I’ve heard the silence recently and it sounded like this:  “TML, we haven’t seen you post anything in a while.  We miss your writing because shucks, sometimes it’s pretty darn amusing!  Where the heck are you?”

[Pausing while I raise my hand]:  “Right here in Las Vegas, working another meeting.  Can you see me now?”

“No wait, now I’m in San Francisco!”

“Um, don’t blink because I just arrived in Indianapolis. . .and Chicago, now Ft. Lauderdale, San Antonio, Erie/PA, Orlando,  Dallas, Detroit, Branson/MO, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and now back in Orlando again.  Did I mention NYC?  Well, I was there again, too. . .”

Another pause while I think back on the last few months and all the places I’ve been to for work related activities.  Wow.  It really was a whole lot of travel, and that’s not even counting all the connecting flights and layovers needed to get to some of those places.  So many trips, so many memories.  But you know what keeps running through my head right now?  A line from Dr. Seuss. . .

“Oh the things you can find if you don’t stay behind!” 

Never is that more true than for someone who travels a lot.

[Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels]

In short, I’ve been on the road a lot this year, and by a lot I mean, well, you saw the partial list above, and that only tells half of it.  The other half involves all the work it takes to travel to those destinations – the tickets researched and purchased, reservations confirmed, work orders detailed, packing/laundry/trip planning, getting to/from/in and out of all those places, standing in lines, placed on hold, and sitting in bars.  It all takes time, boy does it ever!  Even for this seasoned traveler who pretty much always has a bag partially packed and ready to go.

So, about that silence from this writer’s keyboard, well, here’s another appropriate quote I keep within eye distance of my desk:

Writing is like driving at night.  You never see further than your headlights but you make the whole trip that way.  – E. L. Doctorow

Yeah, what he said.

I’m a writer, yes, and also a traveler by virtue of what I do for a living in my chosen profession as a meeting planner.  The traveler in me hopes that one day the writing will support the traveling because – here comes another Dr. Seussism:

From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere!

And I do love to write about those funny things, except when I’m exhausted from all that work travel and having to get up a zero-dark-thirty to get to another city to work more meeting magic.  Not complaining, just explaining.  To myself as much as to you.

So here’s to me reporting in to you more often, whether I’m on the road or writing from the lobby bar.  Come to think of it, I’ve done some pretty good writing from my perch on a barstool, so get ready for more of that!