Who works away from home?

Oiyoiyoi!

I've gotten pretty used to hopping on a jet once a month to live out of a hotel up north for three day stints at a time, but this is a bit different.

Super special secret project for big oil sands company. I was originally put on to "supervise" the install (in a vendor position) of a product we've developed... instead, along with my engineering counterpart, we have basically become the installers as the plant starts up in October (wishful thinking, but anywho)... I'm trying to tell the lead engineer we need to be charging more money if we're actually installing the product rather than standing there looking pretty, but I digress.

I've worked the past two weeks straight ~14 hour days out of a camp. I literally have enough time to wake up, clean myself up, eat breakfast, pack my lunch, hop on the bus, work 12-14 hours, bus back to camp, eat supper, and then go to sleep.

And my work involves being 250 feet in the air on a 10'x10' platform on the side/top of a huge vessel all day, making sure our (experimental) parts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars don't get dropped from the 300 foot tall crane that is lifting them. Ya think I'm stressed a bit?! And the final install last week (the 6th out of 18 installs total) broke.

It is really cool to see I'll be paid out 330 (calculated) straight time hours at the end of August for 180 hours of OT worked over a 6 week period... but is it worth it? Who the hell knows. But I've been back in town for one day and head back up tomorrow. Wish I could share pictures/information

And that's my story. Share yours of work related travel adventures.

Many moons ago I was in charge of inventory for a construction company. They had crews all over the Southeast. I'd leave Monday morning, spend a week on the road and roll back in Friday and do paperwork. 4 months a year for 3 years I lived out of a suitcase. It sucked, though the money was good.

I used to do it when I was working more in video. Used to travel all over the country documenting the classes held at Teacher's conventions, then would edit them down and post online (this was a paid service) for the other teachers to learn from.

Once a month I would be gone a week.. but I only got paid for the time I was actually working or traveling.. the hotels, cars, and food were free though

My buddy flies from Chicago to Fort McMurray, Alberta and operates a crane for 4 months a year. He comes home for a long weekend 3x a year. Must pay well but he lives in a dorm room and misses the wife like crazy.

Many moons ago I worked as one of four guys doing all of the SCADA integration/development to automate runtime setup for 20 odd vendors for a Sony/Corning partnership to turn an old VW plant into a picture tube manufacturing facility.

I spent 11 mos in a Days Inn in Middle-of-Nowhere, PA with occasional day trips to lovely Horseheads, NY. I was home 2 weekends a month.

Advice:
- Don't drink every day. It will make you fat.
- When your wife threatens divorce the 2nd time she berkeleying well means it and you should have a resume ready at that time.
- Get some kind of video conferencing setup to call home and talk to the kids. Mine are old enough now that I can text a couple times during the day - I think it helps me more than them but... bottom line - stay in touch. It's easy to get wrapped up in E36 M3 at work and forget to call at night.

I still travel too much but I am always home the same week and I manage to put a week between trips most times.

but is it worth it?

It is if you do something good with the money.

A few years ago when it looked like my plant was closing, I told me wife that if I'm looking for work I'm going remote, working as many days straight as I can, for as long as they'll let me, then I'm retiring.

Do it now while you still have the energy, and invest the extra money. Max out your RRSP now. You'll thank me when you're my age.

Datsun310Guy wrote: My buddy flies from Chicago to Fort McMurray, Alberta and operates a crane for 4 months a year. He comes home for a long weekend 3x a year. Must pay well but he lives in a dorm room and misses the wife like crazy.

Probably about $250k per year ($100/h plus OT), considering they get paid quite a bit more than a journeyman instrumentation technician, which at $65/h (not including mandatory OT) makes about $160k/year at the site I am at. Actually, I believe any journeyman trade makes about that on site...

Being driven crazy is right, I don't know how people with significant others do it! Hell, I'm happy I'm only doing it for a month lol.

No joke, don't spend that money at all. Live off as little as possible and save the rest because otherwise you've been killing yourself for nothing. Check this out:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

He advocates a 50% savings rate which in your position might be a good start. Given the hours you're working you could probably pull closer to a 75% savings rate. Retiring, as in never working another day in your life unless you want to, in 10 years is a serious possibility with that mindset.

2 things:

1. Do what ZW said up there.
2. Get a hooker on your day off.

I honestly wish I worked away from home, and wish to some extent my girlfriend could as well. We're both adventurers at heart, and I feel completely comfortable in a new location, doing something new and different everyday. For some people all that "new" is really stressful, for me its wonderful. She's the type of person that just loves seeing new places and meeting new people.

I have been trying to apply for positions that desire an employee willing to relocate and travel, and haven't had any luck.

What's funny is that most companies won't experienced people to fill those positions, but its experienced people who want to settle down, have kids, spend time with their families, and NOT travel for work.

Anyone want to trade?

