Friday Five: Business Trip

Today on the Revgals Friday Five, we are invited to share our experiences with the exciting, challenging world of business travel....

1. Does your job ever call for travel? Is this a joy or a burden?

The only travel that I've done (and will be doing) for this job is related to attending conferences. When I worked in student services I attended provincial and national conferences, and now I have a big Pacific-region conference that I go to every November. While I like travelling, I find conferences really lonely. I'm not much of a schmoozer, and the pressure of being sociable and outgoing and friendly all day long makes me very tired.

2. How about that of your spouse or partner?

WH travels quite often to do adjudicating and examining at various festivals and competitions across Canada.

3. What was the best business trip you ever took?

Hmmm... nothing springs to mind as being truly exceptional, but I enjoyed my conference travel last year, which represented my first ever trip to the United States! It was at a time when the Canadian dollar was in particularly good shape [looks at current state of Canadian dollar... sighs], so I got some good shopping in!

4. ...and the worst, of course?

Again, nothing specific comes to mind, except that I'm always ready to come home about two days before conferences are over. I miss my hubby and my cats and my house and my routine. At last year's conference, which was at a beautiful city in the middle of the mountains, my view from my hotel window was a brick wall, built about three feet from the window. It was awesome.

5. What would make your next business trip perfect?

Good weather, good conference sessions, maybe some shopping, down time, good food...