Frequent flyer report 2014

I hate ignoring the blogosphere, but every time I see a light at the end of the work-life tunnel a contractor adds some extra segments to the tunnel.  I never remember being this busy ever.  I love having stuff to do, but I freaking hate being busy.  I don’t want to complain, but I feel a complaint-post creeping up my back.  I’ll try to stomp it down. 

I’m doing some year-end accounting for all the travel I’ve done this year to make sure I didn’t miss any expenses I can put on this year’s budget.  Business travel is different than I remember my academic travels to be.  In academia I would talk to the department’s coordinator to schedule travel, then book and track every last receipt along the way.  Then submit a long report and get money back.  On the corporate side, I buy all travel (plane, hotel, car) with my corporate card, pay for everything along the way with the card, then go online at the end of the month and say what the travel was all for (no receipts).  Going online to check the statement is also when I put in miles (like to the airport) or out-of-pocket expenses to get reimbursed for.  This means I have to have notes on every last expense and all the locales I've been to lately.  And this means I can start counting my trips.

As I’m reviewing all of this, I realized it would be interesting to put up some numbers about this past year.  So here we go:

Total number of cities I’ve been in for more than a night*: 36 (I thought it was fewer cities)

Number of countries that represents**: 10

Number of airports: 26

Number of cities that had repeat visits within the same year: 16

Number of cities for vacation: 8 (wow, I slacked off this year)

Number of cities with both vacation and work travel overlap: 3

Number of work cities classified as conference travel: 4

Number of cities for upcoming academic transition and past interviews: 7

Number of academic-related trips: 13

Total number of trips***: 70

*Major metros count as one city.  ie, not counting Queens and Brooklyn, or Los Angeles and Santa Monica as two separate cities.

**The USA is included in this count, as are separate countries that are part of the United Kingdom

***Rounded.  I can’t remember every last road trip.  Road trip counted if city is more than 2 hours away

My summer was quite light on the travel, but things blew up after the summer was over.  There were a couple months where I slept more in hotels and flights that my comfy bed.  Though, I’m really glad because I’ve reached super-high status in all my frequent flyer clubs.  I’ve been getting upgraded on personal flights to first class nonstop while also getting access to all the lounges and free meals.  Even though I’m experiencing the meals in a daze where even my watch hands have trouble catching up.  I’ll be going to my spouse’s family in a couple weeks for the holiday.  Visiting family feels more like work than work does, so I’m trying to arrange some R&R (instead of R&D) for January.  But if nothing else, I know that I’ll be taking two months off before the move to my new university.  I can’t wait. 

One kind of weird thing about all of this travel is that I don’t feel extra busy because the work is pretty cut-and-dry, I just feel taxed because I can’t sleep the way I want.  Business class has fold-down seating, but it’s still not my bed with my blankets and the smell of my fabric softener.  This travel is simply a time-sink, I don’t really feel stressed because of it.  I talked to an old mentee and she asked about the traveling and she beamed because she said she likes to travel.  My comment was something like, “traveling to Cancun with your friends is different from traveling by yourself to random destinations for testing”.  Knowing which terminals in airports throughout the world have the best restrooms and food is information I prefer to erase.

Dear Yelpers,

As I have been traveling a ton lately, I am trying to find good places to eat. Some coworkers know of places, some friends have recommendations, and I randomly walk around in cities and find some gems. Sometimes I turn to the internet. Yelp is usually my go-to.

There are a few breeds of Yelpers:

1.  The kind that just reads. 

2.  The kind that posts pics of food. 

3.  The kind that posts pics of the business. 

4.  The kind that posts funny pics.

5.  The kind of posts personal pics. 

6.  The kind that review everything and have to throw in their opinions all the time. 

7.  The kind that genuinely have good tips. 

8.  Combinations of the above. 

Yelp also has review-inflation. This is one of the worst parts of Yelp: most people have horrible tastes in food compared to my preferences. A five star review rarely results in five star flavor.  I sometimes think people are scared to go against the majority so reviews just become more and more positive.

So Yelpers, here's a few comments in regard to each archetype you may fall into:

1.  If you see something missing from a review (incorrect hours, better bartenders than others, etc).  Add it. Otherwise, you're just a user. But be sure to at least rate the place, regardless of whether you post a review. 

2.  There are enough pics of food. Do a quick search and see if the food you want to post hasn't been posted. If it has, then don't post. If it hasn't, absolutely make sure that of the 400+ photos already posted that your's will actually contribute. 

3.  Thank you. I frequently want to know if the restaurant is dingy, has a good view, etc.  These pics are rare, but again, if it's been posted then don't post.
4.  I don't care.  Unless it sheds light on the ambiance.
5.  I really really don't care.
6.  Please make sure it's not the same as every other review.  If it is, just rate.  While you may think we all care about your opinion...we don't.
7.  Please keep posting.  I know your good, unique tips get drowned out by the crap, but I dream of a world where the crap disappears.
8.  See above.

Seriously, a recent city I was in had hundreds of pics and reviews per place and it was impossible to really see what the restaurant had.  Five stars, but worth maybe two.  The bathroom was the dirtiest place, and $$$.

Yelp is supposed to make things easier.  In the time it takes me to see all the freaking pictures of the same foods, and people, and crap reviews I could just go to the restaurant and learn for myself.  In my home city, that's fine, but when I'm traveling in countries where I probably won't visit again, I want to make sure I get the best.  Though I've started to just play restaurant-roulette lately and ignore Yelp. If any readers out there work for Yelp: a feature where you upload and have to list whether its food, ambiance, or other would be awesome.

Sincerely,
Phindustry

So much travel!!!

I hate traveling. And I've been on the road more than at home lately. Normally time on the plane and airports and getting driven around gives me chances to relax, blog, watch movies, etc.  But things have been so damn busy that all I've had time for is work.  With a multiple devices getting ready for FDA-level animal studies and human studies I have to be around to support a lot of MDs. I get to talk advantages while the VP of my company, sales, and other engineers watch. 

Because of this travel I've been missing home a ton. And realizing that I hate the following cities (don't be offended, to each their own...I love certain cities that people despise...and I never get mad at people when they rip on them): Los Angeles, Phoenix, Hope, Houston, and Marseille. And being away from home makes me even more mad about these other cities. And I haven't had time to blog about the frustrations!  My Möbius strip of frustration. 

One interesting thing: yesterday in the airport I sat next to a kid and his mom. They're looking at apartments in the city of a certain Ivy League school. This kid has a lot to his advantage: clearly rich parents that can afford to send him anywhere, years of right control over his life and extracurriculars and school. Part of me is kind of jealous since I got into a lot of these schools but couldn't afford to attend. And I can't help but wonder if a better pedigree would've made job hunting easier. But part of me realizes how the focus of this persons life has been school and school alone. I talked with him a little and there are few people more boring than him.  There must be a good balance of overbearing parent and having an interesting, funny, and balanced kid. Right? ....starting to feel the pressure of wanting to be a parent....

One last thing: I've been flying to tons of places and with tons of different airlines. I love Delta, Alaska, and Virgin airlines. Economy, first, and business classes are all awesome with these two airlines. Considering the prices aren't much different how come other airlines can't bring it like these airlines have?