One Last Flight…

Glam Sesh sweater (c/o) (similar)
Mango jeans
Zara sandals (similar)
Vintage handbag (similar)
Zara sunglasses (similar)
Vintage watch (similar)
Keltie Leanne Designs ring (c/o) (similar)
Delphine Pariente ring (similar)
Old Navy earrings (c/o Ivanhoe Cambridge)
Location: Saint-Boniface Cathedral – Winnipeg, Manitoba

When you’re reading this, I will be in Ottawa at a client meeting. My first out of province client meeting in over two months. After taking what felt like an endless series of flights back and forth across the country from November through the middle of this year, my work travel abruptly ground to a halt. I haven’t been on a flight since late June.

The more I travel for work, the less sure I am how I feel about it. Of course, the first couple of trips felt exciting. There is a certain amount of novelty in booking flights and hotel rooms you would never get to experience on your own. And in proving yourself professionally worthy of travelling to meet with important stakeholders. But when that initial thrill wore off, the simple act of checking in online pre-flight began to feel like a chore. Airports, which have always filled me with a sense of anticipation, became places that inspired a sense of preemptive resignation in me. When I take six to ten flights a month, I am perpetually tired, persistently asking myself what I have forgotten to do (because there is always something) and constantly catching up on laundry. Travelling for business is anything but glamourous. In my experience, it is mostly exhausting.

At first, I was relieved when I didn’t book a single flight for the month of July. But then I lived through the month of July, in the office day in and day out without reprieve. By August, my appreciation for business trips was officially renewed. An afternoon flight is the perfect way to break up a monotonous day-to-day routine of emails, Excel reports and conference calls.

And yet, despite the fact that I think I might actually like an occasional – monthly? – break from the office in the form of a business trip, I would rather not be in Ottawa today. The thing about these trips is the timing is always less than ideal, and with our Greek vacation just a week away, I would much rather be home packing than presenting quarterly data reports (along with my obviously gripping analysis, which will no doubt lull everyone in the meeting to sleep.)

The thing I try to remind myself is that work can’t be a thrill a minute – if it were, it wouldn’t be work. There are plenty of practical reasons for me to feel a general sense of satisfaction with my job, even on the less than perfect days. But I confess that am counting the moments to my flight home tonight… and the days until my flight to Athens next week, too.

EDIT: If you follow along with my Instagram Stories, you know that at 3:02 pm yesterday, the client I was scheduled to meet today decided that we should just meet via conference call. That it was too late for me to cancel my travel plans, so I dutifully went to the airport, anyway. And that when I arrived, in a bizarre turn of events, I discovered the flight delay. AC8526 to Ottawa was leaving three hours later than expected. But I only learned that after I went through security. So I ordered wine. And dinner. And in the meantime, the delay increased to four hours. That’s when I threw in the towel. Cancelled my flight, cancelled my hotel booking and called my dad to pick me up. Many people were forced to wait for that flight to Ottawa, which was to depart at 7:05 pm. They left at 10:54 pm.

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