My father's been doing it for decades ( I grew up used to him going on business trips frequently), but it's been in the past 1 1/2 years that he's been traveling hardcore.  On average, he's home in Orlando for maybe 36 hours a week - late Friday night through Sunday morning.  He flies exclusively on Southwest all over the country and Canada.  He's in CA every 5-6 weeks - I've seen him more since I've moved to this state than I did all 4 years I was in college.

I think what keeps him going is that he always takes some time to explore - even if it's for 30 minutes.  He oftentimes finds the most unique things, whether it be a historic landmark, a neat church or social activity, or some other quirky local event that the average traveler wouldn't find.  I guess the busier he is, the less time he has to miss home.

As far as me personally, the longest business trip I had was a week - when I was in Cleveland last Feb. for my initial training with my current employer.  Luckily, my territory is pretty much confined to Kern County (though I don't have a set boundary.... if I could justify it, I could have an account in Utah for all I care).

I have done the exploring thing, but I have been spending time up here since 2000 and have seen pretty much everything around here. My boss doesn't care if I use my truck to run around in, it's just that there's nothing left to see!

maybe find some local community activities and/or clubs to get involved in?  Anything's better than sitting in a hotel room watching the tube every night..

I have probably turned the TV on for a total of an hour the last four weeks up here. I am an avid reader and guitarist as well as the time I spend online, which is something I rarely have time for at home. On this project, I don't know that I have the energy after the 12-14 days to go do much of anything but re-fuel my body!

My dad traveled daily pretty much when I was growing up (and still does for that matter, although business has slowed with the economy), but his service area is primarily Kern County, so no long stays in another town. Still, seeing how tired he was every night is pretty much why I went for an office job.

As for the cable theft, that sort of thing really irks me... people disrupting vital services just to make some illegal bucks. I hope, after all the work you guys have done to bury the lines, that the thieves don't go digging them up.

On the issue of theives..It's only a misdemeanor unless they take over $5,000 worth(it's about $2.00 a foot), at which point it becomes grand theft. The old code line, which is now abandoned, was worth virtually nothing and was just two wires, but if they stole it, which they often did, it was a felony because those lines crossed state lines(the dispatchers are in Omaha), whereas the very expensive cable is only local circuitry!

It's a lot of work to steal that stuff. I wish I could get everyone who works for me to work as hard!

I used to work as a roadie for an 80's cover band. We worked the triangle from the midwest (Chicago and environs) to the southeast (Florida, Georgia) to the northeast (Boston, NY). The motels were always lousy. The bars were dirty and smelled of rotting, beer soaked carpet. We ate fast food exclusively. The musicians were mostly prima donnas. If a fight started, we would be stuck in the middle of the crowd and the safety of the equipment was our duty. The band just split. I never got enough sleep because someone was always partying until the wee hours. The pay was extremely low.

The girls  lined up to meet everyone in the band, including us roadies.

I loved it.

Sent email to you.

You should post that picture they took of you looking like a person who actually works for a living.  Even I was impressed. 

:-)

DS - if I hadn't met my wife, I probably would have gone down that road.. as a guitarist.. and I probably would have failed too.. hah.

As I am out of town, I am using my company laptop, which has none of my pix on it. When I get home I'll post a pic of from last week. It's quite a shot!

(A) you have a job; (B) try being in Iraq for over a year 2-3 times.

Witter - you bring up a good point.  Any time in the past number of years that I've thought things have been bad, I've thought of one of my best childhood friends, who's a Sgt. in the 82nd Airborne and has been in Iraq and Afghanistan just about every year since 2003 when we invaded Saddam-land.  I think of the horrid conditions he's been in, the friends and comrades he's seen injured or killed - and then I realize that life is excellent back here in the States.

I think you guys misunderstood the post or at last took it the wrong way.   We all grumble about daily issues but that doesn't mean we aren't grateful for what we have.

I didn't misunderstand the post.. I was merely replying to witter's thought.

moto:  off-topic:  in my area, there are copper-wire thefts going on all the time.  New construction is particularly susceptible.  I believe more care is being taken these days to lock up things like copper, but many times the thieves have broken in to new construction and simply cut off all copper wiring in place.  And of course we all know that the copper in a penny is worth much more than the penny itself.  [Really off-topic:  "they" ought to do something about that.]

NANCY/MOTO: My comment was not meant to be a "slam", just a reminder that even as I grumble about being retired I have so much more then many. I've seen and been with my grandsons almost more then my son-in-law who is a LtCol in the Marines (22yrs in).