Tim Howell’s Weblog

Business travel is completely different to personal travel. Last year, I traveled more than 100,000 kilometres for work purposes, comprising several trips in multiple cities across the US, Canada and Australia. Traveling alone or with colleagues, the trips mainly comprised series of meetings and business dinners, with the occasional weekend to see sights and have some personal time. The work/personal split is very clear – very tilted towards work – and the desire to make the most of the time with colleagues or customers you don’t see that often is important and determines what you do and where you go.

Traveling for personal reasons is completely different. We’ve recently come back from two weeks in the US – and New York in particular - where our whole family congregated for a family wedding. Traveling with family – and our young kids – puts a completely different perspective on all facets of a trip:

• Traveling with kids is possible. We’ve got two young kids, who we needed to get from Wellington to New York, a trip comprising three separate flights and some 20+ hours of flying time, Our kids are great, and were able to negotiate all of that and deal with the vagaries of multiple time zone shifts. The trick? Give them the attention they need and keep them busy and engaged – sleep will come.
• US immigration is a challenge with young kids. When you’re traveling alone or with a colleague, it’s straightforward going through immigration and customs, unpacking and de-robing when required. With kids it’s different: there’s an element of anxiety about how they’re treated and how they react to a process they don’t understand – no one else asks them to take off their belts, or handover toys etc. Like most things, the ease of the process depends on the people involved.
• Americans are (still) really helpful. After working with a great bunch of US colleagues, I was familiar with how helpful they can be. Traveling with kids added a new dimension to getting about, and all the locals were helpful, opening doors and generally being patient if we were struggling with a stroller or negotiating steps. (Compare that to New Zealand, where everything’s a race and people are always in a hurry – no matter where they are.)
• The luxury of time is wonderful. Having two weeks away, with a relatively free agenda, gave us the freedom to do the things we wanted to do, when we wanted to do them. Work travel, by necessity, doesn’t afford those luxuries. (and nor should it, I must add). By balancing what we wanted to do, and planning the time we had available, we were able to achieve everything we wanted, giving the kids the experiences we wanted them to have.

Travel is a necessity of business life, and something I’ve grown to enjoy, and despite some of the challenges, it’s great to know that traveling for personal reasons is just as rewarding.