What Is Your Definition of a Road Warrior?
noun
Informal
A person who travels frequently, especially on business.
Exactly what defines a Road Warrior came up in a conversation with a seat mate on a recent flight and it got me Googling as to the definition. I’m not surprised that I did not find an objective definition. However, being a numbers person, I would have been more comfortable with a definitive criteria. Since I couldn’t find an objective definition, I’m coming to you my fellow road warriors (at least that’s who I think you are!) for help.
What do you think the objective definition of a Road Warrior should be?
Is it 50% or more of a person’s working days in a year being away from home?
Or a certain percentage of weeks per year no matter how many days of average travel in a week?
One week a month traveler? 3 or 4 weeks a month?
If a person travels to conferences quarterly, does that constitute a road warrior?
Whether a person drives, flies, rides a bus or train for their business travel … is that a component in this definition?
Such disparate criteria – does it really matter? You may think it doesn’t matter now, but I can just hear your harrumph the next time someone tells you that they’re a road warrior because they travel once a quarter while you’re hitting a new city several days a week – and we’ll all hear your scream when they get a first class upgrade and you don’t!
Keep reading the definition. Based on the ‘especially on business’ part of the definition, does to a great extent indicate that a frequent solely-for-pleasure traveler could also be considered a road warrior for the lesser extent? Really? I do not put pleasure travelers in the road warrior category, unless of course they first fit the definition due to their business travel – which I’m still trying to figure out what that is.
So help me out here. If you tell someone that you’re a road warrior, and they ask what that is, how would you answer when they keep drilling you for specifics?
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Pat said,
Rather than think about the frequency or type travel, how about defining Road Warriors by their attitudes or behaviors?
Road Warriors are a culture of like-minded individuals that have experience in the art of traveling well – RWs have the wisdom that comes from a deep knowledge of themselves, of their travels, and of the travel industry.
Thoughts?
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