I travel for work and work for travel

I am on my couch, feet propped up, basking in warm afternoon sunlight. After four rainy days on the road, this seems like the perfect way to conclude my week. I don’t have much field work to report on for today’s post, since I traveled because of meetings, but I do have several travel musings that you might find…amusing (ugh, sorry).

1. Driving in the rain puts me to sleep. The combination of rhythmic wiper blades, the constant patter of rain, and the blurred wet vision of the world all makes for a potent recipe for hypnosis. Even a cup of gas station coffee fails to wake me; the warm liquid melts my core faster than the caffeine can stimulate it. I had to take two separate 10 minute naps on Tuesday and was almost late to my first meeting. But no one would fault me for taking care of my own safety, right?

2. I underpacked. In addition to a rain jacket (or umbrella, though no Washington native uses them), I forgot my sleeping bag/blankets, pillow, and toothbrush. Charles, Nikki, and Kate were gracious enough to lend me extra supplies. Oh, and then I left my soap in the shower after my first night.

3. On the flip side, I did find extra food supplies in the fridge when I stayed at Mount Rainier. The great thing about transient housing in national parks is that it’s inevitable that things are left behind which means they’re up for grabs for the next occupant. In my case, I scored on a can of chili, instant Viennese café au lait, and beer. Don’t ask me how long they were in the fridge though.

4. Gas prices are ridiculous. I don’t even want to discuss it further other than mention the fact that I spent two hours on the road mentally figuring out the advantages and disadvantages of buying a motorcycle. Good: 80 mile to the gallon. Bad: being exposed to the rain.

5. I prefer meeting people face to face. Besides the fact that I’m socially awkward on phones (hithsismichaelliangvisualinformationspecialistforthenorthcoastandcascadesresearchlearningnetworkhowareyou?), I’m finding it’s worth my time to make these formal introductions and put a face to a name. This is especially important in how our network is set up, with staff scattered amongst seven different national park units. I know I keep saying this, but I’m always amazed by people’s passion, patience with me, and willingness to help. For whatever reason, I really felt like this summer was going to be an independent endeavor but I’m finally realizing the resources I have available.

6. I had my first teleconference call today and given my initial hesitancy, I thought it went very well. I’m in awe at how the technology works- that seven people in seven separate locations (one even using a satellite phone from Stehekin) can talk together and have a productive meeting.

All in all, it’s been a fairly good week because by the end of it, I finally have a sense of how my position this summer fits into the larger communication goals of the network. I also think I’m done traveling for a couple weeks. I’ve met so many people and gotten so many great ideas that I need to sit in the office and unload and organize that enthusiasm into coherent plan of actions. As Charles keeps telling me, create create create!

Next week I’ll post my ideas for these projects.

Special thanks to: Charles and Nikki Beall, Kate Minto, David Szymanski, Mark Huff, Scott Stonum, Lee Taylor, Reah (housing coordinator extraordinare), Barbara Samora, Bret Christoe, and Darin Swinney.