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Many people think business travel is glamorous. Sometimes it is, but glamour tends to be situational, contingent on the destination, the company you work for, the kind of work you’re doing, the budget, and frankly, your tolerance for chronic exhaustion. Getting paid to see the world sounds like a dream. Don’t get me wrong, it is. I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything. But the Instagram version and the lived version are two very different stories.
This is simply my experience. Everyone’s will look different depending on where they go, who they work for, and how they’re built for this kind of life. Consider this one honest account from the other side of the highlight reel.
It’s hard on your body
I’ve only ever been allowed to book Economy, which means no lounge access and no comfortable, quiet spaces to hang out in while on layovers. There’s a particular kind of suffering that comes from spending 15+ hours in Air Canada seat 34J. Almost every one of my trips has required 2-3 flights and 24+ hours of travel just to reach my first destination. Sleep is basically out of the question (at least for me), so you arrive sleep-deprived, jet lagged, and feeling like you got hit by a truck…and then you have to be coherent in your first meeting the next morning.
Landing in Doha after midnight
On top of that, you’re always moving. Meetings, events, new people, new cities, week after week, barely a moment to breathe. On many of my trips, I’ve covered 6-7 cities or countries in 3-3.5 weeks. After a long day of work, I’d board another flight, arrive somewhere new at midnight, and be up again by 6am. Weekends didn’t exist because there were always events and conferences to attend.
On my first 3 bigger trips, I got sick every time. My body couldn’t keep up with the lack of sleep paired with the lack of proper nutrients. I learned over time to pack vitamins and supplements to keep myself healthy. If you’re the kind of person who needs at least 7-8 hours of sleep to be functional, I recommend bringing melatonin!
It’s hard on your mind
The physical toll gets plenty of attention, but the mental toll is quieter, and in some ways harder to cope with. Three or more weeks away from home, a new hotel room every few nights, the relentless rhythm of packing and unpacking; it grinds you down. And when you’re 8 or 9 hours ahead of the people you love, the ones you’d normally call after a brutal day are deeply asleep by the time you have a free moment to connect.
Re-packing our bags at Hamad International Airport (DOH)
Some trips, I’ve been lucky enough to travel with colleagues, which makes all the difference. Having someone to eat dinner with, to decompress over a drink at the end of the day, is more sustaining than it sounds when you’re just at home. There’s also something special about spending 24/7 with the same people in a foreign place: relationships accelerate. Some of my closest friendships were forged on the road.
The flip side, though, if you’re stuck with someone you don’t click with, is that there’s nowhere to hide. You work together, eat together, travel between cities together. It becomes a test of patience. Let’s just say I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum.
You’re always “on”
It’s more than a packed calendar. It’s sustained social performance, often across cultural and language gaps, with a rotating cast of new people. There’s no slipping into the background, no “off” day, no arriving to a meeting distracted because you slept badly. The energy required to show up fully, day after day, in contexts that are often unfamiliar, is something that even the most committed extrovert will eventually feel depleted by.
Working in Abu Dhabi, UAE
The food situation is rough
Economy food is an insult to the concept of a meal. Airport food isn’t far behind. Every morning, you inhale breakfast at the hotel and shove a few pastries and fruit into your bag because you genuinely don’t know when you’ll eat next. Lunch is often theoretical – some days it simply doesn’t happen – and when it does, it’s whatever is nearest and fastest, which usually means fast food. I have nothing against a burger, but eating that way for 3 weeks straight leaves you feeling like you need a major detox.
Dinner is usually room service, eaten at a desk while clearing your inbox. Occasionally, if the schedule relents, you get to go to an actual restaurant and eat the local cuisine. I always cherish those meals to the fullest.
Room Service Dinner at Residence Inn Dubai
I’m also a picky eater, which compounds everything. When I went to China in 2023 – having only eaten Chinese food maybe once or twice before – I essentially lived on Cliff bars and Starbucks for 3 weeks. Not my finest moment, but I survived.
Banquet dinner in Wuhan that I could not eat
Your personal life goes on hold
You miss things at home. I’ve missed multiple Thanksgivings, my own birthday, Family Day weekend, family dinners, friends’ birthdays. The big occasions are one thing, but it’s also the accumulation of smaller absences that can take a toll on your relationships and social life over time.
Your routine takes a hit
I go to the gym every day at home; it’s part of my daily routine. Luckily, all the Marriott Bonvoy properties I’ve stayed at, have decent gyms. But on a work trip, it’s nearly impossible to keep up that routine. Two workouts in a week is a ‘good’ week in my experience. Beyond the gym, there’s a whole infrastructure of ordinary life that disappears: regular appointments, hobbies, your typical morning and nighttime routines, the things that keep you grounded. You don’t realize how much your routine holds you together until it’s gone.
Squeezing in a tired workout – Sheraton Mall of the Emirates gym
Your work never really ends
The hotel room becomes your office, and unlike an actual office, it never closes. There’s no commute home, no threshold that signals the end of the day. You come back from a full day of meetings feeling tired, overstimulated, ready for a nap, and there’s a backlog waiting. Emails, expense reports, logistics for the next city, all the work you couldn’t get to because the day was wall-to-wall. So instead of sleeping or seeing something fun, you eat room service at a desk and chip away at it until you can’t keep your eyes open.
Takeaway
Business travel is easy to romanticize from the outside. Who wouldn’t want to get paid to go to Europe for 3 weeks? And the truth is, it is extraordinary. It’s shaped who I am and given me experiences I couldn’t have manufactured any other way. But the version that makes it onto social media is a highlight reel while the rest of it is jet lag, logistical fatigue, and a long list of things you missed while you were away. Is it still worth it? For me, absolutely. But it comes with sacrifices, and it’s helpful to be mentally prepared before diving in.
