Work Trips

Hi, welcome back to Eat Your Cress Podcast. I'm G-Soo and I'm Crystal. So today we're going to talk about something that has maybe become a little bit more common as we progress in our careers. We wanted to talk about work trips. Going on a work trip for the first time is super cool and interesting, but there's a lot of little small nuance things that you start to pick up on. You might start to develop your own work trip routine that kind of helps you stay sane over a long work trip. So Crystal, how many work trips have you been to? And what are your general thoughts on them? Ooh, I've actually been on quite a few work trips. Just to see here, I've been on 2.5, I'll say. 2.5 because one of the work trips was two destinations, so that's the 0.5 part, second destination. My general thoughts on work trips is overall very positive. I do enjoy a good work trip, especially if we're traveling to a city or country that I like or am excited to go to, but I guess you can never forget the caveat of this is a work trip. So, you know, on the days that you need to do work, you're going to be doing work. Most likely you'll have pretty limited time to explore the city unless maybe you're able to fly out a little earlier and catch the weekend before the week of work. That's typically how my work trips end up being. Is that something you commonly do when you are invited to these international work trips? Like try to tack on a weekend before or after to travel or do you usually just kind of stay within the same duration that your coworkers are booking? Honestly, I do try to tack on a weekend before or after as long as the flight price isn't more expensive than if I didn't do this. Right. And then also when I'm tacking on these extra days, you know, like hotels and stuff, of course, I would have to pay for myself. So, it's kind of, do I have the resources and energy to do this? And if I do, then I'll try to. Dude, I think it's so cool that some of your work trips are international because I have been on, I think about three work trips my entire career and they have always been domestic. It was still really cool for me to go on those trips, but it certainly wasn't enticing enough to where I'd be like, "Ooh, I want to tack on like a couple of days." It's just more like, "Okay, this is kind of nice that I'm traveling." And my flights lodging and food are like paid for, so kind of different. Yeah. What about that time you went to Chicago? Yeah, that's pretty cool, but I guess I wasn't like, "Oh, I'm gonna make like a whole trip out of it." I was like, I think I want to see like one or two things when I'm there and I just need like half an afternoon to do it with a coworker. Okay, that's fair. Also, if I remember correctly, that was a funny time because we both went to Chicago around the same time for some reason. That's right. And we're of course at completely different companies, but it was a little early on in our career, so I think I also didn't really know what to do with myself. I guess the tips and tricks that I know now. Yeah, I remember we like kind of tried to meet up, but I think at least I was scared of leaving the group and like doing something personal. And I was like, "I don't know when I can tear apart from the rest of my coworkers, but I'm very curious what your tips and tricks are. What do you think you've learned from going on all of these work trips?" Yeah. I think one thing for sure is even if you're not tacking on like a whole weekend before the trip or after the trip, personally, I do like to try to fly in a little earlier, maybe like a day earlier or making sure I catch the early flight in the day so that I'm not landing later at night and then immediately having to like work. I think it's helpful to like be there earlier and get settled basically. And then feel more refreshed and ready to work the next day. I'm not really sure about like every company's policy behind this, but what we kind of do is we treat one of the days as like the expected travel day, especially for like farther trips, for example like New York or Chicago where the flight is longer or if it's an international trip and the flight is basically all day. I'll try to like maybe fly the night before. So then I arrive during that travel day where I can get myself settled. That makes sense. Do you have like a nighttime routine once you land? Because I feel like that night before the big work day. You're like pre-gaming for it. You know what I mean? Oh yeah, maybe a little bit. I do kind of like to take this as like sacred alone time, I guess. So another pro is if I'm there a little earlier during this time, there's like no obligation to reach out or hang out with your coworkers because it's like before the work event is starting. So I like make sure that I'm by myself. I don't invite anyone else out to dinner with me or anything like that. And I'll go out and have private time. Go somewhere I want to eat. Almost like treat myself a little bit