January 15, 2009 at 9:37 am
I love to travel, and have been in many countries, and all US states except Alaska... hope to go there soon.
However, there is no place like home; it is my favorite piece of earth.
January 15, 2009 at 9:42 am
I had a 100% travel gig for a couple or three years, until about a year ago when I took the current position (zero travel, since a 15-minute commute doesn't count). Honestly, I miss the travel sometimes... especially when the kids are running rampant. 😉 I like being able to go home every night, but when you're staying in the right hotels and platinum on most airlines, it's not a terrible imposition. As the kids approach their teen years, the wife's since forbidden me to take another road warrior gig. :ermm:
January 15, 2009 at 9:47 am
I forgot to add, that whilst I love to travel, airplane seating is none too comfortable. So I drive more than fly. I have travelled over a million miles, and fast approaching two.
January 15, 2009 at 10:04 am
cy (1/15/2009)
Jack Corbett (1/15/2009)
...I've sent her off to Montana and Ecuador since we've been married...How did you pull that off? 🙂
Wasn't hard. Montana was for the wedding of her best friend from college and I said I would be miserable, plus I had to work.
Her sister and family are missionaries to Ecuador and there was no way we could afford for all of us (3 kids) to go. She really wanted to go so I stayed home with the kids. We did help a friend of hers who speaks Spanish and wanted to go, pay for her ticket so she would not have to go alone.
Jack Corbett
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January 15, 2009 at 10:34 am
Cambridge UK, nice town, great pubs (try the Grren King Abbot Ale.. 4 pints and you slide under the table).
However, I'm biased as I was born and bred there. US citizens should try the Eagle pub, has a ceiling preserved from WW2 with autographs and the various graffiti and ramblings of the US airmen based nearby on it.
The mathematical bridge, put up without nails, taken down by some curious academics to see how it was done.. like all these things.. once taken apart they couldn't put it back together again so they had to use nails and bolts.
January 15, 2009 at 10:35 am
Does anyone else remember that years ago the travel industry used to advertise: "Getting there is half the fun"?
I remember my first few trips fondly, but the most recent ones have just been something to get through, with all the security checks and cramped spaces. My preferred airline is Jet Blue because they give everyone a DirecTV screen, so you can at least zone out and get your mind off the traveling. I think they give more leg room, too, so you are less likely to have the person in front of you reclining into your lap.
Once I get past the traveling, though, I love visiting new places. I went on a quick guided tour through some European highlights in 2006 (what I call my "slurp of yurp") and enjoyed it immensely.
I would love to be able to go back to France, and I still haven't had a chance to see Ireland or Italy, which are high on my list for my next great vacation.
January 15, 2009 at 10:38 am
majorbloodnock (1/15/2009)
I must admit I manage to keep my travel down to a level where I don't mind it too much. I can't say I enjoy it, given the family time I have to sacrifice, but I don't actively dislike it.Mind you, most of my international travel is over to a sister subsidiary over in Germany (I live in the UK), and many of the guys there are now friends first and colleagues second, which makes a huge difference. Last time I went over, we all decided to go out bowling for an hour or so and then find a local pasta house for some dinner, which made the whole evening feel far more like mates out on a jolly than the corporate feel of going from offices to hotel room to hotel restaurant. Little touches like that make my trips far more bearable.
The other thing, of course, that makes my trips easier is that I can speak German. Not perfect, I'll admit, but certainly enough to get me by. And let's face it, being able to make oneself understood in a foreign country is always going to make things feel more relaxed - perhaps that's why Steve doesn't like visiting the UK ;):P
The first time I visited the UK I was surprised by the different meaning attached to what I thought were common terms. For example -
I asked for lemonade and got something similar to 7 Up (I should have asked for lemon squash).
I asked for a tea cake and got what we call an English muffin.
January 15, 2009 at 10:43 am
As much as I love to travel, my husband loves to travel even more. He has been talking for years about selling the house and just living in various cities around the world for months at a time. I am definitely NOT ready to do that. I have several hobbies that are not transportable that I am not ready to give up. (That and I'm probably going to have to work until I'm 75, and I don't know how we could ever afford to just travel.)
January 15, 2009 at 10:44 am
Mike Byrd (1/15/2009)
While I agree that the actual travel is a pain, I think just going to a new location and immersing yourself in a different environment is what life is all about. When I was in the military and stationed in Europe, there were many Americans that just stayed on the base or only went to other American bases. There were missing out on a lifetime of varied experiences. I myself lived on the economy, ate (and drank) local food, and made friends with a variety of the natives. My wife and I still go back to Europe (at out own expense) every other year just to satisfy our European eating and drinking habits ;). The only bad meal I ever had in my 4 1/2 years in Europe was at an American officer's club.
When I went on my quick European trip I was surprised at the inroads of American fast food places everywhere, especially KFC and Burger King (even in France!). I tried to only eat at non-chain locations, but sometimes I had to eat what was easily available. Sometimes the selections at the fast food places were different from what I would have found at home, although I can't think of a specific example right now.
