- After a day packed with meetings, client conferences, and working lunches and dinners, a business leisuretriptips will most likely be totally exhausted by the time she returns to her room. There’s a briefcase full of work that needs to be finished before the next day’s meetings, office messages must be returned, and a phone call to check on the home front must be made.
- So this is the glamorous life on the road? With the mad rush to pack, get home and work life in order before leaving, and then attend to business on the road, it may not seem much like a dream job by the time the hotel door is bolted. But the end of the day is the time when a businesswoman can finally relax and call her time her own. For the busy woman juggling work, family, and community commitments, business travel alight even turn into a rare opportunity for pampering or private time.
- As a general rule, women tend to put themselves dead last in the pecking order of importance. Those who are reluctant to put their needs and physical well-being high on the scale, though, won’t have the energy to complete other obligations in life. It is essential to take time each day to enjoy a low simple pleasure and renew the spirit and the body. Women who travel on business have the perfect opportunity to put, this philosophy to work.
Get comfortable with being alone
- On one of my first business trips, I dreaded the thought of dinner alone, imagining a lonely meal at a restaurant, with other dinners glancing sideways at me while I slowly chewed my food bit by bit. Desperate, I called up a writer with whom I had a passing acquaintance to serve as a dinner companion. It was a nice evening, but really totally unnecessary. I could have tried any one of dozens of restaurants, and eaten a quick bite before taking in some theater or a movie. I’ve since learned to appreciate time alone on the road, a chance to shop at odd hours, eat whatever food I want- without a family vote-or just kick back with a good book. Sometimes I even sneak in a nap!
- It’s usual for women to be intimidated by traveling alone. For someone who may have gone from a busy school life surrounded by family and friends, to sharing a room in a sorority, to getting married or having a roommate, traveling alone can be a bit intimidating. It’s not easy to walk into a restaurant, plunk down, and order a meal without company.
- There are, of course, many benefits to being alone on the road. You can take as long as you want in the shower or bath, eat a cinnamon bun for dinner while you shop all evening, read a bodice-ripper romance without interruption, or cry during a sad movie in your room. There’s no laundry, dirty dishes to wash, or runny noses to wipe. No pet, messes to clean up. Once calls to family or friends and other obligations are left aside, the leftover time is wide open for exploration and fun.
- Getting over the dread of being lonely or bored is the first hurdle. Then it’s time to figure out what can be fun, yet safe, for a woman to do alone. Before heading out on your business trip, give some thought to the activities you’d love to indulge in, then plan to enjoy them.
Table for one
- Women tend to use room service so they won’t have to face sitting alone at a table in a room full of couples and other parties. Dining solo doesn’t have to be intimidating, though. The hotel concierge can offer ideas for small restaurants that have just a few tables and cater to single diners. Being seated at a small table for two will be more comfortable than sitting at the bar or a large table. A book or newspaper can provide a diversion, if you’re not inclined to talk with the waiter or engage in a conversation with fellow diners. Check out local guide books, or ask others for ideas before you venture out.
- Dining alone is also a great opportunity to exercise a more adventurous palate. You may have to pass up that Thai cuisine at home because your’ spouse can’t handle spicy foods. Or because your kids turn their noses up at anything that isn’t served with ketchup, you miss out on a lot of the ethnic dining choices in your city. Restaurants often define a city’s culture-why miss out on the chance to explore that, culture by instead staying in and ordering an ordinary hotel room service meal?
See the city
- Before embarking on a business trip, check out the library or bookstores for guidebooks to the destination. You can also check out tourism offices on the Web.
- Bring along the local guidebook or information you’ve gleaned from the Web and enjoy a bit of the city, even if it’s just for an hour or two. Another idea: Go into the town’s best-known shop, pick up some of the local candy, or taste a local brew. These are the things that make travel special. The gift shops and carry-out sections of the places visited may also provide good gift opportunities for fellow employees or family.
- You might consider to visit nearby cities by airline as well.