Travel Tips

• Remove the filter holder (or whatever it's called) in the coffee maker in the hotel room in order to make hot water that does not taste like coffee.  Also, carry your own tea bags in case they don't provide any in the room.  I love a cup of tea, but hate the taste of coffee. 

• Sign up for all the hotel reward cards.  Even if you have no control over where you stay, and don't earn enough points for the "big" rewards (free nights), there are still nice perks.  Like free bottles of water at some locations, and free Internet access at others.  A reward card today saved me $12.95 daily Internet fees!  (I use a neat app for my iPhone called CardStar. It stores ALL my rewards cards on my phone so I don't have to carry any of them.  It's wonderful!)

• Always Always Always pack a snack (or two.  or three.  or maybe even four.) You never know when you'll be hungry and the snacks you can pick up for $1-2 at the grocery store will cost you $3-5 on the road.

I just arrived in Florida, for my 6th work trip in the last 5 weeks, and I have to say that I've become quite adept at packing and traveling.  I figured out what the minimum is that I need (iPhone, laptop, iPod, GPS, Kindle, chargers for the first 4), plus a magazine or book to read during takeoff/landing.  Throw in tea, snacks and toiletries (and clothes of course!) and I'm good to go anywhere.

If I didn't need my laptop for work trips, I wouldn't carry on anything but my purse.  Since I do, I love the rolling computer bag that Bo gave me.  It's much easier on my shoulders than carrying it!  And, in a pinch, it does just barely fit under the seats when the overhead bins are full.

Traveling Woes

My foot, my computer bag, in some airport

Middle of last week, I headed out for another business trip. They're pretty routine at this point-- I travel to a new city, teach a class the next day, and travel back home the day after that.

Last week, I started my first day at the wrong airport terminal and things continued the wrong way the entire day. I made it to the correct terminal, which was swarming with "explosives experts". Then, a medical emergency on one of the flights. I thought I was home free when I landed in Canada, only to be detained by Customs because I was lacking proper documentation, and told I was being denied entry.

Since there were no flights headed back to the US at that point, I was allowed to stay the night in a hotel (without my passport) with strict instructions to report back the following morning.  I did report back, with the proper documentation that had been emailed to me -- but at that point it was too late to conduct the training so I switched my flight to return that day.

Which turned into an almost 18 hour trip that had me crossing back and forth across the country multiple times before I finally was able to fall into Bo's car at the airport.  With an almost-missed connection in LA due to rowdy people who had to be escorted off the plane in Toronto. 

Over 2 days, I traveled just under 5000 miles!  And I never even got to do the training I started out to provide.

And, now I have a cold to top it all off.

Did I mention that I leave for another trip on Friday?  At least this one is within the United States!

What Have We Been Doing?

It's been a busy few weeks around here.  I had the opportunity to travel to both Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Vancouver, British Columbia in the last 2 weeks to provide training, as well as teaching classes locally every day I wasn't traveling.  It was great seeing 2 cities I had never visited before, and I wish I had the chance to do some sightseeing while I was there!

Bo has been very busy around the house as well.  He was struck by a remodeling bug apparently, and has been updating our 9yo house like mad.  I mentioned our newly remodeled bedroom a while back, but since then he has also torn out the living room floor and replaced it, torn out the carpeting in the hallway and replaced it with laminate, finished the archway into our office, painted the hallway, and is in the process of remodeling the 2nd bathroom.  He has painted, replaced fixtures, and is in the process of replacing the vanity as well.  It's going to look awesome in there when he's done!  There's even talk of replacing our kitchen island.

Everyone always asks about the kids when I travel, but the kids do just fine.  We have always had a strong family bond and Bo has always been extremely involved with our kids.  While I know they miss me, they also miss Bo when he travels.  I have no worries when I travel and Bo is the primary caregiver as he is an awesome Dad.  There are no silly jokes around here about Dads who don't know how to cook, or clean, or get the kids to bed.  He does it all.  Of course, it's always easier when we're both around to handle it all, but we're both perfectly capable of picking up the slack when one is gone.

I don't have any trips on the horizon, so I know that I will be doing some of the behind the scenes things that go along with remodeling -- like cleaning out cupboards and organizing. We had our home built 9 years ago, and moved in October 2, 2001.  I'm excited about the changes we're making to update things a bit, and glad that we're able to get them done.

Challenges of Working Parents

Everyone has challenges, but tonight I'm thinking about the challenges of working parents.  Specifically, the 2 that live in my home.

For many years, we've made various decisions about our family that have allowed us the maximum time together as a family. Those decisions included me staying home and choosing to homeschool to ensure that we were able to do things as a family as Bo's schedule allowed.  There were a couple years that he was working 6 days a week, 15 hours a day - so it was very important that when he had a free hour or two we could spend it as a family.

During the last couple years, I've made a return to income-producing work. At first it was freelance writing from home, which was still possible to work around everyone's schedule. When I returned to the classroom, things got a little more complicated. Thankfully, we found a couple great child care options and worked it out for the 1 - 2 days a week I worked.

Right now, it's becoming much more complicated.  Bo works as an outside salesperson, which means he needs to be available when the customer is available.  It could mean he has a call at 7AM (like tomorrow) or at 6PM (like tonight).  Currently, he has days that have him running from call to call from 7AM until 8 or 9PM.  To further complicate matters, he has a company vehicle.  Since family members cannot ride in company vehicles, he has to drive to child care in one of our vehicles, return home and switch vehicles.

I'm starting to work more often. Depending on which client I'm working with, my day can start anywhere from 7 - 9AM.  My commute time also differs depending on location, which means I must leave home between 45 and 60 minutes before I need to be at work.  On those days that Bo can't drop off, I have to leave even earlier to drop off at child care.

It's difficult not knowing week to week what my schedule will look like, but I do my best to share it with Bo when I know.  Unfortunately, his schedule is even more volatile.  Add in getting the boys to their enrichment program, Nate to speech therapy, overseeing homeschooling, writing, and everything else . . . it gets pretty complicated.  Oh, and did I mention I'm going to be on TV again in a couple weeks?  I'm currently sifting through a ton of PR pitches trying to find the best products to showcase.

Don't misunderstand!  I'm grateful that Bo is busy.  I'm grateful for my teaching opportunities which allow me to continue working part-time outside home. I'm grateful for all the doors that blogging has opened for me. It's just challenging -- some days more than others. 

I'm about to add another level of complexity to all that I do.  But, you'll just have to keep reading to find out what that is.  I'm not quite ready to share it with the Internet.