Would you take a job which involves travel?

Would you take a job which involves travel?

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Discussion

redrabbit29

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

140 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
I'm bored in my current role. I get paid quite well and my job is very very secure. It's public sector and I'm not developing at all really. I have a work car which I use for commuting to office - and office is soon to move just 25 minutes from my house, so really convenient. I can also work from home whenever I want and the hours are up to me to choose, so I can start at 8/9/10am if I wanted.

I've been offered a role which will involve a commute to the office pretty much everyday. That commute takes around 70 minutes from home to office - which includes one train journey of 45 minutes to London. Should be fine getting a seat which is a big plus. No tube needed as I can cycle 1 mile from Waterloo to office.

I'm really confused though as the job involves "frequent international travel". I asked for clarification and got a very confusing reply back which was along the lines of:

"Travel can be monthly or sometimes less frequently. Sometimes this is 2-3 days but can sometimes stretch to weeks. One of the other managers is away for a week next week, comes back for one week, then goes back out for 3 weeks to another location"

Obviously really hard to know what this means.

Has anyone had a job that involved travel? Was it good, bad, tiring? Was it a deal breaking, how was it for you?

Edited by redrabbit29 on Monday 30th May 12:51

Shnozz

28,008 posts

278 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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How old are you? Have you got a family? What are the prospects going forward?

Very subjective dependant on circumstances.

redrabbit29

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

140 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
Shnozz said:
How old are you? Have you got a family? What are the prospects going forward?

Very subjective dependant on circumstances.
Sorry, didn't want to give too much info as it can sometimes overwhelm:

Age: 38

Family: No but long term partner who does want kids (she is 34)

Prospects: hard to know. I have prospects in my own job but I don't think it would stop me being bored. New job would give a lot of new skills and in a different area which I was quite keen to explore

One reason why I value free time is I'm really into fitness and training. At the moment I can fit in pretty much anything around work as it's so flexible. If I was going to London everyday it would be quite hard to fit things in, and if away that would be even more difficult.

So it's also a career vs lifestyle consideration

vaud

52,400 posts

162 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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It depends.

Frequent travel can be exhausting.
Living out of a suitcase gets dull really quickly.
It depend on the expense/travel policy. Economy everywhere, cheapest ticket and cheapest hotel also gets dull.
Out of a Monday, back late Friday and repeated the week after also gets dull.
Flight/hotel/office/flight is common - you may not get to see the city you are going to., etc

Depends on you, family, etc.

On the flip side it may be awesome.

vaud

52,400 posts

162 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
brickwall said:
Yes depends.

I did crazy travel through my 20s. Lots of it was great fun - went all over the world, flying club/first and staying in 5* hotels, all on someone else’s dime.

Got sick of it after a few years. I did about 400 flights and 750 hotel nights in 5 years. No matter what class you’re flying in a Sunday afternoon trip to the airport gets boring after the 3rd time, and you’d rather be at home. No matter how nice the hotel is, it gets boring quite quickly when you’re on your own.

I now probably do 3-5 long-haul business trips a year, and that’s about right for me. I think when it starts to go >15 (long haul) trips a year it starts to get tiresome.
My experience exactly.

Some I still look forward to - staying at the W in Barcelona for example.

Some anonymous chain in Denver for a 4am start, less so.

CarCrazyDad

4,280 posts

42 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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redrabbit29 said:
Sorry, didn't want to give too much info as it can sometimes overwhelm:

Age: 38

Family: No but long term partner who does want kids (she is 34)

Prospects: hard to know. I have prospects in my own job but I don't think it would stop me being bored. New job would give a lot of new skills and in a different area which I was quite keen to explore

One reason why I value free time is I'm really into fitness and training. At the moment I can fit in pretty much anything around work as it's so flexible. If I was going to London everyday it would be quite hard to fit things in, and if away that would be even more difficult.

So it's also a career vs lifestyle consideration
You need to have a conversation with your partner

I suspect, like mine, if you have a long term partner, you being out of the country for 2-3 weeks at a time is not going to fly, and nor should it

If you want that lifestyle with work then you need to accept the downsides (lack of stable home life in the UK)

Not to say it can't work but I've seen it very often not work in terms of maintaining a relationship

The best people who worked internationally often were either incredibly rich and so their partner at home sucked it up or were single

I did some international travelling back in the 90's with work and it wasn't very much fun, I had this idea about seeing the world for free but all I saw was the Lebanese Hotel room, and office I went to, with a dodgy Taxi inbetween

Even in more touristy places like France and Spain that I travelled to you do not get much time to sightsee, I had one day in Paris without work and I was so exhausted from working 14 hour days for the prior 3 days that I just slept in the hotel room for most of it

MitchT

16,233 posts

216 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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Depends. Jobs for me have always been a means to an end so the less time I have to devote to the job, beyond the time during which I'm actually paid to do it, the better. However, if I were doing a dream job it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if it disrupted my life as the job would be my life anyway.

deckster

9,631 posts

262 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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My business travelling days are largely behind me but I would observe that frequent and extended trips are a young person's game. I had some truly epic times when away on expenses, generally when on long-term projects going to the same place for a few months with a consistent team of equally young people. My 20s were definitely enriched by being a junior consultant on a big team going all over the place.

