When’s a vacation not a vacation? When it’s a business trip.
A business trip can be exciting, but it also comes with its problems. Although you’ll see new sights and sounds, it can leave you isolated from your home comforts. Still, you can make the best of a business trip with the right attitude and a little forward planning.
Here are eight things to do before traveling for business.
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Investigate Expenses
The first thing to think about is money.
For a shorter trip, you might receive a petty cash advance to keep you afloat. For longer trips, it’s more common to claim your expenses after the fact.
This has the drawback that you’ll need to wait to get your money back. So finding out your expenses policy, including what’s covered and how quickly you can expect repayment, is important.
Once you find out the details of your expenses policy, you’ll need to think about your own means. If you don’t have the cash on hand to sustain your trip or you don’t want to put it on a credit card, you’ll need to highlight the problem to your company and find a workaround.
Many businesses have company credit cards for this purpose.
If you do use your own bank cards, it’s often a good idea to let your bank know in advance. Banks will flag transactions as suspicious if they’re large (like a hotel room booking) or far from your usual location.
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Cover Your Duties
If you’re going away on business, it’s up to you to figure out how that affects your normal job role.
You might travel as a direct expectation of your day job. In that case, you won’t have too many preparations to make. You’ll only need to ensure you’re equipped to work away from your base of operations.
For some people, traveling will cause more disruption. If that’s you, then you need to make plans for your usual workload. You might need to find someone to cover certain duties and pick up your email, for example.
In many cases, working away from home falls somewhere in between. In this case, you’ll need a priority system to maintain your work-life balance. You might answer only the most essential emails, for instance, and have a colleague pick up the rest.
Whatever the case, this is all something to think about before you go. You don’t want to leave without a plan only to have some major disaster with a client spring up back home.
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Research the Area
If you’re going away, it pays to know where you’re going—and not just the destination, but also what it’s like.
One of the most important and tangible benefits of researching where you’re going is that it will help you book accommodation. You can arrange to stay at a place near your area of work and/or avoid undesirable areas.
There are other benefits, too. Researching the area is an excellent way to decide how you’ll spend your downtime. You can research the best restaurants, the nightlife, and what other general entertainments are available.
One of the best ways to get to know an area is by asking a local. If you have colleagues where you’re going, then be sure to ask them for some opinions. You might even find yourself with a few social dates in the calendar, offering the perfect chance to check out the local flavor.
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Find Accommodation
Deciding where to stay is the biggest choice you’ll make before you go away. Poor-quality accommodation can kill your enjoyment of a business trip.
Use the research we mentioned above to inform your decision. Also, be sure to look at the likes of Google reviews to assess the quality of your hotel.
If you’re going to be away for a few weeks, don’t be shy about asking your company to upgrade you to nicer accommodation options. Businesses often prefer to opt for the cheapest accommodation available, but you have more leverage if you’re away for a long time.
If you’re away for months, you might even consider alternatives to a hotel, like an Airbnb. This will give you access to much better facilities for cooking, cleaning, and the like. That helps to ensure you aren’t living off takeaway and restaurant food, which will be bad for your health on a long enough time scale. Having your own place will also give you space to entertain guests.
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Prepare Your Laptop
When you’re working away from home, your laptop can become your lifeline.
Not only is a laptop often essential for work, but it can become your entertainment hub, as well. A lot of us won’t survive without the likes of Netflix or video games, these days.
So it pays to give your laptop a bit of attention before you go—or even purchase an upgrade. If you’re going to work from your laptop often, it’s a good idea to opt for a business laptop like a Lenovo to avoid the frustration of working from a laptop that isn’t fit for purpose.
It’s a good idea to make things available offline where possible, too. One of the frustrating parts of hotel living is a lack of reliable Wi-Fi.
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Plan a Frictionless Journey
Most would agree that the worst thing about traveling for work is, well, the traveling.
Traveling is exhausting. That’s true even using the most passive of travel methods, like a train or plane. Something about the experience of traveling is often draining to the human psyche.
On top of that, travel often involves waking up early or spending dull hours waiting for changeovers.
Making your journeys as frictionless as possible is one of the better ways to make traveling easier.
You can make travel frictionless a few ways, but it mostly comes down to preparation. Book your tickets early for train and plane travel. Use online check-in to make airports more tolerable. Ensure you’re always aware of the baggage rules. It’s a series of simple things that take the pain out of traveling.
You can also literally take some of the pain out of traveling by investing in a few items. A comfortable pillow, for example, along with some noise-canceling headphones.
As with accommodation, upgrading to a little more luxury can make the journey a lot more relaxing, too.
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Prepare to Have Fun Alone
A lot of adults have lost the ability to have fun alone. We build so much of our lives around social engagements that we often don’t know who we are by ourselves—and especially without our partners.
Yet people who take business trips often manage to rekindle some of that ability. When you get down to it, there’s nothing strange about doing things alone when you’re far from home.
You can practice this by picking a few things to do before you leave. That will help you get over the mental hurdle of feeling weird for going to the cinema or out for a meal by yourself. It will seem strange at first if you’re not used to it, but it’s worthwhile.
This is one lifestyle change that can even translate to life back home. Once you’re done worrying about what other people think, you may find a surprising variety of ways you can enjoy yourself alone.
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Establish Your Work-Life Balance
Maintaining a work-life balance when you’re away on business can be tough. For one thing, there’s often not a lot to do except work.
Yet failing to establish a work-life balance can make it difficult to switch off, and it’s often hard enough to switch off when you don’t have your home comforts.
Many people default to working more when they’re away from home. After all, it’s something to do. Yet you should avoid working excessive overtime, if possible, to keep your mind and body healthy.
Another thing to consider is that you usually won’t be compensated for all that extra work you’re doing. So don’t go overboard with homework just to keep yourself entertained. You’ll feel better for getting more fresh air, seeing the local sights, or even enjoying whatever entertainments you brought with you.
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If you do need to do extra work outside of your usual business hours, set hard timers. For instance, you might decide to work for an hour—in which case, be sure to stop when the time expires.
Traveling for Business for Fun and Profit
Traveling for business can be as tiring as it is exciting. With these eight tips, you can take the stress out of the trip and enjoy the new experience. With the details taken care of, you’re free to enjoy the fun side of getting away from home.
Looking for more lifestyle advice? Make sure to check back often.
