We all know we should take our vacation time. Studies have shown time and again that people who take vacations are happier, healthier, live longer, and are more satisfied with their lives. It’s just so hard to leave work at the office! But don’t worry—there are ways to maximize time on your business trips as well as vacations to gain the ultimate health benefits. Dr. Susan Biali, a health and happiness expert and author of Live a Life You Love: 7 Steps to a Healthier, Happier, More Passionate You, has teamed up with Embassy Suites to help travelers “more-imize” their time, so they can get more out of the precious spare time they do have.

Here is Part Two of my interview with Dr. Biali. Check out Part One here!

RW: Assuming you have a family, have you found that a family trip does more to relax you and you can reap more benefits from that type of trip? Or would a solo trip or girlfriend trip be better?

SB: We know that nurturing our closest relationships is incredibly important. Specifically those with your spouse and your kids, which are your primary relationships in this world. There are health and happiness benefits from making sure those relationships are very strong. So it really depends on how someone feels their relationship with their family is going.  Because if they are on the road a lot, there’s a chance  that relationship is being neglected. For the sake of the family, and our own health and happiness, that needs to be a top priority. However, I also speak to women constantly about the need to take time for themselves. If you’re somebody that is already spending a huge amount of time on your family when you’re home, and you’re having business trips so you’re extremely busy, it may be very helpful to take some time for yourself. What I would recommend to ladies on the road all the time for work is to carve out a little time during business trips. Try going to the spa, or finding a beautiful restaurant when you’re in the airport and have a lovely meal. Take time within business travel to really nurture yourself!

RW: So what other ways do you recommend getting in treats for yourself during business trips?

SB: One of the places where I stay they bring free yoga stuff to your room, so I’ll finally have the time to use some of the yoga recordings I have on my laptop. I always have hot baths—even if it’s summer time, if a hotel has a bathtub I will always take time to take a bath. I like to watch movies on Netflix, I love going for walks and exploring, I love taking myself out for really lovely meals that I can linger over. I totally nurture myself when I travel. If I can, I use the time on the plane to read a great book that I wouldn’t normally read, or if they’ve got movies on the back of the seat I’ll watch them all. I really try to maximize that time. Because when you’re traveling for business, if you’re a person like me who can be sucked into being busy all day when you’re at home, travel is a great way to find unusually large islands of time to just relax. Read more of this article »

We all know we should take our vacation time. Studies have shown time and again that people who take vacations are happier, healthier, live longer, and are more satisfied with their lives. It’s just so hard to leave work at the office! But don’t worry—there are ways to maximize time on your business trips as well as vacations to gain the ultimate health benefits. Dr. Susan Biali, a health and happiness expert and author of Live a Life You Love: 7 Steps to a Healthier, Happier, More Passionate You, has teamed up with Embassy Suites to help travelers “more-imize” their time, so they can get more out of the precious spare time they do have.

Here is Part One of my interview with Dr. Biali. Look for Part Two next week!

RW: When you travel for work a lot, sometimes it’s hard to get out of the business trip mindset—the go, go, go. What is your best advice for business travelers adding a few days to a work trip for vacation—how can they transition into the vacation mindset?

SB:  On a recent trip to New York I had some business related things to do, but I had vacation goals as well—some family in town to visit, sightseeing I wanted to do, etc. It’s very helpful to clearly delineate which days are vacation days vs. business days. There are a couple of ways to have more vacation days as a business traveler. You can either incorporate it, tag it on at the end of a business trip, or you can plan a separate vacation in which you clearly delineate it as vacation. Either way, it’s very important to unplug.

RW: Do you think it’s a good idea to combine business trips with a vacation component, or do you think it’s better to have separate trips?

SB: I am a big fan of grabbing rest and recovery any chance that you can. So for pure impact, if you can dedicate time absolutely to vacation it’s incredibly helpful, especially if you have a family. But when you travel a lot for business, finding even a couple of days really helps with the “more-imization”—grabbing a few days at the end of a work trip with your family to dedicate to vacation and fun is great. As a life coach, and as a person who’s very into the benefits of rest and relaxation, anytime you can fit it in your life it’s a good thing.

RW: One of your tips is to plan your vacation in advance. How far in advance do you think is important to be able to maximize those benefits?

