Top Ten Tips For Taking Your Family On A Business Trip

Take your family on your next business trip

When my children were young, my job involved travelling extensively around Europe and North America and I was forever saying to a business colleague or client while in some strange foreign clime, “I wish my wife could see this” or, “My son Joshua, or Adam would have loved to play on that.” Looking back I don’t know why I never thought to take them, but it was probably because they all involved several expensive flights.

If you are travelling within B.C. however, you should at least consider taking your family along with you – it can be very rewarding. I remember later in my business career when my kids were a little older travelling to Kelowna on business and taking them and my wife along with me. It worked out well; we added a few extra vacation days to the trip and the savings were considerable as the travel (by car and ferry) was entirely paid for, as were my meals and other expenses such as the room (except for the added nights of course).

Here are 10 tips to taking your family with you on your next business trip.

1. If your company normally springs for a hotel room in one of the larger full service downtown hotels, ask if they would mind if you booked a family room with a kitchen in an Accent Inn’s Hotel. It’s likely that even with the upgrade to a larger room you’ll still save your company money!
2. Book a room with a sofa bed (several Accent Inns rooms have them!) for the kids and a kitchen, or kitchenette, as going out for breakfast can be quite expensive.
3. Depending on your destination, book a hotel with a pool if you can (Accent Inns, Kelowna, Kamloops both have outdoor pools) or one that’s close to some family friendly attractions such as the Pacific International Exhibition, which is less than three kilometers from Accent Inns’ Burnaby location.
4. Use the travel time as part of the ‘vacation’ by leaving plenty of time to stop at places of interest.
5. If you really want to keep the cost to a minimum and you get an allowance for meals, think about making it stretch to feed your family for at least some of the days. Save on Foods locations have excellent pre-cooked food which you can take back to your room for a hotel room picnic! Remember, you can collect More Rewards at every Accent Inn.
6. One important thing to do before you leave home is to set parameters. It’s a business trip and your children especially need to realize you won’t be with them all the time. Let them know ahead of time your schedule, even give them a copy if they’re old enough. This way everyone knows when you will spending time with them and when you have to work.
7. Make a list of all the attractions and activities near to the hotel so that you won’t be having a, “What can we do today” discussion over the breakfast table as you try to focus yourself on the workday ahead. The Accent Inns Experience Local website and front desk staff can be great resources.
8. Arrange set specific times that you will be ‘home’ and plan family-time activities which the kids and your spouse can look forward to.
9. Consider taking a babysitter along (cousin, grandparent etc.) – that way you and your spouse can get some alone time, or perhaps spend an evening with a client. Accent Inns has some rooms with adjoining doors which could be very practical in this case.
10. If at all possible, add a few additional days to your trip so that you too can take advantage of the fact that the cost of getting to wherever you are has been paid for.

This summer don’t pine for your family back home, bring them with you! All Accent Inns are family friendly, (even pet friendly) so you’ll be sure to get a huge welcome if you’re heading to Victoria, Richmond, Burnaby, Kamloops or Kelowna.

Mike Wicks
Blue Beetle Creative