Work trips

[Poblano]

I started in a new role earlier this year, and it involves more (UK) work travel than previous roles. I travel to the main office around once a month, this is a 4hr train journey so I usually stay 2-3 nights in a hotel. I also have a conference coming up which will mean 5 nights away and a 6hr train journey.

Without packing everything but the kitchen sink, how do you make work trips more pleasant? I take my tablet with streaming services on, and a book. I try to book a hotel with a pool so I can use that and I also take running gear to get some fresh air in a local park. But I still find I eat rubbish and spend evenings tired and slightly bored in the hotel.

What else can I do?

Do you travel with any other colleagues?

Depending on the city and work commitments, I like to try a nice restaurant / cocktail bar / comedy club / local gig / museums when I can! Assuming you can expense sustenance, it’s quite a nice excuse to try out food or restaurants you can’t get at home.

Will the conference you’re attending have events or socials on for attendees in the evening maybe? If not, depending on the size of the conference there may be spin off events run independently during the conference period. Have a look at eventbrite/ticketmaster etc in the city for the dates you’re there.

Study People in the hotel lobby or local cafe ?

That said, for me, learn a different subject or topics of interest

Or art gallery and museums etc

for longer trips I try to find apart hotels or air bnb so I can at least make half decent food - even if it’s a ready meal. also just having a proper chair or sofa rather than sitting in bed helps.

taking the running gear is good. Sometimes I try the bike hire - just the commuter ones - to go a bit further

take small things to treat yourself. I have an aeropress for coffee, nice tea bags, healthy (and not so healthy) snacks. Those mini bottles of wine or pre mixed cocktail cans

go out to the cinema, museums, gigs, concerts. Ask colleagues for restaurant recommendations

do you sleep OK? I never sleep that well when away from home, so double down on sleep aids like eye mask, ear plugs, sleep meditation/music

for longer trips I try to find apart hotels or air bnb so I can at least make half decent food

That’s what I do too. Taking my husband along as well also helps, although I realise that isn’t an option for everybody.

I'm usually travelling on my own, so no colleagues staying with me. The conference should be more social though.

In the city that I visit frequently the museum and art gallery closes at 5pm, so that's not an option in the evening. There is a theatre close to my usual hotel so I've had a look at their website to see what's on.

Using the time to learn new things would be difficult as I'm usually pretty exhausted by the evening. Office visits tend to pack in lots of meetings and the conference will be pretty full on too.

I always pack my Aeropress for decent coffee, that's definitely a good call.