Thanks for the quick responses... but here's where I'm getting confused.

I certainly understand that if I PAY to go to (for example) a work-related seminar/conference/etc., that I can deduct the part of the trip that's work related, assuming I'm not being reiumbursed.

However, in this case, I'm essentially BEING PAID to go, right? So it's not like I'll have a receipt to say "Dear IRS, I paid $20k to go on this trip". So that's maybe where I'm getting lost...