Do you travel much for work?

[Tit]

My job now is a little like this. Its byod and we can work whenever/where-ever as long as the work gets done.

Too bad about those pesky clients that work traditionally. Forces us into their routine.

Anyway, I often get up early and throw down a few hours and drive in after nine to avoid the awful Canberra drivers...

• 7am shower, ahhh
• Brekky on deck taking in the morning and the view from our house. Chat to precious woman.
• 7:30 Brew coffee
• 7:35 walk to office w/coffee in favourite cup
• 7:36 arrive office
• 7:37 log on to network, etc etc
• Deal with stuff, get the picture.

The down side is that work follows me everywhere via mobile and Laptop/iPad.

Has not all been that easy, commuted to Tulla Airport for 20 years. 45 minutes of country roads, 'roos, horses, accidents, fog, some times irrational fellow shift workers. Wore out a few nondescript vehicles, spent heaps on fuel. Got sick of driving the same roads but always had to be alert after a few "eye-opening" moments.

More coffee please!

Now I can get out in my favourite car and enjoy driving.</p>

[Hounddub]

Based in Singapore for 11years has meant that regional and long haul travel is very frequent.

In 2011 and 2012 i travelled 261 days a year.....thats not a typo.

2013 was better..... Only about 200.

I fly to Australia every month, europe 5-6 times a year and have lost count of the ASEAN travel frequency.

Im looking forward to moving home soon and giving it away.

[Coastr]

Getting sick?  Yes, it does happen.  Run down people get sick.  People who are cold, tired and not eating properly.

 

First step is not to leave in a two-day state of stress and panic about getting things organised.  Write a list, pack your bag, check off list.  Lots of people spend the last night before they leave in a sleepless state from stress or excitement, and are stuffed by the time they board the plane.  That's a bad way to leave.

 

I use over the counter sleeping tablets on the plane and for the first two nights.  Don't ever take a daytime nap for the first two days you are there.  You need to reset your body clock.  Also go for a walk in the morning after you get up - nothing big, just a short stroll to get some coffee or something.   Keep warm on planes, and be judicious about washing your hands in plans and terminals.

 

Above all, just deal with it and get on with it.  Planes flights are long and uncomfortable?  Big deal. Just relax your mind and chill out.  Pacing round a plan fidgeting and complaining only draws it out.  The more you can do to relax and enjoy the process the better youre going to be when you get there.

 

Eating - try to keep your diet the same as best you can (obviously tough in some destinations). 

 

Above all, marvel at the modern world we live in, how you can go to the other side of the planet in 24 hours, and then tweet pics of the neat Porsche you just saw at the airport at the other end. Life is good, technology is cool and the world is not about to end, so enjoy it

[Hounddub]

My advice list is as follows:

1. Any flight over 5 hours you should try to fly during the day with an arrival time in the late afternoon/ early evening

2. Always eat half the meals inflight

3. If youre not flying business class then always internet check-in so as to avoid long queues at the airport.

4. Put yourself on arrival time as soon as you board as sleep accordingly

5. Avoid beer, red wine works as well as sleeping tablets

6. Get a set of Bose noise cancelling headphones.....they are my best friend

7. Heaps of water

8. Always walk briskly as soon as you get off the plane to stimulate the body and get to immigration as soon as possible

9. Large and odd size bags are always last ones at the baggage claim so get a medium size bag with 4 wheels and avoid the need for a trolley

10. Get you wife something on the way home.

[Chris-p]

Everything that Coastr and Houndub said...

I also for the last 5 years only travel with carryon luggage. I can be away for 2 weeks and have no dramas. Soon as I am in the one place for more than one night I wash everything and away we go.

Nothing better than getting back to Melbourne after a long haul flight. Going through the smart gate immigration process and walking straight out through customs rather than having to wait for half an hour or more for luggage to finally come through.....

[reax]

Travel for work, definitely. Over the last few years my favourite trips I have done are Alaska, Japan, Guam and Hawaii. On the down side I have moved from Brisbane to Newcastle to Townsville to Katherine to Newcastle and back to Townsville in the last 12 years.

