As I am still working a full-time job while writing this blog, I have the comfort of working from home which allows me to travel to my “second home” in Miami and stay for weeks at a time over the past couple of years. I also occasionally get to go on business trips with my work and can extend my trip and travel that way too. I travel every opportunity I get, so the fact that my job can be flexible and remote helps me indulge in my favorite pastime. So if you’re a travel lover as well, these tips will help you learn how to work and travel at the same time and make the most out of your time abroad for a longer period of time without having to take non-paid days!
Note: I’ll use my recent trip to Orlando, Florida as an example for each point below.
1 – Stay Before And/Or After Your Work Trip
If you have the luxury of going on work trips and to a destination that you’re interested in, the best way to work and travel at the same time is to extend your work trip and stay before and/or after the business portion. Your company is already paying for the plane tickets there and back, and the duration of your hotel stay during your work trip. That helps you save quite a bit of money on flights and hotel stays. Although arriving any time before and staying after will require you to pay for your hotel and any other expenses out of pocket (unless your company is very generous). Since you’re going to be at your destination anyway, you might as well take advantage of the fact that you’re already there and do a little extra exploring.
For my recent business trip to Orlando, I extended my travels before and after so that I could spend a couple of days in Miami, two days at Disney World to visit EPCOT and Hollywood Studio, and an extra day in Orlando to just relax so I was gone for a total of almost 10 days.
2 – Plan Out Your Days And Your Itinerary
Once you figure out the number of days you plan to stay before and/or after your business trip, you can then plan out your itinerary so that you can fit a little of what you want to do in that particular location every day in order to see and do everything you want to within the time frame you’re there. You can use my Free Pre-Trip Planner and Checklist to help you plan out your trip. If you can get your work schedule ahead of time, then you can figure out how many locations, activities, and attractions you’re able to tackle before and/or after your work day.
I like to look up all the attractions and restaurants I want to visit prior to any of my trips and start mapping them out for my day-to-day itineraries in Google Maps. Also taking into consideration my work schedule, some days I’ll be able to visit more places and some days, probably none at all. But at least I have an idea of what I want to accomplish during my travels and do my best to check them off my list!
3 – Give Yourself Enough Flexibility And Time To Rearrange Your Itinerary If Needed
Remember, you are still on a work trip so it’s not always all fun and games. You may have an early start to your day or end your day later than expected. Some days, you may even be allowed to end earlier, but you may also be required to attend some after-work events. So be prepared to expect the unexpected and be flexible enough to rearrange your travel itinerary if needed. That’s sometimes the downside of having to work and travel at the same time.
Although a majority of the time I plan a very detailed itinerary, I still had to adjust what I wanted to do during my work trip to Orlando. Flexibility is key here when working and traveling at the same time. Your coworkers may want dinners, to do group activities together, or to go to the bar after the work day. If you’re in a position where you’re obligated to show up to these things, it may be harder for you to get away even though it’s during your free time. For me, I’m able to opt-out of some of these gatherings and I’m an introvert, so spending so much time with other people really drains me. I prefer to spend my time exploring things I’m interested in on my own schedule and I don’t like waiting around to do things so it was good that I was able to go off on my own. Here are also some of the Best Advice Solo Female Travelers Need To Know if you are traveling alone.
4 – Don’t Overdo It
When you have to work and travel at the same time, if you know you have a long and hectic day, don’t schedule too much of your itinerary for that particular day. I’m guilty of wanting to get as much done as possible, but I didn’t realize how tired I’d be during a work event. Be careful not to burn yourself out or overdo it. Getting enough sleep is also very important during these types of trips. The long days start to add up and if the bed at your hotel isn’t very comfortable, this makes for even longer nights. Also, this may come as a surprise, but don’t extend your trip for too long either if your work event will take a lot out of you.
I honestly didn’t realize how exhausted I’d be on this work trip. I arrived in Miami late at night, slept late, woke up early the next morning, had a long day, and did it all over again the next day. And then the day after that I woke up even earlier, caught a flight, and spent a very long and hot day walking all around EPCOT. Got to the hotel late and had to wake up early for work the next day. Then the work event happened for the next few days and I had to spend all of my energy networking and talking to a ton of people, having dinner plans, nightly activities, and so on. It was literally non-stop and I feel like I’ve never been so tired on a trip before. As soon as the work portion of my travels ended, I had to move hotels and again woke up extra early to get to Hollywood Studios right when it opened and also spent a long and hot day running around. The last day in Orlando was the only slow day I had but I couldn’t wait to get home. I didn’t expect the work event to be so tiring along with my non-stop activities before and after that. I definitely overdid and plan to space it out much better next time. But of course, some people can handle and some may think it’s overwhelming. But my best suggestion is to not overdo it and space out what you plan to do so that you can work and travel at the same time in a comfortable manner!
5 – Understand That You Can’t Do It All
Although you may plan your entire itinerary down to a T – whether it’s a business trip or personal travels – you’ll have to accept that sometimes you can’t visit every place you want to. I’ve been on so many vacations around the world and local road trips where I’ve planned multiple stops and sometimes it’s not possible to do it all as sometimes roadblocks come up such as things are suddenly closed due to the weather, you get distracted by other attractions, you don’t have a reservation, and many more unexpected scenarios can come up. Be okay with last-minute changes that may need to happen and that you may possibly need to revisit next time or skip it altogether.
6 – Take Advantage Of A Flexible Work Schedule If Possible
The good thing about remote work and taking business trips is that you have more flexibility and leniency when it comes to your schedule. If that is the case, take advantage and work your travel itinerary before and/or after your work day. Sometimes, you can even work during the day, take a break to do your own exploring, and go back to work later at night. If you’re going for a specific event or conference, you can usually be a little more flexible with your schedule than if you were just going to a different office to work. You can literally work and travel at the same time throughout your day if you can space it out right!
7 – Take Advantage Of Weekends, Long Weekends And Lieu Days
One little trick I always use when I travel is to tack my vacation days onto weekends and long weekends. This allows me to not have to take extra vacation days and lets me extend my trip for a day or two longer. Also, when you take business trips, you’ll occasionally need to work on weekends. And if you do, most companies will allow you to take lieu days to make up for working irregular days.
Since I had had to work on Saturday (flying in counts as a work day) and Sunday, I used my lieu days on Thursday and Friday after the event ended on Wednesday to extend my trip for a little longer. Also, on most of the trips I take, I plan around long weekends in order to save a vacation day and to extend my trip. Although sometimes this will mean your flight tickets may cost more around this time, if you book way in advance, it won’t cost that much more. Here are the Best Ways To Save Money On Flights For Your Next Vacation.
8 – Get On Your Flight After Your Work Day To Make The Most Of Your Time
Another trick to having a little more time at your destination is to leave on a weekday right after your workday. If you work from home and can start the day early and end early, you can make it to the airport by the afternoon or early evening. If your destination is only a couple of hours away, you can extend your trip by half a day early to increase the amount of time you can have on your trip. For me, any extra time helps a lot and then you can start your day early the next morning.
This is also what I did on quite a few trips including my most recent trip to Orlando and I love that I can have the entire day the following morning bright and early.
For more travel tips, visit Travel – Quick Tips.