Hello everyone from London! I am in London this week for work and arrived in the
very early hours Sunday morning. Some colleagues and I are staying near St. Pauls and the office is right near there too.
As soon as I told anyone that I was traveling to London for work I got so many comments of "oh how fun!" "I'm so jealous" and "Lucky!". I almost have to laugh a little because if you are someone who has ever travelled for work you know that it is far from glamorous. Since I like to keep it real for you on this blog, here are some of the things people may not think about when they hear "travelling for work".
1. The key word in travelling for work is the word
work. You are there to do your job unlike travelling for pleasure. Very often you work even longer hours than you would normally because you are there only for a limited time for a particular purpose. After you work these long hours there are often planning dinners or things like that so there's not much time for anything else.
2. The 3 main attractions you get to spend time at are the airport, the hotel, and the office. You may have a few minutes here or there to "sightsee" as you walk to the office or take a cab with everyone to dinner but that isn't exactly what people would consider sightseeing or really taking in a city. A lot of work trips are 5 days or less.
3. It is very difficult to talk to your family. Especially if timezones are involved. And like this time I have no phone that will work in the UK so no calling the hubby.
4. Lack of those great home comforts such as your kitchen and your own bed. I like to eat healthy... very difficult to do when eating out every meal. I also like to work out after work and then do crafts or watch tv after dinner. Working out is extremely hard to fit into the schedule and you are often so tired after the day and dinner all you have time/energy for is going to sleep.... there is jetlag to consider of course.
Now with that being said, there are some positive things. The flyer miles are great so you can save to go on a fun personal trip. If you can work it out to be somewhere long enough that you are there over a weekend too or for a longer period of time then you CAN do some fun sightseeing things.
I think it may also be different if you don't care about the home comfort stuff I talked about or if you are single or have "no strings attached" as NSYNC would put it hehe.
Here are a few pictures I snapped Sunday afternoon. It was very cold and gloomy but hey this is London in the winter so what would you expect right. At least it wasn't raining!
Our hotel - the most modern hotel I have ever been in. You have to even put your key card in a slot in your room to be able to operate the lights.
This is the view from my room. I mean literally. I stood at my window and snapped a picture which is why it's not the best quality :)
A few more of St. Paul... it is such an amazing church and piece of architecture!
This guy coated himself to look like a statue and would move when you put coins in his cup. He was doing quite well actually and attracting a lot of people. Love the sunglasses.
So there ya have it! I did get to tour and sightsee around London when I was here 3 years ago for a work trip that lasted 2 1/2 weeks - unusual to have a longer trip but I had a great time seeing most of what I wanted to then!
Hope everyone is having a good week so far and I am looking forward to being back in Charlotte on Friday :)
