Geschaeftsreise

My first business trip will be starting on Sunday. A real, live, business trip. It's such a strange feeling that this has come. I am not necessarily excited, as I see how travel and business mixed effect those in the office around me. They return with solemn and exhausted faces, lugging bags of papers - usually in some sort of promo tote. Sitting in the office, the blank look begins and you can tell they are completely and utterly wore out. The first hours spent checking the amass of e-mails from the past week, phone calls that will eventually be returned pile themselves up in the order of frustration by the callers. All this, after being a week on the road. Is this the reward?

I love the feel of packing my suitcase, my own personal high.

But, this is not a vacation.

A business trip extends your work hours to not just nine to five, but 24 hours. Watching yourself, looking for opportunities, on point and oh...where is that meeting at? Held up in your hotel room with your Blackberry, returning e-mails at 10 p.m., the office calling during the one time you get ten minutes to yourself. What city am I in? It all seems glamorous, the prospect of traveling for your job. But in reality, it's an undertaking to consider. If you are the type of person who can be away from home for extended periods of time without straining your family or love life, then kudos to you. Are the people around you supportive of travel, or do you hear moans and groans each time you pack your bag? Granted, my two cats don't really care if I leave as long as they get fed. If these two cats were children however, this upcoming trip would have taken on a whole new set of meanings.

I am trying to determine if I eventually want to take on that whole new set.