Picking up from last time (or really more from a time before that)
It was nice that things were starting to fall into place as far as the big questions/big answers.
Once it was figured out that I’d work through the end of the first week of November, on the one hand, that was very freeing and helpful. At least something is figured out! At least I have some sort of timetable.
On the other hand, it was a little just – brain-full. (That’s not a word, but hopefully you kind of know what I mean.
I think I kinda started feeling decision fatigue. You know how powerful people who make a lot of decisions are sometimes profiled in business magazines, and they’ll talk about how they have a very set routine – maybe they always eat the exact same thing for breakfast, or they have a clothing schedule, or anything like that… And they do it because your brain gets tired of making decisions throughout the day and there’s decision fatigue that wears people down (and I think ultimately results in poor decisions).
I needed to start planning my trips. Then all these questions arose. When is the best time to book tickets? What websites should I use? What’s the cheapest way to do this?
(Side note: I inadvertently learned about the whole “hidden city”/skiplagged thing with planes and layovers during this ordeal. I only tried it once (not through skiplagged – just through playing around on flight websites), and it worked fine. But I definitely did not realize a) that it exists b) that it’s so controversial. Anyway…)
And what’s the smartest? Should I be flying out Sunday morning right after work (since I work very close to Burbank)? Or should I give myself all of Sunday at home and sleep ’til the afternoon (like normal), workout, go to the airport and take the red-eye?
In the first scenario, I barely have to spend any money or time going anywhere, because I’m so close to Bob Hope airport. So it’s not like, “Take an uber home, then later take the subway and catch the Flyaway.”
All of that isn’t a ton of money, but it could add up. Then again, if I do go to New York earlier, I have to worry about having a place to stay on Sunday night, which won’t happen with the redeye.
If I leave after work Sunday morning, I can sleep on the plane since I’d be normally sleeping then anyway. If I go on the redeye, I’ll probably be up all night (since that’s my normal sleep schedule). But I’ll land when it’s bed time. Where am I gonna go sleep at 8am Monday morning?
(Granted, even if go Sunday morning, I’ll still probably have the same-ish sleep schedule and will still want to sleep somewhere Monday morning. So the sleeping maybe doesn’t play into it so much.)
Then there are questions of if I need time in New York to try to network and interview. (Though is the difference between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning really gonna mean anything? Who are you gonna meet on Sunday afternoon, sweetheart?)
So basically too many questions rolled in my head about traveling. And I just thought, “Goodness, I wish I had an assistant so I could just say, “I can leave anytime between blah and blah and I need to return between blah and blah for 7 weeks. Okay, thanks.” (Though let’s get real. I would’ve talked all these scenarios out with her and thought about it a bunch anyway, even in that scenario.)
And this is where I’ll pick up next time.