The Business Travel Triangle

Thrifty. Fiscal. Elevated. The eternal business travel triangle.

Are you a hotel-buffet, free-coffee, watery-eggs person?
Or a sit-down, locally sourced, “Breakfast is the most important meal” person?

If you work in the gov sector or billable consulting, you already know the drill. We often stay at the cheapest government-rate hotels with the free breakfast.

While I love a good savings win, there are only so many plates of runny eggs one person can eat in a lifetime. And then there's free hotel coffee vs the boutique coffee shop?

After doing this long enough, I’ve realized:
- A frantic pace eventually backfires.
- The buffet isn’t actually fueling you.
- Sometimes the signal you’re sending (internally or externally) is “cheaper beats quality."

Yes, we’ve printed coupons for pizza parties.
And we’ve also sat down somewhere with an amazing view and good food.
I’ve smashed a croissant or rice Krispie treat into my purse and called it that day’s meal as I run into a client’s office.

You can’t live entirely in “cheap" mode. And you also can’t live entirely in “upscale.”

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 ... knowing when to flow between both. That gets even harder when you’re setting corporate protocols, pricing structures, and internal controls at scale.

A few lessons I’ve learned along the way:
➡️ Know the room. Don’t order lobster at a grilled-cheese luncheon.
➡️ Take the free hotel waters every time. Never pay the $12 minibar version.
➡️ Carpool. Use public transit.
➡️ Avoid airport nachos at all costs. They sound safe. They are not.
➡️ Spoil your team when you can. It signals real value and investment.

Think: gas-station sushi vs. authentic sushi.
Then calibrate your business decisions accordingly.

And shocker - this applies when choosing your compliance consultants too.
The cheapest option isn’t always the best value.