Who travels a lot? (two to three long hauls a month)

[halfpenny43]

ReaperCushions said:

schmalex said:

It gets very dull and shallow very quickly. I did 4 weeks away earlier this year, where I went to Dubai, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Wellington, Auckland, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Not spending more than 3 nights in a row in a hotel gets really tiring, really quickly.

I had a job doing a 'poor mans' version of this. Instead of exotic locations, think up and down the country in Travel lodges 4 days a week. Basingstoke -> Northampton -> Slough -> Solihull was the type of places i'd be heading!

Moved on quickly from that job.

[paulguitar]

ReaperCushions said:

I had a job doing a 'poor mans' version of this. Instead of exotic locations, think up and down the country in Travel lodges 4 days a week. Basingstoke -> Northampton -> Slough -> Solihull was the type of places i'd be heading!

Moved on quickly from that job.

Sounds like David Brent's life after he has been fired from the office. I thought those Christmas specials were great, really dark but still properly funny.

[schmalex]

ReaperCushions said:

schmalex said:

It gets very dull and shallow very quickly. I did 4 weeks away earlier this year, where I went to Dubai, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Wellington, Auckland, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Not spending more than 3 nights in a row in a hotel gets really tiring, really quickly.

I had a job doing a 'poor mans' version of this. Instead of exotic locations, think up and down the country in Travel lodges 4 days a week. Basingstoke -> Northampton -> Slough -> Solihull was the type of places i'd be heading!

Moved on quickly from that job.

Joking aside. There’s not much difference

Dubai - simply an awful place

Canberra - Basingstoke with the charm removed

Sydney - used to be great but dead after 11pm now due to their lockout laws

Wellington / Auckland - Both bit dull. I enjoy Auckland as, for me, it’s the home of competitive yacht racing.

KL - Seedy

Singapore - could be anywhere and not really Asia

Melbourne was OK.

Like any city one travels to regularly, they are all great the first couple of times but once you’ve been there 10 / 20 times, they start to lose their shine (apart from Canberra - that had no shine to begin with!)

Edited by schmalex on Wednesday 21st November 20:35

[TheGuru]

K50 DEL said:

Simply because I love to travel and love to fly in particular....I actually enjoy living out of a suitcase!

To be fair I am single with no kids, if I had family at home I'd probably feel different.

It's becomes a way of life that is quite addictive, I have kids and surprisingly so did most of the people I've worked with who travelled. Many in even more permanent situations, like execs posted to Singapore that leave their families behind because they don't want to disrupt their schools/home etc.

And returning to normal life afterwards is very difficult, it's not that it's glamorous, I got very bored of airline lounges (just want to get to the airport as late as possible and board the plane) and 5 star hotels, but there is something exciting about being on the move all the time. Plus I like aircraft/airports which probably helps.

[Vaud]

TheGuru said:

It's becomes a way of life that is quite addictive, I have kids and surprisingly so did most of the people I've worked with who travelled. Many in even more permanent situations, like execs posted to Singapore that leave their families behind because they don't want to disrupt their schools/home etc.

Or they are fed up in their marriages and it's cheaper than divorce.

[Ahonen]

Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area said:

What jobs do the frequent flyers in here do to that require them to spend so much time in the air?

Motorsport.

Last year I took around 70 flights, but the only long hauls were to California, Australia, Japan a couple of times, Macau, Thailand and Abu Dhabi. The rest were in Europe. This year will be roughly 55, but I haven't added the final number up.

Prior to last year I spent a few years in F1, so there were fewer flights but a far greater number of long haul.

I cannot for one second understand why anyone would actively enjoy long haul flights. Regardless of where you sit or how good your noise cancelling headphones, 12-14 hours on an aeroplane is a horrible experience and doing it weekly during the opening and closing phases of the F1 season started to drive me nuts. The destinations can be great, obviously, but not the journey itself.

Years of regular air travel have given me several things: many very useful air miles, some shiny plastic cards that allow me in to lounges and on to aeroplanes first so I can spend even longer sitting on the damn things, plus a complete lack of patience with anyone dithering around going through security or not putting the bloody tray back afterwards.

[schmalex]

Ahonen said:

… not putting the bloody tray back afterwards.

This. Bloody this. Of all the things that nark me about the great unwashed in airports, this takes the biscuit

[K50 DEL]

ReaperCushions said:

schmalex said:

It gets very dull and shallow very quickly. I did 4 weeks away earlier this year, where I went to Dubai, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Wellington, Auckland, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Not spending more than 3 nights in a row in a hotel gets really tiring, really quickly.

I had a job doing a 'poor mans' version of this. Instead of exotic locations, think up and down the country in Travel lodges 4 days a week. Basingstoke -> Northampton -> Slough -> Solihull was the type of places i'd be heading!

Moved on quickly from that job.

