Travel With Others
Without Wishing They'd Stayed Home
Planning a trip with your boss? Or worse, NOT planning a trip with your boss and you end up on one anyway? There is good news and, of course, bad news. It all depends on your boss but there are several things you can do to ease your pain.
Davidson, an experienced travel agent, suggests sorting out Who Pays What right up front, especially regarding side trips, air fare (if you HAVE to fly first class and the company will only pay for coach) and lodging. Are you expected to use your own money or credit card, then get reimbursed? Make sure you’ve got the money to survive until you get your expense check. Does your boss want to save bucks by sharing a room? You may need to pay the difference to get your own room if the idea of sharing creeps you out. And then there are food issues too. What if your boss only eats in steakhouses and you’re a vegetarian?
Not only is this an etiquette book (take a pooper-scooper on those European trains that allow pets) but it’s also a primer on all sorts of travel and is chockfull of suggestions, ideas, compromises and, best of all, examples.
The examples are rather intimate in some cases and will appeal to the closet voyeur in all of us. There’s the fighting couple in the “How to Travel With Your Spouse” chapter and the demonic children in the “How To Travel With Your Kids” chapter. The author even delves into some of her own trips and gives us a little free travel advice, e.g., there’s a horse park near Morro Bay, California, that lets you camp and ride.
The first chapter is a survey so you can find out what type of traveler you are—Adventurer, Sportsman, Beach Bum, Shopper, etc. Many of the worst trips cited in this book involve a traveler who, say, wants to relax poolside with a trashy novel and another traveler who thinks if there’s a museum it must be toured. The author’s suggestion: Go your separate ways and meet up for supper. Or spend three days at the beach and three days in town.
Several of the suggestions in this book are obvious like those already mentioned, but there are nuggets of information you won’t find elsewhere. In the chapter about traveling alone, for instance, she give suggestions of classes you can take at your destination that will help you meet others, if that’s what you want, or tips like burying your nose in a book if you don’t want to meet anyone.
A lot of the information could be found elsewhere, like traveling with babies, but it’s nice to have everything (regarding boss, lover, spouse, pet, cello, etc.) in one book to aid in planning. There are also appendices on packing, finding a doctor and more.
Reviewed by
Jodee Taylor
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