that night before just because it's like these are the last few hours or I'll be like totally alone for ex-anodays. Yeah, yeah. Do you like unpack all your clothes and like steam them the night before? Oh, actually no. I just leave them in the suitcase. If the trip is a week long for the five days, then maybe I'll unpack it a little bit, especially if it's like colder weather and have like coats or outerwear. Yeah. Then I'll hang those up. But I usually just leave it in my suitcase and don't go too crazy with that. I mean I haven't been on that many work trips but I feel like the funny part of a work trip is every outfit is predetermined. You know, I pack specifically for each event in the trip. I guess my nighttime routine once I land or like arrive there is to unpack everything and just hanging it up each outfit for each event gets one hanger. Yeah. So then I don't have to like do any thinking during my actual work trip. I tend to worry. Oh, that's smart. Maybe I'll try that next time. How long are your work trips usually? I feel like mine are always like two full work days and then that's it. Maybe two full work days and a half day or something like that. So the overall trip is usually no longer than five days. Yeah, I think that's very similar to what I've experienced and I think it just means that our planners are very considerate. Because if you think about it, if we had like four to five full days of work on a trip, I feel like we would die by the like we would just be so exhausted. That is very true. Although you know, I will say on a work trip, I find that the work is like the least exhausting thing about it if that makes sense. Because I think the whole point of a work trip, at least the ones that I've been on is to maybe gather a group of coworkers that don't normally go to the same office and then you want the people to like mesh with each other, chat, you know, the best collaboration comes from face to face time with your co-workers like that kind of vibe. So then on like day four of a five day work trip, I always find myself craving actual work and spreadsheet because there's so much face time, you know. Dude, yeah, the face time is crazy. That's why you know, that sacred alone time before everything is happening. I also make sure I never book my flight with a coworker. If you know what I mean, like, hey, book this flight with me. I'm always like quietly booking my own stuff and then you know, if we're on the same flight, oh, okay, well, hopefully we're not sitting together. Yeah, I do feel like it's like an unspoken thing of even if you're on the same flight as your coworker, you don't have to feel obligated to sit next to them on the flight. Yeah, but there was this one time where I took a flight to go to a different city for this work thing myself and the CFO were like the only two people flying out of the bay. Oh my god. And then once we landed, the two of us had to share an Uber to the hotel, right? And I was just like, oh god, it's one thing if it's three people or four people, but like one on one time in an Uber with the CFO was a little intense. That does sound pretty intense. I think I was like one year into my career. Oh my god. Yeah, because you probably aren't buddy buddy with the CFO. Yeah, it's even you're just like, what do I say? Was the Uber ride long? I don't think it was that bad. I think it was maybe like 20 minutes or something. Dude. And then we just did very elementary small talk about like, so do you like working here? Like okay, dude 20 minutes is kind of long. Dude, that's also why some of the work trips I've been on have been kind of local. So say like a two hour drive somewhere, right? Some of my coworkers will sometimes carpool. And I'm like, dude, I don't know. Like I really like my coworkers, but two hours in a car with a coworker is completely different than like having a long lunch with them. And I'm just like, damn, you're not even on the - Clock yet, you know, you're just trying to get there. (laughing) - So true. I mean, like also, when was the last time we as friends have been on a long road trip like that? - It's so true. - It's so true. - That's a long ride. - Yeah. - I feel like my default is to just try to sleep on road trips like that. But then do you feel like you would feel more obligated to stay awake and talk with your coworkers if you were carpooling? - I think if I was getting a ride, I would for sure not sleep. But then I might as well just drive myself. - Yeah. (laughing) - I would feel similarly. - I think my like socialization energy, at least on work trips is like a very finite resource. So then I need to, like you said, claw out any section of a load time I can driving somewhere is like the alone time, I think. - Can't touch this one. - That's such a good protection of a load time to and from the trip. - Right. - But I completely agree with you about that social energy being a very, very finite resource during these work trips. - Yeah. - So let's talk more