Travelling on Business

It sounds glamourous, doesn’t it? Get the right job right job and you can spend part of each year traveling the world to visit customers, suppliers and partners, building relationships, selling your products or solving problems. You get to fly business class, stay in 5-star hotels, drink champagne, eat in fine restaurants, visit fantastic bars and basically have a great time meeting new people in exciting places.

At least, that’s the fantasy. That’s what everyone imagines life is like for the international business traveller. Luxury, excitement and adventure.

And that’s a pretty good description of the way it works, except for a couple of important points that nobody likes to talk about.

Lots of people like to travel. They holiday, visit friends, see the sights and generally have a good time racking up new experiences. The key difference about traveling for business is that you normally do it alone or with a work colleague. If you’re married or if you are used to traveling with friends and loved ones, the difference can be quite disconcerting. Suddenly, instead of having fun with your significant other, you’re hanging around in a hotel lobby waiting for your colleague to come down so that you can have breakfast or you’re watching bad TV late at night because the change of timezone has broken your sleep routine.

So the first point is that business travel isn’t like going on holiday with the family. In fact, it’s a lot more like being at work but without the familiar breaks, distractions, routines and support structures.

It can also be crushingly lonely. When you’re stuck in a hotel five timezones from home with no family, no colleagues and nobody to talk to (especially if you’re socially inept, like me) the time can drag, horribly. Even luxury hotels aren’t a lot of fun when you’re on your own; there’s only so much time you can spend in the gym or at the buffet.

What about the flying? Surely that’s exciting, right? Well, no, not really. The first time you fly Business Class it’s an adventure and you should give it a go if you get the chance; after that it’s just a way to get from A to B without the tedious discomfort of Economy. And don’t mention airport lounges, even the luxury ones; spend too long in airports and part of your soul dies.

Great restaurants, fine foods and good bars add gloss to a trip, especially if you let you hair down with colleagues. At the end of the day, though, no matter how great your colleagues are, they’re not family and the experience quickly loses its appeal.

Should you feel sorry for me as I flit around the world in relative luxury? No, not really, but don’t kid yourself that it’s non-stop partying and fun. It’s a lot of work, in foreign places, a long way from home and it’s often lonely, boring, bleak and uncomfortable. But also, sometimes, quite a lot of fun.