Time is running out

"Welcome Mr Bingham."

 The man smiles slightly as he realizes he's back on the road again. The strange mix of professionalism and comfort to make you feel like you're with family when you don't know a single person in the room. He sets his things down in the airport club knowing that they will be safe while he grabs a cup a coffee.

The man sits down in the worn out and faded lounge chair with his cup of coffee and looks beyond the window in front of him. He sees a plane slowly getting ready to take off while another is landing. "It's all so simple," the man thought. Up, down, repeat. Unload, reload. Limited communication in the blue abyss of the endless sky....so simple.

What a run the man has had over the years of travel. Flying in luxury, achieving the highest status, going where the wind took him. The man sighed. Company policies were changing and the man's comfort was slowly being taken from him and the year was coming to a quick close.

Like all travelers, the man was thinking about the next year and what status awaited him. In previous years he never needed to worry because traveling 80% of your time far exceeded highest status on any airline. Now the man, like other travelers, crunched the numbers for flights in his head trying to figure out if his comfort status was within reach.

It almost felt surreal to the man. No matter how he worked the numbers, he wasn't going to make it. It was as if the home the man worked so hard to build over the years was being taken away from him. The man understood that it was only a matter of time, but change is never easy. The next year awaited the man, change was eminent.

Another a new adventure

The lights turn on. The man opens his eyes abruptly.

Good evening everyone, we have now started our decent into San Francisco International airport. Flight attendants, please prepare the cabin.

The sudden shock of being awoken starts the mans mind again.

What a nice sleep. I wonder if it's too late to get a drink. Nope. Thank you first class! oh man, why am I going to this destination again? His thoughts begin to fill his mind again...

The man looks out at the beautiful glow of the bay skyline in the dark.... an amazing achievement of mankind. The man had finally found home among the clouds, but the man's life was yet again changing. Work was changing how they do business and the man's home was slowly changing to a darkened apartment away from the clouds.

When your home is in a immovable structure, continuing relationships around the world becomes increasingly tougher and the man knew this. This trip to San Francisco was not for business this time, it was to find an immovable home. A home that grounded him.

Flight attendants please take your seats

The man takes a deep breath. knowing change is emanate, he sets his mind on making a home on the ground.

8 Weeks later

"I need to get up into the air. It's been nearly 8 weeks!"

The man argues with his manager. Alas, his manager caves and gets him into the clouds again.

Like an old friend, the TSA agent greets the man at security. Like a pro, the man continues through security in a matter of minutes. The club lounge feels like a warm hug to the man. Everything he needs for the comfort of the road, healthy snacks, cushy seats, chargers, drinks, wifi, ticketing help, business rooms, and most importantly, peace and quiet.

While the man sits in peace waiting for his flight, there's a moment of hesitation. Normally the man finds fun things to do-- code, watch the news, text friends, watch movies, and most importantly figure out what fun things he'll due at his next destination. His mind was in disarray though, the infrastructure of blocks and barriers to normal life had been whittled away from the normality of an everyday immovable home. The man was lost, confused, and at a loss.

I need to get groceries when I get back. I still need to furnish my immovable home and get my address changed. License. Registration. Register to vote. I need to find a new place to bike. I wonder if there is a local group I can join?

What is this? The man has not felt these feelings in years. Heck, the man drove from his immovable home to work and back the other day. The last time the man did that was nearly 5 years ago. The mans struggle was getting worse.

The moment I stop flying I'm stuck. Who the heck has the money to fly and see family and friends whenever they want? My miles are nearly depleted, I'm flying less for work, settling into this new immovable home. I'm stuck. I cannot move. This is what it feels like to be in the same area. how do I get out. What if I need to leave? What if I don't know anyone here? Can I even afford to move again? What have I done? If I'm not traveling, my life stops. Breath.

The mans anxiety raises. What is happening to the mans life? He had worked so hard in the last few years to fight the loneliness, the superficial conversations, and the loss of "home". The man now lies in a paradox that he just fought so hard to get out of. The man smiles,

There's never a dull moment in this thing we call life.

The man closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, looks out into the world and begins to embrace the reality that life that given him.

I came. I saw. I travel.

The flight is home

The time was 4:45pm on a Friday and the man was relaxing in a taxing feeling relieved of his efforts of the week. He though about the flawless execution of his recent delivery on the subject he teaches different companies around the country. The client was happy and finally knew the direction of execution they needed… something that had been lost through venders, teams, and confusion of the product. The man was content, relaxing in his taxi with all of his belongings headed to his home, the airport.

