The Glamour of being an international traveller.

[winetraveller]

When people ask me what I do for a living I invariably get a similar response, something along the lines of "oh I've always wanted to do that", and "I love to travel, I wish I had your job".

This weekend I've had one of those weekends that most people who crave such an existence would prefer not to think about, and time to think about the downside of "the travelling life".

I'm currently domiciled in my small apartment in Boston, it's pouring rain, and cold outside, and I have nothing to do but work. The amount of time you spend on your own is quite significant. I know one person in Boston, who happens to be my girfriend, and she's away for work this weekend.

I would love to find out the amount of hours other travellers work, I'm sure I'm not alone in that on many occasions you just keep working because there isn't anything else to do (that you want to do on your own) when you have down time.

When you explain to people that you don't get to sight see and most of the time are too knackered anyway they think you're blowing it out of proportion.
Even people in my own company think I swan around the world. Our marketing manager was disavowed of this view when I sent her on a rather punishing (for her anyway) trip to understand some of the markets we work in.

I would love to hear other experiences of the rigours of "the life".

 

[Dave Noble]

Mebe Im an exception, but when travelling , I do a normal 8 hour day plus also only travel during normal hours; I find travel just quite enjoyable

Dave

 

[Hvr]

Mebe Im an exception, but when travelling , I do a normal 8 hour day plus also only travel during normal hours; I find travel just quite enjoyable

Dave

Same with me, although all my work travel is AUS domestic (am trying for an overseas work trip but no luck yet) and sometimes one day trips of 14-15 hours I too love it. Nothing like being asked where were you yesterday and responding, 'oh went to BNE for the day'.

The look on their face is priceless.

 

[Evan]

I would say my travels are a mix, some trips are really busy with long days and weekends, some are relaxed with additional days off as personal breaks.

But i know what you mean about weekends and not that much to do, sometimes i really just feel lost and not sure what to do now i have more free time on my hands on weekends. There is only so much drinking you can do on weekends with friends.... but atleast i can start to get back into the gym.

I have had some travel shockers and i am very sure others have done a lot more than me but one week i did MEL-SYD-NRT-ICN-NRT-SYD-MEL-HKG-LHR-STR for work, not the most fun week !

Travel has its good and bad points, mostly good i would say, i like to see different places, the best thing about my travel is that it is usually to some different locations, not always the same place.

E

 

[oz_mark]

While my travelling has reduced somewhat over the last year or so, I do still enjoy it.

Having said that, I do know people that have resigned from jobs citing excess travel as their reason for leaving.

 

[NM]

I work as hard as I need to get the job done so I can get back home to my family. If working longer hours means I get home a day earlier, then that is worthwhile for me.

 

[pauly7]

When people ask me what I do for a living I invariably get a similar response, something along the lines of "oh I've always wanted to do that", and "I love to travel, I wish I had your job".

When you explain to people that you don't get to sight see and most of the time are too knackered anyway they think you're blowing it out of proportion.
Even people in my own company think I swan around the world. Our marketing manager was disavowed of this view when I sent her on a rather punishing (for her anyway) trip to understand some of the markets we work in.

I would love to hear other experiences of the rigours of "the life".

I completely understand how your feeling and I get the same reaction from non-frequent travellers, sometimes you feel a bit bad about 'whinging' about travel.... but when you have to fly up to BKK for a 3 hour meeting then straight back it isn't exactly the best life even if you are in J/F!

I (try very hard) to balance my work load when I am travelling, however my line of work which involves managing talent often involves odd hours 'in the office' with press calls, concerts etc at varying times. So while I don't overwork myself, the time zone changes and funny hours can leave me feeling a little vacant now and then!

I find I can only really talk about it properly with others in the same boat as well...

 

[garyjohn951]

I do a normal 8 hour day plus also only travel during normal hours

A bit difficult when you travel overseas from Australia, not that many flights go out in normal business hours !!!

