Ten years ago as I was going through the recruiting process to find my first job, one quality that attracted me the most is the opportunity to travel. How cool would it be to be flying around to different cities, sleeping in different countries and have all these immigration stamps on your passport? After joining Goldman, I certainly got more than what I wished for. I logged in more than 150,000 miles easily every year on air travel, flying across the Pacific, over the Northpole, and above the Atlantic. For a long while, I have to admit, I really enjoyed running from one airport to the other. I prided myself for being the last person getting to the gate (which, in my mind, equated to how important I was). Sometimes I checked into 5-star hotels just to take a 20-min shower before presenting myself at a breakfast meeting. My husband faithfully waited for me and had gotten used to dining alone. I , on the other hand, had options of terrible microwaved airline meals, midnight room service food, or uncomfortable client dinners. The jetsetting lifestyle must sound quite interesting to a lot of people and may even be the envy of some folks, however, it took a heavy toll on my body. After fainting on the marble floor in the bathroom of a 5-star hotel suite and hearing protests from my ever-so-patient husband, I started to look at what was really important to me in life and got a new job.
Whereas my old job required me to fly around for at least four days a week, my new job only demands once a quarter for investor meetings. These days I enjoyed staying at home, even if it means just flipping TV channels or doing laundry (the latter often deserves a less frequent occurence). I lament and groan whenever I need to travel for business. Some of my friends know how much I hate sleeping in hotels alone and most of time I suffer from insomnia because I am so paranoid and superstitious. When Jaime is not traveling with me, I have this little stuff animal that I carry around with me (sometimes its sleepy bear and more recently the lovely donkey) to keep me company. Last few days, I have been traveling again for business and all I am thinking all the time is when I can return to my own bed, my own home and my dear husband. Perhaps this is a sure sign of aging, when you prefer the smell of your old linens than the fluffy fresh down pillows at the five-star hotels (or rather 3-star hotels that I am subject to these days)... At least I have a lot of traveling stories to tell my kids so they will be impressed with their mom's former jetsetting life...(of course I should/will never reveal to them my secret stuff animal companion)
Relax, it is only two more nights to go before I meet up with Jaime in LAX...
Labels: travel
