More Canadians than ever are travelling on business. For the two-thirds who suffer from homesickness it can be.

You can't knock it out of your system with a pill or ward it off with a prophylactic. You won't ever hear mention of it in the government's travel advisories. And it seldom turns up in journals of modern medicine. Men, in particular, are loath to discuss it, although they suffer from the symptoms every bit as much as women.

And yet, homesickness--a term coined in 1798 to describe the "profound and frequent domination of attention by home-related ruminations," and which Samuel Taylor Coleridge once described as "a wasting pang"--is a malady that affects as many as two-thirds of travellers. For most people, homesickness is usually no more distressing than a bad cold, and with a little time and TLC, it passes. But it can have a darker side, leading in some cases to severe depression. In fact, European researchers have recorded cases of travellers who became so overwhelmed by homesickness that they needed to be hospitalized--although they are quick to point out that such cases tend to involve people who could be classified as mentally unstable: serious introverts and individuals who are severely rigid in their thinking.

Among the vast majority of people for whom homesickness is far less acute, meanwhile, the condition is often given short shrift. The reason, in the words of Scottish psychologist Shirley Fisher, a leading researcher in the field, is that homesickness is not a "socially sanctioned experience." Especially when the sufferer is an adult, homesickness tends to be viewed as a surmountable character flaw--or one that should be quietly endured. And in the cut-throat world of business, homesick travellers may be especially reluctant to admit to what colleagues, superiors--and competitors--might see as a weakness of character.

It's certainly no surprise that homesickness is an issue among white-collar Canadians. More than ever, such individuals are being asked by their bosses to spend time away from home and family. Indeed, 40% of Canadian employees took at least one business trip in 1998, up from 28% in 1994. And things don't appear set to ease up any time soon. The influential American Express Year 2000 Travel Trends Survey predicts that international business travel will jump by a breathtaking 29% in the current year, with over a third of corporate travellers taking more than 15 business trips in 2000. Even if those 15 trips only last the average 2.5 days each, that's more than one month on the road.

However much you're required to be on the road, simply acknowledging that homesickness can be part of business travel goes a long way toward conquering it. Just ask Paul Wright, the Vancouver-based president and CEO of Eldorado Gold Corp. A mining engineer and father of four school-age children, Wright travels the world overseeing his company's gold mines and new projects. And his schedule is brutal: In one recent stretch, he spent only six weekends at home in a six-month period. But while Wright says that he "loves" many aspects of travelling for work, he frankly admits that he struggles with homesickness whenever he flies away. "It will appear in a different form and at a different level of intensity every time," says Wright, "but I can pretty well say it's there on every trip."

Indeed, Wright has detected a pattern in the way homesickness plays out on his business trips. His longing for home, he says, is "usually most acute on the drive to the airport. I often have the stark realization that I just don't want to take this trip. I feel sad and empty, and the thought gnaws that my time with my kids is running out." Then, as the days pass and he begins to focus on the work at hand, Wright says that he typically begins to conquer those negative thoughts and feelings. "In the middle," as he puts it, "the reason you're going away takes over, and you just don't have time to be homesick."

Finally, there is stage three: If a trip stretches into weeks, says Wright, he finds that a different kind of homesickness comes over him--one that is intensely felt, but no more profound than a longing for the simple, daily comforts of home. At that point, adds Wright, "I'm fed up with not sleeping well, not being able to eat beans on toast if I want to, and I just want to get home and recharge."

In her much-cited studies of college students living away from home, psychologist Fisher confirmed that homesickness peaks during idle periods. That's why early mornings, as well as evenings, are typically vulnerable times for those who travel for anything other than leisure. Daniel Perlman, a University of British Columbia psychologist specializing in the study of loneliness, puts it simply: "When you're on the road, you must do things"--no matter how tempting it is to flop down and zone out after a hard day of work.

Jeffrey Kofman, a Canadian TV journalist now working for CBS News in New York, travels so frequently that he jokes he lives "in the janitor's cupboard at La Guardia." He agrees that the key to avoiding homesickness in a high-mileage lifestyle is "to get busy and build some kind of life for yourself"--and to find ways to make the road a bit more, well, homey. His number one strategy: Before he leaves on any trip, Kofman asks friends and family for contacts in his destination city. "I get sick of eating in restaurants when I'm on the road--I really miss home cooking--so sometimes I'll even ask people if I can come over and have a meal with them if I bring the groceries."

