Just the Ticket
What kinds of vacations do road warriors plan? They're as different as the warriors themselves.
by Leah Ingram – Executive Travel – 06/01/06

When road warriors get some downtime, they tend to define vacations very differently than the rest of the traveling public. Take Gini Dietrich. The 33-year-old president of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago public relations firm, travels to two or three cities a week. Whether she's in Minneapolis or Seattle, she tries to piggyback time off on business trips and schedules long weekends whenever possible. She does plan longer vacations at certain times of the year, but for her, having a day or day-and-a-half off from time to time is enough of a refresher.

Dietrich's leisure travel choice doesn't surprise the folks at the National Business Travel Association (NBTA). They recently released a business travelers survey that showed, among other things, that 62 percent of business travelers "add a leisure component to at least one business trip per year." Another survey showed similar stats. According to a 2003 New York University study of female business travelers, sponsored by Wyndham International, 65 percent of female business travelers "include some aspect of relaxation into a business trip.... Of that 65 percent, 44 percent incorporate leisure time into their business trip."

"What I find happens with frequent business travelers is that they build in 'micro' vacations within the business travel, so that they might spend a half day at a spa, for example," says Susan Battley, Ph.D., a psychologist and chief executive officer of Battley Performance Consulting, a Stony Brook, New York–based firm that specializes in executive and organizational effectiveness. "They really try to create a psychological space where they can recharge or do something that is completely non-business-related."

Of course, combining business travel with leisure isn't the only way business travelers carve out time for themselves. Finding a vacation that works is more about "knowing yourself and knowing what is going to speak to you," says Battley. For example, "If you've traveled and stayed in comfortable hotels on business trips, then the idea of checking into a similar kind of hotel on holiday doesn't have the same appeal, because it's a connection to work."

Sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out your ideal vacation. While you ponder the possibilities, consider what the following frequent business travelers have found is the best way for them to unwind and relax.

Volunteer Vacations
Sometimes a businessperson's desire to accomplish something on vacation has nothing to do with traditional learning, but more with giving back. "Since September 11, we've seen more and more people interested in giving back," says Doug Cutchins, coauthor of Volunteer Vacations (Chicago Review Press, 2002). "People have a desire to get to know people who are different from themselves and want to make a difference in the world." One of the ways those desires and interests play out is in volunteer vacations.

Curt Cultice of Washington, D.C., has taken two volunteer vacations and is already planning his third. "I wanted to bring an understanding of American culture to students in China and Hungary," Cultice, 48, says of his first two trips, "but also to learn about their cultures."

John Reid of Larchmont, N.Y., expresses the same sentiment about his volunteer vacation experience. "The business traveler too frequently thinks they know another culture because they stay in a hotel or eat the food," says Reid, 55, president and CEO of Memorystone Publishing, a digital publisher. "But deep down, we all know that this is really just skimming the surface. I was feeling the need to live in a culture, rather than simply do business there."

Three years ago, Reid spent time teaching English to elementary school kids in Bangkok, Thailand. Both of Cultice's volunteer vacations also revolved around teaching English to locals. "I taught three weeks each in China and Hungary," says Cultice, a senior communications specialist with the U.S. Commercial Service. "Internationally, teaching English is always popular," says Cutchins. "People feel like it's a skill they've mastered and can share with others, and you can see a difference in a short amount of time."

By the end of his three weeks in China, Cultice was able to have impromptu book group discussions with his students, who were already reading books in English. By the time he left Hungary, his students knew English idioms and even slang. They also knew how to order in English at a restaurant. Adds Cultice, who hopes to volunteer in the Ukraine next year, "I'm still corresponding with many of my students."

Doug Cutchins, author of Volunteer Vacations , says that before you book any travel with a charitable organization, you should check the State Department's Web site ( travel.state.gov ) for any travel warnings. While most organizations plan volunteer vacations only in safe destinations, "There is risk everywhere," says Cutchins. For domestic volunteer vacation opportunities, you should check with an organization like Habitat for Humanity ( habitat.org ). If you're interested in going overseas to teach English or give back in other ways, look into the kinds of programs offered by Globe Aware ( globeaware.org ) .

LEAH INGRAM is a freelance writer based in Pennsylvania.