Am I the only one that misses my old life already?

This is the "goodbye" email I sent out at work...

Warning: This is my too-long, “until next time” email:

As most of you know, I have decided to pursue my MBA, so this Friday is my last day with Celerant. You guys have left me with so many memories that I can’t begin to list them here. Therefore, I’ll just leave you with a few thoughts that won’t make you any smarter. As a matter of fact, this email will completely waste your time and at the end you’ll think, “Well that’s 30 seconds I’ll never get back.”

Anyway, I don’t know about those of you who have done this job for a decade, but after 4 short years I’ve already forgotten how “normal” people live. While prepping for school, I’ve come across some learnings about non-travel life:

• Every car on the road is not a rental from either Hertz or Avis.
• My new classmates don’t understand why I refer to cities by their 3-letter airport codes.
• At home, towels dropped on the floor in the morning are not miraculously clean and hung by the afternoon.
• I will now be able to buy bananas, oranges, AND pears on Sunday and know that I can consume them all before they go bad.
• Last Friday afternoon when I was standing in line I quickly took off my shoes, removed the change from my pockets, put it all on the moving conveyor belt then rolled my eyes at the obvious “vacation travelers” in front on me...only to realize I was standing at the grocery store checkout.

And some things aren’t likely to happen anymore:

• Staying at another hotel called “Hotel,” eating at a restaurant called “Restaurant” and getting gas at “The Gas Station.”
• Making regular contributions to airport and hotel Lost & Found departments.
• Having a cell phone, work address, fax number, driver’s license, and email address that are all based out of different states/countries.
• Commuting every Monday and Friday for 3-10+ hours (now it’s 15 minutes).
• Maintaining a wardrobe split across multiple states.
• Calling fellow colleagues from the airport during a hurricane/tornado/snowstorm to compare whose flight is delayed longest.
• Waking up and forgetting what state I’m in.
• Going to the airport and forgetting what state I’m going to.
• Driving back to the hotel and realizing we’ve left someone at the client site.
• Traveling random weekends with friends just because we feel like it.
  Las Vegas? Sure! Scottsdale? Yes! Shenandoah River? Sign me up!

Seriously, those that know me know how much I love to travel and have had such a great time at Celerant. But what has helped to make it so great is the people. I don’t eat breakfast, lunch AND dinner 5 days per week with colleagues; I do that with my friends. Thank you, everyone, for being such great friends these last 4 years.

Please keep in touch and look me up whenever you’re in Boston,
F