Balancing Travel & Work

While travel has halted or changed dramatically for most of us in the coronavirus era, before all of this unfolded, I was traveling a lot, and determined to find a way to balance my work demands with the adventure and exploration of travel.

Much of my travel has to do with family. I have sisters and my mother in other states, and we like to stay as connected as we can, visiting when possible.

But I also, like most people, love to travel to new destinations, explore other cultures and landscapes, and expand my notion of this world.

For an entrepreneur and small business owner, the biggest problem with travel (after cost) is balancing the demands of work with the desire to truly take time off to immerse in whatever journey you’re on.

My clients’ needs and caseloads are a 365/24/7 type of demand. In some industries, there are slow seasons that are perfect times to travel.

Not so in family law. My clients expect me to focus on their cases in a timely fashion and see them through this transition in their lives to the next stage with ease and fluidity. So that means if I schedule travel, it’s on me to make sure the work gets done, too.

Some people can work on planes. For me, that’s a time to read articles, proofread motions and letters, and edit documents. I try to get to the airport early, giving me downtime before my flight to make calls. It’s a good plan because I’m not rushing, I’m not stressed, I have nowhere else to be, and I can just focus, almost in a bubble, without interruption.

We need downtime to restore and relax. We cannot work around the clock – unless we want to burn out and build resentment.

Photo by Mesut Kaya on Unsplash

And, travel is a great gift, helping us connect with people in distant locales, finding the similarities that abound between all humans.

In this economic era, at the pace we Americans are so fond of keeping, we must ensure that if we do give ourselves the joy of travel, we accept the responsibility of getting the work done, too.