My Whirlwind Business Trip by the Numbers

Business Travel: Perception vs. Reality

In movies and TV shows, business people are always jet setting off to exciting locations to do fabulous things. As with most other details in movies (the size of a newborn baby right after delivery, how close tourist spots are to one another in a big city, how windshields in cars actually break), this is not so much how business travel really goes.

It’s not glamorous outfits, first class flights, and limo rides to fabulous locations. I’ve found that it’s a lot more rushing around trying to make flights, hurriedly preparing to do a presentation, trying to find all the places you’re supposed to be, figuring out where and when to fit in a meal, and finding moments of joy in the midst of the hurry and chaos.  

​Here are a few key details on the realities of my most recent business trip.

Most of my travel time was spent in airports waiting.

My Business Trip Statistics

Time Breakdown by Activity

• Calendar days of work trip: 4
• Hours away from home: 83
• Hours in Denver, CO: 26
• Hours in Greenville, SC: 16
• Hours in Philadelphia, PA: 20
• Hours spent sleeping: 16 hours
• Hours spent traveling (planes, trains and automobiles): 15
• Hours waiting in the airport: 10
• Time spent in security lines: 20 minutes (thank you, TSA Pre-Check)
• Time spent outside: 40 minutes. Tops.

TSA Pre-check costs $85 for 5 years and enables you to pass through airport security in record time. TSA Pre-Check is, by far, the best money I have ever spent.

Counting All the Things

• Flights taken: 6
• States I set foot in: 6 (Minnesota, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia)
• Frequent flier miles earned: 7,130
• Packs of gum chewed during airplane take offs and landings: 3
• Times air pressure in-flight caused enough pain that I cried: 1
• Times I got a whole row to myself: 1
• Times my coworker Melissa nearly had a heart attack because she thought we had a 4+ hour drive to get to a hotel instead of the originally thought 30 minute drive: 1
• Times my coworker Melissa  had a HUGE sigh of relief realizing that 4+ hours is how long it would have taken us to walk, not drive, to said hotel: 1
• Movies watched in-flight: 2 (Justice League and I, Tonya)
• Audiobooks finished in-flight: 1 (How to Lose a Marathon by Joel Cohen)
• Bottles of water I consumed on this trip: eleventy billion (this is an approximate number)

Not to brag, but I once got a whole row to myself. Once.

My Trip in Pictures 

Here are my most exciting pictures from this trip. Go ahead, folks. Drink in the glamour. 

What do you think?

What has your typical work travel experience looked like? Add your thoughts in the comments.

Learn More

• About the wonder that is TSA Pre-Check
• 4 Misconceptions About Business Travel
• Just How Bad Is Business Travel for Your Health?