When you're on the road....
What do you folks do after the work day ends? Head to the gym? Bar? Browse CL for casual encounters?
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Gym, grab dinner and if its a Wednesday night, go out drinking/do something social.
"ends"?
Kidding--on travel cases I'm usually done by 8pm, and I eat / work out / call home / talk to my kids. I always work longer hours on travel cases, mostly for lack of anything better to do.
Gym, HBOgo, xvideo, some reading, maybe a bar if it's a good city, maybe a swim if it has a pool, etc. No set gameplan.
EDIT: Also, it varies completely on if I am traveling with someone and if that someone is on the same company level as me (aka a roommate) or higher or lower (I have my own room)
People have to share rooms??
Welcome to low finance, bitch
After dinner/drinks, usually to my room and report in to my wife (so she knows I'm being good).
Longer hours 'cause I'm not at home. Call the fiance, put on discovery channel in the background and settle into work, WSO, and browse the web. Occasionally will connect up with people I know in the city.
TT
Gym, after gym huge dinner and potentially drinks. Also often go out dancing salsa/bachata.
Aren't you still in undergrad?
How does that change anything? Working full time over summer so I travel quite a bit.
You do? As a banking intern?
Most people in banking/consulting simply do not have the energy to do your after work itinerary while traveling more than once in a blue moon, so I find your post a bit bizarre/misleading.
I work and sleep when traveling. Seriously.
I usually have 1-2 hours of free time at night (if at all). Usually spent working on internal projects/business development, reading a book or the WSJ, or watching TV.
I should probably use the time to study for the GMAT though....
Gym, then more work and sleep.
daily routine:
gym, work, pick out mid-priced restaurant i'd like to try, work, sleep
I'm pretty similar to the rest - will work out, eat (sometimes room service, other times at the hotel bar or a restaurant in the city that I've been meaning to try out), grab a drink or two and prep for the next day's meetings.
Yes I do as intern. I guess they consider me an analyst because I am the only junior at the firm so I do all the analyst work and they will most likely give me a FT offer. Workout makes me feel better after 12 hour work day. Hot yoga really helps with pre-workout streching.
I believe Tinder is now used for this purpose.
hahah oh Tinder..
This. I didn't know if I was the only one not raging House of Lies style every night.
This is how I am picturing you...
Your skepticism is warranted.
@peinvestor2012 haha +1
@duffmt6 skepticism is always warranted for him
@CRE does that say xvideo? haha, no one else seemed to notice I guess
...no input from me, I only travel to and from my corporate cube.
Hah, ya you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. I've pulled randoms on the road before, but I'm not going to e-dickslang and pretend like it's a regular occurrence.
Out of curiosity, when you pull randoms on the road, are they girl from your client or bartenders/hotel staff/etc? Also, at junior levels aren't you usually bunking up with someone?
Never a client. Usually just another traveler or local business person. It honestly hasn't happened that often though.
Also, I'm glad you said that second part that I alluded to before. If I was the only one sharing a room part of the time I would have been pissed haha.
Was going to ask about this as well. Guess I'll leave the current client's talent alone.
Hah, now I'm not saying I wouldn't...just that I haven't
Gym, work, room service/dinner nearby, work, watch some shows, sleep.
my fav business trip destination is either toronto or montreal, i call up escorts the minute i am off the clock, two three at a time, makes the whole travel thing almost bearable.
Montreal....great town, but one of the last places I want to visit in the middle of January
Charge it to the client?
in a w3ay, yes. but not as expensive as you might think, unless you want something extra, u know what i mean.
Gym every other day, eat, then generally do non-client work (internal initiatives, learn things, etc.)
This leads me to another question...do people actually do internal initiatives? I'm not talking about the people who are trying to gun for partner and all that, I'm talking about most people.
Yes... you are expected to do internal initiatives. Maybe 5-8 hrs a week.
It really depends on who the coworkers are on a specific project. If my coworkers are outgoing and like to hang out, I tend to go out to local bars, dance clubs, strip clubs, basketball games, or even concerts after work. If my coworkers on a given project are older, anti-social, or just too 'intense' (or immersed in work, families, etc), I just mostly stay at my hotel room watching TV, reading news, preparing for next day's meetings, or occasionally playing XBox.
Some projects can be really fun since I really enjoy the people I work with. Some other projects... not so much. IMO, consulting work environment really boils down to who your coworkers are, since you are away from your home, away from your friends, stuck in a city you don't know well, and you'd better bond well with the other guys on your team to have any legit social life during the week.
