The downsides of PR travel

What I mean: those talking about their massive business travel schedules, bemoaning the fact that they have to do it, yet most likely sharing as a way to promote themselves.

I can’t fault these folks for doing that. If I were in their shoes, with client meetings on two different coasts each week, or three speaking gigs in three cities in a week, I might do the very same thing.

Before you glorify that lifestyle and set a goal to speak at 10 industry events in 2014, I feel an obligation to tell you about the substantial downsides of that choice.

Business travel can be exciting. Sure, in some senses, it can mean you’ve achieved a certain level of accomplishment (whether it’s making the client travel team, or in the speaking arena).

There can be some perks, like visiting NYC in the fall, and seeing a friend during the trip, but there are a lot of drawbacks.

Let’s look at some:

Your workday was just elongated to 18 hours

You think I’m joking. As anyone who has run a booth at CES knows how long those workdays can be. Even on the rare instances when I travel for business now, I find myself working nonstop because, what else is there to do when traveling? Don’t operate under the assumption that you do less on the road—you do much, much more.