 

[Dave Noble]

A bit difficult when you travel overseas from Australia, not that many flights go out in normal business hours !!!

Most of my business travel is domestic and that which isn't I would do on daytime flights unless there was no airline offering a daytime service. I also would rarely work for a day and then travel again on the same day

Dave

 

[Optics]

Well I am sitting here in the FLounge in SIN, thinking there has to be better things to do. I flew out of MEL on a Sunday afternoon, and will be in Krakow in about another 20 hours. I will waste my Cup day there and will fly out of there on Thursday afternoon to arrive back in MEL Sat morning. Then I will have a whole week home before I fly out to NYC on the following Sunday.

I don't mind the travel that much, but it definitely is not the glamorous life some think. I am very certain my family would be much happier if I travelled less.

 

[simongr]

I quite focussed when I travel on not working 18 hours a day - that is often helped by the fact that most of my work requires me to speak to the people I am visiting and review the documents that they have. I do get thrown by the timezones a little as it seems that whenever I am away is when it would have been a good time to be in the office...

The thing I find hardest about my travel is the loneliness. Originally i had expected to be travelling with tgtwwm but have found due to the structure of the work that we have been doing that I am in one office (PVG/NRT/SIN) and he is in the hub office (HKG) - so I have had a lot of time by myself which has been less than fun.

Most people just dont seem to get the travel/status/benefits thing as they don't travel that much so don't see how important the little stuff is.

 

[jasonja3]

The travel I enjoy most of the time, and grateful being able to see different parts of the world I would probably otherwise never visit(not to mention getting out of the office).

That said, travelling (planes, trains, ferries and automobiles) can be quite tiring, and a drag, no matter which class you travel in (it always amusses me listening to adverts about how fresh you will arive at your destination....) not to mention transit time, waiting, waiting, waiting....

I agree with the loneliness, especially when holed up in a hotel room in some bizzre location with limited english T.V, and a time difference making hard to call home. It's funny though, the thought of traveling with a colleague does not interest me, would just slow me down or prevent me from doing things the way I like.

I keep a very tight schedule to limit my time away as I would rather go on more shorter trips than less longer ones, so some people around me also have this perception of 'swaning around', if only they understood!

Work for me usually needs some form of communication, so it is limited to hotel rooms, airports and sometimes on the road. Although I do take work with me, I have never gotten right into the working on the plane bit, mind you most of my flights are not during the day either so I look forward to some downtime.

 

[GDSman]

I've always loved the travel element of my work - highlights would be EZE and MVD and a few trips to BOM in recent years. For me a major side benefit was the ability to use RTW trips to spend a precious 24hrs with my brother in Canada or father in Switzerland - once you've gone all that way what's a little 3hr flight if it means seeing family? I've also had a mix of trips solo, with colleague/s and even a RTW with a customer - quite memorable. When I travelled extensively domestically, I found that had a greater adverse impact on the family - bigger o/s trips, planned in advance gave them warning and got them used to the idea but the sudden "I have to go to PER tomorrow" stuff was quite unsettling as it would impact on Mrs GDSman's flexibility and miniGDSman's care and routine.
But I would take the travel, the variety and even the tiredness and some boredom every day over the repetitive office grind......

 

[BlacKnox]

I'm currently domiciled in my small apartment in Boston, it's pouring rain, and cold outside, and I have nothing to do but work. The amount of time you spend on your own is quite significant. I know one person in Boston, who happens to be my girfriend, and she's away for work this weekend.

I know this feeling. A very good friend of mine is based in Boston (Mass General/ Harvard) and recently visited me in Oz. He's a yank but nonetheless a great guy. If you want to PM me I'll introduce him to you, and I'm sure he'll introduce you to some local cool people and places. Once you have a network, there's no excuse to work too much . Cheers.

 

[serfty]

I get this plenty; my answer is that I do it 'cause I love doing it!

I do miss my family; this Saturday while in HNL it was my wife and mine 16th ewedding anniversary. I had flowers delivered with a note to let her know I am thinking of her.

