What is a road warrior? Merriam-Webster best describes a road warrior as “a person who travels frequently especially on business”. Yup, that just about sums it up.

While it does sound glamorous and there are many perks (hello travel points!), it can also be quite exhausting being away from the comforts of home, out of your normal routine, eating out every night, and interacting with many different people on a daily basis.

With that, I’d like to welcome you to the first-ever post of The Diary of a Road Warrior. Each month, I am going to give you the low down on where I’m going, what I’m doing, and how I’m feeling. I’ll give you some tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way and tell you about the cool places I discover. I hope you’re as excited as I am, because this is going to be fun!

First, I’d like to start off with how I pack and prepare for my recruitment trips. This is a very important step in the travelling process that, no matter how many times I’ve done it, I still haven’t quite mastered it.

Step 1) Always leave it until the last minute. Why pack the night before when you could be playing hot potato with your fresh laundry, hot and ready out of the dryer, and throwing it into your suitcase a few hours before your flight.

Step 2) Take the biggest suitcase that you have and shove as much as possible in it. Don’t be picky, just grab anything from your closet. Give in to your optimistic inner voice that says “I definitely will go to the gym 5 times this week and I need all of these workout clothes”.

Step 3) Wear the same one or two outfits all week. And maybe look at the hotel gym, but don’t go in it. Ain’t nobody got energy for that.

Step 4) When/if you have some free time or a weekend between trips, do some shopping and buy more clothes. Because heck, why not?! Just go ahead and shove those in your suitcase too.

Step 5) Never learn your lesson and repeat steps one to four week after week. Don’t even bother unpacking, except to wash those two outfits and put them right back in.

Week 1: YEG

Okay, good. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let’s get started. I’ve only been in Edmonton for two days, so this won’t be a full chapter. But I’ll give you a taste of what’s to come.

Quick Facts:

Airline of Choice: WestJet
Hotel of Choice: The Meterra on Whyte
Rental Car of Choice: Red Ford Fusion

I flew in to Edmonton on Sunday afternoon and immediately felt grateful to be starting my travel season here. Why? Because Edmonton is just…nice. The people are nice. The city is nice. The roads are nice. Even the people driving on the roads are nice (unlike Toronto).

After unpacking my suitcase and doing a bit of work, I left the hotel on a mission to find food. I walked around Whyte Ave in a hangry daze, just hoping for something good that was close to the hotel. Lo and behold, not far from the hotel, I came across a pub called Malt & Mortar. During my short commute, I noticed that Whyte Ave has a really cool vibe about it. Lots of restaurants, pubs, and shops. The energy is good and I’m so here for it.

My meal of choice was the burger with a side of their dill pickle soup. That’s right, I said dill pickle soup. And you know what? It was delicious. And to wash it down, I had a Pumpkin Pie Spiced Ale from the Alley Kat Brewing Company in Ritchie, Alberta. I had low expectations for the pub food at the beginning of the night but I was both impressed and satisfied with my meal. Good work hanger, you didn’t lead me astray this time.

On Monday morning, I had two presentations scheduled at two high schools in Edmonton. I went in with low expectations, as there were only three students in the counselling office when I arrived to set up. But by the end of the presentation, there were close to 50 grade 11 and grade 12 students packed in to that office like sardines in a tin can. And it was awesome! The second school was fairly low key, with only four students, and that’s okay. Sometimes those smaller, more intimate audiences make for the best presentations because you can really personalize it and connect with the students.

Later that afternoon, I connected with my team via video-conference for some training. Ten different people in who knows how many different cities. The power of technology! For dinner, I headed to The Holy Roller. It has a great atmosphere and I would definitely recommend trying their Detroit style pizza. It’s a 10/10 in my books. You will not be disappointed!

I’ll save the rest for the next post, so stay tuned for Week 1: YEG Continued. For now, it’s time to catch up on emails and prepare for the next day. Let’s show Edmonton what UBC is all about!