The grind of frequent business travel can often wear employees down. Yet, it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are 5 ideas to make your next business trip more interesting and learn how to enjoy business travel more.
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We’ve heard time and time again. Variations of the questions below and they all have more or less the same theme: Business travel is hard. How can I make it more fun?
- How can I make my business trip fun?
- How do I make traveling for business fun?
- How I enjoy business travel more?
- Can I make my business travel more interesting?
We got you covered with 5 interesting and unique ideas to make your next business trip a little more fun and interesting.
5 Ideas to make your next business trip more interesting (and actually enjoy your business travel a bit more)
Maybe it’s your first business trip or your 301st trip (and you are a grizzled old veteran), but there’s more to business travel than just grinding it out from Hampton Inn to Hampton Inn.
The world is a big place and if a company is going to pay you to travel you might as well try to enjoy a little bit of while traveling on their dime. And, unsurprisingly there are several ways to do just that.
Here’s a quick summary before dive into the details of each of these ideas to make your next business trip a bit more fun.
- Bleisure it
- Turn your GPS off
- Find that cool restaurant from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives
- Research the area before you go
- Always see “one thing”
Idea Number One: Bleisure it
The word Bleisure has really taken off in recent years thanks in part to the millennial generation who allegedly coined this term. But, us savvier road warriors (Gen-X in my case) have been doing this for years…we just didn’t know what to call it.
To be clear, Bleisure is when you intentionally mix a business trip with a leisure or pleasure trip. For example, you may have to fly to Omaha Nebraska for work, but you decide to stay over the weekend (on your dime) and drive down to Lincoln Nebraska and watch the Cornhuskers play some football.
You’ve mixed a business trip with pleasure and the company paid for your flights. All you have to do is foot the extra lodging, food and transportation bill for the weekend and the company has already physically got you to the destination.
You can make business travel more fun by tying some bleisure into your work trip. Maybe bring your spouse or kids along for a trip for a fraction of the normal cost.
I’ve been traveling for work for probably 15 years or so now and through Bleisure we’ve been able to experience quite a bit including a memorable trip to NYC, Cape Cod, Arizona, Dallas and many other places. In fact, we have just booked a Bleisure trip to London this spring (in concert with some work travel I have there).
Pro Tip: Always be sure to check your company’s travel policy. For example, many company’s are totally fine with employees doing this (some even market it as a perk), but one way to get yourself fired is to violate the company travel policy. Pore over it make sure it’s ok.
Idea Number Two: Turn your GPS off and get lost
This is honestly one of the most fun tricks we use to make our business travel more interesting. It’s tempting to flip your phone’s GPS on and let the robots take to you where you are going. But it’s more fun to figure it out the old way.
You’d be surprised what you can find along the journey. Maybe it’s a neat coffee shop, a landmark you didn’t expect, or just cool architecture. Or maybe you actually get lost lost. No worries, flip the GPS back on and it’s all good.
Seriously, try this on your next business trip. I guarantee it will be interesting.
Pro Tip: Consider buying a WizGear AC Mounted Magnetic Cell Phone holder for when you DO turn you GPS on. This handy little gadget has been a go-to item for me on my business trips. Now I don’t have to worry about my phone sloshing around at my feet or slipping off the passenger seat when I am trying to navigate to my hotel.
Idea Number Three: Visit that eatery you saw on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
The amazing show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is a fan favorite in my household. We love learning about all the interesting places to eat in this great country of ours. If you want to make your next business trip a little more interesting check out the list of restaurants on their website and see if there’s any places featured on the show that you can visit in person.
Pro Tip: Always get the mac n cheese. Wherever you are. Always get the mac n cheese. #nuffsaid
Research the Area’s History Before you Go
One way to make your next business trip more interesting is to research the area you are traveling too. I am a bit of a history buff so this comes naturally too me, but it’s something I’ve always done. For example, on a trip to Minot, ND I learned that Minot was once the end of a long smuggling route for Al Capone. Pretty cool!
Pretty much everywhere you go something interesting has happened and all you need is to remember to look it up!
Idea Number 5: Try to see the “one thing” the area is known for
San Francisco has the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. NYC has the Statue of Liberty. London has Big Ben. Big and small cities alike usually have one prominent attraction. If you want to make your next business trip more enjoyable be sure to “see” the one thing that destination is known for.
Ideally you’d be able to actually tour it and fully experience it but sometimes you just don’t have the time. Sometimes all you can do is walk by it and check it off the list (and snag a pic the Instagram, of course). But it’s better than nothing. And it is better than sitting in the hotel room.
Some other ideas to make your business travel more exciting that didn’t make the top 5
Our friends over at TravelAfterFive.com have built their entire blog around providing ideas on what to do when the sun goes down in a major city. If you are looking for more ideas on how to make your next trip more fun, check them out.
Also consider finding a local meetup in your area. For example, maybe you are a huge Emily Dickinson fan. I bet there’s a meetup in the town you are visiting or at least one about writers you could drop in on.
Thanks for dropping in – be sure to check out all of our travel content
We travel hard a lot and along the way we like to share our tips and tricks for surviving on the road. Be sure to check out some of our other great travel content including some gems, below:
- Can I fly with an expired ID?
- Baby Yoda Travel Memes
- TSA Food Rules – what are they?
- 101 Travel Hacks
- Can I bring Tweezers on a Plane?
- Can I bring a Razor on a Plane?
- Can I bring vitamins on a Plane?
- I forgot my toiletries while traveling – now what?
- 11 Best Hotel Beds
- Best Travel Drones
- Airport Travel Tips
- Suitcase Packing Tips
- Healthy Travel Snacks You will Actually Want to Eat
- Bulkhead Seating on a Plane – any good?
- The Mileage Run
- TSA Drone Policy – it’s easy
- The Most Annoying Things About Travel
- Travel Security is not that hard
- Can I actually buy a hotel pillow?
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2 comments
Just did the bleisure thing sort of and went and saw some sites in South Bend, IN. Notre Dame a beautiful campus in the winter when no students are there!
Love it!! Beautiful area but cold this time of year.