Making the Most of Your Downtime: What’s a Business Traveler To Do?

So, you’re going on a business trip. You know as well as we do that business travel absolutely does not equate to “vacation.” You’ll be busy, working hard all day long and awaiting those precious moments of downtime at the end of every day (and sometimes during lunch!). Don’t waste time trying to figure out what to do. In our unending quest to make business travel easy, we’ve put together a quick guide on how to make the most of your downtime so you can perfectly mix business and pleasure.

Set the work down. Not every second of your business trip- needs to be spent on your laptop or in conference calls. Remember to take some time for yourself so you can explore the local area and do the things you love to do when you travel. Working too much will only stress you out. And remember not to confine yourself to your hotel room. Set that room service menu down—get out and try something new for dinner!

Prepare, prepare, prepare. You’re going to be busy on your trip, we know that. So it will probably be helpful if you take some time before leaving—you could even do this on the plane!—to explore the city virtually. That way you can determine what you want to see and do and fashion a route beforehand (or decide to sign up for a guided tour), and save yourself the hassle of trying to figure everything out on the fly when you’re on a time limit.

Get some exercise. The last thing you need is for your business trip to wear you out and get you sick enough to miss work when you get home. If the hotel has a gym or there’s a park nearby, take a bike for a quick spin or go running. It’ll boost your endorphins and your immunity, helping you have more energy to work when you need it and less chance of getting travel-stress-sick.

Ask for recommendations. Maybe a friend knows the area well—ask them what you should do. Hey, maybe they’re even close enough to join you for an evening out. Or, ask your business travel agency. AmTrav partners with 58 local agencies around the world, so there’s bound to be someone who knows your destination enough to make some suggestions.

Play catch-up. As a last resort for all of you workaholics out there, take your mind off the current business of your trip and catch up with the office. You’re likely to have some emails and other outstanding items that will stress you out when you get back—take care of those now and don’t worry about them later. But make sure you’ve gone out to have some fun first!

Just relax. You could always use an extra 30 minutes of sleep, or a chance to catch up with a good book or watch a big game. Take advantage of your break from work; unplug and recharge.

By: Jen B.