about that. Why do you think it's so finite? - I think honestly traveling already is a bit tiring. You know, even if you remove the work trip thing. On top of that, you have to layer in an air of professionalism or something. And I feel like that combination is just killer. But the funny thing about work trips is there's the blocks in the morning where you guys do like actual work things. And then there's like times after the work things are over where you do more social aspects. Like going to dinner or like going out for drinks or oh, there's like a fun karaoke slash dance night on this night or whatever. And I feel like you have to go from your work self to like your slightly more casual self. That's a lot, you know. Not only do you have to be professional and smart and like work ready in the morning, but you also have to be fun, chatty, and social in the evening. It's like you want both sides of me. (laughs) - Dude, I know it's so crazy. So do you participate in as many of the like after work fun activities as you can or are you the type to kind of slowly disappear? - I think I'll do like half of it. You know the night before everyone like travels back home and stuff. Yeah, I feel like a lot of people like to go hard that night. I'm kind of like, okay, I'll like show up and hang out till like 11 p.m. and then I'm out of there. Like I need to be in bed at a reasonable time. - Oh my God, wait, that's so funny. (laughs) - Wait, why? - Okay, I think that's really funny because of two things. One, that means your team or like coworkers that you work with, they stay out pretty late on average. - Yeah, some people will. - And then two, that means you're part of the like turning early crew. (laughs) - Yeah, I kind of try to do my best to like leave an impression before I go back home. - Yeah. - So that I'm like, people will know that I was there, but then I like, I wish I could sit away. - 'Cause on my team, when I travel, it's mostly with my team. And we have a very distinct different, or like line I guess, between the turning early crew and the late night crew. - Oh, interesting. - And so always there's someone maybe around like eight or nine. They're like, I just need to go back now. Sorry guys, like I'm not part of the late night crew. And we're like, oh yeah, we know, you know, these three people leave pretty early. And then the next wave is like maybe nine to 10, but then there's like the late night crew. We usually stay out until like midnight to one. - Yeah. That's crazy. I mean, I guess when I'm thinking about my work trips, it wasn't always like my team, you know? Like it's like a bigger group. So then maybe if I was in a smaller group where I'm close to everyone, like I would be compelled to stay out late. - Yeah. - But in like a big crowd, it's so much easier to disappear, right? - That's true. - Do you think you have a bit of a reputation? Like people know, oh, Jisoo likes to turn in a little earlier, or they're like, oh, Jisoo can hang kind of that. (laughs) - I don't think I would have a reputation yet, you know? - Yeah. - But I'm curious enough you do, because you've been on so many work trips with like the same group of people. - Yeah, I am definitely a part of the late night crew. (laughs) They're like, 'cause look can hang. - It's actually kind of funny because they know I'm also very introverted. So they're like, oh, Crystal, if you need to like leave and go do your own thing, we completely understand. But also late night crew is gonna be getting together and be around this hour. So we'll text you where we end up. And I'm like, okay. I think it's so funny you have a specific term like late night crew. (laughs) Maybe they know that I have a weak spine. (laughs) So think like if they ask, I'll think about it, and I'll be like, you know what, yeah, I'll come through. And they'll be surprised if I'm like, I'm gonna go to sleep or something. They'll be like, wait, what? (laughs) They're like, it's early for you. (laughs) But if I'm like, oh, I have like something that I'm gonna do by myself, or like I'm meeting up with a friend in the city, I'll catch you guys later at dinner or like post dinner, then they're like, oh, of course, Crystal has like some shit to do. (laughs) I mean, honestly that's cool because I think when you travel with your co-workers and you do these fun social things in the evening, that's when you truly see different sides of someone's personality that you might not see on the day-to-day basis. But at the same time, I'm just like, hanging out is fun and all, but I wanna go home refreshed tomorrow, you know? And I think that's where my mental cutoff is. I'll come out and hang, but sleeping beauty, there's a curfew I need to hit. (laughs) No, I totally agree because sometimes when I get home during these later nights, I'm like, oh my God, I'm so exhausted and I wake up at like 7 a.m. tomorrow. - Yeah, I hate it. - Am I doing? (laughs) But funnily enough, the late night crew that we have going