[jjsaw5]

I recently had my first opportunity to go on a business trip. I was sent to Las Vegas for a week long training class on a software package that we use. I really enjoyed the trip, mostly becasue it was to Vegas.


While I was in the airport on the way home I was wondering if this is something I could do regularly, traveling around all the time for work. So I'd like to know if any of you are frequent business travelers...

Do you have a place that you travel to frequently for business? Do you enjoy traveling for you job or do you hate it? Are business trips a big part of your job?

[xclite]

Traveling for my work usually involves very long days on very cramped ships doing very boring work. I'd prefer to stay home, at this job.

[tlhIn`toq]

I filled my passport in the first two years working for my employer, and had to have another packet of pages added.. 'nough said.

I built photo galleries of the more interesting places, but there were a lot more trips than there are galleries.
http://www.stlaurent...ld/Welcome.html

This post has been edited by tlhIn`toq: 16 January 2012 - 09:48 AM

[jjsaw5]

tlhIn`toq, on 16 January 2012 - 11:48 AM, said:

I filled my passport in the first two years working for my employer, and had to have another packet of pages added.. 'nough said.

I built photo galleries of the more interesting places, but there were a lot more trips than there are galleries.
http://www.stlaurent...ld/Welcome.html

Wow! What about your job requires you to travel that much?

This post has been edited by jjsaw5: 16 January 2012 - 10:50 AM

[Craig328]

Travel for work is a novelty at first. Go places, do things, see new people...it's all exciting. But just like most things, too much makes you sick of it. Business travel is definitely one of those things. The last gig I did that involved travel was to Mexico City. First trip there was pretty damn cool, second was okay...by the third and last one, I didn't much care for it. To go the first time I had to rush process a new passport (mine had expired just a few months prior) and they put us up in a pretty boss spot. By the third time I had noticed that the nice hotel wasn't all that nice (hot water was kind of a hit or miss thing on the third trip) and constantly eating out wears on yer innards in a hurry. Plus, when you're not working, it can be damned boring.

As an aside, a college buddy of mine has been trying for some time to get me to pick up the skills for a position he constantly needs filled that he's doing himself now. This gig has him travelling to Chile, South Africa, Nicaragua, and other places that seemed cool at first but which I can tell he's really hating. He gets the airmiles for it (which is nice) but he really wants to hire someone to do it all 'cause he's frickin' sick of it.

This excerpt from a November 4 chat:

Spoiler

(8:48:01 AM) tony: did you learn Livelink yet?
(8:48:21 AM) tony: I just signed a contract for another $70K that will take me from now until the end of the year
(8:48:41 AM) Craig: LOL! No, I haven't learned it yet but believe me, it has occurred to me.
(8:49:00 AM) Craig: Not sure how I'd "learn" LiveLink anyway.
(8:49:11 AM) Craig: ...and I'd have to also vastly improve my espanol.
(8:49:29 AM) Craig: But aside from those two minor impediments, I'm good.
(8:49:41 AM) Craig: What language does the contractor speak that you mentioned?
(8:49:58 AM) tony: English and Engrish
(8:50:03 AM) Craig: Um.
(8:50:05 AM) Craig: I speak those.
(8:50:18 AM) Craig: Well, one of them anyway.
(8:50:25 AM) Craig: I'm also quite fluent in redneck.
(8:51:03 AM) tony: is that the same as hillbilly?
(8:51:10 AM) Craig: Oh yeah.
(8:51:16 AM) Craig: A local dialect of redneck.
(8:51:59 AM) Craig: $70K for the next two months eh?
(8:52:04 AM) Craig: To do what and go where?
(8:53:12 AM) tony: do stuff
(8:53:28 AM) tony: and wherever I need them to go. in 2 weeks, Santiago
(8:54:22 AM) Craig: Huh.
(8:54:33 AM) Craig: Nice money for "stuff" and something in 2 weeks.
(8:55:02 AM) tony: I think I have spent close to 300K for all the work this one consulting company is doing for me
(8:55:18 AM) tony: and that does not include the support work they do for the support team
(8:55:28 AM) Craig: Support work?
(8:55:40 AM) tony: something breaks, they fix
(8:55:52 AM) Craig: Code breakage or hardware breakage?
(8:56:03 AM) tony: code
(8:56:08 AM) Craig: No shit.
(8:56:09 AM) tony: we deal with hardware
(8:56:22 AM) Craig: What rate do they charge you for that?
(8:56:29 AM) tony: they are on the cheap side
(8:56:36 AM) tony: for support, we pay $100 per hour
(8:56:52 AM) Craig: ...I was about to type "I sense you're about to make me cry"...and I was right.
(8:56:54 AM) tony: for consulting services $145

