Originally Posted by
tfar
+1 if all other things are equal. Number 1 priority in these times I'd look for would be job security. Number 2 would be benefits. Number 3 opportunity to climb within the company or use the job as a springboard for something better (understanding that you are still young). Number 4 would be job satisfaction.
Only in number 4 do your travels figure. The others have very well explained which kind of toll the road warrior life can take. Unless you really, really want to try it AND you are sure to be able to easily change the situation back to a "normal" life, I would go for the job with less travel that will still give you a good taste and status + miles.
Till
I agree with the comments above. I would personally rearrange the priority list a little bit: 1) Career development, 2) Compensation, 3) Stability, 4) Job satisfaction. However, I think those things change person to person.
I also think that the type of travel is incredibly important. My travel is almost exclusively international from the west coast so for me 1 week a month (25%) is perfect - sometimes it's even a little too much. Folks that are doing the domestic consulting thing and only working with 5 hour flights and 3 hour timezone shifts can probably double or triple what I do but have it "feel" the same from the relational/physical/mental/emotional perspective.
As others have mentioned, travel policy and support is also important. Our 40 person team has a full-time travel coordinator working for us that arranges all our our travel based on our preferences and is available virtually 24/7 to make changes on the fly. This is important when things take a turn for the worse and you're on the way to a meeting or boarding an airplane. Additionally, I could never do what I do without lie-flat seats.
Take those things away and managing/conducting your travel adds to your workload considerably.