Carrying On: Lessons Learned from Tech Travel, a talk given by Kara Sowles at Donut.js in Portland, August 2017.

1. Carrying On: Lessons
Learned from Tech Travel
KARA SOWLES
@feynudibranch
if you like twitter ✨

2. Traveling
Photo by Hamza Butt / CC

4. "Wow, you must have so many free miles on your
account from all that travel!"

5. "Ahh, the food in that city is so amazing. Where did
you eat? Did you eat at [restaurant]?"

6. I'd admit
"Yeah, travel can be a little...overwhelming."
They'd say
"Same! You need these noise-cancelling
headphones - they're a must-have when traveling."

7. "Where did you just get back from? You must have
had a great time!"

8. [isolation and crying]

9. GREAT

10. I had burned out..
Photo by Davide Barni / CC

11. Burnout?
Signs of physical and emotional exhaustion:
Chronic fatigue
Insomnia
Forgetfulness/impaired concentration and attention
Physical symptoms
Loss of appetite
Anxiety
Depression
Anger
Signs of Cynicism and Detachment:
Loss of enjoyment
Pessimism
Isolation
Detachment
Signs of Ineffectiveness and Lack of Accomplishment
Feelings of apathy and hopelessness
Increased irritability
Lack of productivity and poor performance
From The Telltale Signs of Burnout...Do You Have Them? By
Sherrie Bourg Carter in Psychology Today 2013/11/26

12. Jetlag symptom #1

13. Other symptoms
Other symptoms of jet lag can include:
● anxiety
● clumsiness
● confusion
● constipation
● diarrhoea
● difficulty concentrating
● feeling disorientated
● generally feeling unwell
● headaches
● indesgestion
● irregular periods in women who travel frequently
● irritability
● lethargy (lack of energy)
● lightheadedness
● loss of appetite
● memory problems
● muscle soreness
● nausea
● sweating
Symptoms can last up to six days for some people who've flown across nine or more time zones, particularly in an easterly
direction.

14. “[Business travel] has a wide range of physiological,
psychological and emotional, and social consequences
that are often overlooked, because being a ‘road warrior’
tends to get glamorized"
- Scott Cohen in Why Frequent Business Travel Is So Bad for You, Fast Company, Sept 9th 2015

15. From Why Frequent Business Travel Is So Bad for You, by Michael Grothaus in Fast Company, September 9th 2015

17. They packed I packed

18. Advice?
Expectations?
Assumptions?

19. What helped me?

20. TRAVEL TIPS
THINGS I LEARNED THAT HELPED ME
PERSONALLY

21. Replicate what you love at home
gardens
What relaxes you
at home?

22. Whatis
consistent?

23. Food
It's okay to order
room service
It's okay to eat at the
closest place
It's okay to not track down the
local delicacy
There is no pure, perfect experience
you need to live up to

25. Reading a book or phone in a restaurant
isn't rude or weird
This could be u
and a book
Photo by Michael Rys /CC

26. "What would our CEO do?"

27. TOOLS

28. Trip Advisor is Easy Research

29. V for Wiki
see nearby
things that
have
wikipedia
pages

30. I
LOVE
POUCHES
Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos / CC

31. I
LOVE
POUCHES
Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos / CC

32. clothes
jewelry
makeup
menstrual
pads
cords
+ electronics
accessories
?

33. Other tools I personally love
Medium size purse with
cross-shoulder strap; by
Pixie Mood (vegan!)
Rick Steves guidebook
I'm not ashamed
WhatsApp / Signal / any
app to text friends pictures
on wifi

34. What else can we learn?

35. Written clarity in Company Policies benefits junior,
marginalized, and honest employees the most.
And, y'know, the opposite.

37. Let people assign value to their own experiences
for example…
Leaving a company
A breakup or divorce
A new boss
A diagnosis
None of these things are inherently good or bad - so when I don't have the
personal context about their situation to make an informed guess, I ask before I
react.

38. Learn to offer advice without doing damage
Ask permission: "Are you looking for advice on that?"
Get personal rather than prescriptive: "I was in a similar situation once…"What
Ask open-ended questions: Give them an opportunity to talk it through
Keep privilege and diversity in mind: Everyone's situation and solution is different
They're in control: Give advice and then move on

39. I DONT TRAVEL ANYMORE SO I GOT A DOG!!!!!!
I love her so
much

40. Thanks!
Thank you to friends who made contributions to this talk:
✨ Tiffany Longworth (wrote the title pun)
✨ Andrea Horbinski (advice on advice)
✨ Annalee Flower Horne (advice on advice)
Thanks to my many supportive and kind friends who offered
to help - except I didn't finish in time to get edits or help -
next time!✨
My name is Kara Sowles
I work at Puppet in Portland (and I love it there)
I'm on twitter as @feynudibranch
Thank you Donut.js for hosting this talk! Donut.js in Portland
is my favorite meetup and I highly recommend it!
shrug