Business trips: Subject to entertainment tax or nothing to envy? You see Sennheiser everywhere.

Business Travel in Asia: Behind the Scenes of an 18-Day Work Trip

“There’s a saying in German: When someone takes a journey, they have stories to tell. But does that also apply to business travel?

I often hear people say how great it must be to travel for work. Yes, there is certainly some appeal in changing locations from time to time—but that’s usually where the glamour ends.

What I like to do is describe what a real business travel schedule actually looks like. After hearing the details, most of the enthusiasm—or envy—tends to disappear.

My next trip will take me to Asia for 18 days. After a 20-hour journey, I will be picked up at the airport and driven about 90 minutes to a city where the CEO of a company is waiting for me. We are preparing the groundwork for a new project together. On the day of arrival there will be a business dinner, followed by a full working day filled with demanding discussions and strategic topics.

In the evening I will travel to the next location, where the focus will be on developing new and innovative products. These meetings will continue for two full days. After that, I will take a four-hour high-speed train ride across the country to meet our distributor and discuss further planning and market strategy.

The following day begins with a domestic flight to the eastern part of the country. There I will spend the entire next day meeting with journalists and dealers, presenting our latest products and explaining our unique technologies—such as S-Logic, our system for immersive spatial sound.

Saturday and Sunday will be exhibition days, including business dinners in the evening. On Monday I will return to the second location of the trip to review the progress of our joint projects. After three more days filled with many hours of discussions with engineers, experts, and the company’s management team, I will head back to the airport and begin the 22-hour journey back to the office.

Did I mention that during the nights—when jet lag keeps me awake—I usually handle communication with Germany and other parts of the world?

So far, I have exactly one day off during the entire trip—a Sunday. And even that day might still be filled with meetings.

Another interesting aspect of these trips is the people you meet. Many well-known brands regularly spend time in this region for various reasons. Companies like Sennheiser, for example, are often present here as well.

My personal perspective

I certainly don’t want to complain. These trips are exciting and they generate an incredible number of results in a very short period of time.

But one thing they definitely are not: vacation or relaxation. And if I want those, I would much rather spend that time with family or friends than with business partners.

Stay tuned—there are many exciting new developments on the way!