on is also the people who are not mourning people. (laughs) Makes perfect sense. So sometimes in the morning, if people are texting and they're like, hey, let's meet at the lobby at like 7 a.m. - Oh my God. - One of my coworkers sometimes will be like, "Mm, that's a little early for me. "I might be more on crystal time." (laughs) - I like how you guys section out your alliances basically. (laughs) - Damn, 7 a.m. is so early. For me, it's kinda like, if it's in the morning, I'll show up at the latest possible time I can. - Oh yeah, same. - You know how? - I was like, "Oh, breakfast is from 8 to 8.30." But like sessions start at 8.30. - Yeah. - I'm like, "I'll be there at like 8.28." (laughs) - No say. - Grab a coffee. - I'll be like, "I'm just gonna skip breakfast then." (laughs) - Yeah. Sacrifices must be made. - Exactly. - But I think also there's two different types of trips that I usually take. One is for events where my team is the host essentially, like the organizers of the event. And then there are other trips where it's more like an offsite where we're bonding and doing some work activities together. So during the events though, it's like more grueling because we have to be up early and like, do rehearsals in the morning and make sure everything is good to go. - Right. - So those ones I think I get really burnt out by the end. It's just like late night and then early morning. But sometimes it's easier or quicker for everyone to disperse at night as the event is still happening. And then kind of like what you said the last day or the last night is when we're like, "Oh, we're done, yay." And then we actually maybe stay out a little later. - I see. - Yeah, I guess like the pressure is different if you're the team hosting or like helping throw an event. I've always been on the side of receiving the sessions. You know, like someone is presenting the sessions to me. - Yeah. - So I've never felt, "Oh my God, it's over. Like, let's celebrate." It's more of just like, "We're about to go home tomorrow." (laughing) - I am curious though, because if you're celebrating the event that you're hosting being over, then the celebrations could be big and very happy. Which I feel like sometimes means a lot of drinking on my three work trips that I've ever been on. I've seen some people get really, really crazy. Is that something that you commonly see on your work trips as well? - No, not at all actually. - Really? - The team doesn't drink that much as a whole and as individuals. My team actually is very responsible. (laughing) I really noticed this because like one of the earlier work trips that we went on, my team knows that I'm into wine, so they often let me choose the bottle of wine to order for dinner. I'm like, "Oh, this wine is so good." So I'm like drinking it and pouring like second glass or whatever. And then I'm like on my second glass and I look around and everyone's first glass is still like full. And I'm like, "Oh, maybe I should slow down." (laughing) Clearly we are drinking at much slower pace than I realized. - Yeah, I guess if your team is not big drinkers and most of the people that you interact with on your work trips are like your immediate team, it's probably like a smaller chance to see people really rowdy. - Yeah. If anything, I probably get the most. drunk. You're like someone's got to do it. But then I'm like everyone else is very controlled and responsible. I must match the vibe. So I try not to get too fucked up. Makes sense. I mean I think like every work trip that I've been on I've heard of stories of like oh this person got a little crazy last night and I always find it so funny. I can't imagine waking up the next morning to like maybe slack messages or something from your co-workers. Hey just checking in are you okay? So then when I'm on work trips I always try to like pace myself leave early. Not be that one co-worker that's like getting checked on. Yeah I think it's probably also better this way just because like you said being that one co-worker who's like a mess or like really went over the line is kind of a reputation killer. Oh yeah totally. And then also like you still need to survive for the next days. So I think that's what keeps me in line. But there was one time where I felt like I got a little more drunk than I should have but it wasn't bad or anything but it was more just like the next morning I was a little hungover else I can't be doing that because we have work to do. I will say one of the perks of being on a work trip is that all expenses are paid for. So it's like the line that to tow you know it's like I want to kind of enjoy and indulge because everything is free but have to cut off before things get a little crazy. Yeah that's true. Our policy is like the the highest level person at the table pays. And then like if you're just by yourself you have a cap. Oh I see. Usually for work events I'm out with my team. So like I don't have to deal with the charges and expenses but then