Once I made the decision to leap, I immediately went into planning mode. With the pandemic upending everything we knew to be normal in 2020, I hadn’t really done a lot of travel planning in quite a while. While as a consultant, I have been a quite frequent traveler (still platinum status even through a pandemic—brush your shoulders off), I had never taken a trip for more than 3 weeks at once.

I’d need to break my preparation into two buckets: logistics and relationships.

QT with Jay-Z

Time with Bébé

Gunner Butt

CG3 Hang Time

QT with Jay-Z Time with Bébé Gunner Butt CG3 Hang Time

Financing the Trip

Maid of Honor Duties

Nigeria Planning

Office Move

DKC Client Projects

Financing the Trip Maid of Honor Duties Nigeria Planning Office Move DKC Client Projects

When you’re accepted at Le Cordon Bleu, you immediately begin to receive lists of things to ensure your success in the program.

Measurements needed for your official chef coats, trousers, hats, etc.
Recommendations on shoes for 6-12-hour days of culinary learning
Housing resources for those traveling to study in Paris

Now what you may not know, dear reader, is that in the midst of this endeavor, I also have the supreme honor of having been asked to be the maid of honor for my younger sister. Why does that matter? Well because this meant that my travel would look something like this:

April 1st - May 14th: Paris, France - Culinary Institute
May 14-May 17th: Houston, TX - Unpack, kiss the dog, repack
May 17th - May 23rd: Lagos, Nigeria - get these two lovebirds married!

As the maid of honor::pops collar:: that meant I had more to do than just show up so that logistics piece of this puzzle because a bit more complex.

Before leaving, I’d need to execute my company’s office move, get the COVID booster, arrange for necessary vaccines for Nigeria, co-ordinate with the other bridesmaids for the bridal shower and bachelorette party, help my bébé take on the things I normally do for the renovation company, organize my client projects with their project leads, book all of my travel, coordinate my teams first Salesforce event without me, the list continued, but like I always say, “plan and execute.”

Eventually, it all came together. The logistics were taken care of. I booked the necessary flights. Found the cutest little apartment in the 15th arrondissement about 1.2 miles away from LCB.

So I’m really doing this…