[n166]

I’m a management consultant but I don’t travel all the time – my work is split mostly in my local office, with infrequent client visits across the course of the project.

however when i’m travelling alone, i do sometimes find myself getting a bit lonely/bored when I’m finished with work and back at the hotel. sometimes it’s fine, but even if i’m in a nice city, it’s like ‘what am i going to do alone?’

does anyone else face this issue when travelling for work? what do you guys get up to when work is over for the day?

hopefully it won’t be too long before we’re all back travelling for work again!

[Swissdiver]

Hello n166,

There is no one answer to your question, I think. It all depend where we are travelling. For instance, when I work in London, I am never alone as I have there friends and family, or sometimes go to the theatre. Now in some African countries, it is different. That said, I am seldom bored. It is only a matter of planning. So if I travel for instance to Lagos, I know I’ll spend most of the evenings at the hotel. So I make sure it is a large one (with more than one restaurant), load my iPad with books and movies and actually can enjoy my time there. In places I don’t know, I try to move around, try (whenever possible) restaurants and bars outside of the hotel, and to get some city hindsights.

Bottom line, I can’t wait to travel again…

[capetonianm]

When I was working, I was mostly away at clients’ sites, the best part of the day for me was finishing, getting away from people, however well I got on with them, and providing that the weather and security situation allowed it, taking a pleasant walk back to my hotel. I always used to choose a hotel that was 30-40 minutes walk, stop on the way for a beer in the morning or a coffee in the afternoon, (or should that be the other way round?), and a snack. I’d put my feet up, have a hot bath or a cold shower depending on the weather, then trot out to find somewhere to sit with a drink or tea, then wander until I found somewhere inviting for dinner.

If local conditions didn’t allow walking around, I’d try to avoid eating in the hotel, and worse still, having room service, unless I could eat outside on a balcony, as I hate the smell of food in a room I’m sleeping in. I was never bored or lonely, I loved my time to myself, same at weekends when I used to sometimes stay over and find places of interest to visit. Being alone never bothered me, quite the opposite in fact.

Very often clients would take me out for dinner, often somewhere more formal than I would have gone to, and in some places they’d organise weekend activities which was always a lovely gesture but I sometimes felt constrained by their generosity and hospitality. The kindest and most generous, probably the Poles, Hungarians, and Iranians (who organised a ski weekend for me at Tabriz but I couldn’t go as there was too much snow).

When I think that I have had weekends or longer trips arranged and paid for by clients in places such as Cuzco and Machu Picchu, Victoria Falls, Krakow, a tropical island in the Philippines, Malindi, Lake Balaton, the Golden Triangle in Rajasthan, including stays in a Maharajah’s Palace in Jaipur and the Lake Palace in Udaipur, Osaka and Nara, Vinya del Mar, Villa de Lleyva, to name just a few, I have been incredibly privileged and fortunate.

Otherwise, there are cinemas, markets, theatres, concerts, parks, walks. Have I ever been bored? No. Lonely, not really, sometimes wished there was someone to share it with. I have stayed in hotels for weeks and never even switched the TV on. In a few places I’ve ‘teamed up’ with someone I’ve met in the hotel bar or gym and then it was nice to have company for a meal or a few drinks, but I’ve never not enjoyed being on my own.

[nevereconomy]

I always had lunch, dinner and sometimes breakfast with clients as well as the day visiting. So frankly if I had a free evening or weekend (my trips were mostly 4 weeks duration) I was quite happy to veg out. Fortunately most of my clients became friends over the years and would organize things they knew I enjoyed.

[GivingupBA]

n166 asked, “does anyone else face this issue when travelling for work? what do you guys get up to when work is over for the day?”

I’m a morning person anyway, also I don’t drink, and personally I don’t like bars or clubs at all (just personally), and I like to go out early and explore places, so it’s easy for me – I’m usually tired in the evening so I eat early then relax in my hotel room, read the paper or a book, watch TV, read the Internet. I guess I’m largely a solitary type and never bored when alone, so it’s easy for me. I love relaxing in my hotel room.

[K1ngston]

As someone who travels constantly when visiting locations I have been to, I tend to stay in the hotel maybe go to the Exec lounge for something to eat and a glass of wine and then I will head back to the room get any work done and watch movies or series downloaded on the ipad. When visiting new locations I try to get out and explore the city find all the nightlife, be it a bar or a recommended restaurant etc. I too miss travelling its been nice being at home for a while but enough already….

[Inquisitive]

As Swissdiver pointed out that there is no one answer to this.
Each has his/her own plan.

In my case, 90% of time I travel alone and I have work in the evening. So most of the time will go out for solo dinner nearby or at hotel and do work.
If I travel with other colleagues, then obviously will go to dinner together.

Normally I restrict entertainment by/with vendors to one evening.

Most of my trips are within the week. On rare occasion I had to stay over weekend, then I will go out to explore the city, but all of the above are quite common or obvious.

[canucklad]

Hi n166

For me it’s all about striking a balance between the novelty factor of being away from your home, especially when visiting somewhere new or interesting and achieving your objective to the best of your abilities.

Many of my colleagues look at business travel as an AMEX fuelled perk to be taken advantage of to its full. That novelty left me ages ago . and although I’m comfortable in my own company , I do suffer from cabin fever and like to get out and about .

