Work travels abroad

I travel a little for my job; occasionally I visit collaborators or go away to conferences.  Before Baby that has not been a problem at all; now there has to be some coordination with Hubby to ensure that he is not also needed away at work or have to work stupid hours for a project at the same time.  There is always back up of parents and babysitters that could help but we prefer to be self-sufficient.  It is also better if Baby didn't have to cope with two absent parents at the same time.  So far we have managed to match time-tables.  Its obviously more work for the person staying with Baby with the other away, but it is not easy for the parent that is away either- there is another person to miss and there is the guilt of leaving more work for the other half.

I am trying a slightly different strategy for this work trip.   I am away at a conference in Vienna at the moment and this time the whole family is here.  We are in a serviced apartment within walking distance of the conference venue, which makes it affordable and convenient for a family with a toddler.  We are paying our share of the accomodation for the duration so its cheap and cheerful for us and work.  I will be working during the day, Hubby and Baby will be on hols, and we all get to see each other at the end of the day and spend time together pretty much as if we were at home.  This probably won't be suitable for all work trips and much would depend on the nature of the work.  Its an experiment; let's see if work and play can be combined effectively.

Comments

  1. Gaby XavierOctober 3, 2014 at 2:19 AM

    It worked rather well. Perhaps having the family around meant that I kept a fairly normal schedule so I didn't feel as drained as usual. This meant that I was more alert at the conferences and managed to assimilate information a lot more quickly. Only down side is that Baby was not that keen to get back to nursery on our return. Having spent his week with Daddy doing fun things every day, that is perhaps hardly surprising. It was a good experience for all of us, I think.

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