Uphill from the Metro to my new job at the Catholic University of America…uphill from my office in the Engineering building to the main Library (Mullen)…uphill from the Engineering building to the Student Center (and more importantly – the Starbucks!)…and, maybe worst of all… uphill – walking, walking, walking – from the VRE station at the end of the day to home. Never has a phrase so aptly described my first week at a new job.

The job is good – kind and professional colleagues, an intellectual challenge, surrounded by books always and back to my academic roots in Engineering. It isn’t the job that is the biggest challenge for me this first week. The biggest challenge for me is the travel. From the troubled Metro Red line, to the crowds in Union Station; from the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) platform etiquette rules (oh, why does no one smile?) to the hills – real and metaphoric. I travel uphill and it isn’t easy.

Any change, like a new location, a new home and a new job, is bound to be stressful. There is less stress for me in the work, than the travel. This is a surprise to me.

I will take heart from the title of this blog. I will just do good work and hope to grow into a savvy DC traveler who smiles now and then.