Customer Reviews

Parent's Guide to Business Travel: Practical Advice and Wisdom for When You Have to Be Away (Capital Ideas Book)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

As I prepare to return to the management consulting world of weekly travel, I've been looking for insights into how to make the work life balance manageable now that I'm married and have two young children.

The book had some good practical insights -- speaking to numerous anecdotes of parents experiences with their travels, and strategies for coping -- but was largely a disappointment for me as a corporate executive for three reasons:
1. The book has a very strong military focus (which the author acknolwedges in the introduction), and seemed to continually tap into military examples of long stints away from the family rather than the more common private-sector routine of weekly trips away.
2. The author devotes a surprising number of pages to detailed discussions of technolgy, a topic she admits not being expert in, walking the reader through technology options like web cameras, digital cameras, and mp3 players with simple suggestions for how they can be used to communicate or ease the sting of travel. Even modestly tech-savy readers will likely find this discussion elementary.
3. Much of the book seemed to focus more on what kids are likely going through at various stages than on tools for coping and making business travel easier to manage.

All that said, I found the book valuable in helping me better envision the challenges we will likely face with my young children, and it helped to reduce some of my anxiety for the likely impact of travel on our children's well-being.

I recently started doing research on remote interaction with young children and have been looking for literature that can help me understand what it is like to be a traveling parent (I am not even a parent). I tried several books, but it was not until I stumbled upon Charlie Hudson's book that I found what I was looking for. Mrs Hudson not only explains everything very thoroughly and clearly, she backs everything up with literature references, own or other's real-life experiences. She also divides the book into age-chapters, knowing that a 3-year-old is very different to a 12-year-old. The book is easy to read, but still feels very thorough and reliable.

I simply love it!

There's a never ending flood of travel advisory books, and an even greater annual deluge of parenting titles. But now there is one which is as highly recommended as it is unique -- a "how to" and "what to" guide for the parent who must travel, leaving kids and spouses at home. Not to mention the growing number of single parents who's career obligations and job duties necessitate the occasional out-of-town trip. The Parent's Guide To Business Travel: Practical Advice And Wisdom For When You Have To Be Away by wife, mother, and military veteran Charlie Hudson truly lives up to its title with an enormous range of "tips, tricks and techniques" from the time a parent must leave an infant to the ultimate evolution of family life to the empty-nest scenario. With illustrative anecdote, practical ideas, and time-tested advice, The Parent's Guide To Business Travel is "must" reading for any father and/or any mother who has ever had to spend a night, a weekend, a week, or even longer, away from their home and children. Simply put, this is one of those essential books that should be readily available and on the parenting shelf every community library in the country.

As a busy business traveler, I've frequently found going on business trips to be very stressful because of all the planning involved with leaving my children behind. This clear, concise book gave me wonderful, non-patronizing instructions on just what to do when I leave my children at home. I imagine this book would be very helpful to military families right now.

What an easy read with good ideas. I enjoyed the style and even though our two children are five and seven years old, the parts about older children and teenagers should be helpful, too. I've already told a couple of friends about it. The military part was interesting, but there's plenty for non-military parents. I especially liked the stories in Chapter Ten and the checklists and the empty-nest chapter was amusing. I think I'll try one of Charlie Hudson's novels next. Thanks for a quick and practical book!