Any Road Warriors out there?

[Rambler]

+1 on MichaelB and Westernskies posts above.

I travel about 75% of the time. I do have a good PA who handles the details and the expense reports. I just give her the receipts. She already knows who I'm going to be with and where.

I get a lot of personal reading done on airplanes. I usually only take my iPhone and iPad now, and usually get caught up on emails in airline lounges on the way out, and then again on the way back.

I've instructed my people in the various countries that I look after that I will no longer be available for breakfast meetings. This is so I can go to the gym for a good 45min to an hour before going to an office/mtg room, and also to stay up with the most urgent and important emails, plus have time for my own breakfast that is not a bagel grabbed on the way out of the hotel with 30 seconds to scarf it down (note, this does not apply to meetings that my boss has called...I can't get away with that just yet, but his mtgs usually only require 2 days or less in situ). Staying fit and healthy is something you REALLY have to work on and dedicate time to if you are going to travel this much. The every-night dinners and non-existent exercise will kill you if you don't take measures to prevent it.

The good news is that I can keep the half million or so miles I get each year and use them for my family. My daughter flies back and forth to university on my miles, DW comes with me every 3rd or 4th trip when she can, and we stay for the weekend or take a day or two extra if it is an interesting venue.

Oh, and if you are going to some of the countries in Asia, do be careful about going out in the evening without your local colleagues. In some places you can be and will be propositioned every 40-50 feet if you decide to go take a walk (which I like to do after dinner sometimes). Best not to go there...

R

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

It can be very hard on the family. I know many mariages that did not survive a traveling breadwinner.

 

[JDARNELL]

It can be very hard on the family. I know many mariages that did not survive a traveling breadwinner.

This is one of the things that I really thought about. With technology you can stay connected pretty easily however it is not the same as being there. So I really tried to stretch family time at the expense of sleep, etc. Many of times I got up at 245 to get to the airport Monday morning instead of leaving on a Sunday night so I could put my kids to bed. I would sleep on the plane from Den to LA for about 1 hr 15 min of the 2 hr 2 min flight. Drink some hot tea, put my game face on, work all day and crash Monday night to try and recover. When I was away I tried to do everything I could to get things done before I returned so I could spend as much time with the family.

Tomcat98

 

[emi guy]

Good advice and stories all!
My situation is that I will be able to "work from home" when I am not on the road, which I anticipate may be 50%. I plan to continue my negotiations/interview in order to better frame just how much travel this will entail. Also, the travel is all conus - from the East Coast, where I live to the West. Thanks everytone. I will let you all know how it ends! E.G.

 

[Westernskies]

Good advice and stories all!
My situation is that I will be able to "work from home" when I am not on the road, which I anticipate may be 50%. I plan to continue my negotiations/interview in order to better frame just how much travel this will entail. Also, the travel is all conus - from the East Coast, where I live to the West. Thanks everytone. I will let you all know how it ends! E.G.

Best of luck to you with this decision. I know the Road Warrior lifestyle doesn't work for everyone, but I've enjoyed it.

 

[CoolChange]

Sounds like you are considering a position very similar to what I currently have. (Maybe my boss is finally replacing me so I can retire.)

Personally, I really enjoy the solitude of a hotel room at the end of a long work day. I am [more than] a bit introverted by nature; so, this gives me a chance to recharge. but, the clincher for me when faced with the same career choice was being able to work from home when not traveling. Frankly, I would already be retired if going to work meant going into an office every day.

If your position will allow you to fly business class, stay in nice hotels, hire limos for ground transport, pay for airport lounge access and have a PA...business travel still isn't so bad for a few years if it will enhance your career. However, if accounting will forcing you to take use cheapest flights/hotels/ground-transport/meals, you might want to consider other options. I have never actually been on either extreme of this spectrum; but, I have been close enough to both ends to figure out what I needed to make my travel bearable. And, I think it is different for each person.

Airlines still treat frequent fliers much better than occasional fliers; so, if you do take the new position, get status with at least one airline as soon as you can whether you get to keep your miles or not.

This much travel will strain your personal relationships; be prepared and proactive.

Good luck.

