99 Days of Something #6 – Academic Travel to think better

I haven’t been in a writing mood today. I haven’t updated my running blog (I haven’t run but I have cycled) and I haven’t written anything else either. I had basically given up getting anything down today. Some days are just not for writing it seems. Although I always feel better when I do write. But then I was scrolling through social media and saw posts from people I know heading to or having fun in San Francisco for one of the big Law conferences. I don’t want to write about conferences as such but it did make me think about all the places work has taken me that I might never have gone to otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, when I look back, a tiny fraction of conference trips were funded by work, most of them I paid for myself and even the ones where I did get funding, that mostly only covered part of the cost – so this isn’t about seeing the world and having fun on public money, in fact academics are the only group of people I know who routinely pay out of pocket to do parts of their job. And actually conferences are really hard work! Anyway, maybe more about actual conferencing another day.

I have been to some pretty amazing places to conferences, for fieldwork and for fellowships etc over the last 20 years. I got to spend time in Hamburg early on in my career which meant I got to spend lots of time with my Dad (because I stayed with him throughout the fellowship) and my Oma who loved me coming round for breakfast several times a week. I also got to see bits of Bulgaria and Poland as well as cities in Germany I had never been to during fieldwork. I have been to conferences and events in Warsaw, Salzburg, Oslo, Freiburg, Berlin, Brussels, Lund, Paris, Barcelona, Toronto, Montreal, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Mexico City, Brisbane and those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. In many of these locations, particularly those outside Europe, I have always tried to add a holiday to make it worth going that far. But even when I have only done the conference, I have always made time to see at least a little bit of the place. It’s a perk of the job in some ways because sometimes conferences give access to places you don’t otherwise get. For smaller events that might just be seeing the inside of the university hosting the event – but I love that. I love getting a sense of universities in other countries, the way they feel, what they show to the public and what you can glean from being behind the scenes a little, wandering corridors, reading noticeboards (where notice boards still exist) or looking at what pictures (if any) they choose to hang on their walls. Bigger events sometimes get you access to things historic buildings for drinks receptions or dinner, or special tours like the Supreme Court in Washington DC. It can also give you a very warped sense of a place though if you just stay in your conference bubble. There were a whole load of people who missed out on amazing street food in Mexico City because they never really ventured out from the conference hotel or recommended restaurants.

The overseas trips are of course often the ones that stick in your mind. The Brisbane conference was epic partly because it fell right in the middle of a 4 week Australia adventure that we designed around the conference. I had won a best paper prize which meant that the conference fee was waived and I received some money towards travel which basically paid for my flight. Anyway, most of my conferences and events have actually been UK based. I disproportionate number of them in London but UK travel has also seen my visit Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Cardiff, Swansea, Newcastle, York, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Worcester, Stratford, Reading, Bath, Norwich, Brighton, and probably lots more I can’t think of now. I don’t tend to stay longer for UK events but I do often still try and see a bit of the place – that might be with a little tourist run or a walk. In some ways it is a great way to see little bits of a place which then means you can decide if you want to go back and actually spend some time there. I have a soft spot for Leicester because I was a student there. I’d never go there as a tourist but I will always jump at an opportunity to visit for work. Same for Birmingham. I would like to spend more time in Bath – good incentive to get on with the DBA, maybe a summer graduation with a day or two either side would be a nice way to spend a few days.

Anyway, what’s the point of writing this. Well, partly it just popped into my head that I have been to a lot of interesting places because of work and partly because it is a really good reminder that it’s not all about spreadsheets. Occasionally it can and must also be about exchanging interesting, exciting and complex and challenging ideas with other people who are interested in similar things, who can share their perspective and challenge your own. It’s about being asked and asking questions that make you re-think, tweak or abandon arguments, it’s about pushing each other to think differently and articulate more clearly. Not every conference achieves that but those that do go some way to rewiring the brain and changing the world for the better. For me that level of thinking, challenge, re-thinking and that level of clarity and focus is something I can rarely achieve when at home and doing the day job. It is something I know I struggle to achieve when attending events online. There is something about being in a physical space away from home and sharing that space with others and giving in to the intensity of the conversations and just rolling with it all in spite of imposter syndrome, in spite of sometimes not really understanding and in spite of always being completely over-peopled that makes my brain fire up. It’s where the magic happens. It’s where I am pushed to think better.

I hope all colleagues in San Francisco have an amazing time and come home buzzing with ideas and I wish the same to everyone else out there who has conferences or events coming up to challenge you to be better. Let’s accept that challenge and see where it takes us.