Leaving on a jet plane…

Another Monday, another business trip. I’m leaving for Belfast in about 15 minutes (via a couple of meetings in London), staying just one night, so I can speak at a conference.

In the scale of things, this is barely a trip. One night away and I’m not even leaving the country (arguments over a Northern Ireland / Ireland border aside). I left packing until this morning as I just needed to bring a single change of clothes and some toiletries. It took about ten minutes.

My work backpack is already packed (including my new iPad Mini) and I’ve managed to squeeze in a couple of hours of work in my home office before I have to leave. So Monday is feeling particularly productive already!

Based on my schedule, I’m going to manage a couple of hours at Heathrow Terminal 5 this afternoon. Or more precisely, in the British Airways First Class lounge. So that’s lunch taken care of – and a sneaky glass or two of champagne as a reward for getting so much done. There has to be some upside for all this travel!

I have a dinner with clients / contacts in Belfast this evening, so I’ll be going straight from the airport to the restaurant. And they’ve graciously picked a venue that’s just a few minutes walk from my hotel. As I’m speaking tomorrow, it’ll be an early night tonight – even though my session isn’t until after lunch. A good night’s sleep makes everything so much easier.

And now that I seem to have knocked my insomnia on the head (something that requires a whole other post), I’m actually quite looking forward to sleep, not feeling anxious about not sleeping.

I prepared for this conference over three months ago and had to submit my slides a couple of weeks before now. So it’s about time I opened them up again and refamiliarised myself with the contents! Perfect work for a short flight to Belfast.

Happy Monday!