why business class isn't vacation

When I first took on the regional role at my company, I was based in Beijing and covering Asia Pacific. The first six to nine months were filled with travel, as I made my way to different offices in the region meeting people and press. Going from a network where the blessing of God could hardly grant you travel approval, this was a whole new culture to me.

At first it was exciting, business class, five-star hotels, corporate credit cards, etc. While I've always been very careful and never taken advantage of this, what it means is that you are pampered the entire time. Your hotel has complimentary happy hour, breakfast buffets, you're in a business class lounge at the airport with food and free-flow drinks and your hotel room often comes with complimentary wine.

a Westin Hotel buffet

Let me be clear, business trips are a LOT of work. You tend to work longer hours than you do at home, you are running around meeting clients or in my case, press. You are also trying to squeeze in as much as you can - so there is a reason that companies try to make it as comfortable as possible - you are exhausted!

Despite an ability to wake up early, I almost never have the chance to enjoy the hotel pool or gym, or even go out to eat outside the hotel. But I have taken my blackberry to the hotel breakfast buffet and my laptop to the free happy hour (if I'm not in the office still).

After the first few business trips, I learned an important lesson. Business trips are NOT vacation. And you shouldn't act like they are. Mentally, something happens when you're in a nice hotel and flying business class, you start to feel like you're allowed to indulge. But this is not a holiday, its a Tuesday and you're working.

Luckily, most hotel buffets offer the same spread, and I know what I'm having before I arrive. I'm not tempted by all the options anymore. There are plenty of healthy things, from fresh fruit, salad bars, sashimi and fresh steamed seafood.

The reason you haven't heard from me in a week is not because I've fallen off the wagon, its because I was on a business trip in Dubai last week, and was averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night. Despite promising myself that I would soak in the bathtub (we don't have one at home), I didn't even have time to do that!

But don't worry, I wasn't vacationing, so my healthy living continued on (save for one night where I had a few too many! But who's perfect all the time?)