The Work Travel Thread

Croatan_Kid

Croatan_Kid

How's your hammer hangin'?
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Location
New Bern
I know I'm not the only one who gets to travel for work, so I figured we might as well have a thread for it.

Maybe tell a little about what you do for a living, where you went, some stuff you did/ate while you were there, and post a picture or two after you get back home?
 
I can kick it off. I'm a machinist. I work in depot level maintenance for our aircraft.

My first trip was to Norfolk NAS to do some 53 stuff.
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Next place was down to New Orleans to the JRB to work on a Cobra. No work pictures from that trip, just ones from out and about running around.

Had to ride over to Cafe du Monde.
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Big Jake's has some amazing food.
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Rode over to Baton Rouge one afternoon. This is the old governor's mansion.
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Next up was Okinawa, Japan. That was an 18 day trip....I miss the food!

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The Ana Manza Intercontinental where we stayed. 450 bucks a night....

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Sunrise over the East China Sea.

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A coon-ass from Louisiana that lives in Oki and has some of the best food I've ever eaten...

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I've also been to Pax River, MD twice this year for a V22 and made a trip down to Beaufort, SC for some F35 stuff, but didn't take any pictures on those trips.
 
My most recent trip was Palmerola, Honduras. We had to land in Tegucigalpa and drive a little over an hour to get to the base. All in all, it wasn't a bad trip. I brought back some local coffee, some locally made cinnamon liquor, a little bit of candy, and a few cigars.

The assortment of huts.
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Looking out towards the front of the base at the other side of the mountain range.
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The shitters!
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Looking out across the flight line.
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A mean ass rain storm that was rolling through. Luckily, it followed the mountains and didn't rain on us.
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The weather was great. No rain, high 80s, low humidity, and a breeze! Then...we came back home to eastern NC :rolleyes:
 
Croatan_Kid said:
We had to land in Tegucigalpa
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How'd you like that landing? :eek:

I went there in 2010 for a mission trip to purify water about 8hrs away on a church bus (left the paved road about 3 hrs into the journey)
Saw a gang murder
Stayed in the scariest "hotel" ever
Had to use an outhouse that was older than my grandparents
But the worst part was sucking half my seat foam up my ass on that approach on the plane :lol:



Mechanical Engineer (not the sexy kind...the Plumbing/Mechanical/Electrical building systems kind :rolleyes:)

Not had to travel FOR work, as we do mostly public school, college, churches, office buildings....etc all over NC. But we have some pretty daggone cool vendor trips though. Most to tour factorys, but many are just FUN trips. ALWAYS get to stay in nicer hotels than my cheap ass would EVER pay for

Montreal 1/2 dozen times (If you've been there, you know the nightlife is...well, a lot better :rockon:)
Dallas (met the cheerleaders, Chritie from Gas Monkey, Sue from ASM, Del Frisco's $300 steak meal)
Miami
Key West
Wisconsin (private Jet :rockon:)
Baltimore (Orioles game, got to stay at the pier 5 hotel)
Hotlanta (Braves game)
Skeet shooting and golf at Ballantyne
BMW performance School
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Hope to one day go to Petra and see the ruins.....that trip has been promised but not followed thru
 
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Finally got a few minutes to update on my travels. Spent 4 years in the Navy stationed in Oceana Va on shore duty. During that time we were flying support and training missions with anyone and anywhere we could. Had multiple detachments to Key West, Puerto Rico, Las Vegas, Miramar California for Topgun, Reno Nevada,El Centro California, 29 Palms, had a trip to Israel, spend a little time in the Caribbean in Saint Maarten,Saint Croix, Saint Thomas, then a couple months before I got out we had a detachment that went to Ireland for two weeks then England for two weeks.

Fast forward a couple years after I got out of the Navy I went to work for General Dynamics doing their urban warfare training program. I worked there for 13 years and probably have been to most Army, National Guard, and Marine Corps bases around the world. In that position I have been in all 50 states and 41 countries. Some of those projects would run for 2 to 3 weeks some of them would run for years. I did a lot of work in the Middle East countries all over Europe and Asia with a few projects in Africa. Some of my favorite areas that I’ve worked are in Germany And Alaska and Hawaii. I have met and made friends all over the world in that career and the only reason that I do not do that anymore is because when you’re gone 330 days out of the year You have almost no family life or social life at home and no trail time. Luckily me and my wife were able to stay together and work through a lot of issues from my days on the road. I have a hard drive full of pictures of places that I’ve been,things I’ve done, and things I’ve seen, a lot of those pictures I don’t even remember taking. During that time in my life I felt like I was serving my country with the training that I was doing for soldiers and saving lives. When I look back on it now I did work very hard to do everything I could for our soldiers but I played even harder. In most cases we were in areas around military bases that had plenty of bars and plenty of nightlife. I was always one that would go out for a drink or two then after that would end up closing the bar then looking for a party afterwards.
 