 

[emi guy]

Update: I accepted the job and start on Monday. Travel is suppose to be 30% but I think it will be a bit more. Travel is to warm spots on both east and west coasts of the U.S. so I am looking forward to much shorter winters. DW is very supportive and so we decided to give it a try since I am ready for a change. When I'm not on the road, I will be able to work from home so no more 1 1/2 hour commutes (each way). Wish me luck! E.G.

 

[rescueme]

9AM till 3PM with a two hour lunch?

Apparently you have not worked in France (or at least for my former employer).

Normal hours were 9 am - 7 pm (most commercial business shut down at 7, restaurants did not open till that time). Being that my boss was also French and resided there, he wanted to make most of "face time" while I was there.

45 minutes for lunch (on the days you were not working through it).

What is "common knowledge" of the French work habits is not common, at all...

BTW, I was expected to be there ready to work at 9 am Monday morning. That meant leaving on noon Saturday, flying overnight and getting to the hotel about 1pm (FR time), grabbing a bite to eat and trying to get some sleep (never slept on the plane).

Also, your “week” ended Friday evening. Most times I either got a late flight out or early Saturday, arriving Saturday noon or later back in the U.S. That meant that both weekends (before and after the trip) were blown; and this was my normal schedule one week out of the month.

I’ll admit – the pay was good. However the working conditions sucked big time. One of the main reasons I retired earlier than normal…

 

[emi guy]

How does income tax work if your home office is located in a "no income tax" state but your work travel takes you to various, possibly income taxable locations?

 

[Rustward]

How does income tax work if your home office is located in a "no income tax" state but your work travel takes you to various, possibly income taxable locations?

I think it's based on your state of residency.
Traveled full time for several years -- out on Sunday nights or Monday morning (usually Sunday), back on Friday about 45 weeks a year spending maybe two - four weekends per year at the remote site. Took about 8 or 10 weeks to settle in and become a "traveler". Had to fly home standby on Dec 24th one year due to ice on the 23rd. Things like that happen.

 

[Lisa99]

DH travels about 50% and we stay connected by playing online games together most nights. We don't have kids, so this might not work for many.

We both have a membership to pogo.com. Once we're done for the day and have had dinner we play scrabble or monopoly together online from wherever we are.

We also have several "Words with Friends" games going on the iPad at all times.

 

[Zero]

Not doing work travel anymore but back in my toiling years I had to travel as the technical rep usually with a marketing team of 3-4 guys/gals. Racked up nearly 2 million FF miles on United alone. All travel was business class or first, depending on the level of marketing folks. Got to do lots of personal travel on those FF miles.

Have to say I miss it.

 

[FreeAtLast]

I had a consulting contract out of town that kept me out of town every week for 4 months.

All of my other jobs were light travel or an occasional day trip.

The problem that I found is that you could not get things done in the evening that you normally do when you are at home and they piled up big time. I is really lousy to have to travel when you are not feeling so well. I would come home Friday evening and leave early Monday morning.

I did not like it at all.

 

[flyfishnevada]

I've recently been offered a position that will pay considerably more than my current job. The amount is enough that it could/should significantly shorten the years between now and ER. The downside is that it involves about 50% travel. I am only asked to travel about 5% now and, while it is tolerable, I can imagine that 50% gets old fast.

Do any of you travel for work this much? Do you find it intolerable? How do you cope?

TIA

I used to travel and for a time it was probably close to 50%. Always the same place, Las Vegas. I enjoyed it for a while, but it did get old. 9-11 really made getting there and back much less enjoyable. I usually was with co-workers I liked (I made sure I got people on my projects I liked, usually through back channels) so we had fun. Even in Vegas, it got boring after a while. Towards the end my trips were less frequent, maybe overnight once a month. That was enough to keep it fun, but not so much I got bored or homesick.

 

[pb4uski]

How does income tax work if your home office is located in a "no income tax" state but your work travel takes you to various, possibly income taxable locations?

It depends on the states. Each state has different rules. Where I work we do timesheets (which we have to do anyway to charge clients for our time) and one of the fields on the timesheet is the state that the hours occurred in. The accounting system then allocates our compensation to each state based on the reported time and does the withholding for each state based on that state's requirements

Some states have very low thresholds. I spent one lousy day in NC last year and have to do a non-resident tax return. Doing 3 non-resident state returns this year - usually 3-5 in any given year for me.

