Work travel - the good and the bad bits

A colleague once said to me that he did not like work travel because it means the same amount of work (if not more) and then you have the travel on top. Certainly saying that you are going to New York, Milan or Paris on business sounds very glamorous, but is it really when you may see no more than the inside of taxis, offices and your hotel room? In fact it can be very frustrating to be in a fantastic city - perhaps one that you know well from holidays or you have longed to visit - and not be able to enjoy the sites and the lifestyle. Your experience of a city is entirely different when you are in a work mindset. Popping out to a nice restaurant is never quite the same with the threat of a call or email calling you back to the office hanging over you. The ideal work trip would of course be one where you could mix work and pleasure! 

Travelling with work will usually bring with it your business class ticket, your business premier room in your smart hotel and your taxi travel. Again it sounds very glamorous - and you really do appreciate it if you have been working hard - but again it is not really the best way to get to know a place. One of the things I like about being on holiday is that you have time to wonder around a place and get lost (deliberately sometimes) and of not have to worry about a timetable or people trying to contact you. Doing the tourist bit is not so easily done when you are in your suit and you don't have long before the next meeting.

One plus of work travel is that you get time to read the papers - something that you very rarely have time to do during the working week. If you are on train or a plane then you have nice long run at the papers, which is great - so long as you can stay awake that is!

I love travel and l like going to new places, so I am a fan of work travel (and I don't mind having to work hard whilst away) but if I go to an exciting destination and don't get to see the sights and the smells of a place I do feel as if I have missed out somehow. On the whole it is nice to get a work trip but you hope you don't have to work too hard!