Valentine’s Day and Business Travel – Just Make Do
I’m not the only one away from my loved one on Valentine’s Day. There are many of us.
The guy at the next table sports a wedding ring, a bottle of beer and a movie on his laptop. Another traveler across the room, who reminds me of George Castanza of Seinfeld, has his iPad, glass of red wine and his plate of hors d’oeuvres from the Marriott Executive Lounge’s evening snack offerings.
As for me, I’ve got my glass of red as well, having just wished my husband a Happy Valentine’s Day via FaceTime.
And that’s just a few of us sitting on one executive lounge in one hotel in one city. Imagine how many more of us there are, traveling solo due to business and away from home today.
(In case you’re reading this in the U.S. and wondering about all the alcohol being consumed in seemingly the late morning or early afternoon, I’m writing from Copenhagen where it is already evening time.)
Being away from home on special occasions is the toughest. Here are some ideas I shared on a previous Valentine’s Day when I was also traveling for business: Ideas for Valentine’s Day Celebrations Across the Miles.
For this Valentine’s Day, my husband made it as special as he could by tucking a couple of Valentine Cards in my laptop bag and having a dozen stunningly-beautiful roses delivered to my hotel room.
When traveling for business, you just have to be flexible with special occasions. Celebrate when you can. Celebrate in whatever way you can. Be grateful for the opportunity to be able to travel.
And be very grateful for a hotel executive lounge so you don’t have to dine solo in crowded restaurants with couples holding hands everywhere you look tonight.
Happy Valentine’s Day from Copenhagen!
As. Career military couple I can’t tell you how many holidays and special occasions we have spent apart. We very quickly took the mindset that the “Hallmark Holdiays” like Valentines Day, mothers/Father’s Day just weren’t important…therefore the only hassle about being apart was the restaurants full of/catering to couple or families. Worked for us….
Also found that we could celebrate the big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving ( and birthdays and anniversaries) whenever…that the actual date want important. Worked for us…
@Paul v: +1
As a former submariner (no phone, no email, certainly no skype), we too found that time-shifting holidays by 3-6 months at times wasn’t that difficult. Though there was much to make up for after leaving port before Thanksgiving and returning after Valentine’s Day.Didn’t become any more difficult in civilian life, just a lot more occasions celebrated on-time.