It's just not for me.

Travelling for work sounds like a glamorous thing. Not everyone gets to do it. Only the privileged. It can take you places you’d never think of visiting. Like Upton, New York on Long Island. It’s not bad here, but it certainly is no New York City.

My work takes me here twice a year. I get to stay at a former military base, meet new people, and watch cable TV (I don’t have cable TV at home.) The first time I came to the east coast for work, I spent two weeks here and lost nearly 15 pounds of weight due to the lack of food available on site. The only reason why I enjoyed myself was because SB flew across the country to hang out with me and we ended up going to a Janelle Monae concert in NYC. We also met up with an old friend of his and went shopping. The work itself was complicated as I pricked myself with a contaminated needle, extreme time points in the middle of the night, and the beam was malfunctioning. But overall, a pleasant trip thanks to SB.

This trip was supposed to be a short one. I was supposed to fly in, zap the mice, make sure everything is ok, and fly back home. That is not happening. There was a fire in the control room. After that, another part of the beam started leaking fluids. I’ve had to cancel two flights, and after that I’m still not sure when I’ll be able to fly home. I changed my flight to the latest time Virgin America is leaving JFK on Friday so at least I would be flying home in comfortable white chairs with purples lights and an entertainment screen. I’m crossing my fingers that I everything goes according to plan and I don’t have to cancel another flight.

I can handle those setbacks. I’m really bothered about everything because it’s SB’s birthday on Saturday. I don’t know if you guys remember, but he took me to Vegas for my birthday and I have nothing planned for his birthday. There’s a boxing fight that night, so he might want to stay in and rest before he flies off for his annual trip to his homeland. I don’t know yet. I just know he’s the first person I want to see/hug/kiss when I get home.

I am so scared that I will turn into one of those people who put work in front of everything, before family, friends, and what really matters in life. As much fun as travelling for works sounds, it’s just not for me. I’d want a stable job where I can settle down and start a family. I don’t want to be travelling the world for work as someone else watches over my kids. If I travel, I want it to be for pleasure and to spend it with my loved ones.

And just in case you were wondering, yes I cried when I talked to SB for the first time on the phone when I realized I had to cancel my original flight home. And then I cried again after I got off the phone with him when he told me how his best friend bought him dinner for his birthday and how he’s out shopping with his family.