This post has been edited by Craig328: 16 January 2012 - 11:27 AM

[tlhIn`toq]

jjsaw5, on 16 January 2012 - 10:33 AM, said:

I was sent to Las Vegas for a week long ...

That's not business travel. That's a bachelor party to most of us.

When you go to a country where they don't speak English and everything is written in squiggle, and you can't buy food from sunrise to sunset... That's business travel.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Quote

you can't buy food from sunrise to sunset

Wow!

I've been to Toronto once.

I travel to Chicago every few months. That's about it. Prior to that I went to San Jose to work with Cisco for a couple of weeks more than decade ago.

I like getting away from home, but obviously it's not that often.

[tlhIn`toq]

Yeah, I went to Dubai for an installation. Didn't realize it was at the start of their Ramidan holiday. They weren't thrilled with me having gone to a grocery store and bringing lunch fixings to the job site. Come lunch time I'm at the sales counter with a loaf a bread and PB&J, and soda pop. Some guy working on Ski Dubai walked by and mentioned the religious holiday. My response was "Do I look like my name is Mohamad Ali?"

[tlhIn`toq]

Yeah, I went to Dubai for an installation. Didn't realize it was at the start of their Ramidan holiday. They weren't thrilled with me having gone to a grocery store and bringing lunch fixings to the job site. Come lunch time I'm at the sales counter with a loaf a bread and PB&J, and soda pop. Some guy working on Ski Dubai walked by and mentioned the religious holiday. My response was "Do I look like my name is Mohamad Ali?"

[Craig328]

I'm secure enough in my gender identity to admit that I don't know that I'd be possessed of the balls to tell some random Arab dude who can clearly see I'm not muslim who approaches me to tell me about something I'm doing that seems to offend him to go piss up a rope...in a muslim country.

I understand not knowing about the holiday and all...but I'd have prolly said "oops, my bad" and then wished him a good day. Folks in that area of the world seem to get all behead-y on a pretty random basis of late.

[tlhIn`toq]

I am very Caucasian and was wearing my American Flag & Constitution dress shirt for Pete's sake.

Had it been a different day I might have been wearing my Infidel shirt.

[xclite]

Isn't some British dude getting jail time for insulting Islam? I wish I knew which country, but I'm pretty sure I caught the tail end of some news story on the radio and that's where I heard it.

I decided to be less lazy and found the story:
Link

[tlhIn`toq]

Probably.

Getting on my anti-Islam soap box now. If you don't want to read it then don't open it:

Spoiler

I love the USA and am a bleed red-white-and-blue if you cut me patriot. Watching the slide of my country just over the last 20 years is sad. Every other country can pull this shit, but here in the USA we can't even muster the stones to tell people "Learn English to live here". We've spent the last decade in one of these countries trying to gently help these people. And all they want to do is destroy the rest of the world. Enough! End all trade with all of these terrorist harboring countries. Lock them out of travel. Lock them out of doing business with the rest of the world. Blockades and embargoes are easier to handle and cheaper in money, resources and lost lives. These people can either get on board with the 21st century or they can have their isolation and live how ever they like - cut off from decent people.

[The Architect 2.0]

^

Spoiler

from what i remember, the villagers never asked you to come to their country and start lobbing artillery shells and missiles everywhere would you appreciate it if someone came over and try to fix all your 'issues'?

ps, you're one of the reasons why people hate americans. i realize you don't care, but you DEFINITELY fill the sereotype. I'm not trying to insult you or anything; i'm just stating facts here.

for those people that travel alot, what are your job titles? assuming you work at a large corporation.

This post has been edited by The Architect 2.0: 17 January 2012 - 09:35 PM

[no2pencil]

I travel out of state once a year for my business, to Forte Wayne Indiana. In 2004 I went to Chicago. Like you, I've been trying to find reasons to get paid for travel.