Careers Involving a lot of Travel
Nov 16, 2010, 6:13 pm
#77
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 249
Some focussed reiteration here:
1. Above all, choose something you will enjoy doing. As you've seen tonnes of jobs involve travel and once you've found an area you enjoy you can start focussing on specific positions/companies/organizations that might have more travel.
2. If you don't love what you are doing for work, the travel will be a curse, not a blessing.
3. If you want to live abroad for a few years consider short-term work programs offerred by various governments in Europe, Asia, Australia.
4. Consider the Foreign Service (lots of well-supported travel here, on the government's coin), but this is more of a long-term commitment.
5. Other option: find a job where you have significant vacation time, you can travel on your own coin to places you actually want to go. Also can consider other humanitarian travel (where certain jobs may give you extra leave to do this.)
1. Above all, choose something you will enjoy doing. As you've seen tonnes of jobs involve travel and once you've found an area you enjoy you can start focussing on specific positions/companies/organizations that might have more travel.
2. If you don't love what you are doing for work, the travel will be a curse, not a blessing.
3. If you want to live abroad for a few years consider short-term work programs offerred by various governments in Europe, Asia, Australia.
4. Consider the Foreign Service (lots of well-supported travel here, on the government's coin), but this is more of a long-term commitment.
5. Other option: find a job where you have significant vacation time, you can travel on your own coin to places you actually want to go. Also can consider other humanitarian travel (where certain jobs may give you extra leave to do this.)
Nov 16, 2010, 10:21 pm
#79
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Earth
Programs: AC S100K (formerly AC*SE), AC 2MM, AMEX Plat, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 1,469
Nov 20, 2010, 7:43 pm
#82
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: By the sea...
Programs: BA/EC Silver
Posts: 564
Academia is a super one for travel. As a research-active faculty member, I travel around 120,000 miles/annum to give talks at universities and conferences worldwide + lots of consulting. It would mean a little longer for grad school, but the flexibility of this job is super.
But, seriously, I never thought I would travel this much when I started out as a young grad student, and indeed this (travel) was not the goal. I think as long as you need to do something you enjoy, the rest will follow, including travel.
VM
Jul 13, 2011, 12:33 pm
#83
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 1
Kate_Canuch, you mentioned that you had a job
"Or you could have a job like the one I used to have: (1) monitor international developments and develop contacts around the world in an interesting subject; (2) travel 8-12 times per year for about a week at a time (about 2/3 long-haul to major cities in Europe, Asia and Australia/NZ in bus class; the rest short-haul to major US cities flying direct); (3) spend the day in interesting meetings and conferences with colleagues; (4) spend the evenings exploring the city and eating/dining out in local restaurants with local hosts; (5) stay in 4* hotels (sometimes 5*); (6) add a few vacation days to business trips so I could spend the weekend exploring further; and (7) use contacts as a springboard to move abroad ... "
What exactley was you job tital, I am in the process of changing careers and this is along the same line of a career I am looking for
"Or you could have a job like the one I used to have: (1) monitor international developments and develop contacts around the world in an interesting subject; (2) travel 8-12 times per year for about a week at a time (about 2/3 long-haul to major cities in Europe, Asia and Australia/NZ in bus class; the rest short-haul to major US cities flying direct); (3) spend the day in interesting meetings and conferences with colleagues; (4) spend the evenings exploring the city and eating/dining out in local restaurants with local hosts; (5) stay in 4* hotels (sometimes 5*); (6) add a few vacation days to business trips so I could spend the weekend exploring further; and (7) use contacts as a springboard to move abroad ... "
What exactley was you job tital, I am in the process of changing careers and this is along the same line of a career I am looking for
Jul 13, 2011, 2:47 pm
#84
Join Date: Oct 2007
Programs: Maker's Mark Ambassador
Posts: 263
Junior auditor! In a big auditing firm, they won't let you out unsupervised but they'll let you carry the suitcases of senior auditors whenever they go out and audit larger customers. In companies with their in-house auditing departments, they'll send you where no one else wants to go!
If it's oil and gas you want, go to Houston. They'll send you off to Africa regularly. The Houston Express might be the best part of the trip even. No FF miles on that one though.
In my experience, your own professors are a better source of career advice than anyone else at univ. They know you better, and they usually have private sector contacts still, they can make a great match. One of my professors got me started on a fun career I would never have thought of on my own.
Lucky dog, can we trade? North America (diff places) to BRU, not-quite-an-hour meeting at the EU, and back to the airport! I get a hotel room, for all of 30 minutes, to change and shower. Haven't done one of those in over a year, thank God.
