Travel for work 1

[paultaylor04]

I'm interviewing for a position which requires 3-4 days of travel each week. The travel is going to be day trips and a combination of air & road travel.

I've never travelled for work before excepting going for a full week to another city for training every few months. I'm not particular averse to travel but at the same time I've never done it before. I'm basically looking for opinions from people been there and any other advice I can get like what should I look for, should I be setting certain terms with the employer, etc


Thank you for your time

 

[lespaul]

I would love to travel!

But my husband and two kids would probably not enjoy it quite as much! What's your personal situation and how do the people (if any) involved feel about it?

Leslie

Anything worth doing is a lot more difficult than it's worth - Unknown Induhvidual

Essential reading for anyone working with databases: The Fundamentals of Relational Database Design

 

[paultaylor04]

i don't have a bad situation at all. I'm a bachelor and can do anything I want. But my question was more toward people who've been in similar situations before or how they took to the task of travelling, whether they hated it more than they thought they would or they didn't find it as bad as some people make it out to be

thanks!

 

[dkediger]

With that much travel, and different modes, I would be absolutely sure that its *their* expenses up front and not yours. Corporate credit card, etc.

 

[kHz]

whether they hated it more than they thought they would or they didn't find it as bad as some people make it out to be

That question is subjective and can only be answered by every individual. Their situation cannot and will not mirror yours. If someone thought they would hate it and ended up enjoying the travel or vice versa has no relevance to your situation. There are too many factors and individual characteristics involved.

You can ask others what their impressions are, but you shouldn't use their answers to use as yours.

You said you have traveled for work, a week at a time, etc. How often did you travel a week at a time? One, two, four, ten times a year? Did you enjoy that? Do you want to sit in an airport for possibly hours waiting for a flight, and deal with cancellations, etc.? Do you want to live in hotels for half a week? How would you handle your diet? Living in airports and hotels doesn't generally mean a perfect diet.

Business travel is not vacation travel. Even training travel is different than business travel.

I know a guy who for 10 years (not sure if he is still doing it) who lived in So. Cal and flew out on Sunday night for his consulting job and stayed in a hotel Mon, Tue, Wed, and sometimes Thu., then flew home late Thu night or early Fri morning. So he was home Fri, Sat, and most Sun then started over again. In a year he was moving to Pittsburgh and was hoping his traveling would end with the move. Originally, 10 years prior he thought he would do it for a couple of years, then it kept dragging on and on.

But you cannot, as I said, use anybody as a model for you. You can hear stories, etc., but it is entirely upon the individual and what that one person is.

 

[paultaylor04]

Yup, exactly the answer I was looking for. I actually posted the question even though I knew it was totally subjective. To put my mind at rest, I've finally decided that I'll take the job and experience it myself and if I don't get the job, I'll just console myself that the travel wouldn't have made it worth it. That way, I won't be disappoined either way


But thanks again for your answer khz

 

[UnicornRainbow]

On the practical side:
Would suggest sudoku or the like for air travel.
Extra batteries for your laptop.
Books on tape for road trips.

Good luck.

 

[kHz]

Best of luck to you, either way. If you get the job I hope you will enjoy the varieties of everything you will encounter.

 

[irigoyena]

Make sure you get comped for everything, travel expenses and all... Comedy CDs helped me when I had to travel. Good luck

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Iggy
MCSE, MCSA:Messaging, A+, Network +

 

[adonigia]

i would ask for per diem, even if its $20/day, that should go a long way as far as paying for food etc.

sounds like a lot of travel time, i would be exhausted if i was in your position but look at the bright side, you'll visit a lot of neat places.

 

[edfair]

I spent almost 2 years with 3 to 5 days of day trips per week out of Atlanta to the surrounding area, up to 150 miles out and back. Would head out 8AM, get there, work until late afternoon, and head home. The travel was the most relaing part of the job. It also helped that I got overtime or comp time for any over 8 hours per day.
You used to be unable to get per-diem unless you spent the night. I suspect that still stands. But you can get car mileage, and I found that the mileage paid for the car over the years, even for those years when the travel was more local. I don't know whether the current mileage rate will still do that.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[SeanFlynn]

My favorite piece of travel advice:

When you get somewhere new, ask a local these two questions...

1) What is the one thing that I absolutely HAVE to see while I'm here?
2) Where is the place that I absolutely HAVE to eat while I am here?

Try to get advice from the locals. Taking in the obvious sites is good (Shedd acquarium in Chicago, Broadway in NY, etc..) but if you can get the local perspective, you can find lots of cool stuff that you would not otherwise know about.

 

[barbola]

You can always find another job if you find you don't like the travel. If I had no commitments keeping me home, I would do it and I know I would love it at first.

A relative of mine did the Sun-Thurs thing for a few years. She was a single parent and put herself through a professional accounting program. The job paid very well, the travel was hectic (sometimes two timezones away) but her kid turned out great!

 

[sjforcum]

Travel is cute and fun at first but it gets really old, really quick.

 

[CharlesCook]

I have traveled for work most of the last 20 years. When I started flying was great. The plane was never full and mostly business people would be on the flight. Short lines at the airport good food and good service on the plane. We would leave Monday afternoon home Friday day. As the years passed it became leave on Sunday afternoon home Friday night late. I started out traveling with one or more other guys (salesman and another tek like me). We would work during the day drink and eat together at night. Later it was just me. Work during the day eating and drinking alone or in the bar at night. It got to be a very lonely way of life. New York, Chicago, San Fran are all great the first 5 - 10 times but after 50 times it is just another big city (been there done that).

Then my wife started to travel. We got to the point where we would see each other 2-5 days a month for a few years it was like that.

A few pointers:

Stay out of the bar. Work out watch, what you eat/drink. You can become a fat drunk fairly easy.

Make sure the company/customer pays for all of the travel expenses. You can go broke traveling if you pay for much yourself.

Get the company to pre pay for as much as possible. I have worked with young people who could not afford to travel. My visa bill ran about 1K a week. Can you afford to pop for a 6k visa bill and wait to get paid back?

That is all I can think of right now.

CharlesCook.com
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[chiph]

>> You can become a fat drunk fairly easy. <<

Yeah, I've seen a lot of those when travelling. Hotel gyms are usually limited to a treadmill and a bike in a tiny room near the snack machines. No free weights (liability issues) or barbells (same). :-(

If you're going back to the same city repeatedly, a month-to-month gym membership somewhere near the hotel would be worthwhile.

Chip H.


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[CharlesCook]

Yes that will help. Get to know a few local people so you have someone to do things with in your free time.

CharlesCook.com
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ReportSmith - Crystal Reports - SQR - Query - Access
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