Do you tag along vacations with work trips?

[rlu929s]

We recently went from having us both work to one at home and 1 working. My works usually allows me to take one "long" trip per year as long as it's related to my field. Has anyone done this with much success?

Conferences are usually through the week and last several days to a week.

It sounds great as work pays the travel and lodging expenses, but then that leaves 1 watching the kids for several days while the other is in the conference.

Seems like it'd create too much hassle to be worth it.

Didn't know if anyone had much luck doing this with kids?

 

[MsPoppinsTX]

I've done this a couple of times with conferences I've gone to that happen to be at Walt Disney World. The conferences usually were Monday, Tuesday and half day on Wednesday (done by 11:30) and the first two days ended between 3 and 4pm. It worked for me and my husband because we'd go the Friday before and spend the weekend together with our 2 year old and then while I was at the conference he'd hang out with her and we'd meet up later. I think it depends on how long each day of the conference is. With us, we got to spend more time together than I was in the conference, so it worked out and was great because we got to stay at a Deluxe resort that the company paid for a majority of the trip, my flight was covered and my food was covered.

 

[Marionnette]

We recently went from having us both work to one at home and 1 working. My works usually allows me to take one "long" trip per year as long as it's related to my field. Has anyone done this with much success?

Conferences are usually through the week and last several days to a week.

It sounds great as work pays the travel and lodging expenses, but then that leaves 1 watching the kids for several days while the other is in the conference.

Seems like it'd create too much hassle to be worth it.

Didn't know if anyone had much luck doing this with kids?

We do it a lot more now that the kids are out of the house, but yes, we did it. Since we co-own our business, we both get to write off the costs but we also both attend parts of the conferences we attend. When the kids were little, we just switched off. Of course, it's different when one spouse is there to play while the other works. We always extended our trips by a couple of days so that we could be together as a family for a couple of days.

You might also consider having the spouse who isn't attending the meeting fly down a couple days later with the kids and then tacking days on to the end of the trip.

 

[robsmom]

We have not really done with my son because neither my husband or I travel as much or to as interesting places! When we were first married we often took advantage of one of us being someplace. It is a great way to save some money. The key is to be going somewhere you would want to go anyway and for the trailing spouse to not mind doing some things alone. Sometimes we took advantage of the airfare more than the hotel as one of us would join the other just as the work part was ending so we were not spending as much time alone or renting a second care. I did get a great 2 weeks in a resort in Arizona as I was switching jobs and had a few weeks off. DH's work covered the weekend hotel because it was cheaper than him flying home. During the weekdays I was at a resort so I sat by the pool, took some golf lessons, went on a horseback ride etc. We had breakfast together and then dinner at night. With only one child, I think that your spouse can easily spend the day alone with with child and you can meet up at night for dinner. As a previous poster suggested, try to add on a weekend so that the working spouse gets some fun time as well.

 

[blessedby3]

The kids and I would always tag along with DH when he went on business trips...wherever they were.
I homeschooled for 4 years (when I just had #1 and #2) and we loved going with DH...even just to relax at the hotel pool during the day, or whatever.
He hasnt had many conferences in the past 10 years, but we would still go in a heartbeat as long as it worked with the kids schedules.
What I wouldnt give for him to have one in Orlando We would definately add days to that!

 

[sk!mom]

Only once with DD when the conference was at WDW. We went a couple of days early (the hotel conference rate was good for 2 days before or after the conference) so that we had time together in the Parks and then DD and I toured alone while DH was in meetings and he met up with us in the late afternoon. It was great!

Other than that I will sometimes tag along if it's a great location and I can get away. For one conference in Vegas, he took our adult son who had never been. I think DS probably slept most of the day while DH was in meetings.

We've found it to be a money saver if the location is right but often don't do it because we don't want to spend any vacation budget on a place we don't care to see. He was in Atlanta this week. Atlanta with the current weather wasn't appealing so he went alone.

 

[stargazertechie]

3 of my Disney trips as a child were because my dad had a work conference in Orlando.

I was also an only child which made it easier

 

[bettymae1121]

I'm actually schedule to travel to Orlando this fall for work. At first I thought "GREAT! DH can take DD to the parks during the day while I'm working and we can do fun things together after I'm done for the day."

But the conference isn't on WDW property and isn't convienant to the parks at all. DH would have nothing to do all day with DD other than hang at the hotel pool, and then it would be too much of a hassle to get to the parks from where we'd be at for just a few hours, epspecially with DD's early bedtime (no later than 8 most nights).