 

My daughter is 10 years old and on her third school, son is on his second and he is 8. It looks like I may only spend one year in Townsville and be moved on again next year which daughter isn't happy about as she has just made new friends again and we have an interview for her high school she wants to attend this week. 

[Black Pearl]

Know what you mean. Those noise cancelling headphones are great. Put them on even when not listening to anything and people tend to leave you alone....

Regular work air travel is a killer. If it is for a few days, I find it tends to kill a couple of days either side with additional prep work and then follow up on top of your regular load you'd have if you weren't travelling.

It's also time away from family which I hate especially now with a young family.... Was much easier in the days before we had kids....

I was thinking today, as I booked yet another ticket to our Perth office that I must have done millions of kilometers in planes over the years, lord knows how much I have spent on travel. Having said that I am getting too old to keep doing it.

I truly hate people that want to talk to me when I travel. I sit at the front of the plane but always seem to get the person who wants to share their life with me. Whenever I am asked what I do and why I am traveling I say I am an undertaker going to pick up a body, that usually shuts them up.

Do you travel much? If so what annoys you the most?

[withers]

Thanks for all those tips guys..makes a lot of sense!  No trips planned at the moment, but that may change - I'll be back in here to reread all your tips.

[Steiny]

I spent two years commuting between YBBN and Canberra.

Fly down first flight monday morning and return on 7pm flight Friday night.

I actually enjoyed it - had gold status so regular upgrades, club access and priority check-ins.

Carry on luggage only so I didn't have to queue for baggage.

Stay fit.  Regular exercise is the key to keep your immunity up from the bugs you'll get from the other people flying.

 

In some ways I miss those days.

[Steiny]

Oh.. and noise cancelling headphones (which I got for free from rewards points) are a must.

[tazzieman]

Luckily (because I detest queues and air conditioning and corporate generics) I don't travel for work , but do work with surgeons, who get to sit further forward than me.

 

 

The aircraft was cruising at thirty-five thousand feet and everyone had just finished having their lunch. The soft whining of the engines was coaxing passengers to sleep. Sitting in economy class , row 22 seat B, was an Anesthetist wiggling his toes in an attempt to prevent deep vein thrombosis developing in his feet.

As he sipped a complimentary glass of water , a frantic message came over the public address system; "Anesthetist urgently needed for someone in Business Class!"

Hoping that someone else would get up, our Anesthetist pretended not to hear and looked out of the window. The call came again; "Please ... we urgently need an Anaesthetist for someone in Business Class "

Perhaps this was serious . Why did they need an Anesthetist ? Maybe it was a cardiac arrest! Trying to recall the ABC's , the Anesthetist got the attention of one of the cabin staff.

They were so relieved; "Thank you Sir, for volunteering to help us. There is this gentleman who needs your urgent assistance in Business Class".The anesthesiologist was taken to the Business Class section.

Wow! There was so much space. It was another world compared to the cramped Economy Class. But where was the patient ? There were only a few passengers , and all were asleep except one of them who was reading a newspaper. Nobody seemed to be in any distress. This was perplexing .

Suddenly the man reading the newspaper looked up. He was a rather well fed gentleman and had a grumpy voice; " Are you an Anesthetist ?"

"Yes ... ?" "Oh .. that's great! I am an Orthopedic Surgeon , and have been looking for an Anesthetist . So glad that they managed to find one ...."

This was getting frightening. Was this man trying to do surgery in this aircraft ? The nervous Anesthetist managed to ask ; "How may I help you ?"

The surgeon replied; "Well I have been trying to read this newspaper ...but the reading light isn't aimed correctly. Can you please adjust it for me ...."

[D-banger]

LOL..I think that's an in joke.

[Guest Harold]

In joke for sure. Funny to the right audience.

[OZ930]

[SteveT]

I have travelled a lot overseas but not frequently. Only once every few years but that was for quite a long working life. Around 12 years ago I volunteered to take ove the account for a large hardware chain that have big green sheds with hammer logs on them. Then it was once a month, every month, for about 5 years. The worst things were queues at the airport, screaming kids and crap motels. Saw lots of great things and met lots of great people. I was lucky enough to generally fly in the afternoon before and fly out the morning following whatever events were happening so tended to avoid early starts and late finishes to and from airports.

