I went to Portugal for a week, to work. A moment when A. heard that I was going, I couldn’t hear the end of it how he’d like it and how I was so lucky to get away from the crappy weather of Belgium. Well, joke was on me, as the first five days in Portugal it was pouring rain most of the time. Maybe in that way it was easier to stay indoors, though.

However, it made me think that that we really have no idea what others are doing on their business trips. The idea that you spend a week abroad may seem like an awesome thing, but in reality there are all those aspects that are not so nice – the hours spent at the airport and in the air and in public transport. The following days in the conference rooms, factory or wherever your job responsibilities lead you and then other way around until you get home, only to wash and dry the contents of your suitcase for the next few days. Some of the more ‘travelling-wise’ active employees will probably have the days solely to put their buttocks down at home for the next few days, so they can start packing the suits again with another hand.

Okay, don’t get it wrong now, I’m very pleased that I can travel with my work every now and again and I have the opportunity to look around the city for these five evening out of seven days, and two more days during the weekend to see around, because at conferences, weekends are usually either totally free or at least stop from the lunch time. However, at least I do not have the feeling of being on a vacation – you can’t just choose who to go with and the travel interests of your co-worker(s) can be very different from yours and these limited hours at the end of the day are not just enough.