Life on the road can be hard both on the traveler and her or his significant other. Minimize the challenges with these relationship tips for business travelers.
Yes, absence makes the heart grow fonder. But absence can also be a serious strain on relationships when work travel puts you on the road week after week. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some business traveler relationship tips that make things a little bit easier?
Use this Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to lessen the impact of work travel on your relationship. Here’s a look at 5 relationship tips for business travelers that you can use to figuratively shorten the distance between you and your loved one.
1. Share Your Itinerary
Help your significant other envision your trip by sharing a comprehensive itinerary before you leave. What airline are you flying? What airport are you flying into and out of? Where’s your hotel? Are you in meetings all day? Will you get any down time to do something fun?
With all the travel technology available to the average road warrior this should be one of the easier business traveler relationship tips to implement. By simply sharing your travel plans, you invite your significant other into the experience. Sharing your plans can also help your significant other better understand the realities of work trips. It sometimes easy to picture business travel as lounging in an airline club, flying in luxury, dining at fancy steakhouses, and sleeping in hotels with high-thread-count sheets.
But that’s not always the case. Business travel often means waiting at a crowded gate, flying in cramped economy seats, dining on fast food, and sleeping in airport hotels that have seen better days. Share your plans so that your significant other feels like part of the trip — the good and the bad.
2. Make Your Relationship a Priority
Treat your relationship like the priority that it is during work travel. Send a thoughtful text message before your day begins. Call during a break in your work. Video chat in the evening when you’re shutting down for the night.
Also, find ways to share your destination with your significant other. Are you walking past the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the Cloud Gate in Chicago or the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle? Are you driving past the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles? Can you see the Empire State Building from the office you’re visiting in New York? Snap a quick picture and send to your significant other — along with a note letting them know you wish they were with you.
3. Be the First to Call/Text
Don’t expect your significant other to call or text very often when you’re traveling. The default assumption will be that you’re busy morning, noon and night with meetings, client visits, happy hours, dinners and more. So be proactive by calling or texting first.
Again, try to make contact throughout the day. Get in touch before things get busy in the morning. Take time to reach out during breaks in the day. And always call, text or video chat at night before bed.
4. Bring Back a Bit of Your Destination
Want to score points when you arrive back home? Bring them a little something from your travel destination. It need not be expensive.
Grab some Ghirardelli chocolate from the original factory when visiting San Francisco. Bring back some Café Du Monde coffee after traveling to New Orleans. Snag authentic English tea before returning from London.
This is one moment when it truly is the thought that counts. By bringing something back, you demonstrate that your significant other was foremost on your mind during the trip.
5. Unplug and Maximize Your Time Together
Once you’re back in the same city or home, spend some quality time together. That means no phone or tablet and certainly no work. Unplug, get outdoors, find an activity that you both love — and enjoy each other’s company after the long absence. This may be one of the more valuable business traveler relationship tips we can offer!
Support Before, During and After Your Trip
Separation from your significant other is hard enough. You don’t need the additional challenges that come with booking travel, navigating delays and cancellations, and then filing expenses upon your return.
At JTB Business Travel, we help companies save money on business travel while providing the support and assistance that traveling employees need during their trips. Behind every service we provide and every recommendation we make is a common sense approach to business travel.
Contact us today to learn more about our services as a comprehensive corporate travel agency.
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