Past Coventry... and beyond!

No, I'm not actually going to Coventry. That particular destination is something of a personal bugbear of mine. I know people who ventured to all manner of exotic destinations on business trips, from Australia to Disney World (the latter not being terribly exotic, but still rather fun). The furthest afield I've been sent is Coventry, a place, let me reassure you, which wouldn't know exotic if it jumped up and down on it's head whilst pouring brightly coloured cocktails (with those little paper umbrella's which we all know signify far flung destinations) down it's front and singing "I'm exotic" at the top of it's lungs. Coventry != exotic, just in case you weren't paying attention. And I've always been shipped there when it's least convenient for me. Always. I spent one birthday trapped in a windowless warehouse in Coventry. It wasn't fun.

Still, it looks as though I can finally put my travails in Coventry behind me. Come Monday morning, I'll winging my way to the slightly more alluring destination of Mumbai. Yes, that Mumbai - formerly Bombay, population some 13 million, thriving hub of technology etc. In India. I could go into all sorts of banal details as to why (yadda yadda yadda outsourcing etc.), but it doesn't really matter. There's a whole new continent awaiting my arrival! I'll be there for two weeks, the first with my manager, the latter on my own. It's all been organised in a bit of a rush. A leaflet from the GP helpfully recommended receiving inoculations 2 months before reaching India, which makes my five days look somewhat meagre. Still the nurse at the clinic was rather blase about the whole affair and seemed reassuringly confident that the jabs she cheerfully stuck me with would do their job regardless.

It'll be work for the most part, but there will be a little time for sightseeing - a weekend at the very least and I believe that one of the days we're out there is a public holiday. My Mum was rather excited on my behalf, especially when she discovered just how many beaches border the city (rather a lot is the answer). I don't care for such things quite as much as my Mum, but she'll no doubt be pleased to hear that I'm booked into a hotel by the beach - only because it was the cheapest option mind. The more expensive hotels were vetoed by work apparently, but there's a swimming pool, a gym and wi-fi which is enough to satisfy my modest requirements. Hopefully air-conditioning comes as standard. The daytime temperatures have been hovering at just over 30 degrees centigrade out there recently, which is a touch too much on the warm side for my liking, and a heat for which my current wardrobe is best described as wholly inadequate. A spot of shopping for white t-shirts is in order this weekend methinks.

Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun.

Hopefully