work trip to dc

I had got to go on my first work trip with my company for an event that was happening in DC. It was very last minute. I booked it on Tuesday and my trip was on Thursday. Without further ado, here’s my first work trip!

Thursday, May 8, 2025

I wake up at 5:30 in the morning. It’s dark outside and I’ve had a fitful night of sleep.

I get ready in the dark. My outfit’s lying on my chair, ready from the day before when I ironed it. In a surprise twist, I put on my Vans. I don’t usually wear sneakers but considering most of my day will be spent traveling, I want to be as comfortable as possible. 

My alarm rings at 6, and it’s out the door for me.

Last time, I took an Amtrak, I was on my way to Virginia to see my beloved friend Cata and to see those gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains that feel like they’re calling you home. This time my destination is DC. I’m lucky when I get on the train and get a window seat. The only problem? I was moving backwards. It seems a funny thing how time moves in one direction and here I was going the other. 

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I begin my train ride listening to Mat Kerekes. Mat’s voice is utterly nostalgic, his mood subdued but imbued with meaning. Here’s the perfect soundtrack for a train ride. Music always sounds best to me on the Amtrak. The rolling landscape, the trees dancing in the wind. What a gorgeous backdrop for an album about grief, change, and the way love morphs into something you weren’t quite expecting. 

I clock in and check my emails. There aren’t many at the early hour. I double check my weekly report and start playing the New York Times Spelling Bee. I do it out of boredom or maybe to see how clever I am really. I switch over from music to Beautiful Anonymous.

Beautiful Anonymous is another train staple for me. I pick an episode from the archive I’ve been longing to listen to, but it’s never the right time. This time it was. Library Boy. I end up laughing the whole way through. It’s like a comedy show in Wisconsin. Chris the comedian comes out in pure view and the audience is along for the ride. The caller is fun too in telling her story. I think we all have some form of Library Boy–a path we were interested in crossing but never did. Who knows how the story would have ended if we took another road? We didn’t, so here we are.

I arrive in DC at 11. I’ve never been outside of the Union Station before so it was all new to me. The Capitol Building so clearly nearby. I stand outside and wait for my Uber. It takes a while. The traffic isn’t ideal. I head over to my event, and end up doing some communications work while meeting new colleagues.

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While at the event, I am stunned to find that white smoke has been seen outside the Sistine Chapel. A new Pope has been chosen. (I was really hoping I’d be able to watch the smoke on TV and hear the announcement, but sometimes life surprises you.)

After leaving the event, my colleague and I head over to a coffee shop in Capitol Hill. Peregrine Espresso. It’s a brillant day, so people are chatting outdoors and working outside. My colleague and I chat for a bit until I call an Uber and head over to the Museum.

While in DC, I have at least an hour and a half to kill before my train back to NYC, so I decide to head on over to the Museum of the Bible. My Uber driver was feeling chatty and made me laugh so I’m in a good mood as I head over. The front desk personnel was also very chatty, feeling very confused about my attire and my chosen employment. He thought I was still in college and then he immediately switched over to thinking I was a teacher. Very hilarious. 

I wander around the Museum of the Bible, hitting a few exhibits. The first one I go to talks about the Bible and the various translations. It’s vast and I’m overwhelmed at how much there is to see. The next exhibit is about the U.S. and religion. It walks you through the colonies and how religion has spread throughout the U.S. There are names I don’t know and I photograph them, intending to do my research.

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I uber over to Union Station around 3ish. Traffic is worse now than it was earlier, so I feel a bit anxious. I end up having plenty of time to grab Cava, and walk around the mall-like atmosphere of it all. The new pope really is the big news of the day.

Back on the train, I end up actually working though the Amtrak wifi is bad. I end up transcribing a portion of the speakers and then uploading videos and photos. It takes me a while. I listen to music here and there, but this part of the ride is less fun with no window seat and work.

I end up at home at 8pm, capping a 12 hour day. At home, as I lay in bed, I still feel like I’m buzzing from all the movement. While I might do a day trip to DC again, I wouldn’t want to do it as a work trip, considering how much I do enjoy an Amtrak ride.

Hope you enjoyed my first work trip to DC! Share with me if you’ve ever been on a work trip and what it was like.

Signing off,

Gigi