Travel adventures

Simon Ritter: The Java User Group in Russia organizes a number of conferences and so the members approached me about one they were doing in Moscow.

The dates didn't work for my availability, but I asked to be invited to any future conferences. They came back straightaway with one in Siberia in March. I had a fantastic time. I was there for the weekend. They took us on a tour and snowmobiling in the wilds of Siberia. One of the best parts of my job is the fact that I get to travel all over the place and meet people from all these different places.

Geertjan Wielenga: With the travel that you do, what's your experience of burnout?

Simon Ritter: What can become an issue, to some extent, is if you get too involved in this job. The travel can become quite wearing. You can get to a point where you're just traveling too much and you have to dial it back down again.

There are so many conferences now. I reckon that you could literally spend your entire...