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Occupying Your Freetime on a Business Trip? 73

Posted by Cliff from the social-butterfly-in-new-surroundings dept.
Eric asks: "I just learned that my employer is sending me on a project abroad, in a medium size city for 3 months, starting early August. This will be a 12-hour flight from home and I have friends just an 8-hour drive from there. This is not the first time I am being sent on a remote location, but it used to be short trips (one week, typically), so I didn't have time to get really bored. What do you do while on a long business trip? how do you meet people when you cannot use your network of friends and don't have months to waste on building a new network?"

"Getting to know people from the opposite sex would be nice, but I'm also looking for chaps to simply share a beer with. I'm your average geek, with normal social skills, but it usually takes me a long time (around 3 to 6 months) to make friends in a new area. Hobbies that do not need to be pursued thoroughly are good too.

Here are a few things that I've thought about:

  • join a sport club, though the sports I'm into (swimming, rollerblades, hockey on rollerblades) aren't the best for meeting people or aren't practiced everywhere
  • lurk in clubs and bars, but going there by yourself spawn images of sorrow drowning in my mind
  • take dancing lessons; a good way to meet girls, and it doesn't usually require to get a yearly membership
  • learn a new skill; I've registered on a distance Spanish course some time ago; not very successful so far (mostly due to laziness)
  • the geeky way: join an open-source project, though I'm not sure if I'll have a proper internet connection at the hotel
What do you do on your freetime, while away from your relatives for a couple of months?"
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Occupying Your Freetime on a Business Trip? More

Occupying Your Freetime on a Business Trip?

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  • Buy a bunch of blank CDs (Score:4, Funny)

    by seinman ( 463076 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @08:53PM (#6528012) Homepage Journal
    and start stockpiling the pornography now. Trust me, it'll come in handy later.
  • Ultimate frisbee, soccer, basketball, and so on. There are always people playing pickup games, and it's a great way to meet community minded people. I would be lost in my new home without the local Ultimate scene.
  • I could finally play Baldurs Gate! I hear it's good but haven't had time to play it yet. I have about 30 videogames I need to get caught up on. You are sooooo lucky.

    You could always be productive and expand your knowledge base as well. Maybe work on some economics theory or learn to program in a new language (or an old one like assembly). Find the time to work through that Quake II code.

    I have a list of about 4 years worth of stuff to do when I retire (which is hopefully soon). It's sad when people cannot

  • One word (Score:3, Funny)

    by Micro$will ( 592938 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @08:58PM (#6528039) Homepage Journal
    Hookers

    or Call Girls if you prefer the luxury of your hotel to the back seat of a rental car.

    • Seriously... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Most large cities have a thriving internet-based escort industry. Most small cities have a relaxed attitude about 'massage parlors'. So long as you stay away from the street talent, and visit with well-reviewed ladies the risk of you getting busted is virtually nil.

      If you're in town for three months, you're looking for 'no strings'. No one wants fewer strings than your friendly sex worker.

      Plus, it's legal in Canada and most of Nevada.

      If you're freaked out about diseases, get thee to a massage parlor. Usu
    • if you prefer the luxury of your hotel to the back seat of a rental car.

      Rent a van.

  • Do what I do.. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by GiMP ( 10923 )
    Nothing.

    I work at home, I never leave but to go grocery shopping; even that is sometimes done by my wife.
    I have some friends from highschool, but I see them only once every few months.

    Of course, I'm terribly lonely; if it wasn't for having a wife, I'd have gone mad a long time ago.
    • Are you that GiMP who lives in the box? You know, the one from "Pulp Fiction"? Wow! First Will Wheaton, now the Gimp! You meet the most interesting people on slashdot!

      "Bring out the Gimp" - Pulp Fiction

  • Where are you going? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by janda ( 572221 ) <janda@kali-tai.net> on Thursday July 24, 2003 @09:03PM (#6528069) Homepage

    You should have said where you were being sent. There's probably a /.er living there or close by.

    For the rest of it, if you're religious, find the closet church and go the first sunday you're there. They'll love you.

    Other then that, figure out what interests you, and try googling for "interest and city and state" or something.

    • I agree with the church/religious institution idea.

      Pennsylvania has the highest ratio of native residents of any state (80%), so most people have friends they have known since they were kids. It is hard to plug into a network like that, but religious institutions are good for getting to know people because there is a shared set of values, and they have all sorts of events to attend.

      If you are lucky, you will find someone who takes a liking to you, and you can go there for dinner all the time. :-)

      The com
    • In a previous post, someone mentioned that if you are religious you should join a church. If you are not already a member of a organized religion, you might want to try finding a Unitarian Universalist church [uua.org] near your destination. They usually have lots of activities and sermons that are are not focused on a particular belief system [uua.org]. I know a lot of interesting and geeky people who are Unitarians.
  • Seriously dude you don't need to network everything INCLUDING people.

    Keep it simple .

