10 Bleisure Travel Hacks to Manage Work & Play

400 million. That’s the number of long-haul business trips taken in a year by corporate travelers from the US. Clearly, business travel has bounced all the way back from the pandemic-induced slump! 

However, here’s something you may not know: In nearly 60% of these trips, the employees added PTO or vacation days to give themselves some downtime before or after the work trip. The old adage about not mixing work with pleasure doesn’t seem to hold here because bleisure travel is a growing trend worldwide. 

Bleisure, literally a combination of ‘business’ and ‘leisure,’ is the blended travel trend that’s got global corporations and travel companies sitting up to take notice. If you haven’t planned a bleisure trip for yourself yet, read on to learn more about the trend. We’ll also share some tips to make the most of a blended trip and ways to overcome some of the typical pitfalls you can face with this kind of travel. 🧳

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What is Bleisure Travel?

The term ‘Bleisure travel’ refers to any trip where business travelers combine business and leisure travel. Bleisure options could be anything from a weekend tacked on to a work trip in a neighboring city to a few extra days of vacation time included in long-haul corporate trips. For location-independent workers, this could even be a longer stay somewhere with a mix of external meetings and leisure time. 

Ever traveled for a work conference and extended your stay by a day or two for leisure purposes? Or had your partner join you at the end for a weekend exploring the city? Then you’ve been a bleisure traveler!

And you’re not alone. Business and leisure trips continue to blend increasingly, with 35% of business travel bookings now including a weekend.

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Why Is Bleisure Travel So Popular?

In the years since the pandemic, the boundaries between work and life have blurred significantly, especially for people who work remotely. The trend of working from anywhere has shown people that it is possible to successfully mix work and pleasure trips. The concept of work-life balance is being replaced by that of work-life integration. Younger entrants to the workforce are especially vocal about their expectations from their workplace in this regard. 

Employers are starting to get it, too. Facilitating bleisure travel helps businesses meet the needs of employees and signal the importance of employee well-being in their work culture. In addition, they benefit from having happier, more engaged staff. On the other hand, employees get to make their work travel more fulfilling by adding leisure elements to it.   

It’s a win-win situation for all. ✨

Let’s look at some specific advantages of bleisure travel for business travelers:

• Combining work with a leisure component—without spending as much as they would on a separate vacation—keeps employees happy and improves job satisfaction
• Including some downtime on work trips helps reduce stress and improve productivity
• Travel and exposure to different cultures and places help support their personal development goals
• It enables employees to better balance their work and personal commitments

Embracing bleisure travel as a policy also offers distinct benefits for organizations:

• Policies that enable and support workplace flexibility help attract talent (especially Gen Z)
• Bleisure travel can reduce employee burnout and sick days and enhance the overall well-being of staff
• When people are happy at work, companies will see better employee retention
• Higher productivity and employee satisfaction help improve outcomes for the company as a whole

Alright then, let’s share some bleisure travel hacks that can help you plan a perfect blended trip the next time you fly out.

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10 Bleisure Travel Hacks to Make The Most of Your Next Trip

Here is how you can combine your work-related trips with some personal time in the most effective way:

1. Plan your trip strategically

Careful planning and preparation can help you get the most out of your trip.

• Try to include a weekend in your travel dates. Alternatively, add one or two nights before your business trip for your leisure travel
• Check if you can schedule your leisure time on off-peak days, which can keep expenses down
• Pre-book special activities or tours with limited capacity, for example, a concert ticket 
• Look for local attractions around your place of stay; even if you can’t extend your stay, you might have an afternoon or evening free for personal exploration
• Explore the possibility of trying famous local restaurants during meals with colleagues or even for meeting business contacts

Download This Template

Did you know that ClickUp offers a range of travel planning and itinerary templates? For example, you can use ClickUp’s Trip Planner Template to organize your trip, keep friends and family in the loop, and collect all important details in one place. The Travel Calendar View gives you a visual representation of your trip, allowing you to plan out your days, while the Travel Guide View helps you create a complete guide for your trip, from transportation to accommodation.

