Take Care While Traveling

During the last 8 weeks, I’ve spent about 5 of them on the road. Whether it was for something fun, like running a marathon at the North Pole or taking a much-needed few days at the beach, or for work, like teaching a strategic planning seminar in Singapore, I’ve spent more time away than at home during the last 2 months.

Many people have the idea that travel is exotic and fun, but the reality is that it can be pretty stressful and business travel can take a toll on both your physical and mental health. As you rise through the ranks you may see yourself taking on more and more travel, especially in a multinational firm or international organization. Perhaps your employees are the ones traveling, and you need to think about the impact it has on them. If travel is important for your work, you need to make sure it is not jeopardizing your work.

The most important thing is to stay healthy, especially if you will be gone for a while. It’s no fun being sick, but it’s worse being sick when you are on the road. Don’t worry so much about airplane air; people get concerned about “all those sick people exhaling,” but the reality is that air on a plane is circulated and filtered. Ever wonder why flight attendants are not sick 24/7? That’s why. Don’t be afraid, though, to give that tray table a swipe with a baby wipe, because those things are filthy. Applying some hand sanitizer every now and then, especially after taking public transport or having a meeting with someone who keeps sneezing, is also a good idea.

Focus not only on not getting sick, but also on maintaining your general health. Even though you are eating out and have less control over the menu than if you were at home, do your best to eat healthy. Remember to get vegetables. If you don’t eat dessert every night at home, don’t do it while traveling. The big breakfast buffet can look tempting, but if you let yourself go crazy one morning then on the other days play it safe. If you work out at home, try to keep a routine on the road, too. If your hotel does not have a gym, find another hotel, or see if your home gym has local branches. Westin Hotels have a very inexpensive gym clothes rental program, and you even get to keep the socks, which would normally cost more than the rental fee. You don’t want to get back home only to fall sick then because you have let your general health go while traveling.

One reason people often have trouble working out while traveling is that when they return to the hotel after a day’s work, they are expected to login to their email and take care of whatever work they would have done in the office that day. Try not to do that to your people. Decide which they need to do more: be on a business trip or be in the office. If the office is more important, keep then in the office. The idea that when you send people on the road you should be getting double the amount of work from them is a silly one. When you are at the office you expect to be able to go home at the end of the day; nothing should be different when you are on the road, except that “home” in this case is a hotel room. An important element of mental health is taking a break, and sense you generally want employees for their mental capabilities, you want to keep them as healthy in that area as possible.

Managing the work that gets done thus requires planning, so if business travel is important, plan around it. Try to finish projects before you go and have others ready for when you get back, but focus on the reason for traveling while traveling. The same holds true for vacation travel. Try to finish things before you go so there is not a big pile of stuff waiting when you return. It’s hard to get the positive effects of time off if you have to work twice as much after getting back. And please, please, please, when you are on vacation, try your best to disconnect from work.

You are and your employees’ physical and mental health are important for getting the job done. Realize that travel puts extra strain on you, so take steps to make sure you don’t end up hurting the business even as you think you’re doing great things for it.