The (non financial) costs of travel and how you mitigate them

[hedge]

When I was a kid, I loved to travel on planes and I was fortunate to be able to travel a fair bit whilst being thrifty with my limited cash.

Now as an adult in my mid twenties I am kind of sick of traveling (FIFO once a week and about 5-8 trips abroad/other cities).

I find that I am now:

• Tired
• Not really settled anywhere
• Very small circle of friends since I am never home
• Not as healthy as I would like to be

I'm lucky that my vehicle and car are maintained by family whilst I am away but I can see that being a problem too if I didn't have them.


For the road warriors (I am sure there are many that travel more BIS miles), how do you manage the above, and the other issues associated with lots of travel for work.

I would be eternally grateful for any tips

 

[joyvee]

Can you take something small that is special to you and display it prominently wherever you land?
sort of like a 'security blanket" for grown ups?

Work out an exercise routine that can be incorporated into flying time in some space like the one near toilets in Y where people chat? strength training type regime?

Regard the friendships you have as quality relationships and nurture them with emails, skype or write a blog to share with them.

Be proactive when you meet a new person whom you think has the potential to be a new friend. Email them and establish contact after you meet them.
JoyV

 

[rioter]

I have yet to find a solution for the eating unhealthy. Usually trips, especially OS ends up with me meeting with friends/co workers/managers etc which involves boozy lunches and dinners.
I try to counter this with a range of exercises i can do in a hotel room or the smallest of hotel gyms. This means a lot of body weight work, squats, pushups, situps etc. There are a bunch of places that i started with and then just started to adapt them to my needs each day. Also i usually pack a pair of trainers and try and go for a run in the city. Good way to see the city, listen to some music and de-stress.

Friends are tough, a lot of my friends also travel a lot. The first time i saw a close friend in 6 months was in transit through hong kong i was heading home as he was heading out. I am pretty much an introvert at the best of times anyway so it has not been the biggest worry for me. I do try and make sure i organise a gathering close to when i return so i know i won't be shipping out soon. This helps let them know i am alive. However, i found that i am getting invited to less and less due to always saying no. So i now i am just proactive and if i know something is going on just reach out to them directly and say 'hey i am around mind if i join'.

As for tired, i found that taking melatonin on the flight at a decent time to get 6-7 hours sleep. Couple this with picking my flights well so that i am usually landing in the morning seems to work out well to avoid that hazy tired feeling for a few days.

The other tip is try and find something fun to do no matter how many times you have been in a city! I started getting depressed that i was heading to the same city yet again. Then realised that i can find things to do in a city i have lived in for years so why not a city you only visit for a week. Took to just getting out of the hotel going to concerts, galleries etc. Lifted my mood a lot!

 

[BensAdventures]

The other tip is try and find something fun to do no matter how many times you have been in a city! I started getting depressed that i was heading to the same city yet again. Then realised that i can find things to do in a city i have lived in for years so why not a city you only visit for a week. Took to just getting out of the hotel going to concerts, galleries etc. Lifted my mood a lot!

I'm the same, I try to see something new or interesting most times I'm travelling. But when people tell me it must be amazing to see the world, experience new cities I tell them the story that I've visited Orlando 6 times for work (each time for 5-7 days) and never once been to a Theme Park, and I love Theme Parks! I often forget to mention I've been to Cape Canaveral, driven to Miami a couple of times (once in a Corvette) and had a fun weekend in Key West...

As for friends, I have found that a challenge, but I'm an extrovert, so I have many more casual acquaintances than ever in my life, but close friendships are hard to maintain! I'm generally happy though.

 

[pauly7]

I completely get the tiredness factor but I don't let large amounts of travel impact my health.

I ensure all hotels I stay at have fully equipped gyms/pools etc. Westins are great they even loan you shoes and New Balance clothes to wear!

Eating is easy too, I just am pretty demanding with restaurants and room service. Quite often I'll call the kitchen and just order a chicken breast with plain veg. If I run into issues I ask to be put through to the duty manager, offer to pay the highest menu item price and it works 99% of the time!

It's easy to eat healthily, even in the lounges if you know a little about nutrition (ok ill admit, the Virgin lounges are a little more fast food nation than I'd like - but it is still possible!).

Without trying to sound boastful I'm fitter than I've ever been, lifting heavy and happy. I just don't understand how people make up so many excuses in this forum about travel and health! Lazy. (Rant over!!)

The friends thing is hard but I have a lot of friends dotted all around the world so I make the effort to try and catch up with them when I'm in their city!

 

[BensAdventures]

Without trying to sound boastful I'm fitter than I've ever been, lifting heavy and happy. I just don't understand how people make up so many excuses in this forum about travel and health! Lazy. (Rant over!!)

I constantly travel with a groups of 10-20 people and often we eat together, work together, and obviously DRINK together. I think Pauly, you are much more the exception rather than the rule, but I respect your dedication. I do try to have somewhat healthy meals when I can, and my job keeps me on my feet most of the day, so that helps. I did once visit the USA for 2 weeks and lose weight... but that was more to do with stress I think!

 

[cove]

I travel with a sleep machine so I tend to get a minimum of 6 hours of quality sleep every day. My sleep clinic doctor told me that if I did not get a great sleep every night my life expectancy would be reduced. To get me in the mood for sleeping I will watch a bit of Sci Fi so that stops me thinking about the days business issues.
Waking up refreshed is a really good way to start a day and during the day I drink no coffee nor cola and just water.
An hour of exercise rounds out a good day and if you can get outside listen to the birds singing and being happy.

 

[hedge]

Thanks all for the help. I'm trying to quit the work travel and find a city based job now. Perhaps that will help as I feel totally isolated at times.

I guess my situation is a little different as I fly to the same place every single week and it's more of a fifo centric problem. Hopefully the potential job change in 6 months will help.

Thanks for contributing, I appreciate it.

 

[hedge]

Thanks all for the help. I'm trying to quit the work travel and find a city based job now. Perhaps that will help as I feel totally isolated at times.

I guess my situation is a little different as I fly to the same place every single week and it's more of a fifo centric problem. Hopefully the potential job change in 6 months will help.

Thanks for contributing, I appreciate it.

And the weird thing was that today I got a call for a recruiter for an interview for a pretty cool job! I hadn't contacted this particular recruiter for ages.

Feels good to get thrown a cookie sometimes!

 

[Boris spatsky]

Good work. I am finally getting home on Friday after 2 years of commuting interstate. It has been a long and trying period for my family (3 kids under 7); i am glad i made the decision in July to change. Recruitment and training have kept me away since July until now. I owe my poor wife alot - she has essentially been a sole parent for 2 years, but we knew that when i agreed to the old job. Was just harder than we thought it was going to be. The real shock to me was just how fast kids grow up, and how much i was missing. So i took a significant paycut and moved home. But i am very happy and money isn't everything.