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Field Supervisor for a design firm that builds trade show exhibits, corporate interior projects and websites.

For the most part I see the insides of Convention Centers and hotels and am on my feet long hours direction union labor, but I've gotten pretty good at finding fun stuff to do while on trips or in between if I fly direct from show to show. Sometimes its not worth flying from the west coast, back here for 24 hours and flying back out. Most of the shows are a snooze, but I do have a SEMA client now so thats an every year deal.

SEMA 2017
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WERock Donner 2016 and 2018 (Intersolar in San Francisco has a weird install window that usually gets me a weekend off out there so I rent a car and drive up to Donner for the day)
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Went from San Diego to Denver but had two days off between shows so I drove up and saw an old NC4x4er and ASU buddy in southern Wyoming and did some snowmobiling and timbersledding in April
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Hit a few Cubs games this year, A few Red Sox games when working in Boston, rented a Harley and did the trip out to Hoover Dam, around Lake Mead and up through Valley of Fire outside Vegas last year. Spent 53 days just in Vegas in 2017 so when you're on the road that much, you have to keep it interesting.
 
CasterTroy said:
So...umm...look. My dream has always been to attend a SEMA show. Need a laborer for 2019? :smokin:
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might need to give me an extra year or so. Kegcrawler on here is my boss and hasn’t been yet. I know better than to shit where I eat.

Having an Exhibitor badge vs an attendee badge is pretty slick though. I usually walk most of the halls the day before the show opens since it’s not a madhouse.

SEMA is cool for sure. But at least at CES last year I was able to take all the new BMW M cars on hot laps whereas at SEMA it was all ride along stuff.
 
StretchASU said:
But at least at CES last year I was able to take all the new BMW M cars on hot laps whereas at SEMA it was all ride along stuff.
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Ehh...did that 2 weeks ago :smokin: BTW...an M5 at 159mph on the top secret test track really doesn't feel any faster than the M4 at 120 on the road course :lol: (had to throw that in because you already making me feel inferior with all this SEMA talk :D)

OK..put me down for EITHER kind of pass for 2020, and call me TOBY for the week, cause I'll gladly be your "boy" for access :huggy:
 
I traveled 75% of the time for about 5-6 years to my various facilities. 98% of it was domestic. I'm a pretty boring work traveler though...wake up, go to work by 9, might grab dinner at a place a local recommends around 7-8pm, try to find a bourbon bar, go back to the hotel, work a little more and fall asleep. Hit up Vegas a few times over long weekends when I'd go to SoCal, had a little helicopter company in Savannah I loved going to...but I just like being in Savannah.
 
DSM Turbos said:
Forgot I went to London also about 4 years ago for work also. Sadly travel for me is cutting back now. Last year I made platinum on AA with just 3 flights with how far I have to go. This year only 1 trip so far, so I probably won't get to keep my status. Might have a few China trips coming up though.

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British Airways has a mini stone henge inside their headquarters. I'll see if I can get a picture of it next week while I'm there.
 
@StretchASU How do you not strangle those union laborers? In a previous life, I was on a small team that designed a cooling system for those monster CAT mining trucks. We debuted it at the MiningExpo in Vegas. It was so large, it had to be shipped in about 20 pieces and assembled on-site. What 2 of us could have assembled in 4 hours took 6 union laborers and an overlord a full 10 hours to complete. We were so frustrated that when the union guys went on their hourly break, we would get as much done as we possibly could, trying not to get caught doing it. (Why do you need an electrician to plug in an extension cord?). I guess it was inevitable, but one of the union big wigs caught me up on a ladder in our booth during one of the breaks and ‘took me for a ride’ in his golf cart. If I had to deal with that kind of inefficiency every day, I’d probably go postal.

In keeping with the theme: One trip to Hamburg, I was there for a couple of weeks doing installation support for a new product on a new aircraft. We had the weekend free (and a new Mercedes) so we drove 4 hrs on the autobahn to get to Koln, which has one of the largest churches in the world. It was over 500 steps to get to the top of the spire and it had some cool underground tunnels.

