Posts Tagged ‘Business’
Business Trips Don’t Have to be All Business
It’s important to know your objectives on a business trip and to set out with those goals in mind and to accomplish them. But along the way, something rather amazing happens when you travel on business. You may get to go to some pretty amazing places and get chances to see things you would have never sought out if you have your wits about you as you travel.
Business trips don’t have to be all about business. There are times when you have completed your work and you can take in some of the local color, attractions and good food as part of your visit to an area. The first resource to tap to find out what is really cool to enjoy in the city or town you are visiting are the locals. If you go to a far away town to conduct business with a partner or vendor, they are often more than happy to show you the lay of the land and what is fun to see and do in town.
If you can secure the evening of a local in your destination town, you can get quite an amazing tour of the area and see things that tourists may never find. It isn’t that hard to woo a local to be your guide. If you have expense account money, you can arrange to buy your guide dinner on the company dime. They get a good meal for free and you get a guided tour of the area. The first lobster I ate in Boston happened when a person in the office I was working with took me to see the sights and find the best lobster in town. She got a great meal and I enjoyed the local haunts of one of the great cities in the country.
But don’t be afraid to be a tourist if you are in a great city and you want to see the big sites. If you are in New York and you want to take the tour of the Statue of Liberty and the boat ride around the island, by God, you just do that. It can be a fine memory of your visit to the town and after all, you worked hard on your business objectives while in town so your entitled to some relaxation.
One of the best ways to get some free time to enjoy the local events and attractions is if you are there on Friday but your work must be continued on Monday. Most businesses would rather pay for two nights in a hotel and meals rather than fly you home and back out again. So you can keep your rental car and have two days to simply be a civilian for a while and really explore the local haunts.
To find those unique events in town that not many know about, read the local paper and look for those little local culture or arts papers like the Village Voice in New York. These papers will carry details of festivals going on around the area, what is happening in the clubs and theaters in town as well. You may find a regional celebration not far away that you can be part of and pretend to be a local for a few hours and have plenty of fun along the way.
If you do have a couple days to explore, don’t be afraid to travel a bit to see some things not that far away. On the east coast, a trip up Highway One will move you through some of the most scenic New England towns you can imagine. And you can linger and take a whale watching tour if you want to. If you already have a rental car, usually it is no more expense to use it to see the state or go to the coast nearby where you are doing business. At most it might cost you a tank of gas and for that you may get so see one of the great sights in the country.
Take advantage of your business travel to see the world, have some fun and as the song says “stop and smell the roses along the way”. If you do, you will come home with successful business to deliver to your company and a nice set of new memories to keep for a long time to come.
Traveling Safe for Business
One of thing that you notice when you travel with a seasoned business traveler is that they have habits worked out after dozens of business trips to make sure they don’t have trouble on the road. Learning to be safe in this world has to become second nature for all of us. When you learn to drive a car, its second nature to buckle your seat belt and check your blind spot when you change lanes. But early in your life as a driver, you learned the need for those precautions, sometimes the hard way.
We don’t want to learn the rules of traveling safe on business trips the hard way. When you are on the road for business, you are just as susceptible to danger or accidents as any tourist. The difference is that as you have become “professional” at traveling to accomplish your business goals. And those safety measures that you have to focus on at first become second nature. Let’s look at some key safety precautions that must become part of that discipline of travel.
Avoiding crowds goes a long way toward taking you out of situations where thieves might lurk. Not only that, it makes life on the road so much easier. Check in lines may be one of the most frustrating rituals we have to go through as we travel. And it is a place where thieves can “case” you because you have your luggage there, you often open your briefcase or purse and take out your wallet to show id.
So too avoid the check in line entirely, use your computer at home to log in and check the status of the flight so you don’t have to go to the airport too soon if it is delayed. On your home computer, you can move your seat if possible and you can print your boarding pass and other important check in documents. By getting all of this done at home, you can skip the check in line entirely and proceed directly to the gate. Your homemade boarding pass will get you through security.
If you have baggage, don’t overlook the convenience of street side check in. There you can check your bags quickly. Show your boarding pass and your bags are safe as you head off happily to find the coffee shop to relax before your flight.
In addition to getting away from crowd situations at the airport, think about securing your financial information before you even go to the airport. For one thing, you many of the cards and documents in your wallet do not need to go on the trip. You don’t need your ATM card, your library card or your social security card. You only need one credit card and your driver’s license. So go through your wallet and cut down on what you are taking on the road. It helps you travel lighter and safer.
But don’t stop there. In addition to removing cards at home so they cannot get stolen, also remove valuables from where thieves would expect to see it. Put most of your cash and credit cards in your checked baggage or on a money belt under your clothing. You can still carry a wallet but it will only have enough cash for the day of travel and no additional documentation. If you needed your driver’s license or credit card for check in, go to the bathroom and tuck them away.
Along with these precautions, stay in a state of awareness about your personal effects as you travel. Watch your purse or briefcase and keep your head up at the terminal so if you see suspicious behavior, you can stay away from it. By keeping your own safety at a high priority, traveling safe will become second nature.