January 15, 2009 at 10:59 am
The worst part about travel overseas, for me, is returning. Every time I have been to the UK/Europe my flight has returned through New York, then I needed to catch a connecting flight to my final destination. Even though we had been through security before the trans-atlantic flight took off, we all had to pick up our bags from that flight, trudge through customs, and then go through security again for the connector flight and have them loaded onto the new plane.
I understand the need to take the bags through customs, but why the security check after that? I cannot imagine what they think we could get into our bags between deplaning in New York and boarding the connector.
January 15, 2009 at 12:08 pm
In Germany, you can get a beer (usually cheaper than soda) at a Burger King or McDs. Also mustard is different.
Mike Byrd
January 15, 2009 at 1:15 pm
jpowers (1/15/2009)
majorbloodnock (1/15/2009)
I must admit I manage to keep my travel down to a level where I don't mind it too much. I can't say I enjoy it, given the family time I have to sacrifice, but I don't actively dislike it.Mind you, most of my international travel is over to a sister subsidiary over in Germany (I live in the UK), and many of the guys there are now friends first and colleagues second, which makes a huge difference. Last time I went over, we all decided to go out bowling for an hour or so and then find a local pasta house for some dinner, which made the whole evening feel far more like mates out on a jolly than the corporate feel of going from offices to hotel room to hotel restaurant. Little touches like that make my trips far more bearable.
The other thing, of course, that makes my trips easier is that I can speak German. Not perfect, I'll admit, but certainly enough to get me by. And let's face it, being able to make oneself understood in a foreign country is always going to make things feel more relaxed - perhaps that's why Steve doesn't like visiting the UK ;):P
The first time I visited the UK I was surprised by the different meaning attached to what I thought were common terms. For example -
I asked for lemonade and got something similar to 7 Up (I should have asked for lemon squash).
I asked for a tea cake and got what we call an English muffin.
Oh, agreed.
If you knock someone up in the morning, you're only rapping your knuckles on their front door to wake them up as pre-arranged. Slip into the American connotation and you'll be having a long chat with the boys in blue. If someone asks you to lay the table, there's no need to be scared of the knife drawer. Jam is what goes on toast, whilst jelly goes in a trifle. And, related to your "muffin" topic, it might be best not to go to a tea-house and compliment the waitress by saying, "Nice crumpet".
Oh, and it's considered rather unsporting to shoot craps, since they move around so little that taking aim is a doddle.
:P:D
Now from the analagous British point of view, we have immense fun with the apparently naive US usage of certain VERY well known British slang words. For instance, one UK slang term for the male appendage gave the cinema trailer for the (subsequently very successful) film "Free Willy" a very unexpected slant. And informal terms for "feeling rather sexually aroused" and "homosexual" meant that I was never able to keep a straight face when reading about one of Novell's consultants of the year when I found out his name was Randy Bender.
Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat
January 15, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Mike Byrd (1/15/2009)
In Germany, you can get a beer (usually cheaper than soda) at a Burger King or McDs. Also mustard is different.
And in France, it's alleged those establishments even sell food.....
As for mustard, I'd definitely suggest any visitors don't treat real English mustard as in the same way as "hot dog" mustard State-side. I agree with Mr Byrd; it's rather different.
Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat
January 15, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Anye Mercy (1/15/2009)
To me there is a distinction between business travel and fun travel.But vacation, that's something else. I live for vacation.
I don't think anyone enjoys the "travel" part of travel - airport hassles, waiting for taxis, uncomfortable hotel beds. But the experience of seeing new places and experiencing new sights and cultures is what it's all about. Oh, and the scuba diving and eating exotic foods 🙂
Could not agree with you more!
After nearly a dozen trips to faraway places (6 times in Kong Kong, once in Oslo, once to France, once to the UK, 5 times to Chicago, once in India, etc.) on business purposes, I definitely got fed up of this.
Mind you, this occurred about 10 years ago, when the airline industry had not yet stooped down to treating people like cattle. Nevertheless, I positively hated plane travel
It was only in 2000 that upon insistence from my wife that I took what I took my first ever vacation trip, in the south of France. Roc Amadour HOUHA! Love it. There is indeed a world of difference between work and vacation abroad.
In fact, I have now learned to tolerate air travel. While the comfort is as poor as the waiting queues are long, this no big deal anymore.
Steve,
While in England, I suggest you try Greenwich ("The prime Meridian of the World"). And if you have a passion for books, try Skoobs (Books spelled backwards) for books you will never see in Borders or Chapters. Of course, as the cost of living in the UK is so much higher, the books are expensive...
January 15, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I have never had the privilege, or luxury rather, of travelling (via air of course) for work and considering the global crisis now, I don't think I will have that desire fulfilled anytime soon either! 🙁
I wouldn't mind exploring new places but I have to agree with Steve that at the end of the day of fun and adventure, I would much rather come back to the comfort of my own home rather than a suite at the Holiday Inn!
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