The Thing I Miss Most About Business Travel

It’s been 383 days since I’ve flown anywhere. It’s by far the longest stretch since I started working over three decades ago that I haven’t boarded a plane to go somewhere.

It’s probably the same for most of us.

There’s a lot I don’t miss about flying. I really enjoy being home more. I’ve not missed packing and unpacking, transfers, delays and cramped economy seats. I’ve especially not missed when the economy seat in front of me gets reclined far too early in the flight.

Of course I’ve missed catching up with clients, colleagues and friends in other places. Part of that is replaced by endless Zoom calls — which is far from ideal but at least something. So even that isn’t what I miss most.

I live in Perth on the west coast of Australia. The vast majority of my flights took me east to either Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, which I did every two or three weeks. The usual pattern was an early morning 3 to 4 hour flight across the continent, arriving mid to late afternoon depending on the time of year. And then a late afternoon or evening flight home a day or two later. In winter, heading westerly, those flights home could easily top 6 hours.

It’s those hours over and back that I miss.

I miss the thinking time.

I realised recently that most of what the pandemic has taken away we’ve worked around. My client work has gone on largely unaffected.

The only aspect of life pre-Covid that I haven’t been able to replace is the deep thinking time that regular air travel gave me.

Unless I was horribly behind with something, I never did work on a domestic flight. I rarely watched movies or read a book. I would literally sit and think. I’m a list writer and goal-setter, so those flights over and back gave me time to think about my work, my family and life. Not to do anything about it. Just to think.

Those flights were the source of some of my best ideas.

I miss that time and it seems impossible to find a place to sit for half a day every two weeks or so and just think.

It’s probably still a few months before I’ll take a flight. And who knows whether any of us will travel as much, and what the finer practicalities of air travel will be. I am really looking forward to seeing clients and colleagues and being able to interact in person and to a few beers after the meetings are done.

But what I’m looking forward to most is getting some thinking time back.

I am an experienced CEO, business strategist and communications specialist who loves helping great organisations grow. Other articles include:

How to Deal with a Crazy Schedule – Without Changing a Single Appointment or Commitment

Why We Write Things On Our To-Do List We’ve Already Done

3 Things We Do Better Before a Break

I Am Not Responsible

5 Things Air Travel Teaches Me About Life