While travelling for leisure is always fun, travelling for business is not always anywhere near as enjoyable. Often, business travel is extremely stressful and lacks enjoyment because there’s so much going on, and that’s a shame because even travelling for business should be made to be enjoyable. Otherwise, surely it’s a waste of time heading off to somewhere new and not enjoying it.

 

What I’ve come to realise is that when it comes to business travel, you have to proactively set out to enjoy your trip. Whether you are heading off for a short 48-hour trip or are jetting off for a slightly longer time, you need to find ways to ensure that you are able to get the most out of your trip possible and actually have a nice time.

 

Wondering how you can go about doing that? Below are some ideas for ways in which you can learn to love business travel.

 

Balance your time better

 

Business travel is designed for working but that doesn’t mean that you can’t spend some time seeing the sights, relaxing on the beach, or having a cheeky cocktail. The key to having a ‘workcation’ (see what I did there?!) is learning how to better balance your time. You might not be able to spend hours exploring, but you should be able to make time to see a few sights and try some of the local cuisine. A tip that another business owner once told me was to book an extra day either side of any business trip so that you have the time to explore. I love this piece of advice – it’s the ideal way to actually get to explore an area that you are visiting.

 

Travel in style

 

Business travel is stressful enough without the stress that comes with travelling in a cramped or uncomfortable way. Always make sure to travel in style, as that way you should be able to work on the way so that you are able to spend more time exploring once you actually arrive. A hack that I find useful when it comes to business travel is taking advantage of last-minute, empty leg flights or plane chartering opportunities, as that way you really can travel in style.

 

Pamper yourself

 

When you’re travelling for business, you don’t need to neglect your own self-care needs. Instead of allowing yourself to get seriously stressed out and panicked at all the work that needs completing, agree to set aside time to pamper yourself. If your hotel has a pool or a sauna, go and use it. If there’s a spa, book yourself in for a facial treatment. Give yourself some love and care – running a business is incredibly hard work and you deserve a break from that. (Trust me, make self-care a priority and your business travel will become far more enjoyable.)

 

Take a friend

 

Okay, so this isn’t actualy professional but why not make your next business trip more enjoyable by taking a friend or your partner along? They say one is the loneliest number and they’re so right, having a friend on hand can make any business trip far more enjoyable. (I live with serious food allergies so I physically can’t travel alone as I need to have someone on hand to support me, should I have an allergic reaction, so I never travel alone.)

 

Business travel doesn’t have to be stressful and unenjoyable, you can make it fun. It’s just a case of knowing what steps you need to take to do so.