By: Erik Hill

When you’re back to work after an accident and required to travel, you might find yourself dreading the trip. Making it into a bleisure trip could be a way to reduce your anxiety about traveling and even make it something you look forward to. Talk to your car accident attorney in St. Louis about ways you can build personal time into your upcoming business trip to see what he or she recommends.

Mixing pleasure with business on work-related trips is nothing new. But the term for it, “bleisure travel,” is fairly new. Coined by budget-conscious, experience-seeking millennial business travelers, bleisure travel is exactly what it sounds like: building leisure time into business trips.

The Importance of Relaxing when you’re Recovering from an Injury

Sometimes, you can’t get out of an important business trip to focus on your own injury recovery. Although you should never travel if you’re truly too immobilized to travel safely, the reality is that you could find yourself having to travel for work before you’re 100 percent recovered.

When this is the case, turning your trip into a bleisure trip can make it a bit more bearable. You can use the extra time you spend on the trip to relax on the beach or at a resort or if you’re physically well enough, exploring the city you’ve traveled to. Don’t underestimate the importance of recovering mentally from your injury. Spending some time away from your responsibilities at home and taking in new experiences can be a tremendous help in your mental recovery.

Bleisure Travel is All About Taking Advantage of the Opportunities you Have

If you’ll already be away for business, why not take advantage of the foundation for a short vacation? Your flights are already covered, as is your lodging for the nights you’ll be away for work. All you need to cover is your lodging for the nights beyond your worknights and any recreational opportunities you seek.

Choosing to extend your trip to build in vacation time can be a good deal for your company, too, if you choose to move your return flight to a day or time that’s less expensive.

Crafting your Ideal Business Getaway

Turning a business trip into a bleisure trip is easiest when your business trip ends on a Friday or starts on a Monday. This way, you don’t have to take additional time off to enjoy your trip; you can just use the weekend for some personal time.

Before the trip, look into the city or region where you’ll be traveling for work. Find out the cultural experiences it offers and see what you’d like to do there. Remember to figure out lodging, too – your company won’t cover your lodging while you’re on vacation, which is what the “leisure” part of your bleisure trip is. Download apps like HotelTonight and Hopper that make it simple to find and book flights and hotels from your phone and be sure to communicate your plans to your employer before you leave for your trip.