Couple days ago, a recruiter from a big company reached out for me for a position. I have known this firm for years and I applied 2 years ago when I was still with my old job. I didn’t get the position back then. So you could imagine I felt overwhelmingly flattered when they pitched me a job…

The job description started with this sentence – “This position requires at least 30% traveling”.

When I was a kid, I always admired people traveling for business. Though I never had a clue of what people actually ‘do’ when they are on a business trip, I thought being in different places, checking in luxury hotel rooms and meeting different people would be the ‘highlight’ of my career…

Until I was in my previous position, in which I had to drive alone for 2-3+ hours, navigating through the endless walnut farms and sitting in meetings with strangers for lobbying some ever changing contract policies, I then realized “business trips’ aren’t as fun and rewarding as I imagined. I was so lonely. I really didn’t see the purpose of me wasting my time on all these ‘road trips’.

Interestingly enough, as I scrolled down to the bottom of the job description from the recruiter, I saw the the requirement for traveling has now changed from 30% to 40% …It could be a human error or it could be a very honest expectation for the candidate.

I then turned my head to look at my son’s picture. He has been swimming in my womb and being a super star in all growth charts. I don’t want to trade his first word, first walk with any stupid road trips and/or any more lobbying events.

I respectfully decline the opportunity. Till next time.