Working moms and travel

wheelee11

Does anyone love their job, but hate traveling? Enough to want to quit? I'm in marketing/advertising for a large company and client. My company is great. It's mostly my industry really requires travel. Do most in corporate? I can deal with most of this working mom thing, but this one I just can't. I hate when I can't be home to see her, even for that hour. That hour is the world. I hate airport pumping. I only do short day or 1 night trips monthly (I know there are others who have to travel much more often), but that's enough for me to hate it. I hated flying before and that's worse now too. And before I know it those years will be gone. It's days like this I just wonder why I can't find something that meets my criteria. But not walk away from all that I've built in an emotional decision on just this one factor that's small to some, but hard for me.

ho11yday

I think you need to be patient in finding a new job. Remember too that pumping will not last forever. Hang tight until you are done with that part of parenting and then re-evaluate your circumstances.

Also, check out https://****/board/50/14 -- I'm sure the women there have more to say about your question.  

jjtyler

I work and have to travel.  I don't love to do it.  And when I go, it's usually cross country for 2-3 days with long flights and crazy days packed with meetings.

Just after the New Year, I was away from Sunday night to Friday at 5 pm.  It was hard.  But I was productive, got a ton of stuff I had to get done, and my husband is an amazing partner.  Plus, sleeping an uninterrupted 7 hours is always a plus ;-)

I get more and more melancholy on the days I have to travel...but it's the nature of what I do.  I schedule my flights to optimize each trip and be home as much as I can.

It's tough...it's a hard balance, but I made a decision 10 years ago when I had my first child...I truly love my career.  And I want to keep doing it.

jordannicole

I agree with the previous poster that the pumping is temporary and to re-evaluate once you have stopped pumping. Pumping is tough when NOT traveling, I can only imagine how much worse it is while traveling. That being said, I travel for work. Not super often, probably once a month on average, but it's not consistent so I'll go three months without it and then have three 2-3 day trips in one month. its rough. But I try to focus on the positives. Several hours to read a book on the flight. Adult conversation (I genuinely like many of my coworkers). Nice dinners without having to feed the person beside me. Sleeping 8 hours straight and getting to sleep in (relatively). I'm so ready to be home by the end of the trip but I just try to remember that my husband has it covered at home.

To answer your question though, there are jobs that require zero travel. In fact, if I told my boss I was no longer willing to travel, I'm confident she would support me and we could make it work.