Glimpse At My Recent Offices

The title of this blog is the Global Office for a reason. My office is changing daily and could be anything from my apartment, a hotel, a press room, a train, a plane or a car. I could even have all of those in the same day. This also means my backpack is my life line. I have it designed so if I'm abandoned on the side of the road in a foreign country (which would feasibly happen), I can survive for a few days. Power chargers, spare batteries, sim cards, snacks, laptop, Ipad, extra phones, extra headphones, etc. I have it all in there and it weighs nearly a tonne.

Here are a few "offices" over the past month with a few words of explanation: 

At my neighborhood bar in Gent. I was fighting with my Garmin and it was taking hours to get all the right maps on their (I have to switch installed countries several times a year). This meant a glass of wine was needed to proceed.

In the middle of Poland where Internet wasn't always great. We found a cafe with super strong WiFi and got cranking before the race finished. This is a fairly normal habit if the race doesn't have a press room (or doesn't have WiFi at the press room...?!?!)

Team bus. Another frequent location for me to work while I'm waiting for the race to finish. This place is plush, so no complaints. I typically am tethering from my phone when I work here.

The hotel room bed is one of my favorite offices. Rarely, rarely, rarely do I turn on the TV. I think some event had happened in the US and I actually had CNN, so I followed the news as I worked on a race report and stayed up to date on bike racing via TweetDeck.

This looks more like my typical hotel rooms. They aren't usually super fancy, more barebones. Sometimes we are even in dorm rooms (so wish I had taken a photo of the dorm room in Australia!)

And finally home. I know it looks super cluttered and crazy, but I'm rarely here. I love looking at all the photos on the corkboard above and all the paper on the right are the bills and paperwork that I MUST deal with before leaving on the road again.

Delta Meltdown 2016

The Tour of Utah ended on Sunday and the following day, I was scheduled to fly from Salt Lake City to Prague, Czech Republic for a press conference. Going straight from one race, into another race, followed directly by a press conference is always challenging. Throwing in two transatlantic flights makes it nearly insane.....and really increases chances of travel issues.

I don't think I've ever been to a smaller airport than the Provo, Utah airport. It was an experience but thanks to Allegiant Air, I was able to make it to California.

The first thing I do any morning is look at my phone. That Monday morning, I woke up to so many missed calls from unknown numbers, text messages and emails that I assumed something terrible had happened. Instead, I just saw that Delta was having some issues. At that point, I had no idea what those issues really meant.

When I woke up last Monday morning, absolutely zero part of me expected to see the San Francisco Bay Bridge, even a brief glimpse.

I had until 11am to get my next steps figured out because I was supposed to take a shuttle from Park City down to Salt Lake City. I tried calling into Delta and was told the hold was between 3.5-4 hours and that they would call me back. Then I got a message saying that my flight was cancelled. I figured there was no point in heading to the airport, so I went out for a run/walk on the trails around Park City.

It was such a strange day with no flow or rhythm. I aimed to just keep moving. This meant basically no meals and lots of bars. Also, I was officially working and really needing to catch up on emails and tasks after the back-to-back craziness of Denmark and Utah.

Eventually, I got a call back from Delta and they said I couldn't get rebooked to fly out until Wednesday, which meant my trip to Czech Republic was obsolete. I needed to be there for a press conference by Wednesday morning. Instead of sitting in Park City, where life is fairly pricey and I didn't know anyone. I looked into all the options that could get me from Utah to California that day. I knew I had a free place to stay in Northern CA and it didn't seem too sure that Delta was actually getting me out of the US anytime soon.

It took a few buses to get from Oakland up to Santa Rosa, including a stop through San Rafael.

I looked into renting a car to drive to CA. Nothing available. I looked into flying from Salt Lake City to any Northern CA airport. Either nothing available or insanely expensive. Eventually, I found a ticket from the Provo Airport to Oakland through Allegiant Air. I knew I could get up to Santa Rosa from Oakland on the Airporter, so I booked a ticket for a price cheaper than a hotel in Park City. The next question was getting from Park City to Provo. Thanks to Uber, I got a lovely ride to Provo through some stunning parts of Utah. I reached Oakland and then started working my way north to Santa Rosa. 

My first meal of the day was one of my favorite plates of food on Earth: Pollo al Horno with half rice and beans and half sweet and fried green plantains from El Colqui. I crave this when in Europe.

