Dream Job

I used to say that my dream job would be taking vacations for those people who never took them.  I’d travel with their family to wherever they wanted to go, take pictures and eat their favorite foods.  So many people have no ‘time’ to take vacations and allow their vacation days to expire or just keep rolling them over.  I’m a firm believer in vacations but I’ve decided that is not my dream job anymore.  Why?  Because I’d have to travel with their families, take pictures and eat their favorite foods, that’s why.  Thinking about it more in-depth I realized I can’t travel with just anyone and when you find someone you don’t like to travel with it can be miserable.

I traveled for work for about a two-year stretch and traveled with approximately 20 different people (that’s not counting the 45 people I traveled with on a bus to Indianapolis for a trade show, that’s for a completely different post).  I would dare to bet that if I had the choice I would only pick 10 to 12 of the 20 to travel with again.  Not because I don’t like them, because our traveling styles are completely different. 

You find out what people are really made of when you’re stranded at an airport, getting frisked, need help hauling work materials,  or driving in traffic.  Some of that is very scary.  I’ve been in Detroit overnight with a coworker (and a random guy from the re-ticketing line), I’ve had to take off a suit jacket and get frisked in a see-through tank top standing in front of a window where my coworkers were watching, I’ve been left behind because a coworker was more worried about their one bag than the 5 I had to carry containing work materials and I’ve been lost in New Jersey because of bad directions.  You will probably hear about all of those things as each one has quite the story.

There are trips that I’ve actually prayed would come to an end because of the sheer misery of the situation and the person I was traveling with.  On the other hand there have been trips I prayed would never end because of the fun we were having.

After I traveled for work and couldn’t pick my travel partners was when I decided my dream job was no longer my dream job.  I was going to pick the people I take my personal vacations with.   It’s time I move on and find a new dream job.  I’ll let you know what I decide.