on conferencing...

I have been attending at least one annual national library conference or another each year since I entered the profession.  In the late 90's, there was enough travel money that we were often able to get funding for more conferences, but as the economy slowed, I learned to look for funding opportunities such as grants and travel awards.  I have always looked forward to these trips, as I live to travel, love visiting large conference cities, enjoy the professional development and networking opportunities, and manage to squeeze in sightseeing when I can. I especially looked forward to conference time after the kiddo came along, as it was often the only time each year I could have quiet time where I wasn't wrangling a kid.  In the years before she was born, I always roomed with other librarians and enjoyed it, but have grown to treasure quiet time in my room, as I am rarely by myself.  I don't want to waste my organization's money, so I have become a master at finding alternative lodging opportunities. I have stayed in guest houses, hostels, college dorms, nearby budget hotels, and am staying in an Airstream in a campground this year. In Chicago, I rented someone's fully furnished studio apartment and rode the El into the conference every day. Essentially, I keep my lodging costs to the same amount others who share their rooms pay.

Now that my child is getting older and a bit more independent, I am beginning to lose my need to be ALONE, and will probably resume taking roommates again after this year.  I am fairly new in my position here, and don't really want to get a reputation as someone who is standoffish. I was close enough to my co-workers at my last job for them to understand that I was not anti-social, and I was happy to hang out during the day, but they were empathetic to my need to have a little alone time once a year. I am still getting to know people here, so I feel I should be sociable and look for a roommate next year. I honestly do enjoy the company of colleagues, but I also relish, for a few days each year, the silence of an empty hotel room, the ability to traipse around my room wrapped in a towel and watch cable TV, which we do not have at home, and being able to hog the bathroom. These are luxuries on par to staying in an expensive spa. After a few days of having quiet evenings and mornings in my room, I start to feel like a hermit, and am grateful to come home and experience the beautiful cacophony of my child.

This is the first year that I am actually experiencing a sense of sadness about leaving.  I have been growing closer to my kid and spending a lot of time taking her on little weekend adventures.  As my husband struggles with his back injury, I have stepped in to take her places so she won't spend her entire weekend playing Minecraft, and so he can rest his back. Though I hate for my husband that he is in so much pain, the experience we're all going through has brought us all closer.  I will be gone 5 1/2 days, and I am already missing my family. I hate to be one of those mothers who cannot bear to be away from my daughter, but I do feel maternal pangs when I am away.

Though my husband always has a conference the same week as I, I am hoping to take my mother and daughter with me to San Francisco next year, and perhaps head over to Yosemite for a couple of days afterwards.  Mom has offered to watch the kiddo while I attend programming, and I want so much to take my daughter to all the places I was able to visit when I was a kid. If that doesn't work out, I will reach out to my co-workers and learn to do the roommate thing again. What I'll give up in privacy, I'll gain in fellowship.