I have to admit, my work sometimes can be tedious and a little boring (especially since I’ve been asked to do more supportive tasks for different projects, which is mostly GIS and spreadsheet work, and my main focus isn’t on LiDAR* work, which is what I really would like to do). It’s a lot of data collection and organization.
The upside though: I still get to go out for field work every once in a while. In other professions, you’d probably call it business trips, where you stay at hotels and attend a bunch of meetings for several days. Most of our ‘business trips’ end up in nature somewhere (mostly), so in my field, we call it fieldwork.
Earlier this week, I went to do fieldwork in Sonoma Valley for three days. I know. It sounds awful, doesn’t it? I am sure you must feel very sorry for me. [\not]
It was actually really nice. I was out there by myself. I got to drive around to different locations to collect data, and I even visited some wineries (not to drink wine, though). To be completely honest, I have gotten paid at my job to do many things that were a lot less fun than this field trip.
I enjoyed beautiful views along the way, actually listened to a podcast (the one I mentioned here), because *gasp* I actually spent a decent amount of time in the car and had time to listen to a podcast. Yes, okay, okay, I can actually see now why this might be something for people with long commutes.
Where the river meets the sea.
Do you get to go on work trips sometimes? Where do you go?
*In case you don’t know what LiDAR is, look here.
ShootingStarsMag
May 4, 2018 at 1:39 pmOh how fun – and beautiful photos! I’m glad you were able to finally do something a bit more fun for work. I don’t travel any for work, but my sister does and she loves it.
-Lauren
san
May 4, 2018 at 11:34 pmIt’s a nice change to get out of the office every once in a while :)
suki
May 4, 2018 at 10:21 pmNo work trips for me, but Ryan has been taking some recently since his company is headquartered in Austin. :)
san
May 4, 2018 at 11:34 pmDo you mind when Ryan’s gone or do you enjoy the alone time?
suki
May 4, 2018 at 11:40 pmIt’s taking some getting used to since it means I take over his chores/duties in the home and with the pup. He leaves this Sunday for another weeklong work trip. I’ll probably hang low – read some books and finish whatever is in the fridge since he does most of the regular cooking. :)
Lisa @ Mile by Mile
May 5, 2018 at 5:55 amThis looks like an amazing place to visit! When I travel for work its usually for conferences and I don’t get to see much of the place Im visiting because Im stuck inside all day.
san
May 8, 2018 at 11:57 amIt’s definitely nice that I get to go outdoors in my line of work :)
Shybiker
May 5, 2018 at 6:32 amI’m so jealous! And happy for you. Experiences like this can be fun. In forty years of practicing law, I had only one “business trip” (going to Boston to start a lawsuit against a big corporation). I’m trying to make up for that paucity now by travelling in my personal life.
san
May 8, 2018 at 11:58 amYou only had one business trip in all the years? At least it was to Boston (a city that I love!)
Megan @ Meg Go Run
May 5, 2018 at 6:34 amNorthern Cali is so beautiful. :) I teach elementary music so I never get to do fun “real job” stuff like this!
san
May 8, 2018 at 11:58 amNorthern Cali is beautiful indeed. :)
Kate BK
May 5, 2018 at 9:31 amWow, what a gorgeous area!
san
May 8, 2018 at 11:58 amYes, it really is. I drove through the part in Santa Rosa that burned down last fall during the wildfires… that was sad to see though.
Allison
May 5, 2018 at 2:45 pmTherapists don’t really need to go on business trips unless it’s to attend a conference, but when I worked in PR and as a journalist, I would do business trips all the time. At one point I think I traveled about monthly somewhere. It was pretty fun! I enjoyed it and I’m glad I did it when I was just dating and early marriage with Erik. I think business trips would be a lot harder with Henrik. I’ve traveled once overnight without him, which was nice, but I wouldn’t want to do it a lot.
san
May 8, 2018 at 12:00 pmI think I wouldn’t want to travel every month, but I can definitely see how it would be hard for you now that you have Henrik.
Akaleistar
May 5, 2018 at 5:32 pmThat looks like a lovely work trip :)
san
May 8, 2018 at 12:01 pmIt could be worse, couldn’t it? ;)
DAnielle
May 7, 2018 at 10:15 amMany years ago I used to travel to Atlanta frequently for work which was always nice in the winter as I live in a climate where it gets quite cold that time of year. After that, I worked for a company that would have a yearly sales meeting (that I was in charge of organizing) and for a few years we held them at resorts in the Caribean. It was hard work, but working hard at an all-inclusive in Jamacia is not too shabby.
san
May 8, 2018 at 12:01 pmNice. I’d like to take a work trip to Jamaica :) I was lucky and went to Hawaii for work once.
uit
May 14, 2018 at 9:04 amI used to travel quite a bit for work but traveled less last year as I was assigned to a big project that requires me to be in the office more. So most of my trips were to Chicago which I do not mind at all as it’s a short flight and I love that city. That’s where our HQ is so I will always have to travel there occasionally. Even when I am done with this project I don’t think I will go back to traveling much because I told my boss when I was hired that I wouldn’t want to travel much once I had a child.
Your fieldwork trip was so refreshing, I bet! Work travel can be exhausting but I usually like the change of scenery. You saw some beautiful areas! And listening to podcasts while driving makes the trip go much faster. I wasn’t listening to as many podcasts for awhile as I wasn’t in the bus/car or on walks but now that we are walking almost daily, I am listening to more again. And I listened to a bunch on my drive to/from my parents this past weekend!
terra
May 17, 2018 at 4:36 pmFun! I get to take a few work trips every year, but they usually aren’t to fun places. That said, last weekend I went to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and then on to DC for the day, and that was pretty great.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
June 3, 2018 at 10:14 amHow gorgeous! I wouldn’t mind going on that kind of business trip.
I have always been on lots of business trips during my work life and actually enjoyed the more quiet years. It is always fun to get out of the usual routine though and spice things up.