So DH and DD will spend the week at home, and I'll spend it in an Orlando business hotel. It may work out better once DD is school aged, but in the meanwhile I think we'll keep business and vacation travel seperate.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I travel a lot for work and at least one week a year I go to a conference.

Once I linked up a work trip with a vacation and I did not like it. Perhaps because I am the woman and I don't have a 'wife' to do all those things that would make it easier for me. Don't get me wrong, I have a wonderful husband (who also works) but I am still the mother so I do all the things a mom does and I have a full time career.

During that trip, I had to work and DH spent time at the waterpark with the kids but mostly he needed a vacation too so they relaxed a lot in the hotel room. Once I was done with my workday, we wanted to enjoy vacation activities in the evening. But I had to get up early and work again the next day. It wore me out and they did not have as much fun because I was gone for 10 hours per day. In the end, ALL of us got sick with a cold!!!

Did it save some money? Yes - on the hotel. But we still had to pay for all three of their flights, all of their food, and any activities or admissions for all of us.

What I prefer is to use the conference weeks as a solo vacation. I will add on a weekend where I am going (like Orlando ) and enjoy the activities (Disney parks!!). During the conference week, I am not stressed to spend time with someone in the evening. I can either relax or head out for a couple hours by myself or attend one of the free evening events put on by vendors (which I certainly couldn't do with children). The cost ends up being minimal for me since I only have to pay for the weekend nights for myself, food for myself on my non-work days, and any additional activities like park tickets.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I'm actually schedule to travel to Orlando this fall for work. At first I thought "GREAT! DH can take DD to the parks during the day while I'm working and we can do fun things together after I'm done for the day."

But the conference isn't on WDW property and isn't convienant to the parks at all. DH would have nothing to do all day with DD other than hang at the hotel pool, and then it would be too much of a hassle to get to the parks from where we'd be at for just a few hours, epspecially with DD's early bedtime (no later than 8 most nights).

So DH and DD will spend the week at home, and I'll spend it in an Orlando business hotel. It may work out better once DD is school aged, but in the meanwhile I think we'll keep business and vacation travel seperate.

So this is a bit but I had to let you know what I do when I have Orlando conferences. They are scheduled at the Orlando convention center which is about 10 miles from Disney. What I found is that the hotels within walking distance of the conference are a considerable amount of money for just a hotel (not a Disney resort for instance). I price out a Disney hotel (usually a moderate with a discount) with the cost of a rental car and any parking at the conference center and I compare that against the cost of the hotel near the conference center with all the costs they usually add (internet, parking, etc), and transporatation to/from the airport. I have found that staying at a Disney hotel (even with a rental car) ends up being cheaper. I figure as long as I am saving the company money, that it is acceptable (and it is, they love it when I save money!)

The drive to/from the conference, even in the 8am or 5pm hours, is not long at all. I'm willing to wake up a half hour earlier to drive over there as long as I get to stay at Disney. And what's so great is that in the evening, I can just take Disney transportation to a park and even stay for fireworks and still have 8 hours of sleep

So I'm going this in May and all my co-workers are asking me where to stay because they are jealous that I have such a fun time during our conference weeks And if 10 of us each save a little bit of money this way, it ends up being a nice chunk of change for the company.

Ok, back to the topic at hand!

 

[Lilliputian]

We do it sometimes. DH has to travel several times a year to New Orleans, and that's where I'm originally from and still have several family members. So about once a year or so, the kids and I go with him. It does leave me alone with our 5 children during the day, so I go when one of my retired aunts is available to go places with us.

Because there are so many of us, and because we have peanut allergies, we drive. The company reimburses us for driving, so there's no cost there. They also generously provide him with a 2 bedroom/2 bath suite plus living room and full kitchen, so that's nice.

Our favorite way to do it is on our way to WDW. DH generally needs to be in New Orleans Monday through Wednesday or Thursday, so we drive down from Dallas on Sunday. Then when he's done working there, we drive the rest of the way to WDW. It's almost (but not quite) a half-way point, so it makes the 20 hour total trip a lot more tolerable when there's a break of several days in there.

I keep trying to convince DH that he needs to go to a conference in Orlando, but so far he hasn't needed to. Once he did need to spend a day in Orlando while we were already in Jacksonville, FL, visiting my parents, so we spent one night at the Gaylord Palms on the company's dime, and that was fun, but it wasn't the same as a week in WDW.

 

[frostedpink]

We are doing this this spring. I have a conference for work at one of the wdw on site hotels. The conference room rate is incredible, and I called the group reservation line and they let me extend the rate for a full 5 days b4 the conf starts. Dh and dd will fly home once the conf starts.