also I feel like that helps me stay in line too. You know because they're all very responsible. So yeah. So I kind of want to circle back to like this concept of interacting with co-workers during a work trip. Like we talked about sessions are a big thing dinners are a big thing but I think some of the together time on a work trip actually exists in the gray area between these big like blocks. And one of it is sometimes on work trips I think people can have roommates. So is this something you've experienced and if not how would you feel if your workplace was like yeah you're gonna room with your co-worker for this trip. Oh my god. I luckily have never had to experience this but I know in the past my company has done it before. So I recently went to an event. This was like the first time we had it again since COVID and before COVID when we had this event people had roommates. Oh god. Yeah. Also one time I went to LA to help take photos for someone else's offsite and they had roommates for that event and I was like oh my god. So I messaged the manager who I guess hired me to take photos and I was like am I gonna have a roommate on this trip and she's like oh no don't worry we didn't give you a roommate because like you don't know anyone in the orgs. So I almost had to experience it. Oh god. I think similarly for me I've also never had to have a roommate on a work trip but I have heard rumors of like oh a couple years ago we did have roommates or I think sometimes it's the case where like the hosting team that group or that org may have roommates but then some of the supporting teams that are invited on these trips are not forced to have roommates if that makes sense. So then I'm like thank god but I will say like I don't know if I would necessarily mind that much to have a roommate because sometimes I feel like semi-awkward walking to a session or like walking to dinner by myself or something and I usually like to text one of my closer coworkers like hey you guys want to walk together just so we can like chat on the way there. So I was like I guess if we room together we wouldn't have to arrange that you know we could just like always go together. Okay I have a question at work do you feel uncomfortable if you're like eating lunch alone? I guess I haven't eaten lunch by myself in a while but yeah I would prefer to eat with a group of people. I think I'm a little different from you because I am totally fine walking by myself and I almost prefer it to like be alone for these events for meals because I'm like oh my god this is like quiet time I don't have to open my mouth and talk to people. Wait but I think it's also like dependent on the size of the company you know what I mean like there's a little bit more anonymity in like a bigger company or like a bigger event or something but say you're on like a work trip where you know almost every single person there. Yeah like then I would feel more uncomfortable eating by myself or like walking by myself. Yeah I can see that. Yeah dude but like the roommate situation I don't know I don't know if I can do it. Sorry this might be gross but like just think about what if you had to like poop really badly and your roommate is just in the room. Oh god okay yeah that's true the logistics of sharing a bathroom does suck and I guess sleeping habits I like Emma Snorr so I guess the person I'm sleeping with would be subject to that that does kind of suck but it would like would it be the worst thing in the world? I personally I think I would suffer because when you're in your room after the day of the events that's also like precious alone time winding down you know sleeping and then also maybe in the morning when you wake up you're a bit of a mess but you have to like you know put yourself back together. But are you ready for your coworker to see you like that? Okay that is true it definitely wouldn't be the preferred setup. Yeah but I guess I'm just thinking that there's like many perks that come with being forced to have a roommate. That's true like you'll always have a companion everywhere. Now I'm just imagining it would have it in movies before where a girl would put on makeup before the guy wakes up in the morning so that he thinks she looks perfect all the time. That's like how I imagined having a roommate at work would be like you like put on mascara before bed. Your coworker doesn't see you at the fair face. Yeah that's true. Honestly sometimes on a work trip after like the social events I'll like walk back to my room close the door and I'll be like you know like they sigh of relief like oh thank god I survived this day and it's all over. Yeah so I guess you would be deprived of that. Is there any coworker right now who you could see yourself rooming with? Yeah I think I do have some coworkers who were I'm like I think this would be fine if we like room together but you know it is one of those things where that's like my hypothesis right like I believe that me and this coworker