camel near Al Ain

I’m visiting the HOK Saint Louis office, training with about 20 of my colleagues – many of whom I have never met, many of whom I have emailed repeatedly, and a couple of people I know pretty well.  It’s always fun to meet new people – I find that every time we do some sort of multi-office training program I come away with a couple of new friends and tons of great ideas for how to be better at my job.

This is the first time I’ve visited the STL office.  I must say it is fabulous!  In my 3.5 years at HOK, I’ve had lots of opportunities to travel.  I’ve been to the NY, HOU, ATL, SF, and STL offices (I’m based in DC) - each are unique and fabulous in their own ways.  I’ve also had opportunities for fun client trips – two weeks in Denver this summer, a day in Edmonton, two weeks in Abu Dhabi last november and also the July before (see camel above), a week in Las Vegas, a few days in New Orleans.   Pretty cool trips!  Don’t get me wrong – the trips are not all to sexy destinations: I’ve also been to suburban New Jersey (several times) and Iowa (there’s no direct way to get there from DC).

Each trip has been a lot of fun – I’ve had the opportunity to meet new friends (both colleagues and clients) – and I always learn something new!