One trip to Sydney I flew in on a Sunday late afternoon and when I told the taxi driver that I wanted to go to Cronulla he was taken aback. That was the very day of the riots at the beach. We eventually arrived safely after a few nervous moments. I spent the evening with all the lights off watching the police action down on the street which overlooked the beach and the front of Northeys Tavern, right where all the trouble started earlier in the day. I had had no idea about the riots as was on a plane or at the airport when it all happened.

[withers]

Luckily (because I detest queues and air conditioning and corporate generics) I don't travel for work , but do work with surgeons, who get to sit further forward than me.

pfffft to anaesthetists! Last surgery I had I nearly died in recovery, stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated. My oxygen dropped to 19 which is like almost death (my partner who is a Vet says they only see such a low level in animals dying) we believe I wasn't being adequately watched. Fortunately I was revived - otherwise you'd have never heard of me!

One very sheepish anaesthetist didn't like being grilled by my other half!

So Taz - is this your line of work ie anaesthetist?

[tazzieman]

So Taz - is this your line of work ie anaesthetist?

No. Way too boring , and you get sick of surgeon's chatting about their mistresses and yachts. But a surgeon cannot operate without my help. Go figure , I like to play riddles 

[tazzieman]

How cool would it be to take one of these on the daily commute?

 

[withers]

No. Way too boring , and you get sick of surgeon's chatting about their mistresses and yachts. But a surgeon cannot operate without my help. Go figure , I like to play riddles 

 

I'm too lazy to solve riddles

[tazzieman]

I'm too lazy to solve riddles

Well then, no wonder you're hankering for a sporto 

[Dubai944]

I have been travelling back and forth to Middle East every couple of months for years and plenty of other places in between. 

 

Things I hate:

 

- Business Class Seats that aren't lie flat. I need to be horizontal!

- Cabins that are kept too warm to sleep properly. You can add clothes and blankets to stay warm, but nothing worse than a hot stuffy cabin.

- Delays on departure after you have already boarded. Nothing worse than spending two hours on a plane and you haven't gone anywhere!

- Having your headset taken off you 30 minutes before landing so you can't hear the end of your movie. That one really pisses me off!

- Being on a fourteen hour direct flight to Dubai and realising I have already seen all the movies. Aargh.

- The fact that my bladder seems to shrink to the size of a pea when I fly meaning 20 trip to the toilet per flight.Or maybe I drink too much on flights?

- Too many people in the lounges. I'm not a people person when i travel.

-  People who don't bother pulling their cabin bags out of the rack until everyone else starts to try and move off the plane, then stuff around holding everyone up.

- Any form of economy travel. It's a human rights violation on any flight over 3 hours in my opinion. Thankfully I don't do that hardly anymore!

 

Things I like:

- Hot flight attendants who want to chat!

- Free upgrades to Emirates or Etihad First Class. Doesn't happen too often, but when it does I do a little dance.

[withers]

Well then, no wonder you're hankering for a sporto 

 

LOL! 

[tazzieman]

LOL! 

Occasionally I leave my artificial leg at home as well, getting a bit lazy in my dotage...more to come on this.

[pocketscience]

Been constantly travelling overseas for work for 15 years now. In the last 6 weeks I've been to the US twice, Barcelona, Tokyo and Beijing. All separate trips. Last year got a bottle of Penfolds Grange from Mr Joyce for being one of their top flyers. I had at least a dozen gratis first class upgrades on Qantas last year. The staff at the first class lounge in Sydney know me on sight.

 

I had 35 hotel stays in 2013 - all international apart from 1 night at the Park Hyatt in Sydney with the missus for our anniversary.. it was a fluke I was in town for it!

 

When the conversation turns to travel I usually tell people "I visit Sydney regularly..."

 

Thankfully my wife is a fricking rock-star and is incredibly supportive even though she's left to a) work and look after the kids and all the other stuff that comes from being a sole parent most of the time. She hates traveling with me as I have such a set routine now that it drives her nuts being dragged through the airport in the fastest possible way. She doesn't complain about the free trips, hotel stays and other perks though. Funny that. :-)

 

 

G.

[withers]

Geez Gavin!  That is a lot of travelling!