by Gilda Bonanno LLC www.gildabonanno.com
Frequent international travel is part of my work as a
speaker, trainer and coach. Travel has
allowed me to work with clients all over the world and to see many amazing sights,
including the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, Corcovado in Rio de
Janiero, temples in India and the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.
However, it’s not always as glamorous as it sounds. My personal record for travel is 4 continents
in less than 96 hours, all while nursing a stomach infection!
I’m sure that my fellow globetrotters can identify with
the following 13 ways to know you’re traveling too much:
1. You
look blankly at the TSA agents when they ask, “Where are you traveling?” and
have to check your boarding pass.
2. You
wake up in the morning and wonder where you are (helpful hint: write the city,
date and time zone on the notepad on the bedside table).
3. The
flight attendants and hotel desk clerks recognize you but your neighbors don’t.
4. When
at home, you expect room service for breakfast, throw towels on the floor after
using them and wonder why no one straightened up while you were out.
5. You
arrive at the airport ready for security – wearing elastic waist pants with no
belt, slip-on shoes with no laces, no jewelry and nothing in your pockets.
6. You
know just by looking at the type of aircraft whether your carry-on bag will fit
in the overhead compartment.
7. You
wish business hotels would rent rooms by the hour, for those nights when your
flight is cancelled and you get to the airport hotel at midnight only to get up
at 4 am to catch the shuttle back to the airport to catch the first flight out.
8. You
have at least three different types of currency in your wallet at any time –
and try to pay with foreign currency at your local gas station.
9. You
know the location of restrooms in every major airport from New York to Shanghai.
10. When
dining abroad, you learn never to accept the statement “it’s chicken” at face
value.
11. You
carry a portable pharmacy with you “just in case” and you’ve had to use its
contents, everything from painkillers to antihistamines to anti-diarrheals (bonus: you start doling it out to others).
12. You
have a ready supply of recent 2X2 color photos for your next visa application.
13. You
find your normal patient and calm self ready to rant and rave when the gate
agent says, “Your flight is cancelled - don’t blame us, we don’t like it
anymore than you do” even though she will sleep in her own bed tonight. Or your flight is delayed 2 hours because the
ground crew in New York has to call Brazil to get a maintenance code from the
airline manufacturer. Or when the
security lines is held up because the infrequent travelers in front of you didn’t
realize they had to remove their shoes, sweaters, belts and laptops.
I invite you to share your own travel nightmare examples and how you know you're traveling too much.
Gilda Bonanno's blog www.gildabonanno.blogspot.com