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Family Business
The Occidental Tourist · August 23, 2000

By now, you're probably getting the impression that we Ticked.com writers tend to gripe about traveling. And you may ask: Why, pray tell, are you guys always in such a foul state? What is it about travel that immediately sends little wisps of steam coming out of your keyboards?

While the Tourist can't speak for his colleagues, he can certainly weigh in with his own perspective. No, it isn't the travel diet. Let's face it, he's usually eating at a decent restaurant on someone else's tab. And, yes, while clueless hotel clerks and cramped airplanes can get old soon, it's not exactly like you're getting sent to Bosnia.

No, what really gets the Tourist in a negative state of mind is the time spent apart from his family. Sounds corny, but it's the truth. When his beloved missus puts the 20-month-old lad on the phone to say hello to his daddy, the Tourist feels his insides warming up. Then, he feels a big hole in his heart once he hangs up.

Editor to Tourist: Tourist. Dude. You're bringing me down, man. We're supposed to be Ticked. Not hopelessly depressed. Either get funny or write something, umm, useful.

OK, OK. The Tourist brings good skinny. These days, more kids are coming along for the working trip. Credit much of this to the American family's overscheduled existence. Parents have to get inventive about wedging in quality time, so why not on the road? Not only is it a great way for children to see what exactly dad and mom do on the road, but it gives them an up-close look at destinations they can usually only see via the Web.

More than 32 million business trips last year included children, up an impressive 32 percent over 1997 according to the Travel Industry Association of America (www.tia.org).

These outings accounted for 16 percent of all business trips last year, which is up 4 percent from 1996. Here's one significant, contributing factor: Only 4 percent of employers pay for care at home in the event an employee must travel overnight, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

A motivational speaker recently took her 12-year-old son with her to Europe while on a recent speaking tour. It helped that her 20-year-old nephew came along. She had engagements throughout England, and changed locations every day. But she found that young people are very adaptive, taking cabs and trains into the city if they were outside London. During off days, they took a bus tour to Stonehenge, hiked in old towns, took in "Les Miserables," went to Piccadilly Circus and ate a lot of that famous (or is it infamous?) England pub food.

It helps that the lodging industry is going far beyond familiar "kids stay free" offerings to make it easier for parents taking children on business trips. In fact, many now allow young folks to check in on their own, to provide a sense of kiddie cachet. (That's more respect than the Tourist gets. He's usually greeted with "Well, we haven't seen anyone checking in wearing THAT before ...") Well, anyway, by now, offering in-room video games are in vogue. So are children's videos, day-care referrals, as well as mini-fridges to store snacks, juices, milk and other daily needs. (For the parents, that would be scotch.)

Next week, the Tourist dishes more inside info on making a family business travel outing work. And send him your thoughts at tourist@ticked.com, and don't forget to include your full name and city/town of residence.

The Occidental Tourist is a magazine writer in Washington, DC. He writes for Maxim, Capital Style and ABCNews.com. His column appears on Tuesdays. E-mail him at tourist@ticked.com.