Traveling extensively while balancing family, career, and personal responsibilities requires effective travel time management. Many wonder how it’s possible to juggle so many commitments while still enjoying frequent and luxurious trips. In this article, I’ll share the strategies and factors that enable me to manage my time efficiently and make the most out of every travel opportunity, from leveraging family dynamics and work flexibility to staying organized and utilizing technology.
How I Manage Travel Time with a Busy Schedule
I get asked all the time how I can pull off the volume of travel that I do. I have given you a glimpse of how I am able to make it both luxurious and affordable, leveraging my extensive growing knowledge of credit cards, points, and miles. But what about time? I have two young children, a wife, a demanding career, responsibilities at home, etc. Well, there are several things that afford me the ability to pull this off.
Family Situation
One large factor currently is my family situation. Since I only have my kids half of the time, I have the freedom to leave the other half. For trips that do not involve the kids, this presents a much larger travel opportunity than I have had in the past. This is also a large reason why my trips tend to be shorter. I usually leverage the 5 to 7 days that the kids are not with me to plan my trips that do not include them (work, couples, solo, guys, etc).
I am not proposing that divorce is the way to go, but in my case, having that time away from my kids has proven to be extremely valuable in terms of my ability to travel. Moreover, in terms of my presence as a father, it ensures that I am always present to focus on them when I have them. Consequently, I do not make attempts to switch schedules to take longer trips, as I do not enjoy being away from them for longer than a week at their current ages. Indeed, I have found that my enjoyment diminishes the longer I am away from them.
Supportive Partner
The second factor is having a partner that shares most of my outlook on travel and supports my endeavors. Travel was one of the first things that we bonded on, and while she is not quite the road warrior that I am, she enjoys reaping the travel benefits of being my partner and supports the time I spend traveling without her. She also enjoys having time to herself, so there is an added benefit to the times when I travel without her.
Work Flexibility
The third factor is work flexibility. I am fortunate to be a remote worker, which means I am not tied down to being in a specific location at any given time. While I have some flexibility with my work schedule, I do have to work standard East Coast-based hours, but the ability to do that from other places allows me to take or extend trips without having to always use PTO days.
My line of work also requires that I travel regularly for conferences which is another outlet for travel and earning points. While I typically am not able to do much outside of work on my work trips, they sometimes provide an outlet for exploration or as a launching point for other travel.
Organization and Productivity
Another factor is a combination of staying organized, being highly productive, and multi-tasking. I pride myself on having each of those qualities and they are absolutely necessary in order to accomplish the level of travel that I do. Besides just going on trips, there is an immense amount of time that goes into the planning, booking, and nurturing of reservations, which I will get into more later.
There is also the learning time which requires staying on top of credit card and travel industry news and blogs. Finally, there is the time required to do the trips which often requires combining travel with work and sacrificing personal time for unwinding and relaxation. Although I do not require a lot of this type of time, I always feel better when I’m being productive than when I’m relaxing or unwinding. Additionally, I also see the time spent learning and planning as a leisure activity which feeds into my hobby. While many find it to be daunting and unenjoyable, I find it fulfilling and enjoyable.
Leveraging Technology
I chalk the last factor up to technology. I am extremely grateful that we live in a world where we can get almost anything in real time from a handheld device. Leveraging technology to become more efficient has been something that I have always taken advantage of. This can be a huge benefactor to allowing me to have extra time to spend on travel. For example, I can have my groceries delivered via Instacart so that I can avoid spending time shopping.
I often schedule orders so that they arrive right as I return from a trip. Additionally, I have an electronic lock on my door so that I can have cleaners come to the house while I am out of town, which lets me return to a clean home. Furthermore, I am usually able to make changes to reservations on the fly by leveraging my knowledge of online booking systems. Moreover, I often schedule DoorDash meal delivery to hotels upon arrival to save time from having to find meals. Finally, I use ride-share services for on-demand transportation for most of my trips, which saves time dealing with picking up and dropping off cars, looking for parking, dealing with directions, and getting gas.
I order most personal items and things for the house from Amazon or other online retailers. I use credit cards and electronic payments for almost everything and have my bills set to auto-pay so that I never have to deal with banks. Technology can be intimidating for some but for me it’s exciting and most importantly, it allows me to get much more out of life and travel.
Conclusion
Mastering travel time management is essential for anyone looking to maximize their travel experiences without compromising other important aspects of life. By understanding and leveraging factors like family arrangements, supportive partnerships, work flexibility, and modern technology, it’s possible to create a harmonious balance. Staying organized and productive, while seeing the planning and learning process as part of the adventure, turns potential obstacles into opportunities. With these strategies, you can enhance your travel life and make the most out of every journey.