I actually did this within the UK for 7 years, 5 nights a week away from home, often a different location each night, covering our sites from as far North as Glasgow. through North Wales to East London and 18 points inbetween.
Can't say as how it ever got old, I enjoyed every minute of it (and the 55k miles a year in an Impreza wasn't much of a chore either)
I only stopped as I left the job to go and work in West Africa!

Your travel is far more appealing Schmalex, though having lived there for 5 year I couldn't disagree with you more about Dubai - to me it's a wonderful place that even though I left there 3 years ago I still think of as home....... also worked a bit in Singers and I love it there as well!

[StevieBee]

Everyone's different and I do understand why some find travel a pain.

Personally, I greatly enjoy my time on a plane as it is a rare time during which I am unreachable and unable to reach anyone else which forces me to do anything other than work. I know in-plane WiFi is now a thing but is universally crap and I hope they don't improve it (though I'm sure they will).

I love being in different places and try always to factor in a day to be a tourist.

I don't even mind airports.

Years ago when I started working, someone told me that to be asked to work in a different country was a huge and rare honour; it's something that I've embraced and held onto since and as a result tend to look forward to trips and never dread them.

[mike80]

StevieBee said:

Everyone's different and I do understand why some find travel a pain.

Personally, I greatly enjoy my time on a plane as it is a rare time during which I am unreachable and unable to reach anyone else which forces me to do anything other than work. I know in-plane WiFi is now a thing but is universally crap and I hope they don't improve it (though I'm sure they will).

I love being in different places and try always to factor in a day to be a tourist.

I don't even mind airports.

Years ago when I started working, someone told me that to be asked to work in a different country was a huge and rare honour; it's something that I've embraced and held onto since and as a result tend to look forward to trips and never dread them.

Agreed.

[Vaud]

StevieBee said:

Years ago when I started working, someone told me that to be asked to work in a different country was a huge and rare honour; it's something that I've embraced and held onto since and as a result tend to look forward to trips and never dread them.

It may be in company that is predominantly based in one country where overseas is the exception.

It's BS in a global company though as it's the default for a global operations model.

[schmalex]

StevieBee said:

Everyone's different and I do understand why some find travel a pain.

Personally, I greatly enjoy my time on a plane as it is a rare time during which I am unreachable and unable to reach anyone else which forces me to do anything other than work. I know in-plane WiFi is now a thing but is universally crap and I hope they don't improve it (though I'm sure they will).

I love being in different places and try always to factor in a day to be a tourist.

I don't even mind airports.

Years ago when I started working, someone told me that to be asked to work in a different country was a huge and rare honour; it's something that I've embraced and held onto since and as a result tend to look forward to trips and never dread them.

Don’t get me wrong. I love travel and look forward to EVERY trip. I always make sure I make the absolute most of every minute I’m away. I realise I’m extremely lucky that I’m paid to visit interesting countries.

It gets hard and I miss my family terribly when I’m away but I wouldn’t change it for the world. If I haven’t travelled for a few weeks, I can feel myself going bananas!

[jontysafe]

schmalex said:

Don’t get me wrong. I love travel and look forward to EVERY trip. I always make sure I make the absolute most of every minute I’m away. I realise I’m extremely lucky that I’m paid to visit interesting countries.

It gets hard and I miss my family terribly when I’m away but I wouldn’t change it for the world. If I haven’t travelled for a few weeks, I can feel myself going bananas!

This, totally. I leave Sunday for a week in UAE and really looking forward to it. EK8 is my most taken flight!

[DeejRC]

brickwall said:

I did - I have recently moved jobs, in part to slow it down. I've had a BA Gold Card since I was 23.

Last 3 years:

2015 I did ~60 flights, mostly long haul to the US and Caribbean (NY, Trinidad, Greneda, St Lucia, Barbados)
2016 a similar number, this time to Vietnam, Malaysia, Kenya, South Africa, and a couple of trips to Madrid and Geneva
2017 it was about 100 flights. South Africa, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, plus a few to Berlin, Dublin, Amsterdam,
and Geneva

I was spending >50% of my time away from home, so in 2018 I vowed to slow it down. I've taken 6 work flights this year. The gold card expires next year - I see it as a sign of success!

Yep. A HUUUGE part of me giving it all up last year. I actually see my family now!
The Swiss/Lufty, BA, KLM Gold cards have all expired now.
I’ve just come back from only my 2nd work trip abroad this yr, just a 48hr run down to Toulouse. A world away from the 60flights/Yr lunacy I was on and living in Europe, only home every other weekend.

Do I miss it? Not one jot.

Edited by DeejRC on Saturday 24th November 07:50

[The_Doc]

It strikes me.....

Initially: "This exotic travel and far flung destinations is fun! Sleeping flat on a plane! Freebies!"

Midterm: "I don't know any of my kids' friends names. I never see swimming class. I am a DIAMOND member of something though"

Longterm: "Great! Promotion!
Who can we employ new in the company to do all the long haul flying pain?"

I do zero flying for work, my brother flies Europe once a month and South America twice a year, and did a year of long haul early on. Before he got a promotion.