Andy Mitchell | BEN LAARMAN | Job | Hilton Waikoloa Village

And we might as well add beautiful to that. Look at these guys and girls. No, they're not body doubles for this year's group of road warriors. These people are the real thing. And no, that's not a nicely painted backdrop. That's a real live Hawaiian sunset on a real live Hawaiian beach.

Yep. It seems 90 percent of you think Hawaii is the ultimate destination. So what better place to shoot our Ultimate Road Warriors? Thanks to the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Kona on the Big Island, we had the perfect setting. Some might even call it posh.
In addition to our five winners, we had 15 final-
ists and almost 9,000 other pretty fabulous entries. And because everyone offered so many great suggestions, we've dedicated almost this entire issue to sharing their stories with you. So if you're on your 100th trip of the year, read up on what some of your fellow warriors had to say. It will make you feel like you're not alone.

GRAND-PRIZE WINNER
ANDY KNIGHT MITCHELL
HAPPY VALLEY FILMS
Job: Documentary Filmmaker
Home: Burlington, Vermont
Age: 31
Number of Days Traveled in 2004: 180

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Despite how natural he looks here, Andy Mitchell is much more comfortable behind a camera than in front of one. As a documentary filmmaker, he travels all over the world filming lions, tigers, bears, sharks, giant squid, and whales, and the list goes on. And he had plenty of stories to share about the many gross and unusual things he's come across, eaten, and been eaten by, and the less-than-pleasant places he's had to work and sleep in. But despite the makeup, lights, gawkers, and mosquitoes gnawing at his ankles, there was nothing we could do to make Andy complain. Perhaps that's because we were shooting in the less-than-harsh conditions of Kona's Waipio Valley, and Andy knew that, at the end of the day, he'd be retiring poolside or barside at the luxurious Hilton Waikoloa. "Roughing it" has never been so nice. Here's a look at Andy's life as a road warrior, in his own words:

"Today my office is the world. During the past seven years, I've had a backstage pass to the world, which has landed me in dozens of countries. So far, in my office, I've been attacked by a tapir and burned by a Portuguese man-of-war. I've been bitten by venomous ants on three continents and woken up by a scorpion's sting. But the thing is, I love my office more than I ever dreamed I could. I've ridden in submarines; swum in the Panama Canal; worked to save scarlet macaw babies; drunk rum with tropical lighthouse keepers; wrestled crocodiles; cheered on egg-laying sea turtles; snuggled with lions and tigers, pumas and cheetahs; ridden elephants; swum in all four oceans; and snowmobiled through the nothingness of the Arctic into a never-setting sun."

SECOND-PRIZE WINNER
D.J. STRUNTZ
SURFING MAGAZINE

Job: Senior Staff Photographer
Home: Wilmington,
North Carolina
Age: 30
Number of Days Traveled in 2004: 150

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Like Andy, D.J. is used to doing the photography. But the fact that we were shooting in what's considered to be the ultimate destination for all manner of travelers made his onerous job of "model" a little easier. And once we promised to let him catch a few waves with the locals after we were done, he was all ours. D.J. is all about the water - whether he's on top of it or under it. Before his current gig, he studied the effects of industrial pollution on marine mammals. It sounds so close to the water … but yet it's so far. Here's D.J. on his previous job:

"The second hand seems to be moving in a slow-motion parallel reality as the clock nears the blessed hour of my release. I'm serving day unknown of a three-year sentence in a chemical-analysis government laboratory that is completely devoid of windows. My only connection to the outside is a detached, monotone voice piped through a public-address system that informs me that if my windows are open in my car, I should proceed outside and close them because a thunderstorm is just beginning. At this point, the second hand suspiciously seems to be mocking my attempt at escape, appearing to move in reverse. Suddenly, a sharp pain in my head snaps me out of the nightmare of my previous life and into my present, amazing reality. Where am I? Through the hazy spiderwebs of my painfully induced consciousness, I remember that I arrived yesterday in the Maldives, halfway around the world from my prior, windowless existence. Why am I here? Because almost two years ago, I became one of 10 paid professional photographers who scour the globe's oceans in search of the Shot for Surfing magazine."

THIRD-PRIZE WINNER
AMIE WYROSTEK
WRIGLEY

Job: Global People Systems Process Lead
Home: San Antonio, Texas
Age: 33
Number of Days Traveled in 2004: 120

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Amie Wyrostek was the most stealthlike of our warriors. She was very vague about her job and her company, although she offered up her age with no hesitation. But now that we see her job title, we understand why - and we're still not sure what she does. But ultimately it doesn't matter, because what we loved most about Amie's entry was her description of her ultimate office. Many of you said that your ultimate offices were just what we show on this page - a beach with lots of sun, sand, and palm trees. Amie looks good here, but we're pretty sure her ultimate office looks nothing like this. Take a look.

"The uniform is bathrobe and bunny slippers. The bathrobe is u-g-l-y - green-and-blue plaid, hems coming loose. Office casual? Not even close. There's a coffee stain on the left corner. I didn't spill coffee on the bathrobe - I spilled it on the floor but used the robe to clean it up. The bunny slippers are in sorry shape, too. I find bunny guts all over the house - white fuzzies in the laundry room and slipper-cushion chunks in the den. My husband threatens to take them to the vet to be put down. It's not always like this. But on my favorite days, I rub the night from my eyes and toss on the robe and slips. Two minutes for the kettle to whistle, seven cents' worth of Nescafé, and my day begins. My ultimate work space is my home office. It's a quick commute, with little traffic and absolutely no office politics. I can simultaneously telephone my colleague in Germany to discuss a system-configuration issue, update my boss in Chicago via IM chat, and work on a training presentation on PowerPoint. Multitasking in bunny slippers!"

