indigo_rose99

People always ask me how much I travel. Given what I do, it seems like a logical question.

All of the following come from 2006 and 2007 summary statistics.

% of weeks with travel: 61%-68%

% of days traveling: 37%-39%

% of weekdays traveling: 34%-36%

% traveling days / working days (counting days spent in transit for work as "work"): 49%-58%

So what should I tell people? 68% is very different from 34%. All listed above are the truth. Which is the more truthful truth? I don't know, and don't quite know how to explain my dilemma to people who ask. Thus far I end up with a person who seems to seriously regret asking.

Perhaps this situation is a bit like the answer I got from the meteorologist when I asked, "When you say percentage chance of rain for the day, is that the percentage of the listening area that will get rain, or the percentage of the time the spot I am standing in will get rained upon, or the percentage chance that the spot I am standing in will get rain?" He said, "A bit of all of that." People don't want too many numbers to complicate their answers. They just want to know if they should carry an umbrella or not.

So, when people ask me how much I travel, I think I am going to try out the answer "A fair amount." and see if they will take it. If you have any other suggestions that avoid the sheer geekiness of the overly truthful answer, please tell me.