I'm looking forward to our vacay in November where there isn't a family tragedy to warrant a few days off. I can just relax with my love at our favorite spot - Disneyland! We're actually going to stay at one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels in Anaheim this time and I'm very excited about that! I wanted to for our honeymoon, but since I was able to get two nights free at a close hotel we figured that was the prudent thing to do after dropping the wad we did on the wedding. Growing up is not all it's cracked up to be sometimes!
Well, on to my weekly travel post. I promised I would regale you with some of my past travel
experiences. I'll start with my first solo trip.
Back story number 1: when an employee starts as a travel rep for the organization I work for, they have a trial time (like any good business would do) where you're learning the ropes of travel and are paired with other reps to see the different ways everyone does things. Prior to my solo, I had been on two (TWO) other trips. Now-a-days, new reps have either a 60 or 90 day trial where they don't go solo till after that time frame (I may or may not have caused that...no really, I'm not sure. But that's another story for another day).
I was to travel to San Francisco with my supervisor for a very large conference (think around the 10,000 mark). We were to have a 10x10 booth space with a display, table, chairs, carpeting (because you have to have carpeting and you have to pay for it) and all our materials in the Moscone Center in downtown San Fran. Two women working a booth in San Francisco. It would be fun. I liked my supervisor and she was up on what sites to use to find great places to eat and so on as she had been doing this for about a year. And then, due to a family situation, she had to back out and send me on my own!!!
Back story number 2: Up to this point, I have never been to California. I had only two trips, by my self, under my belt and that was to Virginia Beach to visit friends. Purely non-professional. All other trips were road trips no further than New Orleans (with friends) or west with my family (when I was younger).
I was so panicked! She had done all the planning for the trip, so I basically had to pick up where she left off based on her emails and such. I had never done all this before. All, TWO, of my previous trips, the other rep had handled all the details and I had just been along for the ride. Talk about being pushed into the deep end with no life vest. This was definitely sink or swim time!
And yet, somehow I survived! Once the initial panic wore off, I was able to make sure I had what I needed before leaving. I had no issues with flights on the way there or back. I found transportation to my hotel (Hilton on Farrell St). I discovered that I was within walking distance to the convention center, so there was no need for a taxi or shuttle the rest of the days. And I loved every minute of my trip (the conference was a bust for us and we haven't done it since, though). I even ventured into unknown territory by going to a little hole-in-the wall place for dinner one night. I had time one day to venture to the waterfront (Pier 39 and 41 ares) and Ghirardelli Square. I even took a boat tour of the harbor - out and under the Bay Bridge, around Alcatraz, and back to the docks. It was FANTASTIC!!
My only hiccup came when it was time to pack up my display and materials and ship them back. I didn't feel properly "trained" in what to do, so I did the best I could. And it worked out.
Here's a few of the pictures I took while at the pier and on the boat around the harbor:
Thanks for joining me this week. Please feel free to ask questions and I'll be more than happy to answer the ones I can (I won't give any names of people or where I work or conferences I attend). But I can pass on tips, stories, and/or pictures.
Enjoy...
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