The Impact Of Travel On Being The API Evangelist

Travel is an important part of what I do. It is essential to striking up new relationships, and reenforcing old ones. It is important for me to get out of my bubble, expose myself to different perspectives, and see the world in different ways. I am extremely grateful for the ability to travel around the US, and the world the way that I do. I am also extremely aware of the impact that travel has on me being the API Evangelist–the positive, the negative, and the general shift in my tone in storytelling after roaming the world.

One of the most negative impact that traveling has on my world is on my ability to complete blog posts. If you follow my work, when I’m in the right frame of mind, I can produce 5-10 blog posts across the domains I write for, on a daily basis. The words just do not flow in the same way when I am on the road. I’m not in a storyteller frame of mind. At least in the written form. When I travel, I am existing in a more physical and verbal sense as the API Evangelist, something that doesn’t always get translated into words on my blog(s). This is something that is ok for short periods of time, but after extended periods of time on the road, it is something that will begin to take a toll on my overall digital presence.

After the storytelling impact, the next area to suffer when I am on the road, is my actual project work. I find it very difficult to write code, or think at architectural levels while on the road. I can flesh out and move forward smaller aspects of the projects I’m working on, but because of poor Internet, packed schedules, and the logistics of being on the road, my technical mind always suffers. This is something that is also related to the impact on my overall storytelling. Most of the stories I publish on a daily basis evolve out of me moving forward actual projects as part of my API Evangelist work. If I am not actually developing a strategy, designing a specific API, or working on API definitions, discovery, governance, or one of the loftier aspects of my work, the chances I’m telling interesting stories will significantly be diminished.

Once I land back home, one of the first orders of business is to unclog the pipes with a “travel is hard” story. ;-) Pushing my fingers to work again. Testing out the connections between my brain and my fingers. While I also open up my IDE, command line, API universe dashboard, and begin refining my paper notes about what the fuck I was actually doing before I got on that airplane. Make it all work again is tough. Even the simplest of tasks seem difficult, and many of the projects I’m working on just seem too big to even know where to even begin. However, with a little effort, focus, and lack of a plane, train, or meeting to be present for, I’ll find my way forward again, slowly picking back up the momentum I enjoy as the API Evangelist. Researching, coding, telling stories, and pushing forward my projects so that they can have an impact on the space, and continue paying the bills to keep this vessel moving forward in the direction that I want.