People Who 'Live' Out Of Hotels Traveling For Work Share Their Biggest Ups And Downs

Simple Pleasures

Never having to wash my own sheets.

Finding new and interesting places to hide the wad of cash.

u/yakadoodle

Double Edged Swords

Best part: it's like being single again. Just get to make your own schedule.

Worse part: it's like being single again. Lonely.

u/n_eats_n

Make it stop!!

The best is I spend almost zero time doing things like cleaning, so much of that sort of thing is just provided for me.

The worst is restaurant food becomes literally sickening after a while. Also it can be "Groundhog Day" pretty often: I often strike up a conversation with someone and it turns out to be the exact same conversation with someone else the last place I stayed.

u/picksandchooses

DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING

Per-diem is essentially getting paid to experience new restaurants every day, I've tried such a wide variety of food from all over the country.

Getting sick! When you travel you're exposed to germs from new places, so usually a week or so after travel you'll start to get cold/flu symptoms. Actually fighting off a cold now.

u/Scodo

In Limbo

Worst part: Missing out on hobbies, having to reconnect with your SO and kids when you get home because you missed yet another week

u/bullshtr

My dad travels a lot for work. He says sometimes it's hard to engage with home on weekends and stuff because he's still in travel mode, especially if he had to travel again the next week. I know my parents used to fight about it when we were kids.

u/Fun_Kay_Person

Twilight Zone

After a long period on the road I will bolt awake and literally not know what city I am in. I have to concentrate for 30 seconds on the events of the previous day that led up to my lying here at the Hilton in City X. It's really disconcerting and unpleasant, like geographic vertigo.

u/AnotherPint

One day I woke up in a cold sweat feeling stressed out. I started doing my normal morning routine of determining what country I was in, if I had enough in the local currency, what time was my flight out, and what my schedule was for the day. After I found out I didn't have an answer to any of those questions, I looked around and found out I was in my own bed. I didn't recognize my own bed!

u/utf16

'Sorry to cancel tonight but I'm 4000 miles away'

Tuck me in plz

Hotel beds are generally pretty comfy, but my bed at home is better. I can sleep in my favorite divot in my bed.

u/Mix1009

The worst was I never could sleep well in a hotel bed. I would get 3-4 hours each night.

u/deaddux

This must be how the Rolling Stones felt...

Unhealthy: Sitting in airplanes, eating quick airport food, working long hours, jetlag, not exercising, and sleeping poorly all add up. When you see other middle aged business travelers in the airport, the majority of them do not look healthy.

u/tropospherik

It is hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle on the road. Restaurants and booze and lack of exercise add up. I have to try really hard to try to keep some balance, but don't always succeed.

u/gnatgirl

First Class Always 

All. The. Points. I get to keep all my airline miles, hotel points, and rental car points. This makes traveling for fun pretty inexpensive. Pick a brand and stick with it if you can to maximize this benefit. Also, get the credit card for the airline and hotel chain of choice.

u/gnatgirl

Best part for me was the travel points and the ultimate credit card that was paid off at the end of every month. Made thousands on just the cash back bonuses alone.

u/utf16

Free airline miles is the best part, for me. I love traveling, so it's a bonus for me to get to see lots of new places and get paid for it. This year I paid $0 for all my family's personal plane tickets, because I was able to cash in miles accumulated through work for all of our trips.

u/imhere_4_beer