As the clock struck 5 o’clock the taxi arrived at the airport and the man thanked his taxi driver for the comfortable ride, he grabbed his lugged, and breathed in a sigh of relief while closing the taxi door.  He then started to focus on the task at hand, 

'I wonder if this airport has a lounge I can relax in peace and quiet in. Oh I’m gonna be real sad if they don’t have precheck, oh well, I’ll get through. I wonder if they have good seafood here. Oh I should text Rob and see if he’s around this weekend to catch up. Mom. Call mom. I can do that when I get into the lounge.'

The man dove deep into his thoughts while walking, 

'alright where is security? There, there it is. Oh! I should email my manager about that issue and maybe suggest the solution I have been thinking about. And I need to look into that cruise information. How cool would it be to travel for vacation? precheck. ‘why don’t you slide….’ Gosh this is a great song, I should really add it to my favorites. Crap, I’m next, better get my mobile app out with my pass. No I’m not a terrorist, hurry up I’m hungry.'

As the man entered the terminal, the man found a nice restaurant with some lighter food and a good whiskey selection. Best part about the restaurant was that it had wifi, SCORE! While enjoying his whiskey, the man was able to check his emails, follow up with colleagues, and start to answer some of the questions that the client had. His mind began to rush with thoughts, 

'I really should look into that idea, I bet thats a pain point for a lot of clients and just a good thing to read about. I should send out a pic and show everyone me enjoying my life at the airport!'

As the man receives his check for his meal, he realizes how much cheaper the bill is than what he was expecting. 

'I cannot believe this is my bill. I suppose I didn’t get the Glenlevich 12 yr this time, so it makes sense. I have plenty left so I can probably tip them at least 30%.. oh thats not enough, lets do 35%. Now, where is that club, I have relaxing to do.'

Terminal Announcement: “Flight 2033 out of Gat B4 is delayed 35 minutes due to weather conditions"

'Sweet, more relaxing time in the club. Maybe I’ll meet a cool world traveler.'  

BEEP! 

'I still don’t understand why I can’t just give them my member number to enter in the club. Awesome! they have some different snacks rather than the normal ones. Remember before snacks, lets grab and apple or two, then we’ll dig into the snacks. Alright, where’s the bar, there should be plenty of seating there and a few travelers to talk to.'

As the man orders a complimentary drink and opens his laptop to the free wifi, the bartender smiles and asks where he’s headed. Of course the man tells her how he’s headed to the city he lives in, but will be back on a plane on Monday, headed to a new destination. She then asks him, “What are you going to do when you’re home??” The man then begins to ponder the question, 

'Crap, now I have to come up with some answer that makes me sound interesting. Maybe I’ll say I’m going to hang out with friends. Or better yet, lets say I have a lot of work to catch up with. Oh man, what do people normally do on the weekends? Visit friends? Family? Drink? Go and explore? I do all that during the week and I'm so tired... I just want to sleep and be lazy this weekend. Maybe I’ll just say that this time, but I need to phrase it in a way that it doesn’t seem like I’m lonely where I live and am just waiting to get back in the air again….'

The man’s flight was about to board so the man paid his compliments to his bartender, said goodbye to his platonic friends he just made, and was on his way. Next up, to find his gate. 

'Alright, where’s those signs, ah B4 to the right. 4 minutes until boarding, no problem. Yep, there’s the lines for my flight… boarding group 2. I suppose I should smile at the people in the other boarding group. That guy and his wife look particularly stressed right now. I wish I could express how relaxing flying could be but they probably wouldn't believe me. Oh well, better get out my mobile boarding pass.'

As the man boards his plane, he looks around and smiles. He is continually amazed about flying and the complex process made easy to world travelers. To fly above the world and look down and to see civilization's amazing marvels and experience the awe that is collaborative expression in the world has always been a passion of the man and now he was living it regularly. 

'I wonder where that couple is going. They seemed like they were headed out to vacation but seemed stressed.. hang in there buddy, you’ll get there, just a bit further……. Ahhhh A window seat, a relaxing area of zen.'

The flight attendant comes on over the intercom, “Welcome aboard flight 2033, flight to…”

'Time for earphones. ♫'My baby don’t mess around because she loves me so and this i know for sure. But does she really wanna or can’t stand to see me walk out the door…. Cant stand to fight the feeling cuz the thought alone is killing me right now, thank God for mom and dad for sticking together because we don’t know howww ….. heeeey ahhhh, hey ahhh, hey ahhh, hey ahhhh…'♫'

'Why are the lights still on, I just want the cabin to be dark….moving toward the runway, thank God, relaxation here I come. There’s the acceleration, I absolutely love the g-forces, it’s so relaxing, I’ll be out in no ti- …. zzzzzz'

Home.

I came, I saw, I travel

Home

I now have been traveling about 8 months now. My perception on life have certainly changed in terms of what "home" is.

Home is familiarity

Home is familiarity. When growing up home meant my family. When in college, home meant friends. And when I moved to the city, home meant a location. But now I'm finding home truly means familiarity. This is a more generalized version of home, and as a traveler I can appreciate it more.

