How to Balance Work and Travel

Originally posted on March 7, 2014 @ 1:44 am

Contrary to what most people think, you can travel and work to get your regular overseas fix, and even linger a while in foreign lands. A balance can be found between the two, but of course it can be a challenge to establish it.

Here are some ways you can think about making work and travel coexist in your life.

Set boundaries

For many, it’s too easy to spend all your travel time engrossed in getting your work taken care of. You’ll have deadlines, contacts to meet, luncheons to have, presentations to sharpen, details to go over, and so on.

All of this work is of course necessary. However, you can’t spend your entire time working while you’re overseas, or you’re just wasting the opportunity. Setting boundaries is an essential way to prevent the trip from becoming one extensive work session with occasional pretty views out the window.

On the other hand, you don’t want to succumb to the temptation to spend a vast amount of time seeing the sights and neglecting the work. To combat against both scenarios, you have to set boundaries on how much work and sightseeing you do.

Have a clue

When visiting a new city or country, you can save time by knowing in advance what the location you’re traveling to is like. Perhaps it’s known for creating beautiful teacups. If your spouse loves teacups, it would make sense to spend some time looking for a great one to bring home.

However, if a specific location does not have anything of particular interest to you, it may be wiser not to spend a lot of time looking for something. This is a wonderful opportunity to get caught up on your work.

Having a clue about an area requires doing research for good information beforehand. The Internet has great resources for researching places to stay, excellent attractions, and local services. A good example is the Croatian website Maistra.

Use electronics wisely

Electronics provides some of your best tools for finding that elusive balance. A cell phone, electronic tablet, or a laptop computer all offer invaluable opportunities.

With the touch of a button, you communicate instantly with coworkers, superiors, and clients on the one hand; and travel services on the other. A highly useful online resource for ideas about using electronics while traveling is the Life Remotely website.

At the same time, you’re surely aware that omnipresent electronic gadgets can be a curse. Other people may expect to get a hold of you at any time. That doesn’t have to be true. As is the case with anything else, electronics need to be used appropriately.

A cell phone needs to be turned off from time to time when you’re traveling, so you can get work done and rest. Shutting off electronics is simply good sense when you need to take a break for sightseeing, or rest up for a presentation or deadline work session.

Travel and work can coexist in harmony. As you learn to balance these two activities, good things will happen. You’ll have a more enjoyable and productive life.