I travel a lot for work.

When most people hear this they get all swoon-worthy about it. “Omg, you’re so lucky!” and gush on and on about how they wish they traveled. To be honest, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Traveling for work has its perks and downfalls like most things. The biggest downfall being that you’re working. Period. End of story. Another downfall is that usually I’m traveling doing site visits or planning events or working a trade show. Which means that after work, I usually have more work to do – like the day-to-day mundane stuff that is easy to get done at a desk rather than a hotel room.

(Quick side story, I was actually in San Diego last week for a trade show and when I got back my co-workers asked me how my “vacation” was. I was on a work trip people. But I digress.)

But obviously the biggest perk of getting to travel for your job is that you do get to see a new place and if you plan your work trip correctly you can make it seem like a mini-vacation (which is why my coworkers all thought I was on a joy ride in Cali last week).

Plan, Plan, Plan

This is one of my biggest recommendations. Before you go, research the area you’re staying in. Even if you can’t stay in a fun hotel, try to stay in a hip, but touristy area of the city you’re in so you can walk around after work and explore. Before I go on a work trip, I usually try and find the best restaurants in the city and map out of the fun areas to explore and see what I could do after-hours. For example, on a site visit in Napa I heard about a cute cafe and made sure to stop there in between hotel visits for lunch. And in San Diego, I knew I would have a free afternoon after setting up our booth and found out that the ferry to Coronado left from the convention center so went over to the beach after my work day. It’s all about planning ahead!

Be a Foodie

I find the best way to explore a city is through my stomach. Cause I loves me some food. But honestly, eating out is an easy way to make your work trip feel like a mini-vacation. Instead of ordering room service, go out and try a nice restaurant (and you get to expense it!). You don’t even need to go to a super nice place – on this last trip, I scouted out some burger bars and a bar known for their craft beer and my bills were both below $20.

Extend It

The most obvious way to make your work trip a vacation…make it an actual vacation. If I’m going to a place I’ve never been before for work, I sometimes will tack on an extra few days to explore the city myself. I did this when I went to Aspen for work and it was a really relaxing day of hiking up a mountain (and by hike I mean I took a gondola) and a spa treatment. Great end to a stressful week of working a show and client dinners.

So those are some of my tips! Hope those help in making your next work trip a mini-vacay!