Pre-departure tips to reduce business travel stress
For many workers, business trip anxiety is caused by a fear of the unknown. If you’re feeling nervous about an upcoming work trip, some of the best mental health strategies involve pre-departure preparation.
1. Review your company’s travel policy
A company’s travel policy serves as a framework for all aspects of business travel. It explains everything travelers need to know about travel booking and approvals, along with safety measures, expenses, payments, and useful contacts.
When drafting a corporate travel policy, planners should take employee wellbeing and inclusion into account, weighing the impact of travel on mental health. For example, when selecting company-approved brands and properties, look for ones offering wellness facilities, fitness centers, and healthy dining options. You can also empower travelers with a flexible policy that gives them some control over their own bookings.
For travelers, referring to this document before and during travel ensures they’ll know who to contact in your organization when they need assistance. Simply knowing your company’s there to support you with a duty of care can often reduce business travel stress.
2. Use business travel tools to view and manage your itinerary
Your company’s travel policy will explain the booking process in full detail. Many companies prefer to use a central business travel management system to keep itineraries organized. For example, Booking.com for Business allows team members to book and manage their trips, share itineraries, and manage any changes through a central dashboard.
Travel coordinators and HR teams can give travelers input on itineraries to reduce anxieties over upcoming trips. If you’re a manager, consider leading tutorials on how to best use the company’s booking systems.
With a sense of control over an upcoming business trip, travelers will feel better prepared and less anxious. That way, they’ll be able to book approved flights and hotels that fit their own preferences for a more comfortable travel experience.
3. Review who to contact for travel support
On top of the stress of regular travel, unexpected challenges may arise during a business trip. Whether it’s an issue with your visa or a canceled flight, changes to plans are a major source of business travel anxiety.
Companies should provide a contact for 24/7 emergency support, making travelers feel at ease if they encounter any issues. Before departure, write down the contact info for your travel manager.
4. Review the travel itinerary in detail
A comprehensive travel itinerary will include details like:
- Flight time and seat info
- Layover information
- Ground transportation information
- Accommodations
- Everyday schedule during the trip
Review this as soon as you receive it, then refer to it before and during your trip to feel more prepared. Knowing exactly what’s expected of you at every stage will minimize stress and ensure you get to your destination on time.
5. Download useful apps for business travelers
Travel apps are packed with useful information, whether it’s locating the nearest business class lounge, translating a foreign menu when entertaining clients, or converting currency with real-time market values. Before you depart, make sure you have essential business travel apps like:
- Google Maps for navigating new cities
- What3Words for precise location sharing with team members
- Packr for packing your luggage more efficiently
- DeepL for translating languages using text-to-speech
- XE Currency for real-time exchange rates
6. Prepare documents and personal items
Passport control and international customs are another common source of travel anxiety. With business travel, this should be managed on your behalf by your company’s travel coordinator. However, it’s still helpful to keep all your essential documents in one folder.
Travel coordinators should also have a backup copy stored in the cloud for extra employee security.
Essential documents for business travel may include things like:
- Business travel insurance
- Hotel reservation confirmation
- Company ID card
- Passport
- Business visa
Keeping everything in one place minimizes uncertainty and airport stress before you travel.
When you’re getting everything ready for your trip, pack your carry-on luggage the night before. Include a change of clothing, toiletry essentials, work-related devices, and electronic adapters. That way, even if your luggage gets lost, you’ll be able to get by on arrival.
How to deal with anxiety when traveling for work
For travelers, advance preparation is one of the best ways to manage business travel stress. You know what to pack, who to contact for help, and what your trip entails. However, many people still experience anxiety when traveling away from home and main office.
Here’s how to deal with anxiety while you’re traveling.
1. Identify triggers
For some, it’s a fear of flying. For others, it’s a fear of not knowing the language. At times, travel anxiety triggers are physical, such as dehydration, long periods of sitting, or unhealthy food. Identifying your usual triggers from past business trips will help you address them.
2. Set realistic expectations
There are lots of things you can’t control on a business trip. What you can control are your own expectations and reactions. Looking at your itinerary, make sure there’s enough leeway in case something goes wrong. When traveling to deliver an important sales pitch, for example, make sure you’ll still arrive in time if you miss the first flight or train.
Traveling to a new place for work is exciting, and after spending the day in meetings you may want to explore with colleagues. However, overcommitting can lead to burnout. Build some time into your itinerary to relax and follow a schedule that keeps you feeling balanced.
3. Try mindfulness and deep breathing exercises
If you start to feel the symptoms of anxiety—such as increased heart rate, irritability, or rising panic—just pause and take a breath. Breathing exercises are a common recommendation for general anxiety, and work equally well for business travel anxiety.
According to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, breathing exercises and mindfulness alleviate stress and anxiety, while also helping you think more clearly. This is because our brains associate breathing patterns with specific emotions. When you’re feeling scared or stressed, your breathing becomes shallow and irregular. A calm, happy mindset results in regular, steady breathing.
