How to Squeeze a Little Vacation on a Business Trip
Business trips are bittersweet. You are going to London for a few days, you think that this means getting to know the city, but no – you have a job. However, you can set aside time for fun. This doesn’t mean you want a penny company free vacation, but with a little planning, you can make the most of your business trip while still making time for fun.
Prioritize your sightseeing
When you’re on a business trip, you usually don’t have much time for yourself. When it comes to planning any trip, research is key, but when you’re pressed for time, it’s even more important. You don’t want to waste your precious limited time with unexpected surprises.
Before you hit the road, look for everything to do in the city. Make a list of all the attractions you would like to see, from museums to restaurants and shows, then prioritize based on how much time you have. Most likely, you will have time to do only 2-3 tasks from the huge list, so keep that in mind. It might even help you set a goal for your vacation : I want to eat like I have never eaten in Paris . Or I want to see some really cool ruins in Rome .
The Lonely Planet’s Guides app (free for iOS and Android) is a great place to start. It includes 38 different cities and contains information on attractions, travel tips, etiquette guidelines and more. You can also bookmark information and save it offline.
Frommer’s is also a great resource to find things to do in a limited time. You can search their website for your destination, navigate to suggested itineraries , and the site will tell you what to do if you only have a day in that city. Of course, most of these places should be expected to be touristy. If you know someone who lives in the city or has traveled a lot, ask them which places are worth visiting and which are worth missing. Or better yet, get their expert recommendations from the get-go.
And don’t try to squeeze everything in. If you’re traveling for business, you don’t want to get nervous during downtime. Get the most out of it while maintaining an effortless leisure schedule. This way, you can truly enjoy your exploration without feeling like time is in a hurry and not in a rush.
Of course, if possible, this will help extend your trip and give yourself an extra day of fun after you’ve gotten busy. It will probably be with your money, but hey, you got it for free anyway.
Find a hidden city to rest
If you really want to get more out of your trip, and your employer doesn’t mind you booking your tickets yourself, find a hidden city to connect to.
Find hop-on hop-off flights in a city with a stopover, then leave the airport in that city and explore. Of course, you need to make sure it doesn’t ruin your schedule, but if you don’t need to be at your destination at a specific time, this is a great way to have fun.
I kind of did it on a recent trip to North Carolina for work. It didn’t really matter what time I arrived, and I had nothing planned for that night, so I decided to fly with a three-hour stopover to Houston. That way I could visit my parents for lunch. Seeing a couple of familiar faces made the ride more relaxed and fun until I had to go to work.
CleverLayover and Skipplagged are solid tools for finding these hidden cities, but Google Flights will do just fine . Search for a flight and under the More tab you will see a list of stopover cities that you can select or cancel. If you want to find all of them, select “Any connection”.
Maybe you have friends in a stopover city, or maybe it’s just a fun stopover on the way to your destination. Either way, if you have the ability to search and select your own flights, this is an easy way to get a little more out of your trip.
Strategize your hotel location
It’s easier to get into idle if your hotel is in the right area. Consider your job responsibilities, the attractions you want to see, and then book your accommodation accordingly .
You will likely spend more time on business, so it makes sense to book closer to your work responsibilities. However, it does help plan all three – work, play, and living – in the same location so you can spend less time traveling back and forth. More free time for fun!
For example, our editor-in-chief, Alan Henry, plans his work trips to New York in this way. He finds an interesting place to stay, which is a quick Uber ride from the office, but also close to good pubs and eateries. Thus, his accommodation is close to interesting, but he can still walk to and from the office without worrying about wasting his time navigating the subway.
On the other hand, if you are traveling for business, your meetings and conferences are likely to take place in the business district. In most cities, these areas are pretty deserted and lifeless at night and on weekends. Consider booking a hotel in a busier part of town. This way you are closer to all the fun, and when you return to the hotel after work, it is more like a vacation. If you are free after a certain day, you can even book two separate hotel stays: one closer to work; another next to funny things.
Make appointments near the places you want to see
If you’re meeting with clients or other people in the business, get creative with your venue selection. You can make appointments in the immediate vicinity of your office, but perhaps in a more interesting location than just an office park. Or perhaps you could bring them to your office and then suggest a break and meet for dinner and drinks in a busier part of town to finish things off. Meanwhile, you can fit into a show or some sights. Here’s another suggestion from Forbes :
Instead of meeting in the lobby of a hotel or restaurant, for example, invite a client or colleague to an exhibition you would like to see. If the relationship is formal, arrange a business lunch near the place you want to visit and come before or after.
It also helps establish clear boundaries for your schedule. Hour meeting over a cup of coffee easily turn into three hours of calls on the work, or that even worse, amusing chatter . Let your clients or colleagues know that there is a deadline for the meeting. And you don’t have to be a jerk. You can simply ask, “Are you free for breakfast from 10:00 am to 11:30 am?” This will let the other person know you have something to do without making you feel too busy and important to them.
Of course, you don’t want to interrupt the meeting just because you want to play in Central Park. The pleasure of a business trip is secondary, but creating boundaries helps protect your limited free time.
Illustration by Sam Woolley