The pros and cons of having a job that takes you away from home
There are many jobs where you arrive at the same office at roughly the same time each day, before leaving at around the same time each day. However, there are also other roles where you are constantly travelling, examples might be: some sales roles, consultancy, driving jobs, or various jobs in the shipping industry.
So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of taking a job involving extensive travel?
Advantages:
- You will get to see some fantastic places, all whilst being paid to do it. Even if your job primarily involves travelling in the UK, rather than overseas, you could have a real chance to expand your horizons
- If you travel for work with your colleagues, you should get to know them much better. Not only are you working together but you might spend time together travelling, eating and socialising
- Meeting different people in different places, and learning about their way of doing things, could greatly expand your own skill set. You may also develop lasting friendships with people you meet
- You can earn significant reward points through all the travelling you do
- Whilst there may be no substitute for real face-to-face contact, social media, video communications services and email all make it much easier to stay in contact with people at home
Disadvantages:
- You may regularly have to leave very early in the morning to catch a flight or a train, or to drive to your destination. Jetlag and changes of time zone can upset your body and lead to you becoming tired or stressed, or unable to focus on work tasks
- Whilst you may be visiting all sorts of new places, you may not have any say over where you travel to. This could mean you end up staying in some not-so-nice cities, in poor quality accommodation that might be in the middle of nowhere
- Sometimes you may be working so hard that you don’t have time to explore the city where you are staying, so then you might as well be anywhere
- You may struggle with language barriers when visiting other countries. Not everyone in the world speaks good English, especially outside the major cities of some countries
- You may not know all of the customs and cultural traditions of the places you visit, and may end up upsetting the locals
- It can be harder to maintain a healthy diet if all your meals are in hotels or restaurants, paid for on expenses
- You may find yourself not wanting to go on holiday. After so much travelling, when you get some leave, you may just feel like staying at home
- You may find yourself missing your family and friends
