Episode 44: Surviving Business Travel with Stephen Andert

On this episode, we’re learning more about traveling for work. Despite most of us not travelling now, we all have had to travel before, and some of us are slowly starting to travel again for work. Our guest, Stephen Andert, has taken business travel and turned it into an art form. His book, Surviving Business Travel, helps others get the most out of their business travel. (Use code REALJOB for 15% off on the book.)

Stephen is an introvert who has learned about public speaking and found ways to enjoy being out of his comfort zone. He is a technical person who helps with sales, and learned skills needed to share his technical knowledge by doing Toastmasters.

His first travel role had him supporting sales world-wide. He thought the job was going to be only 25% travel, but it ended up being 60%, with long global trips.

Stephen is a "checked bag" person, as he brings enough running and business clothes to make sure he’s ready for any extensions or situations that may arise.

Why write a book? He was always being asked questions about business travel from his social media posts. He wanted to write for the people who glamourized business travel as well as those who were burnt out by it.

Stephen's tips for surviving business travel:

Experience the world through food. Stephen asks his driver what he can’t leave without eating.

You never know when it’s the last time you’ll see a place, so Stephen makes sure to plan time to experience at least one special thing from each place he visits. He does a Google search looking for races and other events he can participate in when he’s there.

Stephen looks for things that recharge him and that fulfill him when traveling, since being an introvert makes business travel extra exhausting. He doesn’t watch TV, but instead reads and walks. Growing up in Ecuador gives Stephen a different perspective on different cultures, and using that helps him show others how alike different cultures really are.

How does Stephen handle time zone and climate changes? Stephen uses noise cancelling headphones on planes, and starts adjusting his body before he leaves to go overseas. When he lands, he exercises a bit and gets to bed early to get plenty of sleep so he can also run in the morning.

What’s Stephen’s health kit look like? For one thing, it includes supplements. Melatonin to fall asleep on his first night, and a bunch of meds that work for him in different situations so that you don’t have to navigate foreign drug stores.

Stephen’s on the road tech kit includes personal and professional laptops and chargers, and he has a list of anything else he might need, again so that he doesn't have to navigate emergency electronics purchases in other countries.

He does walking and photography tours to learn about the city he’s in.

He does think that business travel will change during the pandemic and afterwares, especially in how we build relationships, but it will be different with masks. A lot of the in-person events will by necessity say virtual.

Surviving Business Travel: What do do if business travel is killign you by Stephen Andert. On Amazon and survivingbusinesstravel.square.site - use code REALJOB for 15% off
Stephen on Twitter: @FlowingDesert
Stephen Andert on Linkedin