Have You Ever Stayed at a Ritz-Carlton?

So if this person asking me why I lived in Central New York said they would never want to drive around the country in a van, I would ask them, “Have you ever gotten paid to travel around the country to stay at five-star hotels?”

Before I started working at Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare, I lived in Saratoga Springs and worked for a medical education company. We planned meetings for pharmaceutical companies and they only wanted the best for their physicians so every other weekend for two years, I traveled to different cities staying at beautiful hotels.

We stayed everywhere from the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole to the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, the Hotel Majestic in Barcelona, Spain, to the Ritz Carlton’s in Dallas, Atlanta, and Naples, Florida, and to about twelve other amazing cities. It was quite the change from traveling the country in a van to flying first class and staying at stunning hotels, all while getting paid for it.

When I went to my first meeting, I expected to have to share a room with a co-worker, like we did for our golf internship with the AJGA. We flew across the country to San Francisco and finally arrived at our hotel. We checked in – and I was shocked when I got my own room! My room was beautiful and we were allowed to order room service. The first thing I did was put on my bathrobe and ordered pancakes and ate breakfast in bed!

When we went to Beverly Hills for a meeting, we got the opportunity to rub elbows with the stars at a charity event sponsored by Tommy Hillfiger. The event was called “Race to Erase MS” and was a benefit to raise money for a cure for multiple sclerosis. My co-workers and I only got to attend the event if there were extra tickets after all the meeting attendees and our clients had tickets, so we had our fingers crossed as our client started to hand out the tickets. My heart was beating as he passed tickets out to about 30 people and I counted every last one as he put them in the hands of each person. Finally he came to us, and he looked like he had enough for us to go, and he did! The event was amazing and we saw lots of famous people including Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. We got to experience the Red Carpet and it was amazing to me how many camera flashes were going off – it was almost blinding. Earth Wind and Fire played live at the event and we danced the night away.

I wonder if the person asking me why I live in Central New York ever got the chance to go to a celebrity event in Beverly Hills? Although I have had the opportunity to visit so many beautiful choices, I still prefer to live in Central New York. It is a wonderful place to live and my family and friends make it home!