Tuesday, Delta still wasn't operating correctly. Wednesday, my first flight was delayed for over five hours, so I would have missed my connection. Fortunately, I already assumed there might be issues so I had called Delta (only a 90-minute wait this time) and asked when they predicted I could fly out. She said that if it didn't really matter (I had a free place to stay, friends to enjoy and access to a car), that I should wait until the weekend. So she booked me SFO-->SLC-->AMS-->BRU on Saturday. 

While killing time in California, I decided my life needed a telescopic (collapsible) fishing rod that I could travel with. Then I spent most afternoons catching fish from lakes around Sonoma County. Heaven.

I got to the airport bright and early on Saturday morning and my first flight to SLC was super smooth. Things started going wrong again in SLC. We boarded our transatlantic flight and just sat there for awhile. Eventually, they announced there was a mechanical and we were all deplaned. I called Delta (only 5-minute wait) and was told that there was basically no other option this late in the day to get me to Europe. I waited for a few hours and called back (15 minute wait). This time, I was told that I would have to wait between 6-7 hours in Amsterdam to get a connecting flight to BRU once I made it to Europe.

Last US meal for a few weeks. I had no idea I was about to start another hellish travel day.

At this point, I was desperate just to get home. My already long trip had been extended nearly five extra days. I was running low on meds and patience, so I asked to terminate my flight in Amsterdam. I figured I could just grab a train back to Gent much faster. After a little battling with Delta, they finally agreed to this. I arrived in AMS only to find out my bags hadn't been retagged. It took quite a fight to get them but eventually I was free from the Delta system for a few weeks.

Switching off the Thalys in Antwerp for the train to Gent. Total relief to be back in the Dutch speaking parts of the world.

Now I'm home for about three weeks. This is one of the longest stretches I have had at home in months. I'm looking forward to eating my own food, actually having some hobbies, sleeping and enjoying my great city of Gent.

My next real travel (outside of one-day bike races in Belgium) is back to the States for a wedding at the beginning of September.

Spending Time in the US

There is something so easy about going back to the US. Everywhere takes credit cards, everyone speaks English, hotel rooms are sizeable, ice is readily available. The list goes on and on but these things typically appeal to me only in small quantities. After months on the road, when I go back to the States for a few days or weeks, it is always so nice. I don't worry about stress and headaches nearly as much as I do on other trips. I simply know everything will work; that's just how it goes in the US.

I headed directly from the Tour of Denmark over to the States for the Tour of Utah. Initially, I thought it was for less than a week (a whole other blog post to come on that....) and that felt too short. I knew I would be fighting jet lag the entire time but felt lucky to do any of it.  This is a race I absolutely adore.

Even my job is different in America. Everyone is friendlier. Funny enough, even the exact same people who I race with in Europe are nicer when they hit US soil. I haven't figured out why but it really does make a difference in my job. I enjoy the pleasantries that are exchanged in the parking lots, press rooms, hotel buffets and out on course. People ask each other about their days and there are parking lot beers enjoyed between teams.

Another highlight is the food. Race food - especially when we are in California, Utah or Colorado - is incredible. These are states that embrace eating local. At races, typically teams, riders and staff eat together in a big hotel conference room, buffet style. This means A LOT of overcooked chicken, pasta and rice. It gets redundant at best. When we go to these US races, the food quality goes up several notches. There will be black beans and salsa, kale and even the occasional apple pie. 

I have a slew of food issues all related to health issues. I  try to minimize the attention my health issues play on my life. It is something I have to deal with, so I do, and then I move on with life. They definitely don't define me, but they do make eating while traveling pretty dynamic. Currently, I'm eating gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free and banana-free all based on inflammation in my blood work (I was diagnosed with celiacs off an intestinal biopsy nearly 15 years ago but I decided to ignore it.) I've been eating this way for almost six months and my blood work shows it is helping. Finding foods that fit my diet while on the road, especially outside of the US, is extremely challenging. The US seems to be the land of food disorders because I feel like I can find gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free everything. And I love it. My obsession this race was lettuce wrapped sandwiches from Jimmy Johns and I have no shame in admitting it.

Day in the Life: Travel Day

I don't typically fly directly from one race into another race. Usually, there is at least a day or two in between stage races. Olympic years are always a little different and races get shuffled around. That's what happened between the Tour of Denmark and the Tour of Utah. I finished the five-day Tour of Denmark, had a lovely post-race dinner hosted by our great sponsors, got a few hours of sleep and then headed to the airport to fly halfway across the world to Utah. 

Here is a quick glimpse at my day:

6:45am--My alarm goes off but I simply couldn't get up yet. I was still too tired from a week of working 13+hours every day followed by an evening of maybe a glass or two of too much wine. 