But as has been said, the allure does fade. Particularly when travel is a few days here and a few days there, and all you see is the airport, the hotel, and the taxi. Without being too brutal about it, it is also very noticeable that the divorce rate amongst the older consultants who were still travelling all the time was significant. Well over 50%.

It's a hard call and very dependent on you and your partner. But I would definitely caution that if she is keen to start a family, and you aren't around, it will be a massive strain on your relationship. Definitely don't underestimate the degree to which she will want you to be around, and will come to resent it when you're not. Ultimately working away from home all the time, and inevitably being knackered when you get back at the weekend, is a very selfish way to live. From her perspective - regardless of the reality, you're away all week in exotic locations, staying in fancy hotels and eating in restaurants all the time. Then you get home and just want to lounge around all weekend, because you haven't seen your house or slept in your own bed, and you just want some home cooking so you don't want to go out. It's a rare partner that puts up with all of that lot for long. Plus if you did start a family - being away when she's at home looking after a newborn simply isn't on.

So it can be a great opportunity and it can be great fun. It can also be incredibly draining and destructive to your home life, particularly as you get older.

sam.rog

908 posts

85 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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I did 4 years in my early 20’s.
Negatives
Pretty much no social life as I could be traveling at a days notice. Missed a lot fun times with mates and impossible to form a relationship.
A hotel is a hotel doesn’t matter where in the world it is. They all look and feel the same.
You won’t get to see much of where you are as you’ll be working.

Positives.
Pay was good.

The Road Crew

4,255 posts

167 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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20 years ago (whilst single) Absolutely.

Now, 20+ yrs later as I approach 50? Absolutely not.

Family time is much more important.


Frankthered

1,630 posts

187 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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vaud said:
It depends.

Frequent travel can be exhausting.
Living out of a suitcase gets dull really quickly.
It depend on the expense/travel policy. Economy everywhere, cheapest ticket and cheapest hotel also gets dull.
Out of a Monday, back late Friday and repeated the week after also gets dull.
Flight/hotel/office/flight is common - you may not get to see the city you are going to., etc

Depends on you, family, etc.

On the flip side it may be awesome.
Very much this! It depends on the job you will be doing too - or more significantly, where are you likely to be travelling to?

On a Project about 15 years ago, I travelled to Florence, probably 15+ times and had one meeting (one of the last) that finished half a day early, so got to do some of the touristy bits. Prior to that, I did have quite a few multi-night stays, so at least got to eat out a bit (and on one of the early trips had an evening stroll around the Duomo), but even that isn't that much fun if you are on your own.

On other occasions, I have travelled to places that are basically the middle of nowhere - only place to eat is at the hotel, or maybe one other restaurant nearby, this can be really dull. I guess more seasoned / adventurous travellers might be more inclined to jump in their car (if they have one on the trip) and find something more entertaining to do, but I confess that most of my travelling to such locations was prior to me having any kind of satnav available.

As you might have guessed, I am not the most enthusiastic business traveller, but some people love it and would hate being stuck in an office.

Personally, I like to get home every night whenever possible!

toon10

6,470 posts

164 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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My job involves European travel. I used on be on flights every 4 to 6 weeks and it didn't bother me. This was before Covid. My first flight since March 2020 will be in July and I do miss not being in a lovely European city. The issue for me is my local International airport is Newcastle and not well served so I have to use Schiphol as a hub. That's what adds to you day. Layovers, double passport checks, possible delays, etc. I'd be less worried if I was flying direct but then again. It's great at first and more interesting than being in the office but it does get tiring. I'd be more concerned if the travel was long haul too. I'd not want to do that too often.

Edited by toon10 on Monday 30th May 13:54

thebraketester

14,710 posts

145 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
redrabbit29 said:
I'm bored in my current role. I get paid quite well and my job is very very secure. It's public sector and I'm not developing at all really. I have a work car which I use for commuting to office - and office is soon to move just 25 minutes from my house, so really convenient. I can also work from home whenever I want and the hours are up to me to choose, so I can start at 8/9/10am if I wanted.

I've been offered a role which will involve a commute to the office pretty much everyday. That commute takes around 70 minutes from home to office - which includes one train journey of 45 minutes to London. Should be fine getting a seat which is a big plus. No tube needed as I can cycle 1 mile from Waterloo to office.

