Why Travel?

[Pbkmaine]

Business travel is not really travel. I did a substantial amount of it. In the end, I felt that every airport, every cab to and from the city, every hotel, every law firm conference room and every courthouse looked the same. It was just a source of annoyance rather than a chance to have new experiences. I did my work in the least amount of time I could and went back home as soon as possible. When I travel for pleasure, the experience is totally different.

I can't say that. I tried to make a point of seeing the places I went on business, and I tended to be in one place for days a a time. Due to the nature of my business, I spent a lot of time on college campuses, which were generally lovely. But this is one case where I agree with Jacob of ERE. Wherever you go, there you are.

 

[Souschef]

Business travel is not really travel. I did a substantial amount of it. In the end, I felt that every airport, every cab to and from the city, every hotel, every law firm conference room and every courthouse looked the same. It was just a source of annoyance rather than a chance to have new experiences. I did my work in the least amount of time I could and went back home as soon as possible. When I travel for pleasure, the experience is totally different.

+1
My last 2 trips for business totally sucked. The first was to Detroit in the middle of winter. The proposals i carried had new binders, and the plastic outgassed, setting off alarms. I was patted down 3 times on that trip.
The second was a red eye to Montreal, where i had a meeting then went back to the airport. I ordered a lobster sandwich for lunch, and since the receipt was in French, they did not know what I had

 

[Chuckanut]

Kudos to you! Best thing you could have done, paying dividends forever!

While not quite the same thing, I took my daughter to Europe with me last year for a few weeks. It was an eye opener for her also. The evenings out on the busy streets with people enjoying themselves were particularly fun. Also, we spent some time in France and a lot of time in Italy, and she is now spoiled when it comes to good food

 

[brett]

Travel has changed the way we think, the way we eat, the way we live.

All for the better. And it makes us appreciate what we have and at the same time realize that many of the material things we own really don't matter a toss.

 

[athena53]

Business travel is not really travel. I did a substantial amount of it. In the end, I felt that every airport, every cab to and from the city, every hotel, every law firm conference room and every courthouse looked the same. It was just a source of annoyance rather than a chance to have new experiences. I did my work in the least amount of time I could and went back home as soon as possible. When I travel for pleasure, the experience is totally different.

I definitely had some experiences like that. When you're in a windowless "ballroom" in the basement of a hotel with someone droning over PowerPoint presentations, does it really matter if it's Boston or San Juan? Well, maybe it's more depressing if it's San Juan.

Still, I've been fortunate. As a salaried employee (thus not focused on billable time), I've been to lovely restaurants in Europe, to the Taj Mahal with colleagues in India who were also visiting for the first time, to Munich on a trip that was so much fun (even though we accomplished the business purpose) I told my boss I felt guilty submitting an expense account...I could go on. I also got a kick out of getting up, putting on business clothes and going to the office on public transportation with the locals. My favorite was working for a company based in the Gherkin in London- the tourists would be outside taking selfies and I'd flounce past them into the building!

I still get little twinges of jealousy when former colleagues post from London or Bangalore or Zurich, but then I remember they have to set their alarm clocks and I don't.

 

[kcowan]

Funny story. We sent our daughter to Europe for High School credit courses. French in Nice and History in UK. She loved it. Sorry we didn't send her to Switzerland for her senior year at Neuschatel ( sp?). She still talks about these trips 15 years later. She really grew up on those trips.

I got a summer job with the Defense Research Board in Metz after 3rd year Engineering. 5 months of pleasure: Belgium, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and multiple trips to Paris and Strasburg. Life-changing experiences. Plus permanently stricken with the travel bug.

 

[kcowan]

Travel has changed the way we think, the way we eat, the way we live.

All for the better. And it makes us appreciate what we have and at the same time realize that many of the material things we own really don't matter a toss.

+1
Never will think the same way again. It made us much more tolerant of things that are different.

 

[braumeister]

This thread made me think of a great line I heard from a German I was talking with.

He said "Do you know the essential difference between Europeans and North Americans?"

North Americans think 200 years is a long time.

Europeans think 200 kilometers is a long distance.

 

[brett]

The only business travel that I enjoyed were the reward trips, with spouse, to domestic and to some wonderful international locations....Hong Kong, Australia, Med locations, Hawaii, etc. All first class venues that we would normally not enjoy.

Of course there was always the challenge of sneaking out of those business meeting during the morning coffee break or getting up early and leaving the hotel in order to tour around. I could usually rely on someone to mark me down as present or hand in my business card! We invariably tacked on a week or so of vacation time while we were there.

