Good morning everyone,
We have completed another week and have made it to the weekend where we want to rest and enjoy our time. I want to challenge that thinking a little bit to enable you guys to really think about how you can enjoy some time while you are traveling for work.
When I first got into sales I was on the road four nights out of the week. I was putting about 40,000 miles on the vehicle a year. I did contemplate putting a CB antenna on the vehicle because I was starting to think I was a truck driver. During one of my ride alongs with the owner of the company. He shared with me that we were pounding the pavement pretty hard and doing well on our time. He said that he hoped it was not just on his account, but we had met with quite a few customers over the first few days only to stop for dinner and when we arrived at the hotel.
The owner shared on the third day that he appreciated my hard work, but thought I was looking a little burned out. I shared that I had been in hotels for the past year about 115 nights out of the year. He said in all of those nights how many times did I go out and explore the areas I was staying in. I really didn’t think about that much. I just made sure to get my meetings in and do my paper work while in the hotels as I ate my dinner.
The owner stated that I should cut out early every now and then to explore some of these areas and see some sights. Whether it was paddle boarding in the panama beach area, check out the blue angels routine flights in Pennsacola, or the little down town areas of south Florida. He stated that I had a great opportunity to see new things that would open my mind to culture a bit. Later I would understand that when people tell me where they are going in Florida I am not able to share some off the beaten path locations that they may not know about and enables them to have even more fun.
Today I would like to focus on the fact that when you are traveling that you need to take time to enjoy it a bit. Whether it is a suggestion that Jon Acuff offered about renting a nicer car, or during a meeting asking your potential customer of some ideas of where to go in the area to explore later on. The point is that work is work, but it does not have to be completely work 24/7. Take time and see the little small business shops that are in the area, some of the local food spots, run the beach during sunset, go to a movie if you are comfortable being that guy. I did that last one once and I felt weird and kept looking around.
I have stopped in at shooting ranges to shoot some cool guns, changed inside of the trailer and went for a swim in the gulf of Mexico only to have dolphins swim up within 15 feet of me, I found a great place in panama city that has amazing sea food and has surf boards in the rafters, tired wakeboard cable park in Ft. Myers, run the stadium in Gainesville wearing my Michigan gear etc. That last one was a lot of fun and the stares were great. The point is take some time to enjoy when you are traveling. You may even find something that you want to bring your family to see some day. Become a travel agent for your friends and family to give them cool places to go.
Be an explorer and curious about where you are traveling. You never know what doors will open when you can offer up some kind of information about a location that someone may be traveling to.
As always if you have questions, want to dig deeper, or if you would like to ask about other topics feel free to reach out to me at info@kevinsidebottom.com. Also you can comment to the blog to keep the conversation going with other readers.
Last, if you are traveling to Florida and Alaska hit me up. I know quite a few secret spots down there to help you with your vacation.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
Sales and Leadership Enterprises