Though my cone is public diplomacy, I’m really liking my consular tour. All officers must do some consular work early in their careers, and since my first post was a public diplomacy one, it’s consular for me this go around.

Not only am I enjoying the work — getting brief glimpses into many people’s life stories, making decisions that have major impacts not only on those people but also on the security of our country’s borders — but I’m enjoying the hours. In consular work, at least at the level I’m at, when you’re done, you’re done. Public diplomacy was fun, but frequent evening and weekend events can be draining, especially with young kids at home.

All of this is just to say that I’ve been at post for four months now and not until last week did I have any after-hours diplomatic responsibilities. That break was great, and it made the arrival of an evening event a welcome rather than dreaded occurrence.

Foreign Service folks: How often do you have to head out after hours? What would be your ideal schedule?