The hardest part about relocating is the timing of trips into the perspective new job markets. Things never seem to work out in a manner that is both cost effective and time efficient. The perfect situation would be to have 5 or 6 interviews magically line up over the course of about a week, and each of those interviews be willing to wait long enough that you are able to book travel inexpensively. Alas, I've never seen this perfect storm play out, so I'm always left to try to get a little something going with at least one perspective employer, and then fly out to the area and stay long enough to at least lay some groundwork for other possibilities. Such is the case in my big push to move into the wine industry, a task that might be even more taxing than the standard job search.

This time I decided to get out in front of this whole process early. I do have a couple of people in Napa that I have been in contact with, but I certainly don't have the dream 5-6 options lined up. Despite this fact, I have booked a trip out to sunny (although I hear it's not really sunny this year) California. I will be hitting the ground in Oakland on Thursday, August 26th and will trek out to Napa/Sonoma for about a week. The plan – talk to as many freaking people as possible and hand out about a million resumés. In the two weeks that I have to work with leading up to the trip, I plan to send out yet more resumés and see if I can fill up my schedule as much as possible.

One of the best parts of this whole process has been the incredible community response to my effort. You have all been amazing in your support of this job search, and I'm thankful for each one of you who have sent recommendations, well wishes, and leads. If any of you have any suggestions of people that I should be in contact with in the next couple of weeks, I would definitely appreciate the pointers. I would also love to see some of you while I'm in the area, so feel free to give me a shout if you are in the Napa or Sonoma areas and would like to meet up while I'm there. I'll be spending a lot of time working on my job search, but I'd like to meet up with as many of you as I can. If you are in the wine industry and would like to visit with me about possible employment opportunities, my resumé is located here, and I would love to talk with you.

One way or another, all of this is going to culminate in my wife and I moving somewhere by October. The only question is where that will be, and what exactly we will be doing. I am so pumped about the opportunity to shift gears and move into the wine industry, and if hard work and passion are enough to make it happen, I'll be working in the industry I love when the dust all settles.

Image taken from businesstravellogue.com