I worked in Austin (2.5 hrs away from home) from Tuesday through Saturday. I would get home about 6pm saturday and head out at 7am Tuesday. My weekends were filled with chores. My wife was preggo with the now 2 year old at that time. It was OK. The company I worked for started doing weird things with my pay and screwing me around. Then Kourtlyn was born on a Friday. I was called Sunday telling me I needed to be at work at 7am Monday to open the store. I left and drove down that night and was there at 6:30a to get everything ready to open. At 11:30 the district manager came in and fired me. Said, "Since you have a new family 2 hours away, we feel you will probably become an unreliable employee."

Now I work 10 miles from home. LOL

Conquest351 wrote: I worked in Austin (2.5 hrs away from home) from Tuesday through Saturday. I would get home about 6pm saturday and head out at 7am Tuesday. My weekends were filled with chores. My wife was preggo with the now 2 year old at that time. It was OK. The company I worked for started doing weird things with my pay and screwing me around. Then Kourtlyn was born on a Friday. I was called Sunday telling me I needed to be at work at 7am Monday to open the store. I left and drove down that night and was there at 6:30a to get everything ready to open. At 11:30 the district manager came in and fired me. Said, "Since you have a new family 2 hours away, we feel you will probably become an unreliable employee." Now I work 10 miles from home. LOL

I'd have sued for wrongful termination.

Zomby Woof wrote: It is if you do something good with the money.

Unfortunately, I don't earn good money Mike, as my job is typically me working away the days 7.67 hours at a time in an air conditioned office. I am strongly (again, just like last year) contemplating a move though. I currently have a 7 day on 7 day off flights paid for in and out offer on standby.

I'm thinking about approaching the bossmen shortly. Something along the lines of "there are two people, one of them being me, who know everything about your multi-million dollar projects, how to build, install, commission, and maintain them. I'm unhappy with the fact my immediate boss gave me a performance review of 5, and the corporate bigwhigs chopped that down to a satisfactory level of 3, costing me a raise of $5k per year. I'm also not thrilled that the scope of this project has grown to be MASSIVELY outside the boundaries we originally put in place, and I am the one shouldering the increased expectations. It appears to me some form of appreciation for my services needs to be shown."

And go from there.

18 years ago I decided to go to America to work for 6-9 months on contract before going 'home' to the UK, something went wrong with that!! Still here, Blue passport, wife, kids, house........ That's a long trip away from 'home' to work

mtn wrote:

Conquest351 wrote: I worked in Austin (2.5 hrs away from home) from Tuesday through Saturday. I would get home about 6pm saturday and head out at 7am Tuesday. My weekends were filled with chores. My wife was preggo with the now 2 year old at that time. It was OK. The company I worked for started doing weird things with my pay and screwing me around. Then Kourtlyn was born on a Friday. I was called Sunday telling me I needed to be at work at 7am Monday to open the store. I left and drove down that night and was there at 6:30a to get everything ready to open. At 11:30 the district manager came in and fired me. Said, "Since you have a new family 2 hours away, we feel you will probably become an unreliable employee." Now I work 10 miles from home. LOL

I'd have sued for wrongful termination.

Probably could have, but Texas is an "At will" state and no employer is required to keep you employed and can terminate you for any reason and no reason. Probably had a case, but not worth the hastle. Worked out for the best anyway.

HiTempguy wrote:

Zomby Woof wrote: It is if you do something good with the money.

Unfortunately, I don't earn good money Mike, as my job is typically me working away the days 7.67 hours at a time in an air conditioned office. I am strongly (again, just like last year) contemplating a move though. I currently have a 7 day on 7 day off flights paid for in and out offer on standby. I'm thinking about approaching the bossmen shortly. Something along the lines of "there are two people, one of them being me, who know everything about your multi-million dollar projects, how to build, install, commission, and maintain them. I'm unhappy with the fact my immediate boss gave me a performance review of 5, and the corporate bigwhigs chopped that down to a satisfactory level of 3, costing me a raise of $5k per year. I'm also not thrilled that the scope of this project has grown to be MASSIVELY outside the boundaries we originally put in place, and I am the one shouldering the increased expectations. It appears to me some form of appreciation for my services needs to be shown." And go from there.

Go for it brother. You already have your "escape plan" in place. What do you have to loose?

I did it for a while, a couple decades ago. Spent most of a year in Wilmington, NC on one project, most of a year in Taiwan on another project. Sometimes I'd commute from one jobsite to another jobsite without ever going home in between. It's definitely a young man's sport, the money was good but living out of a hotel got pretty old. My dad died while I was in Taiwan which sucked - that was a long flight home.

My employer does not allow telecommuting, so I don't work at home. It is however only about 25 miles round trip each workday.

Work related travel adventures?

I moved two out of three box turtles I saw trying to cross the road the other day on the way home from work. I would've grabbed the other one, but there was just no safe place to pull off.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel a lot for my job- I'm an Environmental Scientist for a consulting company. I usually travel at least a week out of the month- sometimes within the state or flying to a different state.