7:15am--I can't put off getting up. A quick shower, cup of coffee, packed bags and I'm out.

7:40am--Headed to the airport and returned my rental car. Make it through security without any issues.

I had a bit of time to kill at the airport because my flight wasn't until 9:50am, so I started with a juice from Joe and the Juice. I went with Peas of Mind with peas, avocado, celery, kale and apple. At the time, it seemed like a good decision. In hindsight, I'm not sure a pea smoothie is my thing. Next up was a soy latte with three shots. Like my Starbucks name?

Because I had so much time to kill, I started shopping. I think I could buy the entire Copenhagen airport. After trying on perfume that was too expensive, I settled on the world's most basic ring. Just my style.

9:50am--Flight to Amsterdam. Luckily the caffeine had kicked in and I was wired. Please ignore my flying guilty pleasure...OK! Magazine.

11:30am--I went as quickly as possible to the KLM lounge hoping that I could get upgraded for my super long flight from Amsterdam to Salt Lake City. Sadly the flight was already completely booked. This detour cost me getting food during my layover, so I boarded my 11-hour flight without any food or snacks...and I don't really eat plane food.

2:30pm Mountain Time/10:30pm Copenhagen Time--First off the plane and through immigrations. Felt good to back on home soil.

3:30pm Mountain Time/11:30pm Copenhagen Time--After the long flight and no food, I was starving. Like eat everything in sight hungry. First, I ordered a starter of hummus and then got this salad. I think my waiter was a little impressed with my eating abilities. While eating, I booted up my laptop and cranked through as many emails as possible and did some conference calls.

4:55pm Mountain Time/12:55am Copenhagen Time--Boarded onto my final flight to Cedar City, Utah. The long travel day was starting to catch up to me.

5:55pm Mountain Time/01:55am Copenhagen Time--Landed in Cedar City. My travels were super smooth and uneventful. As a side note, Cedar City is by far the smallest airport I've been to in my entire life. After grabbing my bag (there wasn't even a belt), I walked outside and my sport director was waiting for me right out front and took me to the race hotel....college dorms.

7:00pm Mountain Time/03:00am Copenhagen Time--A major, major storm hit. Apparently this has been the norm.

9:00pm Mountain Time/05:00am Copenhagen Time--I finally decided it was time to crawl into bed. A cookie served as my dinner and I was completely okay with that. Early morning wake up and I was already into Stage 2 of my next race.

Traveling Adventures: Mixing in the Family

I consider myself a professional traveler. I spend at least 170 days a year in hotels, airplanes and on the move between work and some personal travel. After several years, you find a rhythm that allows you to excel in the movement. You learn to pack your suitcase a certain way so you notice if something were missing and aim to keep it as light as possible. This comes with all sorts of tips and tricks, especially as a female who enjoys looking fairly decent while typically not having access to laundry facilities.

When I travel with other people, they usually are coworkers or friends who also travel constantly. We all know how to do it fairly seamlessly. But then there are the trips where you travel with complete rookies, and that isn't always so easy. Earlier this month, I had the joy of traveling with my 70-year-old mother and 13-year-old nephew. It was a span of generations, energy levels and interests. I served as the de facto tour guide and planner, which was a role I think I both excelled and failed at in equal portions.

It's a juggle and an adjustment; one I might not always handle with grace. When you live on the road, you learn that the little details count. You double check for your cell phone or keys. You problem solve all day long and lean on others to assist with problems and logistical details. These details didn't come as second nature for my travel companions. It felt like they were scattering backpacks, cell phones, books, apartment keys and jackets across Europe. It was both amusing and worrisome.

But all the troubles didn't fall on their shoulders. Unfairly, I expected them to slot in and help with details like reading a map to detour around a bike race, assist with navigating around the Champs-Élysées traffic circle from hell, searching for a gas station hidden in the belly of Paris' underground or being on the lookout for a parking spot in a crowded city. In the moment, I wasn't always able to understand why they couldn't have better travel skills. My annoyance and frustration weren't always well hidden, which maybe wasn't my finest showing. 

My work life comes with a daily schedule. We get told what time to get up, when to eat breakfast, what time to pack our bags out, what time to depart, etc. etc. We receive this information the evening before and every day basically has the same flow. When I'm home by myself, I'm crave not having a set day. Yet, this trip was a strange mix of travel but on personal time. It needed both flow and structure. Being the pseudo-local, that fell on me.

