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Business trips don’t have to be all about business. There are times when you have completed your
work and you can take in some of the local color, attractions and good food as
part of your visit to an area. The
first resource to tap to find out what is really cool to enjoy in the city or
town you are visiting are the locals. If
you go to a far away town to conduct business with a partner or vendor, they
are often more than happy to show you the lay of the land and what is fun to
see and do in town.
If you can secure the evening of a local in your destination
town, you can get quite an amazing tour of the area and see things that tourists
may never find. It isn’t that hard to
woo a local to be your guide. If you
have expense account money, you can arrange to buy your guide dinner on the
company dime. They get a good meal for
free and you get a guided tour of the area.
The first lobster I ate in Boston
happened when a person in the office I was working with took me to see the
sights and find the best lobster in town.
She got a great meal and I enjoyed the local haunts of one of the great
cities in the country.
But don’t be afraid to be a tourist if you are in a great
city and you want to see the big sites.
If you are in New York
and you want to take the tour of the Statue of Liberty and the boat ride around
the island, by God, you just do that. It
can be a fine memory of your visit to the town and after all, you worked hard
on your business objectives while in town so your entitled to some relaxation.
One of the best ways to get some free time to enjoy the
local events and attractions is if you are there on Friday but your work must
be continued on Monday. Most businesses
would rather pay for two nights in a hotel and meals rather than fly you home
and back out again. So you can keep your
rental car and have two days to simply be a civilian for a while and really
explore the local haunts.
To find those unique events in town that not many know
about, read the local paper and look for those little local culture or arts
papers like the Village Voice in New
York . These
papers will carry details of festivals going on around the area, what is
happening in the clubs and theaters in town as well. You may find a regional celebration not far
away that you can be part of and pretend to be a local for a few hours and have
plenty of fun along the way.
If you do have a couple days to explore, don’t be afraid to
travel a bit to see some things not that far away. On the east coast, a trip up Highway One will
move you through some of the most scenic New England
towns you can imagine. And you can
linger and take a whale watching tour if you want to. If you already have a rental car, usually it
is no more expense to use it to see the state or go to the coast nearby where
you are doing business. At most it might
cost you a tank of gas and for that you may get so see one of the great sights
in the country.
Take advantage of your business travel to see the world,
have some fun and as the song says “stop and smell the roses along the
way”. If you do, you will come home with
successful business to deliver to your company and a nice set of new memories
to keep for a long time to come.
