Oooff it's been a year

[Exterous]

My work is centered around higher ed IT. JFC its been a year. The assault against them by the federal government is just incredible right now. Lawsuits left and right. All kinds of schenanigans with international students, federal grant changes, funding cuts etc. All the institutions I know are in substantial financial lockdown to try and weather it all not to mention discussions around other areas of focus (DEI, certain study topics). At the same time IT quotes have been just all over the map at times given the insanity around tariffs. So of course, in the midst of all this, there is an attempted take over of my org with potential direct repercussions to not only the work we do but who my current staff report to. So I've put most of my extra energy into protecting my staff and the work we do as much as possible.

But I'm about to take a bunch of weeks off for a pretty big trip. 6 countries between Europe and Asia along with Hawaii. 13 flights on 8 different airlines including a stint on Etihad first class on their A380 (assuming everything goes according to plan). I'm really looking forward to disconnecting and recharging - and hope nothing blows up too much at work while I'm gone...

 

[nakedfrog]

13 flights does not sound like recharging to me, but I hope you get some needed respite!

 

[thestrangebrew1]

13 flights does not sound like recharging to me, but I hope you get some needed respite!

Yea the whole "travel" part of the trip sounds stressful, but other than "a bunch of weeks" OP didn't state how spread out those travel days are. Nonetheless, it sounds like an awesome time and hopefully you enjoy yourself OP! Are you good at separating work from home? I'm generally pretty good about not answering my phone but I'll check my emails once in a while when I'm on vacation. Anyways, try not to worry about work or your staff too much while out!

 

[KLin]

13 flights on 8 different airlines

 

[igor_kavinski]

13 flights on 8 different airlines

I wouldn't mind if the pay is very good and I'm wheelchaired by an aide and he (preferably she) takes care of all the arrangements.

 

[Chaotic42]

Have fun and remember that once you walk out the door, work stops existing. I learned that too late in life.

 

[jpiniero]

Might be time to get a new gig.

With all the cheatin', kinda wonder how long employers will bother hiring New Grads. Which you would think eventually would lead to admissions dropping.

 

[nisryus]

My work is centered around higher ed IT. JFC its been a year. The assault against them by the federal government is just incredible right now. Lawsuits left and right. All kinds of schenanigans with international students, federal grant changes, funding cuts etc. All the institutions I know are in substantial financial lockdown to try and weather it all not to mention discussions around other areas of focus (DEI, certain study topics). At the same time IT quotes have been just all over the map at times given the insanity around tariffs. So of course, in the midst of all this, there is an attempted take over of my org with potential direct repercussions to not only the work we do but who my current staff report to. So I've put most of my extra energy into protecting my staff and the work we do as much as possible.

But I'm about to take a bunch of weeks off for a pretty big trip. 6 countries between Europe and Asia along with Hawaii. 13 flights on 8 different airlines including a stint on Etihad first class on their A380 (assuming everything goes according to plan). I'm really looking forward to disconnecting and recharging - and hope nothing blows up too much at work while I'm gone...

Hope things will work out for you and also wish you a great trip to recharge.. but like what everyone said, 13 flights?!

 

[Hoober]

Hope things will work out for you and also wish you a great trip to recharge.. but like what everyone said, 13 flights?!

I dunno. He could be one of those travel writers who serve their penance on airplanes taking shots of shit airplane food with the caption, 'could be worse - could be in economy.'

 

[K1052]

6 countries between Europe and Asia along with Hawaii.

I would be having legit nightmares that I'd fucked something up in that kind of itinerary with the time zone changes and crossing the date line.

 

[igor_kavinski]

One cannot but do what one must.

 

[Greenman]

My work is centered around higher ed IT. JFC its been a year. The assault against them by the federal government is just incredible right now. Lawsuits left and right. All kinds of schenanigans with international students, federal grant changes, funding cuts etc. All the institutions I know are in substantial financial lockdown to try and weather it all not to mention discussions around other areas of focus (DEI, certain study topics). At the same time IT quotes have been just all over the map at times given the insanity around tariffs. So of course, in the midst of all this, there is an attempted take over of my org with potential direct repercussions to not only the work we do but who my current staff report to. So I've put most of my extra energy into protecting my staff and the work we do as much as possible.

But I'm about to take a bunch of weeks off for a pretty big trip. 6 countries between Europe and Asia along with Hawaii. 13 flights on 8 different airlines including a stint on Etihad first class on their A380 (assuming everything goes according to plan). I'm really looking forward to disconnecting and recharging - and hope nothing blows up too much at work while I'm gone...

If your vacation isn't twenty six weeks long you're just trading one kind of stress for another.

 

[Exterous]

Yeah ok I guess some context around the flights would be good. Any flight over 2 hours is in business class or international (not domestic) first class. And usually on flight operators like Singapore Airlines that does a bit better in terms of customer service and food. For example this is our seat for our 3 hour flight out of Singapore. The first class portion is on one of those planes that includes a shower for first class passengers. So these will come with expedited security, nice lounges at the airport and even, occasionally, free private transfers to/from the airport. I may have burned a few miles on this trip and I generally find some enjoyment about flying new-to-me planes, visiting new airports, lounges. So I'm looking forward to things like visiting the Changi airport and riding in an A380. Not every country has turned flying into the drudgery the US and parts of Europe have.

Yea the whole "travel" part of the trip sounds stressful, but other than "a bunch of weeks" OP didn't state how spread out those travel days are. Nonetheless, it sounds like an awesome time and hopefully you enjoy yourself OP! Are you good at separating work from home? I'm generally pretty good about not answering my phone but I'll check my emails once in a while when I'm on vacation. Anyways, try not to worry about work or your staff too much while out!

Fortunately I'm pretty good about that and my employer was generally good about encouraging it. And with the Department of Justice mandate about protecting certain sensitive data types my employer just took the approach of "Absolutely no work from outside the country without prior legal approval".