Tales from the Road - Buenos Aires Edition (Introduction)

Tonight I'm blogging from a hotel room in Buenos Aires Argentina. It's been a very long time since I've done a Tales from the Road blogpost. Instead of doing it in Facebook, which is what I've done before, I'm moving it to a stand-alone blog.  Much easier to format and much easier to direct interested readers to it.

Okay, so I have to admit I haven't blogged a trip in awhile because I've been just flat-out too exhausted from life to even consider my travels an adventure. Instead that which my friends might think is cool has been Facebook status updates. This trip is different, though.  One thing that I've done is restore a bit of margin to my life - which is a fancy way to say learning how to say no and not cram every waking moment with an activity. The second thing I've done is remembered that my trips should be considered great adventure. I was sitting in an airport for what was probably the zillionth time (okay, that's an exaggeration, but I have totally lost count of how many times I've been sitting in an airport), enjoying a sweet experience God gave to me while worrying abou the trip. Raleigh to Buenos Aires isn't exactly a hop, skip, and a jump. It's a 17-hour travel day and it's physically and mentally taxing.  I don't like to leave my son.  I also don't like to fly, so the prospect of 12 hours in a plane for work (plus the 5-hour layover in another airport) wasn't exactly looking like an awesome way to spend my Saturday.

All of a sudden I really felt convicted. I had lost my sense of adventure. There are people in the world who will never see the things I've seen, travel to the countries I've been to, or experience many different cultures - all while getting paid by my job to do it. Yes, I work incredibly hard when I travel. The normal day-time duties don't cease because I'm on the road plus I get the extra added work of whatever audit I'm performing.  But I have always been able to see the city in which I'm staying and have been able to see and do things most people dream about. So, as I was sitting there I repented and began to see this trip as the great adventure that God is giving me this week. Not only do I get to go to my favorite city in the world, but I get to spend time with co-workers I've only ever spoken to on the phone or seen via videoconference. The coolest part of that? I get to know them better and I get to love them with the love of Jesus.

So, sit back, relax and get ready to read some tales from the road... Buenos Aires Edition!

And please forgive any misspellings... Because I'm in Argentina the spell check is only Spanish...