With deep breathing techniques, you can trick your brain into feeling calm again, reducing cortisol levels and resulting stress. A simple technique is to inhale for four counts, then exhale for eight. Pair this with mindfulness exercises for the best results. For example, clear your mind and focus on nothing but the feeling of air passing in and out of your nose, noting each sensation. This fast, effective technique can calm you even amid airport chaos.
4. Travel in comfort
Bring calming pillow sprays, your favorite playlists, and noise-canceling headphones to relax on your trip. If your itinerary includes a layover, make the most of it by finding one of the airport’s lounges. They’ll have comfortable seating, complimentary food and drinks, and sometimes even wellness facilities to help you relax.
5. Travel with a team
If you’re prone to travel anxiety, it’s better to travel with a colleague or group rather than alone. Talking to your fellow travelers provides a useful distraction from airport stress, while also lending a sense of security in numbers. Plus, you’ll have someone there if something goes wrong. On shorter trips, you can use your transit time to get ahead on work or brainstorm.
6. Use downtime wisely
While there’s a link between business travel and mental health, it also takes a toll on your physical health. Use some of your unscheduled downtime to stick to your usual fitness routine. Take a morning walk or run before starting your daily work session and use your business hotel’s fitness center. Regular exercise not only helps you sleep better and fight jetlag, but it also boosts your endorphins and reduces cortisol. This all leads to better resilience in the workplace.
Traveling for work often involves networking with clients and indulging in local delicacies, all of which can impact mood and energy levels. When you aren’t entertaining colleagues, look for fresh, healthy options and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
7. Use digital self-care tools for business travelers
Take control of your mental health while traveling with digital self-care tools, designed to use anywhere in the world.
Business travelers can benefit from apps like:
- Freeletics for quick corporate hotel room workouts
- Calm for relaxing meditations
- Breathe2Relax for portable stress management
- Headspace for calming business travel exercises
Download these before you leave to keep a self-care toolkit in your pocket.
8. Stay connected with your office
A major cause of business trip anxiety is worrying about the workload waiting for you back home. To alleviate this stress, check in with your team back at the office to keep track of any changes. Build some time into your daily routine to respond to emails and take notes so you’re ready to share results and accomplishments from your trip.
9. Keep in touch with loved ones
Even when traveling with colleagues, business trips can feel lonely if you’re missing friends and family back home. Bring a few mementos from home, such as photos or desk items, to create a sense of familiarity. Create a better work-life balance on the road through connection with loved ones, whether it’s a Facetime call or quick WhatsApp message. Connecting with your home support system improves mental wellbeing.
What calms flight anxiety?
Around a third of adults experience some form of anxiety while flying. If you’re scared of flying but still need to travel for business, your company may pay for a fear of flying course. These professionally designed courses, available in-person and online, explain the science behind flying while providing helpful tips for coping with flight anxiety.
For example, British Airways’ Flying with Confidence module explains how pilots are selected and trained, takes the mystery out of turbulence, and offers controlled breathing techniques to reduce travel stress.
For a serious phobia of flying, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective solution for many business travelers. Once on the plane, you can use your deep breathing techniques to calm your nervous system while distracting yourself with in-flight entertainment.
What medication is used for travel anxiety?
Some business travelers use medications that have a sedative effect to stay calm during travel. You’ll need to speak to your doctor for advice on managing symptoms with medication.
Tips for supporting employees with business travel anxiety
While there are plenty of self-help tips for nervous business travelers, stress management also begins with a strategic organizational safety net.
Integrating aspects of employee health and wellbeing into the corporate travel policy, including setting clear expectations and giving travelers some control over their own itineraries, can reduce many of the anxieties associated with business travel.
- Keep open lines of communication before, during, and after business trips. Employees should feel comfortable discussing any concerns with management to identify issues and decide on solutions.
- Personalize support for your employees by understanding that not all travel anxiety triggers are the same. Some cope best with group supports, while autonomy will make others feel more in control.
- Share anxiety management resources with employees, including mental health apps such as Headspace, BetterHelp, and Calm.
- Offer pre-trip access to fear of flying courses and tools like hypnotherapy to manage specific travel-related anxieties.
Reduce business travel anxiety with a travel management platform
The good news is that for most business travelers, anxiety decreases with exposure. In other words, the more business trips you take, the less fearful you’ll be about them. In the meantime, there’s lots of assistance out there for corporate travelers, from airport stress relief apps to deep breathing exercises.
From the admin side, a well-written travel policy and convenient travel management platform can prevent travel anxiety by eliminating unknowns. Using Booking.com for Business, employees will be able to book and manage their own flights, accommodations, and car rentals from a centralized system. And with free 24/7 travel support as well as an integrated traveler map, they’ll feel supported and safe on the road.
