I wrote this on the plane about two weeks ago and just now got around to posting. Better late than never, right?
Travelling for work is always an adventure. Hell, I just like travelling in general. This year, I’ve travelled to Colorado Springs and Butte, Montana. Now I’m off to our nation’s capitol for a one day meeting. It isn’t always the business itself that makes these trips interesting. The new scenery, change of pace and the people you meet (or stalk) make it all worthwhile.
In April, I was in Colorado Springs for our industry’s most revered conference: The National Space Symposium (or the space prom as most of us affectionately call it). It’s a mind-meld of spacey greatness with the likes of Neil deGrasse Tyson as keynote speaker. I was so geeked out to be in his vicinity that I made strides to find him and stand near him. Mainly because I was too nervous to actually meet the guy in person. One time, in New York City, I stood outside his office door at the Hayden Planetarium with an astronaut who was equally as geeked out to be in his realm as I was. Neil wasn’t there that day. We were both sad.
During the space prom, I got to see a tiny NDGT from the back of the main ballroom during his keynote on opening night. Every nerd in the room was in awe. He is the quintessential space evangelist. We all love him unconditionally. The next morning, I was meeting an old NASA friend for coffee at an outdoor café at the Broadmoor. Suddenly, my NDGT radar kicked on. As I turned around, he was right behind me! I freaked and turned back around and buried myself in my laptop. He took a seat with a friend right beside me. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to meet him. I did, however, photo bomb him. Which is what any self-respecting NDGT stalker would do in the same situation.
My trip to Butte in early June was almost as exciting. Well, it was equally as interesting at least. I got to see some hybrid rocket motors fire and wrangled some media in beautiful scenery. I blogged all about it here.
Now, I’m off to Washington, D.C. for another space related meeting. My Southwest ticket claimed to have wi-fi on the plane, but it doesn’t so instead of working, I’m catching up on blogging. I’m headed up there for one night with an all day meeting tomorrow. It’s interesting stuff and I’m happy to be a part of it, but I’m sad because my Twitter friend Adrian, aka Dad or Alive, had to cancel our meet-up. Yes, finishing his big-time book for Penguin is much more important than meeting with me. Sure. Whatever. You are missing out on all the fun Adrian! And the droll conversation about space exploration because that’s all I seem to talk about lately. In all honesty, I’m in awe of his success and can’t wait to celebrate his wins from my little corner of Texas. Maybe one day he can show me how it’s done.
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