It's harder for the one left behind

I love planning trips. When I don't have a trip in the pipeline, I feel extremely restless and distressed. I also love hosting people and creating itineraries especially for them based on what I think they would like to see/do/eat/drink. For my current trip, I didn't do much planning. I'm going with the flow for now. But when some of my family visits, I will create fun itineraries for them.

This is the first time I travel for work. When I lived abroad before, it was mainly for study. Now I'm realizing that when travelling for work, some things change.

For instance, language. I'm speaking a lot of English here. But I'm learning not to feel guilty for speaking English, because at work the main language is English. But at least when I'm far away from work and from coworkers, I only speak Spanish.

Transportation. I can afford to take a taxi, or I can drive, so I don't need to climb onto a bus or hop onto a subway. But public transportation is such a wonderful way to learn about a city and its people. If I never use it, I could be missing out. I think I should make the effort.

Food. Because I'm not living with a host family that feeds me, and am not piss-poor, I can actually afford to get food at restaurants here, but I feel like I need to try really hard to eat the comida tipica of the area. And it would be nice to share some food with some families here, instead of just eating by myself or with coworkers.

Work vs. Study. Finally, I have to tell people that I'm in their country for work, and not just merely to learn and to soak in their culture, their atmosphere, their language, their way of life. I'm here because it's my job. But I also chose to be here due to my interest in all the other stuff that comes with living in a foreign country. I hope I can still soak in as much as I can, and be a good ambassador for my country. I hope I leave a good impression on the people I meet here, and that my overall impact is not only positive for me, but overall positive for them.