Traveling Alone?

“Umm…yes.” I hastily took the bag of peanuts from the nosy airline attendant and ripped the corner off. Sure, I was on a business trip, but that didn’t mean I was there just to work. I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of being cooped up in my hotel suite for 5 days straight, alone. It was my first time to New York and I desperately wanted to see the sites on my down time. There had to be someone in this vast city I could network with.

I sipped my Coke and fumbled through my purse for my address book. I was determined to find a friendly face in New York. A voice next to me interrupted my search in attempts to “clue me in.” He told me of a downloadable application called “WorldMate” that would locate business associates and friends, whose business travel overlapped with mine. He stated that he had been using it for “months” and never attempts travel without it.

Settled comfortable into my hotel that evening, I pulled up WorldMate’s website to see how much I’d have to shell out for the service. I about fell off my chair when I saw the word “free” appear on the screen. Amazingly, social networking was only one of their many offerings. I anxiously began the download. Searching worldmate’s travel software on my Blackberry, I found 3 acquaintances that were currently in town.

Twenty-four hours later, I was having dinner in a century-old pizzeria with two familiar faces. Tickets for a Broadway play were tucked in my wallet for our “after-dinner” entertainment. I couldn’t help thinking of the man on the plane, wishing I had his contact information to send a thank-you. No longer would my business trips be such a chore. Thanks to WorldMate, I could feel at home when I was hundreds of miles away.