The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption

If not knowing what to do on a first date when I’m off consumption is my number one concern, not knowing what to do on a business trip is a close second.

I’m a salesman with an impressive business card and, like every other salesman, I spend a lot of time on the road. In fact, I travel on work for anywhere between five to fifteen days in a month.

I usually travel well: I fly in comfort (thanks to frequent upgrades by Jet Airways), stay in five star hotels, have a car waiting for me, and get to use a no-questions-asked expense account.

All that is great, and I’m grateful to my employers for it, but if I spend ten days in a month in five star hotels, I’m not really off-consumption, am I?

There’s little I can change if I’m traveling with colleagues, because it will not be fair to burden them with the extra coordination.

However, I have decided that, if I’m traveling alone, and if it doesn’t adversely affect my work, instead of staying in a hotel, I’ll try staying with a friend or couchsurfing.