Professional Nomad

Health Warning: The following post contains traces of self-pity, melodrama and cynicism. If you cannot stomach any of the above please click here and don't read this blog anymore.

Today I felt homeless! I was on a business trip and I woke up in my hotel this morning feeling miserably ill. Had I been home I would've stayed in bed, called in sick and watched Keeping Up with the Kardashians but I came into work purely because I had no bed beyond 10am check-out time; Hence the feeling of homelessness.

This is the un-glamorous side of business travel. For the last year and a bit I have traveled for work every week barring those weeks when I was on leave or attending lectures; Mostly to Johannesburg but also to other parts of South Africa.   Hotel and guest-house receptionists across the country know me by name. I have slept in more hotel room beds than a high-class call-girl. I have formed a bigger carbon footprint than Swaziland has as a country. I have spent more time talking to Anthony, the Europcar guy who carries my bags to my rental every week, than I have talking to my dad. 
 

Yes. I know the Europcar guy's name. I know that he took leave in October. I know which suburb he lives in. I know that there was a drive-by shooting at the house down the street from his house a month ago and he slipped and fell while trying to run inside. I know way too much about Anthony the Europcar guy because I see him every freaking week! To make matters more complex, I have two cats that have to be shuttled around to their cat-sitter (read “my boyfriend”) when I’m away. Throw in the common relationship issue of “your place or mine” and I pretty much end up living out of my hand luggage 24/7.  I'm just a nomad in a cuter outfit than that desert get-up.

The conundrum is that the more I travel the better I do at my job, but the more my personal life suffers. When I spend more nights at home I find myself out of the loop with work, but my relationship flourishes. I’m building a career in one city and a life in another while living out of two homes and multiple hotels. When I’m in Cape Town I miss my Johannesburg friends and when I’m in Johannesburg I miss my beau and my Cape Town crowd. My life feels like a Rubik’s cube that I cannot solve; Snippets of brilliance scattered all over the show and just not coming together. *whine*