While I didn't always want to plan, it did mean that I got to see Europe through a whole new set of eyes. While I won't be a mother, I do have the opportunity to be an amazing aunt. And that experience was quite rewarding. My mom has been to Europe several times, but it was the first time my nephew had been on an airplane, left the country (and maybe tasted some bubbles). It was thrilling to show him different cultures and to walk back through history with him.

It was also fantastic just getting to spend time with my nephew. It sometimes amazes me that I've known this human his whole life. And now he is old enough to be exploring Europe and letting me sneak sips of wine during a fancy meal. It gets me excited about who he will become and the adventures we get to have as he grows.

Hopefully this was just the first of many travel adventures he and I will get to have again. I love showing him that the world is so accessible. Now I just need to wait until my niece is old enough to bring over, but I know she'll be the one running circles around me. She's already a little spitfire.

Playlist: Stage 4 Tour de Pologne

I'm all about music. I always have been. Anyone who has ridden with me for a decent amount of time knows I pride myself in my playlist. I feel every day, and possibly even every moment, should have its own soundtrack. And when there isn't music on, I start to feel a little uneasy, especially if I'm trying to work. One of my best monthly bills is Spotify, which gets me through races all over the world, working from home in a foreign country, lengthy airport layovers and long-haul flights.  (And I should also point out that I have an amazing global plan from T-Mobile that makes all this possible.)

The Tour de Pologne isn't all about the bike race. A lot of this race seems to revolve around driving through Poland. This has included everything from heavy city traffic, four lane highways where maniacs try to run you down and super remote back country roads that count as about 1.5 lines wide. The race bible also doesn't mark the best route into the finish, so that's always its own added headache. 

On average, I'm spending about 4 to 5 hours a day in the car and they aren't relaxing, road trip hours. Many of them are white knuckled and see me praying to whatever in the hopes that I make it to the finish in time.

Yet, today was my most successful transfer to date. I gave up on the race bible. I gave up on the GPS. I gave up on Google Maps. Instead, I put myself behind a Polish team's bus and followed it at the max speed of about 115 kph for over two hours, which wasn't so bad because my little Cleo is floored by around 117 kph and I managed to make it to the finish for the first time without getting lost or blocked by road closures. 

All this time in the car means a killer playlist is vital. Right now, I'm all about the country music with a sprinkle of Americana. There is just something amusing to be driving across Poland listen to Luke Bran, Alison Krauss, Avett Brothers or Lee Brice.

Here are some highlights from today's tunes:

• Somewhere With You -- Kenny Chesney
• Crazy Girl -- Eli Young Band
• I Don't Dance -- Lee Brice
• Highway Don't Care --Tim McGraw et al 
• Life's What You Make It -- Graham Colton
• Gunpowder & Lead -- Miranda Lambert
• Home Alone Tonight --Luke Bryan and Karen Fairchild 
• Whiskey Lullaby -- Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss (<-- her voice may be my favorite on Earth)
• I Play the Road -- Zac Brown Band
• Springsteen -- Eric Church
• Come Over -- Kenny Chesney
• Hard to Love -- Lee Brice
• Head Full of Doubt -- The Avett Brothers
• Kiss Tommorrow Goodbye --Luke Bryan

Below you can find today's whole playlist on Spotify. It runs nearly 3.5 hours....meaning most days I would still be a little short. I'm always open to music recommendations, so send them my way.

https://open.spotify.com/user/fcgorman/playlist/3iGljTO9YodHufIoyYab9E

Day in The Life: Stage 1 Tour de Pologne

Working in sports PR is always interesting, but working in professional cycling is extra unique. It is a sport and industry that isn't super well known in the US and the day-to-day life combines both chaos and a fairly consistent routine. This is a world that isn't for many. We spend a lot of time on the road and burnout can be high. There is little time for family, friends or simply normal life. But for the right person, this wild circus can feel like home. 

No day is ever the same, but here is a brief glimpse into a "normal" day for me. 

• Day started: Warsaw, Poland
• Day finished: Rawa Mazowiecka, Poland
• Hours spent in the car: nearly five. All high stress traffic.
• Coffees consumed: five (not enough)

8:00am wake up--this rarely happens but it seems the Tour de Pologne is all about the late start, which I openly embrace.  I started the day with some stretching. Everything felt super tight, which I'm assuming came from too much walking, too much sitting and not enough water.

Did about a seven-kilometer walk throughout downtown Warsaw. I always try to work out while at races and this can often mean a 5:3-6:00am wake-up, so 8am felt downright luxurious.

