The more
frequently I travel in business, the less exciting I find it. Trips taken as
part of my duties, an inevitable element of my job, come as a scourge even if I
happen to visit a new place or drop in on a long unseen but likable one.
This week
was particularly wearisome. As I had to take three business trips on three
consecutive days. The prospect had been ghastly from the day I had learnt the
New Factory had nearly run out of the (tight anyway) travel budget for 2016, so
sleeping in hotels along the way would have broken the bank… Literally…
On Tuesday
I drove to Poznan to take part in a workshop. After looking at the train
timetable and how far out destination was from the train station, I had chosen
to go by car. Given there were three of us, the choice was also economically
justified – cost of my mileage allowance (covering also motorway tolls and
parking charges) was over 150 PLN lower than cost of three second-class return
train tickets, not to mention two taxi rides in Poznan. Woke up at four a.m. to
pick up my two colleagues from Warsaw at half past five and to make it to
outskirts of Poznan before nine a.m. The workshop finished at four in the
afternoon. The drive to Warsaw, including stopover at the petrol station in Poznan,
took three hours. Choosing the car had the big advantage to all of us – we were
nearly three hours earlier at homes (we would not make it to catch the 16:34
Intercity service from Poznan, while for the next at 18:40 (arriving to Warsaw
at 21:15) we would have had to wait for nearly two hours at the station or
around. The (not brand-)new car has now over 1,000 kilometres higher mileage
than when I took it over two weeks ago. I was only negatively surprised by fuel
consumption – more than 10 litres per 100 kilometres on average on a motorway…
I expected the smaller engine with sixth gear to be more economical…
On
Wednesday I let the train take the strain. Woke up at quarter past four to
catch the 6:40 a.m. Pendolino to Gdansk to a conference. I travelled on my own,
so this choice was more economical and practical, since in the train, using my
smartphone as wi-fi router, I caught up with work (at least handled all e-mail
from the previous day and delegated some stuff to an intern). I don’t know how
PKP IC has fixed it, but currently there are nearly no problems with mobile
internet coverage aboard. Besides, journey duration of less than 2 hours 50
minutes on a 372 kilometres route is impressive. To compare it with driving you
would need to add time necessary to get to a station some time ahead of train
departure and from a station to your destination (door-to-door), yet in the
meantime you can have a rest, read a book or work!
At the
woe-fully organised conference (the event was free-of-charge, therefore it was
a promotional show of dobra zmiana and commercial sponsors) I learnt over 66
billion zloty is to be spent on modernisation and development or railway routes
by 2023, so in the coming years, especially in 2019 and 2020 we should expect
investment boom on railways and… lengthened journey times. Several experts
doubted whether spending such vast amount of money was feasible and advised the
Ministry of Infrastructure and PKP PLK (rail infrastructure owner and
administrator) to focus on priorities so that the possible large part of the
funding is properly spent. Whatever happens, by the end of the investment boom
travelling by train on many routes might be a nuisance.
On (I woke
up at six a.m., what a relief!) Thursday I went to a city roughly somewhere
between Gdansk and Warsaw to meet a client. I drove my colleague’s company car
(she does not feel particularly confident driving long distance, so for our
safety and comfort I offered to sit behind the wheel) so not a chance to sit
back and relax (though I like driving) for a single moment. At least the
meeting was fruitful.
Had it all
been arranged in a civilised way, I would have taken a train to Poznan on
Tuesday morning, took a train from there to Gdansk, checked in to a hotel in
Gdansk for a two-night stay on Tuesday evening, took a train from Gdansk to
somewhere between Gdansk and Warsaw and then a taxi to a client on Thursday and
returned from there by company car to Warsaw. The additional cost would have
been less than one thousand zlotys…
Compared to
private holiday trips, business travels are a school of hard knocks. An
indispensable element of such journeys is rush. Agendas are always tight, you
are always in a hurry. Organising logistics, if you travel on your own, might
be a challenge, but if many people take the same trip, logistics becomes an
ordeal. If you travel for private purposes and pay for something, you only care
whether it is expensive and you can afford it. In business trips, you need make
sure you get the properly issued invoice and that each of your expenses is
justified and qualifies for reimbursement. When you return to the office, you
have to account for travel expenses, scan all invoices and tickets, send
original documents to accounting department, fill in several formulas, get
sign-offs, etc. Stopping by for a moment or sightseeing are rare exceptions, I
cherish them whenever they crop up.
Since
mid-October I have been in the same mode as a year ago (seasonality, fourth
quarter of each year in my profession is the most busy period) and wondered
many times what I have been chasing after… Working well more than 50 hours per
week and travelling leaves little time for looking after one’s own affairs and
is fatiguing. I must say, I am much more exhausted physically than mentally.
Intense work and stress have not taken much toll on my brain and psyche, but my
body apparently wishes to resist it…
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