 

[NotUrsula]

All the time, but normally the non-attending spouse and the kids either come the day that the conference ends or leave the day it starts. Of course, I'm usually the one whose conference is in a "fun" place, and my conferences have meetings from 7 am to 10 pm -- so most of the time I wouldn't see them at all if they stayed during the conference itself. There is one exception to that, a major conference that has free babysitting and a REALLY great exhibitor's hall with lots of swag; so when I go to that one, DH likes to stay a couple of days and see what kind of cool stuff he can score.

The key for me is saving my airfare and getting the conference rate on the hotel; normally that is a chunk of change. Depending on where the conference is, sometimes we split the difference and drive in one direction, but not usually.

IME, the primary reason when employers don't mind is that traveling on a weekend is usually cheaper, and if the difference in the airfare is large enough, sometimes they will even pick up the cost of the extra hotels days that you stay. Of course, most of the time there is no reason to have to tell an employer that your family is with you if you have declared it as a vacation add-on before or after the meeting.

BTW, if your employer is holding meetings or doing a booth at the conference, they normally will not be really happy if you choose not to stay at the conference hotel. Most conference hotels will throw in several guest rooms for free if the company is paying rack for meeting space, and if that is the case they will not be happy reimbursing you for the cost of an alternate hotel. (You cannot always tell, because normally you still get a bill for your room, but the hotel then comps it back to your company after the fact by taking that much of the cost off of the meeting room or catering bills.)

 

[swilshire]

No matter how much I travel for work (and some years it is a lot) it never seems to be scheduled when the kids are out of school. I can only remember a couple of times in 28 years that the family got to go along.

One year I had to go to Fort Myers in August. Since that is off-season, it was as cheap to stay right on the beach in a room with a kitchenette as to stay in the usual Homewood Suites close to work. They relaxed on the beach all day and I got in at least a nice beach walk and dinner with them at night.

I wish it would work out more often. Down to one kid at home now, so it would be easier.

Sheila

 

[Lisaren]

We have done it with my husband. The place we went was a very large conference center at the beach in NC. We got up and went to breakfast as a family then took DH to his conference location. The kids and I spent time at the beach, shopped, spent some time at the pool, visited museums, just whatever we would do on a normal vacation. At the end of his day, we would drive back over, pick him up, and go back to the beach for a couple of hours of family time, have supper, and off to bed. We really enjoyed it and those two trips are some of my son's favorite trips.

 

[rusty4]

We have many times. We have been to Disney 4 times this way. Added onto the trip for a few days after his conference ended. Would get the the Conference discount for room and tickets. We lucked out the company would cover the room fully at the time no matter how long we stayed.


We travel with him alot for work when he travels for non conference type of trips as well. They are somewhat harder on us. They typically have been more demanding work wise on him. But we have been to some fabulous places because of it. One year we traveled to Oregon and stayed for 16 nights. While he worked in Portland we went to the Coast for a weekend and had a blast. Still want to go back and have a true vacation there with him. I know that he would love it too. He was able to take one long weekend off while there and we traveled to Seattle and had fun there as well.

Sometimes it can be a boring place but I find something quirky and fun to visit while he works. It is nice to get away and see other cities. He likes to take us and have us to come to the Hotel room to instead of being alone. So a win win.

Now for his new company they just had a conference type of thing in Vegas. It went from breakfast time to bedtime. It would be too hard to go with him on that. He would feel way too torn and stressed if he knew we were there. The ones he did in Disney he was usually done by 4pm at the latest so they worked out great. it all depends on what your schedule will be like.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

My wife has tagged along on one business trip and a non-business conference related to my hobby. For both trips, I added a few days on and spent some time with her. One was a trip to Reno, and she spent her time in the casino. The other was to South Texas, and she just hung out at the pool while I was in Mexico working during the day.

 

[lisalis]

Every other August my husband has a week long conference in a major city. The kids and I have gone along every time. It's been in Phoenix and also Orlando several times. I don't mind hanging out with the kids at the pool during the day or going to one of the Disney parks, but I am used to having them all day every day in the summers since I don't work in the summer. We usually leave the Friday before the conference to get in a full weekend together. Also, we can get good rates on Disney tickets through the convention center - better than Undercover Tourist.

 

[Samar]

This fall, I am going on a business trip but will not be taking the kids out of school. I have a chance to do some business-related things while I am down in Orlando in November however we're not 100% sure yet since we're going down for a wedding and sure to get some flak from family for "going to Disney AGAIN". They don't get it Anyways, if a business trip popped up in the summer an we were all free schedule-wise to go, I would probably go down first and then tack on a few days at the end. Less expensive and hubby wouldn't be stuck in a vacation spot going crazy with the kids.