Road Warrior no More

For the past 2 years as a consultant I was traveling 90-100% of the time. At my job before that, for 5 year, I was on the road a good 50-70% of the time. So I have a been a road warrior for a good long time. I hit 50,000 miles flown for this year by May.

When I first started traveling for work, I loved it. I got to see so many different places for free. 

Free wine tasting at Korbel in Sonoma while on a trip? Ummm yes please.

I racked up a bunch of frequent flier and hotel points that I could use for fun vacations. It was a nice change of pace from sitting at the same desk all day every day. I had very few living expenses at home, since I was never home.

Driving through the giant redwoods on my way to a hospital. Not bad. 

 

 

But after awhile, the travel began to get old. I was tired of living out of a suitcase. I was tired of standing in security lines, being frisked, the endless delays at the airport, being smushed on an airplane all the time, and living on restaurant food. It started to take a toll on my health. I really tried to eat well, but it is just so hard when you can never cook healthy food at home. I tried to be very regular with my exercise, but those 15 hour travel days and hotels with no gyms made it pretty hard. I did manage to train for several marathons while traveling that much, but it pretty much sucked. Doing a long run immediately after getting off a red eye is not fun. Getting on a plane a few hours after finishing a 20 miler does nothing to help with recovery.

But mostly, the travel started to take a toll on my relationships. I was home just enough to see my friends and family enough so they remembered who I was. When it came to romantic relationships though, it was pretty impossible. I'd meet someone new who seemed really promising and then after a month or two it would just fizzle. It is hard to move to the next level when you see each other maybe once a week. 

So, last week I accepted a new consulting gig that has me working at home 95% of the time. Being home all the time is almost mind boggling to me. I don't think the work will be all that exciting, but at this point I think this is the right thing for me to do.

I love my house that I bought nearly a year ago. I want to spend time in it and have the time to tackle all the little projects I want to do. 

Hey house. Remember me? I own you.

I love where I live. I want to be here to enjoy it.

Yes Portland. I heart you. So much.

I am in the best relationship I've ever been in. I think that's partly because I got to work at home so much this summer. We really got to know each other. Maybe it isn't very modern or feminist of me, but at this point in my life I need to focus on my relationship. Getting married and having kids at some point is something I really want.

We are grossly cute. Even if we don't take good pictures. 

What do you think? Was this a good decision? Are you a road warrior or a homebody?