Brisbane

Like many people, when I first started travelling for work, I thought it would be glamorous. Airports, planes, hotels. What’s not to like right? As anyone who has ever travelled for work will know, it is not so glamorous.

Travelling for work tends to consist of early mornings, late nights, packing and unpacking bags through security and a delicious combination of airport and airplane food. Not to mention the nights alone in hotel rooms. Tiring- yes, glamorous- not so much.

After only getting home from Townsville and the Sunshine coast a few days ago, today I went to Brisbane. I didn’t have to leave home until 8am- that’s late for a travel day and felt rather luxurious. Furthermore, unlike Canberra, it was nice and warm in Brisbane today.

So after my luxuriously late start, I grabbed breakfast in the airport lounge and boarded a plane. I managed to knock over some work on the plane and landed in nice sunny Brisvegas. With some time to kill and a document I needed to print I headed to the lounge for its free printing service, lunch and the chance to use free Wi-Fi to knock over some more work.

At the appropriate time I jump in a cab, head to my meeting and following its conclusion it is back to the airport to once again for free Wi-Fi to finish off some work and dinner in the lounge.

As I ate my scrumptious dinner in the lounge which consisted of a small quiche (not bad) and a hotdog with sauce (not so good), it dawned on me……..every meal I ate today consisted of airport lounge food. For anyone who has ever spent considerable time in airport lounges, you will know, while having access to airport lounge food is a novelty at first, after a while it becomes repetitive and not particularly appetizing. Although, it is still more palatable than paying exorbitant amounts of money for food in airport cafes that generally isn’t any better. Every meal in a day at an airport lounge though- that is not so good and a little sad!

So as I head home tonight, I will land just after 9pm and my luxuriously late start seems not so luxurious but rather an essential requirement to avoiding the potential resultant exhaustion that comes on those travel days where the start is early and the finish is late. But hey, my flights have all been on time today and tonight I get to sleep in my own bed instead of a hotel so who am I to complain. All in all, a pretty good travel day today even if I am looking forwards to not eating airport lounge food until at least next week.