THIRD-PRIZE WINNER
BEN LAARMAN
LSG SKYCHEFS

Job: Director of Product Design, Costing, and Controlling
Home: Lewisville, Texas
Age: 30 (just barely)
Number of Days Traveled in 2004: 250

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Although Ben's ultimate homecoming involved a limo, it wasn't in a location even close to as lovely as this lookout point at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Who wouldn't love to come home in this car to this view? As Ben aptly put it, "Real life is not as good as island life." And he should know. He and his wife got married in Maui and honeymooned in Kona at this very hotel. The miles he racked up last year were plentiful, but the year before, he traveled 50 out of the 52 weeks. All that travel paid off, as the miles helped him get his family to the wedding. Obviously Ben is a creative guy. Just take a look at the lengths he went to to get home one night.

"My most memorable homecoming story is getting stuck at a snowy O'Hare late on a Friday night. I needed to get back home to Michigan [where Ben lived at the time] because I was leaving on vacation the next day. I tried renting a car, but because of the threat of impending weather the next day, all available cars had been rented. I then had a stroke of genius. There were another 69 passengers on my flight who also wanted to get home. So I called a limo company and rented the final limo they had available. I underestimated how badly people wanted to get back home, and before I knew it, I had 20 people who were trying to get in the eight-passenger limo. Needless to say, I got a taste of what the ticket/gate agents have to deal with every day. There was no easy way to select just seven, so I went with the first seven who asked. It was a long three-and-a-half-hour drive, and our driver thought we were all crazy, but everyone was in good spirits, knowing we were going to spend the night in our own beds."

THIRD-PRIZE WINNER
JODIE BRINKERHOFF
COMPEREMEDIA

Job: Regional Director
Home: San Francisco,
California; New York, New York
Age: 32
Number of Days Traveled in 2004: 185

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And last but not least - or is it, "we saved the best for last"? - our very own Bridget Jones. Jodie was this year's only single road warrior (she was also a finalist last year), so we couldn't resist giving her our interpretation of the ultimate meal. Champagne, roses, dessert, handsome men, and a beautiful view of the ocean. What else does a girl need - besides perhaps a little food on the table? But alas, with this much travel, Jodie's life is a little different. We'll let her explain.

"I am not your typical road warrior. I'm young, I'm female, and I'm as single as they come. I don't even have a house of my own that I come home to. I rent. And I have roommates (though they rarely see me). What I'm getting at is this: no spouse, no kids, and no fluffy or furry friend to greet me with kisses at the front door when I return from a long business trip. And [it should come as] no surprise that my most intimate relationship is with my travel agent. I mean, really - he completely gets me. He knows my travel preferences, my favorite locations, and my tolerance for red-eye flights. So think of me as the new and improved, slightly smarter Bridget Jones. While I'm completely perplexed by the male species, and I'll always have a few extra pounds to lose, I have a master's degree, a job I love, and I've vowed never to belt out tunes like 'All by Myself' while chugging bottles of white Zin in my living room - alone. Like Bridget, however, I do have a handful of wonderful friends who I count on for fun when I'm in town - and a host of community activities that immediately thrust me back into the swing of city-based things."

The Final 15

In addition to our five winners, these people advanced to the second round, the phone interviews. As with narrowing down the initial entries, they didn't make the decisions easy on us. As you can see, we had a very diverse group of entrants this year, and they all have fun and interesting jobs.

Congratulations to the finalists for a job well done.

Darren Collins
Variety Entertainer/Teacher/Speaker, Puppet ­Productions, Waxahachie, Texas

Scott Dahl
Director, Clinical Performance, VHA, Dallas, Texas

Stephen DeRose
Global Messaging Architect, General Contracting,
Richmond, Virginia

Jenna Dran
Nurse, Northwestern Hospital,
Chicago, Illinois

William Foley
Senior Copywriter, McCullough Creative Group,
Dubuque, Iowa

David Hahn
Owner, Caramel Sin,
Los Angeles, California

Michael Haynes
Chief Executive Officer, Collectors Universe,
Laguna Niguel, California

Ridlon Kiphart
Explorer/President/Founder, Global Dive ­Expeditions, Darby, Montana

Linda Littlejohns
Vice President of Clinical Development, Integra NeuroSciences, San Juan Capistrano, California

Quincy Russell
Senior Product Manager (Designer),
Catch a Fire Clothing, Brooklyn, New York

Thomas Smiley
Independent Business Consultant,
Carlsbad, California

Rick and Kim Smith
Vice President, Analog Make Operations (Rick), Program Manager in Software Development (Kim), Texas Instruments, Sugar Land, Texas

Erik Spencer
Project Manager, the Boeing Company,
Lomita, California

Nichole Williams
Senior Claim Service Adjuster, Allstate Insurance Company, Aberdeen, Washington

Lauren Wolkoff
Managing Editor, Slack Incorporated,
Marlton, New Jersey