If I’m travelling alone , I struggle to motivate myself to sit by myself in a restaurant (hotel or otherwise) , opting for room service and the company of the TV instead.

So where possible I plan , do a bit a bit of research and then try and be disciplined enough to “get out of the hotel” and be disciplined enough to say “it’s a school night” to colleagues who sometimes see my visit as an opportunity to go out on the lash, sometimes and wrongly seeing my AMEX a free ticket !!

If I’m alone I’ll coincide my ventures away from the hotel with an event, such as a football game (or other sporting event) that I would be watching involved in at home. Since most of my travel is south of the border , watching real football requires research and occasionally a more complex journey than just heading to the local . The benefit of this is you usually find or attract fellow supporters, in my case Scotland, Hearts, Canucks, Seahawks or even Andy Murray !!
Or indeed , just before lockdown , I had to be in Derby when Hearts where playing Hibs . A supporter of my teams bitter rivals invited himself into my company. Small chat discussing the woes of our teams broke the boredom until , and alas , in classic Leith skank fashion he allowed me to buy him an expensive “drown your sorrows” drink and then promptly buggered off without reciprocating with a “well done “ drink in return —typical !!

My other Top Tip if you’re staying for a while or know you’ll be back is to get signed up to the local transit system pass .. ie Octopus Card

1 user thanked author for this post.

TupeloKid

[n166]

thanks for the helpful responses everyone, this is super helpful. the reason i wanted to get an idea of what people get up to in the evening is because i’m in the process of validating and building an app that connects business travellers who are in the same city at the same time, so they can meet up and explore/chill together. it makes perfect sense for me but obviously that doesn’t mean people will use it. keen to get your thoughts on this!

[Premier01]

I have travelled extensively in the UK but limited overseas travel, similar to others if on own usually like to start early then get back to hotel about if there’s an executive lounge do some ‘tidying up’ work e.g. E-mails, finish presentations then go out and explore looking for somewhere to eat.

If with others do something with them perhaps.

I would be interested to hest what others think about the future of business travel?

With C19,economic pressures, climate changr and seemingly the aviation industry already throwing the towel in plus businessee realising 90% of white collar work can be done by Teams, what is the outlook?

I appreciate senior Executives will still travel and perhaps sales/business development but what about management consultants, project teams Teams etc?

I can see benefit on cost and environemt in reducing business travel significantly but it would be a sad world if we were all to be stuck behind Teams calls not engagin with colleagues, clients/suppliers again!

Same with leisure travel, while those with £££ may like it would be a shame if flights became a thing for the privileged few….

sweet spot in the middle required perhaps?

[MartynSinclair]

Evenings for me in the Far East are generally spent working the UK business day. I stay at the same hotel and base myself in the executive lounge where I generally meet the same crowd. Never a problem socialising with other hotel guests or clients / colleagues. For me, never enough hours in the day for the work / social balance. Managed to meet up with quite a few members of the BT Forum along the way which have always made some very pleasant and convivial nights out ( I did have to assist K1ngston back to the hotel on a few occasions,……. although K1ngston may tell tell a different story 🙂 ..

Sometimes though, especially on holiday weekends, loneliness can creep in and it did affect me some years ago. Thanks to the BT forum, i created a thread on the subject (I recall it was a Friday night and holiday weekend in Thailand. I think) and the messages and ideas that were posted lifted my spirits for the weekend.

I still feel extremely privileged that my professional life has allowed me to travel and I love to put back into the local areas i stay. I attend charity events (hands on, not fancy dinners) where I help those, less fortunate than me, which can not only be rewarding, but very enjoyable.

[Johnnyg]

May I ask if, what, or any specific regrets any of you have when looking back on your travelling experiences. Either missed opportunities you regret not taking, pictures that you wish you had taken or recorded etc.

Being a keen photographer I now regret not making more memories from my travels.

[K1ngston]

[postquote quote=997465][/postquote]

Martyn, Martyn Martyn, alas the nights in Thailand have obviously shrouded your brain, especially the part of the brain where recollections are housed. If I am not mistaken on the 4/5 occasions we have had the pleasure to meet in Bangkok the amount of times you have had to carry me back are actually none! However the opposite could be said and I have witnesses to prove the point after a particularly lively evening at the Sushi Restaurant and the after party!

Having said that what goes on tour stays on tour, and I am always delighted to see you and share stories and break bread with you, and it often reminds me why I gave up drinking having spent a night with you 🙂

Be safe Martyn ….

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MartynSinclair

[capetonianm]

i’m in the process of validating and building an app that connects business travellers who are in the same city at the same time,

Seems like a great idea for a lot of people, as some responses here would indicate. I prefer to enjoy local culture and am very happy to do on my own, so it’s probably not something I would have used in my business travel days unless I ended up in some real shithole like Luanda. In places like that it would probably have a high take-up.
I hope it works for you and those who use it.

[Swissdiver]

[postquote quote=997453][/postquote]

Similar solutions exist already, or in some cases existed. Accor had an app to encourage socialising among its members (apparently discontinued). Dedicated social networks also exist, such as https://www.internations.org/. Members can join any event anywhere in the world. As far as I am concerned however, I am very happy to be alone when I travel and don’t need such solutions.

[Author]

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