would be fine but when you actually room together you never know how it'll turn out so that maybe it's just all of my head like sure it'll be okay. I'm trying to think if there's any coworkers that would be good roommates for me but it is a little difficult because I do have a lot of early sleepers in my team. Oh yeah our timelines would not match up. You need the person who's on crystal time. On a similar vein but slightly different is I think having a roommate on a work trip but your roommate is on a coworker. As in say you got invited to go on a work trip on a different city and then you brought your SO with you. I think that is also a very unique experience because in a sense you're on this work trip but then you kind of also have to entertain your SO you know. Yeah. Have you ever hosted your partner on a work trip? I have. One time when I went to New York I was like oh do you want to come? Like you'll have to buy your own plane tickets but I know I'll have my own room so you can join me in my room and I'll be working so you'll have to entertain yourself for the whole week. Like I kind of gave the rundown before the trip and then how did it work out? Was he just like fine doing his own thing while you were at your work events? Yeah yeah it worked out pretty well and then actually on one of the final days when my team went out later at night I just invited my boyfriend to come along because by that time it's like you know like the work hours done you're welcome to join us and so then my team met my boyfriend. Wait actually it was kind of funny. My team lead was like so what are your intentions with our crystal or something like that? He's like you didn't prepare me crystal. That is really cool though and very cute that he was able to join on the last day and like meet everyone. Yeah I think it's kind of fun to like meet your coworkers significant others because you hear so much about them right? Right in the birthday and then like oh my god I can't wait to like meet them in person someday. I feel like I always have a mental image of who my coworkers are talking about when they say stories about their S.O.s. Yeah it's like so jarring when they show a photo and I'm like whoa okay this is not matchup with the idea that I had of my head. Yeah you're like wait put that away. Yeah how about you have you ever hosted or been hosted? Yeah I've been hosted but I've never hosted on like my work trip but I did tag along with my husband's work trip and it's kind of funny because the trip wasn't to a major city where there would be be like a ton of things to do. But coincidentally, I like knew someone who lived in the city. So then I got lunch with her, got up, chatted. So it was really fun that I was able to like see this person who I hadn't been able to see in a while. The other part was I was also working just remotely that month. I was just stuck in the hotel room doing work at the hotel desk for like eight hours every day. Yeah. Because I didn't have an office to go into obviously. Because the security reasons I couldn't go into my husband's office. But I think aside from that, it was nice to be able to go out together and get dinner after work and just explore a new city without having to like pay for lodging and stuff. So that was pretty cool. It was like a mini vacation. Yeah. It's a nice little adventure if you're able to get the logistics down and be hosted and/or host your scene of another. I feel like where I would get complicated is if you had a family, then you would have to book like another either an additional room or like you would have to pay your own money to like upgrade your room to be able to fit everyone. So like right now is the perfect time to be able to be like, oh, I just have that one other person who can tag along like might as well. Yeah. Dude, it's also so interesting because that trip I was hosted on my husband had already done multiple business trips to that city. So he kind of had his own routine. You know, like he had, this is my favorite coffee shop. This place has really good pizza. He had created like a mini life there. Oh my god. Like I've raised this is strips. Yeah. So then when I went there, I was like, oh, this is where you always call me or like this is where you sent me that photo of that pizza. And it felt like I was connecting the dots on like our previous facetimes when he was on those other business trips. Oh, that's kind of cute. He's showing you around his area. Yeah. I was like, whoa. But similarly, it kind of reminded me of how growing up my dad would go on a lot of business trips. And like you said, it's really hard to bring your kid on a work trip, your SO and your kid. But now that I am like an almost 30 year old adult, my dad can now bring my mom on his work trips. Oh yeah. So the two of them travel together a lot. It's just so funny. Like my mom is doing the same thing kind of like chilling at the hotel room all my dad's out. And then they'll like go out together for dinners