TAKE PHOTOS, LEAVE FOOTPRINTS
SCOTT DICKEN
Photos: Scott Dickens
MIXING BUSINESS WITH LEISURE: HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR NEXT BUSINESS TRIP
Travelling for ‘Bleisure’
W
hen people hear that I have to travel a lot for work, and particularly when they hear that I spend a lot of that time in SubSaharan Africa, they imagine me spending ten minutes in the office followed by a two-week, five-star, safari with my employer footing the bill. Unfortunately, the reality doesn’t up to their imagination (but boy do I wish it did). The typical itinerary is that I spend ten hours in the office, followed by an evening dinner with a client. I then return to my hotel room, crack open my laptop, and stay awake until 1am catching up on my actual dayto-day workload. That itinerary is followed from the moment I land until the moment I leave. However, with limited personal travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and business travel likely to be the first travel sector to start back up (I took my first international business flight in 7 months just a couple of weeks ago) the idea of combining business and leisure in one trip to help mitigate the risks of
18 | December 2020
multiple trips is likely to become ever more popular. By adjusting your work-life balance and putting business up front with some party at the back (yes, I did indeed slip in a mullet analogy), you too can reap the benefits of “bleisure”. Admittedly, it’s not always easy to pull off, and it depends how receptive to the concept your employer is. However, if you can manage it, then it will completely change your perception of business travel and allow you to visit more places, experience more cultures, and stretch your annual travel budget much further; all whilst mitigating some of the pandemic risks by limiting the number of individual trips you take for different purposes. So, what are some tips for successfully planning a bleisure trip? I’m glad you asked….
Carefully Planning Flight Schedules and Layovers Many employers will now give the green light for tagging leisure travel on to a trip if employees pay the difference in flight and hotel costs. To maximize your leisure time while minimizing cost, the key is to carefully plan your flight itinerary. Consider taking redeye flights to maximize your time in-country whilst reducing your hotel costs, check the cost of departing on different days of the week, and check if per-night hotel prices go down (or up) if you add a weekend stay.
Taking Advantage of Layovers If you have two long-haul flights back-to-back then many employers will allow you to overnight in your layover destination. If they do, then take advantage: book a centrally located hotel and try to leave on a later flight so that you get as much time in your layover destination as possible. Also make sure that you pick a flight routing that has a layover in a ‘traveler friendly location’ i.e. one where the airport is close to the city with good public transport links and minimal visa fuss. If you do want to take advantage of a layover then try and pack light so that you only have carry-on baggage. There is nothing worse than trying to explore a city on a tight schedule while having to deal with large checked luggage. I know, it’s difficult (but possible) to pack for both business and pleasure with just carry-on without hitting the beach in a suit! Also, you might want to check out layover airport facilities and tour options. A great example is Seoul-Incheon airport where they offer (or at least did prior to the pandemic) free tours of the city for people with long layovers and deliver you right back to the airport when you’re done.
TAKE PHOTOS, LEAVE FOOTPRINTS > PAGE 19
Old Town Crier
