It’s official … I have become a curmudgeon.
When I was a cub reporter at the Western Producer 30-some years ago (cough, cough), I would get wildly excited about work trips.
The Producer has always been fantastic about sending reporters abroad or within Canada to cover events we think would be of interest to farmers.
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I used to go on two or three trips a year to attend various commodity group conferences or industry events.
It was exhilarating to experience new places such as Istanbul, Turkey, and Cologne, Germany.
I would spend hours planning what to do in my down time, checking out where to eat, what bands were in town, what sites to see.
But as the years elapsed, I became a dad and instead of taking an extra day to enjoy wherever I was going, I would rush back home immediately following the conference to be with my kids.
The trips became fly in, sit in a conference centre for a few days and fly out.
Instead of going out on the town at night, I tend to collapse in bed these days and wait for the pain in my back and feet to subside.
Now, I’m not for one minute suggesting that this is a physically demanding job, but spending all day running around from session to session and interviewing people during coffee breaks and lunch breaks is a lot for an old, out-of-shape reporter.
And paying attention to every word that is uttered at the speaker’s podium is mentally taxing. I long for the day when I can go to a conference as an attendee rather than a reporter and drift in and out of consciousness.
So it was with some trepidation that I headed off to Whistler, B.C., to attend the 2025 Pulse and Special Crops Convention.
Wait, am I really seeking sympathy for spending a few days in one of the nicest resorts in the world and meeting interesting people from India and other importing regions of the world?
OK, maybe I have overplayed my hand a wee bit.
But if you read one of my stories with the Whistler placeline, please take a minute to think of my sore back.
And if any of my bosses read this column, please ignore the parts about dreading travel. By the way, the 2026 Commodity Classic is in San Antonio, Texas, in February.
You wouldn’t want me to forget the Alamo, would you?
