Linda Goldstein
As a travelling consultant, I commute via plane every week to a city where I know very few people other than my coworkers, so we naturally hang out and explore the city.
I am very much in take-advantage mode when it comes to attending events on this project; there are too many for any one person to do, so I pick the interesting ones. On a large project there are always sub-groups of people going to the movies, to the grocery, a running trail, yoga, rock-climbing, dinner...
Sometimes the client developers come in super-early (6am, anyone?) and leave equivalently early. (A common reason for this is to avoid bad rush-hour traffic.) This can limit the amount of time you get to spend together as a team and make problem-solving later in the afternoon more difficult. It also means the team has more "temporal coverage" which can be important if some of your most important customers work early in the morning, or are in a different time zone.
Many people bring lunch to work; some eat at their desks. Some take longer lunch breaks. If my pair says "I'm not taking lunch today because I'm leaving at 1:30 anyway," what do I do? Do I take a regular lunch? Do I hurry my lunch or postpone it to try to get more pairing time in? As always, it depends... Mostly I don't want to let the work stall because one person is out of the office.
It is very easy to prevent yourself from saving time to sleep and exercise adequately. As a travelling consultant with a great team, I need never have a dull moment again. But sometimes I need to make some dullness for myself. :)
Amanda Snyder
One of the most important goals for a company should be to provide a healthy work/life balance for each employee. This became even more important when I began on travel projects. However, the company can only do so much.
The more important part has become the people, and for me it is about being with people who can still surprise me at the end of the day. The people who really care about something and can introduce you to an activity or group that you may never have tried before.
However, it can easily become exhausting trying to optimize each weekend with travel, and get to know each city when you only have so much time during the week. I have found that planning so far in advance takes up much of my time, and trying to have events during the week with work and then all weekend is too much to handle.
I have found a nice balance in keeping to a strict schedule a few nights a week, having a running night or a night dedicated to expenses, a night just for cooking dinner each week. Then it’s just as important to have nights dedicated for exploring new events, going to dinner, and being with others. This schedule, however, relies on having those passionate people, who are willing to plan an event once in awhile, and help out to take the weight of planning off my shoulders.
Abby Bangser
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
― Confucius
While this is a very famous saying, I am not sure I agree. I think that loving what you do is different than trying to make a living from what you love. While that is a very fine line, it is what allows me to have a work life balance. After changing careers into software development I have found enormous enjoyment in staying late to problem solve that tricky nice-to-have, spending all night getting caught up in a side project that will never see the light of day and getting lost in the rabbit holes that are links within articles. This makes my hours “on the job” where I am improving my skills and becoming a better software consultant add up fast.
But having my true loves be outside the scope of my job allows me to always get those necessary breaks. These range from an hour at the gym each day, to evenings at the theater or a sporting event, all they way to week long vacations to go scuba diving. What makes consultant life so perfect for someone with these diverse interests, is the diversity of people and work sites that continue to fuel so many rewarding activities. My suggestion for everyone would be to treat their current home towns like a travelling consultant would. Never take the museums, concert venues, sports teams or simply walking around and taking everything in for granted as they help tear you away from your desk when you are closing in on that 12 hour day.
Kate M
I often get asked about how being a traveling consultant affects my life. There are of course many perks to traveling, but the challenge comes when you get off work in a city foreign to you. How do you constantly readjust being in a new environment, with no roots? Some thrive off the challenge and some feel gradually drained by the effort of constantly calling a new place home.
Everyone is in a unique position, however. It's an ever-interesting mix of family, responsibilities, friends, and hobbies which makes juggling life difficult as a traveling consultant. I am one for creating roots, so it has been an interesting journey for me. I easily make a new place my home in little time. I initially keep myself busy by exploring. I stay weekends instead of going home. As time goes by, I find spots I like (that sometimes remind me of home) and I create roots. I live in the city rather than just visiting. I become at home because I know the streets and places. I let myself be engulfed in a city. At some point I act more like a local than someone who's only going to be there a few months. For me its about making the most of the hours after work.
I also know that when I want to stay in a place somewhere (and I have a tendency to fall in love with cities) that it is always an option. When I am ready, and when I want to have a little deeper roots. Everything is what you make it, and I make every place my home. Having a place called home is important to me. It's what helps me find that normalcy that I am missing. That comfort and that feeling of being somewhere familiar.
And that's how I make it work for me, and I know it might not one day. Which might mean change but might not.
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