Taking on New Adventures

I recently mentioned that I was back with CNN doing some freelance producing. When I travel for work, especially with CNN, I often get to go to some really fantastic destinations. Everyone thinks I have time to explore and check out the great local offerings from food to wine, beer to popular spots that are not to be missed and everything in between. But here’s the reality:  I rarely have time to see anything other than my hotel room and the location where our live shots occur.

When I got the call to come to Seattle for a few days (which has turned into 8 days and counting), I knew this trip would be drastically different than other trips I took for CNN. For one, I was the “chase team”, which meant that as things happen, my photojournalist pal, Jerry, and I would hop in the car and head that way. Because of that, we’ve checked out some interesting spots in the Seattle area.

We’ve been to the Governor’s mansion, sat all day at Camp Murray waiting on a 30 minute press conference by the Vice President, hung out at Juanita Beach in the cold wind to meet up with a family member of a patient at Life Care Center and hit West Seattle to get some beautiful video of the ferry docking. All in all, I’ve been lucky to not be stuck in one spot and have the opportunity to see some sights in the city.

But we have spent more time than any at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, WA, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in this state.

And there is a lot of waiting around that happens. We don’t want to get too far from the hotel in case we need to hop in the car and head to a location to get video. So we tend to spend the majority of time in the area around the hotel. Plus, with our funky work hours, meals don’t typically happen at a normal time. So we often have to figure it out either by grabbing some snacks when we can at the grocery across the street or hopping into the Olive Garden before they closed for whatever salad and soup they have available.

We’ve lucked out with a couple of nights where we didn’t have a work assignment, so one night I hit up a few breweries nearby to check out the scene and on Saturday, Jerry’s aunt and her husband took us around West Seattle and to a restaurant at one of the marinas. It was great seeing the area from a local’s perspective and also avoiding the traditional tourist traps.

But all in all, work travel is a lot of hotel living, eating when you can and hoping you get a little time to enjoy the area while you are there. It’s a little boring, a little fun, and a whole lot of interesting.