Juno, my favorite non-blizzard

As part of a committee I sit on in the media & advertising industry, I was scheduled on a Sunday evening flight to New York for a 36-hour trip to attend meetings at Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. It’s no surprise that I love New York City, and was not only excited to travel there but honored that my job was financing my trip out there. This insinuated and required that I would add value to the meetings in-person and share a report afterward as part of my client service role.

Seeing friends I know out there would only be an added bonus. Traveling on business can be a grueling experience where you have little control over your schedule, flights and time – but I had faith that in the off-hours I could stay awake an extra hour or two to grab a meal with friends. 

Sunday morning, an influx of travel alerts about Winter Storm Juno flooded the news, terrifying the Northeast and cancelling trips everywhere. While I was walking out the door with packed bags Sunday morning, my department head texted and emailed me to consider the risks and potential weather delays of traveling. A tough decision to make, I decided to move forward – vigorously threw three extra outfits and extra contacts in my bag and took an Uber to O’Hare.

Immediately after arriving, Tuesday’s agenda was cancelled, and shortly after – so was my flight. Thankfully, the trip’s purpose of Monday’s session remained true so there was reason for me to be there, but the next few days were not in my control. I could work remotely on Tuesday, and would fly out eventually. Flights opened during the Monday session, and with the most amazing teamwork exhibited, a colleague re-booked my flight for the first available flight on Wednesday.

View of NYC from my hotel, Le Parker Meridien

The storm itself was underwhelming. Only about six inches of snow fell in Manhattan, and I would go as far as to say NYC public transit shut down prematurely (but cautiously). While I was working remotely, so were my friends since their offices shut down - so we got to enjoy our first snow day of adulthood together! What a week it was, and now I can't wait to go back.