Oh, did I mention it's a work trip? And that we're both covering the same meeting (on research integrity, should you care)? The meeting ended early this afternoon and we both had work to do, so we took advantage of our momentum and the swing arm on the desk in our hotel room and made ourselves a little remote office. We did do some sightseeing on Sunday and might get some more in tomorrow. I know many of you have no sympathy for us when we get to travel to exciting cities, but it really is hard. It's hard to have fun knowing there's work piling up, and it's hard to sit and work knowing there's a fun city out there to see. So you end up doing both poorly and still come home with work to do, a list of things you didn't see, and a suitcase full of dirty underwear.
Speaking of, this is a 17-day trip for me. Do you pack 17 pairs of underwear? (No, is my answer, as there will be a washer at my next destination.) I go from here to Barcelona. JT goes back home, then turns around and goes to Washington, then Detroit. So the DC Editors will hit 3 conferences in 4 countries (I'm including the UK as a country, not Detroit) and 2 continents all within 2 1/2 weeks. Meanwhile, our house is in the care of a colleague who's attending two conferences of his own in Cambridge, which is great, and it's always fun to clean a house for company while preparing for 17 days of travel. (Yes, I'm being a smidge sarcastic, but it is also insanely satisfying to finally do all the dusting, etc., that I've been meaning to do.)
Alright, we've both turned in our stories, so it's off to find some fado. Hopefully I'll know what the heck that is by my next report.
Aside: Have I ever mentioned that when I post in foreign countries, I have to negotiate Blogger in the local language? I'm about to hit a button that says "publicar mensagem." We're learning that even if you don't know a language, context counts for a lot.
