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When Anita Dumanski goes out of town on a business trip, she makes a point of doing a few things she seldom gets to do when she's at home, like shopping for clothes, working out and just enjoying a quiet evening by herself.
"I don't get to devote much time for myself, and that's something I struggle with all the time," says Ms. Dumanski, a business unit director with Mississauga-based Roche Canada, part of Swiss pharmaceutical firm F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
"So, when I'm away on business, sometimes I'll just stay in the hotel, order room service and just have nothing to do."
Business trips may be a disruptive inconvenience for some people.
Anita Dumanski: 'I really like those two-day business trips when I get to have a couple of nights to myself.' (Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail)
But for working moms like Ms. Dumanski, here's a guilty secret: Being on the road can actually be a welcome respite from the demands of home, a way for time-starved, stressed-out mothers to really get away from it all.
With no children to cook for, no homework to help with, Ms. Dumanski - a mother of a six-year-old and 2½-year-old twins - can just kick back after a day of meetings and enjoy some much-needed "me time."
"I really like those two-day business trips when I get to have a couple of nights to myself," confesses Ms. Dumanski, who travels about three months of the year on trips ranging from two to five days. "I've said as much to my husband."
Unlike family vacations, where a working mother continues to do many of the mommy things she does at home, a business trip allows for an almost complete break from family life, says Tanya Racz, president of the Canadian chapter of the National Business Travel Association,
"It's a true escape from the demands that come from being a mother," Ms. Racz says.
"When you're done with the day's business activities, all you've got to think about is what to do with yourself."
Ms. Racz says that employers are providing more opportunities for business travellers - female or male, with or without children - to catch some rest and relaxation.
For instance, instead of flying employees out early in the morning and then having them rush back on an evening flight, many employers now offer the option of flying in the evening before a meeting and then spending another night at a hotel before heading back the following day, Ms. Racz says.
Anne White, a spokesperson for the Deerhurst Resort in Ontario's Muskoka region, says she's noticed in recent years more business conferences planned to allow more leisure time for employees.
"They're moving away from a strictly business agenda," she says.
"So, instead of an intense two days of meetings and seminars, a company might stretch their conference to three days, where mornings are spent in structured work activities and then employees have the afternoon to spend as they wish."
Some companies are also arranging discounted rates for employers who want to stay at the resort after their conference ends, she adds.
Employers are also increasingly acknowledging the needs of their female employees during these business conferences, Ms. White says.
Instead of inviting everyone to an afternoon of golf, many employers are offering their employees the choice, say, to play golf or have a spa treatment, compliments of the company.
"And of course, a lot of women will choose the spa," she says.
Nice for employees, but what's in it for employers?
Julie Oliveira, president of PEP Human Resource Consulting in Woodstock, Ont., says that employers have a lot to gain by being considerate to their business travellers.
"When you look after your people's wellbeing, you'll be rewarded by employees who are really enthusiastic about working for you and who'll go the extra mile for you," she says. "Which means they'll probably accomplish more during that trip and they'll come back feeling great and ready to move on to the next project."
While it's important for companies to treat all travelling employees well, regardless of gender, they do need to recognize that working moms often face special challenges, Ms. Oliveira says.
Those who have small children may have to arrange and pay for babysitting - an extra expense and headache that doesn't even occur to some employers, she says.
And many of these moms go into overdrive in the days leading up to the trip as they struggle to take care of household tasks before they leave.
Companies that don't make business travel enjoyable for working mothers may miss out on opportunities to tap into the potential of this group, Ms. Oliveira says.
She recounts a conversation with one client - a female executive and mother who goes on frequent business trips.
"Travelling for her is a huge complication, and she knew this before the accepted her position," Ms. Oliveira says. "But she knows of other women in the company - also mothers like her - who were offered promotions to similar positions that required travel and they declined."
But those made happy on the road often become good ambassadors for the company, encouraging other working moms to consider jobs that require travel, Ms. Oliveira says.
Arlene Singh, a Toronto-based career and life coach, says there's a dark side for moms who choose to pamper themselves during their business trips. It's called guilt.
"Women who take time for themselves often feel guilty because they think it's like they're putting their needs ahead of their family," Ms. Singh observes. "Instead of being grateful for what little time they get to have a massage or a quiet, fabulous dinner, they're worrying about their kids and wondering what they're having for dinner."
Patrice Impey, a Vancouver-based vice-president of finance for Business Objects Corp. - a business intelligence software provider with headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and in Paris - knows the feeling.
About once a month, Ms. Impey leaves her husband and three children - aged 10, 11 and 13 - for a business trip to the United States and occasionally to Paris.
During these times away from home, she catches up on her sleep - by snoozing through the flights and hitting the hotel room sack early in the evening - and exercise.
Ms. Impey admits to a few bouts of guilt in the beginning.
"But then I thought, 'no, this is good,' " she says. "It took a bit of time to realize that this is a good opportunity."
Besides, Ms. Impey says, what's she supposed to do when the only choice she's faced with when she returns to her hotel room is whether to work or to sleep?
"When I'm done dinner, there aren't 16 things for me to do, like there would be when I'm at home," she says. "So, yeah, I get to bed early and then I can get up earlier in the morning and go for a run and then have breakfast."
The way she looks at it, Ms. Impey adds, is that "business travel is an interruption in your life that someone else has decided you have to do, and you can either take that opportunity to relax or you can run yourself ragged."
Ms. Dumanski doesn't need any convincing. She certainly misses her family when she's away on business. Nevertheless, she adds, she also appreciates having the opportunity to spend an evening in the company of someone she often neglects: herself.
"I definitely feel a bit of a boost when I've got a couple of nights to myself," she says. "I feel rested and more than ready to take on whatever challenges life or work sends my way."
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When away, moms more likely to play
While there are no statistics that track what working moms do during their free time on business trips, a recent study on the activities of male and female business travellers found that more women than men spend their non-working hours doing personal, leisurely activities.
For instance, 33 per cent of women went shopping during business trips, versus 17 per cent of men, according to the study. More than 17 per cent of female business travellers also visited friends and about 13 per cent went sightseeing. By comparison, close to 11 per cent of men visited friends, and about 9 per cent went sightseeing.
"The general statistics over all suggest that women travelling on business are more likely than men to take the opportunity to participate in activities outside the work environment," says Wilfrid Laurier University professor Barbara Carmichael, co-author of the study, which appears in the Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing.
Marjo Johne