and stuff. So I like hearing about their like mini or trip adventures over Kakau talk. Yeah. Oh, that's cute. I think actually my dad took my mom on a business trip once. I can't remember where they went. But I remember my mom being excited. And I was like, oh, that's kind of wholesome. So cute. It's also so funny to see like what parents do. Because when my dad is out doing work stuff, sometimes my mom will like go out by herself and go shopping at Marshalls. And I was like, Marshalls mom, like you just do this at home. Like, what are you doing? This one at work trip. Oh my god. So true. Do your dad still go on a lot of business trips now or is it like much more sparse? He still goes on a lot of business trips. But I don't think it's as bad as when I was growing up. When I was younger, he would go on business trips frequently and like pretty long ones. Oh yeah. So then I don't know. Now that I'm older, I feel like I can kind of understand the things he used to say. One thing is he used to go to all these like major cities and a lot of international work trips as well. And I would be like, Oh dad, you've traveled so much to all these different countries and cities. Like, have you been here or like have you been to this landmark? And he would always be like, no, because on work trips, there's not that much time to like sightseeing. And I was like, what are you talking about? Like you're there anyway. And he's like, no, no, like seriously, like every minute I'm working, you know? You're like, Oh, I see now. And then there's this other thing too. Or on every business trip, he would go to Denny's. Oh my god. Like he would like land and then go to Denny's. And I could never understand that. I'm like, you're going to a new city. Why don't you like go out and have like a nice meal or something. Later I realized, okay, like he's not always going to really, really big cities like New York, like sometimes he's going to like smaller cities, maybe close to a factory or something. So you only want to go to like a brand name or like a chain restaurant. He also said Denny's is 24 hours. So it's just like my nighttime routine, no matter what time I land, I can go to Denny's. Here we talked about you booking your flights earlier so that you land earlier. And I guess Denny's was like my dad's workaround if he wasn't able to do that. Well, he had a whole routine. Yeah. That's smart though that he chose a 24/7 place. Maybe he's a big pancake guy. Yeah, I think my dad has probably tried every single thing on the OG Denny's menu. Is there anything where maybe like your coworkers do these things during trips where you're like, oh my God, I didn't know I could do that. I guess as an example, because a decent amount of my coworkers have been on a lot of trips for work because they've worked with a lot of higher ups and stuff. So sometimes they are required to travel with them. And so sometimes when they're really tired, they're like, okay, guys, I'm just going to call it tonight. I'm going to go home like to the hotel and I'm just going to order room service. And I'll say, oh my God, you can just do that. Wait, that's crazy. Yeah. And I was like, wait, you totally can. Like as long as you stay under your daily cap, you can totally order room service. And that was like a mind, like I was mind blown because I feel like you're probably similar where like we grow up in room services. Such a like, it's like a luxury. Out of reach. Yeah, like luxury. So I was like, oh my God, like, I guess I will order some room service. Wait, let's wild. Actually, I have noticed something that one of my coworkers did, which I was also mind blown. It's not as like something you can expense, but you know, sometimes you go on work trips and you're forced to eat very like Western or like catered food that might not be exactly what you're craving. Yeah. So my coworker brought a cup noodle from home because she was like, oh, I know usually on day three or day two of the work trip, I start to really crave something like spicy and like brothy. So she was like, yeah, I just bring like a cup noodle from home and I like make it in the hotel room after it. And I was like, you're a fucking genius. Genius. Wow. I love that. Yeah. Planning ahead. Yeah, that's so true. If you're eating catered food all week at some point, you're like, oh God, thank you for the food, but like, can we eat something else? Right. I think especially like if it's an environment where maybe people expense like individual things less, that's like super smart to just bring something from home. Yeah. I think that's also partially why some of my coworkers like to order room service because they're like, oh, I didn't love the food options today. And you know, it's like day three or four now. And I just really want some comfort food like order the chicken tenders or something. It's like everyone has their own things that they need to do to survive the work trip. Yeah. Get over the hump. Yeah. All right. Well, as