On average, I travel nationally about 50%. For December and January I will be on the road 78% of the time. I love it. I mean, there are things that get to me like living out of a suitcase versus dresser and running out of travel size toothpaste often enough to have to go back to a Walgreens. But I do enjoy it. People ask me if I get lonely. Not at all. Because even though I’m traveling alone, most of the time my contracts bring me to communities or organizations with people I love working with and care about. I just live in a world where my friends and colleagues are all over the place versus in one building. And, more and more people can relate to that these days. For example, I’m in La Quinta CA now, outside of Palm Springs. I am the content lead for the Clinton Foundation’s Health Matters Conference in January. I’ll blog about what I can after the meetings finish here (a lot of it is embargoed information at this point), but I’m here with colleagues, a couple that I also consider to be among my best friends. I mean, we’re not sitting by the pool, we are working hard. But, car rides to PGA West and dinner outings give us an opportunity to briefly catch up, laugh and feel connected so far away from the cities we reside in.
I’m not only with people I love and care about when I travel, but as I wrote in my Road to Rhode blog yesterday, I love the work I’m getting. Work I genuinely care about that creates healthier schools and communities.
With two reasons why I love travel- the work and the people, I do feel genuinely happy and fulfilled even though I’m unable to sleep in my bed 100% of the time and cook every night. Honestly, the hardest part… not having a furry friend in my life (preferably a dog, not a bear)!
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