All the way to Beijing to sit in a boardroom? Make it a micro vacation!

How many hard-charging people find themselves cataloguing some of the most amazing places they’ve been only to realize they never actually saw the place? Travel thousands of miles just to see the inside of a boardroom? We jot down a mental note: “Great place, I’ll be sure to come back in my sixties.” But here’s the thing: This day might be your last, and you need to live like it is. That was my big takeaway from battling cancer. Now on every business trip, I create a micro vacation. One hour or one day – it doesn’t matter – I take a life-affirming detour to see something that will feed my soul and make me feel grateful to be alive.

I remember I once had 48 hours in Beijing, back-to-back meetings, jet lagged and exhausted. I was sitting in the back seat of the car, in a suit and tie, looking down at the agenda and thinking, "No time for the Great Wall? Oh well, I’ll see it next time. ... But what if there never is a next time? On my death bed, will I be more likely to regret being late for another meeting or having never scaled the steps of one of the wonders of the world?" So, we diverted the car, drove to the outskirts of Beijing, and my colleagues and I ran up the steps as fast as we could in the beating sun. We showed up for the pitch meeting late, sweaty, bedraggled – and smiling. Looking back, I can barely remember the Beijing deal – it fell apart anyway – but I’ll never forget scaling the Great Wall in dress shoes.

I recommend these micro vacations to anyone who frequently travels for work. On your next business trip, nurture your soul by making time to appreciate exactly where you are at. This weekend, I flew red eye to Slovenia for meetings, a quick 48-hour trip. And in between, I made the time to discover a magical country that I would never have otherwise gotten a chance to visit.