My First Ever Business Trip

 

Since leaving school last July and joining what everybody calls 'the big world', I've had the chance to experience many new things, one of these being travelling by myself and visiting new places.

A few months ago I was told that I would be going on a training course. I then learnt that this would be in Nottingham, which is about 3 hours away from my hometown and a 360 mile round trip.

Immediately I was excited by the prospect of getting out of my town for a few days, it didn't seem real that I was going to be leaving all by myself. Then I did get a little nervous, especially because I would be driving the furthest I had ever driven on my own and would be driving on a motorway for the first time in my life. Added to this I would be driving to a place I had never been before, relying on only a sat nav and my own brain to get where I needed to go. I also knew that I would be facing even more traffic than I was used to and I later learnt that Nottingham is basically one huge one way system, which is not good for someone who got lost a few times! I would also be staying in an unfamiliar hotel with no-one I knew and in a room all alone for the first time ever.

 

The night before I left I packed my suitcase which was a task and a half as I packed way too much 'just in case I needed it.' The next day with my car checked over and with Bastille's new album to keep me company I set off. Once I had gone past all the familiar towns near me it was a bit like 'wow, I'm actually doing this all by myself.' I still believe to this day that it was a huge moment for me, and since then it has given me so much confidence and self belief.
Anyway, so I got about 10 miles away from Nottingham and suddenly my sat nav didn't recognise any of the roads and basically broke down on me. This was probably the most stressful thing that happened to me and it was all because the roads had been changed and the sat nav hadn't been updated to recognise them!
 At this point it was getting dark and I had no idea where I was, but I tried to keep calm and asked a lovely taxi driver at a fuel station for directions. When I hit the centre of Nottingham, the route was still not recognised so I had to stop some poor strangers in the street and ask them too. Luckily they were happy to help and I was so relived when I found the hotel at which I was staying.
  After I had checked in, I was overjoyed once I was inside my room. It was just what I needed after the three hour journey and I wasted no time in looking around, checking out the facilities. By this time it was nearly 6pm so after phoning my mum and dad I went down to the restaurant for dinner and had the most amazing burger followed by a chocolate dessert trio which was heaven!

Once I returned from dinner I unpacked a few of my things. I think the most surprising thing for me was how quiet everything was. At home I'm used to everyone talking and my music is usually blaring but here there was none of that. I think I turned the TV on purely because I needed to hear some noise, not because I particularly wanted to watch something.
 I loved the little features which were in the room, the chair near the window and the table where I sat and made myself a lovely cup of tea.

However, I did notice that the particular hotel I stayed at was rather fond of mirrors, there must have been at least 7 in my room, which compared to the two I have in my own room was really weird.
 That night after having the luxury of choosing between a soft or hard pillow, I slept really well. The bed was so comfortable and I didn't want to get out of it!
  After attending the first day of my course (which I got very lost going to because the sat nav was still not helpful and I ended up asking the loveliest man in Tesco, who even got the map up on his phone for me and wrote down directions!) I was exhausted and after dinner I seem to remember watching a Champions League game and then going straight to bed.
  The next day was quite strange as I checked out in the morning as after the course finished that second day I went straight from there to back home.
  Leaving Nottingham was a bit easier than arriving, and I managed to find my own way home in the dark, rain and fog with no sat nav and no other directions from anyone. Although I ended up driving a completely different way home, (primarily on the busiest motorway I had ever been on, the M1) I was so happy when I saw places and roads I recognised.

Since that, I've been back to Nottingham on another course and I'm happy to report that I didn't get half as lost as the first time. This was partly due to the fact I did recognise some parts and mainly because I took 2 sat navs and my iphone navigation system!
  The only thing I would change about my two trips there would be that I wish I had more time to explore the city. Aside from the road to the hotel, I didn't see very much and so I'd like to go back in my own time to see what the place has to offer.
  I am so happy that I stepped outside my comfort zone and did something which I had never done before. I learnt a lot about myself during that time and it has made me thing more about the bigger picture. The scariest thing I learnt whilst away was actually how big the world is, even though I had only gone 300 miles away, it really is a big shock when you live in a small town where everyone knows everybody. I only saw a small part of the city, yet it was probably bigger than the whole town I live in, it is crazy.

I learnt that I'm also not ready to leave my hometown just yet. Probably unsurprisingly, a lot of people where I live always say they cannot wait to get out of 'this town' or 'this dead-end town.' However, they have never actually left and I would say be careful what you wish for because like myself, you may learn that actually the place in which you live is better than you think. You may also find that you're not ready to leave and then start to appreciate the little things in life such as not having to use a sat nav every time you want to go out or even just not having to sit in queues of traffic every morning.