 

[EastWest Gal]

?

Since when is relaxing at a café watching the world go by waste of time?


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In Italy it was my favorite part of the day. And the Italians agreed.


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[Gumby]

In Italy it was my favorite part of the day. And the Italians agreed.

Certo.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I think how enjoyable it is to travel, like other hobbies, depends at least on part on one's personality type. This article from Berkeley's Greater Good Center says spending makes people happy when they spend it on expenses in line with their personality type: "Each of those categories got a score (from a separate group of people) for each of the Big Five personality traits. For example, spending on charities might reflect conscientiousness and agreeableness, while spending on tourism might reflect openness to experience and extraversion. Participants also rated their satisfaction with life. Across more than 76,000 transactions, the researchers found that participants with a better match between their personality and their purchases were more satisfied with life."

We've known some people who were real foodies. We'd ask them about a trip and they'd list the restaurants they went to day by day, or if they went to someone's house for party they'd talk about the menu instead of who was there. One guy went to Mendocino, listed all the restaurants and what he and his wife ordered at each one. He asked where we ate when we were there and we said the salad bar at Pizza Hut, which was true. We spent most of our time at the beach and parks. But each of us had a pleasant trip, doing what made us happy.

 

[NW-Bound]

Business travel is not really travel. I did a substantial amount of it. In the end, I felt that every airport, every cab to and from the city, every hotel, every law firm conference room and every courthouse looked the same. It was just a source of annoyance rather than a chance to have new experiences. I did my work in the least amount of time I could and went back home as soon as possible. When I travel for pleasure, the experience is totally different.

+1

How does business travel take you to Pompeii, or Venice? Domestically, what kind of business does one do in Bryce Canyon, or Glacier National Park? Or old mining towns in Alaska?

One time, business travel took me to Haifa, Israel, and I managed to get a single one-day trip to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The tour guide walked us through these areas so fast I hardly remember what I went through. If it were my leisure travel, I would have spent a lot more time and learned a lot more of the area. I would have crossed the border into Jordan to see Petra.

 

[meierlde]

Actually there are two ways to combine it. The first is to just extend the business trip with a vacation. For example fly to Seattle do the business and then spend a week driving around. In the old days it was cheaper to stay a friday night for airfare than to fly back on friday, so one could get a weekend without costing the company any money. (you paid the additional hotel charges). Note that I am and was single so I did travel alone. Or for a short visit for example just take the morning flight if domestic as compared to the evening flight and get time in the city you are going to visit.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, I did both the above on occasion.

The problem with the short visit is that my mind is too occupied with work to really enjoy anything. The longer stay is more worthwhile, but on projects with short fuses it is frowned upon if I take time off while people are panicking.

However, the point I was making is that business travel will not take you to all the places that one wants to visit such as national parks or tourist spots. If you do not like to travel, it is fine. But for a travel lover, business travel is no substitute for leisure travel.

 

[athena53]

Actually there are two ways to combine it. <snip>

I've managed that a few times. The easiest was when I was "stuck" over a weekend somewhere in Europe. I was once in my company's London office for 3 weeks. What bliss! I've also, with management's blessing, arrived on Saturday to be in the office Monday, although a few times the airlines messed that up and I arrived on Sunday.

Once I was in Zurich and had to connect in London on my way home anyway so I overnighted there. I told my boss there would be a "blackout" period from when I landed at Heathrow to when I took off again the next day when I would cover all the expenses. I had a wonderful day romping through London, got on the plane the next AM and went home!

 

[Ronstar]

Very true that business travel is no substitute for leisure travel. I would never visit Dubuque Iowa or Minneapolis for leisure in the winter. But a work conference in San Diego in the summer is about as close to leisure travel as business travel gets.

 

[audreyh1]

+1

How does business travel take you to Pompeii, or Venice? Domestically, what kind of business does one do in Bryce Canyon, or Glacier National Park? Or old mining towns in Alaska?

One time, business travel took me to Haifa, Israel, and I managed to get a single one-day trip to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The tour guide walked us through these areas so fast I hardly remember what I went through. If it were my leisure travel, I would have spent a lot more time and learned a lot more of the area. I would have crossed the border into Jordan to see Petra.

Yeah - that one usually has me scratching my head.

I hated business travel. At least for the overseas trips I was usually able to finagle DH coming along or joining me afterwards for some vacation tacked on. That really helped .

I love personal leisure travel even though I hated the stress of business travel. And now retired we can go for long trips which was not possible when working.

Of course it depends on your personality! Some people have wanderlust. Other people don't. There is a continuum.