SB: According to a study that came out of the Netherlands, it’s about eight weeks. Planning a vacation eight weeks in advance gives you a lot of time to look forward to it. It’s very interesting—they found that the most joy of a vacation actually came from the anticipation. I think we can all relate to that! If you know you have a vacation to look forward to, especially if you’re going with family members or other people, you talk about it, fantasize about it while you’re sitting at your desk…. It really has been proven to significantly improve the quality of life. Another interesting thing they found in that study was that people who had relaxing vacations—people who didn’t pack their vacation time with lots of activities or stress from running around—those people were the happiest once they got back. Their happiness lasted for a couple of weeks, as opposed to the people who didn’t really relax during vacation, where the effects wore off a lot more quickly.

RW: Interesting! So when you’re planning your vacation, do you have any tips for making the logistics of a vacation easy so that you can enjoy it as much as possible? Such as, when you arrive, how do you get to the hotel, etc… Read more of this article »

Although we have certainly come a long way, being a woman in business isn’t always easy. In 2005, Cynthia Good looked around and realized that there were almost no resources speaking to women about their businesses and career. As a result, she started PINK, a national women’s business magazine, which has now become Little PINK Book, a daily e-note with tools, resources, and expert advice about everything working women need to know. (I’ve subscribed to Little PINK book for over a year now, and look forward to reading it over my coffee every morning. You should definitely check it out!!)

Not surprisingly, Cynthia is on the road regularly for Little PINK Book. This road warriorette hast teamed up with Embassy Suites to talk about their latest business travel survey, and has lots of insight and information to share. I was lucky enough to get to talk to her recently—here’s what she had to say!

RW : First personally, what do you look for in a hotel?

CG:  Well, we do a lot of traveling, certainly a lot of business traveling. I’m a business owner and I’m very cost conscious! I’ll tell you a horrible story which just happened the other day to my head of finance.  She took a few days off to celebrate her 10th wedding anniversary, but she had to keep up with work. And the hotel, which will not be named, their internet system didn’t work so she could not log on to her computer. And then they charged her a fee for using it. I worry about women travelers because they don’t always know to ask… Do you have an internet system that works, do you have a business center, when is it open, can I print out a document, and am I going to be charged for that.  So that’s the kind of thing you want to look for.  

RW : Wow that would be really frustrating.  Was it in the US or somewhere international?

CG:  It was in the US, in Florida.  I think that’s the kind of thing, as a women business owner and business traveler, you expect everybody is going to have, but you can’t just automatically assume. You have to ask: Is it available, is it available 24/7, and am I going to be charged for it?  I know that’s one nice thing that Embassy Suites does, so it’s not a problem there.  But the data shows that this is the number one cause for a travel melt down: if you can’t print out documents and conduct business, really your hands are tied.  

RW : So speaking of travel melt downs…what’s the worst one you’ve ever had?

CG:  I once had to tell a client that the proposal that I was going to send to them, that they were expecting on a certain day was going to have to be a day late because I was traveling. Even though I had all of my technology with me, because of the hotel I couldn’t send it.  Read more of this article »

Aliza and Danielle being interviewed for .tv

You guys have heard a lot from my experience at Blog World, but I haven’t shared everything. One of the best workshops I attended was about empowering women to be public speakers, run by Aliza Sherman, Jill Foster, and Danielle Smith. Aliza and Danielle recently wrote MOM, Incorporated, about how to have a family and start your own business (which I bought, am currently in the middle of, and loving. I will review soon!). When I spoke to them, they were wrapping up a six week book tour. Of course I had to take the opportunity to ask these accomplished road warriorettes a few questions!

RW: You’ve been on the road for six weeks. What are your tips for being on the road a long time?

Aliza: I learned that it would be so nice to be independently wealthy. To have an entourage, Sherpa included. (laughs) Here’s a good tip: Amtrak has something called red-cap service. You can call in advance and tell them what train you’re on, and they will wait for you and be there ready to get your stuff.

RW: So it’s like an entourage!

A: Yes!

Danielle: That’s where the joke about having an entourage came from, because we had so much trouble with all of our bags. Our bags were packed with books, so they were extremely heavy. We had a red-cap help us in New York, and when we told him we were going to Philadelphia he called ahead and had someone waiting to help us.

A: He came onto the train and helped us with all of our stuff! It was a great thing that we had no idea existed.

D: Sometimes they don’t wear their red caps, and that can be highly confusing. Go to the information desk if you don’t see one and they will help you find them.

A: Another tip: travel with someone who has a great accessories bag. Then they can decorate with you with bracelets and necklaces and you look totally awesome.

RW: So find a friend with good taste and travel with them.

A: Yes! That’s the best tip ever. Read more of this article »