Traveling for work is definitely not a vacation

Traveling for work? Brace yourself for 14-hour work days.

From nice hotels to free food and drink and lavish nightlife, the concept of business travel can seem glamorous but new research shows the reality is often anything but.

Rushing to and from meetings, worrying about sweating through your clothes, and navigating an average workday spanning 14 hours were some of the more realistic experiences of a typical day outside of the office.

In fact, the average business traveler gets only two hours a day when they aren’t required to work, and most feel pressured to put that sliver of time towards work-related activities like extra networking or meeting preparation.

The new survey also aimed to spotlight the biggest obstacles of work-related travel and found being away from family, dealing with airports, living out of a suitcase, and worrying about sweat and clothing wrinkles numbers among the biggest challenges of traveling for work.

The study by men’s suit retailer Jos. A. Bank surveyed 2,000 business travelers and found that looking presentable while living out of a suitcase can be tough. And it doesn’t help that there seems to be added pressure to look your best when on the road — at least according to 70 percent of survey respondents.

Over half (57 percent) agree that they have trouble keeping their clothes and suits tidy and unwrinkled while on a trip.

Four in ten (42 percent) also say they get extra sweaty due to the rush of being in and out of meetings and constantly on the go, prompting over three out of five (66 percent) to agree that a good suit is crucial to a successful business trip.

Free time can be hard to come by when you’re traveling on the clock, too. Respondents say they have, on average, just about two hours a day to themselves, with 47 percent saying they have even less than that.

Being able to actually spend that free time relaxing or exploring the city is a challenge in itself, as 63 percent of men who travel for work say they feel pressure to spend their precious free hours working in some fashion.

The results showed that life on the road is full of long hours and can sometimes be hard work,” said Mary Beth Blake, Brand President of Jos. A. Bank. “While traveling for business can yield some unexpected obstacles, the one thing you should be able to rely on is your suit.”

But while business travel can certainly be wearisome in some ways, the survey also found there were quite a few benefits to it as well.

Getting able to see a new place was named the best thing about traveling for work (56 percent), and meeting new people face-to-face (55 percent), and racking up those handy hotel rewards points (53 percent) round out the top three.

When business travelers can get away from work on a trip, the most popular way to spend that time is trying out the local restaurants (77 percent), with exploring the city coming in second place (67 percent).

But a work trip is just that, it turns out, as 62 percent say they spend their free time putting in work, putting it in third place.

So what is the secret to having a successful business trip?

When tasked to come up with one piece of advice to give business travelers on how to have a successful business trip, two words kept coming up: “Be prepared.”

“Being prepared is key for any business trip,” said Mary Beth Blake, Brand President of Jos. A. Bank.

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