Life on the Roadshow

London, Paris, Brussels, Birmingham, Bucharest and Budapest, in three weeks. Needless to say, roadshow season is enough to drive a humble soap maker mad. So after a hectic January I’m finally on the ferry leaving Holyhead, heading home. Here’s how I survived, without losing my mind.

The thing I like most about coming home, apart from the obvious (my wife and two kids), is getting a good night’s sleep. Staying in hotels isn’t my cup of tea - the lack of space, the repetition, and as Trish discovered in Paris recently, windowless rooms. Thankfully, modernity came to my rescue in the form of Airbnb. It gives me the opportunity to keep a semblance of normality in my day. I can cook, prepare lunches, sit on a couch in the evenings and most importantly open a window!

Then there’s the food. It might sound like the dream - eating out every night of the week, but your gut won’t thank you for it, at all! Give me a well-balanced, reasonably-portioned, home-cooked meal with my family, dog and two cats any day of the week. I try to cook my own dinners and prepare my lunches, as often as I can. Not only does it mean I’m eating better but it definitely contributes to that normality I crave when I’m away.

And then there are the empty evenings. After the trade show finishes, unless you’re going out with company, it’s back to an empty hotel room. The way I deal with this is by going to a lot of yoga classes - hot yoga if I can find it.

But, besides my family, what I really love about coming home is the return to normality and the people. The people. There really is something in the air in Ireland and I love it.

I can’t wait to get home.

Donagh Quigley