Whether it is your first business trip, or you are a regular traveler for work, making the trip more exciting can be really beneficial. It can significantly improve your passion for the company, and make you more productive. Traveling for work can be exhausting, and lead to stress and burnout. If you can plan a little fun and explore the location you are visiting, you can help counter these harmful qualities of work travel and instead, make you more motivated to work hard and attend the business trip in the first place.
To make your business trip more fun and make the most of your time away, see where you can incorporate some exploration and elements of leisure alongside the meetings and work you will be doing. This might be with local attractions, nice restaurants to eat at, or extending your trip. Take some time to be proactive when planning your trip, so you can sort out all the details before you go. This will enable you to maximize your time there.
To help you on your journey and make the most of a business trip, here are some top tips to get you started on planning a great time that mixes work and pleasure.
Research ahead of time
Research is going to be imperative. While this doesn’t sound like a very fun task, it will mean that you can just enjoy your trip when you are there. If you don’t, you will waste time while you are away and risk getting even more stressed trying to find something to do in your downtime. On a business trip, you aren’t going to have loads of downtime, which means you need to use the time that you have carefully. If you do some research into the place you are staying before you go, you can make a plan. Depending on who you are – you can either make a step-by-step plan, or you can just create a list of options to choose from each day depending on your mood and energy levels.
Go somewhere nice to eat
Food is always the best thing to try when you are visiting new locations. Food can vary from every location around the world and it can enhance any experience. If you are on a business trip, it is likely that you are going to be fed a typical sandwich and crisp-type lunch. While this is great as it is on the business expenses, why not head out for an evening and try the local dishes?
Drop your luggage off so you can explore hands-free
If you are only on a business trip for 1-2 days, it can be frustrating having to check in and out of your accommodation at certain times, leaving you to carry your luggage around with you all day. This can take the fun out of the trip, or just make it more difficult to explore the location you are in for a limited time. If this is the case, then you should conduct some research and find yourself luggage storage to securely store your luggage so you can go off and explore.
Extend your trip to either end
Simply adding a day at the beginning and end of your journey can make a huge difference, especially if your trip is near a weekend so you don’t have to use any vacation days. It might be something you have to speak to your employer about, so you can pay for the extra night out of your own money. If you are going to travel all that way anyway for a meeting, then you may as well take advantage of your time there and extend it. This means you can fully focus on your business meetings, and then with your extra days, take the day off and explore the destination on your own time.
Connect with locals
Traveling for work can often feel lonely. A great way to combat this struggle is to connect with the locals. Head to the local town, village, or city that you are staying in and get to know the locals. They will be able to recommend places to eat, fun activities to do, and maybe even some hidden gems to explore. More often than not, they may invite you to join them in their activities so you don’t have to do it alone.
Traveling for work is a great opportunity to seize some fun and adventure. Follow these top tips to help you plan a great trip.
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