perks of the job

Given the nature of my job covering the entire U.S. sales force and customer base, I have been doing a good bit of traveling since joining Kimberly-Clark. That can be tough sometimes, as the Appleton airport is very small, with very few flight options. Unless I'm going to Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis or Atlanta, every trip requires a layover, which inevitably means it takes almost an entire day to arrive at any given destination.

Lucky for me, the company still has a corporate jet, and it makes regular trips to Arkansas and Seattle, two of my most frequent itineraries. With Walmart, Costco and Amazon being some of our largest customers, this perk makes it so much easier to manage the "there and back" for meetings.

did I hear a Niner?
Given that I've flown in and out of NW Arkansas for years now, the landscape upon approach is very familiar. The chicken coops, the wide open spaces, Beaver Lake in the distance and I-49 running north and south still beckon me to the home of my heart. I tend to glance out the windows as we make our final descent, continuing the conversation that has been ongoing with my coworkers on the way down.

Last month, though, I went out to Seattle for the first time on the corporate jet. About halfway there, one of my friends encouraged me to sit up front in the jump seat behind the pilots as we made our final approach so that I could get a birds eye view as we landed. Why not? I'm always up for a new adventure. He and the pilots got me set up, headset and all, so I could listen in on their conversation with air traffic control. I figured this would be a cool thing to tell Justin and the kids about once I was back home.

Oh, WOW, did I underestimate - what a gift he gave me with that recommendation! I had only ever been to Seattle once, and that was on a layover on the way to Anchorage, so I'm not even sure it counts. That trip was commercial, too, into SeaTac, and so many years ago I can't really even remember being there. This trip, though, was unforgettable! Coming in over the Cascades, with Mt. Hood in the distance, and the sun sparkling on the Sound was breathtaking.
Mt. Hood in the distance
the Cascades

When I first learned that we still had a company plane and it was available on a monthly basis, I was maybe even a little scandalized at the choice to spend corporate money in that way. Now that I've taken advantage of it and realized how much time we save due to the nature of living in a very, very small market town, I've come all the way around to the practical nature of doing so. On this flight, though, I felt like the investment couldn't really be measured, because the million dollar view was priceless.

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