I'm leaving tonight.

Not forever, but for a couple of weeks. While that's not a big deal for many people, I've rarely been away from home for more than a week. My longest business trips have been 11 days. Short, I know, but that's the way I like things. Many of my colleagues think nothing of taking trips for multiple weeks, traveling the entire time. However, even during my six week sabbatical, I was at home the majority of the time. Perhaps that will change as my children get older since my wife likes to travel, but we'll see. Certainly I've started to get used to living out of a suitcase, working on a laptop, and having minimal material things around. I expect the next few years will have me working out of our horse trailer as my wife teaches clients or participates in races. 

I'm looking forward to the trip, which will be a dichotomy of both relaxation and busy work times. I first start off with a week's vacation in Scotland with my wife. She's never been, and it's been nearly 30 years for me, so we'll take some time and wander around the Edinburgh area. I'm looking forward to the chance to wander around without an agenda and enjoy another culture. I've gotten a few ideas from friends on places to visit, and might even enhance the adventure by renting a car. I've driven (briefly) on the left side of the road, but it was a stressful experience.

After a week of vacation, my wife and I will part at Heathrow airport, flying in opposite directions. While she returns to Denver, I'm going East, to Oslo for SQL Saturday #532. This is my first trip to Norway, and I'm looking forward to it. I arrive early Friday, so I have the chance to wander around a bit before the event Saturday. Then it's back to the UK early Sunday since I'll probably need to do laundry and get ready for a work week.

My second week will be in the Redgate Software offices, but it's a busy week. This is our Down Tools Week, with a number of projects that I'm interested in. I had hoped to be able to focus on one all week, but that won't be the case. I've got SQL in the City preparations to begin, as well as a trip to London to deliver a talk on Tuesday at the London SQL Meetup. I suspect I'll be doing something different each day, including some catchup with the great work our development teams are doing on various products.

I finish off the trip at SQL Saturday #520 in Cambridge, where I'll be giving a short, quick keynote to kick off the day. That's exciting, and will make for a long day as I also have two more sessions to deliver. Then it's back down to Heathrow that evening to begin my journey home.

I am very fortunate to be able to travel around the world, speaking about SQL Server and meeting some amazing data professionals. It can be hard, but it's always enjoyable and I look forward to shaking hands with many new and current friends on this journey.