Let me be clear on this. I don’t attend conferences for fun, I do it because I think it’s important for my research (and that of my team). Of course, I (usually) enjoy conferences but when in a conference I’m working and, even more, I’m working 24h a day because I cannot just go home in the evening.

So, please, stop making my life more difficult every time I need to travel (complex booking procedures, daily budgets so tight that sometimes I should choose between sleeping well or eating well because I cannot afford the two without adding money from my own pocket, late reimbursements,…). I don’t do it for fun I do it because I believe I need to and I do it regardless where the event is hosted (even if I´m sick of going there).

I hate it when university managers assume that for us travelling to conferences is a prize and that we should be eternally grateful. Believe me, I don’t need to use the excuse of a conference to visit some nice place. I can plan my holidays on my own.

I´ll give you that there is probably an exception to this: first year phd students who may have not travelled a lot before and who can still enjoy the conference and the after-conference because they don’t keep thinking in the pile of work that is accumulating on their desk back at the office.