Travel Times

I had a crazy couple of months of travel for work, I was gone for at least some of four of six weeks in a row which was pretty intense.  I was in Boston, New York City, San Francisco and San Francisco again.  Now I am back at home with no plans of travel until January which is great.

Work travel like that is confusing because as a guilty person by nature I have guilt no matter what is happening.  When I'm traveling and enjoying myself - eating out, going out with coworkers, feeling the thrill of speaking in front of others I feel guilty that I am  missing out on my time with Dave and the girls and all that is going on in their lives. It's one of those no-win scenarios of life.

I was at a birthday party in the midst of all my travel and one of the moms said to me, "Oh my, you work full time and you travel? That must be so terrible for you, and so difficult leaving them."  I didn't want to tell of the reasons why I enjoy it too.

I do think there is something to be said to owning the enjoyment.  It is great to travel without kids, to go to interesting places and do work that is fulfilling. It is also gratifying to doing that and being a huge part of the girls' lives and showing them how to be a successful woman who works.  I'm going to focus on the enjoyment rather than the guilt and see if I can't turn things around. Plus, my next trip will be with the entire family in tow, I'll enjoy that too for completely different reasons. As the french proverb states: "Gratitude is the memory of the heart" and I'm planning to keep it all very close to mine.