The Realities of Business Travel After 125 Flights

In the movie Up in the Air, George Clooney’s character romanticizes about the joy of a life of constant travel, and a completely empty fridge at home. There is a reality to a life of hotels and different cities, taking more miles in Ubers than driving your own car and of having more meals in airport lounges than meals with friends and family. Business travel is different from personal travel. There isn’t a vacation on the other end of your flight, just more work on one side and more work with an empty fridge at home on the other.

I enjoy my work and I recognize the value of my travel. I also try to enjoy the experiences that come along the way. Each trip serves a purpose. Each flight has a goal. Together, the travel has a destination that is sought but never guaranteed.

Business travel means spending time away from friends and family. It means spending nights in unfamiliar beds, in unfamiliar cars and in unfamiliar places. The constants become change and airplanes. So many airplanes.

For those who are unfamiliar, airline lounges or clubs have a mystique about them. What is it like to spend time in a place with free drinks and free food, with comfortable seats and clean bathrooms? Tonight, the United Club in San Francisco was so full there were no more seats available anywhere. The food was edible and filling, and the Jelly Beans as always were tasty. They had plenty of water and it was relatively quiet. It is an improvement from the main concourse. It is not a place of great luxury. For constant business travel it is a place of temporary reprieve, where you can be with your fellow frequent business travelers and enjoy not talking to each other. It is also quiet, without the constant interruption of gate announcements.

I find it to be worth it. It is a place to get work done. Sometimes I wish for the food from the Bahn Mi place nearby, but I can be content with my chickpea wrap that has about as much flavor as the napkin it comes with. The desserts are better, and something you wouldn’t normally order at a restaurant. The staff do their best to make it comfortable.

First class upgrades happen with some regularity the more you travel. This means the seat is a bit nicer, on longer flights there are meals that are often tasty, and the service is notably better. This is a nice perk that comes with many nights away from home. With 131 flights for the year under my belt, when I see someone above me on the upgrade list I’m no longer jealous. I feel sorry for them having spent more time on airplanes than I have this year.

I love what I do and seeing new places, but the travel makes it hard to love much else. Relationships take time, energy and presence. A girlfriend or spouse deserves someone who spends more time at home than at 32,000 feet.

Having said all that, when I get home from this trip I will recover and rest, and by Monday I’ll be looking forward to my next flight. The asshole sitting next to me on speaker phone and FaceTime, not so much. Dude, use fucking earbuds. I just wrote about lacking love, and I don’t need to hear your wife on the line talking about her 401K… yeah, travel is awesome!

A Boeing 777 and an Embraer 175. I’ve flown many times now on both of these types of aircraft this year.