9:15am -- Race breakfast. Most races have the same food. It is all designed for the riders, so think lots of protein, carbs and fruit. Lots of pasta, rice and olive oil. Here in Poland, they have some amazing pastries that I'm having to miss out. Damn no gluten. So instead, I started a little egg-heavy. Instead of eating all of those eggs, I stole the hard boiled ones and a few pieces of fruit for snacks on the road. The cherries here are unbelievable.

And per my usu, I grabbed a cup of coffee to go. So far, I haven't found anywhere with almond, soy or coconut milk. I'm not too surprised but black coffee isn't totally my thing.

9:45am -- Quick shower while trying to multitask pre-race work. Even though I'm at the Tour de Pologne, I'm already looking ahead to some major races later this month and into August. There is no slowing down, even if I'm in the middle of no where, going full gas for a race and with poor wifi. At this point, the wifi at the hotel had crashed, so I tethered from my phone. It still was too slow to edit photos and send them out to reporters. I fought and fought to no avail. The no-wifi battle meant I was short on time, which equaled no effort on my looks. The aim to blow dry totally went out the window and a bad hair day ensued.

10:30am -- Basically time to leave, so I ran to the hotel lobby and found slightly better wifi to get out some vital emails. I had five minutes to pull this all off, check out and load up a car. You can't be late...as in 15 minutes early might be late. This left me feeling a little stressed.

10:45am -- Waited for the team bus and team cars so we could all caravan to the race start. At the Tour de Pologne, the transfers to the start and to the finish have been anything but smooth. Down right brutal? Driving seems to be half the race.

1:00pm -- I went with some of our sponsors and found an adorable coffee shop, La Pasta. Again, I was sipping only black espresso, but my blood runs on caffeine....milk alternative be damned. This place was perfect and even did drinks to go (fairly tough to find in Europe outside of Starbucks). Definitely a pre-race score.

Got a few pre-race interviews conducted and did some networking with other (few) English speaking media at the race. Then grabbed my lunch bag and loaded into the car.

1:30pm -- all lined up and ready to go. At this point, I had no idea the miserable transfer that awaited me. To make things even better, it started raining.

2:30pm -- Still sitting in the car, despite the Garmin stating it would take 25 minutes. The transfer was beyond miserable. I had no idea 30 kilometers would take me over two hours. It was a hair pulling disaster.

3:45pm -- Found an amazing gastropub, Momu, with super strong wifi. At this point in the day, cramming in 45 minutes of work was top priority. I ordered a coconut thai chicken soup that arrived about 90 seconds before I had to leave for the finish. I sucked it down and ran out. It was delicious as it scalded my throat.

4:30pm -- Waiting for the race to end. The five kilometers before the race arrives is always a fun little social event where everyone shares all their crazy stories and dramas of the day typically about getting from the start, to the feed zone and then into the finish. It's never easy and it always feels like we pull it off by the skin of our teeth. It's fun to be in a sport where, while we are all competing against one another, there is a sense that we are all in this craziness together and tend to be friendly.

Did a few post-race video interviews with the riders and got quotes for race reports and then set off to find more caffeine to push through my late afternoon lull.

6:50pm -- Lots of iced espressos to push through a few more hours of work. Finally closed up post-race work for the day and hit the road. The sun was out for the drive. It was one of those great days where all the essential work was done at the finish. Then we tackled the transfer to that night's hotel. Knowing you have videos uploaded, your race report in and any media recaps done helps take the stress off driving (and no, that isn't my RV. I'm sporting a lovely rental Cleo).

8:15pm -- Pulled into the hotel, Hotel Ossa. The place was enormous and it took awhile to find my key and then even longer to find my room. Fortunately, I made it in before the next thunderstorm rolled in.

9:15pm -- I finally sat down to dinner. Funny thing is, I was one of the first people in there. Maybe because I skipped bringing in my bag and decided to forgo a shower until later. This place was quite great except for the maze that was getting from my room to the restaurant and back. But all in all, a great hotel by race standards. Decent food and great dessert fruit.

10:15pm -- Still sending a few post race emails before bed and confirming details for tomorrow's interviews. A quick shower and some brainless US celebrity magazine reading and I was out.

10:35pm -- Called it a day and went to bed.

Passing through Momofuku

In 2008, I walked away from a decent paying corporate job with absolutely no plan. Well, I had a plan but no idea how to make it a reality. I knew I wanted to work in pro cycling but that's much easier said than done. 

Needless to say, basically everyone was horrified and concerned by this career move. Most people were confused but a few came in with good advice as I made a total leap of faith. The two things I remember the most: 1.) Don't get lazy. 2.) Don't make your hobby your job. 

