I got back home about 1:00 am on Monday morning; although my luggage did not appear until the next day.  Travel days are surprisingly tiring and it wasn’t until today that I felt caught up with my sleep.  One of the joys of travel is the comfort of returning home.

The relative glow of a few days off from work has worn thin, and I’m already fully re-immersed into the busy-ness of it all.  Dan has been working from home quite a bit and tackled several domestic chores while I was gone–there’s nothing sexier than a man fixing a dryer!   (And I can get used to coming home to someone else making supper.)

The last time my luggage was lost was a work trip to do some training several years ago. While I usually traveled to larger cities, this time I went to some inaccessible smallish town several states away requiring 3 different flights.  This particular trip was in August and my final flight arrived late on a Sunday evening.  Class was scheduled to start 10 hours later and my student handouts were still circling the Midwest along with my clothes,  and I was wearing shorts.

Upon arriving at the hotel, I rousted the lone sleepy teenage desk clerk (did I mention this was a small town?) and asked him to make 20 copies of the single student handbook that I had fortunately stuck into my carry-on briefcase.  I had to repeat myself a couple times before he comprehended that I was serious.

Very early the next morning I got in touch with my (thankfully female) contact who had helped arrange the training.  We had never met in person and had a brief awkward discussion about wardrobe and sizes.  She is tall and I am short… which certainly worked out better than the other way around!  I actually looked more stylish than usual in her clothes; but dammit if she didn’t want them back after my baggage actually arrived.

I often hand trinkets during classes to encourage participation and general wakefulness. This time instead of little games and trinkets, the fabulous prizes consisted of airline toothbrushes and hotel soaps.  Overall, it turned into a kind of fun improvisational experience, and made the trip memorable.

 

Pin It on Pinterest