3 Benefits of International Travel for the Corporate Woman

My corporate role puts me in the skies a few times a month as I travel to industry conferences and visit clients and prospects along the east coast. It’s travel I love, since it’s the relationship-building and personal interaction part of business I enjoy most. Most of the time, though, it’s a quick-turn event, with little to no opportunity to extend the visit with any personal time and explore the city.

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Most corporate jobs are either similar with mid-to-high demand travel, or they land on the other side of the spectrum, with zero travel and instead hours on end hunched over a computer.

Regardless, I have always believed there are incremental benefits to international travel that offset any other travel-related exhaustion (or any exhaustion, really!)

 With the development of cell phones, corporate life quickly became blurred between office and home, and has now bled into Personal Time Off (PTO) as well. I can’t tell you how often either myself or another colleague has worked during otherwise had been set aside for personal time. And that’s okay sometimes, because it’s part of the role and it’s part of exceptional customer service. But when “sometimes” tiptoes into “often” or “always,” there comes a need for the ultimate disconnect.

Enter: The International Travel Itinerary.

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International travel enhances the benefits of PTO, and helps to mitigate some of the traditionally inherent issues that corporate hustlers face. Ultimately, it all boils to a few benefits I think are invaluable to mention.

It might not be realistic every time, but if you were on the fence planning your next holiday, perhaps one of these will bump you up to an international flight!

1. International travel typically requires at least 4 more PTO days than domestic travel.Why is that a benefit, you ask? Because it forces you to think about a true leave from the office and put a backup plan into motion, and it gives you a few bonus days to decompress. I can't wait to share an extended article I am writing about the benefits of a full 2 week vacation on the mind and soul in correlation with how an African Safari and a Hawaiian Honeymoon made broader impacts to my mental health than the small trips I typically aim to take.

2. International travel forces you to disconnect. Though we’ve made large strides in technology, there are still dead spots for service or locations just not conducive to even the best portable devices. Plus, there seems to be an underlying understanding amongst colleagues and managers that when you are overseas, there will be no further contact. Something about knowing you are just in another state, and even better if it’s still the same time zone, keeps the door open for the inevitable, “I’m so sorry to bother you on PTO but…” phone call.

3. International travel shows you another way of life. When I went to visit a friend working in Spain, it floored me to find it impossible to find a restaurant open for lunch. At the time, I was unfamiliar with siesta culture, or at least unaware of just how prevalent it truly was. Spaniards appreciate their midday breaks, and all dining experience is just that… an experience. No hustle and bustle, and certainly no expediency to serve your food. Admittedly, as a hungry American at the time, it was a less appealing moment, but with greater wisdom and appreciation for global travel now, it resets the standard around slowing down, enjoying the experience, and not always needing to be in a hardcore hustle mode.

There will always be reasons and times international travel is just not realistic. And I recognize that for many people, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime goal, and not a decision to make at every holiday. But for the corporate woman who finds herself actively opting for another holiday at the beach because she “can still work from the porch” or “get back to the office if something urgent pops up,” it’s important to highlight that you deserve it, and if it’s on your radar and you’ve been on the fence, go ahead and book the overseas flight. When you get back, we can talk about whether the world fell apart while you were gone or whether things worked out just fine!