Plenty of people thought cycling was my hobby. To be honest, it never felt that way. I can't exactly explain it. The energy I got at a race, or maybe just around pro sports, was so special, energizing and unique for me when it came to a work environment. Sure, I definitely appreciated cycling but it was never my hobby. I've ridden, but I've never been fanatical. I've never raced or even wanted to race.

Lunch time at Momofuku Ssam. I ate alone at the bar....how I eat more meals than I can count.

My hobby is food. Good food. Special food. Amazing food. Unique food. Anything and all food that amazes and wows me. It doesn't have to be fancy, expensive, unique, molecular or exclusive. Sure, I like trying all of those, but they aren't my motivation. I simply love to consume amazing food. Following the aforementioned advice, I don't think I'll make food my career anytime soon (except maybe for a PR function....I'm never going to try my hand at creating it.)

Maybe it was lunch, but I was about hour 47 into a trip that should have taken 12. At this point, I needed booze to avoid going insane. And let's be honest....Grüner Veltliner is perfect with spicy food on a hot day.

And that is what leads me to my unexpected trip through Momofuku Ssam. There is no better way to put it: I love David Chang. His food, his approach to food, the people he hires, the ways he views food. The list goes on. I consume all media related to David Chang, but sadly, my life up until this point hasn't let me overlap with his food. Until earlier this week. (And note: I still haven't eaten David Chang food...simply David Chang-crafted food.)

I began with the shrimp rolls with daikon, green mango and peanut. The peanut was all on the outside, so I tried to avoid. My fabulous server gave me the Ssam sauce (not gluten-free) and it was a total add. This was delicious and added a lovely spicy. My only takeaway is that I wish I had people to share this dish with so I could have enjoyed another starter. 

This week was a travel nightmare that will need to be a whole other post. I began here but that was only the beginning. Fast forward to a 24-hour unexpected layover in New York City and thanks to some amazing advice, I knew Momofuku was in my future. Several places were open for lunch, but a 2008 New Yorker article lingered in my mind and I needed to go tp Momofuku Ssam.

Wow. This was delicious. I let my server pick my main course and he went with the Spicy Pork Sausage and Rice Cakes with broccoli and sichuan peppercorn. It was AMAZING. And when they say it is spicy, don't be scared. It wasn't that spicy.  What it was was huge. I couldn't finish it, but I gluttoned myself trying. 

There is no way to add this into the conversation. I currently am gluten, dairy, banana and peanut-free. It's a whole long conversation that has to do with autoimmune issues...but I'm not quite ready to go into all of that. But let me say, I've been as completely gluten, dairy, banana and peanut-free as humanly possible for the past three months, 1.5 months of that living on the road. No hiccups. I got to Momofuku and decide none of that mattered. Sure, I wasn't going to go super overboard (yet) with the steamed buns, but I wasn't going to miss out on this moment...and I also wasn't going to have an anaphylactic reaction, which is a real problem for people.

I Milk Bar'ed. This is where I went dairy overboard. It was noticed afterwards.

The entire meal was perfect. The servers at Momofuku Ssam were personable, knowledgeable and basically exactly what you want when dining, particularly dining alone. They didn't make me feel like a weirdo. The service was spot on and the food was what I hoped for and more.

Following lunch, I stopped by neighboring Momofuku Milk Bar. This was the most obvious moment where I threw all dietary restrictions to the wind. I got a cereal milk and fruity cereal milk soft serve blend. It was beyond amazing and I don't regret a lick of it; I was even stopped on the street and asked where I got such a good looking ice cream. All I can say, I plan to tackle Milk Bar without any food restrictions at one point in life (looking at you Arnold Palmer Cake and basically anything ever made by Christina Tosi.) 

Momofuku was definitely the high point of a disrupted travel that began on Monday and didn't end until Thursday afternoon.

Travel Hiccups

I know a lot of people complain about the headache that is air travel, but to be honest, I rarely have issues. And I fly a lot. And in strange, foreign countries, on odd airlines. 

I choose to fly nearly exclusively on Delta or SkyTeam.  They've proven to me over the past few years that they rarely have, incidents, and when they do, they fix them. Also, the benefits of status aren't too shabby. 

I should have known getting back to Belgium wouldn't go smoothly. The exit hadn't flowed since the start. I was supposed to fly out over a week ago, but unexpectedly stayed an extra week to finish up on my condo purchase, puppy sit and deal with some health issues.

Is there anything cuter in life than a puppy belly?!

