By Alex M

One of the great things about working in PR is the opportunity to travel. Whether you’re in-house or agency side, there is always a marketing summit or awards do to attend, or an essential meeting that requires an overnight bag and a passport. Admittedly the airport-hotel-meeting room-airport sequence does lose its shine after a while, but if you are the sort of person that thrives on getting to know your international colleagues and experiencing different ways of working, you could do far worse.

Of course there is a fine balance between when travel is essential as opposed to just ‘nice to have’, and particularly when you’re trying to be environmentally friendly it is important to evaluate each opportunity carefully before booking that trip. But I am a firm believer in getting to know people face-to-face, whether they’re colleagues, journalists or clients – and no matter how skilled a communicator you are, a phone call, email or even a tweet is never going to be a substitute for catching up over a coffee or visiting a client’s offices. How else can you really get under the skin of a business, understand the cultural landscape or local issues? Building relationships takes time and effort, and if that means jumping on the Eurostar or catching a plane every now and then, so be it. Just don’t forget to off-set!