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Does Anyone Else Travel Often for Work?


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I travel pretty often for work and am really tired of finishing my day, grabbing dinner, and sitting in my hotel room surfing the web. I usually travel without coworkers. I'm not really a bar guy anymore and wouldn't hit up a dance club. When time permits, and it's light outside, I do like trail running, but that is a before dinner activity.

 

For those of you that travel, how do you entertain yourself while on the road?

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CautiouslyOptimistic
I travel pretty often for work and am really tired of finishing my day, grabbing dinner, and sitting in my hotel room surfing the web. I usually travel without coworkers. I'm not really a bar guy anymore and wouldn't hit up a dance club. When time permits, and it's light outside, I do like trail running, but that is a before dinner activity.

 

For those of you that travel, how do you entertain yourself while on the road?

 

I don't travel for work, but I feel like I've heard of groups like Meetup groups in certain cities specifically for people who travel a lot. Have you looked into anything like that?

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I don't travel for work, but I feel like I've heard of groups like Meetup groups in certain cities specifically for people who travel a lot. Have you looked into anything like that?

 

Thanks!

No, I have not looked into Meetup. I'll check it out, I like that idea.

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Eternal Sunshine

I travel for work often but it's often with co-workers and we all go out together every night.

 

On the rare occasions I am by myself, I just do touristy things during day time and read/post etc during night. I am the type of person that rarely gets bored.

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I would do touristy things, explore new restaurants and breweries, and attend sporting events, shows, concerts (last minute on Stubhub for immediate download is great!). Depending on the city, I also would just do a lot of walking around and exploring.

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I google "things to do in ___________" and go from there.

 

I also don't mind dining out alone, so will treat myself to at least one good meal out.

 

I make it a point to go shopping for souvenirs for friends and family. It makes me feel less lonely. I have also skyped with friends.

 

That said, I love nights in at the hotel, so always plan one of those.

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On the occasions when I have to travel, unfortunately, I work at the hotel at night. In my profession, often when I am sent to travel, the work back at the office piles up. I am expected to keep up with that too. So, I really hate travel, as it is double/triple the work for me.

 

It's like that for almost everyone I know who travels. Very few manage to do touristy things.

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On the occasions when I have to travel, unfortunately, I work at the hotel at night. In my profession, often when I am sent to travel, the work back at the office piles up. I am expected to keep up with that too. So, I really hate travel, as it is double/triple the work for me.

 

It's like that for almost everyone I know who travels. Very few manage to do touristy things.

 

Biker,

Thanks for the reply!

You are spot on. I've been living those words two weeks a month for the past decade or so. With the advent of free wifi, I find it easer to keep on top of my virtual desk build up by clearing up clutter over lunch or time gaps in my schedule. I've gotten pretty good at prioritizing the build up so that my evening work is only an hour or two max. I will also build time into my day to address more urgent work that shouldn't wait.

 

I really like the suggestion of the meetup groups because I'm not a see the sights on my own kind of guy. I do enjoy a hike/ trail run/ city run and do see sights along the way when doing that, but I'm usually distracted by the music i play to distract me from the work I'm thinking about, so...

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I google "things to do in ___________" and go from there.

 

I also don't mind dining out alone, so will treat myself to at least one good meal out.

 

I make it a point to go shopping for souvenirs for friends and family. It makes me feel less lonely. I have also skyped with friends.

 

That said, I love nights in at the hotel, so always plan one of those.

 

Kamille,

Thank you for responding!

Like you, I don't mind eating alone and usually will bring my e-book with me so I can get lost in the pages. The problem, for me, with that is that I travel for work and am usually in and out of a restaurant in about 45 minutes. I see a difference between eating and dining. eating, for me while traveling, is always alone. Dining is a longer term stay, enjoying someones company and chatting away about whatever.

 

I like to try local places since I would rather spend my money with a mom and pop restaurant instead of a corporate eatery. How about you?

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I travel for work often but it's often with co-workers and we all go out together every night.

 

On the rare occasions I am by myself, I just do touristy things during day time and read/post etc during night. I am the type of person that rarely gets bored.

 

Hey Eternal,

Thanks for your reply.

I have done the work group travel before and sometimes it can be fun, depending on the mix of management and/ or the people that cant stop talking shop. It kills me to spend 8 to 10 hours working just to continue working socially.

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I don't travel for work but I have 2 friends that do. One is really into Crossfit so he reaches out to a Crossfit gym in the area before his trip and meets people there. The other is also a gym rat and he has one of those chain gym memberships where you can go to any gym in the country under the same chain. So he just works out after business or looks for local events in the area

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My boyriend travels for work-- as in, often three weeks out of the month he'll be dashing between four or five different countries. And various places around the U.S. too (we live in the u.s.).

 

Often he'll be in some exotic place but hardly any time to leave his hotel, or any energy to.

 

It really helps that he runs. He also has developed an impressive yoga practice and practices in his hotel room, from memory, even working up a sweat. I feel that helps him a lot.

 

He has also developed some regular watching-- comedy shows he likes, a couple good tv series he keeps on his computer.

 

Then there is nonfiction reading in paper-book form.

 

I can ask him what else, but those seem to be the regular things. Also he loves eating out, alone, when traveling. Not everyone likes that. But I know he frequently just gets room service because it gets exhausting and complicated to go out during so much jet-setting.

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  • 1 month later...
georgia girl

I recently changed jobs and while I work from home most of the time, I do travel for work as well. I try and meet up with a client/ potential client for dinner one night, Work out a little in the hotel gym, enjoy one room service dinner (a guilty pleasure) and always bring a book to read. I am not one to go out by myself either but if the hotel has a decent restaurant/bar, I may take a meal there just

For a change of pace. Like others, though, I tend to put in extra work hours when I am away from home. Then, less to do when I actually get back home.

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Ask the locals for a good dinner spot. Broaden your horizons a bit. It is a good time to network with others if that's a possibility.

 

I have time permitting went to significant or historical spots.

 

Seems like everyplace has them.

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When I travel for work, it is often because a lab is in dire need of help, so often it is a lot of overtime and crashing to sleep in a hotel room. And a lot of time its just me on travel, and the ones at the lab I am helping are spending there extra time doing the stuff that got pushed aside when they had to address their lab crisis like sleeping or spending time with their families.

 

Sometimes I have extra paperwork/computer work in helping prep them for an upcoming audit that eats up any extra non-lab time But I do try to get in some local trails. Packing lunches and dinners and eating them in parks seems to get me a little out of the eat, sleep, and work mode, and puts a little civility back in life. I also may go to a museum, the types of movies that never seem to have that 'group of friends' appeal, explore the city/town...just stuff to keep me out of a rut.

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I am also a birder, pretty much have been all my life, so I take the opportunity to see regional species I don't get to see at home, or visit a busy habitat, even if is birds I am used to...even though I do like spotting a new species, it seems that observing behavior of the old regulars never gets old for me.

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I'm a research student who often gets to travel to other cities for workshops and conferences. Usually there are other students there who are from said cities, so we often go out for dinner and drinks. I'm also lucky enough to have friends and family in the cities I visit most often, so that often takes up more of the spare time.

 

With any remaining time I'll just tick off the local sights and activities. Or just chill out at the beach. Or ask someone (say someone who works at the hotel) what they like to do as a local. After dark is always tricky if you're not into the bar scene but that's where local knowledge helps.

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