Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans: The reality of business travel

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The reality of business travel

As a research analyst, I wasn't expecting to travel for work. I'm not a consultant. I quickly learned that between conferences, in-person visits and meetings to clients, campus recruiting and remote employees, I would travel more than I anticipated. Here are some notes on the reality of business travels - the pros, cons and additional realities.

The pros

You get to see different cities. Sometimes for long, and others for a very short period of time.
Because of corporate deals with hotel parent companies, you're often staying at very nice hotels. My favorite part is checking out the hotel amenities- free omelets for breakfast, pools and hot tubs, etc.
Having in-person interaction with the people you are often emailing is always a nice refresher.
There is a lot of extra dead time so I get to do a lot of reading - books, audiobooks, magazines, newspapers and more.
You get to expense your food. I used to feel bad doing this, but a friend recently shed light to the situation by explaining it in these terms. You would not be in that city if it weren't for work. So work will pay for you while you're there. So what beats eating free for a week?
Frequent flyer points and hotel rewards are collected and add up quickly, that you can use for personal trips in the future.
Taking cabs and car services is fun, so you can relax, catch up on email and not have to navigate where you're going.

The cons

Think of all of the work you get done in an eight to nine hour day. Then, think of getting it done, as well as all the emails and requests that come through, during after-hours when meetings or sessions are complete. Business trips require you to squeeze a lot of work in at night, so it's expected that you stay up late and I sometimes feel back on a college schedule with homework.
You don't get to exercise. Sometimes hotels have gyms, and sometimes they don't. But I've found myself taking the stairs instead of escalators at the airport just to feel like I'm getting physical activity.
Delayed flights kill you, and I often am am enraged on the tarmac when you are back home (or waiting to take off) but can't yet leave.
Overall, you're not in control of your own schedule since you're not paying for you to be there.

The "It is what it is"-isms

You represent your company, not yourself, when you are traveling on business. So if you roll your eyes at someone, talk on your phone on the plane or do something embarrassing, people won't make fun of you - they'll make fun of you as a member of the company you work for.
Sometimes you're working across time zones, so when it comes to co-workers or friends/family, you have to be careful when you contact them.
You get your hopes up every time it says "Free wifi" and it doesn't work.
You get to know airports and the different gates, as well as the restaurants, restrooms and fast food by them. I was once in the Detroit airport for a quick trip and there was a broken towel dispenser in the bathroom, and when I flew back in the next day, the towel dispenser was still broken.
Drivers and other people are listening to your conversations. One time the cab driver heard me on the phone trying to write something down, and turned on the lights. Very observant.