Vicki Ziegler, a Toronto-based Web-page designer, says that she learned too late the fine art of keeping homesickness at bay when travelling for work. When Ziegler's Toronto-based software-development company was bought by a California firm in the mid-1990s, she began to commute between offices in the U.S. and Canada, and was often away from home for one week out of every four.

"In the beginning, I was really excited by the work: It was a huge, ambitious project," recalls Ziegler. "But the bubble quickly burst." Working long hours, she says she would "come back to my hotel room late and exhausted, and eat the crap out of the snack bar, and then I'd be nauseated and depressed." Over time, she says, "I fell into a terrible, brooding depression; I missed my husband, my dog, my own bed. My insides were just black." Eventually the homesickness affected her ability to concentrate on her work. "My mind was always wandering off home. I had tension headaches, indigestion, insomnia--even rashes."

Then, after a year and a half on the road, Ziegler's company offered her the chance to move away from Toronto entirely and relocate to California. She declined the move--but took the opportunity to reassess her job entirely. In the end, she elected to base herself in Toronto and become a freelance consultant from her home--and now rarely travels for business.

Of course, one option for those travelling for work is to bring their loved ones along. In fact, in a study conducted for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and released in March, 67% of parents polled said they have refused to go on a business trip because it conflicted with their children's activities. And 41% said they would cut a trip short because of a birthday or a child's illness. Says John Greenleaf, vice-president, Sheraton brand management for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.: "This study showed us just how far a business traveller will go to preserve the delicate balance between work and family life."

Still, business travellers who might be tempted to bring their loved ones with them -- at least for a trip that lasts beyond a few days -- would be wise to consider the cautionary tale of Diana Carter. Carter recalls being broadsided by homesickness when she temporarily relocated from Vancouver to Los Angeles with her husband, a manager with IKEA, and her infant son, in early 1992. "The truth is," says Carter, bluntly, "the company doesn't need you, they need your spouse -- for 15 hours a day. And it's left up to you to find your way in a completely foreign atmosphere."

Carter acknowledges that her experience was made especially traumatic by its timing, coinciding with the riots that followed the beating of Rodney King. Still, she was surprised by the severity of her symptoms. Missing daily contact with family and friends, Carter became agoraphobic and profoundly depressed, slept too much and lost weight. While she now feels some embarrassment about how profoundly she was affected, she insists that homesickness is all too real--even if it does come with a silver lining. Indeed, Carter points to one upside to her experience that almost any business traveller can appreciate. "The best thing about being really homesick?" she asks ruefully. "It makes coming home all the more pleasant."

Handling Homesickness
Send homesickness packing with these tips from psychologists and frequent travellers:
Try not to leave home with unrealistic expectations about your destination. One frequent traveller suggests that you try to be "a blank slate. Don't romanticize your destination. Ignore all the clichés you've ever heard about the place. It makes it easier to adapt to the reality."

Always keep in touch with friends and family, no matter how busy your schedule. Prearrange a time for phone calls so no one's disappointed by a missed call. When awkward time differences make it hard to call home, send greetings by fax or e-mail. Your spouse and kids would probably get a kick out of one of the clever cards from http://www.ecards.com. Just knowing you've communicated can make a difference.

Look for ways to transfer your hobbies and interests to your destination. If you enjoy skiing when you're north, try surfing when you're south.

Keep your mind busy even when you can't get out of the hotel room or airport: Always pack reading that you know will help you escape.

Maintain your religious traditions as much as possible on the road.

Make an effort to learn the local language. Limited language ability increases homesickness.

If you'll be away from home for more than a few nights, consider checking into an all-suite hotel (see The Suite Life, page 138). You'll be able to stock the fridge with your own supplies, and sleep and work in separate spaces.

Give your mate and any school-age children their own copy of your itinerary. Knowing your schedule helps them to feel connected to you.