Okay, let me spill the tea on my whole ocean-crossing disaster and what finally clicked. This all started last year when my job suddenly required monthly Europe trips. Jet lag wrecked me, airport security became my second home, and my suitcase lived in permanent half-packed chaos. I knew I had to stop crossing oceans like this – fast.
First Attempt: The Super Expensive Flight Fix
My bright idea? Throw money at it. I booked business class seats thinking comfy sleep = less misery. Big mistake. Sure, the seat lied flat, but guess what? Still couldn’t sleep over the Atlantic! Wasted $7k and arrived just as zombie-fied. Plus, those fancy flights didn’t actually reduce trip frequency – I was still crossing every darn month. Total fail for solving the actual problem.
Next Up: Video Calls & The Boss Chat
Okay, maybe tech could save me. I pitched replacing half my trips with video calls to my manager. Prepared this whole slide deck showing time and cost savings. His reaction? “Hmm… sounds good in theory, Sarah.” But then nothing changed. Three months of “we’ll discuss it later” meetings later, I was still dragging my suitcase to JFK. Lesson learned: Proposing alternatives without authority got me exactly nowhere fast.
The “Why Am I Even Going?” Lightbulb Moment
Frustrated, I dumped all last year’s trip notes on my kitchen table. Poring over them, a pattern slapped me in the face: 60% of my travel was just attending other people’s meetings where I said maybe three sentences. Another 20% was stuff junior team members could handle. Only 20% truly needed my specific presence. I’d been crossing oceans mostly to warm chairs! Felt like an absolute clown.
My Brutally Simple Fix (& What Actually Worked)
Armed with data, I went nuclear:
- For non-critical meetings? Emailed organizers: “Regretfully unavailable in person; happy to send key points in advance or brief team member Jake to attend.”
- For junior tasks? Delegated ruthlessly with clear handover docs. Tracked their success like a hawk to prove it worked.
- For truly necessary trips? Slashed durations: Arrive morning before key event, leave immediately after. No more “networking days.”
Within two months, crossings dropped from monthly to quarterly. Boss didn’t even blink – work got done faster with less budget blown. Turns out, crossing fewer oceans wasn’t about fancier pillows or better tech; it was about aggressively cutting out everything unnecessary. Sometimes the simplest approach hiding in your own notes is the fastest route to dry land.
