Voice of the DBA

Tag: travel

  • Enjoying SQL Bits

    It’s been a good week at SQL Bits. This is my favorite conference, and the organizers go out of their way to make it a fun and sustainable event.

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    I brought three different shirts. Day one:

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    Day 2:

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    and Day 3:

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    The conference center in Newport is fairly large, and dedicated to Wales. We see the dragon out front.

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    I even got a chance to stand next to this, and it’s pretty big.

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    And castles inside. The theme for the week was dungeons and dragons, and Redgate joined in with the castle theme.

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    Overall, the Expo was a nice success, and often busy with the food (and coffee) available inside.

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    We even had a mini dragon for Lego Steve

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    And more full sized dragons

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    There were the bean bag chairs everywhere, with the updated logo on one side. Sponsor logos were on the reverse side.

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    There was a big wall where artists were sketch noting after sessions. I thought this was pretty cool. I forgot to check after mine, but I was saying good bye and getting ready to leave and forgot to look.

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    Overall, it was a great week, and again, an amazing conference put on by the SQL Bits crew. I enjoyed it and look forward to coming back in the future. Wales was a great site, and I had a lot of smiles, laughs, and fun with others.

    The Redgate crew was great, and it was nice to spend time with them, something I don’t always get to do at events.

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    The party was a lot of fun as well, with some amazing costumes. Some random shots here:

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    As I walked back through Heathrow, I always pass this iconic image, which both makes me smile and brings up a little sadness as I leave the UK. Another great trip though.

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  • On the Road at SQL Bits

    I may try to blog, but I know this is a busy week. I’m leaving today for England and SQL Bits. Actually I fly to London and then spend a day there before training across to Wales with colleagues.

    By my CV, this is my seventh trip to SQL Bits, and I’m excited to go back. It is my favorite conference, and I love that I can see friends from all over the world. The Summit in Seattle and MVP Summit also get worldwide attendees, but Bits gets a neat mix of many speakers and attendees I don’t see elsewhere.

    I’ll try to post some pix and notes from the event, though I know it will be a busy week.

  • A Big Year for Travel

    I do tend to travel a good amount as my kids have gotten older. The pandemic slowed things for a year, but only then. Someone remarked on this year being a lot of trips, and it has been. Not the most ever, but the most fun ever.

    I decided to look at the travel numbers for the last few years, and see how this compares. Here are my trip numbers, for both business and personal, as best as I can tell.

    • 2013- 18
    • 2014 -17
    • 2015 – 17
    • 2016 – 16
    • 2017 – 15
    • 2018 – 20
    • 2019 – 23
    • 2020 – 1 (Las Vegas for my wife’s birthday, as the pandemic was starting)
    • 2021 – 11
    • 2022 – 23

    Looking at this, 2022 ties the biggest year, but it didn’t feel as bad as 2013-2105.I don’t have exact numbers, but I know I was closer to 30 trips those years and felt more burned out.

    I think because we have some fantastic vacations (Bruge, Hawaii, Venice, Lisbon) plus 3 volleyball trips and 3 trips to see my daughter in college.

    Hopefully 2023 will turn out to be just as big and exciting with more places that we’ll visit and enjoy.

  • The Last Trip of 2022

    It’s the last trip for me today. I head to the UK for a few work things and then my wife is coming over to take a quick vacation to Portugal.

    A hard life, I know.

    In any case, I’m excited to go back to the UK and see colleagues and friends. Should be an exciting two weeks for me out of the country.