Business Travel
Robert Jolles

What Defines An Easy Trip?

 

I drove to Richmond this week to conduct a two-day seminar. Why is that significant? It's significant because I didn't have to take a cab, go to the airport, work my way through security, get my bags on board, and hope my seatmate didn't feel like talking. I can assure you, I can go on.

I live in the Washington Metropolitan area, and Richmond is only about 100 miles away. I had been looking forward to this trip because I knew how much easier it would be to do my work, and not have to hassle with the airlines. This trip would be an easy one. I was wrong.

No, I didn't hit a lot of traffic, and my car didn't break down. I assumed it would be an easier trip because I was eliminating the airlines. What I wasn't eliminating was my time away from my family. I'm surprised I forgot such a simple lesson.

When I wrote, The Way of the Road Warrior I had many people teach me this lesson. I had just written a book that I thought would help others who travel and fight the good fight to get home. I had assumed that my audience would be the army of Road Warriors who are just like me. Road Warriors who are fighting their way through airports, grabbing cabs, and trying to cope with their hotel room existence.

Sure, I heard from people like me once the book came out. But I also heard from truck drivers who were fighting to get back to their families. I heard from lawyers and doctors who were fighting to get back to their families. How shortsighted of me to assume that even the definition of "Road Warrior" had anything to do with airlines, cabs, and hotels. The definition of being a "Road Warrior" has a lot more to do with coping with your time away from those you love.

So, how was the Richmond trip you might ask? A whole lot like every other trip I've taken over the past 25 years. Other than a reprieve from the airport, I found myself falling into most of my usual patterns of missing my family.

And what's my message for you? It isn't about avoiding the airports, or the cabs, or the hotels. A trip is a trip, and psychologically, you won't get the rest you might think you would be getting by eliminating some of what we assume wears us out. We get worn out being away from our significant others, or our children, or our friends, or our dogs, or our cats, or even our favorite chair.

In short I was reminded that an easy trip isn't really defined by how far or difficult the travel is. It's defined by how long you are away from your home.