World Traveler Goes To... London!

Up next is a trip to London for the world traveling working mom, me.

It's a weird arrangement that my job description, currently, is "50% Global marketing, and 50% U.S. marketing." Weird because that looks fine on paper, but how is a person supposed to equally divide her time? At first, I tried working on my Global tasks in the mornings (when the Europeans were also in the office) and saving my U.S. tasks for the afternoons. It kind-of works, unless you're a person who checks email first thing in the morning, because whatever seems most pressing is what gets attention using that system. Hint: I check email first. So I'm out of the Global Mornings habit -- in fact, I feel so far removed from the Global team that it's real hard to care at all about it.

But aside from the work aspect of it -- the trip is for a series of meetings about global content -- I'm going to London! And Winchester, south of London, where my colleague lives. It cost half as much to travel on a Friday night versus a Monday (the meetings start Tuesday), so I get to spend the weekend being a tourist. And when I look at the maps and the adorable hotel I'm staying at, I do start to feel excited about this trip. Praise God, they literally speak my language in England, and that alone makes it less daunting than Germany. My friend will pick me up at the airport, another bonus (and so kind of her), and she has planned out an entire itinerary for us, first in Winchester, home of the Jane Austen House Museum (!!) and then a big day in London seeing as many sights as I can see. :)

Some things to figure out:

• Where to park at the airport - I hate airport parking.
• Is it better to exchange money for cash, or for a Travelex card? At the bank or online? Or at the airport?
• What kind of shoes do I want for walking ALLLL over London? Do I want my old-ish out of style ones that I know are comfy-ish, or new ones? I think new, but, is that risky? Ouchy feet would not be fun.

It should be a good trip. My boss' boss, who called the meeting, said that "A lot of tasks will probably be created at this meeting, so it will be good if you are there." Ugggh. That takes a little of the fun out of it, haha, but I try to remember in these cases that the tasks don't have to be completed at the meeting -- it's just a first discussion of the tasks.

Anyway, I leave Aug 17 and will be gone nearly a week. (!) That's a long time.