This year again, I was lucky enough to be invited, due to my status as Nutanix Technology Champion, to the annual event organized by Nutanix: .NEXT 2025!
Heading to Washington DC!
Every year, .NEXT moves to a new continent. Last year, Europe hosted the event in Barcelona, Spain. This year, Washington DC, United States of America, has been chosen to host the event from May 7 to 9, 2025.
This is my second trip to the United States (the first was during NTC Tech Connect in San Jose), so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to spend an extra day as a tourist. It’s Zero Day!
A Relaxing Journey
The journey from my home in France to Washington, D.C., was relatively smooth. First, I took the TGV from Orange to Lyon on May 5th so I could sleep at the airport and be there the next morning.
May 6th, early 7am, baggage check-in at 8am and takeoff at 10am after passing through all security checks without incident. Landing in Dublin at 11am local time, 1h30 of transit, just enough time to pass through US border control before boarding my transatlantic flight. 8 hours of flight, 3 movies (Top Gun Maverick, Deadpool 2 and finally Deadpool and Wolverine), a meal, a nap and a snack later, here I am finally at Dulles International Airport.
A final subway ride will allow me to arrive at the hotel around 5 p.m. local time, after a journey of about 15 hours… A shower later, I went out to walk around the hotel. I was able to see the Friendship Gate at the entrance to Chinatown and the FBI offices before the rain (it felt like Brittany) arrived and forced me to go back inside…
Zero Day: A “stroll” through Washington DC
Completely jet-lagged, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. A quick phone call home (convenient, it was 11:00 a.m. there), a shower, and off I went, wandering the streets of Washington DC at 6:30 a.m., heading for the White House!
After asking the Secret Service twice for directions (you guys are so nice, thank you!), I was able to tour the Residence (a very good series on Netflix, by the way) before heading to Constitution Avenue and its array of monuments.
I started with the Washington Monument. I then headed to the World War II Memorial while answering technical questions from a concerned customer, then walked along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to reach the Lincoln Memorial.
A quick detour to the Vietnam War Memorial and I headed back the other way, across the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which opened at 10 a.m. and for which I had reserved a spot.
After a very interesting two-hour tour (honestly, if you absolutely want to read everything, plan on three or even four hours), I was off again. I visited the Smithsonian Castle before heading to the Capitol, recalling the good times I had watching House of Cards…
You might think the end of the day was approaching, but… No, not at all! Since I left the hotel at 6:30 a.m., it was barely 1 p.m.
So I decided to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History! And I can tell you, it’s worth the detour. I spent another two hours there (same time as for the first museum, and it takes about three or four hours to read all the little signs) and I was absolutely not disappointed!
Now I’m off to the convention center to pick up my pass for tomorrow…
Picking up the .NEXT pass
To avoid the queue tomorrow morning, I decided to pick up my 3-day .NEXT pass early. Since it’s right next to the hotel, I didn’t even have to go out of my way to get there.
In 3 minutes flat I had recovered my precious sesame and found 2 of my NTC acolytes, Chad and Jason with whom I chatted for a few minutes before returning to the hotel to regain my strength before the evening with the Mikadolabs team!