  • Wha??? (Score:5, Funny)

    by GuyMannDude ( 574364 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @09:08PM (#6528096) Journal

    I'm your average geek, with normal social skills...

    Um, don't those two statements contradict each other?

    GMD

    • damnit, you beat me to it. I just saw the article, and that was the first thing that popped into my mind.
    • I'm your average geek, with normal social skills...

      Um, don't those two statements contradict each other?

      Not really, normal geek social skill level is "None", isn't it?

  • Hookup with a Local Chick. (Score:4, Funny)

    by saden1 ( 581102 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @09:13PM (#6528118)
    Dude do the "hi, I'm out of town, can you show me around" routine. If you can't do that then keep doing what you do best, spanking it.
  • ...read the following books:
    Girls In A Nutshell
    Life for Dummies
    Idiots Guide To Living With Humans

  • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Hashing (Score:5, Informative)

    by illusion_2K ( 187951 ) <slashdot@nosPAm.dissolve.ca> on Thursday July 24, 2003 @09:25PM (#6528205) Homepage

    I was working in Africa last summer and found that for me the best way to meet people was by joining the local Hash House Harriers [gthhh.com]. I won't get into too much detail, but it basically bills itself as "a drinking club with a running problem." The runs were typically on farms and in the woods just outside of the city where I was staying and the landscapes were beautiful. Plus, the runnning was good and the beer was insanely cheap. :-)

    You didn't really give any details about where you're going, but if it's anywhere internationally, chances are there's a local HHH. It's got a lot to do with the whole ex-patriot community.

    -Gameboy, Lusaka HHH

    • How physically violent is hashing? Is it all just dependant on how far the club usually runs?

      • How physically violent is hashing? Is it all just dependant on how far the club usually runs?


        No, only on how badly you retch after 5 miles and 5 pints. :-)

        Seriously though, I found a HHH on Vanuatu's Efate island (look it up.) They're everywhere. And don't let the 'no nerds' thing distract you--the ones I've encountered are usually a really easy-going bunch of people (not just guys.)
      • The run is set up so that there are a lot of false trails, obstacles (sp?) and holds - meaning that even if you have people who are sprinting and people who are walking, they more or less stay together for the better part of the run.

      • How physically violent is hashing?

        Hashing is not hard at all - no worse than O(log n) or so.

      • It depends upon a lot of things. Some clubs like to run through deserts or rubber plantations. Others will just have a gentle saunter through the woods. Ours (http://www.frankfurt-hash.de) tends to usually do about an hour to an hour and a half of mixed terrain in moderate (i.e., German) conditions. It can easily be run at varying paces.

        As a general rule, men only hashes tend to be a little more extreme.

        However, I have run on hashes that have performed a climbs up a frozen waterfall, going through disus

    • To quote the site:

      If you want to see what we intended, viewed best in Internet Explorer! No nerd browsers, please.

      I'm not so sure they'd be so friendly to a /.er

      • I can't believe no one else pointed this out! Did you see the HUGE rant on why we should all just bend over and use both IE and Windows just because everyone else does?
        • http://www.gthhh.com/database/browser.asp
    • I agree, have run on all my overseas assignments as well as at home. In Uzbekistan, it was the best way to find out from the other expats what was really going on.

  • what you talking bout (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    what is this "friends"?

    hold up... ...what is this "free time"?

    your post both frightens and intrigues me.
  • Walking. This is a wonderful activity.

    Walk around. Talk to people. Ask them questions.

    Exercise. "Street level" social/cultural interactions. It's all there. Just get up and go. You'll find people with interests that will keep you busy. Coffee shops. Book stores. The street corner. Make random friends. Exchange numbers. Get together next Tuesday here or there. Talk more. Get introduced to friends, friends of friends, etc.

    Ask. Ask. Ask. And you shall learn.

  • Ideas from a movie: (Score:3, Funny)

    by Finni ( 23475 ) on Thursday July 24, 2003 @10:31PM (#6528624)
    You ever see In the Company of Men? [imdb.com]
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • for social advice? Are you insane?
  • IRC Seriously, I have many irc friends, and keeping up with them is a full time job by itself .. you have access(24/7 net I would imagine between work/hotel) get on irc and chat - I personally can be found at irc.worldassault.net # damit - ask for Zipster :)
  • In no particular order
    • Do some warchalking with your PocketPC/Zaurus
    • Get your amateur radio license and join the local club(s), even if it's only for a few months they'd probably welcome you.
    • Since when does developing opensource projects require a lot of bandwidth? Just wget all the documentation you need and CVS the source and after that you shouldn't need much bandwidth.
    • Paintball is fun.
    • Bars & clubs are fine if you can find ones that have like-minded people. Maybe coffee shops and cyber-cafe's are
  • I picked up some modeling clay and started sculpting. Easy enough to pack when you head back home -- sqish it all down back into a lump.