I'm really confused though as the job involves "frequent international travel". I asked for clarification and got a very confusing reply back which was along the lines of:

"Travel can be monthly or sometimes less frequently. Sometimes this is 2-3 days but can sometimes stretch to weeks. One of the other managers is away for a week next week, comes back for one week, then goes back out for 3 weeks to another location"

Obviously really hard to know what this means.

Has anyone had a job that involved travel? Was it good, bad, tiring? Was it a deal breaking, how was it for you?

Edited by redrabbit29 on Monday 30th May 12:51
Depends on what the money is.

tuffer

8,878 posts

274 months

Monday 30th May 2022
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I used to travel internationally every week, I would be asking them what the travel policy is regarding hotels and class of travel. Business travel gets boring very quickly and is very tiring, also no fun if it starts to encroach on your weekends. You have to think about all the personal time you will miss as well during the week.

devnull

3,792 posts

164 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
I will say that before kids, my wife didn't really give a hoot about me travelling for a week or two. We are own people and we can keep ourselves occupied without each other. Very different now that we do have kids, and whilst we haven't fallen out over it, you can tell she is a little irritated that I am not present, especially when you have toddlers to look after from 7am to 8pm with the obligatory broken sleep.

Also as above. Depends on the expense policy, and the nature of the work. IT Professional services? You are basically sleeping on straw bedding in a carpark. Senior exec? Business class travel in a hotel room of your choosing and people are more likley pleased / formal about seeing you. Half the time you're on business estates in the middle of nowhere.


bucksmanuk

2,332 posts

177 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
As above - it depends ….

In a previous role, one of the salesmen couldn’t understand why the engineering team didn’t like to go to the Far East for ship fittings.
He had at least 6 weeks to plan a 3-week trip. His work was 9-5 being in air-conditioned offices in big leather chairs, drinking nice coffee and meals out with the clients in the evening. He was a handsome chap, so he had a girl in every port to make the trip worthwhile. He chose his own itinerary and gave himself at least a day (usually 2) off a week while there.

Sometimes we were lucky with a week’s notice, many times it was 48 hours, and a mad rush to get paperwork, flights, taxis, currency, hotels etc… we never knew exactly how long we would be there for. 6 days? a fortnight,? We couldn’t be more than 45 minutes away from the vessel. Maybe a day off if we were lucky, it could be 2 weekends in the bin. Many of those weeks were 80+ hours a week.

Same country, same shipyard, 2 completely different scenarios, 2 different opinions.

Goodbye relationships, and a massive strain on everything else you do in life.

The T&Cs for the job when I took it said, “it’s expected that you could do 7 days a month on international travel”. I thought “likely story” – I never averaged less than 10- days a month for 3 years. I wasn’t even be supposed to be the person who did all the travelling either…

I did get to spend a day swimming with dolphins at Port Lacuya on Grand Bahama one Easter Sunday
I got 4 days to myself in Shanghai when there was a big cock-up.

A day off on the trip is rare, its hard work. If the work was glamorous/easy, its guaranteed there will be a long queue of people willing to do it before it’s your turn.

When there are problems on site, and you the person possible for adding 48 hours on the delay getting a 60,000 tonne cruise ship back in the water, one may have to work under considerable pressure. Luckily the superintendent was on my side for that one….

Muzzer79

11,060 posts

194 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
Company travel policy is crucial here.

Some companies trust you to pick airline, seating, hotel, car, etc sensibly and put few, if any, restrictions on how comfortable you make your journey.

If this is the case, great. Join appropriate loyalty clubs and away you go.

However, some companies stipulate cheapest airline tickets, impose restrictions on subsistence spends and limit where you can stay.

This is a problem. Convenience and comfort are key to making regular travel bearable. The last thing you want to be doing, for example, is standing at some airport in the arse end of nowhere that you've had to fly to because it was cheaper than the inner-city one, waiting for a bus to the off-site hire car centre because the company travel site booked you with Trotters Independent Hire Car to receive a 5 year old Fiat Panda for your 2 hour drive.......

deckster

9,631 posts

262 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
thebraketester said:
Depends on what the money is.
It really doesn't. I mean, sure, you need to be adequately compensated. And I'd expect an uplift over a similar role that didn't involve travel. But both the upsides and the downsides of a job with significant travel hugely transcend your remuneration at the end of the month.

vaud

52,400 posts

162 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
Muzzer79 said:
Company travel policy is crucial here.
I started to wean off intl. travel when my company started making me go to Boston via Iceland with a 3 hour layover.

redrabbit29

Original Poster:

1,852 posts

140 months

Monday 30th May 2022
quotequote all
thebraketester said:
Depends on what the money is.
It's public sector - so that probably answers your question! spin