we get close to the end of the episode, let's talk more about checking out and you know, ending the work trip. Do you have any preferences for that final day? Like, do you try to get out of there as soon as possible? Or are you like, oh, maybe if I can push my flight back a bit and spend a little time around the city or area that we're in? Oh, yeah. I actually try to check out as early as human me possible and like, high-tail it out of there. I think usually by the last day, I'm just like ready to go home. Yeah. Ready to like shower, sleep in my own bed, just be in my own environment. I think a lot of the work trips that I've been on, you still have to work the day after you like, get back. So I just want to like settle back into my normal routine as early as possible. But it's so funny because honestly, I say as early as possible, but it's probably like, I check out like an hour earlier. But I always do see co-workers at the checkout line. And internally, I'm like, noting like, oh, you guys are also like trying to get here as soon as possible. Dude, you know what's crazy is that I have actually never seen someone check out unless it was planned. Like, oh, you know, meet at the lobby and we can like, take an Uber to the airport together. Yeah. But otherwise, I never see people check out at the same time as me. And I think it's maybe because I'm like, not an early person. You're like requesting late checkout. On average, I try not to stay like too late, especially because, you know, we have to check out of our hotels by noon, usually the latest. More commonly, it's like 11 a.m. If you fly later, 5 p.m. for example, you have five hours of, where do I put my luggage or do I have to come back to the hotel to like pick it up, you know? So I think I usually just stay long enough maybe to have a lunch. And then I like go to the airport and then maybe that's why I don't see anyone because everyone else was like, yeah, I'm going to the airport right now. In fact, the urge to leave is just like so big, you know, the second all the work things are over. It's like, why am I still here? Although, if my work trips were abroad in countries where I wanted to explore more, then I could see myself staying a little bit longer. I think maybe part of it too, to me, is this is another precious alone time pocket that I can carve. You know, I don't have to Uber with my coworkers to the airport. I can just like check out a little later and have a quiet lunch to myself and then like fly home or whatever. If that gear worst nightmare would be like to run into your coworker at the hotel lobby, you run into them at the restaurant where you wanted to have like a quiet lunch by yourself. Yeah, and then your coworker's like, "Oh, should we just Uber together?" Because we're together anyway. I would be like, "Oh, I should just walk up early and left." I'm also imagining you asking all your coworkers like, "Oh, what times your flight?" And usually when people ask that, it means like they want to Uber together, right? But for you, you're like, "Oh, okay. I'll try to slot my Uber away from all of you." I think actually luckily a lot of people on my team are also introverts. So when it's like the end of the trip, they're all kind of like, "All right guys, see you back in the office." Yeah, yeah. Which I'm thankful for. It's nice when you don't have to do the force interactions anymore. Yeah, I think maybe like the more you go on trips, the more you learn about people's work trip, personas or habits, and then like for my team, I think we kind of understand and respect. Everyone needs to wind down their own way. And sometimes people are just like, "Hey, I got a crash tonight. I can't hang today." And everyone's like, "You do you." Hell yeah. You guys are like a well-oiled machine now after so many work trips together. Yeah, I guess we are. Because it's like, "Hey, you need to do what you need to do to make it the next morning." You know, because we got work to do. And then at the end, it's like, "Yeah, we're all really tired." So whatever you need to do, just like do it. Right. If you need an Irish accent, you Irish accent. Well, this has been really fun to talk about all things work trips together. I think I've actually learned a lot of tips and tricks now, like from your work experiences. So I'm itching to go, "Well, actually, am I?" I'll slot this information away for my next work trip, which who knows how soon that'll be. But thank you, Crystal, for sharing your expertise today. And for any of our listeners out there, if you also have work trip tips, or if you also fight to carve out as much alone time as we do on your work trips, then let us know. We have Instagram @eatyourcrispod and we also have email at [email protected]. And don't forget to follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, where every listen to podcasts, we upload new episodes every other Wednesday morning. Thanks for listening. And don't forget to eat your crust. [Music]