The Bizcation: 4 simple tips to work, play on your next business trip
Taking to the friendly skies is just something we do for
business, and we do it a lot. According to the U.S. Travel Association, $266.5
billion USD was spent on domestic and international business travel in 2013.
But we’re starting to see a lot of people take advantage of the bizcation.
So what’s a bizcation? Much like the words that help create the
amalgam (business & vacation), bizcations are all about work and play. And
we like to bring our better halves along for the trip, indicated by a 2012
Orbitz trend report 43 percent of business travelers bring their significant
others on the trip.
Now how do you mix business and pleasure together? We’ve got a
view ideas.
1. The trip has to be about business
You’ll get plenty of time to party at night or relax on the
beach, but your trip has to be all about business. Let’s say you fly into Miami
on Thursday. Make sure you have meetings or something work related to do on
Friday, Monday and Tuesday before flying back home Wednesday. You may have
actually worked an hour or two during those days with the rest of the time for
you. And it all counts as seven business days you can expense.
2. See the world on the weekend
If you take a lot of international business trips, the odds are
pretty good your company is footing the bill. And you’re likely hanging out for
a couple of weeks, which means you’ve got a weekend to do whatever you want.
The beauty of it is the flights can be cheap. Just using our “whole year”
search, we found a Friday-Sunday round-trip flight from London Heathrow to
Amsterdam for $140. It’s just a 90-minute flight and you won’t need
to worry about a visa if you’ve got a U.S. passport. Same thing works for
people in New York City and can visit Miami at a cheaper rate than normal.
3. Check with your hotel’s front desk
Some people don’t care to just make a quick weekend getaway,
opting to just tack on their vacation to the back of the flight. Not a problem.
In fact, you may find your hotel has discounted rates for business travelers
looking to do just that. Just check in with the front desk to see what offers
they have going for visitors on business. And if you’re heading to a
convention, check its website – the conventions in certain cities will let you
know if there are any businessman specials.
4. Pack for two trips, lightly
You’ve decided to live the life of a true jet-setter and mix
some vacay time in with your work trip. Now you need to pack for the part. The
goal is to bring enough clothes that work in a professional environment, while
still lending well enough to being vacation attire. Also, try taking a pair of
shoes that could work for both business and vacation purposes. Ladies can opt
for higher heels for work meetings to cut down on shoe space as well. There’s
even the possibility of sending a suitcase back that’s full of work clothes
through a courier service just to save the hassle of dragging them both onto
the plane once more.
