The Work Travel Thread

Used to travel for all my gigs - worked for a small company doing consulting on large industrial construction projects from 2007-2016. I had never been anywhere and the I spend 12 weeks in Singapore and Indonesia. From there we did (usually) a month or two at a time in Nigeria, Spain, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Angola as well as domestic work in Houston area TX, Michigan, Chicago area IL, all over BFE TN/KY early on. Mostly in oil/gas/energy sector. The biz didn't survive the drought of projects during the cheap oil era. I stepped away just at the right time. Now I'm working at a bank and no longer worried about whether a developing country's cheap labor foreman was paying enough attention to their crew when they installed the clips on a section of expanded metal walkway 200' above some hellscape in some armpit of the world.

I need to find the photos I took from the traffic in Angola. They legit had Dale Earnhardt and Calvin pissing bumper stickers. I couldn't believe it. Have some good job site pics somewhere too I'm sure, just can't find them here at work.

Here are a few pics from the early days (most of the later stuff is on FB)


bali and jakarta airpot 042.jpgbali and jakarta airpot 041.jpg batam 001.jpg batam 002.jpg batam 011.jpg batam 013.jpg batam 035.jpg India 082.jpg singapore 055.jpg singapore 071.jpg
 
Heading back home from London tomorrow. Got a sweet diesel C class as a rental upgrade. I visited the Coventry Transportation Museum (think Detroit of the UK), rode the London Eye, toured the Tower of London, toured the HMS Belfast, and drank a lot of beer and whiskey. It will take me 2 days to recover, but a good trip nonetheless.
E874AB79-9B79-40D7-A4A4-151DF8494126.jpeg 1D045FDB-1BC4-47E5-B866-76B5B2B178B6.jpeg 880736EC-8EEC-46D6-AE41-5E582E32F984.jpeg F6CC768F-A32F-4C84-AD45-F23AD8674377.jpeg 3143E9CA-41BB-45A6-8AA8-6A23E3D6DF96.jpeg 18742DE0-A3DC-45A4-917E-C92427EA8236.jpeg 9DC3A512-6DF3-4ED1-93B2-30423B6D8883.jpeg D99D86AF-83F1-4C71-9DAA-403D3B60D88A.jpeg 10645F4E-CC8B-4AA2-9EE8-AAD1BE2647BC.jpeg
 
I got all up inside this real big French girl up north... check out her giant ass :D

20190206_145529.jpg

20190206_151210.jpg

20190206_152457.jpg


I also walked over to the 9/11 memorial since we went across the river anyway. It was a pretty somber and humbling experience. I was part of making memorials for the Havelock PD and Atlantic Beach FD with pieces of I beam from the towers, but to see those huge pieces of twisted steel and all of the videos, recordings, and other stuff was intense.

The firetruck is Ladder 3 and was at ground zero.

20190206_164243.jpg

20190206_171930.jpg

20190206_170835.jpg

20190206_172912.jpg

This is the last column that was taken down during the cleanup. There was a ceremony and it was placed on a flatbed and covered with the flag. I never thought about the dogs that may have been lost and that part got to me even more.


We also hit up Ellis Island on the tour. That made me extremely grateful to have been born here...I couldn't imagine getting off of a boat and going in that huge building and the overwhelming feelings that must have brought along with it.

Oh, we were working in NJ at McGuire AFB/Fort Dix.
 
IMG_20170708_093522950_HDR.jpg
IMG_20170709_113833446_HDR.jpg
IMG_20180714_142944265_HDR.jpg
When I was at the dealer, I went to WT Harris Blvd about 1-2 times a month for nearly 15 years for Chrysler training.
Nowadays, I travel to go scout out new treating mills and to make sure my customers are happy with my wood.
One of my bigger accounts is based in Chicago so I went there a couple years ago to solidify our company's relationships. Last year I spent time in Atlanta in some luxury suites after taking a tour of another treating mill.
Pretty cool to fly into or out of airports where I know my company's lumber has been used. RDU, CLT, AVL among others around here.
I'm currently shipping into Gaithersburg MD, OKC and Nashville for some substantial projects. I may have to go check on their progress later this year...
IMG_20170708_093522950_HDR.jpg
IMG_20170709_113833446_HDR.jpg
IMG_20170709_113833446_HDR.jpg IMG_20180714_142944265_HDR.jpg
 
Back from the dead. I’ve been in Hamburg, Germany all week. It’s been an exhausting, but good trip. On to the pics:

Cool chair at the hotel
CA00EADE-14FC-4EF9-B4AD-2F8701EBAE80.jpeg

Anyone need a $40k Euro watch?
3E651731-C1D7-4B87-AE46-16ECA618243A.jpeg 9CF73C72-EB33-4171-8A32-843F2D9905E8.jpeg B4BE80EC-65F9-48A4-A106-6AECE272BA87.jpeg 4D886783-4DD0-4E03-8E2B-51E559EF183C.jpeg 98E399BC-506A-465F-A45B-48A4CEE5A25B.jpeg

