Weekend Assignment: Fantasy Sabbatical
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Friday, January 16, 2009
You have a six-month paid sabbatical, and you can spend it anywhere you like EXCEPT on a beach drinking margaritas. Where do you go, and what do you do while you're there?
Actually, it would be a variation of sitting on a beach drinking margaritas. I'd love to write - and shoot pictures for - a travel book. But I couldn't just sit on the beach drinking margaritas, I'd have to earn my keep.
Seriously, I'd like to do a book about England and/or Europe, so that sort of leaves out the beach stuff, unless I were to spend a lot of time along the Mediterranean. But even more seriously, that's not where I'd want to spend all of my time.
What I'd really like to do is a book on castles. I know the topic has been done to death, but that's what I want to do. And this is a fantasy, right? ;-)
Extra Credit: In real life, have you ever gone anywhere enjoyable at an employer's expense?
This is a tough one. I've worked for myself for the last 20+ years. The only place I've ever been sent on business when I worked for a company was Ft. Worth. Not terribly exciting, if you live in Dallas. The employer paid most of my expenses (I had to buy my own margaritas, and I bought some for a couple of people from the east coast because they'd never had a margarita. Yes, this was a LONG time ago). Still, I wouldn't call going to a place 45 minutes from my house exciting, even if I did get to stay in a hotel room. Hey, I love Ft. Worth. Don't get me wrong. But when you live in Dallas, that's not an exotic business trip. And I wouldn't expect someone from Ft. Worth to say the same about Dallas.
As a self-employed person, I've had more exciting business trips. Usually, they're in conjunction with conventions. I've visited both coasts and a few other interesting locations. Generally, though, I'm so busy with whatever I'm supposed to do at the convention that I don't have time to see the city. I've met up with Karen on a couple of those trips. She came to DFW once on business, but I honestly can't say it was exciting for her, though I tried to show her a good time. We visited Dealey Plaza (where Kennedy was shot) and went out for some Tex-Mex. We had a lot of good conversation, and that (for me, at least) was the best part of all.
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Comments are closed
Karen Funk Blocher said:
Hey, I loved seeing that famous, awful place with you, I almost mentioned it this morning, but it lost out to Mazatlan on my two sore feet.
Date: 1/16/2009 9:33:24 PM
Date: 1/16/2009 9:33:24 PM
David H. said:
Years ago, my employer sent me down to Austin (my hometown, and my favorite city in Texas) for two weeks to cover for a co-worker who was on maternity leave. They put me up in the historic Driskill hotel ;) Also had a decent per diem that allowed me to enjoy lots of great restaurants.
That was pretty sweet!
Date: 1/19/2009 8:41:12 AM
Date: 1/19/2009 8:41:12 AM
Karen Funk Blocher said:
Hey, I loved seeing that famous, awful place with you, I almost mentioned it this morning, but it lost out to Mazatlan on my two sore feet.
Date: 1/16/2009 9:33:24 PM
Date: 1/16/2009 9:33:24 PM
David H. said:
Years ago, my employer sent me down to Austin (my hometown, and my favorite city in Texas) for two weeks to cover for a co-worker who was on maternity leave. They put me up in the historic Driskill hotel ;) Also had a decent per diem that allowed me to enjoy lots of great restaurants.
That was pretty sweet!
Date: 1/19/2009 8:41:12 AM
Date: 1/19/2009 8:41:12 AM
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