2. Research your destination in advance

Given the usually short duration of work trips, don’t wait till you’re there before researching leisure activities. Prep in advance and keep these research tips in mind:

• Ask local partners or colleagues who are frequent travelers for travel advice
• Find travel forums and Facebook groups where you can ask questions about your destination
• Follow creators, blogs, podcasts, or hashtags relevant to your trip
• Make yourself aware of local customs and etiquette
• Check if there are local events, cultural experiences, or festivals taking place during your trip dates

3. Look for layover opportunities

Taking a flight for your business trip? Many airlines let you add a layover in their hub city if you’re traveling through. For instance, flying Emirates gives you a chance to take a stopover in Dubai, Iberia will let you stop in Madrid for a few days, and Air France and KLM give you the option of taking stopovers in Paris and Amsterdam, respectively. 

Stopovers are a great opportunity to enjoy a quick city break before or after your business trip. Sometimes, you’ll even find some great stopover package deals from the airline, so do your research.

4. Find ways to save costs

Since you’ll be paying for the personal part of the trip yourself, we’re sure you’d appreciate some tips for saving money. Here you go: 

• If your leisure trip includes flights, consider flying out of an alternative airport. You could save on airfare and airport transfers, plus it’ll be less harrying than a crowded major airport
• Subscribe to travel sites that offer travel deals, search for seasonal offers at hotel chains, and ask your corporate hotel if they’d extend you a good price for the leisure leg of your trip
• Take advantage of any airline or hotel loyalty programs and credit card rewards you have access to
• Use public transportation where convenient. It is cheaper than cabs, more climate-friendly, and a great way to immerse yourself in the local atmosphere. Many cities have multi-day passes that can save you money on the subway, local buses, and so on 
• Consider cheaper accommodation such as Airbnb or apartments for the leisure part of your trip
• Every city offers free activities and experiences, such as free walking tours and open days at a museum. Do your research and find something you’d enjoy

5. Use travel apps and other tools

Apart from helping you save money, travel apps and various tools can also help you plan and organize your trip better. Here are a few we’ve found especially useful:

• Travel management apps like TripIt will automatically compile your itinerary from trip confirmation emails in your inbox
• Travel planning websites like Expedia, Booking.com, and others can help you search for travel deals and compare prices
• Tools like Expensify help scan your trip receipts and report your travel expenses
• Pocket and similar apps let you save travel articles, videos, and web pages for later
• Ride-sharing apps like Lyft, Uber, BlaBlaCar, etc., provide convenient alternatives to taxis 
• Review apps like TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc., will show you reviews of restaurants, hotels, and attractions
• Productivity and work management tools like ClickUp can help you smoothly manage work and personal stuff together

6. Pack efficiently

This one can be tricky if you haven’t done it before. You’re basically packing for two different kinds of trips, but naturally, you don’t want to end up with a whole lot of checked baggage. Here is how to do this like a pro:

• Pack versatile pieces that will work in both business and leisure settings. For instance, a smart pair of pants can be paired with a button-down shirt for work and with a tee shirt for going out
• If you are bringing separate pieces of clothing for your work and leisure trips, pack them separately so you can open up the relevant section of your bag as needed
• Use packing cubes to ensure you use your luggage space to the max while also staying organized
• Instead of carrying a charger for each of your devices, try one multi-purpose charger with USB ports

7. Meet up with locals for an authentic experience

We recommend planning a few genuine local experiences so you can get to know your new destination better. Here are some easy ways to meet locals and learn more about where you are:

• Sign up for a class—cooking, art, yoga, whatever you’re interested in
• Attend events organized by local coworking spaces, restaurants, etc.
• Try social networking apps for travelers like Meetup, Couchsurfing, etc. 
• Hang out in co-working spots or interesting cafes
• Explore apps that enable connections with locals, such as Airbnb Experiences, WithLocals, EatWith, etc. 

8. Plan and book your stay carefully

Unless you’re taking a lot of flights, your accommodation will typically be the biggest expense for the personal part of your trip. Here are some ways you can get the most value out of your dollars:

• Don’t give up on the hotel you’re staying at for the business leg. If it is in a good location, see if they’ll be willing to give you a good rate for extending your stay. 
• Hotel rates are often cheaper on weekends in business districts, so if your leisure trip falls on a weekend, check rates in the business area
• For a cost-effective stay that also helps you engage with locals, consider an Airbnb

9. Ditch your usual workouts 

Forget going to the boring gym at the hotel. Instead, look for other fun activities that you can do to stay fit while also experiencing the local area:

• Seek out a local running/hiking/climbing club and join them for the duration of your stay
• Take walking tours that help you get your steps in while learning some fun things about the city
• Check out local fitness centers or outdoor activities—it’s also a great way to meet new people

10. Learn the language and culture

No, you don’t need to become fluent in either, but a few phrases and some basic understanding of cultural norms will help make your travel experience richer. Here are some things you can try to do, depending on how much time you have and how long you will be traveling.