In the famous words of Sheldon Cooper, "In an ever-changing world it is a single point of consistency. If my life were expressed as a function on a four-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, that spot, at the moment I first sat on it, would be (0,0,0,0)." Consistency = familiarity.

Consistency = familiarity

Now, I am not saying anyone's definition of home is wrong, I'm justing that home is being defined as a more general term for me as my years progress to allow for "consistency" in my life.

Home means familiarity for me because I no longer feel "comfortable in my skin" in my apartment, in my city, around my friends, or around my family. Home is where you are content with life. It's where you are accepting of your life, or at least some aspect of it.

For travelers home is the road. Hotels, flights, rental cars, bars, restaurants, local attractions, and most importantly, consistency. Staying at similar hotels, flights, cars, and bar and restaurant types is what brings that consistency. For me, home would be defined:

And if I find a live bar with wifi, life is perfect

Then flying united while enjoying the United clubs, resting at Marriotts and Hyatt hotels while running directly after work. For fun going out to local Jazz clubs or country bars. And if I find a live bar with wifi, life is perfect. Then collapsing at my null apartment all weekend in preparation for the next wild week.

This is the traveling life,
I came, I saw, I travel.


Note: This blog is merely defining home for me. In no way does this explain that I do not get happiness from friends and family. I love that part about my life. To be able to see family and friends is a special treat for me as a traveler. They are the reason I keep traveling, to see them all around the US.

Don't break rule #1

I have a very strict rule when traveling, it's called "The #1":

Don't go hang out in your room unless you are going to bed.

This rule keeps me sane. This rule allows me as a traveler to more/less "tolerate" my lifestyle. I absolutely love my job and my company, but the traveling part can be difficult at times if you cannot manage it. This rule allows me to manage that.. No matter how nice your hotel is, how many channels you have, free room service, or even high speed internet, DO NOT break rule #1.

Unfortunately, like all humans, I am not infallible and broke this rule my first night in Denver at the Hyatt this week. Let me tell you, depression set in, loneliness was my best friend, and I couldn't get motivated to do anything. Even when I finally made it down to the gym I couldn't get motivated to run more than 1 mile (I usually run 3+ miles).  To say the least the only thing I felt like I could do to take the pain away was go to sleep, but even that evaded me that night.

The lesson? Don't break rule #1

Traveling requires an extreme schedule. Lots of planning, but in the midst of that planning, there needs to be comfort. Relaxation. A sense of home. Most important, a sense of normalcy. Staying in your room can bring on the feeling of being trapped, loneliness, and depression. Don't travel because you have to, travel because you want to. In order to make that change you have to LIVE that "traveling" life. 

Staying in your room can bring on the feeling of being trapped, loneliness, and depression.

You're required to be on the clock for 8 hours when traveling (hopefully). The rest is up to you. If you decide you HAVE to be there and there isn't an escape, you will hate it. BUT if you embrace traveling, come up with a strict routine, enjoy the company of strangers, and "Don't go hang out in your room unless you are going to bed"; traveling will be enjoyable.

You are in a new place, if you have to be there, embrace it.

I came I saw, I travel.

I work in an old man's world

You enter middle school and you are the young kid. You enter high school and you are the young kid. You decide to go to a college or university, yet again young. I have entered into another one of these situations with being a trainer in enterprise software. What have I found? It's the same middle school, high school, and college. It's a major learning curve, everyone knows more than you, and worst of all it's hard to relate to anyone.

"Everyone knows more than you and worst of all it's hard to relate to anyone"

What I have in my short 6 months of training around the country is that I am in an area of teaching an old dog new tricks. The companies that I'm working with are used to working with standard enterprise software-- products that have been around since the inception of Microsoft... and the internet. The product that I teach is a completely new concept and going into these companies one of two things happen. 1) I am discredited because I am young and don't understand legacy technologies or 2) developers realize how different the software is and are overwhelmed by the learning curve ahead of them.

"I am in an area of teaching an old dog new tricks."

Personally I hope for option two. :) But to achieve this in any company that I go to is extremely difficult. I have to overcome my age, my lack of legacy technologies, and lastly, I have to know my product inside and out. Realistically the only one I can control is the third option, knowing my product.

"So I am a professional trainer on Adobe Experience Manager."

So I am a professional trainer on Adobe Experience Manager, a new concept and way of thinking about marketing on the web. A complete new stack to work with for enterprise web development. It's 100% built on java and every level of the stack is built off of an open source project. I aim to teach old dogs new tricks because technology never stops. No matter your background, I am now the expert on the most forward way of thinking about marketing on the web. I work tirelessly to ensure that my clients understand this new stack and understand how to utilize it to the fullest.