When you talk to people that work in client service type of jobs, they will always tell you travel is part of the job and if you don’t like to travel, you should choose a different career.  I agree with that for the most part, but there’s such a thing as traveling too much. If you find yourself nodding your head to any of the below symptoms, you can safely say you travel WAY too much for work:

1. The dry cleaner guy in a city you don’t even live meets you at your car with your clothes: I don’t know of any drive thru dry cleaning service but this was pretty close. I was riding into the client site with one of my colleagues and we pulled up to the dry cleaners to pick up his shirts for the week. As soon as we pulled up, the guy comes out with shirts in hand, which is even more impressive because it’s not like we drive the same car every week. Now that’s what I call customer service.
2. The rental car shuttle driver knows your schedule a bit too well: I had a stretch where I traveled to Boston so much that if I skipped a week, the rental car shuttle driver would make a comment like “we missed you last week. Getting to know the people that work at the rental car lot isn’t a bad idea either when you’re looking for a different car which may not be on the menu.
3. The airport parking shuttle driver asks if you’re parked in your usual spot: This happens just about every week. My wife got a chance to see this in action and couldn’t stop laughing. First on the way out one shuttle driver says “Oh, this must be a personal travel this week. You have your family with you.” On the way back another shuttle driver asks, “The usual spot, sir?” Yup…usual spot. Always the same spot.
4. You’re on a first name basis with ALL of the hotel staff: Getting to know the hotel staff is always smart – they can help you get rooms when the reservation system says no or help you get your company’s rate when technically all of the rooms for that rate are already sold out. Not having to show your ID and credit card every time you check in adds a nice touch as well. I have to admit I still miss my friends from my favorite hotel in Waltham, MA that I stayed at for 2 years! But we all have to move on sometimes.
5. You only have a barber in the city where you work: I used to have a barber shop in the town where I live and then they all split up and I figured why bother. I never went there anyway because I was always on the road and the little time I had at home I didn’t want to spend getting a haircut.
6. When you get home, your daughter says “I’m so glad you came over”: Click here to read the back story to what happened to me but if your child thinks you’re just “coming over” when you get home, you may want to try to spend some more time there…
7. Your son imitates you by doing this: this picture speaks for itself…

What do you think? Do you have other ways you know you’ve been on the road too long? Let me know in the comments below.