The (guilty) pleasures of traveling

s I weS JUST ABOUT to leave for vacation, I read an ad we have running in our classified section about a "Road Warrior" and realized just how much I, too, enjoy traveling, and how much I could not do without it as part of my life. Whether for business or pleasure,I love to travel. I love the stimulation, the new sites and sounds, hotel rooms (sans cockroaches), different food, and seeing how other people live. I love meeting customers and hearing what they think and how they think.

The thought of landing in a far-off place where I do not understand a word, where there are no signs in English, roads with no lanes, and general chaos doesn't scare me, it stimulates me. The excitement of packing my bag and the expectation as I leave the house is still there after all these years. The one rule I created for myself many years ago was that if you have to do it, you better enjoy it!

In my prior business life, I would spend 407o to 5O7o of my days traveling, and it became a way of life. A different day, a different city is an opportunity to learn something new. It may be in the U.S. or Canada, India, Hong Kong, or... This lifestyle is not for everyone, but it has helped to define me. Yes, we've seen willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and, more recently, George Clooney inUp in the Air, both sad in many ways (although I would not mind being more like George...). When I share my upcoming travel plans, many tell me that they don't know how I do it, or that they would not want to do it. But I enjoy nothing more than heading off with my suitcase, even when it is a 4 a.m. start.

From my first international travel as part of a school trip at the age of 12 to France and Switzerland, I became fascinated with local life domestic and international. When I left school, I went into sales because I knew it would get me traveling, enjoying new experiences, and unchaining me from a desk. In those days, I thought nothing of driving 300 miles a day, day after day. Since 1968, my life has been constantly on the road both for business and pleasure. Those off-site sales meetings and management meetings were my guilty pleasure-having fun and enjoying the camaraderie. I even count much of my business travel as personal travel as I enjoy one as much as the other. I may have worked hard all day, but I love to walk and enjoy a new city at night by visiting galleries, cafes, and finding ways to blend in with locals.

Sure, I've had catastrophes (my business trip to India in the 1990s is worth a movie in its own right), but I love to land somewhere and try to find my way and start a new adventure. I have been sick, landed in a hospital, had my money stolen, lost my luggage, and at times have been desperate to retum to my own bed, but I still have the travel bug. Whether here in the U.S. or abroad, I have gathered experiences I would not tlade for anything: watching the sun rise and set in distant cities, eating in a cafe overlooking an illuminated monumint, turning the corner and seeing a piece of history thousands of years old and wondering how they could possibly build those small hilltop villages or giant pyramids. I have met the most fascinating people at all ends of the spectrum, from business celebrities to film stars to politicians (okay, that part I'm stretching) to simple folk on their pilgrimage or trying to eke out a living. I have stayed in some crummy hotels and in some of the best. I have eaten poorly and have eaten well. My planes has been hit by lightning and wind shear, and I have had one or two scary moments, but still give me a ticket and I am off.

And, yes, I love those frequent flier miles and the perks that go with them. I find great pleasure in trying to find ways to buck the system, finding the best deals, getting an upgrade or a free breakfast. And, yes, I don't enjoy being scrunched up on a commuter jet. or being stranded for hours or days in an airport, but these types of stories give me memories to talk about for years.

In business I learn far more getting out of the office than I ever could sitting in the office. While I like hearing how good our publications are, I also appreciate learning from disappointed customers and field reps what we could do better. Face to face gives no one a place to hide. I use my travels to probably meet 50Vo of my future customers and to save a few customers. too!

So as I head out-only to return by the time you read this-I hope you will get a chance to travel over the summer with your families and enjoy travel the way my family does. I have learned that travel lets me escape from the normal crazy. And nothing can be better. Bon voyage!

Alan Oakes, Publisher aioakes@aol.com www. building-products.com

A publication of Cutler Publishing 4500 Campus Dr., Ste. 480, Newport Beach, CA 92660

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