Business Travel 101

Taking a peek at the world through the eyes of Sean Tevis, I came across an interesting and very familiar observation concerning our recent national sales meeting. (excerpt from Sean's Blog)

"The Napa Marriott, for example, is a nice place, but it’s not noticeably different on the inside from other Marriott hotels except for the wine-themed artwork on the walls. For the 90 percent of the time you spend indoors you might as well be at the Marriott in Overland Park, Kansas and you would never know the difference. "

When I'm trying to convince my wife that business travel is grueling and not so glamorous, I will use this same approach - describing every city as "looking the same". You know - an airport, same old rental car, the inside of the Marriott Courtyard, a conference room at the customer's office, dinner at Applebee's...same ole' stuff - different city.

Sad thing is - it is quite possible to have this experience (many people do - including me at one point). Several years ago, during a visit to Indianapolis, my friend Peter introduced me to the concept of the 15-minute tourist. During a short break between our afternoon meetings and dinner, we made a quick side visit to the War memorial - 15-minutes of culture squeezed into an otherwise busy trip. Since then, I have made it a point to try and get out for a few minutes of "sight-seeing" whenever I travel. Sometimes this is easier said than done - but I probably have a better than 50% success rate over the last several years. Here are some tips:

1. Don't rely on "stumbling" across an interesting tourist attraction. Do a quick Internet search and find the local sites and unique attractions in the city you are visiting.

2. Bring a camera - give yourself a personal goal of taking at least 20 photos on each trip. I actually carry my Nikon digital SLR wherever I go. The kids get a kick out of viewing my photos on my zenfolio photo site - especially on those multi-night journeys.

3. If your trip includes dinner or a working lunch, incorporate a local attraction. Frequently, your local host or client will be thrilled to show off their home town - especially if you are from out of the country.

4. Even if you don't have time scheduled for a 15 minute sightseeing excursion, do your homework anyway, be ready when things change. On a trip to New York City a few years ago, we found ourselves with an unexpected 2-hour opening in the schedule. Rather than just going back to our rooms to do e-mail, Danielle, Paul & I had time for a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Now, if one of the local attractions happens to be the worlds' largest outdoor market, you may have a quite different dilemma...(see "The Joy of Shopping")