Going on research trips, usually dinner/bars with someone from sales and/or analyst. Otherwise it's room service and light prepping for next day's meetings.
This has to depend on the firm. Folks at my shop don't do shit.
Kobalt: 5-8 hours a week!? What are you doing? Proposals? Whitepapers?
Recruiting, planning local office events, eminence/proposals (that's how you network with people who work in areas you are interested in - it's their way trying you out before making a commitment by bringing you on a project).
There's also training and general skills building which takes up some time.
But if you're content with an average rating you could do nearly nothing.
On the Road Again (Originally Posted: 02/10/2017)
After being on a flight every week in 2016, I was able to work the first month of 2017 from the home office.
Head back out on the road Monday and its safe to say.. I'm not looking forward to it. Besides quitting, any suggestions on dealing with the travel blues.
Work, gym, dinner, work, maybe hotel bar for a drink (too old to get wasted on a week night), Sports Center, sleep.
My question is what do you do before the work day begins, before office / client site?
I'd imagine you routinely hit up a handful of the same cities. Stay in the same hotel, find a really good food spot, give yourself something to look forward to. I cover some less than glamorous cities and always look forward to hitting up my favorite bar and food spots.
It's pretty easy to burn out while traveling, as I feel like I work long hours and it's always very high pressure when on-site.
I'm in California right now, I stayed last weekend here and I took out my Toyota Corolla rental to do some canyon carving, that was pretty fun I guess. I stay at the same hotel and if I have the time I try and eat at cool restaurants and maybe I'll hit the gym once or twice.
I also enjoy getting absolutely shithoused on the flight home.
NorCal or SoCal? If you love cars, I highly recommend downloading an app like Turo or Getaround. Get "wild", rent a M4/3 (I would suggest GT3 but no 1 in the right mind would put up their GT3). Canyon carving in a Corolla is making you more depressed.
Do something you can track over a long period of time (>1y) so that you're not focused on the immediate circumstances of being in bumfuck nowhere. Study for the GMAT, get shredded, whatever. You'll look forward to doing something that isn't related to/constrained by where you are geographically.
Burpees til you puke. You can always inflict more pain on yourself than the client/firm can inflict on you.
I like this
U.N. president J. Edgar Hoover once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Realistically, how good are hotel gyms? I've only been at local clients, but I've been told I'll be on the road soon.
Terrible
Free weights max at 50. There's maybe 1 flat bench. Never any barbell bench press or squad rack set ups.
Varies - heavily dependent on the property. Nicer hotels will have a more robust setup. But a general overview at your run of the mill spot:
2 treadmills (give or take) A bike Eliptical
if you are lucky, maybe up to 30 pound dumbbells. You may get a variation as well of like a bowflex type station or something similar (but certainly not an actual bowflex).
As others have noted it totally depends. One of the best accommodations is if you find a hotel that runs a deal with a local gym in walking distance. I've had this happen a few times.
The hit the gym and get yoked advice is all good and well, but I've found it to be project dependent. If your on a project requiring 16+ hours, the most gym time I'm getting is a quick run just to clear my head and to fight off obesity.
That being said, this project looks like it will be a manageable workload and setting some fitness goals is a great recommendations. Appreciate the advice.
Anyone ever tried a portable kettlebell? You fill it with water or sand.
http://www.kettlebellsandbags.com/
You're better off with a series of high quality elastic bands. Do not weigh much and allow you to hit upper body quite hard with a bit of creativity. Also allows you to progressively overload. Legs are slightly tricky with them, but doing some sprints should be enough to not lose too much muscle mass on legs.
Get a side chick in every town you frequent.
Take a cue from Guy Fieri. That show makes me so hungry. It's like a reality show for cheap food
Working on the Road (Originally Posted: 04/22/2012)
How much work do consultants generally do on the road, specifically at the MBB firms? I'm sure the answer to this varies, but do you spend most of your time traveling working, or is there a considerable amount of time to read personal stuff/listen to music/small talk, etc.?
Thanks
I know that at Deloitte part of your year end evaluations is your internal initiative involvement. Also, at Bain they have the "extra 10%", which includes all of the internal initiatives a person is involved in. I believe there is a similar program/initiative at BCG as well.
By "on the road" I mean when you are physically in transit. Obviously you work all day when you are at client sites.
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