I finally boarded a plane yesterday heading to Atlanta scheduled to head on to Amsterdam and finally Brussels. The first flight was smooth. It was the ATL-->AMS that went wrong.  

I boarded around 7:30pm, got ready to sleep, started reading a magazine and soon fell asleep. As I fell asleep, I knew we hadn't taken off but didn't worry. They always board super early for international flights.  After what felt like a decent nap, I noticed we were still on the ground. Apparently, there was a mechanical issue, so I went back to sleep. Then I heard them announce that people could deplane if they'd like. I ignored it and slept more. Once I woke up, nearly fully rested, I noticed we were still on the ground. It was 1:30am.  

At 2am, they cancelled my flight and deplaned all of us.

2am check in to the hotel.  Feeling a little ripe. 

The next steps went fairly smoothly. As we walked back into the terminal, our boarding passes were scanned and each person was given a ticket with a hotel voucher. You could wait and rebook, but I figured calling would be faster. 

I headed to my assigned airport hotel (thanks Marriott for the great bed!) and called Delta in route. I got rebooked on a flight the next afternoon (technically later that afternoon) from Atlanta - - >New York - - >Brussels. 

But I did get to run into one of my coworkers unexpected in the airport. I look great, sans makeup and plus glasses. 

Check-in was super speedy.  I slept as late as I could and headed back to the airport. Now I'm delayed again due to bad thunderstorms in Atlanta. 

Atlanta closed down for thunderstorms. 

“​Will I ever get home?! ”

I'm Alive!

What a crazy, crazy month. I completely got lost in work, travel and adulting.  I have been meaning to post, but life got in the way. 

Here are the travels of the past six weeks:

• Delta and KLM: BRU-->AMS-->SFO (May 5th)--all went easy, peasy
• United: SFO-->SNA (Orange County) (May 9th) -- smooth
• Driving: Whole state of California (May 15-May 22) -- loved my rental Dodge Charger!
• Delta: SMF-->LAX-->AUS (May 23rd) -- super early, but good
• Delta: AUS-->ATL-->GSO (Greensboro) (May 25th) --sad to leave Austin
• Driving: Winston-Salem, NC-->Blacksburg, VA (May 29th) -- sick and slept the whole way
• Driving: Blacksburg, VA-->Ashburn, VA (June 2nd) -- caught up on phone calls
• Driving: Ashburn, VA-->Philly, PA (June 4th) -- listened to great tunes (mainly country)
• Driving: Philly, PA-->Blacksburg, VA (June 5th) -- terrible thunderstorms caused delays
• Driving: Blacksburg, VA-->Ashburn, VA (June 8th) -- caught up on work phone calls
• Driving: Ashburn, VA-->Blacksburg (June 9th) -- finally done driving!
• Set to fly back to Belgium on June 13th --so ready to get home

Had a great month working on my tan. 

I started in Santa Rosa and then flew down to Orange County for meetings and a work photo shoot. By May 15, I started driving the state of California. Each day,  I was working about 15 hours a day with approximately 6-7 hours of driving. Stops included San Diego, Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, Lake Tahoe, Folsom, Santa Rosa (again) and Sacramento.

By Sac, I was exhausted... and sick. The worst. I already had a flight to stop through Austin for two days to see my best friend from grad school.  We had an amazing time catching up and I was so excited to meet her adorable boys. Luckily, they put up with my weak voice and annoying cough.

Onto Winston-Salem for US nationals. By that Sunday, I crashed and wound up in urgent care getting antibiotics, steroids and prescription cough syrup. They all were godsends and I started to bounce back fairly quickly.

While I had meds, I still didn't get to slow down much until today. Over the past 1.5 week, I drove to DC, Philly, back to Blacksburg, back to DC and back to Blacksburg again. But the DC trips were thrilling because I bought a condo! I feel like a super adult. 

My new condo... That I never plan to live in.

Now I am puppy sitting. Not just puppy sitting, but also dog, horse, cat and chicken sitting. I get on a plane Monday....I'm ready.

My favorite kind of office mate.

“I’m ready to sleep in my own bed... ”

Brief Stop Through NorCal

I only come back to the US about every six months, if I'm lucky. Usually, there is one or two work trips a year and one family trip.  When possible, I squeeze in some personal time and this past weekend I divulged in some wonderful me time. 

Flying over the colorful tulip fields outside of amsterdam

I have two home bases in the States. One in Virginia, where my mom lives and the other in California, where my heart is. If/when I move back to the US, I hope it is to Northern California. I spent the past few days there and it's been lovely, even though it started insanely early and the weather was more Belgian than Californian. 

