Remember when business travel was considered a perk? It gave you a chance to get out of the office, meet face-to-face with clients and/or colleagues and focus on solving a specific problem or working on a new opportunity. For a short period of time you could ‘go off the grid.’ Not anymore. However, if you are ambitious and are looking to advance in your career, business travel will likely be a necessity. The flexibility you have at this stage of life, will help set you apart from your younger colleagues.
Today’s business travel requires that you essentially work even harder than if you stayed in the office. You are expected to answer text messages, reply to emails, submit presentations, and attend conference calls no matter what is going on and what time zone you may be in. Cell phones and laptops have been around for quite a while, but the ability to have wifi in hotels, in airports and even on airplanes (at no or little cost) means you are expected to be available 24/7 – no matter what. Not only can this be stressful, but it can undermine the reason you are traveling.
I know people (including myself), who travel to meet face to face with colleagues only to lock themselves in an office to participate in a call at corporate and/or work on a presentation that is due by the end of the day. Why are we even traveling at all? There are plenty of services that allow you to have meetings over the internet ‘face to face’ if looking someone in the eye is crucial. The answer: when you are actually face to face you form a deeper connection with the individual(s), you have a chance to see ‘behind the scenes’ and understand what is really going on, and you should have the chance to completely focus on a specific task: the reason you got on a airplane in the first place.
That said, business travel spending is expected to grow in 2018 – the result of accelerated global trade and growth in manufacturing and service industries. Traveling in your 20’s & 30’s seems new and exciting. Traveling in your 40’s is OK, but ‘been there done that.’ Traveling in your 50’s & 60’s can be exhausting. The millennials have coined the term “bleisure” to signify a mix of business and leisure travel. Maybe those of us in the “Fabulous After Fifty” category should be taking more business trips that we can classify as “bleisure!” I currently work with millennials who do just that – extend a business trip to include a vacation. Interesting idea….
How do you get through those endless travel days and late nights working in your hotel room? How do you stay positive and energized when dealing with lost luggage, delayed flights and sleeping in airports during snow storms (I have faced all of that, and you probably have too!)? Ride share services (no rental car hassle), airport lounges, and business travel apps can make things a little easier. Also taking the time to look around and identify cities you want to revisit on your own time, can make the experience more enjoyable. When faced with one more ‘the flight is oversold and we are looking for volunteers’ announcement, take a deep breath and be grateful that you have a career which gives you the opportunity to see new places, meet new people, and possibly plan a new adventure.
When the smiling employee at the hotel tells you, “We don’t seem to have your reservation and we don’t have any rooms left…” remember you are fabulous, you are strong, you are smart and you will make it back home – eventually!
