This summer has been an extraordinarily heavy travel season for me. It made me realize that for my son’s entire life I have always traveled to earn my livelihood. To him, every dad leaves about 1-2 times per month for a few days at a time. Quite a contrast to my childhood, since my dad traveled seldom/rarely for his medical practice.
I struggle with this. It is not an easy thing to balance, especially since I have an unquenchable wanderlust. It’s been with me for as long as I can remember. It’s been a major factor in my career decisions. I love meeting new people, exploring new cities, and extending my professional and personal networks.
Getting my airfare, meals, rental car, and other related expenses covered is a nice perk, too. How often would you spend your vacation fund solely on trips to see Punxsutawney Phil, Celestial Seasoning’s factory tour, and various Civil War & Revolutionary War battlefields?
With our current technology, it is very easy to never be far away. I snap photos and email Jen & Ethan funny pictures. We text message. We email. Now, with Jen’s new iMac, we’ll be doing video chat. The only obstacle to staying connected is effort.
Today, while I was sitting in a meeting in Louisville, I received two back-to-back calls from home, which I had to send to voicemail. Immediately, I got a text message asking me to call because “there’s NEWS” – how about that for a hook? At the first break, I called and found out that Ethan’s accomplished his goal of riding a bike fully on his own. We spent a few moments celebrating the moment in the immediacy of the moment. It felt great.
Nevertheless, you can never beat a huge welcome home hug and kiss on the lips.
How do you deal with keeping connected while you’re traveling?
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