    I brought a laptop of my own, to toy around with software.
    • > I picked up some modeling clay and started sculpting. Easy enough to pack when you head back home -- sqish it all down back into a lump.
      >
      > I brought a laptop of my own, to toy around with software.

      ...and as long as you don't store that lump in the corner of your laptop's spare drive bay, you should be fine. *ba-da-bump*

  • You seem to like interacting with Slashdot readers so why not check to see if there is a Slashdot Meetup [meetup.com] in the city you'll be working in? If you meet one person you click with you'll be set as they will introduce you to their friends who you are likely to get along with. Instant circle of friends.
  • Perhaps it's my asocial lifestyle, but I find your basic assumption -- that you need to be among friends in order to have fun -- very strange. There are lots of things you don't need company to do: visit museums, go to major league games (or even minor league -- some people think that's actually more fun) go on a hike, attend a religious observance, do a bar crawl, go to a flea market, go whale watching, or just walk/drive around exploring the place you're at.

    And of course, if you're socially inclined (un

  • Hop on Friendster and find someone in your social network
    who lives near your temporary location.
  • I mean, hell, you want friends, it helps to have something in common with them. Personally, I was a military brat, and the military folks tend to be much more welcoming of any new person, as they're used to being the new person themselves, but most people aren't so used to getting thrown in a new place every few years.

    If you're in any professional/hobbyist/whatever organizations, look to see if there are any chapters where you're going...for those geeks, maybe a linux users group [linux.org], perl mongers [pm.org], whatever.

  • Check out the architecture (probably irrelevant if you're stuck in the midwest)

    Learn the language (or any language)

    Read a book

    Get in shape

    Pick a relevant exam, and study for it

    Ask through your network of friends if there's anyone around there you should meet

    Work on some personal projects on a laptop (takes discipline)

    Find a cafe, buy a newspaper, light a cigarette, and relax. It's summer. Enjoy it.

    Write letters
    The best thing about working somewhere else on a project is that you don't hav

    • You forgot the most important one ... play EVERQUEST!

      Sorta like the married guy that got a mistress and let his wife he had a mistress. Now his wife thinks he is with mistress, the mistress thinks he is with his wife, and he is down at his office attending some serious guild sized raids in the new expansion zones.
  • 1. A Gameboy Advance is a good way to pass some time.
    2. Basketball or soccer. There are always people ready and willing to play.
    3. Learn arabic. I've tried for the fun of it, and it's no picnic. But looks from your co-workers as you read Al-Jazeera every morning would be worth it!

  • this is hard? (Score:1, Redundant)

    by dnight ( 153296 )
    * strip joints
    * casinos
    * strip joints
    * in-room porn movies
    * did I mention strip joints?

    Free time should be spent off the computing grid. Go remind yourself what boobies feel like.

  • always go geocaching [geocaching.com]. There are caches all over. Take some cool USian trinkets to leave in the caches, and you could probably find some cool local trinkets to keep.

  • Find a coffee shop (or a similar place) that usually is on the medium side of busy (usually has a couple of people in it, but isn't packed) and show up every day around the same time. After a couple of days, the employees, as well as the other regulars, are bound to start recognizing you and making friends with them should become relatively easy. It may not generate the best friendships, but it's good in the (relatively) short term.
  • Just get bent.... every night.... That's how people in my town pass the time.
  • meeting people is easy [meetup.com]
  • Pick up a GBA and a bunch of games.
  • "Getting to know people from the opposite sex would be nice,

    Salsa, Tango, or whatever is there for you, could be a keyword. You do not need to be a womanizer to nicely spend some time dancing. More to that, learning salsa is even geeky. Man really have to think and plan how does he want his partner to move, otherwise it won't work. It's not just jumping around to the music :-)

    --
    And remember:
  • A couple of things that you might try are taking classes and volunteering.

    There are lots of various classes that you can take. You've already identified dance classes, but any sort of class in something that you have some vague interest would be a good way to meet people. I've met some really nice people in pottery and cooking classes. In Houston, there's an outfit called Leisure Learning that serves as a clearing house for some classes on various topics. There may be something similar wherever you ar

  • But I would suggest hiking and cycling to get to know the local area not to mention much needed exercise...

  • Every city I've been to has pleny of things to do that you could wonder for 3 months and not see the same thing twice unless you wanted to. Just visiting all the historical sites within driving distance of my midwest town should take you more than 3 months if you spend time to really look them over instead of running through it. (And we consider many things less than 75 years old historical, perhaps the city you visit will be much older)

    Check out the zoo - nearly all cities have one, but in some cases

  • When traveling I work, work, work, drink a beer at the same bar everynight, work, work, work. Of course I bill hourly, so it pays. Then I get home and don't touch a computer for weeks. Drinking a beer at the same watering hole everynight helps you feel like you have friends if you need to discuss something (if not, drink more beer), like "my wife just called from her boyfriends house...". If you don't work hourly, build some sort of product. I built an OO database on one trip (I planned on selling it a

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