Business class tickets, luxurious hotel rooms and dinners which even an epicurean would love... sounds glamorous, eh? What a lot of people forget is that business travel can also be a pain. There are long hours, airport hassle, impersonal hotel rooms and the loneliness of being away from your family.

Thank God, what used to be once-a-month became once in a blue moon, when I became a mother.

Manipulating projects in order to avoid visits (and instead be visited) is getting trickier. The few times when escape from a business trip wasn't possible, special arrangements were made. I have been known to plan an inexpensive, mini-vacation around these unavoidable trips. I do not care if it may seem inappropriate to some. As long as work is done, the bosses agree and the company is not milked for personal expenses, it shouldn't matter what everyone else thinks, right?

IMHO, turning some of your business travel into mini-vacations is a perfect answer for balancing the demands of work with the necessities of family.

You can also read About.com's take on Combining Business and Family Travel. A somewhat similar solution.

Little cars that make annoying sounds, loud shrieks from an excited toddler after a long meeting, MonstersInc. daily reruns and soiled diapers adorn what would have otherwise been my luxurious but lonely hotel room. I couldn't think of a better business travel alternative.