Topic: travel

Time Your Travel To Save Big Bucks

Your best bets for cheaper rates (and for more elbow room) are during times when classes are in session, says Budget Travel deputy editor Robert Firpo-Cappiello. To avoid high fares, time your travel for the periods a week or two before or after school breaks and holidays — like the weeks between New Year’s and Martin Luther King weekend and the weeks before or after, but not including Memorial Day weekend in May. Or book in mid-September or October (traditionally cheaper months) or the weeks before Thanksgiving. More »

25-Year-Old Diplomat Anne Smedinghoff Tragically Killed In Afghanistan

25-year-old Anne Smedinghoff had a passion for working overseas since she was a young girl growing up in suburban Chicago. Right after college, she joined the US Foreign Service, and had already completed a stint in dangerous Caracas, Venezuela, and then volunteered to go to Afghanistan. She died Saturday attempting to deliver schoolbooks to children. More »

Businesses Without Borders: Why These Entrepreneurs Chose To Launch Abroad

Americans once watched admiringly as celebrities like Bob Geldof and U2′s Bono took the stage to alleviate hunger among the world’s poor.

But today the game has changed: the world’s impoverished economies have become the world’s emerging economies, with growth rates already outpacing the U.S.—and a slew of lingering socioeconomic problems. More »

13 Things Every Business Traveler Should Pack In Their Carry-On

As glamorous as it may sound to jet-set across the country, schmooze with clients, and live off room service, just about every business traveler would beg to differ.

There are flights to catch, car rentals to book, endless airport security lines to navigate, and, of course, the hassle of keeping tabs on your paper trail along the way (because how else will you get reimbursed?).
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6 Ways to Save on Your Girls’ Weekend Spa Getaway

6 Ways to Save on Your Girlsâ�� Weekend Spa Getaway

This is a post from our friends at Money Crashers about how to enjoy a spa weekend without spending a fortune.

Last spring, my friends and I had a dream of treating ourselves to a weekend away. Unfortunately, we had a very limited budget, a huge group of 10, and did not want to sacrifice on lodging, services, or food. But in spite of these obstacles, we had a fantastic weekend and only spent around $100 per person for top-notch lodging and food.
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Gwen Stefani’s Refreshing Honesty: Constant Dieting And ‘Guilt’ About Working Too Much

No Doubt singer and style queen Gwen Stefani is on the cover of the January issue of Vogue. On the cover, she’s a rock-star glamazon wearing a sparkly gold blazer and photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Inside, however, the mother of two gives an impressively honest interview about her “guilt” about working when her two young sons are at home. More »

‘The One Thing I Never Leave For A Business Trip Without’: 10 True Stories

â��The One Thing I Never Leave For A Business Trip Withoutâ��: 10 True Stories

When most people pack for a business trip, they bring the standard stuff: At least one change of work-appropriate clothes, a laptop, maybe one of those foam neck rests for the airplane. But when these people back for a work trip, they also bring more unusual items. Read on for a surprising variety of can’t-leave-home-without-it travel items, from binoculars to iced tea to bed-bug repellant. More »

How To Set Up A Work Station Anywhere

Thanksgiving is a day away, which means lots of food, family and traveling. While Thanksgiving eve is one of the busiest travel days of the year, its not a holiday. Its the day before the holiday. This means you might be expected to get some work done this Wednesday, but how? With all the traveling you’ll be doing, it may seem impossible to get any work done, right? Wrong. There are ways to be productive wherever you are stuck this Thanksgiving. Here is a how-to guide on setting up a work station anywhere from grandma’s, to the airport and everywhere in between. More »

Taking A Vacation Day Is A Revolutionary Act? Give Me A Break.

In a recent ad for the Las Vegas tourism industry, a woman in a drab work outfit climbs on top of her desk to make a Norma Rae-style announcement: She has 47 vacation days, and she intends to use them. “We come in day after day!” she exclaims to her gobsmacked colleagues. “That ends now! They’re our days! Let’s take back our summer. Who’s with me?” Cautious at first, the overworked crowd eventually explode into cheers.

In another recent ad series, McDonald’s encourages workers to stick it to the man by … taking a lunch break. The campaign, called “It’s your lunch. Take it,” employs mildly revolutionary taglines like “It’s time to overthrow the working lunch.” But is eating lunch a special perk? Is taking the vacation days she’s earned something that an employee should have to fight for?
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What We're Reading:

What It’s Like To Be A Female Pipefitter

The way she tells it, Susan Miller’s 27-year career as a pipefitter begins like something out of a short story by Western writer Annie Proulx: “I met a man named Jack when I was bartending in Cody, and he persuaded me into a career in pipefitting,” Miller told me last week from Corpus Christi, TX. She was on her day off from working on an off-shore refinery platform that will be floated out in the Gulf of Mexico next June. “My first job was in Texas, then to New York, and everywhere in between. I ended up in California for quite a while. When Jack and I split up I went out on my own, and I’ve worked in almost every state in the union.” She spoke with me about the years after that first job in Texas, her salary, hitting the glass ceiling, and the greenhouse that’s waiting for her at home in Wyoming. More »

7 Terrifyingly True Business Travel Horror Stories

If you thought the worst thing about business travel was a delayed flight or a boring conference, think again. Here are seven true stories of nightmare business trips, from a woman whose hotel room had no curtains on the longest day of the year, the guy forced to make a desperate trip to WalMart the night before a big speech, and the guy who took a brass-cornered briefcase to the face on a flight from Germany to Philadelphia. More »

How To Avoid The Embarrassing Etiquette Dilemmas Of Traveling With Your Boss

Being invited on a business trip with your boss is a great opportunity: You get one-on-one time with a higher-up, the chance to learn from her, and to prove your mettle on the road. But that road can be full of pot-holes, too. Business travel includes all kinds of etiquette quandaries that never come up in the office. Should you eat every meal with your travel companion? What if she drinks too much? How do you avoid awkwardness if you’re sharing a hotel room? I asked several experts for their input on traveling with your boss. More »

HR Mistake Of The Week: How To Hire Internationally Without Missing Problems With ‘Culture Fit’

Last week, I spoke with Jenny Rhoten, who manages the recruiting department at the specialized staffing firm Astreya, about why using independent contractors isn’t always as cheap an option as it seems. This week, I’m sharing her thoughts on why staffing overseas branches of a company completely with non-local management can be an expensive mistake, too.
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Getting Transferred Overseas Made Me Fall In Love With My Job

Sarah Athanas was given two weeks to make the decision that would change her life. Her company had offered her the opportunity to move from Denver to Buenos Aires, but she had to decide immediately — and make the move almost as quickly. She had been feeling bored at her job in Denver, so moving would be a risk. Is it smart to get in deeper at a job you’re not totally satisfied with? But even if you’re not totally satisfied with your current gig, as Athanas’ and other’s stories show, moving for a job can bring amazing rewards. More »

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