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FrontPorchFab said:
@StretchASU How do you not strangle those union laborers? In a previous life, I was on a small team that designed a cooling system for those monster CAT mining trucks. We debuted it at the MiningExpo in Vegas. It was so large, it had to be shipped in about 20 pieces and assembled on-site. What 2 of us could have assembled in 4 hours took 6 union laborers and an overlord a full 10 hours to complete. We were so frustrated that when the union guys went on their hourly break, we would get as much done as we possibly could, trying not to get caught doing it. (Why do you need an electrician to plug in an extension cord?). I guess it was inevitable, but one of the union big wigs caught me up on a ladder in our booth during one of the breaks and ‘took me for a ride’ in his golf cart. If I had to deal with that kind of inefficiency every day, I’d probably go postal.

In keeping with the theme: One trip to Hamburg, I was there for a couple of weeks doing installation support for a new product on a new aircraft. We had the weekend free (and a new Mercedes) so we drove 4 hrs on the autobahn to get to Koln, which has one of the largest churches in the world. It was over 500 steps to get to the top of the spire and it had some cool underground tunnels.

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You pretty much summed up why I enjoy whiskey. We do our labor through 3rd party contractors like CSI or NThDegree and at this point I have a small stable of people I will typically request if they’re available. It does cut down on a lot of the BS. However I feel for the lay person who has to work through the GC like Freeman or GES. Their labor call is usually the bottom of the barrel. I had an “extra” that showed up on my job at CES last year that turned out to be a raging H addict and he got caught stealing a pile of Chinese GoPro knockoffs. Ive just learned to play the games but they’re always changing local rules. I got the golf cart ride and threatened to be kicked out of McCormick in Chicago this spring. 24 hours later the guy and I were best buddies and he was reaming his own guys for their slackassery. The next month he just let me handle my own shit because he couldn’t provide enough labor for the call and knew I could handle the work easily. It’s all a game. Trade shows are legal theft once you hit the convention center.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
envious of all this....all I got other then I40 and its a 50 mile stretch!
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Honestly for me at least it isn't as glamorous as it seems. Sit on a plane for 20-24 hours to get where I am going most times. Been on one leg that is 16 hours several times (work makes me fly normal economy too). Get there, work 10-12 hour days, be jet lagged a bit. Miss normally 2 weekends at home due to the travel. Eat some good food while there and get a couple hours normally to actually sight see, and then head back.

Still I never turn down a trip that work will pay for. Most of the places I have gone I wouldn't pay my own way to see so it is nice to see something different.
 
I'm hoping to snag a Korea trip and some to Hawaii. Just depends on where the maintenance is needed!
 
DSM Turbos said:
Honestly for me at least it isn't as glamorous as it seems. Sit on a plane for 20-24 hours to get where I am going most times. Been on one leg that is 16 hours several times (work makes me fly normal economy too). Get there, work 10-12 hour days, be jet lagged a bit. Miss normally 2 weekends at home due to the travel. Eat some good food while there and get a couple hours normally to actually sight see, and then head back.

Still I never turn down a trip that work will pay for. Most of the places I have gone I wouldn't pay my own way to see so it is nice to see something different.
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definitely not enamored with the perceived perks, just would love to see some of the world. I'm a home body who has seen mainly one rock. Call me "Patrick StarFish"
 
DSM Turbos said:
(work makes me fly normal economy too)
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They won't let you set up a rewards program in your name??? Or at least set up a rewards program with whatever expense card you use for flights/hotels??? I was flying 250k/quarter on average and it didn't take long for the free first class upgrades to become the norm. Company card and personal card linked to the same flight/car rental/hotel rewards accounts. On the rare occasion I didn't get upgraded, I'd spring for the $15-30 Eco+ upgrade out of pocket.
 
I've been on 19 work trips in the past 18 months. 8 domestic and 11 international. I'd be glad to post up some more pics if anyone cares to see it. I just didn't want to clog up Croatian_Kid's thread. Personally, I'd like to see more helicopter pictures! They do a fair amount of project shuffling at work, so I've just barely missed out (several times) on chances to go to the Middle East and Asia.

Regarding rewards points/miles; I save all mine for personal use. I'd rather get free flights and hotel nights for vacation than upgrade for work travel. But then again, I'm not taking 16+ hour flights either. My longer flight legs are in the 8-10 hour range.
 
I'm so envious - these trips look amazing!

I'm a Certified Welfare Fraud Investigator so I get to travel pretty regularly but my scenery is quite a bit different...and limited pretty much to my county. The farthest I've travelled for work was training in Orlando last year - it was hot & miserable.

So just to give you an idea here's some of my regular trips. I've visited places ranging from no floors & 30+ cats to 4 stories with an elevator & home theater :eek:
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