• Learn a few essential phrases in the local language (apps like Duolingo and Babbel are handy)
• Download a translation app to use whenever you find yourself stuck for words
• Check out the trending local music, films, or even TV shows to have some insight into local pop culture 
• Read up about currency, tipping norms, important local customs, and so on

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Bleisure Travel Challenges and How to Solve Them

Like anything else worth doing, bleisure travel comes with its own challenges. Let’s look at some of these and how you could deal with them. 

Before the trip

Here are some possible issues you could face while planning a bleisure travel experience, and our suggestions for overcoming them: 

Challenge: Getting approval from your employer

Not all companies have policies that allow or facilitate bleisure travel. If yours doesn’t, you might need to make more of an effort to make your case.

Solution: Create and present to your manager a clear plan showing how you intend to meet all your work deliverables and goals through remote collaboration tools. They have to feel certain that your personal trip won’t impact work. While making your pitch, don’t forget to highlight the potential benefits of a blended trip, such as higher productivity.  

Challenge: Balancing work and leisure itineraries

It can be hard enough managing one trip, and this one is a mix of two. You’ll need to tackle two sets of itineraries, reservations, and to-dos.

Solution: Organize your business and personal trip using a planning app or tool. List all your to-dos and prioritize must-do work tasks and mustn’t-miss leisure activities

Challenge: Budgeting for personal expenses

While your employer will cover most of your business trip expenses, you’ll pay your own way for the leisure part and must keep a separate budget for these expenses. Balancing it all and not losing essential receipts and bills can be painful. 

Solution: In addition to the money-saving tips in the previous section, consider looking for package deals at hotels so you can extend your stay there for your personal trip at a good price. Also, set yourself a clear budget for personal days and track spending daily.

During the trip

Combining work activities with personal time off can be challenging, especially if you haven’t done it before. Here are some ways you can make it work while you are in the destination. 

Challenge: Maintaining work productivity

Work or business is the main driver of a bleisure trip, so you must ensure that you balance out your work and leisure time to do justice to both. 

Solution: Set clear boundaries between work and leisure time and use productivity apps to stay focused during work hours. Try productivity techniques such as time blocking and the Pomodoro technique to get your work done efficiently. At the same time, ensure you don’t try to do too much—build rest time into your calendar

ClickUp for Remote Teams helps you and your team stay on top of things, regardless of where you log in from. 

Here’s a quick overview of what you can get done with ClickUp while you’re away from the office:

• Run virtual brainstorming and planning sessions with ClickUp Whiteboards; add context by linking to tasks and files. Then, turn your ideas directly into tasks in ClickUp for quick action. 
• Get the important stuff out of the way first with Task Priorities and keep things moving by assigning tasks to team members
• Visualize work, analyze workloads, and track progress with customizable ClickUp Dashboards. You can even create a personal productivity dashboard for yourself
• Instantly start and schedule Zoom meetings from the platform through the native integration with Zoom
• Overcome time-zone issues through async communication using ClickUp Chat View, task comments, and ClickUp Clips
• Use the ClickUp mobile app to access your plans and tasks on-the-go

Challenge: Switching between business and leisure mindsets

If you work remotely, you’ve probably figured this one out already. Anybody else will have to grapple with a work hangover in their leisure time, and vice versa.

Solution: Create a boundary between business and leisure activities through a transition ritual. This could be something as simple as stepping away from the desk and changing clothes, doing some meditation, going for a walk, etc. 

Challenge: Dealing with work emergencies during leisure time

Stuff happens, and an emergency or critical issue at work could leave you stretched or out of reach.

Solution: Have a contingency plan in place for any urgent work matters. At the same time, set expectations about your availability with your coworkers. Keep the necessary people informed about your work activities by sharing your calendar or itinerary with them. If you are not working for a couple of weekdays, have an out-of-office autoresponder set up as well

Challenge: Keeping track of business vs. personal expenses

This is one of the most common problems with blended travel. Cash expenditure, in particular, can become confusing as you may not remember the nature of each payment made afterward.

