Holiday whirlwind

So one or two have egged me on to update this blog, so I figured I might as well. I'm not sure why I've been so sparse in updating this blog. I don't think it's because I don't have a lot to say or that nothing has happened to me since November. Perhaps it's a bout of laziness, or just a lack of motivation to sit down and write. I'm not really sure.Well regardless, I"ll see if I can make the time to update this a little more often.

The past month or so has been a whirlwind of travel. I was in Germany at the beginning of December, and in New Orleans at the beginning of January, with trips to Maryland and Cedar
Rapids in between.

Travelling is stressful. Although almost all of my trips were voluntary, it still takes a lot out of you to get through it: You worry about getting to the airport on time. You worry about the flight taking off on-time, catching your connections, finding something to eat, and even deciding what beverage to get from the beverage cart.

It's easy to lose focus while you're sitting on a grounded-plane in Madison, 10 minutes before the last connection of the day is supposed to take off from Chicago. But while you're on the phone yelling at that United official, remember what amazing opportunities flying gives you.
Within 24 hours you can be on the other side of the world. Each time I reached my destination, saw my family, or went to that conference, or thankfully, made it home, I thought about how amazing it was that I was somewhere far away just hours ago.

It was also notable how much more pleasant it was to travel with someone else. Having my girlfriend with me for many of these trips reminded me how wonderful it could be to to "ordinary" things with her. Having someone else to get through difficult times with can make travel disasters something to laugh about the next day. Safe travels everyone, and may you not have to fly through Chicago, O'hare anytime soon.