Are business trips ever a holiday?

As someone who has spent the last 8 months on many a business trip, so many friends assume this means plenty of sight-seeing, sunbathing and all round relaxing!

They couldn’t be more wrong…

Why is a business trip not a holiday?

Well primarily you are there for work, and if it is a conference that usually means an early start, travelling to the venue, maybe stopping to grab a drink en route, or even breakfast. Depending on the venue and what you are doing you might be given breakfast.

Secondly, you usually finish quite late in the day, or have social functions to attend.

Normally I wake up early at home anyways, but even more so when I am away on a business trip. This is because I need to do some work prior to ‘going to work/attending a conference’, this work might include content writing for clients, or managing their social media. I then have to do the same when I am back at the hotel in the evening.

Plus I can’t ignore my own blog, social media, work emails etc. I try as much as I can to do bits throughout the day, but very often coffee breaks are spent chatting to other attendees, and I am too busy tweeting and making notes in the session to respond to emails.

So do I still get to explore a little?

The short answer is yes. Usually that involves staying on an extra day or two if I can. I understand that isn’t always practical for people if they have to get back to work. I am fortunate that I can work from my phone, so I can explore a little and pick up wifi from coffee shops and hotels.

I always try and make sure I arrive the night before, just so that there are no travel problems.

Another way I get to explore is by walking around the city after the conference if I can, or walking to the venue in the morning (subject to location, safety and time).

Failing that, you could always jump on one of those ‘hop on, hop off’ buses for an afternoon to see the famous landmarks.

So to conclude…

Business travel isn’t glamorous, it isn’t a holiday and it definitely isn’t as relaxing as some people think, but you can definitely make the most of your short time away.

For more tips on making the most of business travel make sure you check out my blog lawyerinthemaking.co.uk and my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lawyer_in_the_making/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/lawyer_inmaking