Be careful what you wish for, they always warned. In my case my travel (and thank god for SQ that makes the experience more bearable), it meant a flight every other day, nearly 180 flights a year. This year, the number of flights has thankfully reduced on account of my new role but the distances travelled very much extended. Since taking on this role, I've been in Melbourne, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Riyadh, Munich and Berlin (apart from my usual pan-SEA trips).
Even D got back on the road. As one of her first purposeful project, she flew to Jakarta and back and promptly gave the transport infrastructure of the city a failed grade. So, she doesn't quite like it either. That said, if we do the jobs we do, we can't avoid it.
I am presently in Berlin Tegel airport. Waiting to board my flight to Munich and then back home to Singapore. I will be arriving shortly after J, who is on his own business trips. Except business isn't quite the word to describe the nature of the trip. More like a service vocation. And as for accommodation, it's way more basic. Think muddy ground. Think hazy, humid weather. dirty clothes. And then there's the 2-day ration to last nine days in the jungle. He will do more such trips.
But like all business trips, there is an aim. In my case, it's managing the team, the work and serving clients. In his case, it's learning Warcraft. A nobler purpose especially if he learns never to go into one.
In time, M will also enter the workforce and have to do her objective-driven trips. We are all travellers. And as the wise Confucius once said, "wherever you are going, go with all your heart".
In my case, the next two flights are the best. It takes me home. Where my hearts are.
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