2020 is clearly not turning out how any of us could have imagined.
So, Executive Traveller team - how are you guys and girls going?
David, Sid, Chris, and co - you've been a mainstay of my executive travel life for 15+ years, but... you're clearly grounded like the rest of us.
How are you coping? What do you miss most? What have you realised you didn't know you were missing that you now know you don't want to give up? What's the one unique experience that you love but have never shared here on ET?
And finally, how can we as members of your community engage with you?
Hi Mark, and apologies for the tardy reply! Thanks for asking after us – we're doing okay and like everyone else, working smart as well as hard as we ride out this party-pooping pandemic.
Speaking of parties, we actually have our 10th birthday this November (from we launched as Australian Business Traveller at the start of Nov 2010) but of course we hoped for a brighter year... but we know there's light at the end of this tunnel, and it's gratifying to see flights slowly start returning, airport transits beginning to open up etc.
What do we miss? Naturally, travel. We had a LOT of trips on the schedule – for inaugurals, delivery flights, product launches, lounges, general international airline/media pow-wow sessions – and they were just wiped out in. That said, for me – and I was chatting with Chris about this just last week – it's not actually about the 'travel' as much as the opportunities to experience new airlines, seats and lounges, to meet and interview interesting industry people and often hang out with them and other journos, and of course to find and tell great stories. That's what drives and fulfils me in this.
What do I now not want to give up? I've been doing a lot more cooking during the lockdown, I enjoy cooking anyway but really want to keep doing it a lot more often.
What's a unique experience that I love but have never shared here? Hmmm... if we're talking 'travel', I love having my birthday in a different city or country each year. Didn't happen this year, alas, but in recent years I've had my birthday in Hong Kong, London, San Francisco and Noumea. Let's hope there's more overseas travel for 2021 so I can pick this up again!
How can members of your community engage with us? This community is probably as good a place as any! :)
You're certainly right that 2020 isn't what most of us had imagined. On the 'work travel' calendar for me, 2020 has seen only a couple of domestic day trips from Brisbane down to Sydney, and that's before Queensland's borders went up. Internationally, it's now been 7 months since my last overseas work trip - a stark difference to 2019, where I flew my 1,000,000th mile!
As goes without saying, I'm very much looking forward to getting back in the air when it's possible. Outside the 'work stuff', one of the things I enjoy about travelling for business is being able to catch up with friends who live in other cities - particularly those who live far away in places like Hong Kong, Dubai, London and New York, so it'll certainly be great to see those people again.
To an experience I've loved but haven't shared on ET... one that comes to mind is a couple of years back in London. I had only one 'clear' day there (the night before, I'd flown in from New York - and the following evening, I was continuing to Taipei, so time was tight), and as it happened, that day coincided with the opening night of the musical Chess at the London Coliseum. Opening nights are always exciting, but this one was special: Chess hadn't played on the West End since 1986, Michael Ball was starring as Anatoly, and the guys from ABBA who originally wrote the show's music (Benny and Bjorn) made a surprise appearance at the end. As goes without saying, a friend and I were very happy to have been able to secure tickets!
While 'grounded', one thing I've had more time to focus on is fitness: not just working out more often, but learning how to do more effective cardio, which I plan to continue as travel resumes.
Beyond my workplace of the ET website, you can also find me on Instagram and Twitter, as well as LinkedIn.
markpk
markpk
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 29 Nov 2013
Total posts 457
2020 is clearly not turning out how any of us could have imagined.
So, Executive Traveller team - how are you guys and girls going?
David, Sid, Chris, and co - you've been a mainstay of my executive travel life for 15+ years, but... you're clearly grounded like the rest of us.
How are you coping? What do you miss most? What have you realised you didn't know you were missing that you now know you don't want to give up? What's the one unique experience that you love but have never shared here on ET?
And finally, how can we as members of your community engage with you?
Thoughts?
David
David
Member since 24 Oct 2010
Total posts 1,021
Hi Mark, and apologies for the tardy reply! Thanks for asking after us – we're doing okay and like everyone else, working smart as well as hard as we ride out this party-pooping pandemic.
Speaking of parties, we actually have our 10th birthday this November (from we launched as Australian Business Traveller at the start of Nov 2010) but of course we hoped for a brighter year... but we know there's light at the end of this tunnel, and it's gratifying to see flights slowly start returning, airport transits beginning to open up etc.
What do we miss? Naturally, travel. We had a LOT of trips on the schedule – for inaugurals, delivery flights, product launches, lounges, general international airline/media pow-wow sessions – and they were just wiped out in. That said, for me – and I was chatting with Chris about this just last week – it's not actually about the 'travel' as much as the opportunities to experience new airlines, seats and lounges, to meet and interview interesting industry people and often hang out with them and other journos, and of course to find and tell great stories. That's what drives and fulfils me in this.
What do I now not want to give up? I've been doing a lot more cooking during the lockdown, I enjoy cooking anyway but really want to keep doing it a lot more often.
What's a unique experience that I love but have never shared here? Hmmm... if we're talking 'travel', I love having my birthday in a different city or country each year. Didn't happen this year, alas, but in recent years I've had my birthday in Hong Kong, London, San Francisco and Noumea. Let's hope there's more overseas travel for 2021 so I can pick this up again!
How can members of your community engage with us? This community is probably as good a place as any! :)
Chris C.
Chris C.
Member since 24 Apr 2012
Total posts 1,116
Hi Mark - thanks for your message here.
You're certainly right that 2020 isn't what most of us had imagined. On the 'work travel' calendar for me, 2020 has seen only a couple of domestic day trips from Brisbane down to Sydney, and that's before Queensland's borders went up. Internationally, it's now been 7 months since my last overseas work trip - a stark difference to 2019, where I flew my 1,000,000th mile!
As goes without saying, I'm very much looking forward to getting back in the air when it's possible. Outside the 'work stuff', one of the things I enjoy about travelling for business is being able to catch up with friends who live in other cities - particularly those who live far away in places like Hong Kong, Dubai, London and New York, so it'll certainly be great to see those people again.
To an experience I've loved but haven't shared on ET... one that comes to mind is a couple of years back in London. I had only one 'clear' day there (the night before, I'd flown in from New York - and the following evening, I was continuing to Taipei, so time was tight), and as it happened, that day coincided with the opening night of the musical Chess at the London Coliseum. Opening nights are always exciting, but this one was special: Chess hadn't played on the West End since 1986, Michael Ball was starring as Anatoly, and the guys from ABBA who originally wrote the show's music (Benny and Bjorn) made a surprise appearance at the end. As goes without saying, a friend and I were very happy to have been able to secure tickets!
While 'grounded', one thing I've had more time to focus on is fitness: not just working out more often, but learning how to do more effective cardio, which I plan to continue as travel resumes.
Beyond my workplace of the ET website, you can also find me on Instagram and Twitter, as well as LinkedIn.