The Evil Necessity of Business Trips

Business trips are necessary, especially for the small island of Singapore. 

"Go out into the world and find your fortune", said the mother of the 3 little pigs.

The world has shrunk.  The advancement of the aviation industry has made business travel easier than it has ever been in the past.  From Singapore, you only need to travel 1 hour to get to Kuala Lumpur, 5 hours to Beijing and 8 to Sydney.  Business is no longer conducted at home.  Face to face meetings are preferred over the less personal conference call or emails whenever possible.  "Business Traveller" or "Road Warrior" is now a label that a lot of us working mothers have added to our many roles.

And I hate every business trip that I have ever been on.  There I said it. 

I am not sure about you, but being away from my family for days, and at times for weeks, is not something I look forward to.  My friends and family would comfort me, saying it would be a good break from the kids.  I even joked that perhaps I can finally get a night's of uninterrupted sleep.  I certainly enjoyed the shopping, late night outs with co-workers and sometimes even the sight-seeing.

However, there are 2 parts of a business trip that I dislike.

1 The Flying
I am afraid of flying.  No, I do not get cold sweat or grab tightly to my seat or cling on to my fellow passenger.  I do not need a drink or a pill.  The reason I am afraid of flying is that I am afraid that I will never see my dear husband and my family ever again.  I know I probably have more chances of dying in a road accident, but being in a sealed tin can 3,000 miles above the ground does not evoke feelings of peace for me.

2 The Hotel
Since I work for a US multi-national company, the hotels that we use are reputable ones.  Nice ones.  With lovely branded bath foams and huge LCD wall-mounted TVs.  But what I hate is the feeling I get when I return to an empty room.  I have had a hard day's at work and all I can return to is an empty room.  No hugs, no kisses and certainly no kids clinging onto my every limb.  It seemed to make my work meaningless.

And to make matters worse, we now have to contend with the possiblility that we may be terrorised.  When I saw the news report of the Jarkata bombings a few days ago and how Singaporeans were hurt, it just hit home to how it could also happen to me.

So, every time my plane lands in Singapore, I say a quiet prayer.  Thank you for taking be back safe and sound.  It is at this moment that I appreciate deeply what I have now and how far I have come in my life.  I would be conscious of not taking my dear husband for granted and spending quality time with my kids.  I would be happy eating simple home cooked meals instead of massive hotel buffets.  I would even go as far as enjoying the warm weather here instead of dressing myself in mutiple layers before going out into the cold winters.

Well, perhaps business trips are not as bad as I thought they were.  After all, they do make me see things that I often over look in my busy daily life.