It's cool; get back Wednesday; Thursday we fly to NZ and ZQN for a long weekend.

Many many times over the years as a frequent traveller I have heard other "road warriors" mention the hours away from home, the hard ships of loneliness etc. My thinking is, that if it is that much of a trouble, don't do it.

You should check out the lounge meeting forum; you never know who will be around!

It would have been good to meet you last night.

I landed in BOS from ORD last night -pissing down rain. Met jswong from FT at Embassy Suites for an ale or three. I am posting this from the BOS Hampton Inn (Logan Airport) - having been to MIA/MCO today.

I'll be around BOS tomorrow 'till my 12:20pm flight departs back to JFK for my QF108/QF94 travels.

 

[NYCguy]

Nothing like being asked where were you yesterday and responding, 'oh went to BNE for the day'.

The look on their face is priceless.

Even better when it's "Oh, we're going to Paris for the weekend".

 

[QF WP]

When I started travellig in 1987, it was leisure and international. Then a change in job, then a change in role in that business meant a mixture of work and leisure as well as domestic and international travel. Those were the days when I had clients in Asia and would think nothing of flying to SIN, HKG or BKK to see them on a weekend - fly out on Fri PM and fly back on Sun PM, going straight to work on arrival Mon AM.

Then most of my clients came back to Australia ~ 2002 and I secured a lot of corporate work, thus my travel changed to mostly business and domestic. Then marriage in 2003 and a child in 2007 - what they do to your travel patterns...

Working now in a small business (1 of 3 partners), most of my travel is two night stays domestically, however I can now afford (and need) Flexi Saver fares (so the reduction in sectors is offset by the increase in SC's per sector). I prefer to fly to my destination the night before, trying to reduce the risk factors (flights being delayed or cancelled due to aircraft issues or bad weather).

Work away ususally means meetings starting between 8 and 9am and finishing betwen 5 and 6pm. I usually head back to my hotel and give myself 15-30 minutes just to chill by myself (watch tv, read paper or magazine) to relax. Nowdays I ring home and speak to my wife and daughter. Then I'll generally either have set up a drinks with AFF or FT friends or go outside for a walk then have dinner.

After dinner, I'll generally go and complete my notes for the meetings I've just had and then make sure I'm prepared for my meetings the next day. Generally in bed between 11pm and midnight. I generally work much harder (and longer) when I'm away than when I'm in my office.

 

[Commuter]

Travel, in terms of flying, is merely a mode of transport for me nowadays. It has completely lost it novelty - it might as well be a bus (but I'd still want access to the Flounge :mrgreen.

I'm just thankful that I don't have to drive a car when I'm flying.

 

[Flashback]

I generally work much harder (and longer) when I'm away than when I'm in my office.

Agreed.. as there are no distractions

 

[littl_flier]

As others have mentioned, I tend to work longer on away travel but I guess that I'm lucky that the majority of my work travel is in teams so we always go out to dinner and have a few drinks before going to bed for the night. I love the travel component and whilst I don't travel near as much as others on this forum for work (and not near enough to satisfy my personal cravings), I really enjoy it for a change from the usual routine. At the end of last year, I had eleven nights at home in 13 weeks and most of those were so I could sit final exams. It was great to be at home at the end but after a week, I was ready to go at home.

One thing I do hate is living out of a suitcase, I'm not as tidy with my packing as I'd like and I get sick of taking suitpacks and finding all the shirts creased anyway.

I'm not a huge fan of SYD day trips either like work would like us to have. With day light saving and QLD living in the 50's, it means I get out of bed at 2:45 to be at the airport by 4:30 for a 5:00 to SYD. :shock: It's usually QF546 home so that means I'm home by 20:15 if I'm lucky and makes for a long tiring day. Anything said to me by 3pm tends to go in one ear and out the other but that's another matter.

But as Serfty said, "I do it because I love it!"