 

[MichaelB]

Business and personal trravel

One comment I would make on business vs personal travel. It was not at all unusual for HQ business travelers (NY based), especially senior managers and execs, to travel with their spouses, ask our "help" in arranging side trips, and even lend a hand to "show the spouse around town" while the exec carried out his or her "business".

Side travel for visiting execs involved real tourism, such as Angel Falls or Canaima, was much more common during winter months, and they clearly expected access to tour programs not available to the "general public" with upper tier accommodations and preferential pricing.

To be fair, business travel to the US also involved some personal time there. That was very little side travel, however, and was mostly (>95%) an additional weekend day or two dedicated to shopping.

 

[Danmar]

Add running to that. I try to do a destination race every year.

My case, it's biking. Did Umbria last month. Doing Bavaria/Austria in Sept. Currently planning Mallorca in May next year. New things, new vistas, new people, new food, new friends. A little surprising people have to ask this question. I guess if you have to ask this question, it's not for you?

 

[Danmar]

While not quite the same thing, I took my daughter to Europe with me last year for a few weeks. It was an eye opener for her also. The evenings out on the busy streets with people enjoying themselves were particularly fun. Also, we spent some time in France and a lot of time in Italy, and she is now spoiled when it comes to good food

Nice. We have taken my daughter on many trips, love spending time with her and seeing her take in the new experiences. Notable trips include River Cruise on the Mekong, Gulet in Turkey, New Years Eve in London, cross Atlantic cruise to Barcelona. Time to do another one, methinks.

 

[NW-Bound]

One comment I would make on business vs personal travel. It was not at all unusual for HQ business travelers (NY based), especially senior managers and execs, to travel with their spouses, ask our "help" in arranging side trips, and even lend a hand to "show the spouse around town" while the exec carried out his or her "business".

Side travel for visiting execs involved real tourism, such as Angel Falls or Canaima, was much more common during winter months, and they clearly expected access to tour programs not available to the "general public" with upper tier accommodations and preferential pricing.

To be fair, business travel to the US also involved some personal time there. That was very little side travel, however, and was mostly (>95%) an additional weekend day or two dedicated to shopping.

I was never in a position that high to enjoy these perks reserved for upper management.

One time, I was presenting a technical paper in a national convention of an aerospace society. It was held in DC. They flew me in the day before my scheduled presentation, then flew me out in the late afternoon after the talk.

I have been to DC a few times before on my own dime and time, so did not bother to check into extending the stay using my own money and vacation days. But the fact that I was presenting a paper on behalf of megacorp, and they did not even give me some time to attend other events at this week-long convention bothered the hell out of me.

Oh, by the way, they also said that they expected paper presenters to work on the technical papers in their own time, not company time! These extra-curricular activities were expected of people on the technical ladder. I guess people on the management ladder also spend more than 40 hours, but then they have bonuses and options, which I did not get.

Well, I managed to find other outlets for my extracurricular efforts, like moonlighting for a couple of startups. But that's outside this thread topic...

 

[brett]

Now that we are retired we are able to travel on fairly short notice. We have bucket lists and make our decisions, often a month or two prior to travel, sometimes less, based on those lists and a combination of favourable exchange rates and attractive travel offers/costs.

This Sept/Oct we fully intended to go back to Greece and perhaps Albania or Croatia. Plan was to catch a flight, one way from Toronto or an open jaw return from another city.

Did not work out that way. A great offer came along for two places on our list...Newfoundland and Ireland. Added a motoring trip of the Canadian Maritimes, Maine, and Vermont while we are at it. Great time to do it since gas prices are low. So our plans changed in about twenty minutes on a recent Sunday morning and we locked in the air. We still have all of October so one never knows.

Our winter plans are similarly open. All we know is that we are targeting one of three areas. But it could be someone completely different if the right offer comes along. Our first winter trip to S/E Asia was booked 10 days prior to departure. We had no plans, and suddenly a great airfare offer to Thailand became available. Liked the area so much we spent three winters there.

This is what we like most about early retirement. The ability to travel on short notice and to take advantage of great offers to places that we never thought we would actually get to.

 

[KimInWis]

I spent 15 years in western Europe and SWA Asia as military and fed employee. I seen more of that side of the world than the USA. My retirement will be used to make up for that..visit each state at least once!

 

[Helios]

While chained to a desk, travel was almost exclusively to blow off steam. After fire, reading studying, researching countries has been enjoyable. Quick count, have been to 44 countries. Flights and wrestling luggage are tuff. Learning some of the local language has made for memorable moments while on trips.