on Christmas Eve, hung out on the beach, saw an alligator, viewed another fantastic church, and saw an amazing sunrise on the plane back to Boston.  It was a low-key Christmas, but the best part about it was the time.  It's so rare these days to just have some time to stop and let go the cares of every day routine, and so when an opportunity to take that time to just rest presents itself, I think it's truly invaluable.  

Washington! Whistler! Adventures!

As it turns out, Washington state and Whistler, BC are two fantastic places.  Here's the pictorial overview of our trip:

Today's Tacoma Narrows Bridge:

(The replacement for the one that collapsed in 1940 - things get interesting around 3:15)

Lavender sold at the Public Market in Seattle:

Kayaking on Hood Canal:

Canadian mountains!

The Whistler Inuksuk (also referred to as "the stone guy"):

ZIP LINING.

More mountains:

I would be a neglectful blogger if I failed to mention that we ate at Arby's...multiple times.

And finally, what would a trip to Seattle be without a sideways picture of the Space Needle?

Specific stories to follow.

The Road Frequently Traveled

One time, I got sent to another state on business. I got most of the way to said state without a hitch: no taking wrong exits, no getting lost on back roads, nothing. Until the very road the hotel was on. As it turns out, this hotel has a very, very small sign that's the same color as the bush behind it, and since it happens to be dark at 9 pm and the sign didn't have a light, it was nearly invisible. So I drove up and down a 3+ mile stretch several times, which left me in despair and wondering if I should just pull over to the side of the road and sleep in my car. Both the despair and the sleeping-in-the-car plan may have been coping mechanisms that were laughable enough to keep me driving, but still. Sleeping in the car would have been very uncomfortable though, so finally I pulled a How to be a Millionaire and used up a lifeline.


It was extraordinarily helpful! I might have been driving forever without it.


I don't really count not being able to find something as being lost. I knew what I was looking for was supposed to be exactly where I was. But I'm not convinced I can still use "I've never really, really been completely lost before" as a claim to fame, especially since I have another getting lost story that's even better than this one. I'll tell that one another time. Oh well. Call it a humility check?

Presents!

Remember when my family went to Switzerland? I never showed you what they brought back for me!


They're salt and pepper shakers! Aren't they the cutest? I love them. And I can use them forever because they're black and white and will therefore match everything.

Meine Familie und die Schweiz

Well, the fam managed to make it back from Switzerland all in one piece.


It's quite nice there.


They stayed in a teeeeeeeny tiny town way high up in the Alps.


It was even pretty at night, where it stayed light until very late.


And my mom got to sit in a little pod car thing. Evidently there are only 90 of them in the world. Volkswagen-made, of course.


Pretty cool, eh?

Now I want to go on vacation.

Where I'd like to be right now...

I would give anything to be back here right now:


where they have stuff like this:


and this:


and this:


There are ancient places to worship:



hidden among cobbled, windy streets:


and even the police officers are friendly:



Unfortunately, in order to do that I might have to go back in time.