Nick Carroll

I’ve been traveling interstate for work on a weekly basis for the past 3 months, and will probably have another month or so to go before I head back to Sydney for work. I have already spent more time working in Brisbane than I have worked in Sydney, where my home office is located. I am also proud of the fact that I have also outlasted all my colleagues that were also traveling from Sydney and Melbourne to work in Brisbane.

Each week I fly to and from Brisbane, and I have been amazed with the number of people that do the same. It certainly keeps the airlines busy. In fact after seeing first hand that most flights are packed I decided to buy shares in the airline that I use, and they are actually starting to come good! Now that I am invested in air travel I actually feel a little better about having to wait around in airport lounges or waking up at 5am to catch an early flight.

I enjoy working with the Brisbane based ThoughtWorkers, as well as the permanent staff that work for the client. They are a great bunch of people, and working with them certainly makes work more enjoyable. If anyone is concerned about work-life balance, then I highly recommend moving to Brisbane for work. The weather is great and the hours are a lot shorter, mostly because Queenslanders are quite laid back. Not to mention that there are great beaches to the north and south of Brisbane, all within a two hour drive.

Each week the ThoughtWorks team gets together to do something fun after work. Most weeks it is having a yarn over a few beers, or dining at a local restaurant. This week we had poker night in my apartment, which I call the “executive suite”, since it is the only room in the serviced apartments building with a plasma screen tv. We have poker chips lying around at work for prioritisation sessions, so I decided to put them to use after hours too. We purchased pizzas and beers and played several hands of Texas Hold’em. A fun night was had by all.

Although I don’t mind traveling interstate for work, I also don’t find it to be sustainable. Eventually the early mornings, and the countless hours spent at airports will get to you. Not to mention the time spent apart from loved ones. For these reasons I am glad that I will be taking a break from traveling when the project is over, as I don’t want to get burned out and become completely jaded with traveling.