Jamaica, mon
One of the joys of my career is sometimes also a pain ... I travel a lot. Sometimes it's to not-so-pleasant spots like Newark, NJ (last week). This coming week, my travels include Jamaica. Fun, you say? A great chance to thaw out, lay around in the sun and par-tey? Yeah, sure.
Sure, I'm looking forward to working in common law courts to help make things run smoother. It's a nice change from US courts, and the cultural differences are stimulating. I've already worked extensively common law courts in Hong Kong, especially after the momentous handover from British sovereignty to Chinese rule.
I've also worked elsewhere in the West Indies. A couple of years back, I had a chance to work with the Magistrates in Trinidad-Togago, the Southern-most Caribbean islands near Venezuela. Magistrates preside over the lower jurisdiction courts hearing traffic, misdemeanors, small civil claims and early stages of felony processing. The actual work took place on Tobago, where Robinson Crusoe was purported to have been stranded in the classic Daniel Defoe novel.
So let's get to Jamaica ... the plusses are the weather, interesting work, another new stamp on the passport, cultural immersion, probably good food (and grog) and the chance to positively affect justice outside our shores. Here are the minuses ...
1) It's four time zones away, making travel all the more taxing.
2) Most flights leave the East Coast in the morning, leaving two options for West Coast travellers: either leave the day before and spend the night at an East Coast airport hotel, or take the red-eye and arrive in the morning in time for a connecting flight. I (bravely) have chosen the latter and only pray I am able to sleep on the plane overnight.
3) While the location may be interesting and fun, I'll be working. That means boning up on local issues on the plane ride, and working full days while I'm there.
4) While Jamaica is not technically a third world country, there is significant poverty and crime. Accordingly, it's not the kind of place you'd want to take unrestricted strolls through the countryside. I'm hoping I'll do some exploring, but it is likely I will be stuck in the hotel compound for a vast majority of my time there.
OK, so I don't expect any sympathy from you. Those who think that extensive travel is fun and exciting will not change their view until they get enough travel under their belts to grow weary of it. Those of us who travel for a large part of our career learn survival skills that take the edge off of the downsides, while maximizing the plusses.
Getting paid to go to interesting places is a job benefit, and I am aware of my good fortune in this regard. Just remember, Jamaica today may also mean Minot, North Dakota tomorrow. There are definitely tradeoffs.
Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com
Photo credit = Mapquest