Road Warrior Women Chart Their Own Territory
Carry-on packed. Destination set. These women charted their own historical journey and have attained the coveted honor of becoming two of the five 2008 American Way Road Warrior winners because of their effort.
To earn the title of American Way Road Warrior you have to know how to travel. Know the essentials for your trusty carry-on. Know the must-have gadgets to be the most productive while in-flight. Chronicling mile after mile for work or leisure trips, a Road Warrior knows the ebb and flow it takes to go the distance … and still maintain your sanity.
This year, two women made the final cut on the short list for the 2008 American Way Road Warrior contest. Grand Prize winner Shannon Kenitz, Director of the International Hyperbarics Association, and Second Prize winner Kathy Fox Frisbie, Vice President of Education for ATI Enterprises, are skilled travelers who circle the globe for different reasons and exude the warrior mindset while embarking on their trips. Read a short profile on each courageous voyager here and be sure to check out their full story in the March 1 issue of American Way.
—Jennifer Robertson Norris
Road Warrior - Shannon Kenitz
Name: Shannon Kenitz
Nickname: Kenitz
Your definition of a Road Warrior: I think that a Road Warrior is someone who travels even when they don’t want to travel. I think that it is more than just the travel that makes a Road Warrior who she is. It is more about what they endure, accomplish, and what they learn while being on the road. A Warrior is someone who is strong and who can endure. When you are on the road like I am you have to endure what life has to offer you at that time, from missed connections to late-night meetings to not making it home in time for your child’s first concert. It’s all about the endurance and what you learn as a Warrior and what you can take with you ... life’s lessons I guess.
Describe your quintessential Road Warrior moment: One day I returned from a trip and was going down the escalators at the American Airlines Terminal in Madison, Wisconsin. I looked up and my daughter Grace got out of her wheelchair and walked to me for the very first time. [Kenitz is the director of the International Hyperbarics Association, a position she has a passion for because of her daughter Grace, who was born with a rare mitochondrial disease. With the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Grace has advanced further than expected. For her job, Kenitz travels the world giving inspiration to families suffering from similar circumstances. Before her current position, this single mom flew her first trip on American Airlines when she took Grace to consult with a specialist through the Miles for Kids in Need program. Learn more about this special program that utilizes donated miles to help kids in need at AA.com/kids.
Key difference between women and men travelers: Well to start with, it seems that the men outrank the women in regard to the amount of travel that they do. But a key difference I would have to say is the luggage. Men seem to have it down to an art with the carry-on and don’t check bags. It took me awhile to really fully understand that, but now I am all about the luggage and I never check a bag.
When you’re run down and the thought of traveling is wearing you out, what is the one thought that pulls it all together and gets you on that plane: For me this is an easy question because of what I do for a living. It is the fact that if I don’t get on that plane, then some family may choose to give up hope on their child. And I would never want to see that happen. It doesn’t matter what I may miss in my personal life, I know that when I am on a speaking tour I am giving hope to so many families out there who are lost and who need someone who understands.
I am so blessed and lucky to have my daughter, and if I had given up hope and hadn’t tried hyperbaric oxygen therapy, my daughter would simply be an angel today. I receive hundreds of letters a year from families all over the world who write to thank me for my story, for Grace’s story. They share their stories with me and pictures and it makes it easier for me to leave my family to get on a plane knowing that I am helping another family that has a child like Grace.
While you travel mostly for work, describe your dream vacation trip: My dream vacation has always been to take my daughters to Atlantis and sit by the ocean and “just be.” No cell phones, no TV, no doctors, no hospital visits. Just Grace, Lily, and me! Both my daughters love the water, and when Grace was in her wheelchair it was the only time I saw her free of braces and buckles and restraints. And now she swims. A vacation like that is what I dream of.
Must-have travel gadget: My BlackBerry and iPod
Must-have travel companion (this can be human or an inanimate object): Ha! Easy, my Patrón (as American Way readers will learn from my story). I just really don’t like to fly. Also, I would not leave home without my photo of Lily and Grace.
Road Warrior tips on getting through security efficiently: Flip-flops, no belts, and extra baggies … for the people in front of you who don’t know or understand the rules as you know them, as they start pulling out all their liquids.
No. 1 travel tip for the aspiring Road Warrior: I have 4 tips that I stand by:
No 1. You need to love what you do. Life is too short to be gone all the time from your loved ones, and if you don’t enjoy the reason behind your travel, then you will never really appreciate being a Road Warrior. You will never fully reach that goal.
No 2. Make sure that you tell the people that you leave behind what they mean to you before you leave on your next trip.
No 3. Don’t check your bags.
No 4. ALWAYS be kind to the employees working behind the counter. A smile on a bad day goes a lot farther and most of the time yelling at them isn’t going to change the fact that you just missed your connection. But a smile may just help with what will happen in the following 15 minutes after you’ve missed that connection.
What do you insist on when booking travel accommodations: A window seat! I would take a window in coach over an aisle in first … crazy, I know, but I really, really don’t like to stand up on planes.
How do you unwind while you are traveling: Having a glass of chilled Gran Patrón Platinum … again, I don’t like to fly.