For the footsoldiers of globalisation, the hotel bedroom and airport lounge are home, writes RICHARD GILLIS.
JASON SCARFEDALE took it as a bad sign when his regular airline started to pick him up at home and take him to the airport. "How much money do you have to spend to get sort of attention?" he says, sitting in his office in Canary Wharf, London's financial hub.
Scarfedale is a footsoldier of globalisation, a generation of road warriors who spend the vast majority of their working lives travelling. His work as business development manager for an international consulting firm means the miles are covered in relative comfort. Business-class flights, limo pick-ups, fast-track security and many other small luxuries ease the life of the well-heeled commercial traveller.
But success has come at a price: a marriage that perished under the pressure of his extreme working hours.
Incredibly, from his home in a leafy west London suburb, Scarfedale flies to Sydney up to three times a month, packing on a Sunday morning and arriving for client meetings late Monday. The new flat beds in business class have taken some of the strain, which is a good job since he spends more time sleeping on them than in his own home.
A day in Amsterdam, another major client account and regular stop-off, is his version of a daily commute on the DART.
To make life more bearable, business nomads like Scarfedale have come up with some ploys to bring a little of home with them.
"When I get to the hotel room, the first thing I do is get out my bits and pieces, stuff like pictures and miniature hi-fi for my iPod. Having something familiar around me makes it seem less lonely."
Statistics show that Scarfedale is one of a growing breed of business traveller who is adopting a virtually nomadic lifestyle.
American researchers Global Relocation Surveys monitor professional migration in 110 countries, maintaining a database tracking where people are moving, for how long, and in what professional fields.
The typical nomad's engagement ranges from 48 hours to four months, while assignments range from a year to five years. Other indicators show an upward trend in business travel, despite environmental and economic issues.
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) is now drawing members from 82 countries, representing a 60 per cent increase from 50 countries reported just two years ago.
According to Anne Meike Fechter, an academic who specialises in this area, the concept of home is becoming increasingly fluid. "It is less about a physical place and more about relationships, be they with family members, friends or professional colleagues," says Fechter.
That they continue to work to such extreme travel regimes is down to two main factors. Firstly economics, once they reach a certain salary level, it becomes almost inconceivable that they would trade down to a less hectic job. And secondly, they love it.
"They adopt this lifestyle because of the professional mobility and personal adventure it offers," says Fechter, whose book Transnational Livesdiscusses this under-appreciated element of the business nomad's life.
However, there is a notable difference between the behaviour of business expat communities around the world and those on a lower pay scale. Fechter cites the growing American and European migrants in the Middle and Far East, who tend to form national enclaves. Integration is rarely high on their agenda.
"It's a case of travel narrowing the mind," says Fechter, suggesting that business travellers tend to erect barriers between themselves and the indigenous populations.
This is the opposite of what we expect from migrants when they come to Ireland or Britain, she says. Citizenship classes and fluency in the language of the home country is seen as a logical and perfectly legitimate part of the immigration process, says Fechter. And because these people have less money, they are forced to engage with local culture and language. The transition to Irish life is made via the process of trying to find somewhere to live, or when they are treated by the health service.
However, no such demands are made of the travelling business elite, whose healthcare issues are dealt with on a supranational basis and who live in corporate-owned accommodation or business hotels.
"It's possible to live in a country for years and come away with no real taste of the local cultures or national obsessions," says Fechter.
Meanwhile, Scarfedale is getting ready to go to Japan. "There was a time, a year or two ago, when the tech lobby were predicting that video conferencing would cut the need for business travel," says Scarfedale. "Don't believe it. The personal touch is still what makes business happen. And if I can turn a few decent leads in to real business quickly, well, the air miles are worthwhile."
And with that, this footsoldier of the globalised economy was out the door, his iPod fully charged.