Solution: If possible, use separate credit cards for business and personal spending, so there is no possibility of a personal expense getting mixed up with work costs (and vice versa). If that’s not feasible, then keep detailed records and receipts daily so you can submit expense reports correctly once back 

Download This Template

ClickUp’s Expense Report Template helps you keep track of all your expenses. Record and categorize your spending by ‘work’ and ‘personal’ for ease of reporting. This reduces the possibility of mistakes in manual record-keeping, helps you analyze spending, and submits accurate expense reports at the workplace. 

After the trip

Yes, indeed, you may also face certain challenges once you’re back from your bleisure travel adventure. Here are some possible scenarios.

Challenge: Jet lag affecting return to regular work

Even consummate frequent flyers can struggle with this, and if not managed properly, jet lag can affect you for many days after your trip. This will impact your ability to focus and work productively. 

Solution: We recommend building a buffer day into your plan, giving you a day to decompress after your return. You can also try jet lag management techniques (light exposure, set meal timing, taking melatonin to help regulate sleep hours)

Challenge: Feeling dissatisfied with work after experiencing leisure

We hear you. Especially if you work in an office setup, for the most part, the freedom and change of scene blended travel gives you is hard to shrug off.

Solution: Remind yourself to be grateful for the experience. Also, find ways to extend the enjoyable experience by including it in your regular life in some ways. For example, cooking a dish you learned on the trip or following a fitness routine you picked up and enjoyed

Challenge: Dealing with colleagues’ perceptions

No matter how much work you get done on the trip, there are bound to be coworkers who think you’ve been slacking off. 

Solution: Be transparent about the nature of your trip. Share insights gained that could benefit the team or company

Challenge: Difficulty re-adjusting to routine

The post-holiday blues are a genuine phenomenon that you anticipate after your leisure trip ends, and plan for. 

Solution: Remind yourself of your regular schedule and gradually ease back into it. Reflect on and implement any positive habits or insights from your trip

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How Can Bleisure Help With Burnout

By giving you an opportunity to balance your work responsibilities with personal downtime and rejuvenation, bleisure travel can help prevent burnout. Here are some specific ways it can help:

• Change of scene: Working out of a new location and experiencing new places and people can boost creativity and freshen your mind
• Job satisfaction: The opportunity to combine work with play improves morale and helps you perceive your work more positively. Most bleisure travelers consider it an important perk of their job
• Improved health: Blended travel allows you to break a sedentary office routine and get out and about. Moreover, being away from the usual work pressures and doing new things will reduce your stress levels. And that’s not all; extending your trip reduces the pressure of a hectic business trip
• Higher productivity: Not only will the new experiences from your bleisure trip improve your creativity and problem-solving skills, but you’ll also be more motivated and energetic as you return to work. 
• Better work-life integration: Combining work and personal time helps improve your overall sense of balance in life
• Personal growth: Bleisure travel exposes you to new experiences and gives you the time to explore your interests or rekindle old hobbies. Moreover, the relaxed setting afforded by the experience can improve your relationships with colleagues and clients

Regular bleisure travel can help keep burnout away by giving you a break from routine, an opportunity to spend time doing things you enjoy, and moments to look forward to. 

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Take the Work Out of Bleisure Travel With ClickUp

Bleisure or blended travel is a way for busy employees to find better work-life integration. It helps to reduce stress and burnout and improves overall productivity and job satisfaction. Companies that want to attract and retain talent are also increasingly seeing the benefits of policy changes to enable this for their employees. 

However, since the trip revolves around work, the bleisure traveler must be a lot more organized with their time and priorities than the regular leisure traveler. Bleisure trips need precise planning and organization so that work schedules are not compromised, and you can also make the most use of your time. This means planning trips in advance, booking special experiences early, and carefully planning and tracking expenses as well as time. 

Not surprisingly, bleisure travelers rely heavily on technology to ensure this. Productivity software like ClickUp can help you keep your business and leisure parts of the trip well-organized with everything from packing lists and expense tracking to document storage and remote work tools.  

Let ClickUp manage the organizational challenges associated with bleisure travel, so you can enjoy the experience while still meeting your work obligations.

Take ClickUp for a spin today!