As the CEO of a nationally recognized award-winning communications firm I’m on the road 3 weeks out of a month and sometimes have 3 month stretches on the road so I wanted to share ways to make business travel more bearable for the family.
1. Video Messages: Skype, Facetime and other instant messaging services are awesome when you have time to sit still but my business is always on the go so I mostly rely on services like Glide. My family and I all have accounts and we send video messages throughout the day. I can’t tell you how impactful a simple video with an “I love you” message and a smile is in terms of helping you get through a stressful day and how it makes them feel like they are still a priority.
2. Instagram: To make jokes and do funny things I turn to Instagram. For example, I will record short clips from different portions of my day and add a little humor. This allows you to kind of bring your family along for the ride each day which also keeps life interesting and provides something you all can look back on and discuss when you do get a chance to catch up in person. It’s like a “highlight” reel. Sometimes when I get home we hook my iPad up to the TV and just watch videos from my trips and discuss what was going on each day.
3. Photoprints as Postcards: Then I use the Walgreens app to upload my favorite pics from each trip (I make it a point to take a few selfies with landmarks in each city) to create 4×6 prints and postcards that I mail to the kids from each city which also gives them something tangible to look forward to every week.
4. Xbox Live: Then finally to take engagement to the next level I travel with my Xbox and my kids and I carve out time every night to play together online via Xbox Live. We put on our headsets, pop in NBA 2k14, Fight Night or a Racing games and we spend quality time playing as teams and head to head. On the weekends we hold tournaments that really get everyone engaged and this really helps eliminate some of the separation anxiety.
Photo by Amanda Tipton Photo by Glide