What is that stick next to the bidet used for?
93CEB0BD-D262-4D4D-BA73-41E0226F97CA.jpeg
 
It’s my last night in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. I’m not a golfer, but I’m told that the golf course where I’m staying (Slieve Donard) is top 5 in the world. I drank a few pints of Guinness upon arrival and am on a bottle of French wine at the moment. This was a good trip.
DB312BDA-0767-4BE2-BF27-2F2890255843.jpeg B884F420-349B-4ACD-B327-F14EC12382B7.jpeg 831F0C93-DAF0-4E75-B723-4490D4AAA2D9.jpeg 968EF140-A04D-4200-B693-5F9C095864D8.jpeg 5182C426-F2B4-4447-9A6E-DEDD8E62CCB4.jpeg FCE8BF23-6D79-4DB5-BDA1-1EE7B754F786.jpeg F7B4A6DA-4DF2-4C9F-B96D-D1D828679101.jpeg 35A8954C-4287-43D5-9F88-73C896DEF0AC.jpeg
 
It’s my last night in Newcastle, Northern Ireland. I’m not a golfer, but I’m told that the golf course where I’m staying (Slieve Donard) is top 5 in the world. I drank a few pints of Guinness upon arrival and am on a bottle of French wine at the moment. This was a good trip.
View attachment 293429 View attachment 293430 View attachment 293431 View attachment 293432 View attachment 293433 View attachment 293434 View attachment 293435 View attachment 293436
Ireland is one of my favorite places.
 
Have to drive to Columbus Georgia tomorrow morning be on the job at 10am.

Come home Friday, Monday fly to Panama and come back Friday the 24th. Being a international service tech can be tiresome..
 
Well...I haven't traveled anywhere lately, but I did hang out with a dude from the UK all day at work. He came over doing tech support for BAE systems.
 
I’m a private contractor that travels around merchandising new and remodeled hardware stores for ACE and True Value. I just started doing it this past December, so I haven’t been a ton of places yet. First job was Forest, VA, then Gap, PA, and most recently Millersburg, OH.

Ohio was a fun job, the store was operated by the Amish and was in a neat area. Work itself isn’t very glorious but I try to go out and explore on my day off each week. Hocking Hills State Park was a fun trip while I was in Ohio. Almost was able to go to Colorado next month which would have been awesome. The store was 45 minutes from Chinaman Gulch and I had planned to take my Jeep out there to go wheeling on my off days. Hoping I can get sent on a project out west soon so I can finally have an excuse to go to Moab!

Hocking Hills

5CE1A173-3B80-4E62-8B68-D461036861CE.jpeg
D2A4C541-A475-47C0-AD79-95829BEAB1DC.jpeg
F0E2BF48-FB17-4E72-A393-620DF4E9794E.jpeg
ABFA02CC-FC99-4360-A55C-7DFAC6F4305F.jpeg
181D4173-847A-4F54-910B-A38B8D7209FA.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • AAC14D18-4C81-47BB-9580-689BCE50A7B1.jpeg
    AAC14D18-4C81-47BB-9580-689BCE50A7B1.jpeg
    172.9 KB · Views: 197
I’m a private contractor that travels around merchandising new and remodeled hardware stores for ACE and True Value. I just started doing it this past December, so I haven’t been a ton of places yet. First job was Forest, VA, then Gap, PA, and most recently Millersburg, OH.

Ohio was a fun job, the store was operated by the Amish and was in a neat area. Work itself isn’t very glorious but I try to go out and explore on my day off each week. Hocking Hills State Park was a fun trip while I was in Ohio. Almost was able to go to Colorado next month which would have been awesome. The store was 45 minutes from Chinaman Gulch and I had planned to take my Jeep out there to go wheeling on my off days. Hoping I can get sent on a project out west soon so I can finally have an excuse to go to Moab!

Hocking Hills

View attachment 293556 View attachment 293558 View attachment 293559 View attachment 293560 View attachment 293561
We were in lancaster PA back in march and the local True Value had apparently been sold to Ace since both signs were on the building.What's your thoughts on that part of the country?? We love to visit up there but care ZERO about living there.We were in Gap PA in April too.
 
We were in lancaster PA back in march and the local True Value had apparently been sold to Ace since both signs were on the building.What's your thoughts on that part of the country?? We love to visit up there but care ZERO about living there.We were in Gap PA in April too.

I have family in Harford county, Maryland and would move there ASAP if it weren’t so expensive, but I wouldn’t care too much to live in that area of PA. Lancaster county is an interesting area, you have the Amish, mingled with the families that have lived there all their lives, plus the transients that commute to Philly for work.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top