Our most recent work trip -to Victoria’s Great Ocean Road

Work, travel and kids. They don’t mix right? Wrong. As a working mum a few times each year I travel for work accompanied by my kids. The reaction from people when I tell people this is universal – they pause, stare, raise their eyes, and then look away. I suspect they think I am a little mad.

I travel for work for a few reasons – to present at conferences, for meetings, and, because of my passion for rural Australia, for rural locums (filling in for doctors on leave). I take my kids with me for a few reasons, firstly leaving them hasn’t been a feasible option. My husband’s work means he is often on call and we don’t have the type of family support that facilitates leaving my kids overnight. Until relatively recently I have been a breastfeeding mum meaning that at least the youngest had to accompany me. Secondly, the kids love it! I have yet to travel somewhere for work that doesn’t have some features or attractions to engage the kids. Traveling for work with the kids has taken us to Sydney, Queensland’s Gold Coast, the Grampian Ranges, Italy. At the moment I am doing a locum on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road that has meant the children get to spend almost their entire summer holidays at the beach. It is win-win.

There are some downsides of course – the odd night away without children would be bliss. Room service, peace and quiet, a good nights sleep, I can only imagine. The logistics of work travel with kids is tricky.   If flying is involved there is a significant cost factor. I manage this at the moment by taking work assignments that we can access via a road trip, or juxtaposing our family vacation with a work trip so the cost of flights is absorbed into our annual vacation budget.  Networking is a significant part of some people’s work trips.  I miss out on this when traveling with the kids as there is no wining and dining after work hours for me.

I’m sure there are other career women out there, ones who are struggling to find a balance between managing their work travel and family obligations. This article is for you. To give you some practical tips from an experienced work-travel mamma, and to encourage you to give it a go. Having kids doesn’t necessarily mean resigning from jobs where travel is required.

Childcare.

The major obstacle to taking the children along when I travel for work is childcare. Truth be told though this is the major obstacle to my work when I am at home.  Childcare for working mums in Australia is NEVER easy.

There are a few options:

-Stay somewhere with a kids club. This works well when I have flexibility in my work hours while I am away, such as at a conference.

-Take a babysitter with you. I have been doing this successfully when I travel within Victoria. Some things to consider – you really should pay for all the babysitter’s accommodation and food while you are away. Also think about paying them a retainer for the days they are away even if they aren’t working some days. The cost of flying to a destination can be prohibitive if you have to pay for an additional airfare. I have sourced great babysitters for work trips using the website findababysitter.com.au .

-Utilise an agency to hire a babysitter at your point of travel. The down side of this is that your children won’t know the sitter. The hourly rate tends to be high but you won’t need to pay for travel expenses and extra accommodation.

– Hire an au-pair. An au-pair is an overseas visitor that lives in your home for six months and helps with childcare and home duties. There are pros-and cons to this system – it worked well for us twice. Have a look at another article I wrote about our au-pair experience. If you do travel with an au-pair you will need to be very explicit about your expectations.

-Family. If you have extended family that are willing and able to accompany you on work trips and help with the children then you are blessed. My mother accompanied me to a few conferences when my eldest was little and the work trips were turned into wonderful family travel memories.

Making the most of work-travel with kids.

My own children understand the difference between a holiday and a work trip. They understand mum has to head out to work, just as she does at home.  Each morning though, I make plans with the children for what we will do when I get home from work – it may be having a swim in the hotel’s pool, visiting a local restaurant, or taking in some of the sites. Collapsing exhausted on the couch after a day of work isn’t an option  when taking the kids on work trips as keeping them enthusiastic about the trip is key.   I always plan to add a day or two of family time at our destination, either a weekend before or after my work obligations.

To inspire other working mums to give work travel with kids a go here is a gallery of photos from some of my work trips.

Abseiling in the Grampian Ranges Victoria. We stayed at the Big 4 Grampians Parkgate Resort with a babysitter. They had school holiday kids club and this is what my son got up to while I was at work.

Yes – I found a conference to attend at Disneyland. I worked hard and the kids had a ball

Sydney is one of my favorite destinations for conferences. We stay in Darling Harbour near the exhibition centre. Highlights for the kids while in Sydney include visiting Luna Park

In Rome with my son aged 3 months – We headed to Italy for me to present at a conference.  My mum helped look after the baby while I presented.  The downside – everyone seemed more interested in meeting my baby than my work!

About the author.  Danielle Esler is a medical doctor and mum to three kids aged 1-7.  She runs her own business conducting medical education in family friendly settings (with childcare provided onsite – yay!)

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