I feel like I've been sleep walking for days. I arrived in the UK last Tuesday, and flew directly to Cork....but shortly after arriving, I came down with a severe case of the flu.

Being sick while being on the road sucks. First, there is no one to take care of you, or to even provide you sympathy. I made several calls to my husband and to friends...but remote sympathy is really a poor substitute for being petted and cared for!

Second, because I flew all the way here, I can hardly call in sick. I had to carry on with my presentations. For one presentation, I took such a combination of meds to keep from harking up a lung in front of potential customers, that I almost fell over when I stood to talk....whoops!

So, instead of shopping in London, or going to a matinee this weekend, I spent the days in bed. Boring, boring, boring. But today, Sunday, I'm feelng a little bit better. So maybe I'll manage to crawl down to my pub for a stella tonight....

I never wanted a job that would take me around the world, but somehow, I got one! Once upon a time, I was a normal person, working a normal job in a 6x6 cubicle. Now I worry about things like getting my bulging carry-on into the overhead, and if I can survive a week on 3 pairs of shoes, will my Italian customer notice that I wore the same suit jacket the last time we met, and is fur really politically incorrect when it is -20 degrees in Moscow!

My name is Harlie and I'm a demo dolly for a US based software company. Yes, that's right a demo dolly. I'm the person that performs the dog and pony to convince people to buy our software. I don't know how I got here. It was not a normal career move. Normal people don't grow up wishing to be a demo dolly. But I do know that once I started this job, I knew I would never quit.

And, this is my story, my travel tales....