Travelling on business: a poisoned chalice

I can’t complain. My last job took me to some amazing places: Amman, Malta, Rome, California and the most notable of all, to the Yucatan peninsula. Attending a conference in Cancun, I took the chance to visit the amazing site of Chichen Itza, the highly impressive Mayan ruins that are less than three hours from the coast.

Better still, it was in December and I had escaped the British winter for a few days of sun, sand and a forgettable convention. Being in this part of the world, there was no way I was going to miss the chance to see the ruins, so I hired a car with my boss and we set off for the ruins.

And therein lies my problem. Nothing against my then boss. He was great company and was just as keen to visit the site as I was. But, and I mean it in the nicest possible way, he was not my wife. When I came home and told the stories with the accompanying photos, Sam was of course happy that I had a good time and that I had got home safely. And needless to say, her curiosity to visit these places grew even more. I knew I would be returning there again, this time with her. But then I knew that, even when standing at the ruins, and that made the experience bitter-sweet; the site was truly amazing, and yet I accepted that I would experience it in a different way when I went with Sam in the future.

This year we have travelled to Jordan and Malta following on from business trips I took to those places a year earlier. We will visit Mexico sometime and when we stand at Chichen Itza together, it will be as if I am visiting for the first time.

So is it worth visiting these places with others or alone when on business? Absolutely so. I am not someone who could sit in a city centre hotel (or a Cancun resort) for more than a day without getting itchy to go exploring. The trips I took with others were fun in their own way, and they were without doubt the highlight of otherwise unremarkable journeys. The secret, as I am learning with time and as I am trying to increasingly control, is to take Sam with me and turn business trips into holidays. That way every box is ticked!