Safety Knights

I was fortunate. I traveled around some, maybe two to four times a year in the Corporate world the first 25 years of my career. We had three little girls, but my wife did not work away from home. The last sixteen years of my life I traveled quite a bit more often. By then my two oldest were finishing college and soon to be married. By the time our youngest left home travel was not a concern. I guess were my kids younger I would make sure I was home on Thursday evenings! I did travel enough to learn to avoid business travel, unless absolutely necessary, on Fridays, and then to steer clear of airports like O'Hare and Atlanta!
My regret with my kids was not the travel but the LONG hours! In the first 15 I was in manufacturing and that meant lots of OT. I have always been a Salaried Exempt employee. As a supervisor I was paid OT when my employees were working OT by my employers or filling in for supervisors on other shifts, but not for paperwork or meetings. When I went up the ladder I went on a Bonus System. But that still meant long hours, >55 a week. Some of that was on second or third shifts so I missed all to many ball games, concerts, and plays! The money was great, but the years went all to quickly! I told myself I did it for them, and their mom did great job, as they turned out well, but I missed all to much! So in my opinion if you are going up the ladder, be careful of the hours! Seemed like I blinked and my little girls were making me a Grandfather!

Depends on your company. When I was a Global EHSS Manager for a chemical manufacturer, I was gone 33 weeks to China my final year (which is why I left). Aside from that, I would normally travel about 25% of the time (1 week/month on average). After all the China trips, I told management that they either needed to give me a gigantic pay raise or hire me extra help. When they said no to both, I said "see ya" and told them no job was worth that kinda strain on my family. I only had a 5 year old step daughter at the time. My wife was somewhat used to not seeing me due to working 36/36 schedule (24 hours at the firehouse, followed by 12 hours at EMS, then off 36 hours). However, this was way more than that and extremely stressful on my family and me.

My next senior-level job as a Corporate Director of Safety for an umbrella company, I was responsible for overseeing 7 different companies. I traveled 25%-30% of the time, but was gone during the holidays because most of the companies worked turnarounds due to the line of work they were in (e.g., millwrights, pipefitters, etc.). At this time, I had a new baby girl, so I didn't want to miss those times with my family and daughters.

Now that I've started my company, I have 3 daughters (11, 3, and 1 year old), so the flexibility has helped me tremendously. I still travel, but it's in spurts and I can choose "most" of my jobs and send me employees on the rest.

Making the next leap is an amazing step in your career, especially if that's the role you want to be in. However, I'd recommend getting a copy of the job description and make them specify the travel requirements in writing (not a large range like 25%-50%). This will give you a heads up and also be able to hold them accountable for excessive travel. With 3 kids and the same background as me (Fire/EMS), highly recommend limiting your travel until they're older. If you can make a lot of short trips instead of long 5-7 day trips, that means less time gone during the week and more nights home with your family. Just be comfortable saying no. If the travel gets too excessive, let them know ASAP and don't let them walk over you. Otherwise, they'll assume you're okay with it.

You got some leads on a new position you're looking at?

Agreed that it depends on the company and industry. CONUS or OCONUS? I was fortunate to have a director level position in a construction company which meant I easily traveled once a month at minimum.

I have three children and the 4th on the way. As I have been blessed with more children over the last 5 years, I wanted to step down as I value more time with my children.

My advice is to make sure when and if you leap, make sure you don’t jump away from your family. Let your employer know what it takes for you to be a loving and leading father/husband.

My last job was 25% travel (which in reality ended up being 50% travel). It's definitely tough with a family, but certainly doable as long as your partner is onboard with it.

I have quality, safety, and environmental responsibilities for 18 manufacturing sites in three countries. I typically travel 50% (25-75%) of my time. It works as some geographic locations have as many as four sites and some sites are relatively small. Teams has made contact with many sites much easier. The travel is busy, but beyond that the many time zones mean 12-16 hour days can happen at any time. There is also never a real "vacation." I have solid corporate staff working for me. It would be impossible otherwise.

This is actually less than when I did aquisitions and start-ups as lead engineer. Then travel was 75-100% for three to nine months.

Only you and your family can decide what is best for your situation.

I traveled 6 days a week when I was younger. I was fresh out of my B.S. and halfway through my M.S. degree. I was early in my 20s making six figures with O.T. I had two children at home (4 and 2) with a third planned. The pregnancy didn't go well for my wife and I wasn't able to be there. But I loved the job! It was field work with heavy equipment, and I got to make important decisions. My dream job! I traveled around 1600-1700 miles a week and was in a different hotel room every night. I covered 14 projects sites across 4 states: WV, OH, KY, and VA. I would see my little ones grow up over facetime and photos my wife would send me. I would tell myself; I am doing this for them, and it is something that I love. I had that job for 3 years and was suddenly let go on a Friday, 2.5 hours away from my house without notice. In fact, they had just given me a raise of 13k a year and new truck and wanted to bring me on direct. To say we were blindsides was an understament. I had given this company over 3 years of my life and saved them countless of dollars.

I was out of work for over year and got to spend it with my family and see my 4th child born. I was able to be there for here during another difficult pregnancy, a trying birth, and then my sons first week of his life in the NICU. Then I was able to be with here when he went back to PEDS with RSV at 4 weeks old. Man, did I not fully understand what I was missing out on. The time with my kids, the time with my wife that was needed, and the family functions. I got to take my oldest daughter to dance class which she loved! To see her smile when I was there to pick her up while other daddies couldn't make it. That made me feel larger than any job accolade that I could have ever accomplished.

I say this with the best possible posture. I was let go in the blink of an eye from a company that I gave everything to! It was the best decision that was ever made