When the Grueling Days of Travel Pay Off

I can't tell you how many times I have spent early mornings going through security and then sitting in the Northwest terminal in Detroit. Or countless times I spent in other terminals that were in my territory: Indianapolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Newark, Ottawa, DC, Minneapolis. You also could easily tack on the myriad of nights I spent in forgettable hotel rooms too. Ones that were not so clean, or not so quiet, or not so friendly. (A friend of mine actually collected all of the key cards she got from hotels in the years she worked for our company. When she stopped traveling, she had 2 large shoe boxes filled with cards. And she didn't work as long as I did...) Then combine with that wonderful mix all the meals that I ate, or forgot to eat, or didn't have time to eat: the burger ate at 11:30 pm after driving for two hours to my hotel, the peanuts and water bought at the airport that sustained me when I didn't have a chance for a meal, the room service that sounded delicious in words but was a completely different meal when delivered.


For those people who had never traveled for work, my job sounded like the perfect thing. They seemed to confuse traveling for pleasure with traveling for work. Two completely different things, for sure. Traveling for pleasure means going someplace (often warm or exotic) to relax, leaving at a decent hour, and being gone for an extended period of time. It also means being able to see the outside during the day, and not being on an agenda. Traveling for work is obviously just the opposite.


Don't get me wrong. There were a lot of trips that I took for work that were fun. Trips like going to our corporate headquarters, which meant not only seeing mountains and blue skies in Denver, but reconnecting with fellow road-warrior friends and eating good meals. Or a trip to San Diego in February which also let me visit a friend in LA. Or trips to Florida in the middle of winter when I stayed at hotels on the beach. Those were the times when I was glad to have that job. But those times were few and far between, and the other ones eventually led me to break down one day and decide to switch careers. Wow, am I glad I did.


The only downside that I really have felt by switching jobs is the accumulation of hotel points and airline miles. I never thought about them before. The points seemed to add up by themselves. I had the right credit cards to get more miles and more points. I signed up for every promotion that would give me double or triple points. I played the point game hard. The perks weren't so bad, either. Getting upgraded to first class on a four-hour flight was priceless. (Especially if the flight was on its way home.) Or getting upgraded to the Executive floor with a free bar and breakfast wasn't bad, either. The further away from that job I've been, the fewer perks I have received. Now I only have the points and miles, but none of the cool perks.

There was a big-headed big wig who used to boast about the amount of points and miles he had. Another co-worker and I joked about how he was going to take them to his grave and then his eulogy and headstone would announce the balance of points. Well, I'm not going to be that guy. I have already used points so we could fly to Hawaii and spend a week there for our honeymoon. I was lucky enough to have my Mom and I stay at Disney for a family vacation for almost a week. And there have been other little trips, like ones to visit Karen, and other ones to visit my Mom.

Another trip is in the "hopper" as we speak. Chris and I are going to Sundance, Utah in a couple weeks! She "won" a two-night stay at Sundance in a silent auction, so we'll be there for 2 days, and then I'm throwing some points in the pot for two more days in Park City. Airline miles are getting me out there and flying me back too.

I'm really excited. In these tough times, travel for pleasure is usually thrown out the window. But my hard work has paid off. I can actually enjoy the travel this time. Traveling for pleasure? What a concept.