{"id":2956,"date":"2010-05-05T12:04:50","date_gmt":"2010-05-05T19:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nerdseyeview.com\/blog\/?p=2956"},"modified":"2011-08-20T19:10:49","modified_gmt":"2011-08-21T02:10:49","slug":"notes-from-a-press-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nerdseyeview.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/05\/notes-from-a-press-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes from a Press Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning at the breakfast buffet, I did something a little weird. After I’d emptied the rest of the sugar packet into my second cup of coffee, I filled the little brown package with salt, folded it in half, and tucked it into my wallet. That seemed a better thing to do than stealing<\/span> borrowing the cheap plastic salt shaker, though I suppose I could have just asked the waitress, who surely has seen restaurant patrons do odder things in her time, for a dish of salt. I did this because I wanted nothing more than to have a nice salt water gargle to soothe my poor beleaguered throat. I will, I think, pack salt next time I travel, along with my neti pot, just in case this kind of thing comes up again.<\/p>\n

This is the long way of telling you that I’m a little under the weather from the volcano’s effects on Hawaii’s air quality. I’m heading home mid-day today and for the first time ever since I’ve been coming to Hawaii, I’m glad to be doing so. I am beat.<\/p>\n

This is the first time I’ve participated in the classic press trip. A bunch of journalist types from all over converge on a location and spend an inordinate amount of time together being curious and (hopefully) polite. They’re on an intense schedule of sleep – eat – see – travel – see – eat – sleep for the duration of the trip, and then, whoosh, it’s over, leaving the crew with a head full of new ideas, tired feet, sleep deprivation, and, if you’re me, a very mild case of what I think is bronchitis. It will go away in no time, I’m sure, once I’m back in the volcano free atmosphere of Seattle. Though yesterday, the trade winds started to blow, so better still would be a few more days right here in Hawaii.<\/p>\n

I had an amazing time, I enjoyed almost everything to the fullest, save the tour of that rather mediocre hotel. I would much rather have had a shower and a glass of iced tea, but it was not to be, plus, the entire crew had the same wilted look by that time, so it’s not like I was the only one who needed laundering. Misery loves company. And luckily, the company was good, mostly. I took my turn being a bummer while hurling my lunch into Kona Bay (after said lunch spent a short stay in my belly) — after that, I passed the baton to others and oh, I’ve said enough.<\/p>\n

I learned some things, too, about how these trips work. They’re not a vacation, not by a long shot, no matter how excellent your accommodation or fabulous your meals. It’s a slog without a lot of free time and you are expected to participate, every step of the way. And with that, here are my big takeaways from the press trip experience:<\/p>\n