It can be one night away or up to 4/5 weeks. I'm based in PA but spent several weeks/months total in the New England states, Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, Georgia, and a host of other places.

It is fun to see new areas on my company's dime... but I am working 10-12 hours when I am away- including working in rain or snow or flooding. The other perks are that I get to work on alot of military bases... some pretty remote. Nothing like working with a live fire exercise occurring on the range next to me- pretty interesting soundtrack. I've met great people, got to see undisturbed native american artifacts/paintings, come across lots of cool animals, found historic/antiques items (one is in a museum in Colorado), got to play with some fun chemicals I found in the soil/groundwater, scored some free stuff from military guys I worked with, and have a bunch of stories from my travels- including crashing in a helicopter into Lake Texoma I was in while working on a project. That story will always be vivid to me... then there is homeless guys stealing equipment in Dallas, hitting a methane pocket in Houston... i could go on.

The downside is when I travel back to back to back and have to look at the phone in my hotel room each morning just to remember what state I'm in. And it's never fun to return home to a jungle of a lawn when I'm away for a week or more.

I'm enjoying it now- while I can. I'm single and 28 so why not explore. I have my own house to come home to which is nice after living out of a suitcase. I'm sure I'll get tired of it sometime.

My company does allow me to work from home as well- another bonus. I drive 48 miles each way to work so if the weather turns bad or I have an appointment, there is no point in me risking myself/wasting time driving just to make it to the office. That is a huge plus... but i'll be honest, it's hard to focus 100% at home versus when I'm in the office.

on my daily commute, I once saw a 3 axle chevy astro =]
Thats the only work related travel adventure I can think of right now

Get an idea for your own business. Start said business. Eat PB&J for weeks. Think that Kraft Mac and Cheese is a delicious treat. Realise your kids that were 10 and 12 are now thinking about grad school and some how you got two more that are 7 and 10 Ohya and that idea that being the boss that meant you don't have to answer to anyone? When in fact you get a new boss with every job.

Although I don't work away from home in fact I work at home a lot I feel like I am never home as I an almost always working. It is only the last couple of years that things have settles down and I am only working 50 hours a week most weeks.

No such stories myself, but my father finished a 4 year stint in Iraq with KBR back in December. 2 weeks twice a year, 3 weeks between contracts. For him it was like being back in the Navy, but with much better pay.

I would love the chance for some kind of E36 M3 location/high pay job. But the wife has already threatened divorce if I go that route.

Conquest351 wrote: At 11:30 the district manager came in and fired me. Said, "Since you have a new family 2 hours away, we feel you will probably become an unreliable employee." Now I work 10 miles from home. LOL

2 hours is not that uncommon here. Some of my coworkers go further. I make it home most nights unless I am kept during bad weather or have a short turnaround between shifts.

If I ever have to leave this job I'm want to travel for something different. I would really like to try a winter on Ice Road Truckers or driving overseas. Maybe Australia

knb13 wrote: I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel a lot for my job- I'm an Environmental Scientist for a consulting company. I usually travel at least a week out of the month- sometimes within the state or flying to a different state. It can be one night away or up to 4/5 weeks. I'm based in PA but spent several weeks/months total in the New England states, Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, Georgia, and a host of other places. It is fun to see new areas on my company's dime... but I am working 10-12 hours when I am away- including working in rain or snow or flooding. The other perks are that I get to work on alot of military bases... some pretty remote. Nothing like working with a live fire exercise occurring on the range next to me- pretty interesting soundtrack. I've met great people, got to see undisturbed native american artifacts/paintings, come across lots of cool animals, found historic/antiques items (one is in a museum in Colorado), got to play with some fun chemicals I found in the soil/groundwater, scored some free stuff from military guys I worked with, and have a bunch of stories from my travels- including crashing in a helicopter into Lake Texoma I was in while working on a project. That story will always be vivid to me... then there is homeless guys stealing equipment in Dallas, hitting a methane pocket in Houston... i could go on. The downside is when I travel back to back to back and have to look at the phone in my hotel room each morning just to remember what state I'm in. And it's never fun to return home to a jungle of a lawn when I'm away for a week or more. I'm enjoying it now- while I can. I'm single and 28 so why not explore. I have my own house to come home to which is nice after living out of a suitcase. I'm sure I'll get tired of it sometime. My company does allow me to work from home as well- another bonus. I drive 48 miles each way to work so if the weather turns bad or I have an appointment, there is no point in me risking myself/wasting time driving just to make it to the office. That is a huge plus... but i'll be honest, it's hard to focus 100% at home versus when I'm in the office.

Ever find yourself in Central Texas, gimme a shout. We'll meet up for a beer or something. I live in Brownwood, pretty much the geographic center of Texas.