If it's oil and gas you want, go to Houston. They'll send you off to Africa regularly. The Houston Express might be the best part of the trip even. No FF miles on that one though.
In my experience, your own professors are a better source of career advice than anyone else at univ. They know you better, and they usually have private sector contacts still, they can make a great match. One of my professors got me started on a fun career I would never have thought of on my own.
Lucky dog, can we trade? North America (diff places) to BRU, not-quite-an-hour meeting at the EU, and back to the airport! I get a hotel room, for all of 30 minutes, to change and shower. Haven't done one of those in over a year, thank God.
Jul 13, 2011, 2:55 pm
#85
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: YYG
Programs: airlines and hotels and rental cars - oh my!
Posts: 2,999
OP - be very careful what you wish for. The scenario of getting up at 4 am Monday to take three connecting flights to get to Bunghole Arizona (sorry AZ peeps) so you can work like a dog 12 hours a day, sleep in the crappy Super-8, eat at McDonalds then fly home Friday nights and spend the weekend listening to your spouse file for divorce is much more the norm than the exception.
If your idea of a career with lots of travel looks like George Clooney's Up In The Air character, you're probably going to be disappointed.
If your idea of a career with lots of travel looks like George Clooney's Up In The Air character, you're probably going to be disappointed.
Jul 13, 2011, 6:37 pm
#86
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Canada's worst airport....YYJ
Programs: AC: E75K, Marriott :Titanium, National: EXEC ELITE
Posts: 596
Jul 25, 2011, 5:11 pm
#88
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Earth
Programs: AC S100K (formerly AC*SE), AC 2MM, AMEX Plat, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 1,469
OP - be very careful what you wish for. The scenario of getting up at 4 am Monday to take three connecting flights to get to Bunghole Arizona (sorry AZ peeps) so you can work like a dog 12 hours a day, sleep in the crappy Super-8, eat at McDonalds then fly home Friday nights and spend the weekend listening to your spouse file for divorce is much more the norm than the exception.
If your idea of a career with lots of travel looks like George Clooney's Up In The Air character, you're probably going to be disappointed.
If your idea of a career with lots of travel looks like George Clooney's Up In The Air character, you're probably going to be disappointed.
Jul 25, 2011, 10:43 pm
#89
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: AC Elite
Posts: 298
Consulting...
I consult for a living for a big software company. I usually get the client to foot a corporate apartment whereever I go, and I've been in apartments in Chicago, Hartford, northern NJ and even toronto. I go home every couple of weeks to make sure the house hasn't burned down.
I love my bed at home and love my home, but as long as I'm travelling every week I don't get tired of it. Travelling every single week loses its luster pretty quickly to me, and staying in the Marriott or the Hilton every week also loses its luster to me.
Now, i love my job, and that's the most important thing. If you don't like the job, then you'll hate the travel!
I love my bed at home and love my home, but as long as I'm travelling every week I don't get tired of it. Travelling every single week loses its luster pretty quickly to me, and staying in the Marriott or the Hilton every week also loses its luster to me.
Now, i love my job, and that's the most important thing. If you don't like the job, then you'll hate the travel!
Jul 26, 2011, 1:50 pm
#90
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 583
I consult for a living for a big software company. I usually get the client to foot a corporate apartment whereever I go, and I've been in apartments in Chicago, Hartford, northern NJ and even toronto. I go home every couple of weeks to make sure the house hasn't burned down.
I love my bed at home and love my home, but as long as I'm travelling every week I don't get tired of it. Travelling every single week loses its luster pretty quickly to me, and staying in the Marriott or the Hilton every week also loses its luster to me.
Now, i love my job, and that's the most important thing. If you don't like the job, then you'll hate the travel!
I love my bed at home and love my home, but as long as I'm travelling every week I don't get tired of it. Travelling every single week loses its luster pretty quickly to me, and staying in the Marriott or the Hilton every week also loses its luster to me.
Now, i love my job, and that's the most important thing. If you don't like the job, then you'll hate the travel!
For the non-BComms reading this thread, boymimbo brings up another field of work I have noticed has a lot of constant travel, IT consulting, especially if you can get in a niche like information security e.g. CISSP stuff.
As for getting tired of constant flying, I could see that, but not the bit about the Marriott/Hilton. Having stayed in a downtown Toronto hotel for a solid month straight, it never seemed to lose its lustre for me. Was def nice to come 'home' to a clean and tidy room every day without any effort on my part
Cheers