By 3:35am, I was already waiting in a very long line at the airport.

Getting to California wasn't all that pretty. Due to the issues at the Brussels Airport, I had to arrive at 3:15am. I think that's the earliest ever. It meant a night at an airport hotel and only about three hours of sleep.

• Brussels [BRU]-->Amsterdam [AMS] (KLM)
• AMS-->San Francisco [SFO] (Delta)
• Airporter bus ride up to Santa Rosa

Almost 24 hours since leaving for the airport. I wasn't feeling all that fresh.

The first thing I did on Friday morning was get a haircut from the amazing Leila at Elle Lui Salon and an almond latte from Acre. It all just felt so much like home. A few hours of work and then dinner at a friend's house. It seems so simple, but that's one of the things I miss with all my travel and living abroad.  In Belgium, I don't really have friendships where someone invites you over for dinner. There is something so comforting about knowing someone so well to be treated like family and welcomed into their home. I miss these experiences even while hopping around on planes and passing through hotels.

Saturday started with coffees, a little work and too much shopping.  I love products. Trips through Sephora, Ulta, Macy's and Target made a noticeable dent in my checking account. I'll post a review of some of my favorites soon. I can't get enough travel size products and now my suitcase might be close to overweight at this moment.

Saturday afternoon, a few of us made our own Derby party over margaritas, chips and salsa. The tequila and massive jetlag caught up with me and I ended up taking a very poorly planned nap. Several hours later, I awoke confused about where I was and what day I was in. I wish I could say lesson learned, but it was pretty fun.  

Where was the California sunshine?!

We closed out the weekend with a day kayaking on the water. It was perfection with loads of wildlife and a plate of raw oysters at Hog Island Oyster Co.

Enjoyed the American way--with loads of hot sauce..

And here it is not even four days later and I'm heading back to SFO. I have a late flight down to Orange County Airport. I'm staring down nearly two weeks of full days, long drives and hopefully lots of California sunshine. 

Copenhagen for a Girl's Weekend

I'm a person who wishes she had more time to put into girlfriend relationships, but my lifestyle rarely allows it. I work with mostly men and have a work calendar that leaves little space for socializing. Yet, I believe these friendships are my true loves in life. 

Friday served as my first time back. It was... sombering. 

I grew up a total tomboy. I loved sports, dirt and the occasional fight. By the time I reached high school, I was more than a little rough around the edges. Then I found myself at a refined Southern all-girls boarding school. I learned how to hug, dance, share dreams and suffer heartbreaks. I helped girlfriends through major life tragedies, not yet realizing how much I'd lean on them when my dad died. Most of all,  I realized smart, kind women should serve as your backbone. 

Copenhagen was full of Instagram worthy restaurants.  

Due to international moves and a crazy travel schedule, sustaining and cultivating friendships has been difficult over the past five years. Once I realized what I'd lost, I dedicate time and effort into renewing my lady friendships, but it isn't always that easy. The whole process began with writing a blind date note to an upstairs neighbor. She accepted and a lovely friendship flourished. Openly (and a little desperately) putting myself out there helped grow more and more European-based friendships. 

It took work; it took humiliation; it took vulnerability.  None of which come easy.

I couldn't walk pass a flock with birds without a picture. 

But it's paid off. I have some of the most amazing women who I can call best friends. The list isn't long. I hope everyone that is on there knows the depths that I love, cherish and need them. Some are new and some have over two decades of growth (and then there is my sister who wins for putting up with every phase, frustration and locale I've embraced. She's who has taught me unconditional love.)

Copenhagen, you always shine. Even in the rain. 

This past weekend, I took a rare girl's weekend. Since moving to Europe, they have been nearly extinct. I grabbed a flight on Friday up to Copenhagen.  The theme of the weekend was to eat, drink and have the merriest of times, which included finally eating at the Street Food Market, great brunches, long walks and an evening at Tivoli Gardens running around riding roller coasters and eating cotton candy. Anyone that knows me knows I can't turn down a great (or even mediocre) rollercoaster.  

A brief (and yummy!) stop through Frankfurt before barreling back home to Belgium. 

And then, I was back boarding a flight home. During a long stopover in Frankfurt, I grabbed some of the best airport food at COA--think edamame, fresh spring rolls and thai beef salad. A few trains and a tram later, I crawled into bed with a very, very crazy week....month...ahead.

“I like these reminders to adventurer like there is no tomorrow. These are the memories that count.”