My current employer is probably more anal about this than some companies are. My former employer didn't track such things at all - it was up to each individual to keep track of their time and file any applicable non-resident returns in states they traveled to and worked in - and as a result nobody really did it.

 

[eridanus]

I did ~50% travel for about 2 years: one week there (Sun-Friday), one week working from home. Skype and Netflix helped while on the road and working from home helped with the accumulating chores.

I actually liked the mid-size and smaller cities. I'd try a different hotel each time until I exhausted the choices and then try some local B&Bs (they're very grateful in the off-season). The fancy hotels would also lower their rates in the off-season.

The only downside was flying to the east coast in the winter. I'd often get stuck in an airport or a flight would be canceled.

All in all, it was enjoyable and the perks can't be beat.

 

[obgyn65]

Wow - impressive.

Road Warrior my entire career-

million-mile-flyer cards on 3 airlines
YMMV

 

[emi guy]

I've recently been offered a position that will pay considerably more than my current job. The amount is enough that it could/should significantly shorten the years between now and ER. The downside is that it involves about 50% travel. I am only asked to travel about 5% now and, while it is tolerable, I can imagine that 50% gets old fast.

Do any of you travel for work this much? Do you find it intolerable? How do you cope?

TIA

So it's a few years since posting this item and I am happy to say that I took the job, am doing the travel and have never been happier at work! Thanks you all for the input and encouragement!

 

[omni550]

So it's a few years since posting this item and I am happy to say that I took the job, am doing the travel and have never been happier at work! Thanks you all for the input and encouragement!

So glad to hear that it's working out so well for you.

omni

 

[marko]

4.5 million miles on NW Airlines alone. Another 1 million on Delta.

Spent 30+ years living/working/commuting through Asia/Japan/Europe from the East Coast. 90% travel; home for holidays. DW got to travel with me.

Our company was extremely generous to us travellers....lived like a king with first class flights/hotels/restaurants/drivers for all that time!

It is the ONLY thing I miss about not w*rking!

 

[Brett_Cameron]

Good advice and stories all!
My situation is that I will be able to "work from home" when I am not on the road, which I anticipate may be 50%. I plan to continue my negotiations/interview in order to better frame just how much travel this will entail. Also, the travel is all conus - from the East Coast, where I live to the West. Thanks everytone. I will let you all know how it ends! E.G.

I have a similar situation with 50% travel and work from home the rest of the time. It is not too bad. The one thing that I have to manage is keeping the travel down to 50%. The people I work with have offices in various locations and I have no office. It is easy for them to collectively arrange meetings and such that would cause me to travel every single.

 

[stephaniee36]

I am a road warrior. Travel about 60-70% of the time. This is how my month is shaping up: Flew out Monday, got home last night at 11PM, took today off and took my kid on a girls trip for a day and a half (guilt), home tomorrow, fly out Sunday night, back home Friday night at 10ish, fly out again the following Tuesday. This is better than what 2009-10 where for an 9 month period, I was only home for 36 hours a week. Have tons of points/miles, we use them to travel as a family, BUT when vacation rolls around, I dont want to go anywhere (go anyway). Never get to experience the cities I travel to either, which sucks. In 2010 I was in Jacksonville for 6 months and NEVER saw the beach. I miss my kid the most, but I kind of like it....

 

[davemartin88]

Spent a few years in Europe traveling 3 to 4 days per week, it did get old but it made sense for me with my career and with my family at the time. Wouldn't have liked to have done this when the kids were smaller. Got to see a lot of interesting places but the travel did wear on me, this was before 9/11 so traveling was easier then. Now, I do all I can to avoid going on a plane. Good luck with your decision, you didn't say how long you thought this job would last in the original post, haven't read all the others.

 

[foxfirev5]

Been on the road at Mega corp for 32+ years. I haven't been to the home office since Aug '09 - that's the bright side. I average about 175 nights in hotels, drive about 60k and fly the rest. Fortunately I make my own schedule and travel arrangements- in violation of corp policy ( I'm FI )
Another bright side is that my DW retired (or quit) last year and now make select trips with me. We also travel quite a bit on vacation to enjoy the perks, points and freebies associated with the travel all year.
Sooner or later this will end and we'll make the transition to retirement. Not for everybody but the road warrior lifestyle has worked out. Beside's if I worked in an office I'd get myself fired in short order.